The Beatles *sigh*

[zachrwolfe]

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[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Holy sh*t...Helter Skelter is BAD ASS. I've heard of balls to the wall but this is DICKS TO THE BRICKS.

Now check out modern day McCartney KILL "Skelter".. he can still hit the high notes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um7iNmIJ0tU

Holy sh*t...he rocked the hell out of that

[Jay]

I've never liked the "comin' down, comin' down, comin' down fast" bit, and the group plays a few seconds more of the music before the verses kick in, and the OCD in me finds that annoying as hell. 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Holy sh*t...Helter Skelter is BAD ASS. I've heard of balls to the wall but this is DICKS TO THE BRICKS. Damn this band was kickass. On the compilation I made for my wife this is followed by I Want You (She's so Heavy) and the result is hypnotically enticing. I just had an eargasm.

Thank you guys for helping turn me on to this wonderful band of geniuses.

I think it shows that Paul has a great songwriting range if he could put "Honey Pie," "Blackbird," and "Helter Skelter" all on the same album. Even "Hey Jude" came from the White Album sessions.

Yep but nothing trumps "Yesterday", "I'm Down" and "I've Just Seen A Face" all recorded on the SAME DAY!  June 14, 1965.  A pretty impressive day's work from a working musician.  

That's pretty damn impressive; that and the fact that Please Please Me was recorded in one day. I re-listened to it and my opinions have changed. Not their strongest by far, but the foundation was already there. I also take back what I said about the vocals as well.

 I'd actually heard 'Ive Just seen a Face' before but didn't know it was the Beatles. I thought it was Paul Simon when I heard it some time back!  For the Lennon side, 'No Reply' followed by 'I'm A Loser' is also a great one-two punch. That's what I'm loving...there are so many great moments, and they come in pairs.

I still am not the biggest fan of 'Mr Moonlight', but the worst song award now  has to go to 'Flying'. I'm on the fence with 'Octopus' Garden' as well.

Will be sure and check out those videos. I did a separate 'acquisition'  of the singles, so I have them too.

I've never liked the "comin' down, comin' down, comin' down fast" bit, and the group plays a few seconds more of the music before the verses kick in, and the OCD in me finds that annoying as hell.

Yeah, but that riff is meaner than a rottweiler on bath salts, so I kick for it.

[Jay]

You'll also "get" Let It Be, but it'll take time. It took me years. Having a few Get Back sessions boots to put things into context kind of helps. 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I'm going to check out Let it Be Naked too.

By the way...your signature is ace ^_^

[Jay]

Wow. I've been a Beatles fan all my life, and I never realized that I've Just Seen A Face at times sounds quite a lot like Simon and Garfunkel or/and Paul Simon.

Mind. Blown.  

[Jay]

I'm going to check out Let it Be Naked too.

By the way...your signature is ace ^_^

It'll be more ace when I include a link to a song from your album, to promote it for you.  With your permission, of course.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Yeah...I once downloaded a whole bunch of Simon and Garfunkel tracks expecting to find it. Gave up, then, well...yeah.

That opening is killer, too.

It'll be more ace when I include a link to a song from your album, to promote it for you.  Cool With your permission, of course.

Of course!  I wish I could take credit for that quote...I 'borrowed' it from by dear friend Mike Wright, who is not only a professional wrestler but also a damned fine video game writer.

[Jay]

I've Just Seen A Face is one of those songs that I kept hearing  before I knew it was The Beatles, specifically the "falling, yes I am falling" part. Same goes for Hey Jude. I actually thought that Fool On The Hill was a solo Paul McCartney song. I kept hearing and seeing him play it on an early 1990's tv concert special, and didn't know it was a Beatles song until I saw the Magical Mystery Tour movie. 

[Heysaboda]

I feel the same way about the alternate take of "Here, There And Everywhere".  It's vastly superior in my opinion to the version that is on "Revolver" which unfortunately in my opinion suffers from a great deal of overproduction.  The harmonies are just far too lush and layered whereas on the alternate take they are scaled back appropriately.  I like Macca's scratch vocal on the alternate take too.  He sings the song in a slightly higher registrar than on the "Revolver" version and I always preferred it that way.

I am a sucker for Beatles "scratch vocals".  I love the scratch vocal on the Anthology version of Sgt. Pepper's LHCB (reprise).

[pixletwin]

I'm going to check out Let it Be Naked too.

By the way...your signature is ace ^_^

I prefer Let It Be... Naked to the official release. Sequencing is much better and it feels much more cohesive to me as an album.

[Heysaboda]

I'm going to check out Let it Be Naked too.

Definitely give "Don't Let Me Down" a listen on the Let It Be Naked album.  THAT performance is amazing!

Plus the other live rooftop tracks, I've Got A Feeling and One After 909 sound really hot!

[Ron]

Honestly, if you don't like them...you don't like them. It's not a big deal - I'd probably berate you at a party if I was drunk, though. 

Yeah... it's one of those things where if you don't get it, you're not going to.  All of their albums are pretty damn good, I don't understand how anybody would need somebody to tell them which songs they should listen to when it's generally accepted that almost all of them are great. 

Once you've told us you don't like Mr. Moonlight, I don't really know where to go from there. 


It's like saying "I've heard Picasso is a good painter... but I don't like how everybody says that.  Can you tell me which of his paintings I should look at that I might like?"

It's art, if you don't like it you just don't like it.  I find the beatles to be one of the most exciting, creative, beautiful bands I've ever heard.  I wish you did!

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Honestly, if you don't like them...you don't like them. It's not a big deal - I'd probably berate you at a party if I was drunk, though. 

Yeah... it's one of those things where if you don't get it, you're not going to.  All of their albums are pretty damn good, I don't understand how anybody would need somebody to tell them which songs they should listen to when it's generally accepted that almost all of them are great. 

Once you've told us you don't like Mr. Moonlight, I don't really know where to go from there. 


It's like saying "I've heard Picasso is a good painter... but I don't like how everybody says that.  Can you tell me which of his paintings I should look at that I might like?"

It's art, if you don't like it you just don't like it.  I find the beatles to be one of the most exciting, creative, beautiful bands I've ever heard.  I wish you did!

Try reading the whole thread next time. This one entirely disproves your argument.

[JohnMill]

I'm going to check out Let it Be Naked too.

By the way...your signature is ace ^_^

I prefer Let It Be... Naked to the official release. Sequencing is much better and it feels much more cohesive to me as an album.

Eh I can't say that I agree.  To me "Let It Be...Naked" is just another chapter in the ongoing saga that is lets make something of value out of the "Let It Be" recordings.  Truth be told, there isn't a compilation of the "Let It Be" recordings that isn't flawed in some way and that is unfortunate because there are some great songs on that record.  As I mentioned previously "Let It Be" was the one Beatles record that it was painfully obvious that The Beatles themselves wanted nothing to do with and it shows in the various different configurations of the record we've gotten since 1969.

Glyn Johns' "Get Back" mixes are probably the most accurate representation of the songs themselves but he also made some abysmal choices in selecting early unfinished takes of songs over more polished versions from later on in the project.  Phil Spector's mix is what John Lennon once equated it to which was Spector's attempt to salvage something out of some of the most uninspired music ever committed to tape.  Unfortunately as is sometimes the case with Spector his production was far too heavy handed and did little good other than to slather on a coat of gloss onto Glyn Johns' "Get Back" mixes.  Spector should be commended for one thing though that unlike Glyn Johns, he did make copious use of the final two days of the "Let It Be" project which resulted in the bulk of high quality material from the sessions.

"Let It Be...Naked"?  Well to say it isn't held in high regard by Beatleologists would be an understatement.  The problem is in the concept: Someone evidently thought that by removing Spector's gloss job that alone would make "Let It Be" a better album.  The problem is even after you removed the gloss you are still left with the same basic tracks which with the exception of the ballads ("Across The Universe", "The Long And Winding Road" and "Let It Be") don't sound all that different from their Spectorized counterparts.  I understand that "Let It Be...Naked" actually featured some alternate versions and this too is a sticking point.  What is the point of presenting a stripped down version of a record when you don't make use of the masters on the original LP?  "The Long And Winding Road", "I've Got A Feeling" and "Don't Let Me Down" are all alternate versions and I believe that "Don't Let Me Down" and "I've Got A Feeling" are EMI sanctioned forgeries cobbling together two rooftop performances per song in order to create a new facsimile.  

As someone else mentioned up the chain perhaps the best way to enjoy or at least understand "Let It Be" is to get your hands on some boots and hearing the debauchery for yourself.  The Twickenham Sessions are essential listening for any Beatles fan as they not only provide insight as to why the band imploded but also demonstrate that even the most competent and talented musicians can sound downright amateurish when their heart isn't into the music they are playing.  That aside there are some versions of "Get Back" and "I've Got A Feeling" that were captured by the Nagras that absolutely blow the versions on "Let It Be" out of the water.  They will probably never see official release as despite the thirty minute "Fly On The Wall" disc, it's quite evident that the Nagra recordings aren't what the parties in question consider to be of releasable standard.  

[Ron]

Honestly, if you don't like them...you don't like them. It's not a big deal - I'd probably berate you at a party if I was drunk, though. 

Yeah... it's one of those things where if you don't get it, you're not going to.  All of their albums are pretty damn good, I don't understand how anybody would need somebody to tell them which songs they should listen to when it's generally accepted that almost all of them are great. 

Once you've told us you don't like Mr. Moonlight, I don't really know where to go from there. 


It's like saying "I've heard Picasso is a good painter... but I don't like how everybody says that.  Can you tell me which of his paintings I should look at that I might like?"

It's art, if you don't like it you just don't like it.  I find the beatles to be one of the most exciting, creative, beautiful bands I've ever heard.  I wish you did!

Try reading the whole thread next time. This one entirely disproves your argument.

Who the f*** are you?  He said "what's a good beatles song"  I said "they're all good".

I dont' need to read the entire thread to say that.  Try staying the f*** out of my conversation next time, I wasn't talking to you.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Ron, what he was referring to the fact that after listening to every album in order, my opinion has changed to the point where I'm now obsessing over the music. I'm a fan now. That's what he meant. Actually sitting down and listening to every thing all the way through, without prejudice or distraction, make a huge impression on me. I have since admitted that my initial opinion was extremely faulty. There wasn't a need to respond like that.

In any case, thanks again for everyone here who pointed me in the right direction.

[alf wiedersehen]

Man, some people have had some pretty short fuses these past days...

[Jay]

Or no fuse at all. 

Billy, I agree with what others here have said about Let it Be...Naked. I would avoid it until you've listened to all of their albums, and some of the boots. I've read that the version of Don't Let Me Down has elements from up to three different versions.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Yikes. Okay, I gotta hunt down get back and fast. Just got the anthology series. Man I wish I would've watched the anthology on TV.

[Jay]

I watched the Anthology on tv when it came on, and remember it well. At the very end of each episode, they had a count down to the premiere of the "reunion" songs. The final ten seconds of the count down were the longest of my life.  It felt like an hour.  Just so you know, when the anthology was released on vhs and then later dvd, there was a lot more than what was shown on tv.

Look for the "Glyn Johns mix" of the unreleased Get Back album. Actually, there were two mixes that Glyn Johns did. I only have one of them, and i'm not really sure about the difference between the two. I think each had a different track list. These were the initial compilations of material from the Get Back sessions that were rejected. The project was more or less given up on until Phil Spector "rescued" it a year later. When Let It Be came out in 1970, the group was already over, and I don't think anybody really cared all that much one way or the other.

[alf wiedersehen]

How were the "reunion" cuts received when they were first released? I imagine most people were going crazy for them...

Does anybody still listen to those songs? They seem more like something you listen to once or twice out of intrigue and then kinda forget about (which I did, until just know  )

[Jay]

I swear to God I remember one of the songs being a number 1 hit, but looking back at the charts from the time indicates otherwise. I've always really like Free As A Bird. I didn't really like Real Love at first, but it's grown on me. Hearing them sing in harmony again is kind of an emotional thing(for me at least). I can't really understand why these songs aren't really accepted or thought of as Beatles songs. They have yet to be included in any kind of "best of" compilation, which in my opinion sucks. I mean, John, Paul, AND George all sang a line in Free As A Bird, so it feels more like an authentic Beatles song than Real Love(which still has some kick ass Beatles harmony vocals).

[SMiLE-addict]

"I've Just Punched a Face" seems to be going through something similar that I did last year regarding the Beach Boys - the exception being, I never really disliked the BB's for any particular reason, I just didn't pay much attention to them and didn't have any strong feelings about them, either yeah or nay. Even the Pet Sounds I had bought several years earlier was just "OK." However, in spring of last year I started getting into Good Vibrations, then read somewhere that it was originally supposed to be on an album called Smile, which was never released, except that the recording sessions had just been released several months prior. So on a whim I bought TSS, got hooked, and then started buying every BB album I reading everything I could about them. "I've Just Punched a Face" seems to be about where I was in maybe June of last year. I predict by early next year the novelty will wear off and he'll just regard the band as one of his favorites, but cease obsessing over them.

It's kinda fun "discovering" something that lots of people liked but you always scratched your head over, until you finally check it out and "get" it. After some while of checking out their stuff and reading all you can about them, you've absorbed most of what you're reasonably going to absorb, and the initial obsession wears off. Then you don't listen to the music as often - which can actually be nice because on the occasion you do listen to it, it's a bit "fresh." There's a few Beatles albums I've been deliberately avoiding for about a year just so that I don't get tired of them.

Lately I've been going on a bit of an Animal Collective "thing." But their repertoire I find palatable is a bit limited to date, so after just a little more than a month I think I'm starting to run against a wall.