Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Album Summary: The Beatles' Second Album

This album was a fun ride. I'd already listened several songs from it, but there were plenty of great new ones to hear. It's been an interesting journey, to have started with the British albums and then moved on to the American ones--they're often quite similar, but sometimes a new arrangement or the addition of different songs can change the mood of the entire album. Below is a quote from the wiki page for The Beatles' Second Album:
Unlike the contemporaneous British Beatles albums, The Beatles' Second Album is composed exclusively of uptempo numbers, and for this reason is a favorite of some Beatles aficionados and rock critics. "The Beatles' Second Album stands as probably best pure rock & roll album ever issued of the group's music" [sic], wrote Allmusic.
It's hard to go wrong, with covers of classic songs by Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson, Little Richard, and The Marvelettes, all sung in The Beatles' own style but paying tribute to the greatness of the originals, as well as some awesome new material like "She Loves You". :)

Well, tomorrow is a new day, and a new album. I'll see you then. :)

She Loves You

Finally... a song I've heard! It's hard NOT to have heard it, really. After all, it's one of the most classic Beatles songs ever. :) "She Loves You" is ranked by Rolling Stone as the 64th greatest song of all time; it was the first song to be heard by a substantial number of Americans (The Beatles hadn't had too much success in the States beforehand, at least not success comparable to what they later experienced). However, the song itself gained in popularity only after The Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The lyrics are special in that Paul wrote from a perspective outside of the usual "two lovers" theme. Wikipedia tells us more:
Unusually for a love song, the lyrics were written in the third person. This idea was attributed by Lennon to McCartney in 1980: "It was Paul's idea: instead of singing 'I love you' again, we’d have a third party. That kind of little detail is still in his work. He will write a story about someone. I'm more inclined to write about myself".
In addition, the fact they sing "yeah" instead of "yes" was apparently a scandal at the time (how quaint, right?). The "British establishment" found it improper, no doubt, and even Paul's dad, after the boys played him the song for the first time, asked, "Couldn't you sing 'She loves you, yes, yes, yes!'", complaining about the abundance of "Americanisms" in their lyrics. Paul, relating the story, said, "At which point we collapsed in a heap and said 'No, Dad, you don't quite get it!'" Parents just don't understand--wise words from Mr. Smith. It wasn't just Paul's dad, though:
Critics panned the song, dismissing the "yeah, yeah, yeah," as an uncouth slang from a fad band. The "yeah"s were to have a great effect on The Beatles' image — in some parts of Europe, they became known as the Yeah-Yeahs.
The song was wildly successful in England, and remains so today. Below are some facts from Wiki:
It was the best-selling single of 1963, and remains the best-selling Beatles single in Britain today. It was the best-selling single in the United Kingdom for fourteen years until it was surpassed by "Mull of Kintyre" by Wings, (written by that group's lead singer: Paul McCartney).
"She Loves You" was a big stepping-stone for The Beatles. It was part of a fortuitous sequence of events that catapulted them into fame. No doubt we'll see soon just how insane that was for them. :) 

This is the last song from The Beatles' Second Album so I'll be posting an album summary in just a few minutes. See you then!


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Heard It Tally: 2
Songs Completed: 36

Monday, May 30, 2011

I'll Get You

"I'll Get You", originally "I'll Get You In the End", is a quirky song. It's notable in that John and Paul sang together for the entirety of the song, "allowing the few occasions when they do harmonise to stand out." This one's another example of the ongoing disagreement as to who did the majority of the writing; some attribute it solely to Lennon, while McCartney states it was an equal collaboration. In addition, "McCartney recalls using Lennon's Menlove Avenue home as the writing base for the song. This was rare, as Lennon's Aunt Mimi, whom he still lived with at the time, was disapproving of the Beatles."

The lyrics themselves are interesting as well, particularly the choice to begin the song with "imagine", a word that travels a long way with The Beatles as a group as well as the individual guys. Below is a quote from Wikipedia regarding the use of "imagine". 
The song's opening line "Imagine I'm in love with you" was innovative, as it drew the listener immediately into the story. McCartney would cite this as an early example of Lewis Carroll influencing their lyrics; a ploy explored again in later compositions such as "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and Lennon's solo "Imagine".
It's definitely a strong word, one that can fill the listener with creative imagery. 

Another neat aspect of this tune is that the guys don't hide their accents. "Reiterating its A-sides' catchphrase ["She Loves You"], and assuming the heavy scouse accents conspicuous in their early records, Lennon and McCartney 'drawl their way through a mock-naïve love lyric'." The Liverpudlian singers didn't always let their accents shine through, however, as we'll hear in future songs. I liked this song--ignoring its slightly stalkerish lyrics, at heart it's a sweet love song. It kind of reminds me of a less intense version of both Blondie's "One Way Or Another" and The Police's "Every Breath You Take". Just... way less creepy. :P

Well guys, that's it for today! See you tomorrow. :)


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 35

Sunday, May 29, 2011

I Call Your Name

Today's song, "I Call Your Name", was written by Lennon before The Beatles. John gave it to his pals, The Dakotas, for their use, but wasn't pleased with their arrangement of the song (and annoyed by the fact they released the song as a B-side on their album rather than an A-side--even though the A-side was another Lennon/McCartney tune, "Bad to Me"). John and the boys recorded it themselves, and were apparently more satisfied with the result. Also, according to Wiki, "the song's middle eight is the Beatles' first attempt at ska." Ska, as a music genre, has a long and interesting history--definitely worth checking out. :) 

I liked "I Call Your Name"--at first glance, it's one of those kind of pathetically, dramatically plaintive tunes that guys tend to sing when they've just been dumped. He's quick to mention he doesn't cry, but states he just can't make it without you. The perfect blend of tough and sensitive. However, at BeatlesEBooks.com, Rybaczewski says that there could be more than just one interpretation of the lyrics, and that even Paul didn't know exactly what John had in mind when he wrote them:
“When I look back at some of these lyrics,” McCartney has stated, “I think: Wait a minute.  What did he mean?  ‘I call your name but you’re not there.’  Is it his mother?  His father?  I must admit I didn’t really see that as we wrote it because we were just a couple of young guys writing.  You didn’t look behind it at the time, it was only later you started analyzing things."
Intriguing... Really, Lennon could've meant just about anybody in the song. The lyrics aren't explicitly romantic, and reading them in new ways gives a great deal more depth and meaning to them. Personally, I'm almost always more interested in the lyrics more than the actual music of a song (not that I don't appreciate some awesome music), so I'm always trying to glimpse those other facets, to see what I can find. :)

That's it for today. See you later!


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 34

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Long Tall Sally

"Long Tall Sally" is a cover The Beatles did of a song by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson and Richard Penniman (aka Little Richard). This bouncy, bluesy number is listed as #56 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and has been covered by hundreds of artists.

Before I start with The Beatles' version, run over to the wiki page for this song (here, if you're too lazy to click the song link above lol) and read the "History" section first. It's actually hilarious and explains who Enotris Johnson is. :)

For information about The Beatles' cover of "Long Tall Sally", I went to BeatlesEBooks.com. The page for the song has a lot of great facts. :) Rybaczewski states that "Long Tall Sally" has a longer history with The Beatles than any of their other songs. It was one of the songs Paul played for John "to impress him" during their first meeting on July 6th, 1957; they played the song often during their time as The Quarrymen; and it was included in their final live concert in Candlestick Park, San Francisco on August 29, 1966. But it didn't die there--Paul also continued to play the song during his tenure with Wings.

Rybaczewski also has nothing but good things to say about the guys' performances during this song, which was recorded in a single live take with no overdubs. They clearly were at the top of their game with this one, being so familiar with it already. Paul sings it higher even than Little Richard did, George's guitar solo is virtually perfect, Ringo's drumming is absolutely devastating, and John (lead guitar solo in the beginning, and then rhythm guitar throughout) and George Martin (piano) provide excellent backup, allowing the rest to shine.

That's all guys... See you tomorrow!


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 33

You Can't Do That

Great song today [yesterday! See below]. :) "You Can't Do That" was written by John and Paul (the Wiki page states it was actually written only by John and credited to Lennon/McCartney). It was released as the B-side of "Can't Buy Me Love" (we'll get to that one soon!). 

Lennon's inspiration for the lyrics was the theme of jealousy. Robert Sandall, musician, music journalist, and radio presenter, said the song "contradicted the genial tone [of the album] with its tense threats, sexual paranoia and nagging, dragging groove". Semi-autobiographical, the song is accompanied by several of Lennon's other works (like "Run for Your Life" and "Jealous Guy"). Clearly John had experience with the green monster (no, not The Hulk, the other one).

One notable cover of this song was by Harry Nilsson, who including it in his album Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967). I personally know of him from "The Puppy Song" (the song playing during the opening credits of You've Got Mail). Below is a quote from Wikipedia explaining the friendship Nilsson formed with The Beatles after covering "You Can't Do That". 
The track was Nilsson's first hit as a performer; though it stalled at #122 on the US charts, it hit top 10 in Canada. It also (along with the rest of the album) established Nilsson as a favourite performer of the Beatles. Famously, Lennon listened to Pandemonium Shadow Show for 36 hours straight after being given a copy by Derek Taylor; he then called Nilsson to congratulate him, which started a friendship that would last for the rest of Lennon's life. Later, in a 1968 press conference to announce the formation of Apple Corps, Lennon was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, "Nilsson". McCartney was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, "Nilsson".
That launched a long and storied relationship (you can read about it on Nilsson's wiki page).

Well guys, I think that's about it for this one. I'll see you later!

[Note: I got so busy yesterday with work, errands, dinner, and spending time with my pal that I completely forgot to do this post yesterday. Sorry about that. :) If it makes it better, I'm pretty sure The Beatles are scolding me with today's song. It definitely sounds like an admonition for my forgetfulness lol.]


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 32

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Thank You Girl

"Thank You Girl" is from The Beatles' Second Album (we'll be sticking with this one a bit longer than the last few, as there's more than one song here I haven't heard. Yay!). The album was released April 10, 1964; it was their second with Capitol Records and their third in the U.S. "Thank You Girl" was the B-side of "From Me to You". 

It's basically a big shout-out to all of the screaming lady-fans that the guys had out there. From Wikipedia: "McCartney said, 'We knew that if we wrote a song called, 'Thank You Girl', that a lot of the girls who wrote us fan letters would take it as a genuine 'thank you'. So a lot of our songs were directly addressed to the fans.'" This gesture is a common one and examples can be found in many genres of music (the example that comes to my own mind is "Larger Than Life" by The Backstreet Boys, but don't hold that against me).

This song is also the result of a truly equal Lennon/McCartney effort. Below is a quote that talks about that partnership.
Written “eyeball to eyeball", a phrase Lennon and McCartney would later use to describe their early formulaic writing sessions, "Thank You Girl" demonstrates how they were able to produce a song from scratch by working in total partnership. Lyrically, Ian MacDonald suggests that Lennon probably wrote the first line of each verse, allowing McCartney his flair for word play and inner-rhyming in completing it.
So, although for most John & Paul songs you often have one of them saying he did most of the work, or that the other one did, and sometimes you'll have a disagreement over who did what work on the song and when, it seems suitable that "Thank You Girl", the Beatles' love letter to their hysterical fans, was a true collaboration. I liked the song--it was cutesy and inoffensive to my ears, so overall it was a decent experience. Not my most favorite (I always say that... but someday I won't! That day is coming). 

Anyway, see you guys tomorrow. :)


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 31

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

From Me to You

Today's song, "From Me to You", is another one like yesterday's--it's the only song from its album (Twist and Shout) that I haven't already covered. Overall, I enjoyed listening to it--it's a really fun, sweet song. :) In its time, though, it was just okay-popular until Del Shannon did a cover of it, improving the popularity of the original. There's a lot of interesting stuff to read about this song on Wikipedia, so I'll pick and choose what caught my eye. 

The first thing was that Kenny Lynch, the British singer, songwriter, actor, etc., tried to help the guys write this song. However, something about their style must have put him off, because "he rushed to the front [of the tour bus] and shouted, 'Well, that's it. I am not going to write any more of that bloody rubbish with those idiots. They don't know music from their backsides. That's it! No more help from me!'" I think that's hilarious. :P John and Paul, who fully co-wrote the song, actually agreed and later called the song "rubbish"; however, "the song was regarded by the Beatles as innovative and catchy enough to be released as a single."

Another neat quote about this song comes from Paul, who said, "The thing I liked about 'From Me to You' was it had a very complete middle. It went to a surprising place. The opening chord of the middle section of that song heralded a new batch for me. That was a pivotal song. Our songwriting lifted a little with that song." Clearly Paul was pleased at least with the musical aspect of the song. Also, the first U.S. release of this song "it is still considered to be a rare record and highly sought-after by Beatles collectors." 

Well, that's it for today... I'll see you guys tomorrow!


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 30

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

This Boy

As I hopped on Wikipedia today to find out today's song, I realized I'll have to skip two albums (Beatlemania! With The Beatles (1963) and Introducing... The Beatles (1964)) because they're just rearrangements of songs I've already covered (mostly U.S. releases of their first UK albums). The song for today, "This Boy", is the only song from Meet The Beatles that I haven't heard, so I'll just do the song today, and skip an album summary. :)

"This Boy" was another attempt by John to write a Smokey-inspired song; he used "circular doo-wop chord changes" and various other techniques. John, Paul and George band together for the three-part harmonies. I really like this one--it's slower than a lot of their other songs so far, and a little bittersweet and plaintive.

Well, that's all I have for today. I wanted to find a little more history for the song, but BeatlesEBooks.com is down right now. I might revisit this post tomorrow if the site is back up, to add any interesting info I learn. :)

EDIT: Here's what I found on BeatlesEBooks.com about "This Boy"
The Beatles were simply versatile.  They could rock and roll themselves right off the stage, but that was only a portion of their intention.  They naturally had a love for many different styles of music, including the softer side.  Lennon himself stated that the Beatles “never stuck to one style; They never just did blues, or just rock.  We loved all music,” even the “sentimental things” as John called them... Upon recollecting his personal songwriting abilities during the Beatle years, Lennon recalls “This Boy” and states, “I was writing melody with the best of them.”
Basically, The Beatles didn't just toss in "This Boy" to soften up the album; it was genuinely part of them as musicians and artists. Their soft and mushy side pops up a lot more often as they move out of their early period, but we'll talk about that later on. :)


See you tomorrow!


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 29

Monday, May 23, 2011

Album Summary: With The Beatles

Another album's flown by. I can't believe I've been doing this blog for almost a month. :P

Honestly, I think I enjoyed With The Beatles a little more than Please Please Me. I recognized more of the songs (and not just because I've seen Across the Universe, like, a thousand times), the songs were a little better and more creative, and there were lots of covers of truly great songs thrown in with original stuff to stir it up a bit. I think my favorite songs were "Don't Bother Me", "I Wanna Be Your Man", and "You've Really Got a Hold on Me". Those stand out to me for various reasons--George and Ringo's talents are showcased in the first and second, respectively, and the third is simply a great cover of a great song.

Overall, it was a really fun experience. :) Doing this blog has opened up an entire world of music for me; before now, I'd never taken the time to listen to a lot of what Motown has to offer, and I can thank The Beatles for nudging me in the right direction. I'm excited to start the next album tomorrow, and to see where it takes me. :)

Money (That's What I Want)

Today's song is "Money (That's What I Want)". I'm pretty sure we've all heard one version of this song or another, since it's been covered by a huge list of artists. (I'm most familiar with the version by The Flying Lizards because that's the one from The Wedding Singer.) The original song (written by Barry Gordy and Janie Bradford and sung by Barrett Strong) was listed as #288 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

According to the song's page on BeatlesEBooks.com, "Money" was the perfect song for The Beatles to sing, because John wanted money. Like, really wanted money. I mean, who doesn't? But... really. Below is a quote from Dave Rybaczewski, explaining John's avarice:
John Lennon always had a passion for money.  This fact was no secret.  There are many quotes he had made saying that money was a big reason he got into the music business.  When the Beatles first arrived in America on February 7th, 1964, and they were asked at the press conference if they could sing something, Lennon quipped, “No, we need money first.”  Even in his final years, John heard that Paul had built up a 25 million dollar fortune and, being the competitor that he was, set off to do the same with the help of Yoko’s business acumen.
The song in question may not have been written by Lennon, but no other song could have been more suitable for the Beatles to include in their catalog, especially recognizing the fact the Lennon himself sang it.  Unmistakably, John’s love for music truly was the biggest force that ignited within him the desire for a career in music, but, as he stated to New Musical Express in 1963, his “professional ambition” was to “be rich and famous.”  Money really was what he wanted. 
He certainly achieved his goal. :P That's not to say he didn't have other goals--world peace was one of them--but making money was probably his easiest achievement. I like this song, but I think I enjoy other versions a bit more. It almost sounds less polished than other tunes they have to offer. The 2009 remastered version actually sounds a lot better than the original.

Well, that's it for With The Beatles... Stand by for an album summary. :)


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 28

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Not a Second Time

"Not a Second Time" is today's song. It's the sixth song on the B-side of the album and it was recorded in 9 takes on September 11th, 1963. John, who wrote the lyrics, said that he was "trying to write a Smokey Robinson or something at the time." I'm not sure if he succeeded or not, since I've heard very little of Smokey Robinson's music, but I kind of liked this song. I didn't love it, but I enjoyed the harmonies and the Aeolian cadences we learned about from "It Won't Be Long".

As it turns out, those harmonies and Aeolian cadences are actually a pretty big deal. I checked out what history BeatlesEBooks.com had to offer on "Not a Second Time", and I found this great quote from music critic William Mann (then writing for London newspaper The Times):
Harmonic interest is typical of their quicker songs, and one gets the impression that they think simultaneously of harmony and melody, so firmly are the major tonic sevenths and ninths built into their tunes, and the flat submediant key switches, so natural is the Aeolian cadence at the end of 'Not A Second Time' (the chord progression which ends Mahler's Song of the Earth).
The guys had little or no experience with the highly technical musical terms for the phenomena they were so casually creating; John himself claimed he had no idea what Aeolian cadences were (saying, as we remember, that they sounded like "exotic birds"). According to Dave Rybaczewski (author of BeatlesEBooks), Mann's critical analysis lent a certain credibility to The Beatles' reputation (rescuing them from the doom of "Bieber Fever" as we call it today), but the boys themselves thought little of Mann's opinion. (I'll copy and paste a good chunk of Rybaczewski's words here because they contain such fabulous quotes.)
John Lennon referred to this article [Mann's review] in interviews many times over the years, emphasizing that this review was responsible for “starting the whole intellectual bit about the Beatles.”
The term “Aeolian cadence” became an often mentioned term in the tabloid press at the time, which sounded very impressive with respect to the Beatles’ music, but was viewed as humorous by the band.  “I can’t help having a quiet giggle when straight-faced critics start feeding all sorts of hidden meanings into the stuff we write,” Lennon remarked in 1965.  “William Mann wrote the intellectual article about The Beatles.  He used a whole lot of musical terminology and he’s a twit.”
In the 1970’s, John seemed to change his attitude about this review.  “I still don’t know what it means at the end, but he made us acceptable to the intellectuals.  It worked and we were flattered.  I wrote ‘Not A Second Time’ and, really, it was just chords like any other chords.”  McCartney agreed, saying “we hadn’t been conscious of any of that.  We just did our songs in hotel rooms, whenever we had a spare moment, John and I, sitting on twin beds with guitars.”
I love it. First they're snickering about the review, thinking it's a pretty clever joke, then later they realize, Hey, maybe we are doing something intellectual, even if we didn't mean to. :P I just think that's so incredible--it really shows that the guys were true artists. They didn't have to think about all that technical musical jargon. They just had to "feel" the music, and there it was. No studying, no research, nothing but what came out of their hearts and their minds. Pretty cool. :)

Well, that's it for today... See you guys tomorrow. :)


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 27

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Devil in Her Heart

"Devil in Her Heart" was originally "Devil in His Heart", written by Richard Drapkin (aka Ricky Dee). It was first recorded by The Donays, a lesser-known Motown girl group from Detroit, and later adapted for The Beatles. George provided lead vocals. 

Hungry for more information, I expanded my search. On the About.com page for the song, it's called "the rarest song covered by The Beatles". The most interesting part, in my opinion, was a discussion of the sound of the song and notes about lyric changes: 
The Beatles' version is faster than the original, and emphasizes its Latin flavor a bit more, but is otherwise identical. Several lyrical substitutions are made, however, besides the obvious gender switch: "This someday you'll see" is replaced by "She's an angel sent to me," a later line, while "No, not me will he deceive" becomes "No, no, nay will she deceive." 
That's something I picked up on and really enjoyed about this one; it's a song you can tango to. :) Another site that gave me more info was beatlesebooks.com. There is a large amount of history and fascinating facts on that page; I highly recommend reading it top to bottom. One part that really caught my eye, though, was that there was apparently a disagreement over the lyrics:
There was one inadvertent error made as well due to them trying to decipher the lyrics from the original 45.  "No, not me will he deceive" mistakenly became "no, no, nay will she deceive."  Interestingly, they sang the correct line during their BBC performance two days earlier, but changed it to “no, no nay” when recording it properly in EMI studios.  And when the Beatles returned to the song six years later (January 7th, 1969) for an impromptu run-through of the song, Lennon is heard correcting McCartney's remembrance of the lyrics, still insisting the lyrics included "no no nay."  
Always interesting. :) 

My Heart It Tally, still standing strong at one, is as disappointing as ever, but I have high hopes for the future. Once we start getting into some more well-known albums and songs, I'm sure the number will increase at a more seemly pace. So, that's it for today... See you later!

[Note: You'll notice all my awesome pictures are gone. I'm doing this to avoid getting in trouble with the owners of the pictures. Apparently even citing the sources for the photos doesn't count as NOT infringing on the copyright, so unfortunately from now on this journey will have to be illustrated by the eminently boring photographs of the public domain. Sorry 'bout that.]




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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 26

Friday, May 20, 2011

I Wanna Be Your Man

"I Wanna Be Your Man" is the first song we've encountered that shares history with The Rolling Stones. The Wikipedia page states that "the song was primarily written by Paul McCartney, and finished by Lennon and McCartney in the corner of a room while Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were talking." The Stones also recorded and released a version of this song, just a few weeks before the Beatles' version came out. In fact, Wikipedia's got an absolutely fantastic quote from music and film critic Bruce Eder, which I shall lazily copy & paste below to preserve its integrity. 
In his review, Bruce Eder says, "the Stones went into the studio and cut a slashing, savage rendition that betrayed not a trace of Beatlesque cuteness, Brian Jones', Keith Richard's, and Bill Wyman's amps were seemingly turned up to "11" while Mick Jagger turned the lyrics—which sounded like bold yearnings in Ringo's voice—into what could have been a prelude to sexual assault. That performance, coupled with Jones' distinctive (and equally savage) slide guitar work, said volumes about who the Stones were (versus the Beatles), even as it marked them as British rock & roll's premiere stylists, and put them out there on the cutting edge of what could even get played. And it did get played, and did sell — as a cover of a Lennon-McCartney song (released three weeks before the Beatles' own version), at a moment when anything about rock and roll from Liverpool would get a chance at a hearing, and anything to do with the Beatles demanded extra attention, the song made it to number 12 in the UK in the hands of the Rolling Stones."
That takes care of the Stones' version. The Beatles' version, however, was pretty much what Eder describes it as above--cute, romantic, fun, and "Beatlesque". Ringo's dulcet tones, which almost always lend a certain je ne sais quoi to any Beatles song, sound particularly rockin', and I found myself bouncing around in my seat while the song was playing. :) 

Despite my own fondness for this classic Ringo tune, "John Lennon was dismissive of the song in 1980, saying: 'It was a throwaway. The only two versions of the song were Ringo and the Rolling Stones. That shows how much importance we put on it: We weren't going to give them anything great, right?'" This rather condescending and off-handed comment, while not unusual coming from John (from what I've heard so far), was a bit misguided. Maybe I just enjoy the song more than everyone else. :P

Well, only three more songs left on this album... then we'll have another album summary. :) See you tomorrow!


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 25

Thursday, May 19, 2011

You've Really Got a Hold on Me

Today's song is excellent! "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" was originally by the fabulously talented Motown group The Miracles and has been covered by many artists over the years (including The Supremes, The Temptations, a young Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, She & Him, etc.). The song itself is so classic it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. 

Despite that exciting start, however, there's little information regarding the Beatles' version; John sang, George provided close harmony, and early on, the group performed it often during their live sets. In my quest for more info, I ran into beatlesebooks.com, an interesting site that provides "the in-depth story behind the songs of The Beatles". The page for today's song, found here, has a bit more history. In particular, the author delves into the nature of the musical inspiration The Miracles provided to The Beatles:
... an event occurring in 1980 during the recording of Lennon’s “Double Fantasy” album sheds some light on the impact of The Miracles music on the career of the Beatles.  While recording the vocal track for the hit song “Woman,” Yoko commented that John sounded like a Beatle.  Lennon corrected her by saying, “Actually I’m supposed to be Smokey Robinson at the moment, my dear, because the Beatles were always supposing that they were Smokey Robinson.”
Pretty neat. :)

As for my experience with the song, from the opening notes of the guitar to the end of the song, listening to this one was great. I could really hear the Motown influence, and after I checked out the original Miracles song, I appreciated the Fab Four's version as a faithful, yet creative and unique, interpretation. 

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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 24

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Hold Me Tight

Man, when I saw what today's song was, I got excited, remembering the Evan Rachel Wood version from Across the Universe. However, after hearing the actual song, complete with Paul's oddly wobbly voice, I'm somewhat less thrilled. It's not just me, either; apparently even the Beatles themselves disliked "Hold Me Tight"
Both McCartney and John Lennon, at one time or another, shared their distaste for the song, and in a 1980s interview with Mark Lewisohn in The Beatles Recording Sessions, McCartney says, "I can't remember much about that one. Certain songs were just 'work' songs, you haven't got much memory of them. That's one of them." In Barry Miles' Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, the songwriter calls it "a failed attempt at a single which then became an acceptable album filler." Lennon in 1980 said "That was Paul's....It was a pretty poor song and I was never really interested in it."
Can I first say how hilarious it is that Lennon constantly disowned and trivialized Paul's work, whether or not it was actually of lesser quality? I'm not trying pass judgment on John, though, because I'm sure Paul did the same thing to him from time to time. It's just amusing, is all. :P

Anyway, despite Ian McDonald's fondness for the song ("Play it loud with the bass boosted, and you have an overwhelming motoric rocker strongly redolent of the band's live sound"), I have to agree with everyone else. The Beatles' version is just not up to par. Perhaps it can be partially blamed on the fact that "Hold Me Tight" was recorded for inclusion on Please Please Me but didn't make the cut--if it wasn't good enough for the first album, it was probably not good enough for the second. But artists make mistakes, and mediocre songs, and it's okay. :)

To make up for the less-than-stellar song of the day, here's a super-stellar picture of the Beatles holding each other tight. :) See you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 23

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Roll Over Beethoven

Today's song is a great cover of a fantastic song by the incredible rock n' roll pioneer Chuck Berry. It was one of Berry's greatest hits (ranking #97 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) and sounded quite similar to another Berry favorite, "Johnny B. Goode". "Roll Over Beethoven" has been covered not only by The Beatles, but also by bands and artists as varied as Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beatles, the Electric Light Orchestra, Mountain, Ten Years After, Raul Seixas, Leon Russell, Status Quo, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, The 13th Floor Elevators, The Sonics, Wes Paul, Gene Vincent, Quartz, Uriah Heep, Kickhunter, Johnny Rivers and Iron Maiden. Whew! Lots of covers--and I'm sure they're all different in some way. It's amazing what you can do with a song, even a classic, to make it new, versatile and always interesting.

This song was a favorite of the Beatles' for a long time, predating even their "Beatles" identity. As far as their version is concerned, George was on vocals and also provided that jammin' guitar sound. I really like this song; I know I've heard it before somewhere but I can't be sure it was the Beatles version so my tally will remain unchanged. The lyrics are great--they're telling the classics (Beethoven, Tchaikovsky) to move aside and make way for rhythm and blues to take the spotlight. Personally, I think there's plenty of room for everyone. :)


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 22

Monday, May 16, 2011

Please Mr. Postman

I'm most familiar with the version of "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes (aka "The Marvels"). According to Wikipedia, the song is "notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart". 

Now, having heard the version by The Beatles, I have to say I prefer the Marvelettes' version. It clearly wasn't the boys' best work, having been criticized by music critic and Beatles historian Ian McDonald. The only information Wikipedia gives us on The Beatles' version of this song is below:
The Beatles included "Please Mister Postman" as part of their live act in 1962, performing it regularly at the Cavern Club. By the time it was recorded for their second album, With the Beatles, it had been dropped from their set, and required some work in the studio to bring it up to an acceptable standard. Ian MacDonald criticised their version for having a "wall of sound" and for a "general airlessness."
The ladies' version just seems cleaner, better-sung, and unburdened by the notorious wall of sound (read the link above; it's a pretty interesting gimmick used in particular by the creepy Phil Spector). 

[Note: Bothered by my own reliance on the handy but often questionably-sourced Wikipedia, I turned to Google to provide me with more varied information, hopefully with citations. There's the About.com page for the song but it provides less information supported by zero sources. Satisfied, I return to Wikipedia, whose sources are cited at the bottom of the page.]


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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 21

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Til There Was You

Although I'd never heard the Beatles version of this song, I've seen The Wedding Singer, and so I've heard "Til There Was You" as sung by Ellen Albertini Dow in that movie.* This song, however, was originally written by composer, songwriter, and playwright Meredith Willson for his musical, The Music Man. Since the song came to The Beatles via artist Peggy Lee, Paul McCartney said he never knew it was from The Music Man until years later. This song has the distinction of being the only Broadway number ever recorded by The Beatles.

The guys often played it during shows early on and it showcased their versatility well--they once followed it during a live show with "Twist and Shout". It was also the second song they sang during their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

I'm fond of this song, even if it is a bit sappy and romantic. I rather like Paul's British "r" on the end of his "saw"; it adds a neat little quirk that stands out since I'm so used to British vocalists losing their accents when they sing. I actually enjoy hearing their accents, personally; if everyone sounds like Americans when they sing, it's boring. :P

* Note: I'm a little conflicted about adding versions other than that of the Beatles to the Heard It Tally. Does it still count? If I've heard different versions of these songs, can I still say I've heard a Beatles song? I don't think so. :/ I think I have to subtract from the tally to avoid versions and count only the songs I've heard actually sung by The Beatles themselves. The updated tally is below. It's again pathetic, but at least it's more accurate and factual. Therefore, to date, the only Beatles song (sung by The Beatles) that I've heard prior to listening for this blog is "Twist and Shout"). Although it's tempting to go back and edit my previous posts to correct them, the problem is that editing just the number is confusing, editing the posts themselves in addition is tedious, and I think this note is important. So I'll resist and leave it at that.

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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 20

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Little Child

Not a whole lot of information about this song. It's considered one of the guys' less impressive works--music critic Richie Unterberger allows that it "might not be a work of genius, but it's sheer rock'n'roll fun". I personally have a strange feeling about it; the beat, guitar, harmonica, singing, etc. is all fine, but the lyrics themselves are weird. Maybe it's my modern feminist view, but calling a woman "little child" is creepy on so many levels. However, it was another era, and this is a classroom, not a pulpit, so I'll leave it at that. :)

As far as the song is concerned, it wasn't my favorite. It actually might be my least favorite so far. Even "Don't Bother Me" had some spirit. This one's kind of on a lower level than I expect from my Beatles. It even involved a little thievery (it's not technically plagiarism since it was only like five words): 
McCartney describes "Little Child" as being a "work song", or an "album filler". He admits to taking the line "I'm so sad and lonely" from the song "Whistle My Love" by British balladeer and actor Elton Hayes.
Nice one. :P Well, that's it for this one. A bit lackluster, I know, but tomorrow will shape up immeasurably. :)


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Heard It Tally: 4
Songs Completed: 19

Friday, May 13, 2011

Don't Bother Me

Today's somewhat petulant tune was written in 1963 by George Harrison while he was sick in bed in a hotel. He wanted to try to write a song, and though he wasn't very pleased with the result (calling it "fairly crappy"), he hoped the exercise would help him to one day write a good one. Wikipedia mentions the song's darker tone: "The sullen mood and desolate lyrics—'So go away, leave me alone, don't bother me'—were unusual for The Beatles at the time but would become characteristic for Harrison." So early on, George was the dark and brooding Beatle. Interesting fact related to this song: just a few days after it was recorded, George visited his sister in Illinois, becoming the first one of the group to travel to America. :)

Despite this song's foreboding message, I really like it. It captures perfectly the mood George must've been in while bedridden--the antisocial feeling you get while sick is similar to the one you get while missing someone you love. I disagree with his verdict of the song, too. Not every Beatles song was created equal, but it wasn't the worst ever, I'm sure. Maybe once I've heard all their songs I'll change my mind, who knows. :P

That's it for today... See you tomorrow! 

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Heard It Tally: 4
Songs Completed: 18

Thursday, May 12, 2011

All My Loving

[This is the post I wrote for Thursday May 12th. I'm finally posting it, as well as today's post--and backdating it--now that Blogger's back up. Yay!]
 
Great song today [aka yesterday]! I love the Beatles version, and I get all melt-y when I hear Jim Sturgess (oh my) singing it with his cute Liverpool accent. :) At the same time, it was kind of hard to just listen to it--I wanted to hear the song as The Beatles sang it, so I kept having to stop myself from singing along.

One interesting factoid about "All My Loving" is that it wasn't released as a single in the U.S. It actually trickled down from Canada, and finally played in the U.S. enough to hit number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April of 1964. McCartney wrote and sang this one; he wrote the lyrics first and then the music, something he apparently never did. John, in the 1980 interview with Playboy I've mentioned in other posts, said he actually wished he'd written it because it was a "damn good piece of work". He comforted himself by saying he does "play a pretty mean guitar in back."

"All My Loving" has the distinction of being "the Beatles' opening number on their debut performance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964." You might remember that episode being of particular historical and musical importance. However, this song also has another distinction, this one much less happy:
According to Alan Weiss, a TV producer who happened to be there, "All My Loving" was playing on the sound system at Roosevelt Hospital emergency room when Lennon was pronounced dead after being shot on 8 December 1980. 

Sad, and yet kind of fitting at the same time, like a spiritual "farewell". 


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Heard It Tally: 4
Songs Completed: 17

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

All I've Got to Do

Today's song, "All I've Got to Do", is a good one. I'd never heard it, but I liked it so much I listened to it multiple times. :) Wikipedia tells us that "this song is the first time in rock and roll or rock music where the bass player plays chords as a vital part of the song" (according to some dude who isn't important enough for his own Wikipedia page). I think that's pretty interesting because although I'm only an amateur, I've played both bass and electric guitar. I can tell you, chords are much easier on the latter so I admire George's talent.

Another fascinating tidbit dealt with The Beatles' two different audiences--Brits and Americans. Their albums were released first in the UK, and then later in the U.S., and were often renamed and/or reorganized in the process. "All I've Got to Do" is an great example of the discrepancy between the two, and how the band often deferred to the American audience in their music. Here's a quote that tells the story:
Lennon said that it was written specifically for the American market; the idea of calling a girl on the telephone was unthinkable to a British youth in the early 1960s. For instance, Lennon said in an interview regarding "No Reply": "I had the image of walking down the street and seeing her silhouetted in the window and not answering the 'phone, although I have never called a girl on the 'phone in my life! Because 'phones weren't part of the English child's life."
Haha, "'phone" with an apostrophe, as in short for "telephone". How quaint! Anyway, that's definitely something you probably never think of while listening to their music, that their own native culture might not be able to fully relate to what these British kids are singing about. It kind of astounds me, too, just how early on artists were pandering to the (possibly huge and wealthy) American audience (and of course it didn't even start with The Beatles). We'll probably run into more examples of this as we go. 

That's all for today! See you tomorrow. :)


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Heard It Tally: 3
Songs Completed: 16

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

It Won't Be Long

Today we begin listening to The Beatles' second album, With The Beatles, which was released in November of 1963 (the same year as their first album). This one was "the second album to sell a million copies in the UK, after the soundtrack to the 1958 film South Pacific", and replaced Please Please Me at the top of the charts, keeping The Beatles in the number one spot for 51 weeks straight.

"It Won't Be Long", the first song on the album, has some neat history behind it. I'll copypasta the paragraph from Wikipedia because it's too awesome (and already concise) to paraphrase properly.
John Lennon, in his last interview, told Playboy magazine that the song was the beginning of a wider audience for Beatles' music than the youthful throngs that had fervently followed them from their Liverpool clubbing days. "It was only after a critic for the {London} Times said we put 'Aeolian cadences' in 'It Won't Be Long' that the middle classes started listening to us. ... To this day, I have no idea what "Aeolian cadences" are. They sound like exotic birds." Actually the critic, William Mann, said this about the song "Not A Second Time."
How hilarious is that? :) (By the way, I wondered myself what "Aeolian cadences" were so I looked it up for you.) It's always interesting when you see/hear/read about an interview one of the guys has given because it's a study in how differently people can remember the same events. Something can happen, and when, why, and even how it occurred can vary wildly between John, Paul, George, and Ringo. It seems the most common discrepancies involve John remembering contributing to a song and Paul saying he did it alone, and vice versa. 

My impression of the song is very positive. I'd already heard it, but only the version by Evan Rachel Wood in Across the Universe (a fabulous movie... I might do a standalone post sometime to discuss it), so it was really neat to finally listen to the original. The song's page states that "the chorus is a play on the words 'be long' and 'belong'" and I found the call-and-response "yeah, yeah" very catchy. Overall I really enjoyed this one. :)


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Heard It Tally: 3
Songs Completed: 15