The Beatles Appreciation Thread

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the tourist said:
I seem to remember laz pointing out that some of the Sgt. Pepper's and Magical Mystery Tour stuff came from different sessions (which I didn't really care about then and now having done a bunch of recording sessions, don't really care about now either)
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Well, the points that I'd previously made were that Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane were written and intended for Sgt. Pepper's and pulled to be released as singles. It's not exactly revisionist history to stick them back on there in a custom playlist, as they're better than most of what's actually on the album. I also put Only A Northern Song on there (from the same sessions), so Harrison has a second contribution.

Magical Mystery Tour, I'll say again, isn't an album. The first side is an EP and the second side is a collection of singles and b-sides from varied time periods.

the tourist said:
Without listening to transitions, I'd do something like this on paper:

1. Back In The USSR
2. Dear Prudence
3. Glass Onion
4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
5. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
6. Blackbird
7. Martha My Dear
8. Piggies
9. Rocky Raccoon
10. Mother Nature's Son
11. Julia

1. Birthday
2. Everybody's Got Something To Hide
3. Sexy Sadie
4. Helter Skelter
5. Long Long Long
6. I'm So Tired
7. Revolution
8. Savoy Truffle
9. Cry Baby Cry
10. Hey Jude
11. Good Night

8 Paul songs, 9 John songs, 4 George songs, 1 Ringo song.
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No custom White Album playlist should be without Harrison's Not Guilty. Destroys three of his songs that made the cut, and I'd put it above While My Guitar... myself.
 
lazarus said:
No custom White Album playlist should be without Harrison's Not Guilty. Destroys three of his songs that made the cut, and I'd put it above While My Guitar... myself.
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I've never heard Not Guilty. At least I don't think I have. I've never listened to the Anthology stuff. Have those been remastered? Otherwise it would stick out in a playlist with the rest being remastered, wouldn't it?
 
lazarus said:
Magical Mystery Tour, I'll say again, isn't an album. The first side is an EP and the second side is a collection of singles and b-sides from varied time periods.
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While this is technically true, its U.S. form as an album was standardized in 1987, I assume with the McCartney/Harrison/Starr's approval, so I don't see the harm in calling it an album. Also, aside from SFF and Penny Lane, the rest was all recorded between May and November 67, so it would make sense to put them together. Putting Hello Goodbye and All You Need Is Love back on it in particular is really not much different than putting SFF and Penny Lane back on Sgt Pepper. Anyway, I think too many people are too used to it as an album at this point for that perception to be undone.


No custom White Album playlist should be without Harrison's Not Guilty. Destroys three of his songs that made the cut, and I'd put it above While My Guitar... myself.
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Ok, we're all entitled to our opinions, but while I think Not Guilty is an interesting aside with some nice guitar licks, I don't hear this standout track that they were nuts to leave off. It's kind of directionless. I wouldn't say it destroys Long Long Long either, as that's a gorgeous tune, and the one I prefer. But more than anything, I simply can't see taking it over While My Guitar, ever. While My Guitar Gently Weeps is one of the greatest songs ever written, and it slays me every time.

Different Strokes.


Also, I guess no one wants to share in my Rubber Soul love from earlier?
 
Made a custom White Album I'm pretty happy with(I made one way back when the remasters first came out, but decided it wasn't up to snuff).

Disc 1:

Side A:

1. Back In The U.S.S.R. - McCartney
2. Dear Prudence - Lennon
3. Glass Onion - Lennon
4. Happiness Is A Warm Gun - Lennon
5. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill - Lennon
6. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - McCartney
---
4 Lennon, 2 McCartney, 18:01

Side B:

1. I Will - McCartney
2. Martha My Dear - McCartney
3. Piggies - Harrison
4. Rocky Raccoon - McCartney
5. Blackbird - McCartney
6. Julia - Lennon
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Harrison
---
4 McCartney, 2 Harrison, 1 Lennon, 19:49

------
6 McCartney, 5 Lennon, 2 Harrison, 37:50


Disc 2:

Side C:

1. Revolution(Past Masters Version) - Lennon
2. Yer Blues - Lennon
3. Everybody's Got Something To Hide - Lennon
4. Sexy Sadie - Lennon
5. Savoy Truffle - Harrison
6. Not Guilty - Harrison
7. Long, Long, Long - Harrison
---
4 Lennon, 3 Harrison, 23:32

Side D:

1. Helter Skelter - McCartney
2. I'm So Tired - Lennon
3. Cry Baby Cry - Lennon
4. Mother Nature's Son - McCartney
5. Hey Jude - McCartney
6. Good Night - Lennon
---
3 McCartney, 3 Lennon, 22:44
------
7 Lennon, 3 McCartney, 3 Harrison, 46:16


I tried to give each side a distinct flavor while retaining some of the original structure. Side B is the all stripped-down/emotional side, with the exception of the finale of While My Guitar. I felt that While My Guitar is too epic to not end a side. Thought about using the Love version to fit better with the rest of the acoustic stuff there, but couldn't bring myself to. Side C is the John-George show, featuring more out-there(at the time) sounding stuff. Side D is basically, start with Helter Skelter, finish with Hey Jude/Good Night while putting relatively quieter stuff in between to increase the impact of the finale.

Transitions work really well, I think. The whole run from Glass Onion to Ob-La-Di particularly(applause at the end of bungalow bill goes well with the keyboard intro to Ob-La-Di), the acoustic stuff on side B goes together well, the stuff on side c is cut from the same cloth etc.

Just gave the whole thing a listen an am very pleased.

Cut: Wild Honey Pie, Don't Pass Me By, Why Don't We Do It In The Road, Birthday, Honey Pie, Revolution 9(I'm sorry, it's interesting but I don't want eight minutes of it in my playlist)
 
Why Don't We Do It In The Road? is one of my fav Macca tracks. Genuinely a curveball and not in a forced way.

Nice to see you made room for Not Guilty, though. But Savoy Truffle is dumb and clearly b-side material.
 
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lazarus said:
Why Don't We Do It In The Road? is one of my fav Macca tracks. Genuinely a curveball and not in a forced way.

Nice to see you made room for Not Guilty, though. But Savoy Truffle is dumb and clearly b-side material.
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Savoy Truffle is dumb lyrically, in a harmless way, but musically I like it, the dirtiness of the riffs and the harmonies in the vocals.

Why Don't We Do It In The Road is just that line over and over again. I'd say that's b-side material.
 
namkcuR said:
Savoy Truffle is dumb lyrically, in a harmless way, but musically I like it, the dirtiness of the riffs and the harmonies in the vocals.

Why Don't We Do It In The Road is just that line over and over again. I'd say that's b-side material.
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Doesn't follow verse-chorus-verse structure, so that makes it a b-side?

I Want You (She's So Heavy) doesn't have many more words and that's one of their best tracks, period.

I think what Macca is doing is playful and on an album of anything goes, fits in perfectly. Savoy Truffle sounds like some generic song that would be playing in a 60s party scene in a movie.
 
lazarus said:
Doesn't follow verse-chorus-verse structure, so that makes it a b-side?

I Want You (She's So Heavy) doesn't have many more words and that's one of their best tracks, period.

I think what Macca is doing is playful and on an album of anything goes, fits in perfectly. Savoy Truffle sounds like some generic song that would be playing in a 60s party scene in a movie.
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It doesn't having anything to do with verse-chorus-verse. It's just that it's boring(to me). Yes, I Want You only has one or two lines of lyrics as well, but musically it's vastly more interesting, Lennon delivers the line differently every time, and the harmonies in the 'she's so heavy' refrains, and the infectious guitar line that can go on forever. I know you love I Want You so I don't have to tell you how great it is. I just can't see comparing it to Why Don't at all.

Let's just agree to disagree about Savoy Truffle. Lyrically it's fluff but musically it does it for me.
 
lazarus said:
Doesn't follow verse-chorus-verse structure, so that makes it a b-side?

I Want You (She's So Heavy) doesn't have many more words and that's one of their best tracks, period.

I think what Macca is doing is playful and on an album of anything goes, fits in perfectly. Savoy Truffle sounds like some generic song that would be playing in a 60s party scene in a movie.
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ooo so close. i was 100% with you until the savoy truffle remark.
 
Ever since my first listen of The White Album in full when I was 20 or so, Why Don't We Do It In The Road? has been one of my least favorite songs. There are only a few I'd rate lower, to be honest. The only thing that stands out on it, to me, is the bass line. Musically it reminds me of another Beatles song that's among my least favorite on its album: Good Day Sunshine. Only much less interesting vocals on the former.
 
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.
 
namkcuR said:
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.
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:applaud:

I don't like that part either. But as much as Macca annoys me, I was trying to stay close to artist intention. Let's just say that it's taking a while to adjust to the stripped-down version.

The other argument is that there's already a big, sentimental number in Let It Be, and making Winding Road an overproduction as well is perhaps too much on one album. I enjoy the strings as well, I think it's the choir vocals where it goes too far.


namkcuR said:
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.
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We'll have to disagree again here because I think The Ballad of John & Yoko is my favorite from these entire sessions. Such a catchy song, with funny as well as personal lyrics. Plus I love the story about Paul helping John on this one and the two playing all the instruments without the others.
 
namkcuR said:
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 .
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Put me down as one of those in favor of the single version. I think the guitar solo on the album version totally disrupts the flow of the song.

I tend to prefer a lot of the Naked versions, which might place me in the minority here, not sure. The songs are mixed better to my ears, and the sparseness of the arrangements in TLAWR and ATU are more powerful.

For Get Back, Let It Be, and Don't Bring Me Down, I use Past Masters. I've Got A Feeling is the original.

And I like Dig It and Maggie Mae. Gotta leave some of the spontaneity on the album intact.
 
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