The Beatles Appreciation Thread

[namkcuR]

Oh gosh! I had completely forgotten Hey Bulldog and Lady Madonna! I used to have those two in my White Album playlist. Gonna have to go rethink a couple things. Doesn't help that I rarely listen to music on my computer anymore I suppose....

I don't know, I think Hey Bulldog fits better on MMT. I know it was recorded a couple months after those sessions, but it's still closer to the spirit of MMT than the White Album imo, as opposed to Lady Madonna which clearly is from the same cloth as Ob-La-Di, Martha My Dear, and other McCartney-written White Album stuff.

 

[DaveC]

Yeah, looks like they were recorded in the same week in February 1968.

Speaking of Bulldog, I just listened to those four Yellow Submarine tracks last night for the first time in ages(really, other than Bulldog I'd barely listened to the others ever). Three out of four of them are nothing less than hidden treasures.

Everyone knows Bulldog, but Only A Northern Star has such a gorgeous melody, and It's All Too Much might be the most psychedelic non-sitar-related thing, aside from Blue Jay Way, Harrison ever wrote as a Beatle. Good shit. Really dig these tracks.

McCartney's All Together Now, on the other hand, might be the weakest Beatles track in existence. .

i agree with every single word of this.

 

[namkcuR]

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 Star
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.

 

[lazarus]

It's called Only A Northern SONG, not Star.

I think your version of Pepper's is pretty close to mine. Will check when I get home.

 

[DaveC]

only change i would make Ruckman is to ditch when i'm sixty-four ( ) and put strawberry fields to end side 1 of pepper.

 

[namkcuR]

It's called Only A Northern SONG, not Star.

I think your version of Pepper's is pretty close to mine. Will check when I get home.

lol, I even knew that and still made the mistake after telling myself not to. My bad.

 

[lazarus]

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 Star
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

So here's where I went with mine:

SIDE A
1. Sgt. Pepper's
2. With A Little Help
3. Lucy in the Sky
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing A Hole
6. Being for the Benefit
7. Within You Without You
8. Strawberry Fields Forever

SIDE B
10. Penny Lane
11. When I'm 64
12. She's Leaving Home
13. Only A Northern Song
14. Lovely Rita
15. Good Morning
16. Sgt. reprise
17. A Day in the Life


I did a little less tampering with the original, dropping the two big singles around the break, and moving the tepid She's Leaving Home to Side B. I guess I prefer the first side the album to keep moving energy wise, so it goes from the poppier stuff to a little psychedelic suite with Kite, Within, and Strawberry at the end. The latter seems like more of a side closer than an opener IMO; it's a showstopper for me because of the build-up, not unlike A Day in the Life.

Then you have Penny Lane, a breath of fresh air to kick off Side two. I think the humorous domesticity of 64 leads nicely into the sad She's Leaving Home, as both are about aging in a sense. There's no getting around the frivolousness of Rita and Good Morning so may as well keep them where they are, with Harrison's bonus track added in there to give the second side a bit more character.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

i agree with every single word of this.

So do I.

Also, I find it really fucking annoying that the film version of "It's All Too Much" has like an extra verse and it hasn't been released like ever on its own.

 

[namkcuR]

So here's where I went with mine:

SIDE A
1. Sgt. Pepper's
2. With A Little Help
3. Lucy in the Sky
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing A Hole
6. Being for the Benefit
7. Within You Without You
8. Strawberry Fields Forever

SIDE B
10. Penny Lane
11. When I'm 64
12. She's Leaving Home
13. Only A Northern Song
14. Lovely Rita
15. Good Morning
16. Sgt. reprise
17. A Day in the Life


I did a little less tampering with the original, dropping the two big singles around the break, and moving the tepid She's Leaving Home to Side B. I guess I prefer the first side the album to keep moving energy wise, so it goes from the poppier stuff to a little psychedelic suite with Kite, Within, and Strawberry at the end. The latter seems like more of a side closer than an opener IMO; it's a showstopper for me because of the build-up, not unlike A Day in the Life.

Then you have Penny Lane, a breath of fresh air to kick off Side two. I think the humorous domesticity of 64 leads nicely into the sad She's Leaving Home, as both are about aging in a sense. There's no getting around the frivolousness of Rita and Good Morning so may as well keep them where they are, with Harrison's bonus track added in there to give the second side a bit more character.

I definitely get your reasoning, but for me Strawberry Fields - a showstopper no matter where you put it - just goes better with the second side, especially when Mr. Kite is still there. I think it does a great job of setting the stage for a much more psychedelic side B. Also, I like the idea of that side B being bookended by two of Lennon's greatest works(Strawberry Fields and A Day In The Life). I also think Penny Lane goes better with the poppier stuff on side A. Also, different strokes for different folks, and I know you hate Lovely Rita, but I really dig both it and Good Morning Good Morning. I think they're both eminently catchy.

Any thoughts on my MMT attempt?

 

[DaveC]

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.

while i agree with mmt and fool being great openers, i'm not a fan of all four macca songs at the front. here's how i would do side a:

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

i think hey bulldog is a much better side closer than all you need is love (which in my opinion shouldn't even be on this album - i think that song should really have been a one-off), especially if side b is closing with walrus they make a good pair. i love the manic freakout at the end, ringo's little ad-lib, and the false fade-out reminiscent of helter skelter, which also should have been a side-closer on the white album.

your side b is absolutely perfect.

edit: and yes, all together now is absolutely the worst original song the beatles (read: mccartney) ever wrote.

 

[phanan]

My Sgt. Pepper has essentially remained unchanged since the last time we discussed this.

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. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
6. Fixing A Hole
7. She's Leaving Home
8. Within You Without You


9. Strawberry Fields Forever
10. Penny Lane
11. Only A Northern Song
12. When I'm Sixty Four
13. Lovely Rita
14. Good Morning Good Morning
15. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
16. A Day In The Life

 

[MrPryck2U]

Last year, somewhere in my travels, I came upon the Anthology book. I've scanned through it, but have never read it all the way. Has anybody read this book?

 

[namkcuR]

Last year, somewhere in my travels, I came upon the Anthology book. I've scanned through it, but have never read it all the way. Has anybody read this book?

Yes, I have it. If you are a fan of the Beatles, it is a must read. Have you read U2 By U2? If so, Anthology was almost certainly the template/inspiration. It's the same format.

 

[MrPryck2U]

Yes, I have it. If you are a fan of the Beatles, it is a must read. Have you read U2 By U2? If so, Anthology was almost certainly the template/inspiration. It's the same format.

Yes, I have that also. Thanks for the feedback! Gotta give Anthology a proper read then.

 

[DaveC]

anyone going to see this?

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Seeing it tomorrow.

 

[DaveC]

i've been told to stay after the credits.

 

[david]

The Ron Howard Beatles doc is now on Hulu. Watching now..


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[iron yuppie]

I've been listening to a Beatles list during my workouts lately, finally on a high-end set of earbuds, and it reminds me how talented they all were as vocalists. Paul especially has some really evocative moments, like on Oh Darling. Even Ringo, as goofy as the guy is as a singer, brings a stupid grin to my face every time I hear him on vocals.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Funny you single out Oh Darling for Paul. It's one of the few times John specifically called out Paul for a vocal. John felt he should have sung it and that it suited his voice a lot better.

Not saying that makes him right. I agree with you, I like Paul's vocal on it.

 

[lazarus]

No surprise, I agree with John. The vocal sounds too forced to me. Would definitely have been a better fit for John's rawer yell.

 

[DaveC]

"if i fell" on a pair of high end headphones is about as beautiful as human vocals get, to me.

 

[DaveC]

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Anybody seen the Freda Kelly documentary on Netflix? What a babe. Hot damn.

 

[intedomine]

Been hooked on It's All Too Much and Only a Northern Song lately. Two songs that are kind of buried in the Beatles catalogue, but are quirky and very enjoyable as standalone songs. Really enjoy them both.


Sent from a barge floating through the docks of Dublin

 

[DaveC]

i saw that doc a while ago, it's pretty cool. good ol' freda.

 

[corianderstem]

"if i fell" on a pair of high end headphones is about as beautiful as human vocals get, to me.

Although the version where Paul's voice cracks on "vain" never fails to crack me up.

 

[MrPryck2U]

36 years ago today, a madman gunned down our John. RIP, Mr. Lennon.

 

[lazarus]

GET HYPE

I've been waiting for this ever since they announced the Pepper remaster/mix.



I appreciate that they're acknowledging the unique challenge of this project compared to the last one.

Amazon currently has the super deluxe whatever for $140. A bit steep, but this is my #2 album of all time.

 

[corianderstem]

I finally watched Yellow Submarine a few weeks ago, as it was on Amazon. I can't believe I'd never seen it before. Didn't really know what to expect - but it wasn't that. So fun.