Sunday, May 07, 2006
The Greatest Album Never Made?
The Beatles split up in April 1970, but what would have happened if they hadn't? What would the Beatles next album have sounded like? Here's one possibility.
BBC Radio Merseyside's Spencer Leigh has compiled an album based on solo tracks the individual members of the Beatles recorded in the year following their split.
The album would be called 'Finishing School'. Their first album 'Please Please Me' showed them looking over the balcony at EMI House, the cover of 'Finishing School' would show them eight years later in the same pose. Is it the greatest album never made?
FINISHING SCHOOL
SIDE ONE
(1) COME AND GET IT (Paul McCartney) (2.30)
Paul recorded this demo for Badfinger in July 1969 while the Beatles were recording "Abbey Road". It sounds like a Beatles song and it was included on "Anthology 3" in 1996.
(2) INSTANT KARMA (John Lennon) (3.20)
In 1970 John Lennon wrote, recorded and released this Top 10 single within a week for the Plastic Ono Band.
(3) NOT GUILTY (George Harrison) (3.20)
By 1969 George Harrison was facing criticism for persuading the other Beatles to follow the Maharishi and he wrote a spirited defence, "Not Guilty". The Beatles took 102 takes to get the song right and even then it didn’t appear until "Anthology 3" in 1996.
(4) ANOTHER DAY (Paul McCartney) (3.40)
A delightful picture of suburban life, typical McCartney and his first solo Top 10 single in February 1971.
(5) MY SWEET LORD (George Harrison) (4.30)
At a guess this would have been the single from my fictitious album. George was the first Beatle to have a solo No.l and it prevented "Another Day" from making the top. George is at his most mystical on this track and Eric Clapton plays the stinging lead guitar.
(6) GOD (John Lennon) (4.10)
John Lennon would not have been too happy with the sentiments of "My Sweet Lord" as this track from his first solo album, "John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band", indicates.
SIDE TWO
(1) POWER TO THE PEOPLE (John Lennon) (3.20)
The Beatles sometimes started the sides of their albums with John Lennon’s agit prop, eg. "Revolution" on "The White Album" and "Come Together" on "Abbey Road". Here’s another example.
(2) MAYBE I’M AMAZED (Paul McCartney) (3.40)
A great ballad from Paul’s first solo album, "McCartney". A worthy successor to "The Long And Winding Road" and "Let It Be".
(3) IT DON’T COME EASY (Ringo Starr) (3.00)
Ringo’s first solo single and a Top 10 hit in April 1971. It shows how he had developed as a songwriter and George Harrison is featured on guitar.
(4) I LIVE FOR YOU (George Harrison) (3.35)
A stunning George Harrison song that he discarded from his "All Things Must Pass" sessions. It was eventually issued as a bonus track on the CD version of "All Things Must Pass" in 2001.
(5) BABY PLEASE DON’T GO (John Lennon) (4.30)
John Lennon screamed his way through "I Want You (She’s So Heavy)" on "Abbey Road" and he did a similar thing with this rock’n’roll number from the Olympics during the sessions for the "Imagine" LP in 1971. A good song to end "Finishing School", but then… …after a 20 second gap…
(6) THE LOVELY LINDA (Paul McCartney) (0.45)
Just like "Her Majesty" on "Abbey Road", "Finishing School" concludes with this fragment of a song from the "McCartney" album.
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posted by Ilham Pandu @ 3:51 AM
Ringo gives Arts Center something to Crow(e) about
The PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel announced today its full 2006 season, with a schedule that includes the Boss, an Idol, a Beatle and several crows.
Ringo Starr returns to the amphitheater with his All-Starr Band on July 18. The Black Crowes, joined by New Jersey's Robert Randolph & the Family Band, will perform July 22, followed by Counting Crows on July 26.
Previously announced shows by Bruce Springsteen with the Seeger Sessions Band on June 24 and 25, and "American Idol'' champ Kelly Clarkson on July 9, remain the biggest on the roster.
Most seats at Springsteen's shows cost $91.75, with additional prices to be announced. Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Friday, May 5.
New additions include teen queen Ashlee Simpson on July 20, the "Celtic Woman'' ensemble on July 19, Steely Dan on Aug. 23 and "The Family Values Tour,'' led by Korn and other hard-edged acts, on Sept. 1.
Ticket prices are all over the map, from a high of $176 for the best seats at a reunion gig for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on Aug. 20, to $9.99 for lawn seats at the "Family Values'' show.
Lawn seats remain a bargain at all shows, never above $40 and generally closer to $20. Several concerts feature a $5 discount on lawn tickets when purchased on the first day of sale.
Tickets for many shows are already on sale, and the majority of the rest go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 6. Exceptions include the Springsteen gigs, on sale May 5, and a Sept. 6 concert by Roger Waters, on sale May 19.
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posted by Ilham Pandu @ 3:30 AM
Lindsay Lohan called on Ono for help
LINDSAY LOHAN was so worried about death threats she received after signing on to star in a film
about JOHN LENNON's killer, she called on the late BEATLE's widow YOKO ONO for help.
The MEAN GIRLS star admits her family and
friends all advised her against playing a Fab Four fan who befriends XXX in CHAPTER
27 - and she quickly discovered why they were concerned.
But the support she received from Ono helped her get through the shoot and ignore those who
criticised her for agreeing to star in a film that humanises XXX.
She says, "It's a very touchy subject and no one wanted me to do the movie because John Lennon is a
legend. I was actually nervous going into it because I did get death threats.
"But I love my character in the movie and she is such a genuine fan of Yoko and John. She is like
the Hitchcock blonde.
"I actually sat down with Yoko Ono a couple of times to talk to her about it because I wanted to get
the 'OK' from her... She was so sweet. "She gave me the confidence I needed. The things that she's
done are wonderful."
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posted by Ilham Pandu @ 3:20 AM
Why The Beatles will last
for one thing, people can "sing" the Beatles. Think about it...human beings don't sing very often except in the shower or occasional humming. But the Beatles created music - over 220 songs - that captures not only the imagination but also compels people to sing their extremely simple and singable melodies. They've made the world sing for almost 40 years. And even after they stopped making music, people didn't stop singing their songs.
Singing feels good and people tend to remember things that make them feel good, much more so than their everyday lives in which they have to make the monthly rent and feed themselves and their families. "All You Need is Love," for example, is a simple thought but the message is powerful. When all is said and done, all a person really needs in life is to love and be loved. Have you listened to the chorus? It only has one note! Anyone can sing it. One simple message rendered with one note. As opposed to Bob Dylan who was more artist of his times (the 60s and a little beyond) than of the universe -- too many words, too many ideas, too long, not musically captivating enough. Like Dylan, Springsteen, brilliant as his musical paintings are, is too complicated lyrically and not melodic enough to span the millennia.
Songs that last are, first, about the unique magic of music -- not the lyrics. If great lyrics are written to match a great melody, than a masterpiece happens and it will last for a long time. The most brilliant, pure melodist in the history of humankind is Paul McCartney. His most lasting song is "Yesterday," a stunning melody. The lyrics reflect the "mood" of the music (as a songwriter, I understand this quite well -- you don't try to write "happy" lyrics to a melody that asks, through the chords, for pathos). "Yesterday," the most recorded song in music history, with over 4,500 recording to date, has a wistful, reflective melody. McCartney hung the perfect reminiscing-type melody on it..."all my troubles seem so far away..." (He then got lazy in the bridge sections and talks about a girl -- 'why she had to go, I don't know, she wouldn't say...', which diminishes the song somewhat). John Lennon also thought this.
But, I digress. Because McCartney already "sold" us with that great melody (and his vocal and guitar playing!) and most of the lyrics, the lesser lyrics I just pointed out don't harm the song. A simple song with a lyric that matches the melody (lyrics second!) and an honest sentiment of the music -- the song will be here for a thousand years.
I've just named two Beatles songs that will span the ages. There are more: "Yellow Submarine" is another. On the face of it, it's a children's 'throwaway' song. But it will be remembered far longer than Springsteen's "Jungleland" will. And I say that with no disrespect. People want to sing, but you can't tell them to do it: the song must compel them to do it. Listen to the chorus of a Yellow Submarine. Ten notes in the opening, "main" phrase, the first four of which are one note, the 5th note goes up one tone, the second five notes stay on the same note: it's engaging and easy to sing.
In short, the act of singing trumps everything. As I've said, if the lyric paints a nice picture -- and all the Beatles lyrics do -- then that takes you a step deeper, a sort of "booster rocket" for a song's longevity. The chorus of "With a Little Help From My Friends"-- three notes at the top of the phrase that are close together ("I - get - by...") followed by eight of the same note (with-a-little-help-from-my-friends). Simple...easy to sing. Singing feels good. Singing is something we like to do but don't have a chance to do very often: not enough melodies compel us. The Beatles offered hundreds of them to us and it's why countless billions of as yet unborn human beings will be lead richer lives because of The Beatles.
One final note about the Beatles and their longevity: Beethoven "survived" without the aid of record players and radio stations, spreading his music around the globe. He and Mozart and all the great classical composers made it to the 20th century where their music was then heard by the masses. Imagine how people must have felt about the music these classical geniuses created to have people keep passing it on to future generations. The Beatles started when mass media started, in the 60s. But what will make them go further than the Beethovens and Mozarts is that they have an element that those great composers didn't have: The Beatles music inspired human beings to sing. Again, the act of singing makes you feel good - physically and mentally. Listening to a passage from Beethoven can also make people feel good, but the Beatles added a layer - With The Beatles, you could sing along; You could participate.
Hitler envisioned a "thousand year Reich" for the way humans should live: disciplined, hard, brutal -- a world of "no." The Beatles -- the counterbalance to Hitler in the 20th century -- offered a vision of "yes," exemplified through, mostly, their melodies. A day doesn't go by where you don't hear the words "Beatles" (or their songs) or "Hitler" (always associated with madness and mass murder). They were the two "ideas" of the last century, if not longer: The Blue Meanies vs. Sgt. Pepper's band. While humankind will have to consistently deal with the Hitler of the moment - islamo-fascism currently -- the music of the Beatles will always waft above it, the best-ever exemplar of human freedom. The thing that will last for a thousand years is not Hitler but his counterbalance, the Beatles.
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posted by Ilham Pandu @ 3:15 AM
