Beatles

[ubu_roi]

When I was younger, the White Album was my favorite Beatles album...as I got older, though, I came to appreciate Abbey Road more and more. The White Album is indeed a bit "rough and ready" which probably excited me more in my youthful exuberance.

[victor meldrew]

Originally Posted by herbsmith

How the White Album could have sounded:

Side 1
Back In The USSR
Dear Prudence
Ob-Li-Di Ob-La-Da
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Blackbird
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Across The Universe

Side Two
Revolution (rock version)
I Will
Birthday
I'm So Tired
Honey Pie
Bungalow Bill
Hey Jude




This gets rid of the half-baked Harrison tunes, the decent-not-great Lennon rockers, the Ringo tunes, and the novelty/experimental stuff (and still leaves off many fan favorites).

( BTW, although "Hey Jude" was not intended to be included on the LP release, it was recorded during the White Album sessions and was released as a stand-alone single. "Hey Jude's" B-side, "Revolution", was an alternative version of the album's "Revolution 1". Lennon had wanted the original version of "Revolution" to be released as a single, but the other three Beatles objected on the grounds that it was too slow. A new, faster version, with heavily distorted guitar was recorded.
Across The Universe (IMO, the most underrated Beatles lyric) was also recorded around The White Album session, but Lennon wanted it as a single, and when the other Beatles didn't agree, he decided it was too good for an album cut, and held it back, presumably to re-record it.)

Anyway, that'd be a pretty good album.

Thank God it did'nt.

[haldane4]

I love the White Album how it is: it's an epic folly, very much in the revolutionary spirit of '68.

Also you have to have a numbered top opening vinyl 1st or 2nd issue to appreciate holding that work of art in your hands. Some girlfriends felt that way: never thought I'd be the same about a piece of vinyl.

[stardust2003]

John , George and Paul, three amazingly talented songwriters
feted around the world.
Funny though, that talent does nt seem to have been passed on
in the genes.
Cant think of any of their children writing brilliant songs !
... am I wrong ?

[tygrkhat40]

Well, Paul's daughters have gone into different fields than daddy, Stella is a fashion designer. Dhani Harrison plays but hasn't really gone into music as a profession and Julian and Sean Lennnon have had limited success with their music.

[stardust2003]

Come to think of it, its quite hard to find any of the sons and daughters of famous songwriters making it big like their dad .
think of them all, Dylan, Pete Townsend, Burt Baccarat, Ray Davies..
on and on.

The only one I can think of is Kirsty MacColl who I think wrote some
brilliant songs, she was of course the very talented daughter of the songwriter performer... Ewan MacColl.

[tygrkhat40]

I think that Jacob Dylan has done fairly well for himself, better than say, Julian Lennon. But to compare either scion to their illustrious fathers is grossly unfair to the boys.

[stardust2003]

Thanks, Ill have to check Jacob out
maybe he has inherrited a bit of his dads genius ?

[victor meldrew]

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

This goes into the theory that between the 50's heyday of Elvis and the beginning of the British Invasion (roughly 1959-64) that because Elvis went into the US Army; Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, the Big Bopper and Eddie Cochran died; Chuck Berry went to prison; Jerry Lee Lewis was blackballed and Little Richard went into the seminary, rock was "dead."

But during this period, the following songs were #1 hits: "Stagger Lee" by Lloyd Price, "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison, "Save the Last Dance For Me" by the Drifters, "Quarter to Three" by Gary "U.S." Bonds, "Runaround Sue" by Dion, "The Loco-Motion" by Little Eva, "Sherry," "Walk Like a Man" and "Big Girls Don't Cry" by the Four Seasons, "He's a Rebel" by the Crystals, "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons and "Fingertips-Part 2" by Little Stevie Wonder. In addition, there were other girl groups with hits, early soul music out of Chicago, surf music out of Southern California and the earliest releases from Motown and Stax/Volt of Memphis. Oh, yeah and the Beach Boys came on the scene as well.

In this time period, producers and songwriters like Leiber and Stoller, Phil Spector, Neil Sedaka, Goffin and King, Mann and Weil and others were putting out very sophisticated music, or as Spector put it, "little symphonies for teens."

Of course, there was the "old fogey" music, but at least then, the music industry realized that everyone listens to music and you need all types of music to get all these people to spend their money on music. Unlike today, where the majority of music marketing is geared to pre-teens, tweens and young adults. Nothing today is geared to people of my age demographic.

This is really only talking about what is was like here in America, where radio has always been commercial, as opposed to Britain where the government had a monopoly on broadcasting.

Prior to the Beatles, not much in the way of choice regarding British artists, our charts were mainly dominated by American performers. The beeb played music from an era long gone, well day light hours at least.

I remember hanging my radio out my bedroom window trying to get some kind of reception from Radio Luxemborg, just to here some decent music.

The Beatles and the mersey sound went someway to breaking the American dominance in 1963 and by 1964 the charts were very much British artist's and we finally had some music we could call our own.

American artists were still coming through, Dylan, The Byrds and Lovin spoonful, to name a few and at last young people, well my age group (teenage school kids) anyway, had some quality music, to relate to.

[stardust2003]

WAS nt radio luxenberg a great big con ?
I seem to remember it was secretly funded by some recording group so about 90% of the output were records released by them, many of the hot , happening songs did nt get a look in.

The BBC were useless being controlled by unions and "needle time "

It was Radio Caroline that finally opened things up playing fabulous hot pop records 24/7