Beatles Archives - Page 10 of 12 - Ramblin' with Roger

The Great 28

Twenty-eight years ago today, Lynn Moss made an honest man out of Fred Hembeck, a story he’s written about here (June 23), here (June 23), here, and ESPECIALLY here. Kudos to you both. Go to Fred’s MySpace blog and send them your best wishes.
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And speaking of Mr. Hembeck, he e-mailed to remind me that Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia are set to appear on Larry King’s CNN show June 26 (9 pm Eastern, 8pm Central) to discuss the first anniversary of Cirque de Soleil’s Fab-inspired “Love” show. Incidentally, my wife went to the Cirque de Soleil show “Delirium” this week in Albany with a friend of hers, while I stayed home with Lydia. She said it was very good, but that she needed to watch some more MTV or something, because of all the frenetic movement.
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The other music-related thing I’ll be taping this week is “Paul Simon: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song”. On my local PBS station, it airs Wednesday at 9 pm, and features a bunch of folks singing the songs of Simon. It was taped last month.
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I’ve never golfed in my life, yet I was intrigued by last weekend’s piece in the Wall Street Journal, The Problem With ‘Par’; If players at this weekend’s U.S. Open can’t hit the target score, who can? by John Paul Newport (June 16, 2007). Specifically, this paragraph:
“The notion of par has always been somewhat mushy, and is further confused by the word’s other English-language usages. In most PGA Tour events, for instance, subpar scores are par for the course. Unless, of course, a pro is feeling physically subpar, in which case he might shoot above par. On the other hand, only amateurs with decidedly above-par skills can ever hope to post subpar scores.”
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If I lived in the Los Angeles area, I think I would apply for this job out of sheer curiosity:

The following position is available at E! Networks:
Job Title: Researcher
Organization: Research
City: Los Angeles
State: CA
Full-time position with benefits providing research, public records and ready reference.

Description: Provide entertainment research in support of all Comcast Entertainment Group units (E!, Style, G4, E! Online, International) including the following:
* Supply in-depth story and background research to assist writers and production staff.
* Locate court documents for legal backup.
* Access public records to locate individuals and track assets.
* Review copyright and trademark records to establish ownership and locate rights holders.
* Answer “ready reference” questions.
* Vet scripts for accuracy and perform fact checking.
* Help maintain both conventional and digital archives and databases.
Skills: College degree required; experience working in a library, archive or research setting; excellent organizational skills; extensive understanding of online databases, particularly Lexis/Nexis; excellent writing, spelling and grammatical skills; ability to work well under pressure; interest or experience working in the entertainment field a plus.
E! Networks is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

Contact Gina Handsberry at E! Entertainment. Please direct all inquiries to her at ghandsberry@eentertainment.com. She writes, on a listserv I access:
“This is not a media research position (i.e., we do not analyze Nielsen data). Rather, it is a show research position (we provide content research for the programs on the network) and would be well suited for a librarian, information professional, or anyone who has experience doing research for journalistic endeavors. It’s not an easy position to fill, so I thought a post here couldn’t hurt!”
ROG

Seven or eight things about me

I believe it was Gordon who noted seven things about him that you may not have known. Then Scott tagged me, with these instructions:
“Players start with 8 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them that they have been tagged.”

1. When I first picked up the album Magical Mystery Tour in the store back in 1967 or early 1968, I simply could not read the words “Beatles” in the yellow stars. I knew it WAS a Beatles album from the song list, but it was a full five minutes before I sussed out the group name. (Confidential to Fred Hembeck: November 27, 1967.)

2. My favorite mixed drink is 45% orange juice, 45% cranberry juice, 10% ginger ale. The cranberry cuts the OJ’s acidity, the OJ cuts the cranberry’s tartness, and the ginger ale is just to give it that faux alcohol sensation. I’ve ordered the mixed juices sans ginger ale in restaurants, and while some places seem to take it in stride, others act as though I want them to cross a desert barefoot to get liquids from a cactus or something.

3. My favorite cereal combination is spoon-size shredded wheat and Cheerios. But I won’t buy either of them unless they’re on sale. So when they ARE on sale, I might buy four or six boxes. I might even use coupons, which I seldom use otherwise.

4. In the spring or summer of 1976, I was in a production of Godspell in my college town of New Paltz. My solo was, initially, “We Beseech Thee”, a song I could sing and I liked, but got changed to “All Good Gifts”, which I was never fond of.

5. When I lived in New York City in the summer of 1977, I lived in Jackson Heights, Queens, but I worked in Manhattan. I took the #7 train, then the E or the F train. I was a telephone solicitor five nights a week from 6 pm until midnight. Who was I calling at 11:30 at night? People on the West Coast, of course. The folks I called were people who had once expressed interest in the product – people with lapsed subscription to TV Guide, people who owned the Encyclopedia Americana who might want the Annual. As a result, I’m very polite to phone solicitors; I say “no, thank you,” right before I hang up on them.

6. During that summer of 1977 (which, not so incidentally was the Summer of Sam), I met this young woman from the Unification church (yes, that’s the Moonies) and would have dinner with her group once a week for a couple months at their place in the Bronx. I was invited to go to their complex upstate; I always declined.

7. Once that summer, for no particular reason, I walked from the Bronx to the New York Public Library, some 160 blocks. Another time, I walked from the library to Wall Street; don’t know how many blocks that is.

8. I once successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver on a 70-plus-year-old woman in May 1995. This was at my church of the time. I had been in a pretty sour mood, actually, because of resolving some old affairs of the heart stuff. This woman, who I did not know, was off to the side, looking as though she was turning blue. Then someone opined that perhaps she might have eaten something. I recalled my training from high school, never utilized. Some piece of meat flew at least 15 feet. The pastor, always one to come up with a smart-aleck remark, said to me, “If you see ME choking, just let me die.” (Confidential to MRR – yes, he’s the one.)

I’ve always been loath to tag – though I don’t mind being tagged – so, only if you want to:
The Scribe at Peace X Peace
Uthaclena at the Hydrogen Jukebox
and the Weird Monday person, Kelly Brown.
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Oh, here’s another thing about me: I recorded two programs last night – and neither was the last episode of the sopranos. One was The Tonys on CBS, which we like to watch because we’re generally unfamiliar with the productions, ironically, the reason nobody ELSE watches them. The other is Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions band live in Dublin on PBS. We’ve actually watched neither, but hope to before the fall.
ROG

25 things

Tosy has got me sussed.

1. I’ve come to realize that my last kiss… was probably done perfunctorily.

2. I am listening to… a lot of Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and the B groups they used to be in.

3. I talk…more often than not with a filter of appropriateness.

4. I want…a couple more hours per day to read and play. I need to play.

5. My best friend(s)…with a few exceptions, don’t live around here, so I see them rarely.

7. The weather is… wet, but pleasantly so.

8. I hate it when people…are inconsiderate. My current pet peeve involves the bus kiosks around two of our hospitals, St. Peter’s and Albany Med. The hospital employees use the kiosks to smoke their cigarettes during their breaks, then go back work.

9. Love is… as strong as death. That’s a lyric in a church anthem, from the Song of Solomon, and it always gets to me.

10. Marriage is… not for the meek.

11. Somewhere, someone is thinking… someone stole my invention. In all likelihood, it didn’t happen.

12. I’ll always… remember the things I should have done more than the things I did do.

13. I have a secret crush on… oh, golly, any number of people. However, I haven’t watched a program because a person was on it since I watched Sisters for Sela Ward.

14. The last time I cried was… watching Flashpoint last week. It was a CBS News special about reporter Kimberly Dozier’s near death experience in Iraq from an IED. Her soundman and cameraman died, as did a soldier and his translator.

15. My cell phone is… missing.

16. When I wake up in the morning… I start ruminating about what needs to be done. Then I end up doing a list of things not on the list at all.

17. Before I go to bed… I often play Internet backgammon.

18. Right now I am thinking about… caffeine.

19. Babies are… statements of optimism in a sometimes miserable world.

20. I go on MySpace… almost never, even though I have a page.

21. Today I… answer a bunch of question about a blog I helped initiate last week.

22. Tonight I… hope to watch one of those episodes from six weeks of Scrubs, Earl or the office. That was on my list LAST week; saw one Earl.

23. Tomorrow I… go play racquetball in the morning, if the three-year old and I get out of the house in time.

24. I really want to… get a massage.

25. Someone who will most likely repost this? I haven’t a clue; Eddie could.
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Don’t steal beer in Montana
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“I know I don’t know most celebs in real life, and therefore shouldn’t go throwing haterade at them left and right … but man, I cannot stand Paris Hilton.” – Jen Hubley, About.Com. Haterade – I like that.
ROG

"A splendid time is guaranteed"

It was 20 years ago today: Sgt. Pepper came out on CD, honoring the 20th anniversary of the release of the Sgt. Pepper LP. I bought the LP sometime in June 1967 for $3.67 at W.T. Grant’s, and while I wasn’t immediately overwhelmed by the music – I was, eventually, especially “Getting Better” and “Fixing a Hole” – I did realize that the album was something special.

It was the cover, often parodied (see here, starting with 240) – but this will change as more titles are added) and all the cool stuff enclosed in the package, such as the sergeant stripes – I still have that sheet SOMEWHERE.) The lyrics actually being listed indicated that they were (gasp!) IMPORTANT.

With very few exceptions, it seems as though the idea of The Album – i.e., a collection of songs designed to be put together as a coherent whole – is endangered. If Sgt. Pepper were released today, would the individual cuts get downloaded, thus missing the impact of the coherent whole?

There have been few covers of songs from Sgt. Pepper, save for Joe Cocker’s classic rendition of “With a Little Help From My Friends”, that have really stood out for me. Recently, I was able to hear the MOJO recording of the package, which didn’t send me. Bill Cosby, on his “Hooray for the Salvation Army Band” album did a cover of the title tune, with female backup singers: strange.

One exception is the take of Sgt. Pepper by a group called Big Daddy. “With a Little Help from My Friends” as “Chances Are” by Johnny Mathis. “Mr. Kite” turned into Palisades Park”. “A Day in the Life” as a couple Buddy Holly tunes. And possibly my favorite, “Within You Without You” as a beatnik send-up. Good stuff.
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JEOPARDY answer from 5/15/2007 under YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED for $600: “Title of the 1965 Beatles No. 1 hit song that is a calendrical impossibility.” Response below.
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Am I going to be going to Starbucks to get the new Paul McCartney album on June 5? Well, it does sound intriguing, but I’d like to hear a review or two beforehand. Macca’s last album, 2005’s “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard”, which I have, was pretty good, so history would suggest he’s due for another dud. But I’ll keep a good thought. Here’s the first video. BTW, I have a copy of the Macca interview in the June 4, 2007 New Yorker.
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A link to the Smithereens’ “I Want To hold Your Hand. And another link, in case the first one goes away.
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J question: What is “Eight Days a Week”?

ROG

The Posthumous Still Have It

A couple months ago, I noticed the Rolling Stone lunchtime poll for Best Posthumous Album. What was interesting is that the two albums that seemed to dominate, among those who actually knew what “posthumous” meant, or weren’t into fossilizing the Rolling Stones, picked Johnny Cash’s American V: A Hundred Highways (a Rolling Stone pick) and Brainwashed by George Harrison, both artists were born around this time of the month.
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There seems to be three major topics among American Beatles fans these days:
1)Whether that Cirque du Soleil songtrack, LOVE, is any good
2)Whether Heather Mills McCartney is Satan or merely the spawn of Satan
3)What’s going to be in the next box set of American LPs. The Capitol Albums, Vol. 1, included Meet the Beatles, The Beatles Second Album, Something New, and Beatles ’65. Vol. 2 contained The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, the Help! soundtrack, and the U.S. version of Rubber Soul, all of which were released in 1965. There won’t be boxes of albums where the US and the UK versions are exactly the same (Sgt. Pepper, the White Album, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, Let It Be). Magical Mystery Tour is off the table, because it was an American album that the Brits adopted. So what does that leave?
A Hard Day’s Night soundtrack- Originally on United Artists Records. It does have three Beatles songs, including the title cut, plus four soundtrack tunes not on Something New. But there are the five that overlap.
Revolver-the 11-song version instead of the 14. Do they really want to draw attention to this treachery?
Beatles Again/Hey Jude-The late Capitol/early Apple singles. But two of the HDN soundtrack songs are here as well.
The only album everyone agrees on is Yesterday…and Today. Why did I buy this at the Rexall store for $2.99, rather than waiting to get it from the Capitol Record Club? Maybe I was impatient. Why do I remember it cost $2.99?
Anyway, this is an odd album, oftentimes documented:
Side A
1. Drive My Car-Lennon/McCartney (Rubber Soul UK)
2. I’m Only Sleeping-Lennon/McCartney (Revolver UK)
3. Nowhere Man-Lennon/McCartney (Rubber Soul UK)
4. Doctor Robert-Lennon/McCartney (Revolver UK)
5. Yesterday-Lennon/McCartney (Help UK)
6. Act Naturally-Morrison/Russell (Help UK)
Side B
1. And Your Bird Can Sing-Lennon/McCartney (Revolver UK)
2. If I Needed Someone-Harrison (Rubber Soul UK)
3. We Can Work It Out-Lennon/McCartney (single)
4. What Goes On-Lennon/McCartney/Starkey (Rubber Soul UK)
5. Day Tripper-Lennon/McCartney (single)
My thoughts then: I love(d) Drive My Car. The album was good, but TWO Ringo songs? Also, What Goes On is in the same key as Day Tripper; I wouldn’t have put them next to each other.
My thoughts now: If you’re gonna butcher the UK albums, the pulling of four tracks from Rubber Soul, essentially one by each Beatle, was pretty deft. I know a number of folks who still think I’ve Just Seen a Face (from the UK Help album) is the better starting song for the Americanized Rubber Soul. Conversely, the three Lennon songs pulled from Revolver made the US version of THAT album lopsided, with 1 Ringo, 3 George, 5 Paul but only 2 John songs.
Oh, yeah, my copy of Yesterday…and Today got stolen in the Great LP Theft of 1972, so I’ll never know if I owned the butcher cover or not. It’s just as well.
Consider this my Underplayed Vinyl for the month.