Posts Tagged ‘George Harrison’

Bootleg City: The Beatles

Yesterday was a special day in Bootleg City. Every September 10 — or “One After 909,” as some folks call it — we celebrate Beatle Day, which kicks off early in the morning with one of the fabled creatures emerging from beneath a stack of old records to poke his head into the sunlight. (”Good day, sunshine,” the Beatle always says. It’s so freakin’ adorable.) If he doesn’t see his shadow, his group’s music will finally be made available online. The problem is, he always sees his shadow. Bootleg City could really use some overcast days this time of the year.

The loss of that online income has to be taking its toll on the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, especially in this economy, which is why I extended an invitation to both of them to stay on my couch until the global recession is over. Each one responded by sending me a $10,000 couch. Spending money you don’t have — it’s a real sickness. And where the hell am I going to put these gigantic couches in my one-bedroom apartment?

The following tracks come from the bootleg “Rarer Than Rare,” with information about recording dates, concert locations, and other assorted Beatlemania minutiae included in the comments section of each MP3 file. Audio quality varies from track to track, but it’s the Beatles — what have you ever done for them?

More to the point, what have you ever done for me? Oh, by the way, I’ve got a couple of couches I need to unload. Each one costs $20,000. (You heard me …) And don’t say you can’t afford it, because those credit-card companies wouldn’t send you all those offers if they didn’t want you to use their money. Think about it. I haven’t.

(more…)

CHART ATTACK!: Beatles Edition

Well, Beatles covers, anyway.

As if you haven’t noticed, it’s Beatles Week here on Popdose. Hell, it’s Beatles Week all over the world. Well, far be it from me to stay away from any bandwagon, but as you know, I gotta give things a little bit of a twist. See, I could talk for days about the Beatles’ appearances on the Billboard Top 10. They hold a million records, too — “Hey Jude,” for example, was the first single in the history of the Hot 100 to enter the charts at #10, and stayed at the top for nine weeks, longer than any other Beatles single. But what can I really say about these songs that hasn’t been said before? So instead, I thought I’d present you with ten Beatles covers that appeared in (or at least hovered around) the Top 10. Okay, I’ll be stretching it a little: two of these songs were never recorded by the Beatles but were written by Paul and/or John. Still, I think it provides for a fun week. And as a little treat — every single song is available for download! (You can thank/curse me later.) Off we go with CHART ATTACK!: Beatles Edition!

10. Here Comes the Sun — Richie Havens Amazon iTunes
9. Goodbye — Mary Hopkin Amazon iTunes
8. We Can Work It Out — Stevie Wonder Amazon iTunes
7. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away — The Silkie Amazon
6. Got to Get You into My Life — Earth, Wind & Fire Amazon iTunes
5. I Saw Him Standing There — Tiffany Amazon iTunes
4. The Fool On The Hill — Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ‘66 Amazon iTunes
3. A World Without Love — Peter and Gordon Amazon iTunes
2. Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds — Elton John Amazon iTunes
1. Medley — Stars on 45 Amazon iTunes

10. Here Comes the Sun — Richie Havens (download)
Peaked at #16 on 5/22/71

Okay, I have to admit that I’m cheating a bit here: a spot in this Top 10 legitimately belongs to Anne Murray and her cover of “You Won’t See Me,” which peaked at #8 in July of 1974. But we covered that song back in July, and I honestly couldn’t bear to talk about it again. So instead, we’ll talk about Richie Havens’ song, which is a live version taken from his album Alarm Clock and remains his only single to reach the Top 40. Havens’ version features his trademark bordering-on-frenetic rhythmic guitar work, and definitely takes the song in a different direction; sadly, the lead guitar riff that is featured so prominently in the original (both in the introduction and the chorus) is gone, but Havens’ gentle, assured voice gives this version its own kind of peace.

9. Goodbye — Mary Hopkin (download)
Peaked at #13 on 5/31/69

In 1968, an 18-year-old Welsh singer named Mary Hopkin appeared on the British talent television show Opportunity Knocks. She sang “Turn, Turn, Turn” and won the competition. Twiggy happened to be watching the show that night, and called Paul McCartney to tell him about this fabulous new singer. The next Monday, Hopkin was in the studio with McCartney, recorded eight songs in a day and ended up with a contract offer at Apple Records. Her first single “Those Were the Days” (produced by Macca and recorded in English, French, German, and Italian) reached #1 in the UK and #2 in the US. Its catalog number was APPLE 2, behind APPLE 1, “Hey Jude.”

It was her follow-up single, “Goodbye,” that gives us a somewhat more direct Beatles connection — in addition to production, Paul also wrote the song (though, as with all songs at that point in time, it was credited to Lennon/McCartney). The 10th single released on Apple, it only reached #13 here but made it to #2 in the UK — held back from the #1 spot by “Get Back.”

I think “Goodbye” is a simple, sweet and charming little ditty. Hopkin’s vocal is pure and clean, and the percussion is quite charming. Paul’s demo, however, has a charm all its own, and in many ways, I prefer it to Hopkin’s version.

Paul McCartney — Goodbye (Demo) (download)

Here’s a promotional video for “Goodbye,” featuring Hopkin and McCartney in the studio. And if all that wasn’t enough, I found an absolutely stunning cover on YouTube. Check it out!

(more...)

No Concessions: The Film Four, or All You Need is YouTube

noconcessionsAs you might have heard, the Beatles albums have been remastered, in a format called “CD.” (“Compact disc,” right? I owned some of those back when I had hair.) Not that you would know from this site—Popdose has done a lousy job covering this.

Actually, as you well know, Popdose has been on the leading edge of the new Beatlemania. I’m just bitter: When I misidentified Mae West’s version of “Twist and Shout” as a “Beatles cover” I was thrown under the bus as our magical mystery tour meandered through all the hoopla. But no Blue Meanie can stop me here.

This week we look at Beatles movies. No, not A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, or Yellow Submarine, which by Popdose law you have to watch at least once per year. Nor Let It Be, which I haven’t seen in its entirety. Has anyone since before those DCs, I mean CDs, were introduced? The boys won Oscars for their song score, beating out the fearsome competition of The Baby Maker, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Darling Lili, and Scrooge. Did recipient Quincy Jones hand-deliver the statuettes, or simply put them in the mail to the fractured four? Whatever—speaking words of wisdom, this is the time to free Let It Be.

I really wanted to include a clip from the 1976 curiosity All This and World War II, which sets Fox-owned footage of the conflict to Beatles covers in a desperate bid to win over the kids and the “nostalgia” audience that was hungry for the next That’s Entertainment! Only in the 70s, folks. But the movie is presumably such a seething mess of rights issues that not even the copyright banditos want to touch it. With a little help from my friends at YouTube, then, my focus is the non-Beatles movies JPGR worked on. (more…)

Basement Songs: The Beatles, “Rubber Soul” (remastered)

basementsongs

51hTOQ67LyL._SCLZZZZZZZ_[1]During the summer of 1990, I entered the Record Exchange, my hometown indie store, to buy my first Beatles album. Hard to believe that an audiophile like myself didn’t own a single Beatles LP at all. At one time I copied a friend’s parent’s scratched up White Album on to cassette, and I once recorded the second side of Abbey Road off the radio when Akron’s WONE played it in its entirety during one of those late night “album sides” half hours of airtime, but I had never made the commitment of laying down my own cash and purchasing one of their albums. Perhaps because so much of the Fab Four’s material was consigned to the oldies station, I didn’t take an interest. In 1990, I was a wreck, unsure of who I was, unclear of my place in the world, uncertain about my career choice. I was a 20-year-old college student, confused and lost. (Huh, imagine that.) (more…)

CD Reviews: The Beatles Remasters

Let me say this at the outset: if you think that the release of 14 remastered Beatles albums is some sort of marketing gimmick, think again. If you can’t hear the difference in sound quality, you’ve either never heard the original versions or you should be visiting an audiologist soon. This set of stereo remasters instantly takes its place as the holy grail of Beatles music. Nothing that has come before can possibly do for the true fan anymore.

The Popdose staff split up the duties on this project, and I was lucky enough to have first choice of what I wanted to cover. I took the first Beatles album, Please Please Me (Yes, it was the first Beatles album EMI released in England. In the U.S. the album was originally released on VeeJay Records, and was the second one that we got), the last Beatles album, Abbey Road (Yes, it was recorded last despite the fact that Let It Be was released last), and one in the middle, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, that remains a landmark recording in the history of pop music.

The Beatles - Please Please MeSo let’s start from the beginning. Please Please Me features three songs that are stone cold Beatle classics, the leadoff track “I Saw Her Standing There,” the closing track “Twist and Shout,” and the title track. These are early days for the band, but they’ve put the craziness of the Hamburg days behind them, and the insanity of Beatlemania looms. If anyone tells you the Beatles weren’t really a rock band, this is as good a place to point them as any. Please Please Me finds the band with a lot of their raw energy intact.

The sound of the remastered album is revelatory. The chance to hear George’s Harrison’s guitar playing in all its crystalline beauty alone is worth the price of admission. Add the crisp sound of Ringo Starr’s drums, the rugged chugging of John Lennon’s rhythm guitar, and the vocal interplay between John and Paul McCartney, and you have an album well worth hearing. The key thing about Please Please Me though is that if you want to fully assess the Beatles as a band, charting the development of their songwriting and playing, this is where you have to start. –Ken Shane (more…)

The Friday Mixtape: 7/24/09

The more things change…

Adam Again – Ain’t No Sunshine from Ten Songs by Adam Again (1988)

Deliverance – Beauty And The Beast from Camelot in Smithereens (1995)

Jacob’s Trouble – Tell Me What You See from Door Into Summer (1989)

Lost Dogs – I’m A Loser from Little Red Riding Hood (1993)

Mortal – Nowhere Man from Wake (1994)

Passafist – Street Fighting Man from Passafist (1994)

Phil Keaggy – When Will I Ever Learn To Live In God from Crimson and Blue
(1993)

Rez – Presence Of The Lord from Silence Screams (1988)

Terry Scott Taylor – Long, Long, Long from A Briefing For The Ascent (1987)

The 77s – Over, Under, Sideways, Down from 88 (1991)

The Choir – Behind That Locked Door from Wide-Eyed Wonder (1989)

This Train – Baby Baby from You’re Soaking In It (1995)

You can download art for this mixtape here

Caught on Tape: The Day I Didn’t Disappear in Front of George Harrison

460px-George_Harrison_1974[1]It was a day of unmatched California beauty; a startling and fiery sun perched high above in a crystal blue sky and blazed down promise. It was an essential day, a meteorological marvel meant to be stored away for future reference.

“Dude,” a friend would ask the following week, “do you remember how amazing it was last Tuesday?”

And of course you do. Even if the day itself was all you’d been given, that would have been gift enough. But the weather was merely an underscoring for the occasion, a gilded and golden opportunity to spend an hour with George Harrison. You’ll forget how to breathe before you forget this. Simply saying the words out loud (actually you’re reduced to mumbling them sotto voce because you’re afraid that anything above a whisper might reduce the reality to mirage) – “I am hanging with a Beatle” – is enough to render you stupid.

Then you start considering the notion that maybe Harrison himself ordered up the perfect day as an interview-ambience backdrop. We all knew that he spoke with God all the time (and if He was going to listen to anybody, He’s going to find a minute or two for a Beatle). So, anyone who recalls a glorious Tuesday back in 1974, somewhere around May or June perhaps, the presence of just a soupcon of magic embedded in the sunrays, you can thank George and God (though not necessarily in that order).  (more…)

CD Review: Regina Spektor, “far”

41McjI1S-xL._SCLZZZZZZZ_[1]I have to admit that I am not one of the people who jumped on the bandwagon for Regina Spektor’s last album, the 2006 breakthrough Begin to Hope. I’ve still never heard most of it, and what I did hear didn’t knock me out. Now Spektor is back with a new album, far (Sire Records), and I’m still on the fence.

I recognize her talent. I appreciate the exquisite wordplay with which she builds her songs. I’m aware of the fact that repeated listening to the album can reveal some previously hidden treasures. It’s all very accessible, musically accomplished, and lyrically interesting. What it’s missing, at least for me, is an emotional connection. Maybe this music is just not for me.

It’s a good idea to be wary of any album that has multiple producers, in the same way that it’s advisable to carefully approach films with more than one director. This album has four producers, each of them notable in his own right. Mike Elizondo has worked with Dr. Dre and Eminem, and he has produced four of this album’s 13 tracks. His work appeals as the most forward looking of the distinguished quartet. Check out his production on the inventive and imaginative “Machine.” (more…)

CD Review: Wilco, “Wilco (The Album)”

Wilco (the album)Wilco has reached that point in their career when it becomes trendy for the hipster brigade to slag each new release as “not as good as (fill in album name here).” That’s a shame, because the Chicago-based band is making some of their best music these days. Led by the irrepressible Jeff Tweedy, and featuring the off-the-charts guitar work of modern master Nels Cline, this Wilco lineup, together for five years now, finds the band at their musical peak.

One thing that a creative artist learns early on is that you’re not going to be able to please everyone all the time. There were those who found the Wilco masterpiece Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and its successor, A Ghost Is Born, too experimental for their tastes. The band seemed to react to that by releasing the fairly straightforward Sky Blue Sky in 2007. That one was deemed to be too bland, and the nostalgia merchants began to call for a return to the glorious days of Summerteeth. No doubt we’ll see a similar reaction if Radiohead ever returns to the more easily digestible sound of their OK Computer era.

If Wilco (The Album) (Nonesuch) doesn’t please the entire fanbase it won’t be surprising, but it will be pretty damned unfair. For what we have here is an album that is a nearly perfect fusion of Wilco’s experimental bent, and Tweedy’s straightforward Americana songwriting style, and, I might add, these are some of Tweedy’s finest songs ever. He’s unafraid to let his influences show, and as a result we get takes on Talking Heads, the Beatles, and the Motown sound. Producer Jim Scott rejoined the band for this effort, and the recording is first rate. All of this adds up to what may be the finest Wilco album since, well…since always. There, I said it. (more…)

The Friday Mixtape: 6/19/09

You guys give up, or you thirsty for more?

Bobby Jimmy & the Critters – Roaches from Look at All These Roaches [12"] (1986)
Bread – The Guitar Man from Guitar Man (1972)
George Harrison – It Don’t Come Easy (unreleased) (1971)
Matthew Sweet featuring Lindsey Buckingham – Magnet and Steel from Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Album (1998)
Rocket Scientists – Gypsy from Revolution Road (2006)
Split Enz – I Got You from True Colors (1980)
The Real Tuesday Weld – Bathtime in Clerkenwell from I, Lucifer (2004)
War – The Cisco Kid from The World Is a Ghetto (1972)
Warren Zevon – Hit Somebody (The Hockey Song) from My Ride’s Here (2002)
Jellyfish – Watchin’ the Rain from Fan Club (2002)
Marshall Crenshaw – Laughter from Miracle of Science (1996)
Sieges Even – Eyes Wide Open from Paramount (2007)
The Smithereens – If the Sun Doesn’t Shine from Green Thoughts (1988)
Vector – How Many Times from Please Stand By (1988)