The Beatles Appreciation Thread

[LemonMelon]

The Plastic Ono Band tracks never would have been on a Beatles album because those sessions were inspired in part by his independence from the group. The dynamic of the Beatles was potent but incredibly unhealthy. John only had the opportunity to work on himself after leaving the band. Similarly, Paul stopped being such a stressed out workaholic control freak once 1970 rolled around and he could just enjoy making music with his wife.

 

[phanan]

Instant Karma would have worked though.

I wondered aloud in the random thread a while ago about this very topic. Fascinating to think about.

 

[Gzusfrk]

Again, not really knowing what was written when, I can totally see Instant Karma as the “next Beatles single”. From POB, maybe Well Well Well, Mother toned down a bit, Working Class Hero I could see morphing into Beatles songs, the others I agree that he had to leave the Beatles to write

 

[the tourist]

Whatever it would have been, it would have been incredible. It’s nice to think about it and to put playlists together. I’m kind of glad, though, because I think if they’d kept going maybe they’d have tarnished what they were.

I used to have some playlists that I’d put together of post-breakup Beatles albums that I’m sure I’ve lost. Gotta make some Spotify lists sometime.

 

[lazarus]

Revolution at the start of Disc 2 works, but I’m not sure Birthday following it does. The fury of the former going into a relatively fun song is a bit jarring. I think I’d put Not Guilty in between.

Speaking of which, the original, unedited version of Not Guilty from last year’s box set would be my choice, over the truncated one from the Anthology.

Also, if you don’t mind it being shortened by 8 seconds, Hey Jude was remixed for the 2015 re-release of the 1 compilation and sounds great. Unfortunately Revolution isn’t on there.

Sorry for the late reply, I had to bust out the White Album boxed set and check out that Take 102 of Not Guilty again. Honestly, I don't think it's better, and I can see why 99 was the one that was considered "best" and put on the Anthology. There's some cool, dirty guitar work going on in 102, but they sound too low in the mix, and the soloing (which I've read might also be Eric Clapton) just doesn't have the same impact as it does in 99.

At any rate, they both end with some jagged kind of guitar noise, so either way it's a rough lead-in to Birthday in terms of vibe. Keep in mind also that Yer Blues goes into Mother Nature's Son. I'm sure they spent a fair amount of time on the track order, but the album's schizophrenic feel is part of its distinct charm, and not every transition is going to be smooth.

 

[phanan]

I almost think it would work better if Birthday was put after Mother Nature’s Son. A double shot of Birthday and Monkey would be kind of cool.

Getting back to Not Guilty, Take 102 is the same as Take 99. They simply added some overdubbing to it and that was the complete version that was left off the album.

At some point in the 80’s, Geoff Emerick did a new mix that edited the original down by a minute. As I recall, it was going to be on some compilation the label was looking to do, but then the idea was scrapped.

Not sure why they went with that edited version for the anthology, because the one that finally got released last year is the true original.

 

[cobl04]

This.

I don't see John singing "I don't believe in Beatles" on one of their records.

It's what makes John's solo career more fascinating than the others', even if he's inconsistent. Because there's really a clear break in what he seemed to be doing creatively once the band was over.

Do you enjoy drooling over the shrivelled dick of a man who's been dead for 39 years?

 

[lazarus]

And the award for Best Drunk GAF post of the week goes to...

 

[namkcuR]

So, the recent posts in this thread got me thinking about those threads ten years ago when the 2009 releases were happening; those were some of the greatest threads in the history of interference imo. We all have diverse musical opinions here, but I can think of two bands(outside of Shuttlecock) that are almost universally beloved here - one is Radiohead, the other is the Beatles. When threads get going with everyone sharing in the love for one group or artist, there's nothing like it.

Anyway, it made me want to listen to the Beatles, but I'd been on a pretty big Beatles kick earlier this year, so in order to keep it fresh, I decided to put Love on. I've listened to it twice in the past three days, but before that, I hadn't listened to it in a pretty long time.

It's a work of art in its own right. I still think it's one of the great production jobs, maybe ever. They way it makes all of these songs that we've heard so many times sound fresh and not re-hashed is just amazing, and the mixing of one song with another is done so seamlessly that it sounds like that's the way it always was.

Mr. Kite->I Want You, Come Together->Dear Prudence, Tomorrow Never Knows->Within You Without You, the segue from Hey Jude into Sgt. Pepper's reprise, the Blackbird riff into Yesterday, the In My Life/Penny Lane/Piggies/Hello Goodbye elements added into the acoustic take of Strawberry Fields, the anthology version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps with the orchestral overdubs added in, it's all so good. Plus, Something and Here Comes The Sun presented in a new way.

It's an exhilarating listen. It also strikes me that it's a nice counterpoint to Beatles 1. Whereas Beatles 1 focused on singles and therefore was heavier on the earlier stuff, Love clearly tips its hat to the later albums - Sgt. Pepper, MMT, White Album, and Abbey Road tracks make up the bulk of thing, and the only pre-Rubber Soul material is I Want To Hold Your Hand, Help, and Yesterday(and the opening chord of Hard Day's Night at the beginning of Get Back). I'd say that for those not familiar with the Beatles, Love is a great overview of the later Beatles(even though Revolver and Let It Be are noticeably under-represented). In fact, Beatles 1+Love together probably make as good an overview of the group's output as you could ask for in general, with only a small amount of overlap.

I also enjoyed the bonus tracks on Spotify - Fool On The Hill and Girl. The former is re-arranged Love style, and the latter is pretty much what it's always been, but with the vocals centered in the mix, and I've wanted a version of that song with centered vocals for a long time, so that made me happy.

Anyway, just wanted to share my renewed love of Love. If you haven't listened to it in a while, do yourself a favor and do so, with a good pair of headphones. It's a trip.

 

[lazarus]

Yeah, Love works as a great primer, putting things into a modern “mash-up” context, as well as making the material sound fresh to older ears. It’s a real trip.

It also makes me regret not seeing the actual Cirque de Soleil show, especially as I’m not far from Vegas. It’s still there, obviously, so I can hopefully make it happen one day.

 

[DaveC]

the new mix of the medley on a pair of good headphones.

 

[phanan]

Abbey Road was always the best sounding Beatles album, so the differences in the remix were going to be more subtle, but there are definitely some nice things with this. The centering of the vocals in Here Comes The Sun, the loss of the tape hiss in I Want You, the organ on Something. Nice stuff.

That said, there are times when it really sounds close to the 2009 remaster, like Come Together. Really no difference. Everything is a bit more pronounced, I guess, but not that much of a factor.

Still need to listen to the outtakes.

 

[lazarus]

Amoeba has 20% off all Beatles and Lennon today for John’s birthday. I considered grabbing the Mono set but still would have been over $100 so I declined. But I did get used CDs of the remaster of Beatles For Sale (finally, 10 years after the 9/9/09 reissues), Beatles at the BBC ($3.99 -20% for a double-disc??) and the remaster of Imagine.

Also, after years of waiting, finally found a used + marked down for “imperfections” copy of The Basement Tapes remaster for $6.99; now that is a steal. Not Beatles-related but had to mention it. All together that haul came to less than $24. Too bad NSW’s not here to praise my thrifty shopping.

Anyway, I know Beatles For Sale isn’t highly regarded, but I’ll stick up for it again: I don’t care if there’s too many covers, because that opening trio of No Reply-I’m A Loser-Baby’s In Black + Paul’s I’ll Follow The Sun (one of his Top 5 pre-Revolver, IMO) beats any set of four songs from any of the previous albums, as well as Help after it. Eight Days A Week is damned good too.

Come at me, cucks.

 

[DaveC]

you're right about the previous albums, but from help!, you've got to hide your love away/yesterday/i've just seen a face/ticket to ride beats the four you named hands down, and i'd also put the title track and you're gonna lose that girl above anything from beatles for sale as well.

i agree with you 100% though that beatles for sale is in general very underappreciated. rock and roll music is right up there with the best covers they made and every little thing is such a cool love tune (i will always go to bat for any pop song that prominently features a timpani).

 

[namkcuR]

Anyway, I know Beatles For Sale isn’t highly regarded, but I’ll stick up for it again: I don’t care if there’s too many covers, because that opening trio of No Reply-I’m A Loser-Baby’s In Black + Paul’s I’ll Follow The Sun (one of his Top 5 pre-Revolver, IMO) beats any set of four songs from any of the previous albums, as well as Help after it. Eight Days A Week is damned good too.

Come at me, cucks.

you're right about the previous albums, but from help!, you've got to hide your love away/yesterday/i've just seen a face/ticket to ride beats the four you named hands down, and i'd also put the title track and you're gonna lose that girl above anything from beatles for sale as well.

i agree with you 100% though that beatles for sale is in general very underappreciated. rock and roll music is right up there with the best covers they made and every little thing is such a cool love tune (i will always go to bat for any pop song that prominently features a timpani).

Not to mention Help's title track.

BFS has grown on me, and I like most of the original tracks on it, but in addition to Help, I'd say HDN beats it as well. Hard Day's Night is actually my favorite pre-RS Beatles album.

You've got the title track(a classic for all time), If I Fell(one their most beautiful harmonizations ever), And I Love Her, Things We Said Today(two of McCartney's great early tracks), Any Time At All(one of the first times John sounded like a rock star), and I'll Be Back(one of John's most criminally underappreciated songs, imo). Can't Buy Me Love is classic too, but that might be too cheese for some.

 

[lazarus]

Ehh. Ticket To Ride beats all, but I think I’ll Whallop Your Son Follow The Sun is considerably better than I’ve Just Sprayed Seen A Face.

Yesterday is so overplayed I get no pleasure from it all. Help I still enjoy, but there’s something about the desperation in No Reply that’s more specific and appeals to me more.

But indeed, You’re Gonna Lose That Girl and You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away are both killers too, so I’d probably have to concede there.

Hard Day’s Night never did much for me beyond the title track and Tell Me Why. The slow stuff on it bores me.

 

[DaveC]

"the word" is such an underappreciated beatles track. i know it's nothing special now but the wordplay of that song was so clever and new for a pop tune when they made it. the three-part harmonies on the chorus are some of the best vocals on rubber soul, and the middle eight where the electric organ builds that chord note by note over top of the guitar/bass riff will never not be badass as hell. special shout out to the quiet little bass flourishes paul puts at the end of his lines too. my only complaint is that it ends too quickly and there should have been a proper solo at the end instead of the fast fade-out. either way though i will happily go to bat for this track until the day i die.

 

[DaveC]

I finished up rock critic Rob Sheffield's book Dreaming The Beatles, which I can't recommend highly enough. It's not a regurgitation of biography and recording trivia, but rather a deeper dive through an obsessive fan's perspective, with a heavy dose of humor. He's a few years older than me, but still has his finger on the pulse of current music (and references it on occasion in the book), so it's a perspective I can relate to heavily. It's been out for a couple years now and you can get a used copy for under $10 at this point.

you weren't kidding. i'm a little past halfway through this book now and it's definitely on the essential beatles reading list.

 

[DaveC]

that being said, holy hell does this guy have some spicy takes particularly about non-beatles music. within a five minute span of my commute home tonight i read a claim that "for no one" is a direct ancestor of "hotline bling", and that if you listen to "ballad of a thin man" and "love you to" back to back, the former sounds like "a freshman trying to impress the seniors".

that last one almost made me throw the book through the train window because holy fuck is that ever ass-backwards.

 

[DaveC]

yeah, forget everything i said about that book. i don't know what happened to the author, but once he gets to talking about sgt pepper it turns into hot take after hot take presented as absolute unassailable fact.

when you're at the point of saying that "it's all too much" is unquestionably george's finest tribute to pattie boyd (in a world where "something" exists) and that it's "the greatest song she ever coaxed into being" (in a world where "layla" also exists), you've really lost the plot.

 

[lazarus]

I guess we should have bumped this sooner with the recent Beatoffs discussion in Random.

As you all know, I've been playing around with custom playlists for this band going on some time now. Originally, it was just to fix the "troubled" history and release of Let It Be, but eventually I tackled more sacred subjects like The White Album and Sgt. Pepper's. Why?

For me, I think it's a real shame that the marketing strategy of this period (and going up through the 1980s with acts like The Smiths, for example) had bands keeping some of their best material from album sessions off the LP and released as standalone singles. When it comes to the Beatles, even some of the B-sides (often double A sides) wound up being better that most of what made the official album tracklist.

So with Pepper's, for example, you have Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane both left off the album, and IMO only A Day in the Life reaches the peak of these two songs. What's ironic is that this album was/is still considered the greatest of all time even without them. But is there anyone who would argue that Pepper's, great as it is, wouldn't be improved by the inclusion of those songs? The same goes for Revolution and Hey Jude not being on the White Album, which is already overlong to some people but clearly these two tracks would be among its biggest standouts.

My goal is to create new canon versions of these albums that restore them to full representations of the achievements of their accompanying sessions, without trying to rearrange/meddle too much beyond the single insertions.

Anyway, I'm moving back further and now doing the same with Rubber Soul and Revolver, which also removed brilliant tracks for single release. For the former it's Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out, and for the latter it's Paperback Writer and Rain.

This is how I've chosen to reprogram Rubber Soul (additions in bold):

SIDE 1
Drive My Car
Norwegian Wood
You Won't See Me
Nowhere Man
We Can Work It Out
Think For Yourself
The Word
Michelle

SIDE 2
Day Tripper
What Goes On
Girl
I'm Looking Through You
In My Life
Wait
If I Needed Someone
Run For Your Life

This album was already lopsided in favor of John, with him singing lead on 6 tracks, and Paul only on 4 (Wait is a double lead with the two). So this isn't able to correct that but I did try to avoid having anyone sing lead on two songs in a row. We Can Work It Out now goes after Nowhere Man (a good pairing of two "mature songs") and before Harrison's Think For Yourself. Day Tripper, following Paul's side-ending Michelle, opens up Side 2 with more excitement right before the Ringo-sung What Goes On.

For Revolver, it's trickier. It seems blasphemous to put anything between Taxman and Eleanor Rigby, even if those two tracks have little in common to tie them to one another. But if my inserts have to go before or after Harrison tracks to keep the Lennon/McCartney alternation intact, this is the best I could do:

SIDE 1
Taxman
Eleanor Rigby
I'm Only Sleeping
Love You To
Rain
Here, There, and Everywhere
Yellow Submarine
She Said, She Said

SIDE 2
Good Day Sunshine
And Your Bird Can Sing
For No One
Doctor Robert
Paperback Writer
I Want To Tell You
Got To Get You Into My Life
Tomorrow Never Knows

This winds up making the first side a little lopsided towards John, and the second lopsided towards Paul, but there's no way around it. I put Rain after Harrison's Love You To, as I feel both have psychedelic elements in common. It doesn't segue in any notable way to Paul's Here, There, and Everywhere, but neither did Love You To. Paperback Writer goes after John's Doctor Robert, so that puts two rockers next to each other, and then going into George's I Want To Tell You.

Would love to get any alternate suggestions. I'm less passionate about beefing up Help! and Beatles For Sale, but I'll likely keep going backwards with this. For the record, Lady Madonna and its B-side The Inner Light were recorded months before the White Album sessions commenced so I didn't use them in my custom playlist for that one.

 

[namkcuR]

I did this exact thing years ago, in this very thread. I'll quote my entries(omitting the White Album and I change my mind about that one too often):

So, the recent bump to this thread has sent me on a Beatles kick as well. Been listening to all the records. This music never gets old.

I've been putting together playlists of some of the early records that omit all the covers and re-insert the appropriate Past Masters tracks while preserving the official running orders as much as possible. Here's what I've come up with:

Please Please Me

1. I Saw Her Standing There
2. From Me To You
3. Thank You Girl
4. Misery
5. Ask Me Why

6. Please Please Me
7. Love Me Do
8. P.S. I Love You
9. Do You Want To Know A Secret
10. There's A Place

I think this works well - ISHST and FMTY is a great one-two punch at the top, There's A Place works well as a closer, and the whole is a leaner product without the covers(six were dropped). Though I do miss Twist And Shout. It's the only cover I miss from any of these early records.

With The Beatles

1. I Want To Hold Your Hand
2. It Won't Be Long
3. All I've Got To Do
4. All My Loving
5. Don't Bother Me
6. Little Child

7. She Loves You
8. I'll Get You
9. Hold Me Tight
10. I Wanna Be Your Man
11. Not A Second Time
12. This Boy

I know some won't like It Won't Be Long being stripped of its place as the opener, but I Want To Hold Your Hand is such a shot of energy that it didn't really fit anywhere else. She Loves You and it's b-side I'll Get You give the record a boost of adrenaline opening the second side, while This Boy is a quiet closer. This was always a difficult record for me to get through because of all the covers(again, six, nearly half the record), so getting rid of them and adding in the iconic singles improves it for me.

Beatles For Sale

1. No Reply
2. I'm A Loser
3. Baby's In Black
4. I'll Follow The Sun
5. Eight Days A Week

6. Every Little Thing
7. I Don't Want To Spoil The Party
8. She's A Woman
9. I Feel Fine
10. What You're Doing

I always regarded this as the weakest of the early records, because, again, the covers always took me out of it. 6 out of 14 again. But the original material is really solid, and I realize that i never gave it enough of a chance outside No Reply and Eight Days A Week. I think the placement of I Feel Fine gives the back end of the record an umph it was lacking, and its guitar fade-out flows really well into What You're Doing, which I think is a solid closer. She's A Woman isn't really that great of a song, so you could cut if you want, but I just put it there to bulk up the second side. I feel like I've re-discovered this record the most in doing this. Good stuff.

Hard Day's Night and Help have far fewer covers(HDN has none and Help only two) and less to add in(again, nothing for HDN, and only Yes It Is and I'm Down for Help, and I'm not sure either one is worth adding), so there doesn't seem to be much to do with them.

Rubber Soul is so great. They aren't yet experimenting with sound and concept(and acid, let's be honest) in the way they would starting with Revolver, but it was a giant leap in songwriting from Help, which itself was a great record. In particular the record was a leap for Harrison I think, with Think For Yourself and If I Needed Someone. There isn't a track there that can't get stuck in your head, imo. This is some of the most purely infectious pop music they ever recorded. Even better when you add Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out back in(they work well opening each side). The kind of record that just makes you feel good.

1. Day Tripper
2. Drive My Car
3. Norwegian Wood
4. You Won't See Me
5. Nowhere Man
6. Think For Yourself
7. The Word
8. Michelle

9. We Can Work It Out
10. What Goes On
11. Girl
12. I'm Looking Through You
13. In My Life
14. Wait
15. If I Needed Someone
16. Run For Your Life

Attempting to add Paperback Writer and Rain into Revolver.

1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
5. Here There And Everywhere
6. Yellow Submarine
7. Good Day Sunshine
8. Paperback Writer

9. She Said She Said
10. Rain
11. And Your Bird Can Sing
12. For No One
13. Doctor Robert
14. I Want To Tell You
15. Got To Get You Into My Life
16. Tomorrow Never Knows

So I kept the same basic running order with only a few minor changes. I moved She Said She Said ahead of Good Day Sunshine and made it the opener of side B, with Paperback Writer being the showstopping ending of side A, and then sandwiched Rain in between She Said She Said and And Your Bird Can sing.

I had a few goals here.

I wanted Paperback Writer to end side A, because I felt that it was a big way to end a side, and I felt that it fit better with side A tracks like Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Here There And Everywhere, and Good Day Sunshine, then it would have on the back end. I also like the way McCartney's final good-day-sunshine repetitions segue into his vocal intro of Paperback Writer.

I always felt that the placement of She Said She Said was weird, because the album hops back and forth between McCartney's more traditional Yellow Submarine to Lennon's out-there She Said She Said back to the traditional Good Day Sunshine back to the out-there And Your Bird Can Sing back to the traditional For No One. I wanted to cut back on that a little, and She Said She Said, Rain, and And Your Bird Can Sing are all cut from the same cloth, I think. Plus, She Said She Said makes for a great side B opener. Finally, listening straight through, Paperback Writer segues into She Said She Said pretty well.

Ok, here's my Sgt. Pepper/MMT re-working. I basically tried to stay relatively conservative with Sgt. Pepper, adding only the tracks that were recorded in those sessions(Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane) as well as Only A Northern Star while keeping as much of the original running order as I could, also from those sessions. With MMT, having removed two tracks from it altogether, I went for a more wholesale restructuring.

Sgt. Pepper

Side A

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With A Little Help From My Friends
3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Penny Lane
6. Fixing A Hole
7. When I'm Sixty-Four
8. She's Leaving Home

22:50

Side B

1. Strawberry Fields Forever
2. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite
3. Only A Northern Song
4. Within You Without You
5. Lovely Rita
6. Good Morning Good Morning
7. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band(Reprise)
8. A Day In The Life

27:31

Ok, first let's get the elephant out of the room - yes, side A is absurdly McCartney-heavy, with all but Lucy being his. But to be fair, this is the way Sgt. Pepper is, anyway - of the six tracks on its Side A, five are Macca. I could've endeavored to fix that, but my Side B works too well, imo.

Ok, so, from the top. I can never break the opening three tracks up. They belong together.

Getting Better and Penny Lane fit very well together, the latter sounds totally natural coming after the former.

I've moved When I'm Sixty-Four to Side A to bring the two sides closer in terms of running time(otherwise they would've been like ten minutes apart), and also because I feel it fits better there. I never really liked the Within You Without You-When I'm Sixty-Four Segue. It should be noted that I've moved it back and forth from being after Fixing A Hole to being in between Penny Lane and Fixing A Hole(keeping Fixing A Hole/She's Leaving Home in-tact). I think it works a little better where it is, but could still go either way.

Strawberry Fields is an absolute killer opener for Side B and transitions smoothly into Mr. Kite.

Only A Norther Star works very well and smooths the transition to WYWY, creating a nice one-two Harrison punch.

From Lovely Rita onward, it's the regular order, which I couldn't possibly break up either.

Magical Mystery Tour

This is a more dramatic re-working. I felt that with Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane gone, and with Your Mother Should Know being in a terrible place in the running order anyway, I needed to take more drastic action.

I've also added two Yellow Submarine tracks, It's All Too Much and Hey Bulldog. For the former, I've seen it written both that it was recorded during and soon after the Sgt. Pepper sessions, but Wikipedia says it was recorded a month after Sgt. Pepper, and it fits much better sonically here. The latter was recorded after MMT, but it fits better here imo than any where else.

I've elected not to include All Together Now, despite the fact that it was recorded during the MMT sessions, because I don't think it's very good.

Side A

1. Magical Mystery Tour
2. The Fool On The Hill
3. Your Mother Should Know
4. Hello Goodbye
5. Hey Bulldog
6. Baby You're A Rich Man
7. All You Need Is Love

21:47

Side B

1. It's All Too Much
2. Flying
3. Blue Jay Way
4. I Am The Walrus

17:10

Ok, so first off, again, side A is McCartney heavy, with the first four tracks in a row being him. In this case, I do it this way because I simply think those tracks sound the most natural together. In particular, I always though putting Your Mother Should Know between Flying/Blue Jay Way and I Am The Walrus was an egregious disruption of flow. I don't dislike the song itself the way some do, but I think its placement was bad. I think it sounds much more in place coming between Fool and Hello Goodbye.

Anyway, I kept the opening duo of MMT/Fool in tact because I always loved that opening. After Mother and Hello Goodbye, I use Hey Bulldog to transition into the Baby You're A Rich Man/All You Need Is Love duo that originally closed the album. All You Need Is Love is a closer through and through, so it had to be at the end of the side.

Side B contains fewer, but longer tracks, and is less poppy in nature. Flying/Blue Jay Way can't be broken up, and the latter flows so well into Walrus that I can't believe that's not the way it was on the album. Walrus is epic, and I love the notion of the ascending strings at the end being the end of the album. It's All Too Much is a great kick-off to Side B, before mellowing out for Flying/Blue Jay Way. I think this Side B works really, really well together.

It's hard for me to mess with MMT because I associate Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane with it so much, but I think these running orders are very enjoyable(at least for me) while staying true to when things were recorded, fitting things together well, and re-incorporating the Yellow Submarine tracks.

(On this one, I still use the same track order, but I go back and forth on which versions of the tracks to use)

Custom Let It Be time...

I went back and looked at Laz's custom Let It Be. He attempted to create something that would be in keeping with the original(i.e. pre-Spector) spirit of the project. It does a pretty good job of doing that, but I went in a different direction, preferring to keep as much of the original 1970 Let It Be album as possible. Simply put, I like the Spector stuff. I'm not using a single Naked version here. I went pretty minimalist in terms of length.

All original album versions unless stated otherwise.

1. Get Back
2. Dig A Pony
3. I've Got A Feeling
4. I Me Mine
5. Let It Be

6. Two Of Us
7. For You Blue
8. Don't Let Me Down(Past Masters Version)
9. The Long And Winding Road
10. Across The Universe(Past Masters/Wildlife Version)

I like Get Back as an opener, as it's got a momentum to it that gives the record energy from the very start. Dig A Pony continues this. I feel that I've Got A Feeling and I Me Mine go very well together. I've Got A Feeling is perhaps the last example of Paul and John really collaborating, with John taking the 'every has a...' verses. I Me Mine is my favorite George track on the record, underrated imo, an is one of the tracks where I just can't bare to lose the Spector sound. I think the string orchestration at the end leads perfectly into the big closer of side A, Let It Be. I'm using the album version here - I know some prefer the more restrained guitar solo of the Past Masters version, but the album version with the all out solo is it for me. The title track was going to close one side or the other, and ultimately, I liked TLAWR better as a grand finale.

Two Of Us opens side B(it really has to open one side or another given the intro and the way its bittersweet nature is a window into the whole time period), setting the tone for the second half of the record. Laz did not include For You Blue on his Let It Be, saying that he thought it was one of the weakest tracks the band ever recorded. Simply put, I disagree. It has a really laid back, breezy vibe, and a relaxed melody, and it's chilled-out nature makes for a good break in the intensity before Don't Let Me Down. DLMD is a great track and I have no idea why it was left off the original album. Lennon delivers a really strong performance here. I put it in this placement because I think the keyboard fill at the end leads nicely into TLAWR.

The finale is a one-two punch, TLAWR+Across The Universe. Laz used the latter as a sort of coda to the finale of the title track in his list, and I thought it was a good move, so I used it as a coda to TLAWR.

In the Naked vs Original debates, perhaps no track has been debated more than TLAWR. I know there are people who couldn't stand the Spector version, who literally were never able to enjoy the song until Naked was released. I know McCartney himself hates the Spector version. I will even admit that it was sort of a crappy thing for John to do, to hire someone to embellish Paul's songs without Paul's knowledge(nothing wrong with John having his own songs embellished). All that said, for me, it has to be the Spector version. The song feels neutered of its emotional punch for me without the huge, swelling orchestration. In particular, that final instrumental break before the final verses, in the Naked version it sounds like a toy piano or something, whereas the strings in the original are majestic. Also, apart from Spector altogether, in the original, at the very end, Paul sings 'yeah yeah yeah yeah' almost under his breath, which I've always loved, and that is absent on the Naked version. So, yeah, gotta be the original for me.

I'm using the Past Masters/Wildlife version of Across The Universe, because the added background vocals/harmonies absence in the other versions is glaring to me.

I cut One After 909 because, frankly, it just doesn't do much for me. Kind of bland despite its energy. I also cut the snippets - Dig It and Maggie Mae.

So that's a pretty slim, sub-40 minute album.

Once I completed it, in an attempt to beef it up a little, I tried adding The Ballad Of John And Yoko and Old Brown Shoe.

1. Get Back
2. Dig A Pony
3. Old Brown Shoe
4. I've Got A Feeling
5. I Me Mine
6. Let It Be

7. Two Of Us
8. For You Blue
9. The Ballad Of John And Yoko
10. Don't Let Me Down
11. The Long And Winding Road
12. Across The Universe

Which works fairly well, I think, though to be honest, while both Ballad and Brown Shoe are enjoyable tracks, I could listen to the shorter 10-track version and not miss them all that much.

 

[lazarus]

I forgot about that! We didn’t arrive on any of the same choices, but in particular I like your observation about Revolver being a little schizophrenic between the experimentation and the sophisticated pop. One wonders how much they really thought about track order before they got to Sgt. Pepper’s.

My goal was to tamper less than you did, especially when it comes to album openers. I agree that Day Tripper is a better opener for Rubber Soul than Drive My Car, but not by much, and I still want to feel like I’m listening to the same album when it begins.

But yeah, I will definitely give Revolver another look in terms of flow based on your ideas.

 

[phanan]

I did this exact thing years ago, in this very thread. I'll quote my entries(omitting the White Album and I change my mind about that one too often)

Yes, I recall this conversation as well. I thought your entries were interesting, although I didn’t have the same disregard of some of their cover songs as you. Here’s my post on that and my own version of Please Please Me, which I quite like.

I progressed through the other albums as well. Will post thoughts on those later.

Nice read. I look forward to seeing your custom order lists.

Regarding the early albums, I do disagree with your dismissing of their cover songs. Not saying all of them work, but they really did put a stamp on several of them, to the point where their version is considered the definitive one. You mentioned Twist And Shout, but I'd also argue that Money, Rock And Roll Music, Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey, Slow Down, and others are in the same vein.

Obviously that's not the case with all of them (looking at you, A Taste Of Honey and Mr. Moonlight), but there's enough there to warrant inclusion. Tweaking those early albums with the singles at the time, but keeping the good covers, makes a huge difference.

Take Please Please Me for example. If you remove Chains and A Taste Of Honey and replace them with From Me To You and Thank You Girl, what is already considered a classic album is even better:

1. I Saw Her Standing There
2. Misery
3. Anna
4. From Me To You
5. Boys
6. Ask Me Why
7. Please Please Me
8. Love Me Do
9. P.S. I Love You
10. Baby It's You
11. Do You Want To Know A Secret
12. Thank You Girl
13. There's A Place
14. Twist and Shout

The same is true for their other early albums. Take out only the covers that don't work, insert singles that were recorded at roughly the same time, and you've got yourself some great early stuff (not that it wasn't great to begin with).

 

[bono_212]

One disc into The White Album and all I can say is...Fuck.


Gonna be going back on that hot take from the other day, I think.....This doesn't even sound like the same album I remember. I wonder if it's the second disc I hate....

 

[lazarus]

 

[bono_212]

OK, finished it up. Yep, that's what it was, I don't like the second disc. There are a few songs that I enjoy, but overall, that's a far less enjoyable experience for me.

Overall, if I were to keep only the songs I enjoy listening to, I'd probably end up with one VERY long single LP.

 

[lazarus]

The first disc is definitely better, but Monkey, Sexy Sadie, and Cry Baby Cry are so damned good.

 

[cobl04]

Don't miss Birthday, Yer Blues, Helter Skelter and Savoy Truffle.

 

[Hollow Island]

yeah, forget everything i said about that book. i don't know what happened to the author, but once he gets to talking about sgt pepper it turns into hot take after hot take presented as absolute unassailable fact.

when you're at the point of saying that "it's all too much" is unquestionably george's finest tribute to pattie boyd (in a world where "something" exists) and that it's "the greatest song she ever coaxed into being" (in a world where "layla" also exists), you've really lost the plot.

It's All Too Much is a tribute to LSD, not Patti. I enjoyed that book at lot though and appreciate that Sheffield doesn't pretend to be authoritative, unlike that hack Philip Norman.



Beatles 66 and Flying So High are two amazing, excellently researched Beatles books that seem to have flown under the radar.