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A deep dive into The Beatles’ worst album*

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The singer from StonesnRoses hosts my former singer and band leader James Partridge and the mercurial John Craigie in a meandering journey through The Beatles, calling in at Abbey Road, full show album covers, Revolution 9 in the style of Please Please Me, a first hand anecdote about Giles Martin and the trauma of liking Paul McCartney during the punk wars, before a track by track rundown of Beatles for Sale. Trigger warning, ‘Honey Don’t’ doesn’t come out of this well, although there’s an interesting twist** on ‘Baby’s in Black’. Audio, with slide illustration accompaniment, link in comments.

*OOAA **As it were.

https://stonesnroses.com/bio

Anthology

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I watched the first 3 episodes last night. First time I’ve watched it since I bought the dvd box set when it came out. So that’s almost 30 years I think. At the time I suppose it was something of a revelation but now, with so much more information out there, I found myself mentally filling in the gaps.

Also – John George and Ringo seem upfront and straightforward but McCartney just can’t help being self conscious and aware of the camera. Even in the early footage you can see him not really knowing where to look. John was half blind and probably singing into a blur and George was kind of serious but having a good time. Ringo was just having a good time.

I suppose I should really wait until I’ve watched every episode at least once, let alone six times, but I thought it a good idea to share a couple of initial thoughts

And finally, for now, I really like the Anthology 4 CD. I’ve read a lot of criticism (Apple scraping the bottom of the barrel etc) but really it’s great to hear them making mistakes and laughing and being lads.

N.I.R R.I.P

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There hadn’t been any proper new episodes for several months. And while I was pondering that the other day, I did wonder what the lads could possibly do next.

So while I’m sad I won’t hear their friendly Irish brogue any more talking in such entertaining fashion about the BEETLES (their pronunciation), I respect their decision, for whatever reason…

Lads, if you’re still around these parts, we’d love to hear from you

When did the Beatles shift up a gear?

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At what point do you think the Beatles stepped it up a notch and went from here today … hairdressers tomorrow to the real deal?

Real Beatleheads will probably say from the first 1234 but I’ve had a few listens to their albums in order and the first track that really stands out to me as a quantum leap out of the wobbly head, I love, you love, me love screamfest is 4 albums and 5 tracks in.

It was a very old song evidently put in only as filler. The original was very different but to think Macca wrote that when he was 16 is incredible. A precursor to the likes of For No One in my ears and my favourite track on Beatles For Sale.

Featuring Ringo on knee slap.

Is it Still Good to Ya – not really, no

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There was an earlier post along these lines from Lodestone of Wrongness about an album always loved. There is also Christgau’s book title Is it Still Good to Ya which neatly connects to my theme.

About twenty years ago my one remaining childhood friend began a process of identity woodshedding – removing that which was of no use. He stopped being deliberate about listening to music. He began by selling his substantial collection of vinyl to another collector without much care for its worth. Then he dispensed with his CDs. He would still speak occasionally about music and so I became curious about what it was he was doing. He explained that he had a kind of self-loathing for the person he was who thought that there was any real meaning in the activity of listening to music as an art form. He wasn’t really denying the art form – it was simply associated now with a previous version of himself that he no longer connected with and possibly wished to leave behind.

Like most of you here, when I was at school each time I had ten dollars I would carefully consider which album to buy next. » Continue Reading.

Beatles denied No. 1 album slot by Taylor Swift

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From BBC website:

“The Beatles’ hopes of correcting an historic blip in their chart record have been scuppered by pop superstar Taylor Swift. The Fab Four released new versions of their Red and Blue greatest hits albums last week, hoping that one of them would top the UK album chart.

But Swift wasn’t ready to let go, with her pop opus 1989 (Taylor’s Version) claiming the crown for a third week. The Beatles faced the same situation when the Red and Blue albums first came out in 1973. Back then, David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane denied them the number one.

This week, the two records end up in exactly the same chart positions as they did 50 years ago. The Red Album (technically called The Beatles 1962–1966) is at number three and the Blue Album (The Beatles 1967–1970) is at two.”

Beatles tours etc in Liverpool

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I’ll be turning 70 next year and my family want to treat me to something special. Initially they suggested a trip to Japan, where I’ve never been, and had occasionally expressed an interested in visiting.

But then I thought what I’d really like to do is a Beatle nerd’s trip to Liverpool – you know, visit Penny Lane and S Fields etc. And the new Pete Best Beatles museum.

Has any done this recently? Are there guided tours worth doing or is it best to do your own research and do it by yourself? Has the whole place been taken over by tacky touristy stuff?

First cinematic tumescence

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My whole family went to “Help” at the cinema in Wellington New Zealand in 1965.

11 year old me, sitting there next to my Dad, and here’s Macca pretending to play guitar but it’s actually a girl in a white bikini.

Oh dear. SOOO embarrassed. So aroused. “Lucky Paul McCartney” I can remember thinking.

There were other moments of course, mainly in James Bond films, but this was the first.

Of course I can’t link to the actual clip from the film but this link (with no audio) has a few glimpses.

Tribute Bands : The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

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We saw the Bootleg Beatles at the Stroud Subscription Rooms last Thursday (the same venue as the real Beatles played in 1962 – the first gig booked under the auspices of Brian Epstein). They were by far the best Beatles tribute band I’ve seen (and I’ve seen a few). For me, the interesting question on tribute bands is how much weight is given to looks and similarity to the originals against musicianship. With the Bootleg Beatles, “Paul” looked vaguely similar although it was a bit odd seeing an older Paul face in their 60s suits. “John” looked OK although the syrup was a bit dodgy. “Ringo” was pretty good but by far the best was “George” who looked uncannily like the real George, particularly in his later 60s incarnation. So what are your experiences of tribute bands – good, bad or just plain ugly?

All We Need is Love

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It’s easy – far too easy, believe me – to write glum songs in a world of unrelenting bad news. With a recording project in the offing at that point, I thought I’d have a go at writing something cheery last year. I didn’t have anything cheery to say that was new or authentic so I delved into the well of music past and, like BJH with ‘Titles’ (composed entirely of Beatles song titles), came up with this.

This is the first sample from my album with Breige Devlin. It was conceived as a bit of fun, but the sentiment borrowed from those Beatles (and Reg Presley) in the refrain seems as true and necessary as ever. 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3743WFE24FA

Two Albums in One Calendar Year

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Two weeks ago Weezer put out their second album of 2021, and both of them are wonderful return to forms. OK Human is their take on trying to sound like Nilsson Sings Newman, filtered through the lockdown. Van Weezer is a celebration of 80s guitar metal-pop with a Fountains of Wayne edge.

Putting out two albums in a calendar year always seems like a very impressive thing – a bit of a flex. And it’s different to putting out a second album within 12 months of the other. John Lennon put out Imagine 9 months after Plastic Ono Band, but one is very 1970, the other 1971.

What other calendar-year pairings deserve to be celebrated? Costello’s 1986? Taylor’s 2020? (I know, the Beatles got there first)

64 reasons to celebrate Paul McCartney

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As we await the new album, here’s an article which has been getting a lot of posting with approval on Twitter and Facebook. I think it overclaims here and there, but it’s still a very good and entertaining championing of Macca’s brilliance. His argument about how the narrative of John as the edgy genius and Paul as the safe middle of the road entertainer was established is persuasive. It’s interesting though how things have changed. Increasingly it seems to me that Paul’s reputation has risen (fairly in my view) and John’s (unfairly) has fallen. Fact is, the miracle and uniqueness of the Beatles is that it had not one but two pop geniuses in the one band.

https://ianleslie.substack.com/p/64-reasons-to-celebrate-paul-mccartney

Beatles cars

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This was posted on FaceBook. Thanks to Steve Bradley, wherever/whoever you are. It’s a great read. 1,2,3,4 ………

Who’s gold cigarette lighter was worth more than a car? Who climbed back into his car after crashing it? What was left in a car after John died? Beatles historian Steve Bradley takes the road that stretches out ahead…

Ringo was the first of the Beatles to buy a car – although he wasn’t actually a Beatle yet. In 1959 he bought his first wheels from Liverpool drummer Johnny Hutchinson, a Standard Vanguard Estate (station wagon), hand-painted (not sprayed) in red and white. He needed an Estate for the same reason Johnny had – big enough to carry a drum kit. The days of carrying drums on a bus and carrying from bus stop to venue were over. Ringo didn’t let the fact he had neither driving licence nor insurance deter him from enjoying the freedom the car gave him.

By 1962 he was earning more and upgraded to a two-year-old Ford Zodiac in cream and eau-de-nil, which is pale green to you and me (registration number NWM466). Later in the year he would load his drums into this car in » Continue Reading.