JEOPARDY Answer of the day: ROCK & ROLL HISTORY: The name “Beatles” was inspired by the backup group of this singer. (The question below.)
173 It’s All Too Much from Yellow Submarine. The niftiest part of the Harrison tune is the guitar intro.
172 Yesterday from Help! (UK), Yesterday and Today (US). When my father, sister, and I used to perform together when I was a teenager, it was in my sister’s repertoire. It’s a perfectly nice song, but for the life of me, I don’t know why it’s been covered 2500 or 3500 or however many times it has, especially since most of them sound not dissimilar to the original. I also realize the song made me, and my office mate at the time, peevish when two versions of it showed up on Anthology 2, not that far apart on the album, and I would tend to skip past it. “Scrambled Eggs,” indeed.
171 Baby’s in Black from Beatles for Sale (UK), Beatles ’65 (US). One writer suggested that the songs of this period were rather melancholy because of the stress of Beatlemania – touring, movies, plus recording. Maybe. I like the black/blue imagery, but much of the rest sounds like Lennon/McCartney circa 1962.
170 Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? from the white album. Rather funny, if insignificant song by McCartney.
169 I Me Mine from Let It Be. This is the title of a Harrison autobiography. A slight song, I do like the change of rhythms.
168 I Wanna Be Your Man from With the Beatles (UK), Meet the Beatles (US). A ditty McCartney and Lennon gave to the Rolling Stones but also had Ringo sing.
167 Girl from Rubber Soul. It’s OK, but the album is filled with much greater songs.
166 Old Brown Shoe. B-side of The Ballad of John and Yoko. It’s OK, in that laid-back Harrison style.
165 You Never Give Me Your Money from Abbey Road. This is actually HIGHER than I had planned. I thought the reprise of this song in Golden Slumbers would allow this track to be in the 200s, but the song argued otherwise.
164 P.S. I Love You from Please Please Me (UK), Introducing the Beatles/The Early Beatles. A pleasant enough story song.
Just watched on PBS How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin, about how Beatles music was smuggled into the Soviet Union and represented freedom. It also talks about the myth of a secret Soviet performance by the Beatles, generated by the song Back in the USSR. see it HERE or the first part HERE, with subsequent parts on the sidebar.
JEOPARDY! Question of the day: Who was Buddy Holly? (His backup group was called The Crickets.)