Beatles Archives - Page 12 of 34 - Ramblin' with Roger

September rambling #1: unfinished art

Busker lends a helping hand to people with cancer

Meet the People Who Believe the Earth Is Flat

Flooding of Coast, Caused by Global Warming, Has Already Begun; Scientists’ warnings that the rise of the sea would eventually imperil the US coastline are no longer theoretical

How Trolls Are Ruining the Internet

The Falling Man

The FBI Accused Him of Terrorism; He Couldn’t Tie His Shoes

The Aurora shooting survivors’ $700,000 legal bill shows the difficult reality of one Colorado law

Risky alone, deadly together Overdosing on prescription drug combinations plays a part in the growing rates of premature death among white women

White people think racism is getting worse, against white people

White privilege has enormous implications for policy — but whites don’t think it exists

‘He paid a dear price for it’: The 19th-century ordeal of one of America’s first transgender men

JEWEL OF THE NILE and why Ken Levine will be forever haunted by it

Who is Funding the Backlash against John Oliver’s Charter School Critique?

‘Playing Joan Crawford ruined my career’: Faye Dunaway says Mommie Dearest changed the way Hollywood thought of her

Now I Know: The Pool Party That Wasn’t a Gas and A Token Effort

One in Four Americans Didn’t Read a Book Last Year, But don’t mourn the death of the printed word just yet

Introvert Hangovers Can Be Really Rough

Hugh O’Brian, Star of TV’s Wyatt Earp, Dies at 91

Actor Jon Polito, known for roles in Coen brother films ‘The Big Lebowski’ and ‘Miller’s Crossing,’ dead at 65

Trouble with Comics contributor Tim Durkee passed away

Woman in iconic WWII Times Square kiss photograph dies at 92

A little good news

Dozens of higher education institutions in New York state will stop asking applicants whether they have past criminal convictions

Jerry Lewis returns, at 90

Star Trek: The Making of The Next Generation’s Greatest Episode, ‘The Inner Light’ and When ST was banned in Albany and ST and Jaquandor

Gene Wilder on Willy Wonka Remake, Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks, and more (2013)

Actress Bea Arthur leaves LGBT youth a generous gift in her will

Ken Levine’s favorite celebrity sighting

Dan Van Riper: We Walked The Entire Rail Trail From the South End of Albany all the way to Voorheesville

An exhibition celebrates unfinished art

Early comics reading and A Number 1 By Any Other Name, both featuring moi

Busker lends a helping hand to people with cancer (Roger Green, not me)

Alicia Abdul: My favorite part of the trip– the Library of Congress!

Library Gothic

The fifty-year odyssey of a born-again baseball fan

High school was hard, and no one showed it better than My So-Called Life

How Lace Is Made

Finding Dory As Told By Emoji

When He Turned Out the Light, He Was in Bed Before the Room Was Dark

Star Trek suites

Fred Hellerman, Last Living Member of Folk Group the Weavers, Dead at 89 – Folk icon also produced Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’

Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies No. 5 in E minor and No. 6 in B minor

Cover of Michael Jackson’s Bad by Jordan’s Project (Big Band; Soloist – Artur Katz)

K-Chuck Radio: The Vanda and Young Songbook

Four chords, no waiting

An Oral History of “We Built This City,” the Worst Song of All Time; or at least a real contender.

Beatles appropriation and ‘Eight Days a Week’ — The Beatles’ story in Ron Howard’s documentary

Rolling Stone: 100 Greatest Rolling Stones Songs

All 314 Bruce Springsteen Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best

Beach Boys: Mike Love’s Endless Summer of Love

Playbill Asked Over 70 Actors to Name Their Favorite Show Tune of All Time

The Price is Right losing horn

Music throwback Saturday: Day After Day

You ever listen to something familiar and hear it anew?

More songs on the Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records, released in 2010.

“Launched by The Beatles in 1968, Apple served as the new outlet for their own recordings as well as the music of an eclectic roster of artists who were all personally brought to the label by The Beatles (individually and/or collectively).

“In the revolutionary spirit of the times, Apple’s utopian artist-orientated mission celebrated diversity in a friendly creative environment. The result was a rainbow spectrum of music, from folk, rock, and soul to The Modern Jazz Quartet and the work of contemporary British classical composer John Tavener.”

Come And Get It / Badfinger (1969, written and produced by Paul)
Created for The Magic Christian film starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, the first record issued by The Iveys under their new name. A worldwide hit (#7 US).

Ain’t That Cute / Doris Troy (1970, co-written, with Doris Troy, by George; produced by George)
Soul singer-songwriter had hits before coming to Apple in 1969, and she and George wrote this song from scratch in the studio.

My Sweet Lord / Billy Preston (1970, written by George; co-produced, with Billy Preston, by George)
George gave this to Billy before he had recorded it and released it himself. Billy’s version went only to #90 in the US. Of course, George’s version, which was #1 for four weeks in the US, appeared on his massive All Things Must Pass album.

Try Some Buy Some / Ronnie Spector (1971, written by George; co-produced, with Phil Spector, by George)
George later re-cut it himself for Living In The Material World, using the exact same backing as Ronnie’s single.

Govinda / Radha Krishna Temple (1970, produced by George, who also plays bass and accordion)
‘Govinda’ is a Sanskrit hymn to Krishna, and was a UK Top 30 hit. But if it were released in the US, it never charted.

We’re On Our Way / Chris Hodge (1972) – signed to Apple by Ringo Starr
#44 in the U.S.

Saturday Nite Special / The Sundown Playboys (1971)
A lover’s lament sung in Cajun French. The teenage accordionist sent in the song to Apple on a whim.

God Save Us / Bill Elliot & The Elastic Oz Band (1971, written by John, and Yoko Ono; produced by John, Yoko, Mal Evans, and Phil Spector)
This was a fundraiser for the defense in the famous Oz Obscenity Trial of 1971 Vocalist Bill Elliot later signed to George’s Dark Horse label. A version with John’s vocal shows up on John Lennon Anthology.

Sweet Music / Lon & Derrek Van Eaton(1972, produced by George; Ringo played drums)
One of the last acts to sign to Apple.

Day After Day / Badfinger or HERE (produced by George Harrison)
The band’s third single for Apple. George played a duet with the band’s Pete Ham on the slide guitar solo. It went UK Top 10 in 1972, and peaked at No. 4 Billboard in the US, in the same week that Nilsson’s cover of Badfinger’s ‘Without You’ was at No. 1.
You ever listen to something familiar and hear it anew? I played this album recently, and this final song I realized was absolutely gorgeous.

Music throwback Saturday: Those Were The Days

Back in 2010, the year it came out, I purchased Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records. The CD was “the first commercially issued multi-artist compilation in the label’s history.” It didn’t cost the nearly $40 it’s now going for presently on Amazon, though you can get the MP3 for $9.50.

It’s a fun 21-track compilation of singles from 1968 to 1972, though not truly the “best of Apple.” For one thing, there are no Beatles songs, nor any of their solo material. Still, the Fab Four are well represented, often as songwriters and/or producers.

Those Were The Days / Mary Hopkin (1968, produced by Paul), or HERE. The debut 45 by Mary Hopkin was a huge hit, UK No. 1 for six weeks, #2 for 3 weeks in the US. I remember I purchased this 45 because, subsequently, I realized that I had THREE songs called Those Were the Days in my record collection, by Hopkin, Cream (the B-side of White Room), and the theme to the television show All in the Family.

Carolina In My Mind / James Taylor (1968, Paul on bass; George on backing vocals), from this eponymous debut album, a US single which hit #115 in 1969, then #67 in its 1970 re-release. This sounds quite different to me than his re-recording for Warner Brothers, which I have on his first greatest hits album.

Maybe Tomorrow / The Iveys (1968)
Brought to Apple by then-Beatles roadie Mal Evans. #67 in the US, but a hit in Holland; the band soon changed its name to Badfinger.

Thingumybob / The Black Dyke Mills Band (1968, credited to Lennon/McCartney, written and produced by Paul)
Paul’s theme tune for a 1968 British TV comedy-drama series.

King Of Fuh / Brute Force (1969)
This single by New York songwriter was championed by John and George, but “the Fuh king” was therefore banned back in 1969, as one would expect.

Sour Milk Sea / Jackie Lomax (1968, written and produced by George; Paul and Ringo provide rhythm )
Eric Clapton plays lead guitar. I have the LP with this song.

Goodbye / Mary Hopkin (1969, credited to Lennon/McCartney, written and produced by Paul)
Paul on thigh-slapping percussion. On some CD, I have Paul’s demo

That’s The Way God Planned It / Billy Preston (1969, produced by George, also guitar)
Reaching No. 11 in the UK, but only #62 in the US. Keith Richards on bass, Ginger Baker on drums, and Eric Clapton on lead guitar. I remember first hearing the album – this is the title song – in the room of my friend Steve in Poughkeepsie in 1971. I went home and bought it on vinyl, where it got well worn. When I purchased The Best of Apple, I also bought the That’s The Way God Planned It CD.

New Day / Jackie Lomax (1969)
An original non-album Lomax single co-produced with Mal Evans.

Golden Slumbers-Carry That Weight / Trash (1969, written by Lennon-McCartney)
Two songs from The Beatles’ Abbey Road, recorded by this Scottish group

Give Peace A Chance / Hot Chocolate Band (1969, written by John; originally credited to Lennon/McCartney, but since changed)
This completely re-worded British reggae version of John Lennon’s peace anthem

More in the near future.

Music Throwback Saturday: songs from Help!

There were both musical and lyric similarities between ‘Yesterday’ and a Nat King Cole song.

Here is my continuing look at how the Beatles were influenced by other musicians, including themselves. This is based on Steve Turner’s “The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Write,” subtitled “the stories behind every song.” Fairly often, the members of the group are quoted as having been inspired by a piece for their own creations. So I thought I’d put some of their songs up against the source material, with links to all, though some are live or otherwise non-standard versions.

Yes, It Is, the B-side to the single Ticket to Ride:

John claimed it was nothing more than an attempt to rewrite ‘This Boy‘ as it had the same chords, harmonies and “double-Dutch words.”

I’m Down, the B-side to the single Help:

An unashamed attempt by Paul to write a Little Richard song with which to replace ‘Long Tall Sally‘ in the Beatles’ set

Paul found it was not so easy.

Yesterday: The story that Paul woke up from a dream, worried that the tune had been unconsciously plagiarized is well known. He asked people for a month whether they were familiar with it.

In July 2003 the Liverpool writer Spencer Leigh made the discovery that there were both musical and lyric similarities between ‘Yesterday’ and the Nat King Cole song ‘Answer Me‘ (1953). The Cole song even has the lines “yesterday I believed that love was here to stay/Won’t you tell me that I’ve gone astray?’ The response from Paul’s office when the news broke was that the two songs were as alike as ‘Get Back’ and ‘God Save the Queen’.

This sounds, at worst, like subconscious plagiarism.