The Beatles Appreciation Thread

[cobl04]

Perhaps I will check a bunch of albums offline in Spotify. I'm flying to France tomorrow to see my girlfriend for three weeks.

[lazarus]

Bad timing. I'll be pulling into Paris on the 28th.

[lazarus]

Originally Posted by the tourist

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)

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.

Originally Posted by the tourist

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.

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.

[the tourist]

Originally Posted by lazarus

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.

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?

[DaveC]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0lmqGT5s7Q

[lazarus]

Harrison shredding

Will never understand why this got vetoed by the other 3, maybe they didn't like the passive aggressive lyrics.

[namkcuR]

Originally Posted by lazarus

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.

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.

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?

[Lancemc]

Originally Posted by namkcuR

Also, I guess no one wants to share in my Rubber Soul love from earlier?

Pretty much flawless. My favorite Beatles album next to Revolver.

[namkcuR]

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)

[DaveC]

surely you have to have ringo singing on at least one track though.

[DaveC]

Review: 'The Beatles: Live at the Hollywood Bowl' Offers Raw Frenzy - Rolling Stone

[namkcuR]

Originally Posted by DaveC

surely you have to have ringo singing on at least one track though.

He does - Good Night.

[lazarus]

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.

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by namkcuR

He does - Good Night.

good. just making sure.

[namkcuR]

Originally Posted by lazarus

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.

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.

[DaveC]

i would swap piggies for why don't we do it in the road, without hesitation.

[namkcuR]

Originally Posted by DaveC

i would swap piggies for why don't we do it in the road, without hesitation.

Disagree. Piggies has a nice melody.

[the tourist]

Originally Posted by namkcuR

Disagree. Piggies has a nice melody.

Agreed. I love Piggies. In the upper half on the album for me.

[GirlsAloudFan]

Originally Posted by DaveC

i would swap piggies for why don't we do it in the road, without hesitation.

You're missing our fantasy football draft right now, man.

[lazarus]

Originally Posted by namkcuR

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.

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.