I was in Abbey Road Studio One earlier this week for a music industry gathering of performers and was struck yet again by the personality of the room. It’s such a big room and so many things have happened in it. Not least of all is the televising of All You Need Is Love. For whatever reason I just couldn’t get the images of it out of my head when I was supposed to be listening to some of the presentations and speeches from the event I was attending. Take a Beatle fan into Abbey Road Studio One and it’s pretty much impossible for that fan to be thinking about anything else other than the thought that you are inside one of the most guarded Beatle sites in the world. Not only the Beatles, I might add. It’s amazing how many of the best known film themes and classical works have been recorded there – in short, it’s just an incredible place and without doubt, one of the premier rooms for recording in the world.
So, imagine my shock, when from the podium came the words….and I'm paraphrasing here... “…we implore EMI to keep this studio open” and that it’s one of the few places left in this country that can “accommodate a full orchestra for recording”. I came to life somewhat. What is this chap saying? Are they going to sell this place, is it going to change hands or worse are they going to close it? Reading between the lines on what was being said at a political level here I have to guess that in this current financial climate, both studio and punters are suffering. Abbey Road is an expensive place to work in and of course the technological improvements made to recording facilities in the wider world mean that largely, similar results can be produced in a bedroom. That’s just a fact. Why would a band want to go into Abbey Road and spend many thousands of bucks when those bucks might be best served investing in a comprehensive recording set up which will give them access to their recordings everyday and all of the time? One reason a band would go there would be to get access to some of the fantastic recording facilities available, and a microphone collection which, quite frankly, would knock yer socks off. Another is more fundamental to the studio itself – it’s the one thing that you can ONLY get in that location – it’s the rooms themselves. As soon as the ambient mics placed in the room are pushed up on the desk, it’s like Abbey Road arrives. I for example simply cannot hear a Beatles track without hearing Studio Two- if it was recorded in there. There is a sound attached to the room and it is impossible to take out. That is the one thing that can’t really be replicated electronically in the form of a plugin and even if they could it still wouldn’t BE the room. The fact is that people don’t just go into studios because of who recorded there in the past, although that does give a clue as to the possible continuing life of Abbey Road Studios, should it close, change hands or function. In fact it’s almost unthinkable that one of the most famous recording studios in the world could! The interesting thing is that when you come out of the studio there are ALWAYS people outside, writing on the wall, nudging each other and taking photographs. I hope it never happens but it would have an afterlife as one of the premier tourist venues in the world and that really would be down to the Beatles. I can’t quite get my head about that idea though. Those rooms are living, breathing spaces of creativity where music is and has been crafted and moulded from nothing into recordings that we hear probably more regularly than we realise. This studio should never become a museum and should always do what it does best – record great music.
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
It's going to the dogs...
Whilst sitting watching the television last night I realised that we have now moved a generation up and away from the 2nd Generation Beatle Aware. We have now stepped over the line to a point where Beatle music is being used to advertise. It can only be a matter of time until it is being used to sell toilet roll. I hasten to add though that it wasn’t the original recordings, so that’s at least something. It was a fairly ethereal version of From Me To You which was being used to hook the viewers into the John Lewis stores over the Chrimble period. According to this link the track is sung by members of the John Lewis Music Society! It’s actually not a bad version and if it captures the public imagination it may well end up charting because of course it’s a brilliant song. Annoyingly and against my grain, it’s easy to see why the advertisers are desperate to use the boys’ tunes. If you look at the video it fits perfectly and indeed the tune takes on a different and more tender feel. However, all of that aside, in my view these songs should be protected from such interference. It is not like the writers need the money! The only reason they are being used is just raw commercialism. This new route of Beatle-lising the world with rock star games and now TV ads is going to undo all of the good work done thus far to keep it away from such nonsense. This is the slippery slope and it’s all downhill from here in my view. It is a matter of time now before we hear an actual Beatle recording up there. Nothing will be off limits soon. The Beatles are a commercial product in and of themselves so I have no argument with them doing whatever they need to do in order that they sell yet more product, spreading the word to a new generation and so on. However, the questions have to be asked; just what on EARTH are they doing? Why are they not concentrating on putting out the remastered music, the films etc; Who is making these choices and ok-ing these decisions? Something is afoot in Pepperland folks and we might need to employ Old Fred once more to save the music!
My personal opinion is that this is a bad and unrequired move on the part of the Beatles management and can only be motivated by wonga, which as I’ve said earlier I don’t really get. It’s not like they need to tell the public who they are really is it?
The top hats at Apple should be dealing with the core issues and stop concentrating on the Corp issues.
Just get back to the band please folks!
PS
And in reference to Ringo’s latest outburst, (which I can understand to a degree) it would seem to make sense that if you don’t want attention then don’t turn up at an awards ceremony!!
My personal opinion is that this is a bad and unrequired move on the part of the Beatles management and can only be motivated by wonga, which as I’ve said earlier I don’t really get. It’s not like they need to tell the public who they are really is it?
The top hats at Apple should be dealing with the core issues and stop concentrating on the Corp issues.
Just get back to the band please folks!
PS
And in reference to Ringo’s latest outburst, (which I can understand to a degree) it would seem to make sense that if you don’t want attention then don’t turn up at an awards ceremony!!
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Remaster, Rock Star, Remaster....
I’m with Allan Kozinn of the New York Times… the bottom line is that The Beatles should be concentrating on the release of their primary product – that is of course the music catalogue, not some daft Rock Star type game. Then closely followed by the Let It Be’s and Shea Stadiums they are still sitting on for whatever reason. It is actually incredible that there is basically no digitally remastered material available from the world’s premier group; is it not? I don’t care too much for the itunes or mp3 formats. What I want is full on, red blooded CD’s. The Beatles used to lead the world in innovation in many ways. Even the Anthology broke new ground…indeed up until then there was nothing like it from just about any other group. In other words, they continued the good work they’d always done. Ground breaking work on the video end of things whilst on the audio end they made the impossible happen with Free As a Bird and Real Love. As a fan I was proud to know that the boys weren’t just any band who wanted to cash in on their past achievements. They took the hard road, carved a new route, raised the bar and set a new standard for the world simply to gawp at. As it stands, twelve years later, it seems that they have hit some kind of impasse. I don’t get it. Just what might be the problem? In a general sense no one could blame them for not getting into bed with the digital download world at the beginning. It could have been a flash in the pan Beatamax (!) moment, so fair enough. However it has to be said that even the most cautious amongst us have to say that this format is here to stay and in fact IS where we are now. I feel that it is embarrassing for them at this stage. This band should still be leading the pack, breaking new ground and turning it to their advantage. It is not as though they have to create new material to convert. They have a complete catalogue ready to go, so again - what’s the problem? It’s obvious that there is a rights argument and financial reasona behind it all, it is the only argument that makes sense.
Also, whilst we’re on this digital thing, I read somewhere that the remixed catalogue will still retain the original mixes. In other words, those same unbelievably BAD stereo images which are murder to listen to on headphones. In fact, I gave up listening to the boys on headphones until the good folks at Purple Chick came up with their brilliant packages because it was such uncomfortable listening experience. Before that, I had to go to the extraordinary lengths of employing a mixing desk with a PAN control so I could route stuff through it to bring the bass more to centre. It was a terrible decision to release the CD’s with those appalling stereo mixes in 1987! If the idea was somehow to preserve the original work then all of the discs should have been in mono with the exception of the albums that were originally put out in stereo. There is just no value in putting out those stereo mixes again. They were a compromise when they were made in the Sixties, a travesty in the Eighties and by now it is plain stupid to put them out in that condition. The Beatles have an opportunity to put out pristine versions of the best work ever put to tape in a way that just blows the opposition away all over again to genuinely improve and polish this incredible work. As it stands, albeit through speculation, it seems that once again, an opportunity may be lost. When this catalogue goes out again under the “remastered” banner, it might just be the most important thing that has happened to the CD since it’s birth and given that they are in a position to do so, wouldn’t it be great if boys once again pushed the envelope just that little bit further?
PS
Best of luck with the VOTE America!
Also, whilst we’re on this digital thing, I read somewhere that the remixed catalogue will still retain the original mixes. In other words, those same unbelievably BAD stereo images which are murder to listen to on headphones. In fact, I gave up listening to the boys on headphones until the good folks at Purple Chick came up with their brilliant packages because it was such uncomfortable listening experience. Before that, I had to go to the extraordinary lengths of employing a mixing desk with a PAN control so I could route stuff through it to bring the bass more to centre. It was a terrible decision to release the CD’s with those appalling stereo mixes in 1987! If the idea was somehow to preserve the original work then all of the discs should have been in mono with the exception of the albums that were originally put out in stereo. There is just no value in putting out those stereo mixes again. They were a compromise when they were made in the Sixties, a travesty in the Eighties and by now it is plain stupid to put them out in that condition. The Beatles have an opportunity to put out pristine versions of the best work ever put to tape in a way that just blows the opposition away all over again to genuinely improve and polish this incredible work. As it stands, albeit through speculation, it seems that once again, an opportunity may be lost. When this catalogue goes out again under the “remastered” banner, it might just be the most important thing that has happened to the CD since it’s birth and given that they are in a position to do so, wouldn’t it be great if boys once again pushed the envelope just that little bit further?
PS
Best of luck with the VOTE America!
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Warning: Peace and Love
I have mixed feelings with regard to the current Ringo thing. On the one hand I can see what a total nightmare it must be to be followed around with requests for autographs. Especially given that it’s probably been the same for the last forty odd years and as they say (whoever “they” are!) nothing lasts forever. However, I do have to add, that whilst it’s understandable that he may be sick to the back teeth of this tiresome chore, he should realise that for ALL of the time he’s been in the public eye he has lived in a rarefied atmosphere enjoying the fruit of not only his own labours, but the fruit of the fans’ labours too. Yes the Beatles have given their “nervous” systems to a world hungry for anything and everything “Beatles”, but it has been fans that have been the fuel for that car. Without the fans and their massive interest, their mind boggling, eye popping and unquenchable thirst for new products, tickets and pertinently, an autograph, then Ringo might still be drumming down the Cavern on a Sunday night at the charity Beat gigs they put on there these days. It seems to me, and I freely admit I have no idea of what it’s like to be hounded for autographs daily and so I can only guess at how annoying it might be, but surely there are many worse things a person can be saddled with in this life? These are unsteady and difficult days all ‘round. As the credit crunch bites us all squarely in the butt I’m thinking, wait a minute, if all you have to do is sign stuff even if it was ALL day, it doesn’t add up to the smallest percentile of hassle in comparison with what ordinary people have to deal with does it? I mean it’s not like you have stand out in the freezing cold every morning waiting on a bus to take you to work in a place that you’d be happy to never to see again is it? It’s not a difficult job really? Whatever the reason Ringo has decided it SURELY can’t be the one that states he simply cannot be bothered doing it eh? Something else must have happened. I read on the news article the suggestion that maybe there’s been some Ebay activity that’s annoyed him? Perhaps.
It STILL doesn’t help me understand the tone of his request. I was listening to a piece on the BBC’s Radio Four news where they went to ask (some already annoyed) Liverpudlians what they thought of his stroppy tirade (for that is what it is) and I have to say he was roundly savaged by all with the exception of those who work in the Beatle industry (but of course!) who are obviously guarding their connection and giving the man the benefit of the doubt.
Ultimately something has triggered this for Ringo and he obviously feels a strong motivation to make sure everyone understands that he doesn’t want to play the game any more.
Fine – no problem - Peace and Love.
I wonder what the sales of his next album and tour will look like? More to the point perhaps I wonder what the sales of his last album look like?
In summing up here, it may be slightly annoying signing items on a daily basis but there is a reason for those requests. People have a genuine regard for you. You are actually loved and celebrated around the world. However please don’t “warn” us with Peace and Love to politely f*** off with said Peace and Love ringing in our ears!
If you don’t want to do it, then just don’t do it.
No proclamation delivered by video is required. We’ll all get the picture somehow. Peace and Love, Peace and Love and Love Peace.
It STILL doesn’t help me understand the tone of his request. I was listening to a piece on the BBC’s Radio Four news where they went to ask (some already annoyed) Liverpudlians what they thought of his stroppy tirade (for that is what it is) and I have to say he was roundly savaged by all with the exception of those who work in the Beatle industry (but of course!) who are obviously guarding their connection and giving the man the benefit of the doubt.
Ultimately something has triggered this for Ringo and he obviously feels a strong motivation to make sure everyone understands that he doesn’t want to play the game any more.
Fine – no problem - Peace and Love.
I wonder what the sales of his next album and tour will look like? More to the point perhaps I wonder what the sales of his last album look like?
In summing up here, it may be slightly annoying signing items on a daily basis but there is a reason for those requests. People have a genuine regard for you. You are actually loved and celebrated around the world. However please don’t “warn” us with Peace and Love to politely f*** off with said Peace and Love ringing in our ears!
If you don’t want to do it, then just don’t do it.
No proclamation delivered by video is required. We’ll all get the picture somehow. Peace and Love, Peace and Love and Love Peace.
Sunday, 12 October 2008
jimmy or bust?
In these days of pulling a gig at the drop of a hat, it occurred to me that one of the strangest and perhaps one of the dumbest things that happened during The Beatles history was when they put Jimmy Nicol in on drums when the Boys were to tour Scandinavia, Holland, the Far East and Australia in 1964
What were promoters and management thinking?
Why didn't they simply postpone the tour and do it when all four Beats were fighting fit and available?
It would be an automatic reschedule today if it was known that a key member of a group was taken ill. You would have thought that by that time, when The Beatles were the biggest thing in showbiz history, that THE thing to do would be obvious. George brings that very point to the table in the Anthology when he questions why they simply didn’t take the time out. I know what it’s like when what’s referred to as a “dep” comes in for someone who is suddenly ill, can’t make it or whatever, and it’s not pretty. The whole balance of the group changes. The on-stage sign systems which bands rely on are altered in a way which puts that communication at odds with normality. Subtle things like tempo and pace might be unfamiliar and can unsettle even the best bands. I’m sure Jimmy was a pretty competent drummer, but the pressure must’ve been enormous on him too - right? There are scant pieces of information available about the man who would be Ringo but it is generally understood that once his stint was done, he simply disappeared and never really wanted to talk about his time playing with The Beatles. There would have been a golden opportunity during Anthology for a short interview during the segment on that very subject, but no. I wonder - was he asked to make a contribution and just said no? Perhaps he wasn’t asked; which is even stranger! If it was so unimportant then the information would have been left out of the picture altogether, but again no. Why make the reference in such an important film and not use the actual source? In fact the more you think about this, the more bizarre it becomes. Of course, the simple explanation could be that Jimmy’s time in the band scared the pants off of him at the time and he had no wish whatever to make ANY kind of return to it.
Jimmy’s own view?..."The boys were very kind but I felt like an intruder. They accepted me but you can't just go into a group like that -- they have their own atmosphere, their own sense of humour. It's a little clique and outsiders just can't break in."
I wonder how Ringo took that information? Er…sorry to hear you’re not well Ring and you just collapsed and that but er…we’re putting this complete stranger on in your place whilst we cover those gigs that were booked, so er…. Get well soon and we’ll see you when you’re better! Unwittingly it must have sent poor Ringo the message that he was expendable and that they didn’t “love him anymore”. For example, I wonder if they would have replaced say John if he’d had a similar problem? I strongly doubt it – but hey Ringo’s just the drummer right? . . . . .
They should just have postponed.
What were promoters and management thinking?
Why didn't they simply postpone the tour and do it when all four Beats were fighting fit and available?
It would be an automatic reschedule today if it was known that a key member of a group was taken ill. You would have thought that by that time, when The Beatles were the biggest thing in showbiz history, that THE thing to do would be obvious. George brings that very point to the table in the Anthology when he questions why they simply didn’t take the time out. I know what it’s like when what’s referred to as a “dep” comes in for someone who is suddenly ill, can’t make it or whatever, and it’s not pretty. The whole balance of the group changes. The on-stage sign systems which bands rely on are altered in a way which puts that communication at odds with normality. Subtle things like tempo and pace might be unfamiliar and can unsettle even the best bands. I’m sure Jimmy was a pretty competent drummer, but the pressure must’ve been enormous on him too - right? There are scant pieces of information available about the man who would be Ringo but it is generally understood that once his stint was done, he simply disappeared and never really wanted to talk about his time playing with The Beatles. There would have been a golden opportunity during Anthology for a short interview during the segment on that very subject, but no. I wonder - was he asked to make a contribution and just said no? Perhaps he wasn’t asked; which is even stranger! If it was so unimportant then the information would have been left out of the picture altogether, but again no. Why make the reference in such an important film and not use the actual source? In fact the more you think about this, the more bizarre it becomes. Of course, the simple explanation could be that Jimmy’s time in the band scared the pants off of him at the time and he had no wish whatever to make ANY kind of return to it.
Jimmy’s own view?..."The boys were very kind but I felt like an intruder. They accepted me but you can't just go into a group like that -- they have their own atmosphere, their own sense of humour. It's a little clique and outsiders just can't break in."
I wonder how Ringo took that information? Er…sorry to hear you’re not well Ring and you just collapsed and that but er…we’re putting this complete stranger on in your place whilst we cover those gigs that were booked, so er…. Get well soon and we’ll see you when you’re better! Unwittingly it must have sent poor Ringo the message that he was expendable and that they didn’t “love him anymore”. For example, I wonder if they would have replaced say John if he’d had a similar problem? I strongly doubt it – but hey Ringo’s just the drummer right? . . . . .
They should just have postponed.
Sunday, 28 September 2008
It's all too much
The Beatles changed the world. We all know that. However, not all that change is necessarily for the better. The old phrase about every silver lining has a cloud comes into its own here. Let me explain. Ok, you’re a musician aiming for the big time in the early Sixties. Your job is to be part of a band, play live gigs, play well and hope that you’re discovered one day. Your job is NOT to write the songs you might record. Your job is NOT to have the first clue about how those songs might be recorded, or how they are musically arranged. Your job is not management. Well, I think a picture is emerging of what you the band member might expect on your magic carpet tide to fame and fortune. There are clear lines cut with regard to how the game works. Then we have the almighty big band of the modern pop era with the boys. Overnight everything has changed in terms of the role an ambitious young musician might have to master. If he wants to be taken seriously, he is going to have to learn to write songs, because it is a learned craft on top of an aptitude in my opinion – no one has a gift from the almighty on that one! Now if you fast forward to this point in time, a young musician will be expected (nay taken for granted) that he is a brilliant writer. If he is not, then he is somehow looked down on. I don’t know what ever happened to the concept of covering a song? Sure it still happens to a degree, but it is scoffed at not only by the industry, but listeners and critics alike. The “oh it’s just a cover” attitude reveals itself very quickly. I believe it still has its place. The Beatles themselves were fine exponents of the cover version, where they exploited the material to make it sound like THEIR version. That same young musician will be expected also to have production skills in their arsenal. Have you noticed that everyone is a “producer” these days? Most new and inexperienced artists have no conception of what production actually is. Experience is the key to it. You can take a song into the studio with an experienced producer and before you know it has become something totally different. Producer of the moment Rick Rubin’s recordings with Johnny Cash are a testament to that which is neat example of covering songs and injecting originality into them. Those songs gained a whole new resonance with that type of treatment. The Beatles are the measurable point where the line between artist and producer, player and engineer really begins to blur. The question has to be asked, does every new credible artist HAVE to be a great writer, a brilliant producer and engineer? I think not. I tend to think that artists who are of that calibre end up in some kind of self imposed alienation. I wonder what The Beatles catalogue might have sounded like without George Martin’s input? He was a very important part of the team and without him, things would be very different across the industry today I think. The problem is that he taught The Beatles well with regard to the art of the studio and before you know it the boys were tentatively taking some sessions with other artists on their own. The cat was out of the bag!
Whilst the Beatles freed the world of the Tin Pan Alley mentality and revolutionised the industry, they also saddled the following generations with the responsibility of becoming uber talented in many fields. It is now not good enough for today’s young artists to just be a good guitarist say; no he has to be a great lyric writer with the ability to write that killer top line melody. He has to fundamentally understand how that record will be constructed in the studio. He has to be able to arrange the song and then direct how for example those harmony groups are nailed down. He has to understand the technology. Further outside the box, he has to be able to understand that he is a product and not just that guitarist who can play a bit. In short he has to be savvy at all levels or his chances diminish. The Beatles showed the world a way; an early clue to the new direction as it were. Not everyone is a Beatle and nor should they be expected to be.
Whilst the Beatles freed the world of the Tin Pan Alley mentality and revolutionised the industry, they also saddled the following generations with the responsibility of becoming uber talented in many fields. It is now not good enough for today’s young artists to just be a good guitarist say; no he has to be a great lyric writer with the ability to write that killer top line melody. He has to fundamentally understand how that record will be constructed in the studio. He has to be able to arrange the song and then direct how for example those harmony groups are nailed down. He has to understand the technology. Further outside the box, he has to be able to understand that he is a product and not just that guitarist who can play a bit. In short he has to be savvy at all levels or his chances diminish. The Beatles showed the world a way; an early clue to the new direction as it were. Not everyone is a Beatle and nor should they be expected to be.
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
PMC 7067/8
During recent months there seems to have been a bit of a renewed interest in the The Beatles album, given that it is now forty years since its release. On my first listen to the album many moons ago, I found it quite a difficult one. It has to be said though, that I was only nine years old when I did so! Even at that point though, I knew there were some classic songs on there, coupled with some not so classic ones (well, in my nine year old opinion. My grown up opinion has somewhat changed!). As I said, with all the recent interest in it, it begs the question; is the White Album the purest and most honest Beatles album of all? Further, could it possibly be a better album than Pepper?
The White album sounds like a relief to me in some ways. It’s like they were slightly sick of being at the cutting edge the whole time and just wanted to rock out, soak up the zeitgeist and just do what came naturally, rather than make it unique for the sake of it. Although being The Beatles, they still managed to be unique in any case as for them it was a totally natural thing to do with the ridiculous levels of creativity buzzing around that group at any one time. It sounds like a reaction to the previous year of momentous and trailblazing production. That kind of work in the studio must have taken a toll mentally – and so the Indian trip couldn’t have come at a better time one imagines. Space required and much needed no doubt. It gave them the chance to “get it all out” and recharge the Beatle batteries. This is slightly more than apparent from one listen to the excellent Purple Chick deluxe 12 disc set of relevant materials.
What I love about the White album is that there is a sense of the home made about it, and there is great atmosphere in some of the recordings. Martha My Dear certainly doesn’t cut any new ground but it has that log fire burning in the background kind of quality to it and it isn’t a million miles away from one of the directions Mr McCartney would be composing along come the Seventies. I’m thinking You Gave Me The Answer or My Baby’s Request, for example. As I said, The Beatles are also soaking up influences around them with much heavier guitars and less microphone separation apparent in a lot of the songs – think of Yer Blues or Helter Skelter. These are fantastic examples of a band quite obviously enjoying themselves just being a band. The album is simply dotted with classics and in my opinion they are just as revolutionary as Pepper because it’s like the opposite side of the mirror. The band was using Abbey Road to the full with all three of the studios in use at the same time on some occasions. From the sleeve to the content it reeks of class and honesty. However, I am sure there are songs on the album which are not that popular amongst fans. The usual suspects might include Rocky Racoon, Don’t Pass Me By or dare I say it Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (which certainly isn’t one my own favourites – but it has its place nevertheless)
Of course a big talking point has always been Revolution No 9. I think if you look at it as a “song” included on a Beatles album, then it tends to defy that description. However, if you look at it as an experiment or a soundscape like some kind of audio painting, then its relevance is obvious in that it’s another example of the band pushing the barriers. It is also a monument to drug induced over indulgence of course. It is however not unlike some of the Liverpool Soundcape album! Paul was the walrus on that one and has said many times that he was the avant garde one in the band originally. So, in some respects Revolution No9 is an example of Paul kicking the ball and John running with it.
The tension in the band is evident on this record too. For example, Paul is playing more drums than required really and we all know why that was. The seeds of their demise are in evidence on this record but even in the face of that, they still managed to push out tracks which left the opposition standing. A cursory look down the track list makes their genius obvious. In many ways there isn’t a bad track on the album and I disagree with George Martin’s opinion that it would have made a great single album – it’s just a great album – period! If the goal was to make another Pepper or Revolver type album then yes, he’s probably right. They would return to that type of album-making with Abbey Road. Somehow though, that doesn’t seem to be the point of the White Album. I love the honesty of the record and the fact that it’s not wearing any make up, that there is the odd blemish on there and that the production is simpler, although it has to be said that you get the idea that the band were just shattered by the end of the production process.
Although it was stated on Let It Be that it was a “new phase” Beatles album, I believe that it was this album that was the new phase sound. Straight up, go ahead, punch you right on the nose rock n roll. I think pound for pound, dollar for dollar, the White album is an amazing piece of work. It’s cynical, quirky, full of humour, stripped back to basics, honest, musically brilliant. It’s audacious and out on a limb. It’s envelope stretching top of the heap brilliance. For me the White album is genius. Four sides, four guys and one band. It strips away the pomp and pretension of the previous (and wondrous) year to reveal a band very much at odds with itself but still shaking nevertheless and blowing everything else away.
The White album sounds like a relief to me in some ways. It’s like they were slightly sick of being at the cutting edge the whole time and just wanted to rock out, soak up the zeitgeist and just do what came naturally, rather than make it unique for the sake of it. Although being The Beatles, they still managed to be unique in any case as for them it was a totally natural thing to do with the ridiculous levels of creativity buzzing around that group at any one time. It sounds like a reaction to the previous year of momentous and trailblazing production. That kind of work in the studio must have taken a toll mentally – and so the Indian trip couldn’t have come at a better time one imagines. Space required and much needed no doubt. It gave them the chance to “get it all out” and recharge the Beatle batteries. This is slightly more than apparent from one listen to the excellent Purple Chick deluxe 12 disc set of relevant materials.
What I love about the White album is that there is a sense of the home made about it, and there is great atmosphere in some of the recordings. Martha My Dear certainly doesn’t cut any new ground but it has that log fire burning in the background kind of quality to it and it isn’t a million miles away from one of the directions Mr McCartney would be composing along come the Seventies. I’m thinking You Gave Me The Answer or My Baby’s Request, for example. As I said, The Beatles are also soaking up influences around them with much heavier guitars and less microphone separation apparent in a lot of the songs – think of Yer Blues or Helter Skelter. These are fantastic examples of a band quite obviously enjoying themselves just being a band. The album is simply dotted with classics and in my opinion they are just as revolutionary as Pepper because it’s like the opposite side of the mirror. The band was using Abbey Road to the full with all three of the studios in use at the same time on some occasions. From the sleeve to the content it reeks of class and honesty. However, I am sure there are songs on the album which are not that popular amongst fans. The usual suspects might include Rocky Racoon, Don’t Pass Me By or dare I say it Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (which certainly isn’t one my own favourites – but it has its place nevertheless)
Of course a big talking point has always been Revolution No 9. I think if you look at it as a “song” included on a Beatles album, then it tends to defy that description. However, if you look at it as an experiment or a soundscape like some kind of audio painting, then its relevance is obvious in that it’s another example of the band pushing the barriers. It is also a monument to drug induced over indulgence of course. It is however not unlike some of the Liverpool Soundcape album! Paul was the walrus on that one and has said many times that he was the avant garde one in the band originally. So, in some respects Revolution No9 is an example of Paul kicking the ball and John running with it.
The tension in the band is evident on this record too. For example, Paul is playing more drums than required really and we all know why that was. The seeds of their demise are in evidence on this record but even in the face of that, they still managed to push out tracks which left the opposition standing. A cursory look down the track list makes their genius obvious. In many ways there isn’t a bad track on the album and I disagree with George Martin’s opinion that it would have made a great single album – it’s just a great album – period! If the goal was to make another Pepper or Revolver type album then yes, he’s probably right. They would return to that type of album-making with Abbey Road. Somehow though, that doesn’t seem to be the point of the White Album. I love the honesty of the record and the fact that it’s not wearing any make up, that there is the odd blemish on there and that the production is simpler, although it has to be said that you get the idea that the band were just shattered by the end of the production process.
Although it was stated on Let It Be that it was a “new phase” Beatles album, I believe that it was this album that was the new phase sound. Straight up, go ahead, punch you right on the nose rock n roll. I think pound for pound, dollar for dollar, the White album is an amazing piece of work. It’s cynical, quirky, full of humour, stripped back to basics, honest, musically brilliant. It’s audacious and out on a limb. It’s envelope stretching top of the heap brilliance. For me the White album is genius. Four sides, four guys and one band. It strips away the pomp and pretension of the previous (and wondrous) year to reveal a band very much at odds with itself but still shaking nevertheless and blowing everything else away.
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
Surely not?
I don’t normally go down this road and quite frankly don’t really want to get into this but I do feel compelled to make a short comment regarding Paul’s ex wife’s plan to write a book! Sky News and other sources report that she is planning to write a book about a famous model who marries “the biggest rock star in the world” with insiders claiming that it will be released as a work of fiction – for which incidentally, I believe she has qualification in abundance.
I mean, come on here!
According to Sky, commentators have said it could help her “side step the court order banning her from discussing her marriage to Paul”. It simply beggars belief that she would want to do anything else but disappear with the divorce booty and live on a very small and tiny island, close the door behind her and hope that the world would forget her. But no! Instead, a good idea would be to write a thinly veiled story about her short and lucrative time with the Beatles bass player! I don’t mean to sound unkind but my hope is that if such a book is planned and subsequently published that it sinks without trace. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, such a book will fly off the shelves at speeds hitherto unmeasured. I was never a fan of the lady from the moment I clapped eyes on her and thought I’d seen it ALL when I watched her live TV appearance on GMTV couch just before the divorce proceedings started in earnest, but this takes it to a new and even frightening level. Paul must be beside himself. She appears to be a loose cannon and worse, a loose cannon with huge funds intent on revenge.
I pretty sure that Paul (like everyone else) is no saint but I’m also pretty sure he just doesn’t deserve the kind of outcome and publicity that his ex wife helped him achieve though I do have faith that most people will see such a publication for it's true value.
I mean, come on here!
According to Sky, commentators have said it could help her “side step the court order banning her from discussing her marriage to Paul”. It simply beggars belief that she would want to do anything else but disappear with the divorce booty and live on a very small and tiny island, close the door behind her and hope that the world would forget her. But no! Instead, a good idea would be to write a thinly veiled story about her short and lucrative time with the Beatles bass player! I don’t mean to sound unkind but my hope is that if such a book is planned and subsequently published that it sinks without trace. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, such a book will fly off the shelves at speeds hitherto unmeasured. I was never a fan of the lady from the moment I clapped eyes on her and thought I’d seen it ALL when I watched her live TV appearance on GMTV couch just before the divorce proceedings started in earnest, but this takes it to a new and even frightening level. Paul must be beside himself. She appears to be a loose cannon and worse, a loose cannon with huge funds intent on revenge.
I pretty sure that Paul (like everyone else) is no saint but I’m also pretty sure he just doesn’t deserve the kind of outcome and publicity that his ex wife helped him achieve though I do have faith that most people will see such a publication for it's true value.
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Not an ounce of fat on it really!
It’s always good to be back home after a couple of weeks going stir - crazy in the studio which (dear reader) is where I’ve been hiding for the last while. Meeting new musicians when I’m working, I’m always being asked about my Rickenbacker guitar. Oh, you must be a Beatle fan…and following with (alarming regularity)….er.. so what’s your favourite tune? I really hate being asked that because I never know what to say! I seem to go through periods of liking the early stuff and then switching to the later or middle periods without thinking about it. The real answer is that I just love them all really, but it’s on a sliding scale. It does beg the question though, what songs do fans NOT like? I tend to think that they are all kind of classic in their own way. Even the weaker ones - if there is such a thing! I’ve discussed in detail before the boys choices for B sides and how strong they were, so it’s quite difficult to pick one out that I’m not too fond of. “What You’re Doing” for example isn’t a favourite, but even with that there is musical growth in evidence in the drum part…not quite ‘Ticket to Ride’, but leading the way with a drum riff in any case. Chains or From Me To You are good examples of tracks I might fast forward if I’m listening, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like them…I just can’t really be bothered with them sometimes, if you know what I mean? There doesn’t seem to be much of a surprise in them anymore. What I mean by that is that although I’m familiar with every track, some still catch you unawares and sort of take you by surprise, don’t you think? And some tracks have other reasons for forwarding. For example, I can’t really listen to It’s All Too Much because it’s not that great sound wise to my headphone ears.
It is yet another measure of the band being bigger, collectively, than each of the individuals that you can probably find lots of examples of songs you’d avoid listening to. In fact in some cases, for some people even whole albums bite the dust! Whilst I appreciate Yoko for what she is (and isn’t) for example, I find most of her material unappetising. Lots of the material that she recorded with John remains only slightly interesting BECAUSE of John’s involvement. I am not really a big Yoko chap though and some of the same could be levelled at the rest of boys’ solo work. Paul’s work remains pretty strong, but he has had his moments. Strange thing with Paul’s stuff is that I tend not to like it on first hearing and then it slowly infects you until you do like it. But, I didn’t really like Paul’s last album that much and thought that Chaos was his strongest release since Flaming Pie (which is a McCartney classic in my opinion). John’s stuff was up and down. Genius doesn’t cover some of the earlier material he put out though. Plastic Ono Band is flawless and is just raw bottled fire, but Sometime in NY City has moments of raised eyebrows all round. George and Ringo have much more to forward on when listening. Although I have to say a lot of George’s work has got better over the years to my ears. Maybe that just reflects me growing up and understanding the songs a little better? Ringo has only made one pretty good album…although I’m sure many Rich fans would disagree. Again though, sometimes I just want to listen to them in the BBC phase! Isn’t that the great thing with this band? That you CAN do that!
What songs do you never listen to or avoid? I would love to hear what everyone thinks on this.
It is yet another measure of the band being bigger, collectively, than each of the individuals that you can probably find lots of examples of songs you’d avoid listening to. In fact in some cases, for some people even whole albums bite the dust! Whilst I appreciate Yoko for what she is (and isn’t) for example, I find most of her material unappetising. Lots of the material that she recorded with John remains only slightly interesting BECAUSE of John’s involvement. I am not really a big Yoko chap though and some of the same could be levelled at the rest of boys’ solo work. Paul’s work remains pretty strong, but he has had his moments. Strange thing with Paul’s stuff is that I tend not to like it on first hearing and then it slowly infects you until you do like it. But, I didn’t really like Paul’s last album that much and thought that Chaos was his strongest release since Flaming Pie (which is a McCartney classic in my opinion). John’s stuff was up and down. Genius doesn’t cover some of the earlier material he put out though. Plastic Ono Band is flawless and is just raw bottled fire, but Sometime in NY City has moments of raised eyebrows all round. George and Ringo have much more to forward on when listening. Although I have to say a lot of George’s work has got better over the years to my ears. Maybe that just reflects me growing up and understanding the songs a little better? Ringo has only made one pretty good album…although I’m sure many Rich fans would disagree. Again though, sometimes I just want to listen to them in the BBC phase! Isn’t that the great thing with this band? That you CAN do that!
What songs do you never listen to or avoid? I would love to hear what everyone thinks on this.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
How did you become a Beatle fan (part two)
Come the weekend I was like a cat on a hot tin roof. I couldn’t wait to attend this Beatle convention. Better still it was, relatively, just up the road. I met up with the girl I was telling you about, caught the train and headed up to the venue which was a hotel right next to a mainline railway station. The venue was perfect, full of hustle and bustle and more importantly crowded out with hundreds of Beatle fans. The atmosphere was palpable. As I wondered up the staircase toward the venue, I could hear various Beatle records in the background. The convention had a couple of large rooms at its disposal with one for guest speakers, film screen and audience whilst the other was for the flea market and dealers. I bought a programme at the front door and had a look at what was going on. There would be a showing of the films, some documentaries and concerts. Remember, this was of course in the days before even video was widespread, so although it doesn’t sound like a great day’s entertainment now, I couldn’t wait to get started. Later on in the day there would be a prize winning Beatle expert competition followed by a performance by a live band! Now being a young musician you can imagine what might be going through my head. I wondered what they’d play and if they were going to be any good. I can also remember thinking I’ll never fit all of this in.
As the day passed I wondered around this place just astonished at the kind of things I was seeing. This was the first time I saw the Shea Stadium concert. There they were up on this huge projection screen looking as cool as. The sound was coming from a large PA and it was pretty loud. You know, when I think back on that it brings a warm glow back to the heart…there I was in this room full of strangers, all of them Beatle fans watching Shea on a big screen with big sound and everyone was having a ball. Cheering and clapping like they were actually at the concert. Great stuff! When the films were taking a break, I wondered through to the flea market and again, eyes popping I just couldn’t believe what was available. All manner of bootleg records, tapes and even video - albeit very expensive. I was just a youngster at the time, so I didn’t have a massive amount of money, but I can remember getting a couple of original singles, a poster or two and a bootleg tape which had some studio outtakes on it. These were just too much! It was a case of; so that’s what happened after the fade then!
I had had a great time during this day. I had made a couple of new friends, watched a few films and bought a prized bootleg tape. Could it get much better than this? It was just about to!
There was a break around five o’clock to grab a quick bite. Whilst I was doing this I overheard a couple of people saying that the band that were coming on were just one of the best they’d ever heard. This got me thinking – more on that later. I buried my head in the programme to look for further details on the band. They were from Liverpool – so that was a good start!
As they walked on stage, I thought they looked kinda cool. It turned out that they were cool as they opened with Soldier of Love and then proceeded to play a whole set of rare BBC and Hamburg material. They were just stunning. I sat mesmerised at how good they were. I was in a band at this point but these guys were several leagues above anything I was involved in. That not only had something to do with the fact that they were competent as a group but also the songs they were playing. Songs I’d heard on the BBC just coming to life right in front of me. In short it blew me away. As I sat there, I thought how cool is that? The band in question were Beatle convention legends. They were Mojo Filter and they were brilliant. They just made the music come to life. Their performance painted a vivid picture to me as to just how good these songs must’ve sounded when the Beatles played them. Later, one of the members of that band became part of Cavern, whilst another became a member of The Bootleg Beatles. This gives you an indication of their pedigree. By the time I left that gig, I knew somehow that playing music would be part of my life for the rest of it. At that point I was just treading water and learning the craft. Watching Mojo Filter had a profound affect on me, and one that has stayed with me since. A strong level of performance and one which to aspire to. Later in my life I would play some of those songs live in Liverpool to a crowd of Beatle maniacs and I enjoyed it immensely. However, my band just didn’t touch what those guys did and I’m quite happy to admit that.
As I’ve said in previous columns, the Festivals of today somehow miss the point, though it’s perhaps not entirely their fault. It's a different world now. The conventions I attended had some mystery about them, a sense that you had to somehow “work” at them to find things. People didn’t have the internet, YouTube, Ebay, playstations and x boxes, video, DVD and CD. So when you’d go to one of these gatherings you got a rare chance to see and hear things that were not commonplace. Whilst it’s great to get your hands on all the things you read about in the great Beatle bibles available I can’t help but think it’s taken the voyage of the discovery out of it in many ways. I’m torn as to which I prefer. If you were to have just discovered the Beatles today you could probably complete a collection in a matter of weeks and months as opposed to the organic version I and many like me uncovered.
I’m afraid those days are gone my friend.
As the day passed I wondered around this place just astonished at the kind of things I was seeing. This was the first time I saw the Shea Stadium concert. There they were up on this huge projection screen looking as cool as. The sound was coming from a large PA and it was pretty loud. You know, when I think back on that it brings a warm glow back to the heart…there I was in this room full of strangers, all of them Beatle fans watching Shea on a big screen with big sound and everyone was having a ball. Cheering and clapping like they were actually at the concert. Great stuff! When the films were taking a break, I wondered through to the flea market and again, eyes popping I just couldn’t believe what was available. All manner of bootleg records, tapes and even video - albeit very expensive. I was just a youngster at the time, so I didn’t have a massive amount of money, but I can remember getting a couple of original singles, a poster or two and a bootleg tape which had some studio outtakes on it. These were just too much! It was a case of; so that’s what happened after the fade then!
I had had a great time during this day. I had made a couple of new friends, watched a few films and bought a prized bootleg tape. Could it get much better than this? It was just about to!
There was a break around five o’clock to grab a quick bite. Whilst I was doing this I overheard a couple of people saying that the band that were coming on were just one of the best they’d ever heard. This got me thinking – more on that later. I buried my head in the programme to look for further details on the band. They were from Liverpool – so that was a good start!
As they walked on stage, I thought they looked kinda cool. It turned out that they were cool as they opened with Soldier of Love and then proceeded to play a whole set of rare BBC and Hamburg material. They were just stunning. I sat mesmerised at how good they were. I was in a band at this point but these guys were several leagues above anything I was involved in. That not only had something to do with the fact that they were competent as a group but also the songs they were playing. Songs I’d heard on the BBC just coming to life right in front of me. In short it blew me away. As I sat there, I thought how cool is that? The band in question were Beatle convention legends. They were Mojo Filter and they were brilliant. They just made the music come to life. Their performance painted a vivid picture to me as to just how good these songs must’ve sounded when the Beatles played them. Later, one of the members of that band became part of Cavern, whilst another became a member of The Bootleg Beatles. This gives you an indication of their pedigree. By the time I left that gig, I knew somehow that playing music would be part of my life for the rest of it. At that point I was just treading water and learning the craft. Watching Mojo Filter had a profound affect on me, and one that has stayed with me since. A strong level of performance and one which to aspire to. Later in my life I would play some of those songs live in Liverpool to a crowd of Beatle maniacs and I enjoyed it immensely. However, my band just didn’t touch what those guys did and I’m quite happy to admit that.
As I’ve said in previous columns, the Festivals of today somehow miss the point, though it’s perhaps not entirely their fault. It's a different world now. The conventions I attended had some mystery about them, a sense that you had to somehow “work” at them to find things. People didn’t have the internet, YouTube, Ebay, playstations and x boxes, video, DVD and CD. So when you’d go to one of these gatherings you got a rare chance to see and hear things that were not commonplace. Whilst it’s great to get your hands on all the things you read about in the great Beatle bibles available I can’t help but think it’s taken the voyage of the discovery out of it in many ways. I’m torn as to which I prefer. If you were to have just discovered the Beatles today you could probably complete a collection in a matter of weeks and months as opposed to the organic version I and many like me uncovered.
I’m afraid those days are gone my friend.
Thursday, 7 August 2008
How did you become a Beatle fan? (Part One)
I can’t remember not liking The Beatles. I’ve been into the band for so long it’s like my memory doesn’t go back that far. I can remember seeing them listed on the chart run down on the UK show Top Of The Pops (must’ve been) around 1970 I guess and the reason I remember is because I thought it was a strange name for a group! From the mid 1970’s I really got into it when the BBC ran a season of the films. Again I can remember thinking, I’ve heard all of this great music somewhere? I couldn’t place it and I don’t suppose it really matters, the point is, that the feeling I was getting was that it was somehow “part” of me and that it always had been. Quite a strange feeling, even when I examine that thought now. So anyway, truly infected by the mania, I spent any pocket money I had trying to buy as many Beatle records and products as possible. This is probably similar to how a lot of people, (particularly second generation) get into the band. Somehow, it just sneaks up on you and then you can’t remember not being into them. One of the products I discovered by accident was the Beatle Monthly. For a youngster in the UK to discover reprints of a Beatle fan magazine with updated news section during the height of punk was a revelation to me. I started to get these magazines every month and began to pick up on some of the developments happening in Beatle land. One such important development was the reintroduction of the BBC archive. I can remember reading about it thinking, I don’t know that one, that one or that one…mmm? I wonder what that sounds like? In short it looked like an Aladdin’s cave to me. Couldn’t wait to hear it! Come the big day when the broadcast was due, I sat there with my C120 cassette tape at the ready to record these gems. I won’t go into what I thought of them because the point was that this was the single moment when I realised how BIG a subject, musically, The Beatles were and that there was so much more than just the albums available in the shops. This was the material I wanted to hear. Sure, I loved everything you could hear from the released material, but this was different. There was something about this stuff that I loved. The songs and the banter – fantastic!
As a Beatle fan during this time-frame (post 1981) there was a distinct lack of activity. You had to be a bit of a miner to find new stuff or anything of interest unless of course it came up and bit you on the nose!
So there I was, at a rehearsal with my band, when a visitor came in. One of the guy’s had invited this girl to come see us rehearse. I couldn’t help noticing she was wearing a tiny Beatle badge (as you would from fifty paces!) and asked her if she liked the band…she said she loved them and further that she was going to a convention at the weekend. Further, it was fairly local (and easily within reach). I was quite frankly gobsmacked! How on earth did my Beatle radar miss that one?
“Was I going?” she asked. I answered that I didn’t have a ticket. “I’ve got a spare ticket, would you like it?”. Well, I almost bit her hand off for it. Money exchanged, I was going to my first Beatle gathering. How cool was that?
Now after being the “lone” Beatle fan everywhere I went, this was a truly exciting prospect and I just couldn’t wait – bring it on!
In part two, I’ll tell you what happened next and how it changed the course of my life.
As a Beatle fan during this time-frame (post 1981) there was a distinct lack of activity. You had to be a bit of a miner to find new stuff or anything of interest unless of course it came up and bit you on the nose!
So there I was, at a rehearsal with my band, when a visitor came in. One of the guy’s had invited this girl to come see us rehearse. I couldn’t help noticing she was wearing a tiny Beatle badge (as you would from fifty paces!) and asked her if she liked the band…she said she loved them and further that she was going to a convention at the weekend. Further, it was fairly local (and easily within reach). I was quite frankly gobsmacked! How on earth did my Beatle radar miss that one?
“Was I going?” she asked. I answered that I didn’t have a ticket. “I’ve got a spare ticket, would you like it?”. Well, I almost bit her hand off for it. Money exchanged, I was going to my first Beatle gathering. How cool was that?
Now after being the “lone” Beatle fan everywhere I went, this was a truly exciting prospect and I just couldn’t wait – bring it on!
In part two, I’ll tell you what happened next and how it changed the course of my life.
Thursday, 31 July 2008
It's that time again...
In about a month or so it will be Liverpool Beatle convention time again. Barely seems like five minutes ago since I played there last year…time, as you know, just flies by. I noticed this link, have a quick look:
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-arts/2008/07/29/almost-100-bands-signed-up-for-the-mathew-street-festival-64375-21424060/
It made me think about just how far it’s all come since the first Mathew Street Festival (which originally was an add on to the gathering of Beatle fans at Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel) in 1993. Then there was only one stage running from around mid morning until around 6pm if memory serves me, and it was located in the car park at the top of Mathew Street on the site of the original Cavern Club. The street was busy throughout the day and I can remember thinking at the time that it was quite big, as gigs go. There were ambulance crews, film crews, police crews and of course road crews by the plenty. I felt even then that it was somehow missing the point of a Beatle convention. The 1993 convention, it seemed to me, was one hundred percent pure fan based. The people were there to celebrate the band and being a FAN of the band. This of course was pre-internet days. At that time you’d most probably get your helping of Beatle news through the Beatles Monthly (Jeeeez remember that!?!), bootlegs were fairly hard to come by and there was a bit of an underground movement underway with the second generation Beatle aware. All in all, they were exciting times. The convention of that year reflected this and I, for my own part in it, had an absolute ball! I couldn’t wait to get back down the following year and was fairly depressed that it would be another year before I could be in that environment again.
Fast forward to 1996 and I got some news that the flea market part of the convention was going to be made “official”…so no more bootlegs or under the table deals with the rarest items. No, everything would be above board. That was coupled with the fact that by this stage the Mathew Street Festival had become an event on its own and had grown to an obscene scale. Attendances were beginning to lean upwards of 100,000 and beyond.
Boo-hoo indeed.
This is where the Liverpool convention lost its way. It was no longer just about The Beatles. It was no longer just a gathering for Beatle fans. That “intimate” atmosphere of the 1993 and 1994 gatherings was lost. The festival, as it was now known, was about money. Suddenly the Beatle fan part of it became diluted with the “official” message when the copyright police and background presence of Apple got involved. Very few (if any) of the bands ever got paid for the huge amount of work they put in. Organisers seemed to be taking advantage of the performers. They were playing on the fact that there was some kind of kudos to be gained for an act to be on the bill there. Sure there was to a degree, but without the bands, it would be nothing more than a record session right? In short the Liverpool convention has lost its way these days. As I said, I was there last year and it was more about the generic fan, the nearly fan, the casual passer by and the general music fan without any catering for "professional" (er... read diehard!) fans amongst us. Personally I didn’t enjoy the experience. It seemed that there was something missing and whatever it was, that was the vital ingredient for me at the beginning. Apart from my own group and a couple of other diehards (bless ‘em) every band was doing the same set, wearing the same suits and speaking with the same daft accent. It was commercialism at its worst. There was no sense of “how lucky we all are” to be gathered here, listening to these great bands, playing interesting sets, paying a PROPER tribute to the best damned band ever and it’s just “us lot”!
Oh, how lucky we were at the start.
Money wasn’t the point to getting involved. We played ourselves into the ground in those early years and were happy to be there because it was concentrated Beatle people who would want to hear something different and go out of their way to seek out new things. You don't mind the odd rendition of one of the biggies, but you want something precious and rare too right? It’s just not like that now. The community is lost and diluted in a sea of plastic beatles. We didn’t get paid in the early years and accepted that because we were happy to take part and be involved with something very special, lasting and memorable. I’d still love to take part and feel that. Sadly though, it’s just not possible to do that these days because you the fan, you the band, are nothing more than a number heading towards a 300,000 tally of people attending – in other words – the sound of 300,000 wallets and purses rattling! And do you know what? No matter how big the “beatle” festival gets, the bands still don’t get paid!
Funny that!
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-arts/2008/07/29/almost-100-bands-signed-up-for-the-mathew-street-festival-64375-21424060/
It made me think about just how far it’s all come since the first Mathew Street Festival (which originally was an add on to the gathering of Beatle fans at Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel) in 1993. Then there was only one stage running from around mid morning until around 6pm if memory serves me, and it was located in the car park at the top of Mathew Street on the site of the original Cavern Club. The street was busy throughout the day and I can remember thinking at the time that it was quite big, as gigs go. There were ambulance crews, film crews, police crews and of course road crews by the plenty. I felt even then that it was somehow missing the point of a Beatle convention. The 1993 convention, it seemed to me, was one hundred percent pure fan based. The people were there to celebrate the band and being a FAN of the band. This of course was pre-internet days. At that time you’d most probably get your helping of Beatle news through the Beatles Monthly (Jeeeez remember that!?!), bootlegs were fairly hard to come by and there was a bit of an underground movement underway with the second generation Beatle aware. All in all, they were exciting times. The convention of that year reflected this and I, for my own part in it, had an absolute ball! I couldn’t wait to get back down the following year and was fairly depressed that it would be another year before I could be in that environment again.
Fast forward to 1996 and I got some news that the flea market part of the convention was going to be made “official”…so no more bootlegs or under the table deals with the rarest items. No, everything would be above board. That was coupled with the fact that by this stage the Mathew Street Festival had become an event on its own and had grown to an obscene scale. Attendances were beginning to lean upwards of 100,000 and beyond.
Boo-hoo indeed.
This is where the Liverpool convention lost its way. It was no longer just about The Beatles. It was no longer just a gathering for Beatle fans. That “intimate” atmosphere of the 1993 and 1994 gatherings was lost. The festival, as it was now known, was about money. Suddenly the Beatle fan part of it became diluted with the “official” message when the copyright police and background presence of Apple got involved. Very few (if any) of the bands ever got paid for the huge amount of work they put in. Organisers seemed to be taking advantage of the performers. They were playing on the fact that there was some kind of kudos to be gained for an act to be on the bill there. Sure there was to a degree, but without the bands, it would be nothing more than a record session right? In short the Liverpool convention has lost its way these days. As I said, I was there last year and it was more about the generic fan, the nearly fan, the casual passer by and the general music fan without any catering for "professional" (er... read diehard!) fans amongst us. Personally I didn’t enjoy the experience. It seemed that there was something missing and whatever it was, that was the vital ingredient for me at the beginning. Apart from my own group and a couple of other diehards (bless ‘em) every band was doing the same set, wearing the same suits and speaking with the same daft accent. It was commercialism at its worst. There was no sense of “how lucky we all are” to be gathered here, listening to these great bands, playing interesting sets, paying a PROPER tribute to the best damned band ever and it’s just “us lot”!
Oh, how lucky we were at the start.
Money wasn’t the point to getting involved. We played ourselves into the ground in those early years and were happy to be there because it was concentrated Beatle people who would want to hear something different and go out of their way to seek out new things. You don't mind the odd rendition of one of the biggies, but you want something precious and rare too right? It’s just not like that now. The community is lost and diluted in a sea of plastic beatles. We didn’t get paid in the early years and accepted that because we were happy to take part and be involved with something very special, lasting and memorable. I’d still love to take part and feel that. Sadly though, it’s just not possible to do that these days because you the fan, you the band, are nothing more than a number heading towards a 300,000 tally of people attending – in other words – the sound of 300,000 wallets and purses rattling! And do you know what? No matter how big the “beatle” festival gets, the bands still don’t get paid!
Funny that!
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Live Today
The continuing progress of studio equipment in the mid Sixties came at just the right time for the Beatles. Since the late Fifties, the boys had done nothing but play live for hours on end in the sweaty dives of Hamburg and Liverpool. Later, as success arrived, that hard slog was transferred to bigger stages throughout the world where the level of their musicianship dropped a couple of degrees and the hours on stage became minutes. It’s no wonder that they got severely bored of the circus. What they probably needed more than anything was a break. A proper break like bands do today. A couple of years at a time, where they can relax, regroup and perhaps come back with a renewed passion. Of course the music industry was making it up as they went along during that time. There seemed to be no limits to what could be done and what might be achieved next. If you think that The Beatles were playing UK tours in cinemas to a couple of thousand at a time and then imagine what the impact of going from there to say Shea Stadium was, then perhaps they could be forgiven for thinking, what IS the point of this continual nonsense? I doubt that George was alone within the group in thinking that touring and concerts were a total waste of time where all that was achieved really was the treading of water in order that they didn’t drown. Let’s not go into the Jeez comments, Manila or any of that stuff. Imagine it, night after night (er…after night) of the same set, the same reaction, the same one horse town, the same problems getting “down” from show mode? In short they must have come to the conclusion that the shows were pointless. It’s not like they needed to sell more records or get more famous at that point really is it? By that time they could have broken wind and sold a million. My own thought is that it must have been just awful towards the end when they made that decision to end touring.
And, further to that, the recorded output was now getting in the way of being able to transfer from studio to stage. The progress in the technology was responsible. Let’s say two of the boys are singing at the same time putting down a lead vocal and harmony part on one track. Then they have the opportunity to double track that same part. Now two voices become four. With the right balance, this thickens the voice up to an unnatural degree. A great move forward for their recordings of course. You can see that even by using this simple technique, it would be impossible to re produce live, unless you had four voices which could emulate it. Paperback Writer is a prime example of this very point. Even in the studio outtakes you can hear that the opening gambit isn’t quite “alive” until the double tracks arrive – and then BANG! It’s irresistible and of course brilliant. Now compare that to any live version? The live thing can’t compete. That must have been soul destroying as musicians, for them to realise that they weren’t in the position to be as good as they were in the studio. By using string quartets, backwards effects, double tracks etc, it simply ruled out any possibility of being included in their live set. So, going down that road, how long could they realistically continue to play She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand on the road when they’ve got Strawberry Fields and Walrus in the bag at home in the studio? Whilst the technology was helping them in the studio, it hadn’t transferred out to the real world and the reality of the stage. The Mellotron is a fine example. Basically a Mellotron is the father of the sampling keyboard and without it we may not have the samplers today. However where we use micro chips to replay recorded sound in any which way we choose, the Mellotron used small sections of tape. So when you pressed the key down, it was akin to pressing play on a tape recorder. Brilliant idea! But, what would happen if it broke down? Brilliant in the controlled environment of Abbey Road, but what about when twenty thousand people are expecting to hear Strawberry Fields and it’s dead? Er….sorry but we can’t play that song tonight..er…
The point is made. The progress in the studio came at a price. Today, most equipment does what it says and is reliable. However, I myself have still had that problem where you might do something in the studio and NOT be able to reproduce it live, or the synth refused to work because it was too hot. I remember playing a show in the 1980’s where the synthesiser we were using just (out of nowhere) started to lose its tuning very badly and very rapidly. Can you imagine the effect of that during a song? It’s a bit like jumping from a great height onto a blown up bag pipe! Not pretty. The equipment of today is uber reliable and can do things that quite frankly blow your mind. Like live harmony generators which give full blown double tracking effects or four part harmony – live and instant. Live backward guitar parts present no problem. What is strikingly obvious to me, is that what the Beatles were doing in the studio in the Sixties, was unwittingly creating presets for technology to match and for musicians (including themselves) to aspire to. These days that technology is here and is functioning beautifully and there are few songs in the recorded output of The Beatles that wouldn’t be possible to reproduce perfectly today if any.
It really is lucky old us thanks in part to them.
And, further to that, the recorded output was now getting in the way of being able to transfer from studio to stage. The progress in the technology was responsible. Let’s say two of the boys are singing at the same time putting down a lead vocal and harmony part on one track. Then they have the opportunity to double track that same part. Now two voices become four. With the right balance, this thickens the voice up to an unnatural degree. A great move forward for their recordings of course. You can see that even by using this simple technique, it would be impossible to re produce live, unless you had four voices which could emulate it. Paperback Writer is a prime example of this very point. Even in the studio outtakes you can hear that the opening gambit isn’t quite “alive” until the double tracks arrive – and then BANG! It’s irresistible and of course brilliant. Now compare that to any live version? The live thing can’t compete. That must have been soul destroying as musicians, for them to realise that they weren’t in the position to be as good as they were in the studio. By using string quartets, backwards effects, double tracks etc, it simply ruled out any possibility of being included in their live set. So, going down that road, how long could they realistically continue to play She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand on the road when they’ve got Strawberry Fields and Walrus in the bag at home in the studio? Whilst the technology was helping them in the studio, it hadn’t transferred out to the real world and the reality of the stage. The Mellotron is a fine example. Basically a Mellotron is the father of the sampling keyboard and without it we may not have the samplers today. However where we use micro chips to replay recorded sound in any which way we choose, the Mellotron used small sections of tape. So when you pressed the key down, it was akin to pressing play on a tape recorder. Brilliant idea! But, what would happen if it broke down? Brilliant in the controlled environment of Abbey Road, but what about when twenty thousand people are expecting to hear Strawberry Fields and it’s dead? Er….sorry but we can’t play that song tonight..er…
The point is made. The progress in the studio came at a price. Today, most equipment does what it says and is reliable. However, I myself have still had that problem where you might do something in the studio and NOT be able to reproduce it live, or the synth refused to work because it was too hot. I remember playing a show in the 1980’s where the synthesiser we were using just (out of nowhere) started to lose its tuning very badly and very rapidly. Can you imagine the effect of that during a song? It’s a bit like jumping from a great height onto a blown up bag pipe! Not pretty. The equipment of today is uber reliable and can do things that quite frankly blow your mind. Like live harmony generators which give full blown double tracking effects or four part harmony – live and instant. Live backward guitar parts present no problem. What is strikingly obvious to me, is that what the Beatles were doing in the studio in the Sixties, was unwittingly creating presets for technology to match and for musicians (including themselves) to aspire to. These days that technology is here and is functioning beautifully and there are few songs in the recorded output of The Beatles that wouldn’t be possible to reproduce perfectly today if any.
It really is lucky old us thanks in part to them.
Sunday, 20 July 2008
Is there anybody there?
A few years ago I came across a guy on the internet claiming to be channelling John. His name is American Lesley Jane and a strange life this man has too! Initially I listened to what he was saying as “John” and the fan part of me, desperate to hear anything more of John, was willing to give him a chance. On his radio interviews at least he successfully “talks” John well. On initial inspection he does the voice well enough that after a while you feel you really are kind of listening to a John. That is partly down to what he talks about – some of it scarily like stuff the actual John might talk about. And so you are drawn into this bizarre world where, since 1985 when the disembodied Lennon found him (!), Lesley Jane has “become” John. For about a nano-second I was really buying it and then I started to hear bits of well known John dialogue in his speech and then I thought…you’re busted mate – well and truly. Of course, the final nail for me was when George died and he tastelessly brought him into the “channelling” charade. Apparently they are all part of this band called Beatlesex (as in Beatles EX, named by “John” apparently) …and it is then that the penny drops…this is a guy desperate to BE a beatle, with a small b…a guy who can only be one of three things:
1 - an ordinary chap who has been channelling John Lennon since 1985
2 - a guy trying desperately to sell “his” music– I say that because it’s unbelievably beatlesque - at all costs
3 - a fraud
I know which one my money is on!
Over the years I’ve kept an eye on what American Lesley Jane is up to, mainly for my own amusement, but also because there is something compelling about the whole tasteless thing. Mrs Beatcomber and I laugh out loud when we decide to watch a Lesley channel (ooh sorry about that one!)…better than a night out at the cinema it is….well ok then…maybe not – but watchable in any case as he “makes an ass of himself”.
Lesley (and John) make it quite clear in several interviews that they are (both) ready to be tested out and have apparently thrown down the gauntlet to none other than Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney to pop by for a chat, who have both, unsurprisingly perhaps, failed to return his calls.
However, it seems that he has recently scored with a background character in the John Lennon story. On his my space page (and unbelievably so) there is this:
“….in this slideshow, two of the pictures shows me channelling John Lennon for the BEATLESEX record "Freezer Bird" while John Lennon's boyhood pal and co-founder of the original Quarrymen, Pete Shotton, sits on the couch observing the whole amazing thing. Pete said to John, "You bastard! You knew, didn't you? You knew that if I saw you work I'd know it's you!" and John replied "I've only been trying to tell you that for 2 f***ing years, Shotton". AND THAT'S The TRUTH.”
So, what is going on there with Pete Shotton? Why would someone of his knowledge be a part of this? Is it simple curiosity or a deep desire to believe that his boyhood friend carries on in some way or another? You know, that such a vital life force cannot have been extinguished completely, right?
What are these people trying to gain?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this one folks…here are a couple of links to get started on
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=23379248
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=431747
1 - an ordinary chap who has been channelling John Lennon since 1985
2 - a guy trying desperately to sell “his” music– I say that because it’s unbelievably beatlesque - at all costs
3 - a fraud
I know which one my money is on!
Over the years I’ve kept an eye on what American Lesley Jane is up to, mainly for my own amusement, but also because there is something compelling about the whole tasteless thing. Mrs Beatcomber and I laugh out loud when we decide to watch a Lesley channel (ooh sorry about that one!)…better than a night out at the cinema it is….well ok then…maybe not – but watchable in any case as he “makes an ass of himself”.
Lesley (and John) make it quite clear in several interviews that they are (both) ready to be tested out and have apparently thrown down the gauntlet to none other than Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney to pop by for a chat, who have both, unsurprisingly perhaps, failed to return his calls.
However, it seems that he has recently scored with a background character in the John Lennon story. On his my space page (and unbelievably so) there is this:
“….in this slideshow, two of the pictures shows me channelling John Lennon for the BEATLESEX record "Freezer Bird" while John Lennon's boyhood pal and co-founder of the original Quarrymen, Pete Shotton, sits on the couch observing the whole amazing thing. Pete said to John, "You bastard! You knew, didn't you? You knew that if I saw you work I'd know it's you!" and John replied "I've only been trying to tell you that for 2 f***ing years, Shotton". AND THAT'S The TRUTH.”
So, what is going on there with Pete Shotton? Why would someone of his knowledge be a part of this? Is it simple curiosity or a deep desire to believe that his boyhood friend carries on in some way or another? You know, that such a vital life force cannot have been extinguished completely, right?
What are these people trying to gain?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this one folks…here are a couple of links to get started on
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=23379248
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=431747
Monday, 14 July 2008
Gold
So, who else is up there with the Beatles?
In terms of sheer pop genius I doubt there can't be much more than a coat of paint separating Abba and the Beatles. Of course, it’s comparing apples and oranges here to some degree because of the different eras involved. However, just taking the songs as measurement, I think Abba are definitely up there. There is a clamour to see them reunite often and it’s reminiscent of the constant Beatle reunion nonsense which dogs Paul and Ringo even to this day. It was whilst watching the recent television coverage of the Mamma Mia movie premiers across Europe that it became obvious to me that Abba had joined the ranks as major major artists. Abba fans would already know this anyway. The sight of the four members of Abba together (albeit at opposite ends of the balcony) made me think what a shame it was that The Beatles didn’t take the chance to do something similar before they started popping their clogs and heading to the great studio session in the sky. The quality of songwriting within the Abba repertoire is super slick. Songs like S.O.S, Mamma Mia, The Name of the Game, Knowing Me, Knowing You and a whole host of others are certainly (well in my mind anyway) up there with almost any of the Beatles material in terms of writing ability, performance and production.
So who else is worthy then?
For me the line which measures the seismic changes, the line which defines the fault lines goes something like this, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, The Beatles, The Sex Pistols, then maybe The Smiths. Now, that’s not to negate many of the other incredible artists we’ve been fortunate enough to have in our memories…people like Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye (and a host of others) because their music is important, strong and it helps to define the eras they were from. Abba are like “new money” within this club. They seem to have captured something which has continued to grow beyond themselves and their era – a sure sign that standards have been written. The band broke up in the early 1980’s and you would have thought that was that. In my memory, they were an extremely uncool band, and although they sold millions and millions of records, I didn’t know a single Abba fan at the time. These days that’s changed. They've probably sold more records now than they did then and there seems to be an Abba fan in every doorway. The difference between a band like Abba and a band like the Beatles though is that just about everything the Beatles did took the music world up another notch; to another level. Abba didn't really do that. They tended to polish up what was already around and just didn’t have the gravitas nor the consistency of back catalogue that the Beatles did. That said though, they’re a right good listen pop-pickers I’ll tell you and well worth digging out the hits albums for a spin, but er..maybe leave the clothes out though eh?
In terms of sheer pop genius I doubt there can't be much more than a coat of paint separating Abba and the Beatles. Of course, it’s comparing apples and oranges here to some degree because of the different eras involved. However, just taking the songs as measurement, I think Abba are definitely up there. There is a clamour to see them reunite often and it’s reminiscent of the constant Beatle reunion nonsense which dogs Paul and Ringo even to this day. It was whilst watching the recent television coverage of the Mamma Mia movie premiers across Europe that it became obvious to me that Abba had joined the ranks as major major artists. Abba fans would already know this anyway. The sight of the four members of Abba together (albeit at opposite ends of the balcony) made me think what a shame it was that The Beatles didn’t take the chance to do something similar before they started popping their clogs and heading to the great studio session in the sky. The quality of songwriting within the Abba repertoire is super slick. Songs like S.O.S, Mamma Mia, The Name of the Game, Knowing Me, Knowing You and a whole host of others are certainly (well in my mind anyway) up there with almost any of the Beatles material in terms of writing ability, performance and production.
So who else is worthy then?
For me the line which measures the seismic changes, the line which defines the fault lines goes something like this, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, The Beatles, The Sex Pistols, then maybe The Smiths. Now, that’s not to negate many of the other incredible artists we’ve been fortunate enough to have in our memories…people like Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye (and a host of others) because their music is important, strong and it helps to define the eras they were from. Abba are like “new money” within this club. They seem to have captured something which has continued to grow beyond themselves and their era – a sure sign that standards have been written. The band broke up in the early 1980’s and you would have thought that was that. In my memory, they were an extremely uncool band, and although they sold millions and millions of records, I didn’t know a single Abba fan at the time. These days that’s changed. They've probably sold more records now than they did then and there seems to be an Abba fan in every doorway. The difference between a band like Abba and a band like the Beatles though is that just about everything the Beatles did took the music world up another notch; to another level. Abba didn't really do that. They tended to polish up what was already around and just didn’t have the gravitas nor the consistency of back catalogue that the Beatles did. That said though, they’re a right good listen pop-pickers I’ll tell you and well worth digging out the hits albums for a spin, but er..maybe leave the clothes out though eh?
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Come On (Come On)
I noticed that Pete Best has got a new album coming out!
Pete has eventually done quite well out of the Beatles in recent years has he not? …the Anthology project certainly has made him a “few bob” no doubt and who would grudge him a single penny? I most certainly wouldn’t. However there are a couple of things in the press releases that bother me. One is this comment, I assume from the record company, and it beggars belief really:
"What can I say, this album far outreached my wildest expectation., I just didn't expect what I received. It's as good as anything The Beatles did at their peak, unbelievable. I'm blown away," says Arnie Holland, CEO of Lightyear Entertainment.
Oh well, easily pleased then Arnie yes?
I’m sure it’s a competent album but come on….It’s as “good as ANYTHING the Beatles did at their peak”?
Puul-eeesssee!
Do us a favour would you?…it’s bad enough saying it in print and it’s even worse to USE it as part of the publicity!
There are very few things (if any) as good as anything the Beatles did at their peak.
It’s get a grip material it really is.
The other thing apparently is that, “The album in true Liverpudlian flavor, shows Best as one of the cornerstones of the original sounds of the Beatles”
I mean really.
One of the “cornerstones of the original sounds of the Beatles”?
It could be argued that the Beatles sound didn’t arrive until they had Ringo Starr playing drums. It’s just a personal opinion here, but I think the Beatles were a fairly appalling band pre-Ringo times. There is just no spark in any of the totally flat and lifeless recordings that were made and the drumming is awful to my ears. It’s no wonder they were rejected by every record company up and down the land.
Don’t get me wrong here, I applaud anyone who gets their hands dirty, gets down to the nitty gritty of getting some songs together and then putting them out as an album. It’s a very difficult route, especially in this day and age when the population at large just doesn’t give a flying burrito about buying music anymore.
The truth is that the easy bit is making the album.
I wish the very best of luck to you Pete.
Pete has eventually done quite well out of the Beatles in recent years has he not? …the Anthology project certainly has made him a “few bob” no doubt and who would grudge him a single penny? I most certainly wouldn’t. However there are a couple of things in the press releases that bother me. One is this comment, I assume from the record company, and it beggars belief really:
"What can I say, this album far outreached my wildest expectation., I just didn't expect what I received. It's as good as anything The Beatles did at their peak, unbelievable. I'm blown away," says Arnie Holland, CEO of Lightyear Entertainment.
Oh well, easily pleased then Arnie yes?
I’m sure it’s a competent album but come on….It’s as “good as ANYTHING the Beatles did at their peak”?
Puul-eeesssee!
Do us a favour would you?…it’s bad enough saying it in print and it’s even worse to USE it as part of the publicity!
There are very few things (if any) as good as anything the Beatles did at their peak.
It’s get a grip material it really is.
The other thing apparently is that, “The album in true Liverpudlian flavor, shows Best as one of the cornerstones of the original sounds of the Beatles”
I mean really.
One of the “cornerstones of the original sounds of the Beatles”?
It could be argued that the Beatles sound didn’t arrive until they had Ringo Starr playing drums. It’s just a personal opinion here, but I think the Beatles were a fairly appalling band pre-Ringo times. There is just no spark in any of the totally flat and lifeless recordings that were made and the drumming is awful to my ears. It’s no wonder they were rejected by every record company up and down the land.
Don’t get me wrong here, I applaud anyone who gets their hands dirty, gets down to the nitty gritty of getting some songs together and then putting them out as an album. It’s a very difficult route, especially in this day and age when the population at large just doesn’t give a flying burrito about buying music anymore.
The truth is that the easy bit is making the album.
I wish the very best of luck to you Pete.
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Sweet Dream (Baby)
I consider myself quite lucky when it comes to being a musician. I’ve gotten to actually play in some of the venues I’ve read about as a Beatle fan. The first time I played at a Beatle convention, it was in Liverpool, with the first venue being The Blue Angel club. I’d read about it in Allan Williams’ book, The Man Who Gave the Beatles Away. More on that in a bit, but first some background on the Convention itself. When I played at this particular gathering, it hadn’t got too big yet; it wasn’t too corporate – in short it was a REAL gathering of people who loved all aspects of the Beatles. People who were happy just chatting in groups late into the night in the hotel bars, whilst others provided unplanned, off the cuff acoustic sessions as everyone basked in a Beatle glow in Liverpool.
What could be better than that?
When our band arrived at the convention, we were lucky enough to be able to rehearse in the Cavern for two afternoons on the trot! That just wouldn’t happen now as there would be groups playing wall to wall and noon till midnight in there! I have some great home movies from those sessions and I still can’t quite believe we did that as generally, rehearsals are off limits to the paying public, for obvious reasons! For example, we might be just running through some songs or goofing around on stuff we’d never play and hey, that is what rehearsals are for. But, we kept wondering why all these people kept turning up, sitting down, having a quick drink and heading off! Of course, unbeknownst to us, the Cavern had slapped a poster outside saying “TODAY, LIVE ENTERTAINMENT ALL AFTERNOON”!!!! Talk about taking a free slug whilst you’re not looking! I always tended to think that the people who were watching those rehearsals must have thought that we were just rubbish, because we kept on playing the same song over and over again! But, looking back, it was off the cuff, relaxed and, like any band, we tended to raise our game a bit when people came in, so in some ways, it actually helped our cause. We were rehearsing because they were our first gigs, both in front of a Beatle crowd and in Liverpool, so we were keen to make the right impression. For us, what made it special was the fact that we were going to play in some of the original venues that the boys had played in, so we didn’t quite know what to expect, but one thing’s for sure, it was a mixture of excitement and straightforward fear to put it politely!
Another thing about that first time was that we had been assigned a crew of roadies and our own transport. We had brought all of our own equipment so that we did need transport to get around town. What we didn’t bargain on was that some of that gear would get used elsewhere…like the morning I woke up after a late night, bleary eyed, hearing the live sounds of Get Back full on LIVE and blaring down the street being played on the balcony of the hotel RIGHT next to our bedrooms! I went to check on my guitar and noticed that not only were our amps were missing, but so were our crew! The penny dropped of course when one of them came in to wake us all up and said “have you heard this band -they’re great!” I said, “Where are the amps?” He just laughed and headed back to the balcony! Putting two and two together I went out to see the band from behind the “stage” – sure enough there were our amps being used to blow half of Liverpool down!
Anyway, back to the Blue Angel…we got in to this dark, cold and grimy and cellar and couldn’t believe that this was where the Beatles had done that audition for Larry Parnes and here we were about to play similar kinds of songs on the very same stage! That was a big WOW for us and trust me, it is a memory which will live with me until I pop my clogs, I promise you. As the crowds began to come in, some unexpected guests arrived. I just couldn’t believe it – none other than Allan Williams himself with his mate Tony Jackson of the Searchers…Now we’re beginning to get nervous…of course we channelled this into the performance, which went like a DREAM. The crowd were really enthusiastic and were out to have a great time. This just fed the band which in turn fed the crowd – yada, yada, yada! At the end of the first half we were astonished that both Tony and Allan had come up on stage with us…For the record, Allan told a few rude stories about the Beatles whilst Tony did Sweets For My Sweet…we were really made up! For myself, I had gone from reading Allan’s book and being totally inspired by it as a kid, to standing on stage with him. It still amazes me that. Yes, no doubt about it, the big fan gatherings of today just can’t compete with that type of thing in my opinion. As I said, this was a fairly small, concentrated amount of people all into the same thing and all wanting to have the time of their lives – which, incidentally it seemed to me - they did! Today some of these festivals are SO out of control because there are so many people and something is lost because of it. It’s like a victim of its own success, not in fact unlike the subject they choose to have a convention about. The convention I am talking about had no more than a few thousand people throughout the week…which granted sounds does like a lot, but it didn’t seem that way, because they weren’t all there at the same time! In later years it’s not been unknown for up to 250, 000 (and beyond) to have turned up at some of these giant street gatherings which in my opinion have long diluted the whole point of the Beatles convention in Liverpool. I’ve played both the huge ones and the small ones. There can be no doubt in my mind that the smaller, concentrated, slightly quieter fan gatherings are best. I’m still in contact today with some of the people I met then, which gives an indication of the fairly intimate nature of the gatherings of the hard core fans who stayed in the same hotels as the bands who were there to entertain them. Some of those later festivals just seemed faceless to me, plastic and official, with all of the oomph taken out of it. I’ve only scratched the surface of that convention here and at some point I’ll probably come back to it because it truly was life changing stuff and my memory of it can only continue to bring a warm and contented glow every time it comes to my mind.
What could be better than that?
When our band arrived at the convention, we were lucky enough to be able to rehearse in the Cavern for two afternoons on the trot! That just wouldn’t happen now as there would be groups playing wall to wall and noon till midnight in there! I have some great home movies from those sessions and I still can’t quite believe we did that as generally, rehearsals are off limits to the paying public, for obvious reasons! For example, we might be just running through some songs or goofing around on stuff we’d never play and hey, that is what rehearsals are for. But, we kept wondering why all these people kept turning up, sitting down, having a quick drink and heading off! Of course, unbeknownst to us, the Cavern had slapped a poster outside saying “TODAY, LIVE ENTERTAINMENT ALL AFTERNOON”!!!! Talk about taking a free slug whilst you’re not looking! I always tended to think that the people who were watching those rehearsals must have thought that we were just rubbish, because we kept on playing the same song over and over again! But, looking back, it was off the cuff, relaxed and, like any band, we tended to raise our game a bit when people came in, so in some ways, it actually helped our cause. We were rehearsing because they were our first gigs, both in front of a Beatle crowd and in Liverpool, so we were keen to make the right impression. For us, what made it special was the fact that we were going to play in some of the original venues that the boys had played in, so we didn’t quite know what to expect, but one thing’s for sure, it was a mixture of excitement and straightforward fear to put it politely!
Another thing about that first time was that we had been assigned a crew of roadies and our own transport. We had brought all of our own equipment so that we did need transport to get around town. What we didn’t bargain on was that some of that gear would get used elsewhere…like the morning I woke up after a late night, bleary eyed, hearing the live sounds of Get Back full on LIVE and blaring down the street being played on the balcony of the hotel RIGHT next to our bedrooms! I went to check on my guitar and noticed that not only were our amps were missing, but so were our crew! The penny dropped of course when one of them came in to wake us all up and said “have you heard this band -they’re great!” I said, “Where are the amps?” He just laughed and headed back to the balcony! Putting two and two together I went out to see the band from behind the “stage” – sure enough there were our amps being used to blow half of Liverpool down!
Anyway, back to the Blue Angel…we got in to this dark, cold and grimy and cellar and couldn’t believe that this was where the Beatles had done that audition for Larry Parnes and here we were about to play similar kinds of songs on the very same stage! That was a big WOW for us and trust me, it is a memory which will live with me until I pop my clogs, I promise you. As the crowds began to come in, some unexpected guests arrived. I just couldn’t believe it – none other than Allan Williams himself with his mate Tony Jackson of the Searchers…Now we’re beginning to get nervous…of course we channelled this into the performance, which went like a DREAM. The crowd were really enthusiastic and were out to have a great time. This just fed the band which in turn fed the crowd – yada, yada, yada! At the end of the first half we were astonished that both Tony and Allan had come up on stage with us…For the record, Allan told a few rude stories about the Beatles whilst Tony did Sweets For My Sweet…we were really made up! For myself, I had gone from reading Allan’s book and being totally inspired by it as a kid, to standing on stage with him. It still amazes me that. Yes, no doubt about it, the big fan gatherings of today just can’t compete with that type of thing in my opinion. As I said, this was a fairly small, concentrated amount of people all into the same thing and all wanting to have the time of their lives – which, incidentally it seemed to me - they did! Today some of these festivals are SO out of control because there are so many people and something is lost because of it. It’s like a victim of its own success, not in fact unlike the subject they choose to have a convention about. The convention I am talking about had no more than a few thousand people throughout the week…which granted sounds does like a lot, but it didn’t seem that way, because they weren’t all there at the same time! In later years it’s not been unknown for up to 250, 000 (and beyond) to have turned up at some of these giant street gatherings which in my opinion have long diluted the whole point of the Beatles convention in Liverpool. I’ve played both the huge ones and the small ones. There can be no doubt in my mind that the smaller, concentrated, slightly quieter fan gatherings are best. I’m still in contact today with some of the people I met then, which gives an indication of the fairly intimate nature of the gatherings of the hard core fans who stayed in the same hotels as the bands who were there to entertain them. Some of those later festivals just seemed faceless to me, plastic and official, with all of the oomph taken out of it. I’ve only scratched the surface of that convention here and at some point I’ll probably come back to it because it truly was life changing stuff and my memory of it can only continue to bring a warm and contented glow every time it comes to my mind.
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Stream a Little Dream
When I started playing guitar and joining bands it was pretty much the same route to follow if you were looking to make it (whatever that means!) You would learn to play, join a band hit the road and hope you’d be discovered, somehow. A lot like the story as told by Paul in the song Take It Away. Well, pretty soon you discover that ain’t gonna happen brother! You realise that making it is relative to what you consider success is. The Beatles success to a large extent was obscene. Let’s face it. With their type of success I’m surprised they stayed even remotely sane and as George quiped, they gave their nervous systems in the process! As I’ve said previously, the Beatles had a blank canvas to paint on and their success was perhaps slightly easier for them as they kicked down all the closed doors they found….like let’s turn up the bass (on paperback writer), let's have all night sessions (like on Pepper)….let's use this instrument, that orchestra ….in some respects the guys ended up kinda doing what they liked, whenever they liked and with that came creative freedom and therefore a certain ease and opportunity in which to break new ground. It was an evolution from eager and hungry school boys to lean athletes…well musically and professionally speaking anyway!….I wonder though if a band like the Beatles would have, or indeed could have broken through given the kind of constraints and pressure there are on bands, (nay, products) today? How many times have you said, there’ll never be another Beatles? Have you ever wondered why? How would they have cut through I wonder?
Today, the quality of your written product is not the point. Potential isn’t something that’s taken into the equation. No, today, bands have to be their own self contained label, production and management team waiting to be cherry picked by big companies. Bands have to work their own fan base through social networking sites. They have to be au fait with the My Space generation. They need to be able to communicate and fully understand the internet and its social integration with their demographic. To be able to understand who’s going to buy their tee shirts because one thing is for sure, no one is going to buy your music are they? No, it will be stolen. It’s just a fact of modern musical life. So, where the emphasis was once on the quality of your song writing its value is now less, because as a commodity, there is no real value in it on its own. Sure, as one part of a “whole”, it has some value but not like it was in the Beatles day. There are tens of thousands of bands out there all vying for success. Most of them won’t succeed. Sure, there was a lot of competition in the Beatles day too, but nowhere near as much as now. I’m sure that the Beatles would be worthy by any measurable standards here today and way beyond tomorrow, but I’m also sure that they couldn’t have made it in the same way. In some respects it’s partly because of the Beatles huge success and massive cultural impact, that bands don’t have the same kind of chances. There are still some huge acts out there, but none that cut the ice with such precision as the Beatles. Forty years up the line, the band is still under the microscope to an unnatural degree, such was their impact. Few, if any from today will be on the same slide. Which one of the Beatles would have nurtured their my space site searching for friends, uploading photographs and answering the mail I wonder? Which one of them would have said, lets just give the music away and concentrate on t shirt design? Would they have had the gigging opportunities that they did in order to develop as a live act? I’m not sure a place like Hamburg’s scene exists for a band anymore. Today, if that kind of place did exist, they would probably use a hard drive full of stolen files to fill an eight hour all-nighter – cheaper that way right?
I’m not saying that the band wouldn’t have made it, because I think they would have. Cream as they say, floats to the top. But, it’s doubtful if they’d have made it in the same way with the same sort of impact because the business is so over subscribed and is so much less important to what was its core audience – the record buying public.
The music industry to a large extent is in deep, deep trouble…well for now anyway, until it recovers and finds a new business model to adopt. To a large extent it only has itself to blame. In this day and age, most people see music as some kind of free commodity with little or no value, somehow only put here to entertain people for a few minutes at a time with no remuneration for the artists who trust me, still put their life, and soul into the creation process. Watch for example how the music business reacts to a new feature soon to be, if not already available on the Real Player – a function that allows the user to record the streams they listen to! All this going on whilst, kids in bedrooms up and down the country begin the journey of learning to play, (maybe) joining a band, learning how to record on a computer, (maybe) hitting the road and opening up a my space site, developing their websites, opening an online shop, designing their t-shirt, nurturing their fan base, understanding their demographic, meeting with their legal team and hoping to be discovered.
Today, the quality of your written product is not the point. Potential isn’t something that’s taken into the equation. No, today, bands have to be their own self contained label, production and management team waiting to be cherry picked by big companies. Bands have to work their own fan base through social networking sites. They have to be au fait with the My Space generation. They need to be able to communicate and fully understand the internet and its social integration with their demographic. To be able to understand who’s going to buy their tee shirts because one thing is for sure, no one is going to buy your music are they? No, it will be stolen. It’s just a fact of modern musical life. So, where the emphasis was once on the quality of your song writing its value is now less, because as a commodity, there is no real value in it on its own. Sure, as one part of a “whole”, it has some value but not like it was in the Beatles day. There are tens of thousands of bands out there all vying for success. Most of them won’t succeed. Sure, there was a lot of competition in the Beatles day too, but nowhere near as much as now. I’m sure that the Beatles would be worthy by any measurable standards here today and way beyond tomorrow, but I’m also sure that they couldn’t have made it in the same way. In some respects it’s partly because of the Beatles huge success and massive cultural impact, that bands don’t have the same kind of chances. There are still some huge acts out there, but none that cut the ice with such precision as the Beatles. Forty years up the line, the band is still under the microscope to an unnatural degree, such was their impact. Few, if any from today will be on the same slide. Which one of the Beatles would have nurtured their my space site searching for friends, uploading photographs and answering the mail I wonder? Which one of them would have said, lets just give the music away and concentrate on t shirt design? Would they have had the gigging opportunities that they did in order to develop as a live act? I’m not sure a place like Hamburg’s scene exists for a band anymore. Today, if that kind of place did exist, they would probably use a hard drive full of stolen files to fill an eight hour all-nighter – cheaper that way right?
I’m not saying that the band wouldn’t have made it, because I think they would have. Cream as they say, floats to the top. But, it’s doubtful if they’d have made it in the same way with the same sort of impact because the business is so over subscribed and is so much less important to what was its core audience – the record buying public.
The music industry to a large extent is in deep, deep trouble…well for now anyway, until it recovers and finds a new business model to adopt. To a large extent it only has itself to blame. In this day and age, most people see music as some kind of free commodity with little or no value, somehow only put here to entertain people for a few minutes at a time with no remuneration for the artists who trust me, still put their life, and soul into the creation process. Watch for example how the music business reacts to a new feature soon to be, if not already available on the Real Player – a function that allows the user to record the streams they listen to! All this going on whilst, kids in bedrooms up and down the country begin the journey of learning to play, (maybe) joining a band, learning how to record on a computer, (maybe) hitting the road and opening up a my space site, developing their websites, opening an online shop, designing their t-shirt, nurturing their fan base, understanding their demographic, meeting with their legal team and hoping to be discovered.
Monday, 23 June 2008
Rock 'n' Roll Music
Much like the moment in John Lennon’s life when he saw Elvis for the first time and thought “that’s a good job!”, the same could be said for me when I first saw The Beatles. As a youngster I was amazed that you could get paid to play a guitar and sing - in fact if truth to tell, I'm still pretty amazed you can get paid for it! Of course, it could be just my working class background coming into play because it didn’t seem to me to be a real job of work. However as I have subsequently found out, it is a real job of work and a challenging and at times difficult one at that. It is one of those jobs all too easily misread as glamorous and perhaps only for the work shy. With cries of “get a proper job” still reeling in my ears, I realised that even John had that problem. I had not the faintest idea at the beginning that I would still be playing the guitar and singing all these years up the line and for that I am truly thankful. It has definitely been a journey. Without trying to sound like some tortured and pretentious artist, there is almost a “calling” with music. It’s something you just can’t get out of your hair. It can and has got me out of my bed in the middle of the night to write something down before it’s forgotten – and that’s something Mrs Beatcomber appreciates a lot I can tell you! They are the times when I’ve asked myself, why do I still do this? ‘Cos you know, I’d kinda rather be sleeping right now…and then my head drifts to The Beatles. I have to say, they have never let me down in terms of inspiration. My Beatle discovery not only provided me with brilliant music to listen to over a lifetime, which is amazing enough, but they also unwittingly offered a route that I would follow in my career. Much as Elvis, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins and Little Richard did for them. I was never involved in the music game to get famous though - I just wanted to write and record. I wanted to learn the craft of production and even to this day I look at how they did things with genuine amazement. I have a million tracks at my disposal and they had a mere four! Astonishing!
Isn’t it amazing that listening to something as inconsequential as a “band” at a certain period in your development can have such a profound effect on your life? I can say, hand on heart, that The Beatles are directly responsible for the route I followed - straight into the music industry. And with that, all of the great people I have met and the great experiences I have had.
One minute you are listening to She Loves You with your tennis racquet and hairbrush and the next you are on stage at the Cavern Club, Rickenbacker in hand, rocking your head off in front of 500 people squeezed ever so tightly together right in front of you! Those are memories I just wouldn’t be without. Being involved in music hasn’t been easy and, as I said, there have been lots of time where I have considered knocking it on the head…but one listen to The Beatles and the stubborn creative little fellow that lives in my soul dictates that I should carry on no matter what.
How have the Beatles influenced your decisions?
Isn’t it amazing that listening to something as inconsequential as a “band” at a certain period in your development can have such a profound effect on your life? I can say, hand on heart, that The Beatles are directly responsible for the route I followed - straight into the music industry. And with that, all of the great people I have met and the great experiences I have had.
One minute you are listening to She Loves You with your tennis racquet and hairbrush and the next you are on stage at the Cavern Club, Rickenbacker in hand, rocking your head off in front of 500 people squeezed ever so tightly together right in front of you! Those are memories I just wouldn’t be without. Being involved in music hasn’t been easy and, as I said, there have been lots of time where I have considered knocking it on the head…but one listen to The Beatles and the stubborn creative little fellow that lives in my soul dictates that I should carry on no matter what.
How have the Beatles influenced your decisions?
Friday, 20 June 2008
1973
There can be no doubt that the Beatles were diluted in the years following their break up. The sum of the four parts being stronger that the individuals as the cliche goes.
However, taking the best of the solo releases from the year 1973, it is possible to suggest that The Beatles would have released some of their strongest work. I think it may have been John who suggested that if we all can’t get over the split, then we could take a track from him, a track from Paul etc etc…So, going down that road we get a tantalising insight into what the band may have considered to be album worthy. In fact using this approach, it allows fans to second guess what may have been released in terms of new Beatle product throughout the Seventies, but for now 1973 seems to be a particularly strong year. Just for talking sake, The Beatles could easily have released two strong albums, taken in the James Bond theme and had a string of hit singles. No different in fact to when they were a functioning band really.
Look at these candidates as an example and they’re in no particular order:
My Love
Band on the Run
Jet
Bluebird
Let me Roll It
No Words
1985
Mind games
Out of the Blue
Tight A$
Intuition
One Day at a Time
Give Me Love (give Me Peace on earth)
Photograph
You’re Sixteen
Living In The Material World
I’m the Greatest
Oh My My
Try Some Buy Some
Live and Let Die
That gives out the following ratio: Paul with 8 songs, 6 John songs and 6 between George and Ringo. This seems to me to be similar to what you’d expect from them as the band and in fact it’s quite a strong show from George and Ringo.
Of course what that list doesn’t really do, is to demonstrate how they would have been inspired and cajoled by each other in the studio environment. Whilst I’m sure there was a competitive streak between them as solo artists, I’m sure there would have been that added dimension of “The Beatles” acting like a fifth member. In other words, there probably would have been other tracks which would only have been written if the chemistry of the “Beatles” was present. The 1973 output would have been no surprise to people at the time. I think it would have been a case of business as usual for the record buying public. With the quality of product as listed above, it’s likely that their sales would have been through the roof and it would have been another vintage year for them. I think the band would have scored big time with Live and Let Die, which is a monument to song writing, recording and production in any case. Apart from the Bond theme, in terms of potential singles, Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth), My Love, Mind Games, You’re Sixteen seem like a particularly strong set for the year to me. B sides could easily have been made from the rest of the tracks from the solo albums.
I think what this demonstrates is that by 1973 the guys had recovered somewhat from the impact of the break up and begun to claw their way back to a commercial and pop footing. Now, that doesn’t negate their previous releases in anyway whatsoever, but it has to be said that some of their releases previous to this year were pretty personal and not put together with a Beatle ethic in mind.
So, just for fun, I’d love to hear your suggestions as to how the 1970’s would have panned out for Beatles albums using the solo albums as a guide. Could the Beatles have kept the momentum of their Sixties output going throughout the Seventies? Would they have found and broken yet more new ground? Or, was it better that they ceased to be when they did? Would they have left the 1970’s with their reputation as the greatest band of all time intact?
What do you think?
However, taking the best of the solo releases from the year 1973, it is possible to suggest that The Beatles would have released some of their strongest work. I think it may have been John who suggested that if we all can’t get over the split, then we could take a track from him, a track from Paul etc etc…So, going down that road we get a tantalising insight into what the band may have considered to be album worthy. In fact using this approach, it allows fans to second guess what may have been released in terms of new Beatle product throughout the Seventies, but for now 1973 seems to be a particularly strong year. Just for talking sake, The Beatles could easily have released two strong albums, taken in the James Bond theme and had a string of hit singles. No different in fact to when they were a functioning band really.
Look at these candidates as an example and they’re in no particular order:
My Love
Band on the Run
Jet
Bluebird
Let me Roll It
No Words
1985
Mind games
Out of the Blue
Tight A$
Intuition
One Day at a Time
Give Me Love (give Me Peace on earth)
Photograph
You’re Sixteen
Living In The Material World
I’m the Greatest
Oh My My
Try Some Buy Some
Live and Let Die
That gives out the following ratio: Paul with 8 songs, 6 John songs and 6 between George and Ringo. This seems to me to be similar to what you’d expect from them as the band and in fact it’s quite a strong show from George and Ringo.
Of course what that list doesn’t really do, is to demonstrate how they would have been inspired and cajoled by each other in the studio environment. Whilst I’m sure there was a competitive streak between them as solo artists, I’m sure there would have been that added dimension of “The Beatles” acting like a fifth member. In other words, there probably would have been other tracks which would only have been written if the chemistry of the “Beatles” was present. The 1973 output would have been no surprise to people at the time. I think it would have been a case of business as usual for the record buying public. With the quality of product as listed above, it’s likely that their sales would have been through the roof and it would have been another vintage year for them. I think the band would have scored big time with Live and Let Die, which is a monument to song writing, recording and production in any case. Apart from the Bond theme, in terms of potential singles, Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth), My Love, Mind Games, You’re Sixteen seem like a particularly strong set for the year to me. B sides could easily have been made from the rest of the tracks from the solo albums.
I think what this demonstrates is that by 1973 the guys had recovered somewhat from the impact of the break up and begun to claw their way back to a commercial and pop footing. Now, that doesn’t negate their previous releases in anyway whatsoever, but it has to be said that some of their releases previous to this year were pretty personal and not put together with a Beatle ethic in mind.
So, just for fun, I’d love to hear your suggestions as to how the 1970’s would have panned out for Beatles albums using the solo albums as a guide. Could the Beatles have kept the momentum of their Sixties output going throughout the Seventies? Would they have found and broken yet more new ground? Or, was it better that they ceased to be when they did? Would they have left the 1970’s with their reputation as the greatest band of all time intact?
What do you think?
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Elvis, Johnny and Mickey
As I wondered through the supermarket yesterday filling up the trolley with the usual essentials, I noticed a rack of t shirts. One had Elvis with some irrelevant nonsense written on it- “Heartbreak Hotel”… and right next to it, one with our Johnny on it with the immortal words “Working Class Hero”, all next to a t-shirt of Mickey Mouse! I’m thinking who would wear such a garment with such a proclamation on it? It's just plain not cool. I almost heaved my cookies when I looked at this total crass use of image and the company Johnny Rhythm was keeping. somehow my heart sank a little. Now, I don't particularly mind Elvis...but somehow the Mickey one said something to me.... It brought to mind a question…who gets permission for these gross product and more importantly perhaps, do they get permission to use such an image?
I appreciate that Yoko Ono has had a tough job walking the line between keeping John’s presence current, making money and keeping the fans happy with new releases. However, apart from the excellent Anthology CD box set from several years ago, I think she has totally failed. She has succeeded though in turning him into nothing more than some kind of corporate brand on the scale of Mr Walter Disney! I just wonder what the man himself would make of some of the nonsense that is available!! That t-shirt with its Working Class Hero slogan sums it up. The myth of that phrase is just gross. John Lennon was no working class hero. Fans and scholars know this. It’s an insult to Joe Public that is thrust upon them. Say it enough times and perhaps people will believe it right? John Lennon was a great man, but a flawed genius and he certainly wasn't some kind of Saint. I believe history yet to unfold and perhaps not in this generation will see that he had a forward thinking and clever mind. Forget all that Imagine no countries idealism stuff. Think about the untaught, raw musical genius he actually was. That’s where his true image lies. John was as sharp as a tack at all levels and his ripostes were legendary. However this was a person, NOT a product or a brand name to sell anything else but his own self generated music and art. Sure buy the records, the books and drawings and stuff, but perhaps not the baby clothes eh? We don't want Elvis Lennon now do we? It's one step away from canned McBeatle breath folks!
I appreciate that Yoko Ono has had a tough job walking the line between keeping John’s presence current, making money and keeping the fans happy with new releases. However, apart from the excellent Anthology CD box set from several years ago, I think she has totally failed. She has succeeded though in turning him into nothing more than some kind of corporate brand on the scale of Mr Walter Disney! I just wonder what the man himself would make of some of the nonsense that is available!! That t-shirt with its Working Class Hero slogan sums it up. The myth of that phrase is just gross. John Lennon was no working class hero. Fans and scholars know this. It’s an insult to Joe Public that is thrust upon them. Say it enough times and perhaps people will believe it right? John Lennon was a great man, but a flawed genius and he certainly wasn't some kind of Saint. I believe history yet to unfold and perhaps not in this generation will see that he had a forward thinking and clever mind. Forget all that Imagine no countries idealism stuff. Think about the untaught, raw musical genius he actually was. That’s where his true image lies. John was as sharp as a tack at all levels and his ripostes were legendary. However this was a person, NOT a product or a brand name to sell anything else but his own self generated music and art. Sure buy the records, the books and drawings and stuff, but perhaps not the baby clothes eh? We don't want Elvis Lennon now do we? It's one step away from canned McBeatle breath folks!
Friday, 13 June 2008
A Lucky Face
Why did the Beatles become so big? Why was their music so amazing?
Well, they had a blank canvas for a start. When I say that, I mean that pop music hadn’t quite entered the modern age yet. The Beatles form the line where this boundary is crossed I believe. They came to perfect the art of what became known as the three minute pop song. Not an ounce of fat on any of them. By enlarge, small but perfectly formed pieces of work to which the world of music could merely gasp and listen to in awe. This is a catalogue of work which is unlikely to be matched for sheer ingenuity and for the scale of it’s effect on the world both musically and culturally.
The Beatles were also lucky with their timing.
In 1962, Britain was waiting for something to lift the gloom of post war austerity, to turn the black and white world of the newsreeles into a blaze of Sixties colour. Then these funny Liverpudlian guys with really long hair turn up. I wasn’t around then unfortunately, but relatives have tried to impress upon me the significance of their hair and their overall look initially. It seems like a trivial detail now. It's difficult to imagine a hairstyle having that much significance. There was no one else like them. Then there’s the music. It’s perhaps not the most original thing ever heard at the beginning, but there’s something about it. Something about the way they crowd around a microphone stand. The harmonies. John Lennon's "leather tonsils". It’s just, well…plain different.
They were lucky too when they went to America. The US was still dealing with Jack Kennedy’s demise and they must've been a ray of pure sunshine upon arrival; a really big deal, with their funny accents and nice suits (and that!). They seem to be so different. Again, don’t underestimate the hair. It grabbed the world’s attention and gave them that thirty second platform to impress. So, they had unwittingly got the timing of their arrival just right. Then you have to look at who they accidentally hook up with after they’d been knocked back from every record company up and down the land.
They’ve got George Martin in their corner to tidy up their compositions, adding and subtracting as they went. Today, it’s likely that a producer of his stature would be in on co- writing credits for a band in their position. Again, they were lucky meeting him. They found someone who could give them ideas for free in a sense. This is an educated musical mind, working way above their level. However, they too, no doubt would have come up with ideas because of their lack of musical knowledge. So again, in finding Mr Martin, it’s another lucky break for them. It is a marriage made in heaven. It is hard to imagine for example that Yesterday or She’s Leaving Home would have been in the same league but for his contribution. I don’t just mean string sections here. I’m talking about the bare bones of the song, the structure and arrangement. As producer, George would have had a big say in how Parlophone’s products were presented and I can imagine that once an idea was around, he would have been right on top of it to make the best of it. That coupled with the fact that the boys were eager to make the best product possible surely make a recipe for success? George Martin’s contribution is simply enormous to the band. It’s like he was a silent member of the group. Didn’t quite have the hair for it though! The band not only benefited from him directing their songs, but they learned directly from him, and how! The sheer speed of their development is breathtaking. A friend mentioned to me the other day, that it’s almost impossible to equate the band that played Love Me Do with the one who created the regal majesty of A Day In The Life just five short years later. It’s a quantum leap in song writing. It does defy description in some ways. Their work rate is simply terrifying. The Lewisohn books illustrate this only too well. It is day after day after day and they make it count just about every time. And, all of this happening against a background of a world on the cusp of change in every way and a new generation, sick to the back teeth of the old order.
Yip, The Beatles were in the right place every single time they needed to be and their music changed as often as their hairstyles. Probably one of the reasons why there is unlikely to be another Beatles is because the canvas isn’t blank any more and the genie is out of the bottle.
Well, they had a blank canvas for a start. When I say that, I mean that pop music hadn’t quite entered the modern age yet. The Beatles form the line where this boundary is crossed I believe. They came to perfect the art of what became known as the three minute pop song. Not an ounce of fat on any of them. By enlarge, small but perfectly formed pieces of work to which the world of music could merely gasp and listen to in awe. This is a catalogue of work which is unlikely to be matched for sheer ingenuity and for the scale of it’s effect on the world both musically and culturally.
The Beatles were also lucky with their timing.
In 1962, Britain was waiting for something to lift the gloom of post war austerity, to turn the black and white world of the newsreeles into a blaze of Sixties colour. Then these funny Liverpudlian guys with really long hair turn up. I wasn’t around then unfortunately, but relatives have tried to impress upon me the significance of their hair and their overall look initially. It seems like a trivial detail now. It's difficult to imagine a hairstyle having that much significance. There was no one else like them. Then there’s the music. It’s perhaps not the most original thing ever heard at the beginning, but there’s something about it. Something about the way they crowd around a microphone stand. The harmonies. John Lennon's "leather tonsils". It’s just, well…plain different.
They were lucky too when they went to America. The US was still dealing with Jack Kennedy’s demise and they must've been a ray of pure sunshine upon arrival; a really big deal, with their funny accents and nice suits (and that!). They seem to be so different. Again, don’t underestimate the hair. It grabbed the world’s attention and gave them that thirty second platform to impress. So, they had unwittingly got the timing of their arrival just right. Then you have to look at who they accidentally hook up with after they’d been knocked back from every record company up and down the land.
They’ve got George Martin in their corner to tidy up their compositions, adding and subtracting as they went. Today, it’s likely that a producer of his stature would be in on co- writing credits for a band in their position. Again, they were lucky meeting him. They found someone who could give them ideas for free in a sense. This is an educated musical mind, working way above their level. However, they too, no doubt would have come up with ideas because of their lack of musical knowledge. So again, in finding Mr Martin, it’s another lucky break for them. It is a marriage made in heaven. It is hard to imagine for example that Yesterday or She’s Leaving Home would have been in the same league but for his contribution. I don’t just mean string sections here. I’m talking about the bare bones of the song, the structure and arrangement. As producer, George would have had a big say in how Parlophone’s products were presented and I can imagine that once an idea was around, he would have been right on top of it to make the best of it. That coupled with the fact that the boys were eager to make the best product possible surely make a recipe for success? George Martin’s contribution is simply enormous to the band. It’s like he was a silent member of the group. Didn’t quite have the hair for it though! The band not only benefited from him directing their songs, but they learned directly from him, and how! The sheer speed of their development is breathtaking. A friend mentioned to me the other day, that it’s almost impossible to equate the band that played Love Me Do with the one who created the regal majesty of A Day In The Life just five short years later. It’s a quantum leap in song writing. It does defy description in some ways. Their work rate is simply terrifying. The Lewisohn books illustrate this only too well. It is day after day after day and they make it count just about every time. And, all of this happening against a background of a world on the cusp of change in every way and a new generation, sick to the back teeth of the old order.
Yip, The Beatles were in the right place every single time they needed to be and their music changed as often as their hairstyles. Probably one of the reasons why there is unlikely to be another Beatles is because the canvas isn’t blank any more and the genie is out of the bottle.
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Supposing, supposing
Have you ever noticed the fact that whenever there was an opportunity for the surviving Beatles to get together, there was always something in the way?
Up until 1980 it seems that all members of the band were resolute about not being seen together post break up. However, following John’s “thing” this was a more regular occurrence. We do know that there were guest appearances on each other’s albums and tracks. George’s All Those Years Ago, where the Threetles made their forced debut due to the sad events surrounding the song. Then there’s the Ringo album of 1973. The whole band appeared on that album, but NOT together on the same track. That would have been a reunion wouldn’t it and that just wouldn’t do!
What do you think?
It is almost as if a further decision had been made. Is it possible that they came to some kind of business agreement to not reunite in any kind of form? Or at least not to be seen to be reunited, just to keep the game bubbling over and keep the fans hoping for the aforementioned Holy Grail? It’s not as though they didn’t communicate with each other during the post break up period at all is it?
Or perhaps it was simply just bad blood, pain, loathing and familiarity having bred a terrible contempt?
It’s well documented about John and Paul getting together in New York during the late Seventies or during the infamous Lost Weekend period. You would see Ringo and Paul together in the Broad Street film? You would see George and Ringo together on TV shows like (here in the UK) the Michael Aspel Show or the wonderful Carl Perkins and Friends special. This is a good example of what I mean. It’s quite obvious that Paul was a big Carl Perkins fan as Carl’s guest appearance on Tug Of War with the song Get It underlines, not to mention their 1993 get together as witnessed on the video My Old Friend released in 1998. It does beg the question why didn’t Paul play on the Carl Perkins and Friends show? Was it because Paul and George had some insurmountable problem with each other or was it to perpetuate the “Beatles will never get together again” myth?...Well that is until the Anthology project where they could then milk it for all it was worth? Even recently at the Anfield concert to celebrate the Liverpool City of Culture event, there seemed to be an undercurrent of something not quite right between Ringo and Paul. All those, “that was never on the cards”, and “that’s just not going to happen” type comments seem to illustrate what appears to be an ongoing problem. It has been said that Ringo’s nose was put out of joint because he didn’t get the nod from Paul to join him onstage at the Live 8 concert? To be honest who could blame him? It was the biggest concert for years and Paul was, shall we say, VERY represented at the event (to use some badly written England). Why didn’t Ringo play that show with Paul I wonder? It’s not like they hadn’t played together over the years is it? At the Concert for George there didn’t seem to be any problem about them getting together. It seems to me that it is a bit of a prickly place inside the Beatles world. That said, how often have we seen Paul and Yoko together or Yoko and the lovely Olivia together recently? Quite often I’d say and further, it seems a lot more than it used to be. Who would have thought that? The best example of this is the recent Larry King special on the Love spectacular where uniquely, they were all seen together in the one place at the same time. I just wonder if they’d have joined forces like this if John and George were around?
Whilst I don’t dispute the “family” element of relationships between the band members and the “deep regard” they have all had for each other, I’m not convinced that all is that well. I’ve always felt it to be quite sad that somehow, they couldn’t all just be in the same room showing a united front in public during the time when we had all four, post split. This does seem to illustrate the strength of bad feeling that ran deep in Camp Beatle not only following the split but indeed right to this day. As I think I’ve said before, join a band – it’s the best place to lose your mates.
Up until 1980 it seems that all members of the band were resolute about not being seen together post break up. However, following John’s “thing” this was a more regular occurrence. We do know that there were guest appearances on each other’s albums and tracks. George’s All Those Years Ago, where the Threetles made their forced debut due to the sad events surrounding the song. Then there’s the Ringo album of 1973. The whole band appeared on that album, but NOT together on the same track. That would have been a reunion wouldn’t it and that just wouldn’t do!
What do you think?
It is almost as if a further decision had been made. Is it possible that they came to some kind of business agreement to not reunite in any kind of form? Or at least not to be seen to be reunited, just to keep the game bubbling over and keep the fans hoping for the aforementioned Holy Grail? It’s not as though they didn’t communicate with each other during the post break up period at all is it?
Or perhaps it was simply just bad blood, pain, loathing and familiarity having bred a terrible contempt?
It’s well documented about John and Paul getting together in New York during the late Seventies or during the infamous Lost Weekend period. You would see Ringo and Paul together in the Broad Street film? You would see George and Ringo together on TV shows like (here in the UK) the Michael Aspel Show or the wonderful Carl Perkins and Friends special. This is a good example of what I mean. It’s quite obvious that Paul was a big Carl Perkins fan as Carl’s guest appearance on Tug Of War with the song Get It underlines, not to mention their 1993 get together as witnessed on the video My Old Friend released in 1998. It does beg the question why didn’t Paul play on the Carl Perkins and Friends show? Was it because Paul and George had some insurmountable problem with each other or was it to perpetuate the “Beatles will never get together again” myth?...Well that is until the Anthology project where they could then milk it for all it was worth? Even recently at the Anfield concert to celebrate the Liverpool City of Culture event, there seemed to be an undercurrent of something not quite right between Ringo and Paul. All those, “that was never on the cards”, and “that’s just not going to happen” type comments seem to illustrate what appears to be an ongoing problem. It has been said that Ringo’s nose was put out of joint because he didn’t get the nod from Paul to join him onstage at the Live 8 concert? To be honest who could blame him? It was the biggest concert for years and Paul was, shall we say, VERY represented at the event (to use some badly written England). Why didn’t Ringo play that show with Paul I wonder? It’s not like they hadn’t played together over the years is it? At the Concert for George there didn’t seem to be any problem about them getting together. It seems to me that it is a bit of a prickly place inside the Beatles world. That said, how often have we seen Paul and Yoko together or Yoko and the lovely Olivia together recently? Quite often I’d say and further, it seems a lot more than it used to be. Who would have thought that? The best example of this is the recent Larry King special on the Love spectacular where uniquely, they were all seen together in the one place at the same time. I just wonder if they’d have joined forces like this if John and George were around?
Whilst I don’t dispute the “family” element of relationships between the band members and the “deep regard” they have all had for each other, I’m not convinced that all is that well. I’ve always felt it to be quite sad that somehow, they couldn’t all just be in the same room showing a united front in public during the time when we had all four, post split. This does seem to illustrate the strength of bad feeling that ran deep in Camp Beatle not only following the split but indeed right to this day. As I think I’ve said before, join a band – it’s the best place to lose your mates.
Sunday, 8 June 2008
just a b side eh?
Something that always impressed me about the Beatles was the quality of their B-sides. I liked their value for money approach which after the Please Please Me included not repeating themselves elsewhere or taking the easier option of putting out an album track. There always seemed to be a strong product identity; albums were albums and singles were singles. Quality was high resulting in the plain fact that most of their B sides would have been a lot of other bands A sides. One of the great B’s was She’s A Woman. This is a top tune and a major part of their live set which is a testament to the strength of the work. I’m trying to imagine the bands of today having that kind of ethic – putting a so called b side into the live set! Ho hum! Most groups today might use acoustic versions of their hit songs, or worse, an instrumental version of the main track. Other offences include the use of the extended remix and in most cases it is just self indulgent rubbish full of its own self importance. That kind of easy way out attitude just doesn’t cut it for me. It’s short changing the buyer. The Beatles didn’t do that. There was always a strong tune on the flip. Don’t Let Me Down, Revolution, Yes It Is, Things We Said Today – all somehow B-sides? You know the phrase “B-Side” somehow gives the impression that it’s not as good. This tells you how strong their singles were when tunes like these were relegated to the less important side. Today, we live in an era where the single means nothing. In their day, the single was just that, it was a SINGLE product with two unique tracks on board. Then, somehow the single became a leader for the album from which it came – in other words – merely an advert for the album. Using it as a device, a hook to make you buy. Now of course, in this world of the download you can just buy the track you like and ignore the B-side. I’ve said it before, there is something lost about that kind of consumption. The Beatles sold singles and albums by the truck load BECAUSE of the strong song writing and originality of product. Who wouldn’t bet on some of those B sides becoming hits in their own right due to the download phenomenon? A single wasn’t just bought as a collectable, never to be opened or played. You know, it’s the “Oh, I don’t need to play this anyway, ‘cos I’ve got it on the main album anyway” attitude, which begs the question – WHY buy it? If only Mr McCartney’s people had thought how it used to be done in the Beatles period during the Press To Play campagn. That was the time which ended my need to buy all of the formats. One of the singles (“Press” I think?) had NINE different versions available. Unfair to the loyal collector(like me) that. Shelling out left, right and centre for basically the same tracks again and again. More like RIP OFF I’d say now.
So, candidate for the best EVER b side? What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts – feel free to drop me a line on the subject.
My own favourite? Surely it must go to I am The Walrus! How that song ever got be a b side is inexplicable to me.
What was that about the quality of Beatles B sides?
So, candidate for the best EVER b side? What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts – feel free to drop me a line on the subject.
My own favourite? Surely it must go to I am The Walrus! How that song ever got be a b side is inexplicable to me.
What was that about the quality of Beatles B sides?
Monday, 2 June 2008
Take some time
consider this....if the Beatles had taken strategic breaks throughout their career, would it have extended the life of the band? Most bands these days do so. In fact, George brought this very point up during Anthology interviews. Or perhaps does the ‘die young stay pretty' argument hold more water by keeping them burning in the memory lamps as being at the top of their game?
It is hard to stay in a band. It is the best way to lose your mates. It is like a marriage. It can be a painful set of relationships to maintain. The political manoeuvring inside a band like the Beatles must have been totally draining. The sheer hassle of creating new works can drain the energy of everyone around it, from the epicentre outward. Norman Smith famously quit as full time engineer as the bickering between John and Paul during the Rubber Soul session became more of a regular occurrence. George Martin was no different, during the torturous sessions of 1968 and '69. Closer to the band though, witness George during the Let It Be film. It's quite easy to understand Paul directing George in order to draw out what might be good for the song. Paul quite easily slipped into the producer's chair and I believe did so more often than not. After all, he is a talented producer as well. However, there is a fine fine line between producing and being seen to be bossy, overbearing and dominant. It gets peoples' backs up and raises their hackles. Now if you've already got a bit of beef with how someone works and then they start telling you what to do, the results can be catastrophic for that relationship. George obviously couldn't stand the sight of Paul during this time and their personal and working relationship was on the verge of breakdown. I know they overcame their differences later in life, but their relationship was probably never the same. Paul must have become quite reticent to offer an opinion thereafter, in case it might be construed that he was trying to take over. So, fundamentally, things had changed. Would an extended holiday following the dark, horribly dark Thirty Days sessions at Twickenham been of benefit? I think so. Time is a great healer as they say. I doubt that the building animosity of those sessions would have been relevant to them after say, six months; a year apart. I believe those particular sessions to be the straw that broke the camel's back, directly accelerating the final break up. And there were earlier signs of the relentless juggernaut pounding forward. Witness when Ringo was getting his tonsils out and the totally BIZARRE episode when Jimmy Nicol was put in on drums. What were they thinking? It may be easy to say, especially in retrospect, but perhaps the tour should have been postponed! A break should have been put in place, thereby ensuring that Ringo (who was after all SICK) was given time to recover. It would have eased the pressure on the band, and Mr Nicol in particular. The poor man was not only asked to fill Ringo's shoes - a hard enough task in itself - but step in to do filming, press conferences and interviews for goodness sake!! He had to become a Beatle for this short period! I think that was an amazing decision to have made. They were the biggest band in the world,. Their reputation would have been intact had they postponed the tour. Sure the fans would have been disappointed, but it is not like they would have organised Beatle record burning sessions on that basis! Surely, no one came out on top there, not least of all Jimmy, who quickly scurried under the nearest rock for cover and was basically never heard of again!
I think an extended break would have been great for the band and would most probably have extended their creative life and preserved their personal relationships. Would Paul and George have fallen out in such a spectacular way? Perhaps a more important question arises if you consider that John only went to America following the complete breakdown of the band. So, could a break have changed his course? Is it possible that he would have remained in the UK to continue working with them? If he did there is a possibility that he may still be alive today. There is chit chat going around that John wanted to get the band back together in the mid Seventies. I'm sure Paul would've done that in a heartbeat. George may have been a slightly tougher nut to crack as he probably still hadn't got over the years of what he might have considered to be "George bashing" from Paul. He had also given John short shrift as the legal case for partnership dissolution came to its conclusion. This was recently discussed by May Pang who witnessed John's 'no show' at the crucial meeting! Maybe, just maybe, he was giving it that final extra thought before the legal end of the world's greatest band was made absolute.
All of the petty arguments, all of the pressures, misconceptions, backstabbing, perceived slights and so on which brought the Beatles to their knees and to breaking point in 1969/70 may have been alleviated with some proper breaks during the turbulent years of the mid Sixties. As a result, the band might have gone on for years, still producing further classics. Imagine the Beatles album that could have been released in 1973 for example. Arguably, it may have been their best album to date by that point, given some of the absolute classics from that year, with all four releasing strong product. One senses a bit of a creative recovery following the trauma of break-up and subsequent divorce. More importantly though, the personal costs to the boys themselves may have been drastically reduced, which in turn would've allowed the band to continue.
It is hard to stay in a band. It is the best way to lose your mates. It is like a marriage. It can be a painful set of relationships to maintain. The political manoeuvring inside a band like the Beatles must have been totally draining. The sheer hassle of creating new works can drain the energy of everyone around it, from the epicentre outward. Norman Smith famously quit as full time engineer as the bickering between John and Paul during the Rubber Soul session became more of a regular occurrence. George Martin was no different, during the torturous sessions of 1968 and '69. Closer to the band though, witness George during the Let It Be film. It's quite easy to understand Paul directing George in order to draw out what might be good for the song. Paul quite easily slipped into the producer's chair and I believe did so more often than not. After all, he is a talented producer as well. However, there is a fine fine line between producing and being seen to be bossy, overbearing and dominant. It gets peoples' backs up and raises their hackles. Now if you've already got a bit of beef with how someone works and then they start telling you what to do, the results can be catastrophic for that relationship. George obviously couldn't stand the sight of Paul during this time and their personal and working relationship was on the verge of breakdown. I know they overcame their differences later in life, but their relationship was probably never the same. Paul must have become quite reticent to offer an opinion thereafter, in case it might be construed that he was trying to take over. So, fundamentally, things had changed. Would an extended holiday following the dark, horribly dark Thirty Days sessions at Twickenham been of benefit? I think so. Time is a great healer as they say. I doubt that the building animosity of those sessions would have been relevant to them after say, six months; a year apart. I believe those particular sessions to be the straw that broke the camel's back, directly accelerating the final break up. And there were earlier signs of the relentless juggernaut pounding forward. Witness when Ringo was getting his tonsils out and the totally BIZARRE episode when Jimmy Nicol was put in on drums. What were they thinking? It may be easy to say, especially in retrospect, but perhaps the tour should have been postponed! A break should have been put in place, thereby ensuring that Ringo (who was after all SICK) was given time to recover. It would have eased the pressure on the band, and Mr Nicol in particular. The poor man was not only asked to fill Ringo's shoes - a hard enough task in itself - but step in to do filming, press conferences and interviews for goodness sake!! He had to become a Beatle for this short period! I think that was an amazing decision to have made. They were the biggest band in the world,. Their reputation would have been intact had they postponed the tour. Sure the fans would have been disappointed, but it is not like they would have organised Beatle record burning sessions on that basis! Surely, no one came out on top there, not least of all Jimmy, who quickly scurried under the nearest rock for cover and was basically never heard of again!
I think an extended break would have been great for the band and would most probably have extended their creative life and preserved their personal relationships. Would Paul and George have fallen out in such a spectacular way? Perhaps a more important question arises if you consider that John only went to America following the complete breakdown of the band. So, could a break have changed his course? Is it possible that he would have remained in the UK to continue working with them? If he did there is a possibility that he may still be alive today. There is chit chat going around that John wanted to get the band back together in the mid Seventies. I'm sure Paul would've done that in a heartbeat. George may have been a slightly tougher nut to crack as he probably still hadn't got over the years of what he might have considered to be "George bashing" from Paul. He had also given John short shrift as the legal case for partnership dissolution came to its conclusion. This was recently discussed by May Pang who witnessed John's 'no show' at the crucial meeting! Maybe, just maybe, he was giving it that final extra thought before the legal end of the world's greatest band was made absolute.
All of the petty arguments, all of the pressures, misconceptions, backstabbing, perceived slights and so on which brought the Beatles to their knees and to breaking point in 1969/70 may have been alleviated with some proper breaks during the turbulent years of the mid Sixties. As a result, the band might have gone on for years, still producing further classics. Imagine the Beatles album that could have been released in 1973 for example. Arguably, it may have been their best album to date by that point, given some of the absolute classics from that year, with all four releasing strong product. One senses a bit of a creative recovery following the trauma of break-up and subsequent divorce. More importantly though, the personal costs to the boys themselves may have been drastically reduced, which in turn would've allowed the band to continue.
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