The Beatles Appreciation Thread

[the tourist]

I'm not saying there's not any filler on The White Album, but cutting 6 songs still seems like too much to me.

I'd get rid of Savoy Truffle, but replace it with Not Guilty. Wild Honey Pie and regular Honey Pie can disappear. I like Ringo's track and would keep it, plus the little saloon piano flows perfectly from Rocky Raccoon. Revolution 9 is pretty groundbreaking and while I'm not always in the mood for it I think it's an important thing to have on there. Why Don't We Do It is one of the best things Paul ever recorded, and its excited vocal isn't forced like it is Oh Darling and Helter Skelter. And cutting Yer Blues? Jesus.

I’m pretty sure we’ve had this exact conversation before. I love Savoy Truffle because of the sinister undertones of the music juxtaposed with the silliness of the lyrics. Yer Blues, Don’t Pass Me By, Bungalow Bill, and Why Don’t We Do It In The Road are just lesser than the rest to me and have been since my first listen. And then Revolution 9 is an always skip for me. As for Not Guilty, I listened once shortly after I first posted my custom White Album playlist and didn’t have any strong feelings about it.

In my opinion the songs that I subtract would have been better suited to a side EP in the vein of Sgt. Pepper/(original EP) Magical Mystery Tour.

 

[Zephyrpilot]

Paul McCartney should do a cover of GOYB. See if the Beatles can fix it.

MY FAVS
Blackbird
Norwegian Wood
We Can Work It Out
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

 

[bono_212]

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.

I, too, watched it recently for the same reason. I haven't seen it since I was a kid and didn't remember it *at all*. I had a great time. My brother was on the plane next to me while I was watching it and he kept tapping me on the shoulder and I'd take my headphone out and he'd go, "What were they on for this scene?" lol. He couldn't hear a thing, he was just watching the visuals over my shoulder and just kept looking at me bug-eyed.

 

[DaveC]

i just read the portion of the bob spitz bio where pete was sacked. man that was poorly handled. i can't even imagine how it must have felt for him to see where they were only six months later and knowing how close he was to having that himself.

another thing that struck me was how neil aspinall, upon picking pete up from the meeting where he'd been fired, immediately resolved to quit being the beatles' driver out of personal loyalty to pete (and also the fact that he'd had a secret child with pete's mother only three weeks earlier), and pete took him to a bar and spent all evening talking him out of it. he stayed on with the band and became one of the most integral parts of the beatles story, eventually becoming the CEO of apple corps and managing their collective business affairs for the rest of his life. it's crazy to think how different his life would have been in every way if pete hadn't convinced him to stay on, or if neil went and immediately quit that job like he intended to.

there are so many little fortuitous moments like that in the group's history where if any one of them had occurred slightly differently, the beatles would never have become famous outside of liverpool, and essentially, each and every one of our lives would be different.

 

[cobl04]

Cool avatar, Dave.

Yeah, I just suggested the early ones because they’re short and you could get through all 5 in less than the time it would take to watch 3 episodes of a show like Stranger Things.

I wouldn't watch Stranger Things.

 

[DaveC]

lol yea i was searching for an "ALL CAPS" gif the other day for a reddit post and came across that and knew it would be a good avatar.

 

[DaveC]

i just read the portion of the bob spitz bio where pete was sacked. man that was poorly handled. i can't even imagine how it must have felt for him to see where they were only six months later and knowing how close he was to having that himself.

rereading this, it also needs to be said that pete was a pretty mediocre drummer and didn't develop talent-wise along with the rest. the decca audition tapes are awful, mainly because there's almost zero energy to the songs (although they all shared some of the blame for that). he can't do anything with his bass drum except 4/4 or nothing at all, he weirdly plays the toms lightly at parts where he should be bashing the shit out of his snare, and he's concentrating so hard on just keeping a steady beat that there's no fills or embellishments to make his playing interesting at all.

contrast that to the "live at the star-club in hamburg 1962" bootleg where they had ringo and it sounds like he's keith fucking moon. the energy is off the charts and the band is on fire. it's plainly obvious when you listen to that, that they needed ringo in order to become what they did.

so yea i'm sure it really hurt for pete, but either he was going to have to be sacked soon anyways or probably end up holding the band back.

 

[the tourist]

Cool avatar, Dave.







I wouldn't watch Stranger Things.

That’s not really the point. Just an example of a show that’s just short of an hour. I think you knew that.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Stranger Things rules.

 

[namkcuR]

The early albums are absolutely worth checking out. Though I don't know what hope there is for Cobbler enjoying them if he thinks All My Loving is "throwaway". To think of all the songwriters that would kill to have written such a "throwaway". It's a gorgeous, catchy, and pretty much a standard.

Anyway, if nothing else, the soundtrack albums - Hard Day's Night and Help - are essential listening from the early period.

Lennon - HDN:
Hard Day's Night
I Should Have Known Better
If I Fell
I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
Any Time At All
I'll Be Back

McCartney - HDN:
And I Love Her
Can't Buy Me Love
Things We Said Today

Lennon - Help:
Help
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Ticket To Ride
You're Gonna Lose That Girl
It's Only Love

McCartney - Help:
The Night Before
Another Girl
Tell Me What You See
I've Just Seen A Face
Yesterday

Harrison - Help:
I Need You
You Like Me Too Much

 

[LemonMelon]

While the album as a whole isn't their best, the highlights of Beatles For Sale are among my early favorites:

No Reply
I'm a Loser
Baby's in Black
I'll Follow the Sun
Eight Days a Week
Every Little Thing
What You're Doing

People who act like the album is bad are full of shit.

 

[lazarus]

Yeah, Beatles For Sale always seems to get the lower regard and I'll take it over all the others before it just for those first four tracks you listed above.

 

[Joey788]

Those early albums are super underrated. Lots of spectacular songwriting that’s just overwhelmed by everything they did from Rubber Soul onwards.

I’d like to vouch for Magical Mystery Tour as underrated as well. If you just look at original EP songs from it, rather than the tacked on singles, it’s still a pretty strong set.

The title track, Fool on the Hill, Blue Jay Way, and I Am The Walrus are all really strong. I think Your Mother Should Know is terrible but McCartney’s done worse songs. Overall I think it’s a really enjoyable stop between Sgt Pepper and the White Album.

As for my White Album Rushmore:

Dear Prudence
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Helter Skelter

 

[namkcuR]

While the album as a whole isn't their best, the highlights of Beatles For Sale are among my early favorites:

No Reply
I'm a Loser
Baby's in Black
I'll Follow the Sun
Eight Days a Week
Every Little Thing
What You're Doing

People who act like the album is bad are full of shit.

Yeah, Beatles For Sale always seems to get the lower regard and I'll take it over all the others before it just for those first four tracks you listed above.

My opinion on BFS has come up in recent years, and I love No Reply/I'm A Loser/I'll Follow The Sun/Eight Days A Week, but I can't help feel like the album has gone from being underrated to being overrated around here. It's fine, it's got some great songs, but I can't agree with Laz about the underlined statement - top-to-bottom, Hard Day's Night is a stronger, more cohesive collection of songs, with no covers. Of the early albums, only Help might be better.

 

[corianderstem]

I love those early albums.

 

[the tourist]

My opinion on BFS has come up in recent years, and I love No Reply/I'm A Loser/I'll Follow The Sun/Eight Days A Week, but I can't help feel like the album has gone from being underrated to being overrated around here. It's fine, it's got some great songs, but I can't agree with Laz about the underlined statement - top-to-bottom, Hard Day's Night is a stronger, more cohesive collection of songs, with no covers. Of the early albums, only Help might be better.

For early albums I’d go like this:

Help
A Hard Day’s Night
With The Beatles
Beatles For Sale
Please Please Me

 

[LemonMelon]

I'd go:

Help! (B+)
A Hard Day's Night (B+)
Beatles For Sale (B)
Please Please Me (B)
With The Beatles (B-)

But my rankings have always been a little strange. I've got Magical Mystery Tour ranked second overall.

 

[lazarus]

For whatever reason, I don’t really include Help when I talk about the “early” albums. I know the clear dividing line for most people is between it and Rubber Soul, but for me it’s a little hazier. Maybe it’s the sophistication of Yesterday and You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, I don’t know. But clearly it’s their best album up to that point and makes it less of an interesting debate to include it.

 

[namkcuR]

For whatever reason, I don’t really include Help when I talk about the “early” albums. I know the clear dividing line for most people is between it and Rubber Soul, but for me it’s a little hazier. Maybe it’s the sophistication of Yesterday and You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, I don’t know. But clearly it’s their best album up to that point and makes it less of an interesting debate to include it.

I agree that Help includes obvious harbingers of what's to come on Rubber Soul, like those you mentioned and even I've Just Seen A Face, but to me, as a whole, it just fits much more with the early records than with Rubber Soul or certainly anything after Rubber Soul.

 

[LemonMelon]

I mean...Dizzie Miss Lizzie and Act Naturally wouldn't have appeared on any later albums. And the sophistication of Yesterday, Help!, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away and Ticket to Ride is apparent on Things We Said Today, No Reply, I'm a Loser, etc. I think that album slots in really nicely with its predecessors while hinting at something more.

Likely because of the lack of covers, I've actually seen a lot of people vouch for A Hard Day's Night as the hands-down best of the early years. It's an interesting position, but the peaks of Help! are just better IMO.

 

[Hewson]

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.

I, too, watched it recently for the same reason. I haven't seen it since I was a kid and didn't remember it *at all*. I had a great time. My brother was on the plane next to me while I was watching it and he kept tapping me on the shoulder and I'd take my headphone out and he'd go, "What were they on for this scene?" lol. He couldn't hear a thing, he was just watching the visuals over my shoulder and just kept looking at me bug-eyed.

It used to be on TV when I was a kid (I think annually like they used to show the Wizard of Oz) and I would watch it every chance. Very different interpretation/understanding of it as a kid vs. as an adult. As a kid just thought it was a fun romp battling the Blue Meanies with some cool music attached.

 

[intedomine]

While the album as a whole isn't their best, the highlights of Beatles For Sale are among my early favorites:

No Reply
I'm a Loser
Baby's in Black
I'll Follow the Sun
Eight Days a Week
Every Little Thing
What You're Doing

People who act like the album is bad are full of shit.

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

And these songs aren't as poptastic as She Loves You, From Me To You either.

No Reply has a more sinister sound than these pop singles.

I'm tempted to revisit the album - the harmonies in Every Little Thing, the sheer beauty of Follow The Sun. Love t

 

[bono_212]

It used to be on TV when I was a kid (I think annually like they used to show the Wizard of Oz) and I would watch it every chance. Very different interpretation/understanding of it as a kid vs. as an adult. As a kid just thought it was a fun romp battling the Blue Meanies with some cool music attached.

Yeah the whole time I was watching it, I wished I could remember how I'd felt about it as a kid to compare, because man, what a whacked out film.

 

[MrPryck2U]

My White Album Rushmore would be:

USSR
Prudence
Onion
Guitar


I haven't listened to the White Album in its entirety since the 1990's. Its got some great songs on it, but there's a lot of stuff that shouldn't have made the final cut. Piggies, Honey Pie, and Savoy Truffle come to mind. This was the first Beatles album where George Martin's input meant close to nothing. Forcing him to take a leave of absence. Ringo at some point quit the band. I mean, shit, this album is the beginning of the end for The Beatles. Pretty fucking depressing. And ironically enough, Yer Blues is also one of my favorites and it's about being lonely and wanting to die. But, if you call yourself a Beatles fan, you at least have to have the album in your library. At least for an historical perspective. The fun drug use enjoyed during the previous albums gave way to the hard drugs on this one and it shows.

 

[cobl04]

I won't hear a bad word about Savoy Truffle, that song fucking slaps.

Not everyone, I understand the appeal of those earlier songs, and I get why they are so important and influential, and I get the impressiveness of the harmonies and the playing.

But it's just a style of music that shits me up the wall. To me, they're all two-minute songs with airy-fairy singing, they all sound the same, they're all called essentially a variation of "Here's to You" with lyrics that are extremely simple and lightweight. Now in 1963 of course they would have been revolutionary but all my life they've sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me.

 

[lazarus]

Listen to Let It Be.

And Past Masters Vol. 2.

 

[cobl04]

I should listen to MMT too. I’ve owned it for years.

 

[david]

Flying followed by Blue Jay Way is such a trippy two song segment of MMT.

 

[lazarus]

I should listen to MMT too. I’ve owned it for years.

Friggin'

 

[LemonMelon]

The second half of MMT is one of the best stretches of music ever. All genres. Always. It contains my favorite song of all time (Strawberry Fields Forever) and another for the top 50 (Penny Lane).

Thing is, the first half really holds together too. Airy psychedelia and considerable experimentation. Collectively, I see it as a masterpiece, even if it wasn't intended to be one.