tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70975642202910386032024-03-13T04:52:01.917+00:00...Dinosaur Album GuidesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-30063090597856645712013-10-18T20:36:00.000+01:002013-10-18T20:36:54.050+01:00The Ground Will Shake - Miss Serene<br />
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<img alt="Inline images 1" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=62b95a5c39&view=att&th=141c11cff60c453d&attid=0.1&disp=emb&realattid=ii_141bc47398c4939b&zw&atsh=1" /></div>
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Dublin band fuses 1950's R&B and Rock n Roll roots with a modern Pop/Punk edge.<br />
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Founded earlier this year, THE GROUND WILL SHAKE hail from Dublin, Ireland. They are: Gavin Healy - bass; Paul O'Connor - vocals/guitar; Joe Rodgers - drums and Adam Smith - guitar/vocals.<br />
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Spotted accidentally, (he turned up expecting to see someone else) by Radiators from Space guitar player Pete Holidai, he offered his services to produce a record. This early show was a mix of 1950's covers and original material. "It was hard to know which songs were old and which were new..well I knew but you know what I mean" (Holidai) The name came about when during their first gig an irate barman asked them to turn down, he could feel the vibrations through the floor from behind the bar. "The Ground Will Shake" was Gavin's cheeky reply, and the name was born.<br />
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The music and style of the 1940's and 1950's has made a lasting impression on The Ground Will Shake. They write songs that fuse roots, rhythm and blues, rock and jazz, with the sensibilities of contemporary music, to create a sound and style, which pays homage to these foundations but shakes them, creating a new feel, niche and vision. <br />
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The Ground Will Shake have already played live on RTE's Arena and are tuning their set for key supports which will be announced on their website - <a href="http://thegroundwillshake.com/">thegroundwillshake.com</a> and Facebook page. The bands debut single 'Miss Serene' is released on Cooler Records on November 1st 2013. Their self-titled album will be released in Spring 2014.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGT8y8HDEPA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGT8y8HDEPA</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-78492741662006315552013-01-09T10:13:00.004+00:002013-01-12T11:33:29.167+00:00Please Please Me Turns 50<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Article first published as <a href="http://blogcritics.org/music/article/please-please-me-turns-50/">'Please Please Me' Turns 50</a> on Blogcritics.</div>
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Upon first hearing an acetate of 'Love Me Do', John Lennon's aunt Mimi supposedly informed her nephew: "If you think you're going to make your fortune with that, you've got another thing coming". However, upon hearing an acetate of 'Please Please Me' some time later Mimi told Lennon: "That's more like it, that should do well".<br />
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"Mimi", replied her nephew, "that is going to be number one". (Coleman, Ray, Lennon: The Definitive Biography, p.129)<br />
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If the acetate in question was the official recording from November 26, 1962 (an earlier recording existed) then Lennon's optimism was certainly swelled by EMI producer George Martin's instant prediction upon completing the session that The Beatles had just recorded their first number one. Assuming Lennon and Martin actually made these bold predictions, both men were proven correct. 'Please Please Me' reached number one in the U.K. in March 1963.<br />
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The single's success launched The Beatles' career in the U.K. and afforded them a foothold to launch a staggering and unprecedented assault on the U.K. singles and albums chart, both of which they dominated throughout the rest of 1963. That their success would be assured with this particular song - or with a Lennon-McCartney original composition at all - was not a certainty at the close of 1962.<br />
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Having released the Lennon-McCartney-penned 'Love Me Do' as the group's debut instead of - and against his natural instinct - the Mitch Murray-composed track 'How Do You Do It', Martin was reasonably impressed with the results. However, following up this debut release with something that might chart higher than number 17 was now the challenge, and the EMI producer was still unsure if the band had the material to do it.<br />
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Martin was still of a mind to issue their recording of Murray's song as their follow-up single and so - aware of this - the group convened at EMI studios in November 1962 and taped one of the most urgently energetic and electrifying slices of pop ever committed to tape up to that point, at least on that side of the Atlantic.<br />
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Throughout the decades which followed The Beatles' explosive career and their sordid demise, the legend of the single which broke the band has always been rather simple: 1. John Lennon wrote the song as a slow, bluesy homage to Roy Orbison. 2. Martin heard it and advised they speed it up and add some harmonies. 3. They did so and became stars.<br />
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This is probably a very simplified version of events. The session records show that Martin was not present when the song first appeared early that September, probably in its slow form. When he next heard it, the song had almost evolved into the structured version we know today; this version was unearthed in 1994 in preparation for The Beatles Anthology.<br />
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Regardless of when he heard it first, Martin's advice on restructuring the song was taken on board. The result was impressive.<br />
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Lennon recalled the group's excitement with the finished track: "In the following weeks, we went over and over it again and again. We changed the tempo a little bit, we altered the words slightly and we went over the idea of featuring harmonica, just like we did on 'Love Me Do'. By the time the session came round, we were so happy with the result, we couldn't get it recorded fast enough" (Badman, Keith, The Beatles: Off The Record, p.46).<br />
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Paul McCartney also gave credit to Martin's vision on production: "George Martin's contribution on 'Please Please Me' was quite a big one, actually. It was the first time that he actually ever showed that he could see beyond what we were offering him" (The Beatles: Off The Record, p.47).<br />
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As 'Love Me Do' was probably influenced by 'Bye Bye Love', the harmonies on 'Please Please Me' are also borrowed from Don and Phil Everly. The clever application of harmonica to George Harrison's scaled guitar riff provided continuity with the group's debut release which helped to establish an early signature sound.<br />
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The vocals bristled with a believable desperation which broadened the depth of the song, not to mention the theme which is overtly sexual and serves to dispel the myth that the group's early lyrics were shallow and trite. In fact, the animated, rushed climb of the chords from G through A to B (matched by Ringo Starr's energetic fills after the first line) serves to underline a climactic, sexually frustrated desperation. Lennon screams of his attempts to have himself 'pleased' in the manner he feels he deserves.<br />
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Similarly, Lennon's four desperate "C'mon" calls are delivered with a gruff sincerity. Each is answered by Harrison and McCartney, playing the role of the chorus in a Greek play and providing the representation of peer pressure. Lennon also managed to throw in a nod to his idol Buddy Holly in the line referring to "rain in my heart", cleverly lifted from Holly's 'Raining in My Heart' (1959).<br />
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For all of its energy and urgency however, what really broke ground in contemporary pop music was the song's audacious ending. It concluded with an aptly climactic triplet of repetitive pleading, with the last "you" held and then bent in falsetto. Meanwhile the guitars rise and fall through an unorthodox chord sequence of E-G-C-B-E which is interspersed and emphasized by a fill of four, five-stroke rolls on the snare drum.<br />
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Martin switched on the talk-back mic from the control room of studio two and remarked: " You've just made your first Number One". (Lewisohn, Mark, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, p.24) He wasn't wrong.<br />
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'Love Me Do'/'P.S. I Love You' ensured The Beatles' debut release was comprised exclusively of McCartney compositions. In January 1963, 'Please Please Me'/'Ask Me Why' established their second release as completely John Lennon. Throughout 1963/64 while The Beatles blazed their trail globally, the majority of their single releases were joint Lennon-McCartney ventures. <br />
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Released during one of the most vicious winters in British history, 'Please Please Me' preceded a post-war socio-cultural thaw in Britain in a similar fashion to how 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' would impact on U.S. culture almost 12 months later. <br />
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On reflection, Lennon was aggressively territorial regarding the credit for 'Please Please Me', including when it came to crediting Martin's influence. No doubt he sensed the importance of the song's role in The Beatles' career. In 1971 Lennon dispatched a terse postcard to Martin declaring: "I wrote 'Please Please Me' ¬alone. It was recorded in the exact sequence in which I wrote it, remember?" (The John Lennon Letters, 2012) Again, in 1980 he told author David Sheff "'Please Please Me' is my song completely" (Sheff, David, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, p.168)<br />
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Who wouldn't be proud of writing a slice of pop which was instrumental in the transition of rock and roll into rock?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-45077026233670798272012-10-04T08:39:00.001+01:002012-10-05T09:00:18.494+01:00Still Fresh And Original At 50! Happy Birthday, 'Love Me Do'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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October 5, 2012 will herald the golden anniversary of the release of ‘Love Me Do’, The Beatles' debut 7" single for EMI in 1962.</div>
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This milestone will kick off a series of 50th anniversary celebrations of Beatles events and releases from Friday, October 5, 2012 right through to April 2020. Most of these events are sure to receive widespread media coverage as The Beatles prove to be just as relevant to today’s generation as they were to the 1960s generation. But exactly what was so different about this 7" circumference of black vinyl released to very little fanfare in October 1962?</div>
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There was something utterly original in its performance and in its reflection of its influences. Half a century after its release, the recording still sounds remarkably fresh. Investigating the events that led to the single’s release reveals a fascinating insight into the fledgling relationship between EMI and The Beatles camp, demonstrating each side’s ability to adapt quickly to new departures, while remaining true to their respective principles.</div>
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Despite moderate success – particularly with comedy acts such as The Goons – EMI producer George Martin was looking for something different to offer his modest Parlophone label in 1962. Decca Records had famously turned The Beatles down earlier that year, crucially however, the group's manager Brian Epstein had retained possession of the audition tape funded by Decca. Having been shown the door by most major UK labels, Epstein was referred to George Martin during a chance meeting which changed the fortunes of all parties involved.</div>
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Martin recognised the X factor which Decca Records had been deaf to, even if he didn’t yet realise what it was. What piqued the producer’s interest was the rough sound of beat music, an emerging – as yet unrecorded – style of music which emphasized heavy back beat drumming and loud instrumentation infused with live energy. A prototype of late 1970s punk music, beat music would be pivotal in the evolution of rock and roll into rock, and would carry an army of British Beat groups across the Atlantic during the mid-1960s.</div>
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Yet, The Beatles' debut single was far from representative of their beat music stage performances. More country-blues than R&B or rock and roll, how ‘Love Me Do’ became their first 7” release is an interesting tale of self belief and a small leap of faith.</div>
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McCartney claims the song was written with Lennon in 1958 while ditching school. Indeed the song's influences would seem to back up his claim. The song's style, structure, close harmonising, key of G Major and even its three word title is strikingly similar to the Everly Brothers’ 1957 hit ‘Bye Bye Love’. The Everly Brothers were a huge influence on The Beatles, demonstrated by Harrison controversially recording a rewrite of ‘Bye Bye Love’ in 1974 and Lennon going as far as to admit that in the group's early days: 'We were just writing songs a la Everly Brothers....' (Sheff, David, All We Are Saying p. 152)</div>
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However, ‘Love Me Do’ is strangely absent from surviving records of the group's stage sets from Liverpool and Hamburg. Furthermore, as a Lennon-McCartney original, it was not presented to Decca Records during the fateful audition of January 1962. Most likely the group sat on the song for four years and reintroduced it at an EMI recording session in mid-1962 to demonstrate their songwriting capabilities.</div>
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During an interview in 1988 McCartney claimed '’Love Me Do’ was us trying to do the blues.' (Lewisohn, Mark, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions p. 7) Indeed the song may have been inspired by ‘Hey! Baby’, an enormous hit for American singer Bruce Channel during the spring of 1962. The Beatles supported Channel in June 1962 and Lennon was rumoured to have discussed his harmonica playing with Delbert McClinton, who was touring with Channel.</div>
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‘Love Me Do’ was originally presented to EMI during the Beatles’ debut recording session at Abbey Road on June 6, 1962, a session which featured Pete Best on drums. However, the same session exposed Pete Best’s drumming flaws which EMI felt were substandard for commercial recording purposes.</div>
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A second attempt at recording ‘Love Me Do’ took place at Abbey Road on September 4, 1962, this time with new drummer Ringo Starr replacing the sacked Best. This was only the group's second appearance at Abbey Road and amazingly, they were involved in a tense standoff with the producer who held the key to their professional career in his hands.</div>
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Martin had presented the Beatles with a song by Tin Pan Alley writer Mitch Murray which he felt was a certain hit. He instructed the group to learn ‘How Do You Do It’ in advance of the September 4 session, much to the group's disdain. The issue allegedly led to a row between Lennon and Epstein, although the latter won out and the group prepared the song as requested. However, when they recorded the song for EMI, their perfunctory performance left George Martin in little doubt as to their feelings for material they felt was tame.</div>
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Lennon allegedly informed Martin: 'We want to record our own material, not some soft bit of fluff written by someone else.' (Emerick, Geoff, Here, There and Everywhere, My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles, p. 45) Martin apparently countered with a bruising retort, informing them that when they could write songs as good as this [‘How Do You Do It’] he would record them. In the end, Martin reluctantly allowed them another crack at recording ‘Love Me Do’.</div>
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Starr’s drumming was an obvious improvement over Best’s from June 6, although the rhythm track took at least 15 takes to complete. The recording was a huge improvement on the first version, with the vocals vastly improved. Lennon’s harmonica playing took a huge leap in confidence, possibly since meeting McClinton on June 21.</div>
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George Martin overrode his gut instinct for Murray’s song and decided to take a chance on the McCartney-Lennon original. However, it appears he was still not entirely happy with the version he had on tape and clearly felt it was worth one more attempt at recording the song. Perhaps owing to Starr’s unease at nailing the rhythm track during the September 4 session, Martin hired a professional drummer for the third and final attempt one week later on September 11, 1962.</div>
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When the group arrived at EMI studios that morning, they were surprised to find another drummer present. Starr was stunned, later claiming that he felt EMI were ‘pulling a Pete Best’ on him. Banished to the control room like a naughty school boy, he must have felt his Beatles career was over before it ever got started. He later quipped: 'I saw a drum kit that wasn’t mine, and a drummer that, most definitely, wasn’t me!' (Badman, Keith, The Beatles Off The Record, p. 43)</div>
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There was no strike action over Starr’s treatment however, no protests of ‘we don’t play if Ringo doesn’t play.’ The others simply got down to business with Lennon and McCartney running over the arrangements of two songs with drummer Andy White while Starr watched from his perch in the control room. They completed the track in 18 takes, curiously three more than the previous week when Starr had played drums. However, the difference between White’s performance on the 11th and Starr’s on the 4th was ultimately the difference between a nervous club drummer and a seasoned professional.</div>
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Experience is everything when it comes to recording studios and White had it in spades. He was clearly comfortable in these surroundings and this is obvious in the performance. The drums were laid down with a solid beat delivered evenly and cleanly while Starr’s sole contribution was a tambourine rhythm throughout.</div>
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Aside from the new vitality provided by Andy White’s steady rhythm, the vocal harmonies from Lennon and McCartney were attacked with even more country-blues gusto than before. McCartney’s solo spots were more competent and comfortable, while Lennon’s harmonica dripped with bluesy despair.</div>
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The session of September 11 ultimately served to confirm George Martin’s hunch about the Beatles’ appeal. It may have taken three attempts, but the producer was now confident that he had an unorthodox record which was fresh, yet contemporarily analogous with transatlantic sounds.</div>
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The Beatles had stood their ground and remained true to their principals. They were not prepared to compromise their style or sound for the sake of commercial success. They had won their first battle with George Martin, but most importantly Martin had demonstrated the qualities that would make him – and The Beatles – so successful throughout the decade to follow. He proved he was willing to listen, to arrange, to advise and he proved he was willing to go out on a limb.</div>
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In a final twist however, the version which was released on 7” single was the September 4 version featuring Starr, while the Please Please Me LP and later single releases contained the September 11 version featuring White. No explanation has ever been given for the two separate releases, although an error, or a possible gesture from Martin to Starr cannot be ruled out.</div>
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To the untrained ear, tambourine is the easiest way to differentiate between the two released versions of ‘Love Me Do’. The presence of the tambourine indicates White on drums, while the absence of tambourine indicates Starr.</div>
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Early in October 1962, Brian Epstein supposedly took possession of 10,000 copies of ‘Love Me Do’ and set about employing every contact he had in the record industry to push the release as far as it would go. Rumours persisted that he used his position as a record store owner to buy the single into the charts. However, this is something that the Beatles always denied. If he had bought the record into the charts he wouldn’t have been the first to do it, and he certainly wasn’t the last.</div>
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As the world nervously watched the perilous standoff between the U.S. and Soviet Union over the Cuban Missile Crisis and Britain slipped into one of the bitterest winters in living memory, ‘Love Me Do’ began to climb the charts. Distinctive and different, the song stood out it in stark contrast to the cautiously tame mainstream British chart material of the time.</div>
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Although the record peaked at number 17, the experience galvanised the band and injected in them a new confidence in their abilities as songwriters and recording artists. The limited national exposure gave them a vital toehold upon which to launch their follow-up single. This new confidence acted as a catalyst, boosting Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting development which – based on a healthy rivalry – was breathtaking in its escalation once set in motion.</div>
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Not everyone was appreciative of the group's first release however, perhaps John Lennon included. Brian Griffiths, guitarist with fellow Liverpool group Howie Casey and the Seniors recalled visiting NEMS record store in Liverpool to hear The Beatles' debut single with John Lennon in 1962. Griffiths – who was used to the group's heavy rock and roll act – recalled how he thought it was 'bloody awful' and told Lennon as much. 'I said, what is that crap? It’s a country and western song', to which Lennon replied, 'Isn’t it? But they picked it, not me.' (Uncut, March 2012)</div>
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George Martin’s brave decision to allow the Beatles to issue a self-penned debut single would ultimately prove to be revolutionary. If the Beatles could write and release their own songs, why couldn’t everyone else? Fifty years ago this Friday, October 5, the music business as well as the aspirations and goals of musicians all over the world – throughout the 1960s and beyond – were altered forever.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-9424692222214912222012-08-10T11:15:00.002+01:002012-08-10T11:15:25.230+01:00The Beatles' Many Drummers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"Is Ringo Starr the best drummer in the world?" John Lennon was once asked this by a journalist. "He's not even the best drummer in The Beatles" was Lennon's predictably quick and witty response.</div>
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On the serious side of course, Starr was undoubtedly the backbone of the biggest band in rock history, with his heavy hitting style and sublime subtlety blending together to perfectly enhance the group's dynamic. A less talented drummer may have failed to rally the group during important early sessions, while a more technically gifted drummer may have swamped their emerging style and sound. Finding Starr was never easy however and the group were plagued as a wandering collection of guitarists with no permanent drummer during their early days. "The rhythm is in the guitars" Lennon would allegedly quip when asked about their lack of a drummer.</div>
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Even after they found Starr, he was replaced on Beatles recordings by a further four individuals on five occasions and once on a major tour.</div>
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On the approaching half-century anniversary of Ringo Starr replacing Pete Best as The Beatles' drummer on August 18, 1962, we look at the various individuals who have occupied the drum stool during The Beatles' (and its earlier formative line-ups) career.</div>
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<b>Colin Hanton</b></div>
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The original drummer with Lennon's group The Quarry Men, Hanton must hold the distinction of being the first drummer to back John, Paul and George on stage and in the recording studio.</div>
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Two years older than Lennon, Hanton had already left school and was serving an apprenticeship when he joined the group. His main asset was that he was in possession of a brand new drum kit. His tenure as the group's drummer witnessed the departure of several floating Quarry Men members and the arrival of the future Beatles core of Paul McCartney and George Harrison alongside the already present John Lennon. Hanton was playing with the group the day McCartney saw them perform at Woolton Village fete and he also played drums on the group's first studio recording featuring Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day" and the very first original Beatles recording; "In Spite of All the Danger".</div>
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In a sign of things to come, the arrival of McCartney was not exactly met with joy by all group members, particularly Hanton, whose drumming skills were allegedly called into question by the group's latest arrival on guitar. Hanton quit the group after a drunken performance in early 1959, apparently never seeing John, Paul or George again. In 1997, he joined the reformed Quarry Men. The inclusion of "In Spite of All the Danger" on <i>Anthology 1</i> in 1995 guaranteed that Hanton was eventually featured playing drums on a Beatles album.</div>
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With Hanton's departure in January 1959, The Quarry Men/Johnny and the Moondogs entered the most inactive period of their musical career, playing only a handful of gigs between then and May 1960. However, after acquiring bassist Stuart Sutcliffe early in 1960, the group was ready to shed their skiffle skin and get serious as a rock and roll band by May of 1960. Hamburg: T-minus three months.</div>
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<b>Tommy Moore</b></div>
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Tommy Moore was recruited into The Silver Beetles by their booking agent/manager Alan Williams in May 1960. All reports indicate that Moore was a solid and capable drummer who owned his own kit and who suitably impressed Paul McCartney with his abilities to reproduce the tricky drumming on the Everly Brothers' hit, "Cathy's Clown". Moore's age at the time has been questioned with some sources claiming he was 28 and others 36. Nevertheless, Moore was significantly older than the rest of the group.</div>
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A nervous and slight man, he was an easy target for John Lennon who seemed to delight in making his life a misery with his cruel tongue. Moore had joined the group just before their infamous and pivotal audition for London promoter Larry Parnes. Parnes was seeking a backing group for one of his major artistes; Billy Fury, and The Silver Beetles had squeezed into the audition.</div>
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Legend has always maintained that Parnes was put off by Stuart Sutcliffe's non-existent bass guitar skills. However, Parnes himself later claimed that it was the flustered and unprofessional late arrival of drummer Tommy Moore halfway through the group's set which put him off. Moore had been dashing to collect his kit from another venue and while he was en route, Johnny Hutchinson of Cass and the Casanovas was instructed by Alan Williams to sit behind the drums. Parnes booked the group to tour Scotland with another of his artistes: Johnny Gentle.</div>
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That tour was a disaster from start to finish with Moore losing teeth and suffering a concussion in an automobile accident while remaining under the unrelenting lash of John Lennon's acerbic verbal abuse. On his return to Liverpool, Moore had had enough and quit the group by failing to show up for a gig. When they arrived to inquire about his absence, his girlfriend allegedly leaned out of a window to instruct them to p*ss-off, before informing them that Moore had been taken back at his old job as a night-shift forklift driver in a bottle factory. Moore, it seems, had decided not to quit his day (or night) job.</div>
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Interviewed on camera by the BBC at a Mersey Beat reunion in 1971, Moore by then cut a slightly worse-for-wear looking figure who admitted he was struggling and regretted his decision to quit the group. Within 10 years he would be dead. Like his brief rhythm section bandmate Sutcliffe before him, Moore succumbed to a brain hemorrhage (in 1981), less than a year after the death of John Lennon.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0GcsfZQXDH2UxntAc7iRJACCONANEP-WyJ7xOQBVaDr0FlTBLb_lsDjPtNWwWTvryNFfA-qChXFHG64BeODsRFyKEoc0EGdmbdxBZ9ZtQ7nsGHWAXWNbZ_zYgojulrTzEzw3iotdsU3RY/s1600/hutch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0GcsfZQXDH2UxntAc7iRJACCONANEP-WyJ7xOQBVaDr0FlTBLb_lsDjPtNWwWTvryNFfA-qChXFHG64BeODsRFyKEoc0EGdmbdxBZ9ZtQ7nsGHWAXWNbZ_zYgojulrTzEzw3iotdsU3RY/s400/hutch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Johnny Hutchinson</b></div>
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Also known as Johnny Hutch, Hutchinson was the drummer with Cass and the Casanovas when he stood in for Tommy Moore at the Larry Parnes audition. No fan of The Silver Beetles, Hutchinson - who cut an imposing figure and who allegedly terrified even John Lennon - was known to have remarked that they [Silver Beetles] "weren't worth a carrot" and were a "bunch of posers". Hutchinson also plugged the two-day gap between Pete Best's dismissal on August 16 and Ringo Starr's agreed arrival on August 18, 1962.</div>
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<b>Cliff Roberts</b></div>
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Mersey Beat magazine editor and founder Bill Harry recalled how during a performance at Liverpool's Lathom Hall in May 1960, the group's (Silver Beetles) drummer - probably Tommy Moore - had failed to bring his kit. Upon arrival he asked the drummer of a rival band for the use of his drums. However, Cliff Roberts - of Cliff Roberts and The Rockers - refused to allow Moore to sit behind his brand new Olympic kit. He at least did offer to sit in with the group, playing six songs with them. So we have one more fleeting addition to the long line of Beatles stick men. (Roberts is obscured in the above picture).</div>
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<b>Norman Chapman</b></div>
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Following the departure of regular drummer Tommy Moore, the group were sitting in the Jacaranda one night they heard the sounds of a practicing drummer drifting across the summer night air. Tracking down the source of the racket, they discovered Norman Chapman; a picture-framer and part-time drummer. No sooner was Chapman invited to join the group - playing three gigs - when the British Army made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Chapman was conscripted for National Service in June of 1960 and thus missed his chance with rock's hottest ticket.</div>
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Towards the end of the summer of 1960, The Silver Beetles were offered a contract to play a stint in Hamburg, an unbelievable turn of fortune. But, the job spec required them to have a permanent drummer. Cue Pete Best.</div>
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<b>Pete Best</b></div>
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Pete Best's story is well documented. The Beatles' drummer from August 1960 until August 1962, he was unceremoniously dismissed from the group by Brian Epstein who informed him that the others simply wanted him out.</div>
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To this day, debate still continues as to whether he was dumped because of his dire performance at the group's EMI artist test in June 1962 or because the moody and quiet loner simply never fitted in. Lennon later admitted that they were cowards to fire him in the manner they did, but the fact remained that Best was cut from a different cloth than Lennon, McCartney & Harrison. He was apparently never particularly close to any member of the group and when George Martin - the EMI producer who held the keys to their professional careers - flagged Best's drumming as sub-standard, his days were numbered. Best's sacking was unpopular with the group's fans, many of whom viewed Best as the 'looker' in the band, and some scuffles among fans in the Cavern resulted in George Harrison obtaining a black eye.</div>
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Although Best formed another group after his dismissal from The Beatles, he was soon left behind. He attempted to commit suicide during the height of Beatlemania and by the time his former bandmates were recording the White Album, Best was loading bread onto delivery trucks. Following a successful career as a civil servant, Best finally came out of retirement as a musician in 1988 and has pursued a successful career as a musician and Beatles celebrity ever since. Best's version of "Love Me Do" and the German Polydor recordings were eventually released on 1995's <i>Anthology 1</i>, giving Best a windfall of royalties while finally placing him on a Beatles album.</div>
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<b>Ringo Starr</b></div>
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Ringo Starr stepped in as the Beatles drummer on August 18, 1962, however his initial tenure was not a particularly happy one.</div>
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Turning up at EMI Studios on September 4 for a second attempt at recording a debut single (the previous session on June 6 had featured Best), Starr found himself partaking in a slightly shaky version of "Love Me Do" which failed to please producers George Martin and Ron Richards. When they returned for a third and final time a week later, Starr was sandbagged by Richards, who had hired trusty session musician Andy White to replace him. Starr feared EMI was pulling a Pete Best on him, although curiously despite the version recorded with White on drums resulting in a tighter and more accomplished version, it was Starr's recording which was originally released on the group's debut disc in 1962.</div>
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Starr's incandescent performance on the "Please Please Me" single in November 1962 secured his status and EMI felt no further need for session drummers thereafter. Soon growing into the role, Starr's steady timing in particular helped to facilitate much of the editing that went into the band's early releases. As they grew more adventurous, Starr became critically important as the conducer who facilitated translating the songwriters' increasingly left-field desires onto tape. In particular, his unorthodox style of leading drum fills with his left hand instead of his right - he was actually left-handed playing right-handed - resulted in Starr's contributions to various Beatles songs becoming as sublime and important as the vocals, melody and various instrumental parts. The most notable songs include "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "A Day in the Life".</div>
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Additionally, Starr was instrumental - no pun intended - in introducing the drummer as an equal and integral part of the emerging format of the rock group. His influence outside of the Beatles was also massive with Phil Collins (Genesis), Dave Grohl (Nirvana) and Max Weinberg (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band) among many others citing him as a major influence.</div>
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Often flippantly referred to as the luckiest man in music, you might argue that while he undoubtedly received the ultimate winning lottery ticket, The Beatles and rock music itself were equally lucky to land him. No Ringo. No Beatles.</div>
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He may have been small, he may not have been handsome, and he may have been the convenient figure of fun in Beatles movies and press conferences, but underestimate his importance and role at your peril. Starr was a giant in his field and was also an equal partner and contributor to the unrepeatable phenomenon that was The Beatles.</div>
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<b>Andy White</b></div>
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Glaswegian drummer Andy White was booked to drum on the third attempt to record "Love Me Do" in September 1962. He played on both the A-side and the single's flip-side, "P.S. I Love You". He appeared uncredited on The Beatles' debut LP, <i>Please Please Me</i>.</div>
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<b>Jimmy Nicol</b></div>
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Struck down with Tonsillitis on the eve of The Beatles' European and Australasian tour in June 1964, Ringo Starr was ruled out of travelling with the group. Faced with the enormous headache of cancelling sections of such a huge tour, Epstein made the somewhat unpopular decision of calling in a replacement. George Martin suggested a session drummer he was familiar with: Jimmy Nicol. Nicol was familiar with the group's recordings and so just over 24 hours after he was called in for an audition he found himself on stage in Denmark before thousands of screaming Beatles fans.</div>
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From obscure nobody to celebrated Beatle, Nicol was automatically returned to obscurity after 10 days following Starr's return to the group. Although he earned a substantial amount of money and supported Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame theory, Nicol's sudden propulsion into the international limelight and his subsequent hard-breaking return to normality left him with adjustment problems. He later remarked that "standing in for Ringo was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Until then I was quite happy earning thirty or forty pounds a week. After the headlines died, I began dying too." (Mojo Special Limited Edition, 2002).</div>
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If Nicol had been altered by 10 days exposure to the incomprehensible madness of Beatlemania, what did eight years exposure do to the other four?</div>
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<b>Paul McCartney</b></div>
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Never shy to bump Harrison out of the way for a lead guitar solo, McCartney had initially served sporadic terms as the group's drummer during their Quarry Men days and again at various periods in Hamburg and Liverpool, particularly during Pete Best's absence or solo singing spots. When Ringo Starr quit the group and walked out of the recording sessions for the <i>White Album </i>(ironically over an argument with McCartney about his drum part) McCartney took over. He taped a particularly credible - if slightly wooden - perfromance on "Back in the USSR", "Dear Prudence" and later on "The Ballad of John and Yoko".</div>
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<b>John Lennon and George Harrison</b></div>
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During the same session for "Back in the USSR" in which Starr walked out, Harrison and Lennon also overdubbed drum tracks to augment McCartney's. Allegedly on the stereo mix McCartney's drum track can be heard in the left speaker, with Harrison's and Lennon's blended on the right. Incredibly, "Back in the USSR" is unique in that it features all three Beatles minus Starr on drums, with his colleagues taking over his part after his playing fell under criticism.</div>
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This was no easy band to be in, for sure!</div>
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Article first published as <a href="http://blogcritics.org/music/article/the-passing-of-victor-spinetti-beatles/">The Passing of Victor Spinetti, Beatles Actor and Friend</a> on Blogcritics. </div>
<br />Another sad passing was marked the other day in the ever diminishing ranks of The Beatles camp; Welsh actor, director, poet and comedian Victor Spinetti died following a short illness with prostate cancer.<br />Spinetti was internationally immortalized and will be forever remembered by Beatles fans for his roles in three of the five movies the group were connected with. After working with The Beatles during the making of <i>A Hard Day's Night</i>, Spinetti became close friends of the group and worked with them collectively and independently.<div>
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Born in the Welsh town of Cwm in 1933, Spinetti's grandfather was an Italian immigrant to Wales, a fact which was evident in his full name: Victorio Giorgio Andrea Spinetti. Educated in Cardiff at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Spinetti began a lifelong career in theatre, but was catapulted to international fame for his role as the slightly eccentric and humourless TV director in Alun Owen and Dick Lesters' hugely successful and ground breaking rockumentary; <i>A Hard Days Night </i>(1964).<br /><br />The movie that perfectly captured Beatlemania and the dawn of a global youth revolution was always going to feature the heroes of the piece, The Beatles versus the establishment. Spinetti, who was 31 in 1964 represents the older, established order who view The Beatles and their success as a crazy flash-in-the-pan which will soon die out and return the hordes of screaming girls to normality. The Beatles naturally represent the awakening youth of Britain (and the globe). Anti-establishment in their outlook, the four young men clash repeatedly with establishment figures throughout the film – including police, managers, agents, businessmen, groundskeepers and even bartenders – but it is Spinetti's fantastically morose, bored and marginalised TV director who provides most of the humour.<br /><br />Paul: "There he goes [Spinetti]. Look at him. Bet his wife doesn't know about her [his secretary]."<br />John: "If he's got one. Look at his sweater."<br />Paul: "You never know. She might have knitted it."<br />John: "She knitted him."</div>
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After attempting to promote his profile in the U.S. with the international release of the movie, George Harrison apparently informed Spinetti that he would have to star in all their movies: "You've got to be in all our films. If you're not in them me mum won't come and see them – because she fancies you" (<a href="http://www.nme.com/news/miscellaneous/64402">NME</a>). In 1965, Spinetti did indeed return, this time as a mad scientist trying to rule the world in the Beatles' second movie, the rather farcical and pointless <i>Help!</i>, before he appeared a final time with the Fab Four in 1967 in their less than fabulous made-for-TV offering, <i>Magical Mystery Tour</i>. The film was savaged by critics and adjudged to be The Beatles' first commercial and artistic flop. <br /><br />Spinetti remained close friends with the group however, and in 1968 he directed a theatrical performance of John Lennon's <i>In His Own Write</i>.<br /><br />From the late '60s on, Spinetti enjoyed a successful career as an actor and director in many and various roles for TV, Film and theatre. However, for Beatles fans, he will always be remembered as the frustrated TV director or the bungling scientist who is constantly goaded and thwarted by the four mop-tops.<br /><br />Interestingly, Spinetti's younger brother Henry, is a session drummer who has recorded with both George Harrison and Paul McCartney.<br /><br />Victor Spinetti was 82 when he died on June 18, McCartney's 70th birthday.<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-8613907472718653502012-06-18T14:59:00.001+01:002012-06-18T15:04:52.127+01:00Sure while we're at it, here's 10 of your best fab moments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Blackbird (1968)</div>
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All My Loving (1963)</div>
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Mother Nature's Son (1968)</div>
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Here, There, And Everywhere (1966)</div>
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Oh Darling! (1969)</div>
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Lovely Rita (1967)</div>
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She's Leaving Home (1967)</div>
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She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (1969)
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Hey Jude (1968)
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Golden Slumbers...and the rest (1969)</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-18340653895400869742012-06-18T14:16:00.000+01:002012-06-18T14:36:05.252+01:00Happy Birthday, Macca! Here's your top ten greatest post fab moments<div style="text-align: center;">
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Jet (1973)
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No More Lonely Nights (1984)</div>
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My Brave Face (1993)</div>
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Let Me Roll It (1973)
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Another Day (1971)
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Calico Skies (1997)
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Band On The Run (1973)
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Junk (1970)
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Maybe I'm Amazed (1970)
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Every Night (1970)
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-17715189802413758492012-04-05T10:37:00.000+01:002012-04-05T10:37:00.539+01:00A Portrait Of The Bassist: An Examination of Stuart Sutcliffes Legacy With The Beatles 50 Years After His Death<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
Article first published as <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://blogcritics.org/music/article/a-portrait-of-the-bassist-an/%22%3Ehttp://blogcritics.org/music/article/a-portrait-of-the-bassist-an/%3C/a%3E">A Portrait Of The Bassist: An Examination of Stuart Sutcliffe’s Legacy With The Beatles 50 Years After His Death, Part 1</a> on Blogcritics.<div>
<br /><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Otis Redding, Buddy
Holly, James Dean, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Amy
Winehouse, John Bonham, Robert Johnson, Hank Williams, Keith Moon, Kurt Cobain,
even Sam Cooke - Just many of the musical legends who died young and became
instant cultural icons. We have a perverted fascination with those who create a
special body of work, then pop their clogs before they get a chance to tarnish
their reputation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Many died as a
result of depression and/or substance abuse, others simply as a result of being
in the wrong place at the wrong time. Stuart Sutcliffe, the original bassist
with The Beatles, joined this tragic and iconic club in April 1962.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sutcliffe’s iconic
status was assured almost instantly after his death from a cerebral haemorrhage
on April 10<sup>th</sup> 1962. His legend is perpetuated not only by his
membership of the most famous group in the history of popular music,
particularly during their most uninhibited and formative period, but also by
his own independent talent and good looks.
His close friendship with one half of the 20th century’s most celebrated
composers, as well as his battles with the other half, have guaranteed that his
name is forever inextricably linked to those
of Lennon-McCartney and The Beatles. Indeed Sutcliffe receives credit for
conceiving the group’s name. In addition, the details of his tragic love affair
with a beautiful German fiancée who helped to shape the groups early image, and
his premature death at the age of 22 make for a fascinating story that writes
itself perfectly for a film script...and it has. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">No fewer than three
movies have documented Sutcliffe’s life, most famously the 1994 film <i>BackBeat</i>. However, as early as 1979, the
film <i>Birth Of The Beatles</i> placed more
emphasis on Sutcliffe’s character than that of McCartney or Harrison. In addition
to these movies, Sutcliffe has been the subject of some four documentaries and at
least five books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite this
however, his contribution to The Beatles has often been conveniently played down.
Sutcliffe was the musically-bereft, James Dean wannabe who was relieved of £65,
and selfishly press-ganged into Lennon’s group to provide a back-beat on an
instrument he couldn’t play anyway, right? Well, perhaps on the 50<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of his tragic death, this young man’s legacy deserves a second
look. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stuart Victor
Ferguson Sutcliffe was born June 22<sup>nd</sup> 1940 in Edinburgh, Scotland to
middle class parents. His father, like John Lennon’s, spent the greater part of
the war away at sea. The small, effeminate and sensitive Sutcliffe left Grammar
school, and with a burgeoning talent for drawing and painting was enrolled at
the Liverpool College of Art in 1956 at 16...two years earlier than the average
age of enrolment. Moving in Liverpool 8 art school circles, he was introduced to
John Lennon sometime in 1957/58 by fellow student Bill Harry, who later founded
the paper- <i>Merseybeat</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">On the surface
Lennon and Sutcliffe appeared to be polar opposites. Lennon was already highly
skilled at hiding his emotions behind a firewall of aggressive and abusive
cruelty towards anyone on his radar. This behaviour moved up a gear at Art
College as a defence mechanism to deflect from the fact that he believed
himself to be a phony who was in over his head and surrounded by real talent.
When it came to applying himself to his studies he was lazy, bored and easily
distracted...the worst pupil in his class. Sutcliffe on the other hand was
gifted with a natural talent for drawing, painting and even sculpture. He was a
determined, studious, and meticulous artist who possessed an intensity and
dedication which alarmed his tutors. Well aware of the young man’s artistic
promise, his tutors allowed him to work from his flat although they asked him
to slow down and take life easier even then. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sutcliffe was the
most promising student at the college. Cynthia Powell, John Lennon’s future
wife and art school student remembers Sutcliffe’s nature as being opposite to
Lennon’s completely. “Stuart was a
sensitive artist and he was not a rebel, as John was. He wasn’t rowdy or rough”.
(Mojo, 10 Years That Shook The World p.26) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite their
differences however, they possessed a mutual admiration for each other, and for
rock n roll. Unlike his jazz influenced art school contemporaries Sutcliffe was
influenced by Elvis, which intrigued Lennon, and it was rock n roll's imagery
that drew him to Lennon’s group. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lennon was intimidated
by Sutcliffe's talent and particularly by his image. Sutcliffe however also
admired Lennon's cartoons, particularly their honest and satirical subject
matter. <span style="color: #0070c0;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sutcliffe’s praise
of his work had the effect of making Lennon feel he actually belonged at the
art college. He also fulfilled Lennon's desire to be taken seriously by a
serious artist whom he looked up to. Sutcliffe flattered Lennon and fulfilled
an early role as a muse, a role later occupied by Yoko Ono. Indeed Sutcliffe
introduced Lennon to <i>Dadaism</i>, a
movement Lennon would later embrace wholeheartedly during his peace campaigns
with Ono. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Arthur
Ballard, a former tutor at the Art College commented that "without Stu
Sutcliffe, John Lennon wouldn't have known Dada from a donkey" (Philip
Norman, Lennon – The Life p.136)<b><span style="color: #0070c0;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBMPNadeWbmTcZAyCoOqr8c_1vnMLdR7OHqU0Jb1DN5rYh6-uK514Ij0MfjaYHmuhPnlt1ZNvo36sneb4oBbzZUN1UH6n85kpxlFohHKepFJh49lom469DhOZvpAijD30A5mIw0oQYfahN/s1600/Stu+and+John+at+Top+Ten.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBMPNadeWbmTcZAyCoOqr8c_1vnMLdR7OHqU0Jb1DN5rYh6-uK514Ij0MfjaYHmuhPnlt1ZNvo36sneb4oBbzZUN1UH6n85kpxlFohHKepFJh49lom469DhOZvpAijD30A5mIw0oQYfahN/s400/Stu+and+John+at+Top+Ten.jpg" width="323" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Late in 1959, Lennon’s
group sought to broaden their prospects for bookings with the addition of a
drummer and/or bass player. Lennon allegedly tendered either role to Sutcliffe
and fellow flatmate and art student Rod Murray, who set about building a bass
made from college materials. He was beaten to the role however by Sutcliffe who
purchased a bass guitar sometime in early 1960 with £65 he made from the recent
sale of a painting which had hung at exhibition in the prestigious Walker Art
Gallery. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The general myth
has always held that Sutcliffe was led astray by Lennon and the others, and
duped into spending his money on the band. Quite the contrary however, it seems
that Sutcliffe was a willing and enthusiastic addition to the group. Bill Harry
claimed that the image of being in a rock n roll band appealed to Sutcliffe
more than the music itself, (Norman, Philip, Lennon, The Life p.168) and it
became an extension of his own moody image. Lennon certainly approved,
dismissing Sutcliffe’s early struggles with his new oversized instrument by setting
his priorities straight and declaring; "never mind, he looks good" (Norman,
Philip, Lennon, The Life p.237). George Harrison recalled that it was better to
have a bass player who couldn’t play, than not have one at all (Anthology).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Not everyone
approved though. Paul McCartney smarted at his demotion in the ranks as a
result of Lennon and Sutcliffe’s friendship and he admitted years later that 'the
others' were jealous of the relationship, feeling they were forced to take a
back seat (Anthology). In fairness, his dislike of the situation was also due
to his frustrations with Sutcliffe’s musical ability. Even at this early stage,
the idealistic differences between Lennon, whose ethos was ‘let’s play’, and
McCartney who leaned towards ‘let’s play it right’, were plain to see. Yet, it
was the subtle marriage of these contrasting ideologies which would make their
partnership so devastating throughout the decade. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So enthusiastic was
Sutcliffe for his new life as a rock n roller, that he began writing to booking
agents on behalf of the band, and signed himself as – <i>manager</i>. Does that sound like the actions of a talented artist with
a bright future, who was cajoled into parting with his money and joining a
musical group with little prospects?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sutcliffe’s next
contribution to the group was to prove to be his most enduring. Still uncertain
of their artistic moniker, (The Quarrymen had Become Johnny and The Moondog’s),
Sutcliffe suggested The Beetles in homage to Buddy Holly’s Cricket’s. This name
evolved several times through Beetles, The Beatals, The Silver Beetles, The
Beetles and finally, The Beatles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In May 1960, the
group famously auditioned to become a backing band for Billy Fury, but instead
ended being assigned a drummer and embarking upon a budget tour of Scotland
with Liverpool singer, Johnny Gentle. The tour was an eye-opener and a disaster
for many reasons. For Sutcliffe however it revealed that the life of a musician
was not necessarily glamorous, and that his friendship with Lennon was far from
perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Unable to compete with Sutcliffe's artistic
abilities at college, Lennon seemed to enjoy becoming his friend’s artistic
superior once he strapped on a bass and stepped on-stage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lennon admitted
that he was particularly cruel to Sutcliffe during the tour, refusing to allow
him to eat or even sit with the others. He belittled his friend’s height and
zoned in on his struggles with the Höfner bass he wore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By the time the
group acquired permanent drummer Pete Best in August 1960, Sutcliffe found
himself bound for Hamburg to play rock n roll in the sleaziest of Europe’s red
light districts. He had horrified his family and tutor’s by abandoning his
teacher training diploma and turned his back on his art completely. However he
was held in such high regard by the Liverpool College of Art that they agreed
to keep his place open for his return, if and when he saw fit. For the others,
no such friendly offers lay open...Hamburg was make or break. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Soon after his
arrival on the Grosse Freiheit Sutcliffe had met, fallen in love with and
become engaged to a beautiful German existentialist by the name of Astrid
Kircherr. Unlike the typical female fan, Kircherr was not only beautiful and
stylish, but confident, cultured and a talented photographer</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">.<span style="color: #0070c0;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2SSndy-6whMedw1Gc70rI_Oddz4PLBTvUcJQnurSnitsCdxhUAWqIzBNBeOV4o8o1bJIQpqlu0GevCWPu2wWwNY83C_tJ6C-zhpND3UBiv2TLNo7NMBJ76dpRkUKNp2tQGhgkxxOghhT3/s1600/Beatles-at-the-Top-Ten-Club-the-beatles-12611157-728-700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2SSndy-6whMedw1Gc70rI_Oddz4PLBTvUcJQnurSnitsCdxhUAWqIzBNBeOV4o8o1bJIQpqlu0GevCWPu2wWwNY83C_tJ6C-zhpND3UBiv2TLNo7NMBJ76dpRkUKNp2tQGhgkxxOghhT3/s400/Beatles-at-the-Top-Ten-Club-the-beatles-12611157-728-700.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">The group were far
from irritated by Sutcliffe’s new found love, in fact they encouraged it.
Kircherr’s family acted somewhat like the Asher’s later did for Paul McCartney.
Mrs. Kircherr, appalled by the group’s living conditions in St Pauli, allowed
Stuart to lodge in the loft while often tending to the rest of the group;
washing their clothes and providing hot meals. Astrid’s affections and
admiration for Sutcliffe’s talent woke him from his rock n roll coma and ignited
his interest in art again. She and her friends also appealed to the
existentialist in him, and it wasn’t long before he was dressing just like his
new German friend’s. In another vital building block to the group’s image and
direction, Sutcliffe became influenced by Hamburg’s existentialists clothing
and hairstyles, and through him, so too did The Beatles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kircherr also took
some iconic shots of the group, and her style was copied verbatim for the cover
of their second LP; <i>With The Beatles</i>,
which was considered an artistic watershed in terms of album covers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Following the deportation
of Harrison, McCartney and Best in late 1960, Lennon also headed for home
leaving Sutcliffe behind with his fiancée. He had by now lost interest in his
rock n roll career and intended on taking up his studies again. Back in
Liverpool the Beatles career began to take off following their first
apprenticeship in Hamburg, and for a time they adapted a new bass player; Chas
Newby, who later left of his own accord. In December of 1960, Harrison also apparently
asked John Gustafson, bassist with The Big Three to join The Beatles...Gustafson
declined, understandably a decision he lived to regret. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When Sutcliffe
returned to Liverpool in February 1961 he headed straight for the Art College,
committed to picking up where he left off. To his dismay he found the door firmly
shut to him, regardless of his golden promise. The reason for his banishing was
later discerned to be his suspected role in the misappropriation of a student’s
union amplifier; a Selmer Truvoice amp which was almost certainly ‘borrowed’ by
The Silver Beetles. Disgusted and desponded, Sutcliffe returned to Hamburg in
March 1961 to be with his fiancée and to test the possibilities of studying
there. On application to the HFBK, or Hamburg College of Art, Sutcliffe made
such an impression on Scottish-Italian artist and tutor Eduardo Paolozzi that
he was immediately enrolled and given a generous grant. Sutcliffe soon picked
up where he had left off in Liverpool by painting in the loft of the Kircherr
house in Hamburg and, here his and the Beatles paths began to diverge. He still
occasionally played and sang with the group during their second Hamburg
residency, but McCartney had by now largely taken over on bass. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By October 1961
Sutcliffe was suffering from blinding headaches and dark mood swings, often
coupled with aggressive bouts of unprovoked jealousy towards his fiancée. He
was eventually persuaded to see a doctor who diagnosed nothing but a
troublesome appendix and advised Sutcliffe to slow down, rest and quit
cigarettes and alcohol.<span style="color: #0070c0;"> <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQhH7Txy7qJBkZ6_8vP5CtimErf337nmy1rauKUzSGtImFtTpOHAMhWk2xNHqr4kEjTy1jJ3uXvdIFSMNX6ZropoBq_uswtK8j_he6cbQhR7vdUGx1IqUJM9dookaNfakXLLeL8tJLbk0/s1600/johnstusm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQhH7Txy7qJBkZ6_8vP5CtimErf337nmy1rauKUzSGtImFtTpOHAMhWk2xNHqr4kEjTy1jJ3uXvdIFSMNX6ZropoBq_uswtK8j_he6cbQhR7vdUGx1IqUJM9dookaNfakXLLeL8tJLbk0/s400/johnstusm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Early in 1962 his
health declined further and he began suffering seizures. He was eventually
diagnosed as suffering from increased cranial pressure and this was temporarily
relieved by a treatment of cranial hydrotherapy. Sutcliffe and Kircherr visited
Liverpool in February 1962, where friends noted his alarming weight loss and
more than usual pale complexion. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">During this visit
he met Brian Epstein, the new Beatles manager, and discussed a future role as
an artistic director and designer for the band. Predictably, Epstein was drawn
to Sutcliffe's looks and later wrote to him in Hamburg that he “[...] didn't
know anyone as lovely as you existed in Liverpool". (Norman, Lennon - The Life
p.262)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Upon his return to
Hamburg, Sutcliffe’s seizures and mood swings escalated. He wrote home that “[his]
head was compressed, and filled with such unbelievable pain". (Norman,
Lennon - The Life p.262) On April 10th 1962 he suffered an hour long seizure at
his home and fell into a coma. Despite being rushed to hospital by ambulance
Sutcliffe died during the journey, rested in his fiancées arms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The next day, unaware
of his death, the Beatles minus George Harrison, flew out to Hamburg from
Manchester to begin yet another engagement. They were greeted by a distraught
Kircherr in the arrivals hall, and her news sent Lennon into aggressive
hysterics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lennon was later
criticised by the Sutcliffe family however for his lack of emotion over his friend’s
death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The show of emotion
in Hamburg airport had evaporated - or been carefully withdrawn - by the time
his friend's mother arrived (on the same flight as Harrison and Epstein) the
following day. Lennon in his defence was 21 years old, hardly a matured man,
and those young years had already seen their fair share of trauma. Already aware
that his father and mother had abandoned him, death had been a frequent caller
to his door what with losing his surrogate father (Uncle George) at 15, his
mother at 17, and now his best friend at 21. It's little wonder that he
developed an aggressive defence mechanism for bottling and hiding his emotions.
There are enough clues throughout his life however to suggest that he was
always haunted by the death of his best friend and perhaps his frequent cruel
treatment of him in public. Kircherr felt his behaviour towards Sutcliffe was
another of his defence mechanisms; “I’m thinking when he treated him badly, it
was because he was afraid anyone might see how much he loved him” (Norman,
Lennon – The Life, p.214).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sutcliffe may have
been the subject of the confessional, self-healing and melancholy Beatles song
'There's A Place', composed the same year as Sutcliffe's death. He was also
certainly one of the central subjects in Lennon's 1965 autobiographical 'In My
Life', and his friend also ensured that Sutcliffe finally made it onto a
Beatles album; standing among the greats of the 20th century on the cover of
the group's magnum opus - <i>Sgt. Pepper’s
Lonely Hearts Club Band</i>.<span style="color: #0070c0;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yoko Ono has also maintained that Lennon
spoke of Sutcliffe every day throughout his life, so much so that she felt she
had known him herself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Controversy has
surrounded Sutcliffe in death just as it has his deceased best friend. His
death was deemed the result of a cerebral haemorrhage, but post mortem results
pointed to a previous skull trauma, possibly the result of a blow...or a kick. Beatles
myths often have a tendency to grow into monsters and Sutcliffe’s death is no
exception. Not surprisingly, views on how Sutcliffe may have been injured
differ enormously. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The famous story is
that Sutcliffe was ambushed and violently kicked in the head by a group of
youths following a gig at Lathom Hall. This is the story put forth by Philip
Norman, author of <i>Shout!</i>, and <i>Lennon – The Life</i>. Norman states the
incident occurred in early 1961, probably Feb 25<sup>th</sup>. He also states
that Sutcliffe’s mother found him that night, bleeding heavily from a head
wound. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, Bill
Harry, Pete Best and Neil Aspinall maintained that the incident had occurred on
May 14<sup>th</sup> 1960, and that it involved a few punches and nothing at all
as sinister as a kick to the head. Best recalled; “When people talk of Stu
being beaten up, I think it stems from this incident. But I don’t remember Stu
getting to the stage where he had his head kicked in, as some legends say,
alleging that this caused his fatal brain haemorrhage” (Mersey Beat Archives)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2V_aEgd0GTnwcb6XRak-duF0FM5drFdcdhDBuh1VSnsg7q10Fzn0NLjuaQQBdJr7QfF7ybECTmmzQDu7FEjdjCidHQZFwR9VSFwKh6RdrhDevQRq33Eys-tywLkjm9sI-F5w4sF-4Mp8/s1600/Beatles-at-the-Top-Ten-Club-the-beatles-12611156-695-700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2V_aEgd0GTnwcb6XRak-duF0FM5drFdcdhDBuh1VSnsg7q10Fzn0NLjuaQQBdJr7QfF7ybECTmmzQDu7FEjdjCidHQZFwR9VSFwKh6RdrhDevQRq33Eys-tywLkjm9sI-F5w4sF-4Mp8/s400/Beatles-at-the-Top-Ten-Club-the-beatles-12611156-695-700.jpg" width="394" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The trouble is,
neither Pete Best nor Neil Aspinall worked with the group in May 1960. They
were both with The Beatles by February 1961 however, the time the incident
occurred according to Philip Norman, although their recollections seem to
refute the viciousness of Norman’s description of events. Time has muddied the
actual details it seems, but what probably occurred is that a minor fracas took
place in February 1961, which involved no serious head injuries. Incidentally
Sutcliffe only returned from Hamburg in late February 1961. So if he was with
the group at this performance, it must have been one of his first engagements
upon his return.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Sutcliffe family have thrown further fuel on the fire in the debate. In her book The Beatles' Shadow: Stuart Sutcliffe & His Lonely Hearts Club, Sutcliffe’s sister Pauline claims that on his final return to Liverpool her brother told his mother how John Lennon had attacked him in a drunken rage, knocking him to the ground and kicking him repeatedly in the head. The incident was supposedly </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">fueled</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> by his jealousy of Stu, and his ever increasing frustrations with his musical abilities. Paul McCartney was cited as the sole witness, and it was allegedly he who carried a bleeding Sutcliffe back to his digs. The incident was kept in the Sutcliffe family until 1984, thus denying Lennon a chance to comment on the allegation of any involvement in his friend’s death.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lennon was known to have a violent streak, sure, and he was a famously mean drinker. However the alleged attack is largely out of character with his documented relationship with Sutcliffe, and indeed the rest of his band mates. There are well known stories of John Lennon going on-stage wearing a toilet seat, urinating from balconies, mugging sailors, and walking the streets in his underwear. So, surely a story of him administering a vicious beating to his best friend in public would be supported by someone who was there.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Horst Fascher, the group’s unofficial bodyguard in Hamburg and a man for whom violence was a working tool, claims he never heard of such an incident. Sutcliffe himself, a man who wrote letters home frequently, never wrote of the incident, and neither Harrison nor Best has ever mentioned it. Astrid Kircherr, his fiancée claims that Lennon never raised his hands to Sutcliffe, dismissing the allegation as “rubbish”. (The Lost Beatle, BBC 4 Documentary)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: justify;">McCartney, who
supposedly witnessed the incident, has no recollection of it, although he
admitted that John and Stuart </span><i style="text-align: justify;">could</i><span style="text-align: justify;">
have had a drunken fight</span><b style="text-align: justify;"> </b><span style="text-align: justify;">(Anthology).
As always, analysis of recollections should be subjected to a degree of
scepticism, owing to the sheer amount of time that has elapsed, not to mention
the tricky issue of disentangling personal agenda.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">McCartney has
always come-off as a villain in Sutcliffe's story. The one well documented on-stage
punch-up involving Sutcliffe was with McCartney, supposedly the result of an
unkind comment aimed at Astrid Kircherr. He made no bones of his opinion on
Sutcliffe’s, and even Best’s musical abilities, once shouting at them both during
a performance; “You may look like James Dean and you may look like Jeff
Chandler, but you’re both crap.” (Norman, Lennon – The Life, p.237)</span></div>
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdBJKSha3HUqpkK-sAaAcWaVDMSyVmlS37He49iobiPgRK5q8r8SpsSpV0PQu9nK1HETlcdYKiF-nP-USE2CIYcXbQ0iD6ZEa2cJz0EZM1ftMU8gwpbRH_-QaJPxQUkGw5jGv7Sv0eF1Q/s1600/Stu-s-red-portait-stuart-sutcliffe-26129894-870-1181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdBJKSha3HUqpkK-sAaAcWaVDMSyVmlS37He49iobiPgRK5q8r8SpsSpV0PQu9nK1HETlcdYKiF-nP-USE2CIYcXbQ0iD6ZEa2cJz0EZM1ftMU8gwpbRH_-QaJPxQUkGw5jGv7Sv0eF1Q/s400/Stu-s-red-portait-stuart-sutcliffe-26129894-870-1181.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">McCartney has
confessed that he was jealous of Sutcliffe, the older boy, and no doubt
Sutcliffe's image and artistic abilities intimidated the younger McCartney, as
they had done Lennon.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the Beatles
Anthology, McCartney admits that his relationship with Sutcliffe grew
particularly fraught, but Kircherr suggests it was more than that; "[...}
when Paul and Stu had a row, you could tell that Paul hated him". (Norman,
Shout!, p.90)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">McCartney has
always maintained that he never wanted the job as bass player, that he somehow
got lumped with the job by the refusal of the others to take up the role. Harrison
contradicted this, recalling that “He [McCartney] went for it [the bass role]”
(Anthology)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Regardless, it
seems that McCartney viewed Sutcliffe's departure as the best possible outcome
for his and the band's collective gain...he was probably correct in his
assessment. In any case, they did have
options. Upon Sutcliffe's official departure from the group, Klaus Voorman,
their Hamburg acquaintance who would design the cover of <i>Revolver</i> and play bass on numerous John Lennon solo albums, asked
Lennon if he could take up the role as The Beatles bassist. Lennon turned him
down telling him "sorry mate, Paul has already bought a bass [...]" (Mojo,
10 Years, p.35).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It seems the
allegations of Lennon’s attack (as well as the predictable and highly
irrelevant claims that Lennon and Sutcliffe had a homosexual relationship) are
little but hearsay. But, they do sell books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We will never know
the true cause of Sutcliffe’s haemorrhage, although no doubt the legend surrounding
it will continue and grow. Kircherr was convinced that Stuart had an underlying
condition that was lying in wait. That condition was possibly exacerbated by
Sutcliffe’s 24 hour lifestyle which has been documented by all those who knew
him, tutors, musicians, lovers and friends. He simply worked too hard, too
long, too intensely, smoked too much and ate and slept too little. In his last
letters home he confessed how doctors had labelled him a nervous wreck. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5F931yFxIBguGETC5B59Z3GoOF48Ij6w7J8Vb3KjlUvx8GJlatXU0B9L8DeCvh_geEbQUUNTGdGp2XDbFZWXUM2PK0D_cR59yxydZDDj4ICzcN-KDbl3Z6lm2MKK36EK7usmFvL5E7R1E/s1600/img304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5F931yFxIBguGETC5B59Z3GoOF48Ij6w7J8Vb3KjlUvx8GJlatXU0B9L8DeCvh_geEbQUUNTGdGp2XDbFZWXUM2PK0D_cR59yxydZDDj4ICzcN-KDbl3Z6lm2MKK36EK7usmFvL5E7R1E/s400/img304.jpg" width="326" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But what of Sutcliffe’s
musical legacy? Was he the terrible bassist some would have us believe? </span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Certainly, starting
out in early 1960 he was very limited and struggled his way through the
Scottish tour of May ’60. However it’s been well documented how the group went
to Hamburg a ‘banger’ (jalopy) and came home a Rolls Royce...the relentless
hours on stage turning them into a rock n roll powerhouse. If Lennon, Best,
Harrison & McCartney progressed as musicians, shouldn’t it also follow that
Sutcliffe did too? In 1960 Sutcliffe himself wrote home that the group had
improved a thousand fold since their arrival in Hamburg. (Lost Beatle, BBC 4)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The surviving tapes
that capture Sutcliffe on bass (Anthology 1) are too poor in quality to allow
any real appreciation of his ability. So, we need to examine the recollections
of those who were there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">McCartney’s opinion has been well documented,
but there were others and, contrary to the myth, many remember him as being highly
competent on the instrument.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Klaus Voorman
remembers Sutcliffe as being "[...] a heavy rock n roller. Rock n roll is
an art form, and Stuart had the feel and taste. They weren't playing anything
very complicated, and taken as a whole - feeling it and playing those few notes
- Stuart was a really, really, good bass player." (Mojo, 10 Years, p.35). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pete Best recalled
how Sutcliffe was a decent musician with a good reputation among his Hamburg contemporaries,
and Bill Harry (<i>Merseybeat</i> founder) recalls
that he was quite good. Furthermore, Sutcliffe sometimes played bass in a combo
with Howie Casey (of the Seniors) in the Kaiserkeller, and they seemed to have
no issue with his competency. (Uncut March 2012).</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sutcliffe and Best may
have failed to make the grade when it came to the Beatles EMI career, in fact
Best fell at the first hurdle. However in the case of both, it’s been
convenient to excuse their treatment by the group by highlighting their musical
ineptitudes...but personal dislikes can’t be ruled out of the equation either.
The group closed rank on Best once George Martin flagged him, Sutcliffe was a
different story however; he drifted out rather than having to be pushed. He had
bigger fish to fry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some have argued
that he wasn’t talented enough to be in The Beatles, but his artistic pedigree
meant that he was far too talented to be in The Beatles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">John Lennon always
claimed that the best work of The Beatles was never captured, referring to
their wild, pre-EMI days. If that’s true, then he’s referring to a period when
it was more important to <i>play</i>, than
what you played and who heard you. The rock n roll played during this period
was uncomplicated, and if Lennon’s opinion counted for anything, and it should –
it was his band after all – then the proto-punk stage material of 1960-1962
suited the talents of Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe more than adequately</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Judging by the
professional critique of his surviving work, Sutcliffe would have emerged as a
major talent in the art world. In fact, had he never met John Lennon, nor
joined The Beatles, Sutcliffe would possibly have become a renowned artist. The
same is difficult to say for The Beatles, without ever having met and become
subjected to the influence of Stuart Sutcliffe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">His association
with The Beatles would probably have catapulted him to the top of the artistic
movements of the ‘60s, as he lived a celebrity life with his beautiful German
wife which would have mirrored that of the Beckham’s. Under his direction many
of the group’s album covers may have looked very different. In fact, he may
even have played on a few of them. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-78313759755863583692012-03-01T11:28:00.001+00:002013-03-05T09:25:15.140+00:00From Him To Them: 50 Years Ago George Martin's Advice Cements The Beatles Fame<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZa18yaSlMc-A-oTNmZIpUmy9YNz83229Qcxg53kkw7vzuMxOVqbnjUxep7FyP-4R1DpM2LMq6qbf_5wPbwbSXbbyp0u1HghQrIob7iP0fdiQs5ifLGDtnQ5f5j0FiGT2WaVZ8qqIoVLb/s1600/From_Me_To_You_45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZa18yaSlMc-A-oTNmZIpUmy9YNz83229Qcxg53kkw7vzuMxOVqbnjUxep7FyP-4R1DpM2LMq6qbf_5wPbwbSXbbyp0u1HghQrIob7iP0fdiQs5ifLGDtnQ5f5j0FiGT2WaVZ8qqIoVLb/s400/From_Me_To_You_45.jpg" width="398" /></a></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoSubtleReference"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span class="MsoSubtleReference"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0084d1;">“On Tuesday 5<sup>th</sup> March we all got it absolutely spot-on in Studio Two […] the recording of ‘From Me To You’ was pure magic.”</span></b><a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 16.80000114440918px;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a><b><span lang="EN-US">...Norman Smith, </span></b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">EMI Engineer</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">'From Me To You', released on April 11th 1963 was - technically speaking - The Beatles first UK number one single. The second in a sequence of four devastating body-blows delivered to the British singles chart in 1963, the record raced up the charts upon its release knocking 'How Do You Do It' - a song the Beatles had rejected - off the top spot. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0070c0;">“The third single, <i>‘From Me To You’,</i> was really important, because that put the stamp on it. We'd had the first one, <i>‘Love me Do’</i>, which did well. Then they let us back in the studio and we did <i>‘Please Please Me’</i>, then we had the album, and then <i>‘From Me To You’</i>, the success of which assured us some fame”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0070c0; line-height: 16.80000114440918px;">[i]</span></span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-IE">...George Harrison</span></span></b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The single cemented the group's claim to the title as the Kings of British pop. Its fresh originality, bluesy feel, catchy melody and surprising chord changes became a backdrop to The Beatles blitzkrieg of Britain's media and the general population throughout the summer of 1963. Incredibly however - like 'Please Please Me' before it - but for the intervention of EMI producer George Martin, 'From Me To You' almost ended up a B-side.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Twenty-two days after recording the bulk of
their debut LP and eighteen days prior to its release the Beatles were back in
Abbey Road’s Studio Two to record the follow up to ‘Please Please Me’, the single which had given the group a number one on two out
of three national record charts only weeks previous.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IE">The night before the recording session on
March 5<sup>th</sup> the group had celebrated their very first performance for
the milestone sum of £100. That same performance in The Plaza Ballroom, St
Helens, was the 25<sup>th</sup> the group had given since the sessions for the <i>Please Please Me </i>LP concluded on
February 11<sup>th</sup>. </span><span lang="EN-IE">The group's nationwide popularity was
rocketing and their star was truly in its ascendancy. Evidence of their rapidly growing celebrity status was demonstrated when - </span>during one of the bitterest British winters on record - a February 19<sup>th</sup> engagement at The Cavern Club in Liverpool had drawn a queue of fans onto the street for two nights
prior to the show<a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></a>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IE">On February 28<sup>th </sup>Lennon and McCartney sat down on the back of the
tour bus travelling from York to Shrewsbury with the intention of writing new material in response to pressure from George Martin and Brian Epstein.
Upon arrival at Shrewsbury the new song was complete. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IE"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Textbody" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0084d1;"> </span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0084d1;">“[…] this
was our real start.”</span></b></span><b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">...Paul McCartney</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="Textbody" style="text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-IE">With their confidence as a song writing
partnership beginning to bloom in earnest Lennon and McCartney began
experimenting with new ideas to inject into their original compositions. ‘From Me To You’ - possibly the duo’s
first 50-50 collaboration - is notable
for introducing several new departures. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The lyrical inspiration for sending love ‘From Me To You' was apparently lifted from the mail-bag section of the music
publication <i>NME</i>, titled <i>From You To Us</i>,
a copy of which was present on the tour bus. This particular February 1963 copy
was the same issue which featured an Alan Smith article reporting on the
group’s success with the single ‘Please Please Me’.
Smith had been present at the <i>‘Please
Please Me’</i> LP recording session and was credited with the suggestion of the
inclusion of ‘Twist And Shout’. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-IE"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was in this same article that Paul
McCartney had made the rather bold statement that the group had almost 100
originals in the bag ready to be recorded and released. Whether this was true
or not Lennon and McCartney evidently felt the need to write new material,
perhaps feeling that their previous Quarrymen/Beatles originals fell below the
bar they had already set for themselves thus far. The title evolved a second time
to become </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘From Us To You’</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">; a lyrical variation of the original song which the group performed on four holiday-specials at the BBC during 1964. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITl6Jawhi3anSglGFiKYH5pUzf3qMQVqXqUhuhSvUGJjpdFsozaBwcTqcaONIzu0NgjFawXD8EqV0m9Xe02q6B3HSWuG7vwTK4o_v-jM_NYVpsFYvz60ah07B0u7MQT8BOEL-034Tm2Js/s1600/8b939_article-2042218-0B99309700000578-182_468x401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITl6Jawhi3anSglGFiKYH5pUzf3qMQVqXqUhuhSvUGJjpdFsozaBwcTqcaONIzu0NgjFawXD8EqV0m9Xe02q6B3HSWuG7vwTK4o_v-jM_NYVpsFYvz60ah07B0u7MQT8BOEL-034Tm2Js/s400/8b939_article-2042218-0B99309700000578-182_468x401.jpg" width="400" /></a><span lang="EN-IE">The Beatles entered E.M.I studios on Tuesday March
5<sup>th</sup> (the same day that country legend Patsy Cline died in a plane
crash) and participated in two sessions which lasted from 2:30-5:00pm and
7:00-10:00pm respectively. In addition to the new compositions of ‘From Me To You’ and ‘Thank You Little Girl’ (the working
title for <i>‘</i>Thank You Girl’) the group
also intended to record two older (mainly Lennon) compositions; ‘What Goes On’ and ‘The One After 909’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">As it transpired, time constraints only
allowed an attempt at taping ‘The One
After 909’ although this version was ultimately shelved and did not surface
again until <i>Anthology 1 </i>in 1995. Both
songs were later recorded for the albums <i>Rubber
Soul</i> (1965) and <i>Let It Be </i>(1970)
respectively...the Beatles rarely wasted songs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The instrumental setup for the recording
session was similar to the <i>Please Please
Me </i>LP session on February 11<sup>th</sup>. </span>Lennon played his Gibson J-160E acoustic-electric
plugged into his Vox AC-30 amplifier and McCartney his 1961 Höfner
500/1 mic’d through his Tannoy/Leak rig. Harrison played his Gibson J-160E
acoustic-electric, also plugged into a Vox AC-30, while Starr was still using
his Premier drums.</div>
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The
backline setup is confirmed by the presence of E.M.I staff photographer John
Dove who snapped several iconic shots of the day. These early black and whites
photographs are instantly recognisable with Lennon, Harrison and Starr wearing uniform
black waist coats over a shirt and tie.</div>
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In the final mix, the tones of an
acoustically recorded guitar can clearly be heard while aural evidence of a
second amplified six string is lacking. Dove’s photos clearly show Lennon and
Harrison’s Gibson’s plugged into their amplifiers and in the detailed book <i>Recording The Beatles</i>, Ryan & Keweh
state that Lennon’s Gibson was plugged into his AC-30 amp. (<i><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Recording
The Beatles</span></i><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">, p. 355)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">Yet, these details seem to conflict with the guitar sounds not only on ‘From
Me To You’, but also on the other surviving recordings from that session; ‘Thank You Girl’ and ‘One After 909’ (<i>Anthology 1</i>). Indeed, an out-take of ‘One After 909’ features an acoustic intro which is
probably Lennon, while the out-takes of ‘From
Me To You’ - most notably Take 6 - also feature a solitary acoustic strum prior
to the start. </span><span lang="EN-IE">The most likely explanation for the
conflicting visual and aural evidence is that his amp may have been off and the acoustic guitar in the mix is bleed from </span>Lennon’s strumming
into the vocal microphone. Either the main vocal mic or a nearby secondary Neumann which can be seen in the
pictures.</div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">It seems that as the session began Lennon
and McCartney favoured ‘Thank You Little
Girl’ as the next A-side with ‘From
Me To You’ penciled as its flip-side partner. However, George Martin suggested a
few changes to the latter and convinced the group of its commercial qualities
over the former. As with ‘Please
Please Me’ previously his intervention and advice bought the Beatles
another number one record. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnXKur1LlJR047n1H2VgJTRSoGZ8Owpjq1xIDlkEGgAdfKwsajJKJdFEKOdJasw225tVdm0zuKwcwVXt8vl_KweKUNmuNuGa_BPObAF7KZVOPF80A-nc9mMEAou046_h2sNuii-7Alc-I/s1600/frommetoyou.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnXKur1LlJR047n1H2VgJTRSoGZ8Owpjq1xIDlkEGgAdfKwsajJKJdFEKOdJasw225tVdm0zuKwcwVXt8vl_KweKUNmuNuGa_BPObAF7KZVOPF80A-nc9mMEAou046_h2sNuii-7Alc-I/s400/frommetoyou.jpg" width="392" /></a><span lang="EN-IE">Despite ‘From
Me To You’ being a rather straightforward pop song the reality of
composing songs on the road, and the difficulty of trying to record them during
a studio-dash before they had become familiar to the group was demonstrated
with the messy and complex recording of this particular track. The finished
version is constructed from four separate takes, edited together to form the final
master.
In all there were seven takes at capturing the song then a further six edit pieces featuring various harmonica and vocal overdubs. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The studio tapes reveal that between Takes 1-5 the structure of the song was different from the familiar released
version, being noticeably shorter and lacking the call and response middle eight which was suggested by </span><span lang="EN-IE">George Martin</span>.</div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">Martin showcased his keen senses as an
on-the-fly producer by suggesting this addition as well as a vocalised harmony and
harmonica part to match Harrison’s guitar riff on the intro. </span>The first order of business was to run through the track and find a satisfactory rhythm track; this was to be Take 7. Moving to edit pieces, twin-track to twin-track overdubbing was used to add
the additional parts required. Effectively, this meant
playing the recorded take from one machine directly onto another, while adding
an overdub at the same time.</div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">Lennon dubbed harmonica onto the intro, middle
eight and ending while McCartney and Harrison dubbed similar bass and guitar
riffs to back the harmonica in the middle eight. Take 12 - another edit piece - involved adding
the familiar vocalised intro with Lennon singing and thus in this particular
take, not playing harmonica. Several other vocalised improvisations were
attempted and eventually rejected before recording ceased. George Martin was
satisfied he had enough material on tape to edit the track together at another
session and so the group turned their attention to recording the flip-side. </span><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80X8Wu3MpeGPx54LMyqrWNC9YqdFDWSSllVccwlbY3Hcsvq9bin8m96eHHJEwBmQpKnURAga9u3Hj7hsZnd0hvP_uyOBKuTt-Kl0AaIN6l_YqNB3NNSTr_fvosPqSnx9cdMt6Khwsmqvi/s1600/abbey-road-studio-beatles-george-martin-1962-385x280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80X8Wu3MpeGPx54LMyqrWNC9YqdFDWSSllVccwlbY3Hcsvq9bin8m96eHHJEwBmQpKnURAga9u3Hj7hsZnd0hvP_uyOBKuTt-Kl0AaIN6l_YqNB3NNSTr_fvosPqSnx9cdMt6Khwsmqvi/s400/abbey-road-studio-beatles-george-martin-1962-385x280.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">With 13 takes and 6 edit pieces in the can Martin and engineer Norman Smith literally had their work cut out for them (pun intended) to edit
the song together using scissors, tape and twin-track tape copying. The track
they edited together on March 14<sup>th</sup> resembled somewhat of a
Frankenstein creation. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-IE">The final edit was made up of Take 12 (intro with the vocalised 'da-da-da-da-da-dun-dun-da'), and a combination of Takes 8, 9, 10 for the verses,
middle-eight and ending. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">It should be noted that the ability to construct tracks in such a manner was greatly facilitated by Starr's steady drumming over multiple takes. Even slight changes in tempo over various takes would have seriously hampered this type of track assembly. </span></div>
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During the post-production session Martin had one final
change of heart. He had previously
decided the intro would feature the vocalisation/guitar riff intro, omitting
the harmonica part which existed on a different take at any rate. However, during the editing process he liked the harmonica parts on the middle and coda
so much that he decided he also wanted them on the intro. Central to his thinking no doubt was that following the release of ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘Please Please Me’ the harmonica intro would form a consistency of sound for the groups fans.</div>
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This decision presented a major headache however as it
meant that the only way of joining the harmonica to the vocal/guitar riff (both
existed on separate takes remember) was a trial and error process called 'flying-in'. This involved syncing two tape machines containing separate parts, and
recording the content onto a third tape machine, hoping in the process that the
tapes would not go out of sync with each other.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[iv]</span></span></span></a> With
this complete the mono version released as a single in 1963 comprised all three
elements of vocals/harmonica/guitar playing the melody on the intro.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyTtRE-MGMjvAO6Rv6Lr_sSz9UD1IG_ylmSSmludFZegr02ozh-Eh68h-6AKfssYaK8IkaVjLFkv5u6EK7BVPGvfljpWnd9HB8EvJ79EhKVj4ZuiQ1oIco7qM_t79-1vPUWuMvJHx3R-y/s1600/johnlennonharmonica.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyTtRE-MGMjvAO6Rv6Lr_sSz9UD1IG_ylmSSmludFZegr02ozh-Eh68h-6AKfssYaK8IkaVjLFkv5u6EK7BVPGvfljpWnd9HB8EvJ79EhKVj4ZuiQ1oIco7qM_t79-1vPUWuMvJHx3R-y/s400/johnlennonharmonica.gif" width="392" /></a>One of the recordings unusual oddities is the existence of two versions, one with harmonica on the intro and one without. Actually, they are not different versions but rather different mixes. The stereo mix on general release has never featured a harmonica intro. According to Mark Lewisohn, the stereo version created on March 14th 1963 had been scrapped by the time a stereo release was considered for a greatest hits package in 1966. (<i>Complete Beatles Recording Sessions</i> p.86). </div>
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This version may have had the same Take 8 harmonica edit piece synced onto the intro, although at this late stage of post production and with stereo mixes a minor consideration in Martin's mind he may just have left it off the intro completely. We may never know.</div>
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When it came to create a stereo mix of the track in 1966 the harmonica intro was omitted, either as an oversight or for the same reasons stated above. </div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">Structurally speaking, what Lennon and McCartney recognised as
genuinely breaking ground on ‘From Me To
You’ was the impact of the shift to the bridge. Beginning on a Gm, the bridge effectively shifts key from C Major to F Major. This change of key - and throttling back on the overall performance - totally alters the mood of the song just as the lyric elaborates what the protagonist has to offer; <i>“</i>[...] <i>arms that long to hold you / and keep you satisfied”</i>. </span></div>
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Down the years McCartney has been understandably proud of the song and it's implications upon his songwriting partnership with Lennon:</div>
<br />
<b style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The thing I liked about <i>'From Me To You'</i> was it had a very
complete middle. It went to a surprising place. The opening chord of the middle
section of that song heralded a new batch for me. That was a pivotal song. Our
song writing lifted a little with that song. It was very much co-written."</span></span></b><b style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-IE"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…Paul McCartney</span></span></b><br />
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<b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The opening of the song pulls no punches;
the listener is launched straight into the harmonica (on the mono
version) / vocal hook which has the immediate effect of association with the the groups previous two singles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The transition between the intro and the
first verse is sublimely marked by a snappy backwards styled drum-fill of
triplets from Starr on the snare and tom-tom. Starr and
Lennon - on his Gibson J-160E acoustic - combine to provide the straight rhythm while McCartney and Harrison add a sense of syncopation. It’s difficult to
imagine the finished product maintaining the same appeal without Harrison’s
subtle, yet very effective jaunty rhythmic style and well placed licks. Harrison graces the song its dimensions.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-IE"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">‘From Me To You’<i> </i>is sung by both Lennon and McCartney almost in
unison which likely highlights the 50-50 collaboration of its creation. McCartney harmonises Lennon's main vocal on key phrases, </span>adding to the bluesy feel of the track while both betray a subtle American influence on the word ‘want’ which is bent for effect becoming “anything that you <i>wan’</i>”. </div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">However, apart from the individual performing elements and sounds which were by now creating a totally original sound this session was further evidence of the
dynamic relationship that was beginning to develop between group and its production
team. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">Writers, performers and production staff were fast becoming masters at packaging the
perfect pop single into two minutes of space on a vinyl single. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The fact that this song entered the studio unfinished, rough and destined as a B-side yet emerged as an enhanced, extended, well polished and totally successful A-side was testament to the fact that The Beatles success was the sum of many parts. This was not simply the result of the individual or combined genius of two songwriters. In 1970 Lennon was quick to dismiss George Martin's formative role in their success. However his brutal honesty or misguided notions - depending on your viewpoint - could never undermine the crucial role their E.M.I team played in translating their rough diamonds into polished gems, especially during their early career.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">In the same way
that a director will utilise cameras, props, editing and various other tools
to bring a script to life on the screen, the Beatles and E.M.I production staff were
becoming seriously adept at making the most of instrumentation and dynamics of
performance to bring the groups creations to life through the loudspeakers. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">This
is evident in several places on ‘From Me To You’; particularly the careful
placing of the songs catchy riff (intro/middle/ending), but most notably the
groups dynamics at the ending of each bridge. Here, all four members reinforce
the offer of unconditional love with an enthusiastic instrumental climax which
see’s McCartney building on the bass, Harrison providing off beat strumming and
Starr literally letting fly with an energetic flurry across the snare and toms.
All of this is matched by falsetto "oohs" resulting in a
climactic venting of sexual tension which gave the record an immediate and
relevant appeal to its target audience. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The careful - if sometimes formulaic and
contrived - usage of dynamics in this manner allowed the group to tap its audience with far greater effect than many of their
contemporaries who - often armed with similarly light lyrical content - failed to
evoke similar reactions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">On the ending the group used some familiar tricks. The final line of the song is repeated as with ‘Love Me Do’ and
‘Please Please Me’, and like the latter Starr brings proceedings to a close
with an energetic set of four drum fills on the off-beat. Perhaps most
interestingly of all however is that the song end’s not on the home key of C Major, but on a
rather reflective A minor. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">As a further example of how the group was learning
to use arrangements and dynamics to embellish their lyrical content, this bold
move has the effect of (surely unintentionally) creating a musical cliff-hanger;
the protagonist has declared his unconditional love but this last note seems to beg the question…will the object of his affections accept it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">Although lyrically speaking, 'From Me To You' was clearly a thematic shift from the pleading and
frustration of their previous two A-sides, ‘P.S. I Love You’, the flip side of ‘Love Me Do’, had explored similar ground with its own ‘letter’ idiom.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The more relaxed style of
‘From Me To You’ was overlooked in the wake of the group’s astonishing career
as a mere link in the chain between the energetic ‘Please Please Me’ and the
proto-punk thumping of ‘She Loves You’. Sandwiched in between these two rockers ‘From Me To You’<i> </i>often suffered the fate of
being seen as a tame ‘filler’. However over the last decade or two this bluesy
track with its complex arrangement and infectious melody has regained ground in
its consideration among Beatles critics.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title="">[2]</a></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""></a></span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The release of ‘From Me To You’ initiated a
critical mass with fans and the public alike which paved the way for the full blown explosion of Beatlemania several months later. ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘Please Please Me’
had merely offered a taste of what was to come, but this cleverly packaged two
minutes of pop with its bluesy appeal, catchy harmonica, arresting vocals, and
the immediacy of its falsetto climaxes created an instantaneous Beatles sound even before the ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’s’ of its 7" successor . <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-IE"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The Beatles were conquering Britain with their fresh and often outrageously original material, but they owed a debt of gratitude to Martin and his team of talented technical staff at Parlophone. </span>The group themselves were in no doubt as to
the role ‘From Me To You’<i> </i>played in
achieving their success; McCartney recalled that he realised the group had made it when he heard a milkman whistling the melody of the song outside his
bedroom window.<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[v]</span></span></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE"><br /></span></div>
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Incidentally, ‘From Me To You’/’Thank You Girl’ were the last Beatles songs released credited to <i>McCartney-Lennon</i>. From ‘She Loves You’ on, every
Beatles song published by Northern Songs (Harrison and Starr compositions
aside) were attributed to Lennon-McCartney.<br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: start;">
<span class="MsoSubtleReference"><span lang="EN-US">John Lennon: 1962 Gibson J-160E Acoustic-Electric Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: start;">
<span class="MsoSubtleReference"><span lang="EN-US">Paul McCartney: 1961 Höfner 500/1 Electric Bass Guitar, Vocals<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: start;">
<span class="MsoSubtleReference"><span lang="EN-US">George Harrison: 1962 Gibson J-160E Acoustic-Electric Guitar<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: start;">
<span class="MsoSubtleReference"><span lang="EN-US">Ringo Starr: Premier 54/58 Drums / Zyn Cymbals<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoSubtleReference"><span lang="EN-US">Norman Smith/Richard Langham: Engineer(s), (March 5th)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: start;">
<span class="MsoSubtleReference"><span lang="EN-US">George Martin: Producer<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoSubtleReference"><span lang="EN-US">Key: C Major</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">If you liked this article, you may enjoy the authors' <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Please-Beatles-Definitive-album-ebook/dp/B006LABAG6/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1323894393&sr=8-8">eBook</a> & <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/dinosaur-album-guides-01/id487666948?mt=8">iPad</a>/<a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=air.com.ziggiapps.dino&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImFpci5jb20uemlnZ2lhcHBzLmRpbm8iXQ..">Android</a> app; <i>Please Please Me - The Album Guide</i>, a complete deconstruction and analysis of The Beatles debut LP. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-IE">More details here </span><a href="http://www.dinosauralbumguides.com/">http://www.dinosauralbumguides.com/</a></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div>
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-IE"> </span><span lang="EN-US">Lewisohn,
Mark, <i> The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions</i>, ,
1988, p.100<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-IE"> Ian McDonald (<i>Revolution In
The Head</i>) declared <i>‘From Me To You’</i>
to be <i>“a brilliant consolidation of the
emerging Beatles sound”. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-IE"> </span>George Harrison,
Beatles Anthology <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-IE"> </span>Smith, Norman, <i>John Lennon Called Me Normal</i>, p.300<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-IE"> Kehew, Brian, Ryan, Kevin, <i>Recording
The Beatles</i>, Curvebender Publishing, 2006, p. 355</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[iii]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-IE"> <i>Club Sandwich </i>#41, p.6</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-IE"> Kehew, Brian, Ryan, Kevin, <i>Recording
The Beatles</i>, Curvebender Publishing, 2006, p. 363</span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn5">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Hal/Dropbox/OtherStuff/AlbumApp_Working%20Drafts/Singles/From%20Me%20To%20You.docx#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[v]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-IE"> <i>Club Sandwich </i>#41, p.6</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-14830501724705712332012-02-08T20:06:00.000+00:002013-02-11T10:04:06.961+00:00Please Please Me: The Beatles Debut Album At 50<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinjqAWKwAJGXI-drKBltuhgRrkdSsxa-YJLzsMa3JHzFD0A1tY8-FuU8wzKvDf9lYhPV4dDVbPIdXKhMToaVvcc4gqXYF67V7_4krDINRl2YKjKn_7eZbjFrGN_g0EbW1F5VRwBvPFGkbw/s1600/bppmumlp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinjqAWKwAJGXI-drKBltuhgRrkdSsxa-YJLzsMa3JHzFD0A1tY8-FuU8wzKvDf9lYhPV4dDVbPIdXKhMToaVvcc4gqXYF67V7_4krDINRl2YKjKn_7eZbjFrGN_g0EbW1F5VRwBvPFGkbw/s400/bppmumlp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What did you do today? If you spent 12 hours creating a body of work in your name which would launch your artistic career and, almost half a century later was still the discussion of critics and fans, then you are either a genius, extremely hardworking, fortunate, or a little of all three.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet, when they recorded the bulk of their debut album on Monday February 11th 1963, that is exactly what a hopeful, young band of rock 'n' roll musicians with rough edges and a head full of ambition did, at EMI's recording studios in London's St John's Wood.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With its lyrical themes of teen angst, insecurity, euphoric joy, love and depression, combined with the high octane rock ‘n’ roll of its loud guitars and trashy open high-hats, the release of <i>Please Please Me</i> in March 1963 was a seminal moment in the history of British rock music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its success at home paved the way for the Beatles’ relentless evolution throughout 1963, culminating in their international explosion in 1964. The album's release launched a career which would radically alter not only every facet of popular music, but also the very essence of the music and entertainment industries themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vnVFSDdePQa4OLWJtqZyI0W_WQBaHS-J4EzhPxURh8X8jh-XrEO5ZxXrX02avld7PoYPRNH7knq_BWs_QEtJJGiTbLsE1t2M0ulLFinOdsCBxqQjO35FwpC5l_zK7ImHqRGmBlJLJ2eh/s1600/6416581_1_l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vnVFSDdePQa4OLWJtqZyI0W_WQBaHS-J4EzhPxURh8X8jh-XrEO5ZxXrX02avld7PoYPRNH7knq_BWs_QEtJJGiTbLsE1t2M0ulLFinOdsCBxqQjO35FwpC5l_zK7ImHqRGmBlJLJ2eh/s400/6416581_1_l.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Please Please Me</i> retains an impressive innocence and optimism, captured on the very eve of the early '60s socio-cultural revolutionary explosions; a global experience to which The Beatles were inextricably linked. The collective optimism enshrined on <i>Please Please Me </i>contrasts significantly with the individual optimism contained on <i>Abbey Road</i>; emblazoned with themes of either escaping, or hiding from, the nightmare of personal and business issues facing the group, and the pursuit of a life beyond 'Beatles'.</span></div>
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Besides the lyrical themes, the two albums which bookend the groups recording career are polar opposites in so many ways, that not only do they sound like two different groups, but two different groups in different decades (which of course they almost are). <i>Abbey Road </i>retains almost nothing of the Beatles distinctive early and mid '60s sound, and the musicianship, style, mood, approach and technical production of Abbey Road are almost incomparable with its two-track, recorded-all-in-one-day, pre-historic ancestor.</div>
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This fact serves to drive home the reality that not only were the four musicians who entered EMI studios in 1962, and finally exited the building in 1969, unrecognizable from each other, physically, mentally, and even spiritually, but so also was the music industry which had sustained them throughout those years.</div>
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That industry had changed radically. The Beatles had blazed such a trail in seven short years, that where you could play, what you could play, and how you could record it had altered drastically. These changes were most significant from 1965-1967, when the group reached their artistic peak, but they had also been occurring, albeit more subtly, in their earlier albums.</div>
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<i>Please Please Me</i> marked the beginning of all of this.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEpE95f1R_0CbZLdioujLpEDFneRI5qy8m15roFcO8_kS7pUm0FNefykSPMU0QDC0noY602813_0eKXacaAXkX7wFXkzBdO41lUoW_kz4MsWUvkxOSJOPLzB_h4qgqkveovkwWA-gQ3mn/s1600/please-please-me_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEpE95f1R_0CbZLdioujLpEDFneRI5qy8m15roFcO8_kS7pUm0FNefykSPMU0QDC0noY602813_0eKXacaAXkX7wFXkzBdO41lUoW_kz4MsWUvkxOSJOPLzB_h4qgqkveovkwWA-gQ3mn/s400/please-please-me_03.jpg" width="400" /></a>At the outset of their rocky and shadowy EMI beginnings, there was no inevitable indication of the enormous domestic and international success which was to follow in 1963 and 1964 respectively. Yet in retrospect, it’s all too easy to view the Beatles’ recording carer from a rose-tinted, perspective of chronological inevitability; the result of the group’s ever evolving individual and collective ‘genius’ if you will. There’s little doubt that they possessed talent in abundance. Yet to attribute their fame to that talent alone robs us of the many random incidents, or cleverly orchestrated circumstances which helped to engender their early success.</div>
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Following the surprising success of the groups second 7" single; 'Please Please Me' throughout January and February of 1963, the Beatles were pulled from a national tour in order to capitalise quickly on the groups present popularity.</div>
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EMI Producer George Martin's original intention for a Beatles’ debut album had been to travel to The Cavern Club in Liverpool, and record the group’s live act straight to tape. Martin was keen to capture the raw so-called ‘Merseybeat’ sound spilling out of Liverpool’s clubs, and at the time this proto-rock sound was an entirely live affair.</div>
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However, after witnessing the Cavern’s dark, low ceilings of grimy, sweaty brick and its rambling ante-chambers firsthand, he realised that his plan to capture a live album would never work acoustically. He decided instead to invite the band down to EMI Studio Two in North London to record the cream of their live act in one long day, with little or no overdubs.</div>
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The group took a day’s rest from their relentless touring schedule, bowing out of their double-house (two performances at the same venue on the same day) engagement in Peterborough on Sunday February 10th. Having arrived in London following a performance in Sunderland on Saturday 9th, the Beatles relaxed before turning up at EMI studios on February 11th for two pre-booked sessions; a third was added as the day progressed.</div>
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"The whole album only took a day so it was amazingly cheap, no-messing, just massive effort from us. But we were game, we'd been to Hamburg for Christ's sake, we'd stayed up all night, it was no big deal. We started at ten in the morning and finished at ten at night [...] and at the end of the day you had your album."...Paul McCartney (Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, 1988, p.11)</div>
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The unique sound of the <i>Please Please Me</i> album, particularly in relation to the Beatles’ subsequent early albums, owed much to Martin’s live approach to production and, more importantly, engineer Norman Smith’s skill at turning Martin’s ideas into reality. To add to the live approach, Smith broke with the usual EMI practice of sound separation and close instrument microphone placement and actually encouraged leakage, or ‘bleed’, between microphones during the recording. Studio protocol at the time dictated that the best sound reproduction could be achieved by placing microphones close to the instruments, thus minimising the amount of audio lost between an instrument and its microphone.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnViRnpi7UM7RdqgpWyVEvpQ3uYkp-SjJHwUteRBXKFajXP-AEReKUwXHtdy4AFFz5OJ8AsoqArYUGowU8nHUf74Mryr3g7-DhNXBgvFIyDYnby2Wu7qNiAJiTV4ziuDQ0x0lHRALh54Y/s1600/georgemartinemi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnViRnpi7UM7RdqgpWyVEvpQ3uYkp-SjJHwUteRBXKFajXP-AEReKUwXHtdy4AFFz5OJ8AsoqArYUGowU8nHUf74Mryr3g7-DhNXBgvFIyDYnby2Wu7qNiAJiTV4ziuDQ0x0lHRALh54Y/s400/georgemartinemi.jpg" width="400" /></a>This practice also tended to reduce leakage, which occurs when microphones unintentionally pick up sound from another instrument. With the microphones placed several feet away from the amplifiers and drums, the production team allowed a more natural live sound to occur by encouraging leakage.</div>
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Martin and Smith understood that the Beatles were essentially a live club-band and would perform at their best when placed in as natural an environment as possible. This meant minimising the separation between the musicians on the studio floor and thus abandoning the use of baffles; artificial studio walls which were used to separate sounds, but often acted as physical barriers between a group’s performing dynamic. In addition Smith also placed ambient microphones at various locations on the studio floor.</div>
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By placing ambient microphones within the room Smith captured the sound of the instruments bouncing around the studio and added to the live quality of the record.</div>
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This deliberate leakage is best demonstrated when playing the stereo version of the album. The right channel was used to isolate vocals, if the listener pans their balance fader hard to the right; they can hear how the instrumentation, most notably the drums, has bled onto the track.</div>
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The Beatles instrumentation on the album was a fairly uncomplicated affair at this point of their early career, as they simply didn't possess a large cache of instruments. Those they did possess however were essential for providing the exciting ingredients which made up that early Beatles sound.</div>
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Lennon played the 1958 Rickenbacker 325 Electric guitar he had acquired in Hamburg three years earlier, but his chief instrument on the day was probably his 1962 Gibson Electric-Acoustic. This was played both through his Vox AC30 amp, and mic'd acoustically. Harrison used both his 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet, and his Gibson Electric-Acoustic, also through a Vox AC30. McCartney played his 1961 Hofner 500/1 bass, which had also been acquired in Hamburg, and he was still playing this through a specially rigged head and speaker cabinet. He too would acquire a Vox amp later in the year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjolW5CTvrzDjDadgM9jcHi2I-912G4jeJOuwJ7dWJbBB-DQhpZsAr8gA0C_OUkaS7bGUaSFob4ebKYbqKJirU6ACqpo1XypKW12ii4ghNf8FKwY676ffZxr9Vfa09ZwpQCdsV_4xkk2DH/s1600/with-the-beatles01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjolW5CTvrzDjDadgM9jcHi2I-912G4jeJOuwJ7dWJbBB-DQhpZsAr8gA0C_OUkaS7bGUaSFob4ebKYbqKJirU6ACqpo1XypKW12ii4ghNf8FKwY676ffZxr9Vfa09ZwpQCdsV_4xkk2DH/s400/with-the-beatles01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Starr had yet to upgrade to his first Ludwig kit, and was still playing a Premier 54/58 combo with Zyn cymbals; hardly a professinoal standard kit. Yet the monstrous drum sound on the album is a testament not only to Norman Smith's engineering capabilities, but also to Starr's rock solid style of heavy playing.</div>
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Playing rock 'n' roll at 10am on a Monday morning was hardly what you might call 'rock 'n' roll', but this was the professional league, and so the sessions begin in the AM led by 'There's A Place' and 'I Saw Her Standing There'. Following a break from 1-2:30pm, the group recorded 'A Taste Of Honey', Do You Want To Know A Secret' and 'Misery'. After yet another 90 minute break, the Beatles stepped up a few gears and thumped out many of their favourite live R&B covers in a minimum of takes (after an abandoned attempt at recording another original; 'Hold Me Tight'). 'Anna (Go To Him)', 'Boys', 'Chains', 'Baby It's You' and 'Twist And Shout' were all captured in a final session lasting from 7-10:30pm.</div>
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With ‘Baby It’s You’ just completed and the clock showing 10pm, the group had by then taped a total of ten songs. The prodigious one day recording session was drawing to a close and the studio was about to shut down for the night. George Martin wanted one more song however, to add to the four captured in 1962, and to complete the album.</div>
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In an effort to maximise their shrinking window of time, dissipating energy and raw vocal chords, the group set up in Studio Two as if playing to a live audience and prepared for a Blitzkrieg on The Isley Brothers hit; 'Twist And Shout'. The plan was to pull a stunning take out of the bag, drawn from pure adrenalin, and it worked. A small crowd of onlookers gathered round as John Lennon stripped to the waist, washed several throat lozenges down with milk and proceeded to lay down possibly the twentieth century’s most riotous vocal performance on one of rock music’s first real recordings.</div>
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The marathon one day session ended with a bang which stunned and caught the attention of the EMI staff who witnessed the performance first hand. In fact, for days afterwards, EMI engineers were playing each other the tape of the recording, and they all agreed on one thing; none of them had heard anything like it before.</div>
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The album was finally in the bag, and the entire crew of musician’s and EMI staff were so impressed with the results that they broke studio protocol by remaining in the control room, listening to repeated playbacks. At this point, nobody present fully grasped the significance of the groundbreaking event they had witnessed or participated in, it was just another day’s work. To all and sundry it must have seemed like business as usual. Half a century later, that single day’s recording is recognised as a defining moment in the history of popular music.</div>
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<i>“You know, waiting to hear that LP back was one of our most worrying experiences. As it happens, we were dead chuffed, or to put in another way, we were very happy with it”</i>...John Lennon (Badman, Keith, The Beatles Off The Record, p.50)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMMPkKnbiZvEliH04nI4JT7MZN8kPMfjEqnVhWOle3Ty78dhkudfyMVW7w1akG_CkLRzTvF6vfhVmCvKNtqzII27g8eb2Kr0h7kQoDgkZeTjQ986QDObXI6RpzEKr8AAz3-gXAwTiPbt3/s1600/beatles-please-please-me-pr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMMPkKnbiZvEliH04nI4JT7MZN8kPMfjEqnVhWOle3Ty78dhkudfyMVW7w1akG_CkLRzTvF6vfhVmCvKNtqzII27g8eb2Kr0h7kQoDgkZeTjQ986QDObXI6RpzEKr8AAz3-gXAwTiPbt3/s400/beatles-please-please-me-pr.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>“This album was one of the main ambitions in our lives, we felt that it would be a showcase for the group and it was tremendously important for us that it sounded bang on the button. As it happened, we were pleased. If not, sore throats or not, we’d have done it all over again. That was the mood we were in. It was break or bust for us.”</i>...Paul McCartney (Badman, Keith, The Beatles Off The Record, p.52)</div>
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In fairness, it was common practice at the time for an artist to record a collection of songs in one day, in order to compliment previously released singles with a Long Playing release. What the Beatles accomplished that day is less remarkable as a logistical feat, and more so for the quality of the finished product, and its longevity as a seminal rock album.</div>
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Indeed, <i>Please Please Me</i> remains a unique historical document. The album captured an energetic, exciting rock band live on tape right at the moment they were being pushed through a directional change, just as the genre of ‘rock’ music itself was being born.</div>
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<i>“That record </i>[<i>Please Please Me</i>] <i>tried to capture us live, and was the nearest thing to what we might have sounded like in Hamburg or Liverpool.”</i>...John Lennon (Ryan, Kevin & Keweh, Brian, RTBBOOK, Recording The Beatles, p.355)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETWMvrAkZdm3g9V7wkHUVEWD2ghzyGoU9AXlXs6FvynPLdDpLBe7ob5dv1Jv5GeWVZXpGUy29FLYtoSHxPew89cqYHH4B9KICVFbZh1Sqq6HnsSwFqHRNm6o4JZxw_Jm5MNSXvoUNIPIc/s1600/260435945294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETWMvrAkZdm3g9V7wkHUVEWD2ghzyGoU9AXlXs6FvynPLdDpLBe7ob5dv1Jv5GeWVZXpGUy29FLYtoSHxPew89cqYHH4B9KICVFbZh1Sqq6HnsSwFqHRNm6o4JZxw_Jm5MNSXvoUNIPIc/s400/260435945294.jpg" width="400" /></a>Sales of the single ‘Please Please Me’ had just begun to drop off when the album of the same name (a deliberate marketing ploy to link the album to the single) hit the shops in an EMI rush release on March 22nd 1963. The arrival of the LP fuelled a frenzied interest in the group, who seemed to have come out of nowhere a few months earlier when they appeared on the television showThank Your Lucky Stars.</div>
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<i>“I’ve never heard that sound from English musicians before. Honestly, if I hadn’t seen them with my own eyes I’d have thought they were a coloured group from back home.”.</i>..Little Richard (NME, February 1st 1963)</div>
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In 1963 <i>Please Please Me</i> was as much of a radical break with mainstream pop as Elvis Presley’s outrageous rhythms and movements had been in 1956. Coincidentally the ‘1-2-3-4!’ count-in from McCartney, which introduced the opening track, echoed the “One for the money – two for the show” count-in from ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, on Presley's debut.</div>
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Both title tracks, both debut albums by seminal rock ’n’ roll artists, seven years apart. Presley was once at the centre of a whirlwind of socio-cultural change, whipping up adolescent-teen frenzies across the globe. Presley had since stumbled out of the US army, disoriented and irrelevant, releasing banal affairs such as ‘Rock-A-Hula Baby’/’Can’t Help Falling in Love’, ‘Return To Sender’ and ‘Good Luck Charm’. Furthermore, with the disappearance or neutralisation of major rock ‘n’ roll stars such as Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard, the mantle would be passed to Britain, and in particular the Beatles (later the Stones and other British groups) to attach the jumper cables to rock ‘n’ roll.</div>
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The chart success of <i>Please Please Me</i> permanently changed the attitude of artists, publishers, record companies and the record buying public towards the Long Player itself. Prior to 1963, the 7” single was king. Following <i>Please Please Me</i> the Long Player began evolving into a credible art form in its own right, and each subsequent Beatles album would in turn radically alter the LP in relation to sequencing, content, artwork and concept. This trend finally peaked with 1967’s watershed release <i>Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band</i>, a creation which would have been utterly inconceivable in 1963.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgfce34gcxdVdwxArOuQjd-R5oRyQGFBDcD903GK3pPAUv0gego5ymBIA_fcWeO9xR8ko6RqxQu7qyq6dXSbSM1v8mbXc6LZX7w8VGXw6nHZ45aP2RIZGuGEUGE1GvwRzPUo2WBdosU2V/s1600/525-c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgfce34gcxdVdwxArOuQjd-R5oRyQGFBDcD903GK3pPAUv0gego5ymBIA_fcWeO9xR8ko6RqxQu7qyq6dXSbSM1v8mbXc6LZX7w8VGXw6nHZ45aP2RIZGuGEUGE1GvwRzPUo2WBdosU2V/s400/525-c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
The album hit the top spot on May 11th 1963, and held onto that position defiantly until the groups second album <i>With The Beatles</i> dislodged it on December 7th. In a symbolic demonstration of the changing of the guard, the album which <i>Please Please Me</i> knocked off the top spot was Cliff Richard's <i>Summer Holiday</i>.</div>
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With the release of Please Please Me in March 1963, the Beatles’ account was well and truly open, and within a few months they would move to London permanently. From this moment on, Liverpool would mourn what the world would greedily embrace.</div>
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In March 1963 NME reviewed the Beatles’ debut LP commenting: <i>“It looks like a bright future for the Beatles, but knowing them I don’t think they’ll let it go to their heads.”</i></div>
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This article is largely taken from the iPad/Android App and eBook <b><i>The Beatles, Please Please Me - The Album Guide</i>.</b> Details are available here <a href="http://www.dinosauralbumguides.com/">www.dinosauralbumguides.com</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-87589630024626954592012-01-09T15:03:00.000+00:002012-01-11T12:33:00.109+00:0049 Years Ago This Week, The Beatles Release Their Second 7” Single: Please Please Me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzuVFK-LZ9WV0v2qAlQIXlbbCxtxVhwgcGBiyKBGdZyA3_MeqtFsegV5i7HE4g44iEGiuhHSQqO-NICzrews8GpNl22rb7A06sr9TqZecgSIIIPOM-TiGJiHHor20K8qA8FyZuWq9Famon/s1600/Please_Please_Me_45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzuVFK-LZ9WV0v2qAlQIXlbbCxtxVhwgcGBiyKBGdZyA3_MeqtFsegV5i7HE4g44iEGiuhHSQqO-NICzrews8GpNl22rb7A06sr9TqZecgSIIIPOM-TiGJiHHor20K8qA8FyZuWq9Famon/s320/Please_Please_Me_45.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
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Article first published as <a href="http://blogcritics.org/music/article/49-years-ago-this-week-the/">49 Years Ago This Week, The Beatles Release Their Second 7” Single: Please Please Me</a> on Blogcritics. <br />
<br />
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Released during one of the bitterest
winters in British history, <i>‘Please
Please Me’</i> helped to initiate a post-war socio-cultural thaw among British
youth. The release had a similar effect on its UK audience that <i>‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’</i> would have
upon a US audience almost twelve months later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Released on January 11<sup>th</sup> 1963, the
records meteoric ascent up the charts brought the Beatles into virtually every
British home, against the backdrop of the freezing winter and the unfolding political
sex scandal of the Profumo affair.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Written in John Lennon’s childhood bedroom
as a deliberate bluesy attempt at emulating Roy Orbison, <i>‘Please Please Me’</i> became the Beatles’ first number one (<i>NME</i> and <i>Melody Maker </i>polls) hit single in the UK, catapulting the group out
of Liverpool and installing them as overnight national stars in one swoop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standarduseruser" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">In 1980 its author reflected:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Textbody" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.75pt;">
<b><span class="MsoIntenseEmphasis"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0084d1; font-family: Cambria, serif;">‘Please Please Me’ is my song
completely. It was my attempt at writing a Roy Orbison song, would you believe
it? I wrote it in the bedroom in my house at <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Menlove Avenue</st1:address></st1:street>, which was my auntie’s
place. I heard Roy Orbison doing ‘Only The Lonely’ or something. That’s where
that came from. And also I was always intrigued by the words of ‘Please Lend
Your Ears To My Pleas,’ a Bing Crosby song. I was always intrigued by the
double use of the word ‘please.’ So it was a combination of Bing Crosby and Roy
Orbison."</span></span><span class="MsoIntenseEmphasis"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">...John Lennon</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="MsoIntenseEmphasis"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Lennon must have composed the song sometime
between June and September 1962 as it was not presented at the first EMI
session on June 6<sup>th</sup> or at the earlier Decca audition in January of
that year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">‘Please
Please Me’</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> first appeared in
the studio on September 4<sup>th</sup> 1962 during the recording session for <i>‘Love Me Do’</i> and <i>‘How Do You Do It’</i>. It was rehearsed during a run-through presided
over by EMI producer, Ron Richards, from 2:30 to 5:00 pm, with new Beatle, Ringo
Starr, behind the drum kit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The song<i>
</i>was certainly in its infancy on September 4<sup>th, </sup>with a number of
differences from the eventual official release. Probably slower in tempo, this earlier
version featured Harrison playing the scaled guitar riff throughout the verses
rather than at only the beginning of each. This repetition eventually grated on
Richards’ ears, prompting him to lose his patience, declaring, <i>“For Christ’s sake, George, just play it in
the gaps!”<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"></span></b></span></span></i></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">One week later, during the September 11<sup>th</sup>
session, the Beatles recorded <i>‘P.S. I
Love You’</i> and <i>‘Love Me Do’</i> with session
musician Andy White on drums. Starr was also in attendance, and participated by
playing maracas and tambourine. Perhaps cautious of Starr’s abilities, George
Martin had arranged for a session drummer to attend on the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">With the session winding to a close, the
group attempted a taping of <i>‘Please
Please Me’</i>. However, according to Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, George Martin
was unhappy with the results and advised them to add harmonies and speed it up:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Textbody" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span class="MsoIntenseEmphasis"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0084d1; font-family: Cambria, serif;">“At that stage ‘Please Please Me’ was a very dreary song. It was like a
Roy Orbison number, very slow, bluesy vocals. It was obvious to me that it
badly needed pepping up. I told them to bring it in next time and we’d have
another go at it.”</span></span><span class="MsoIntenseEmphasis"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">...George Martin, </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="text-align: justify;">(Lewisohn: </span><i style="text-align: justify;">The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions,</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> p.20)</span><br />
<span class="MsoIntenseEmphasis"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">There is evident confusion about which
session Martin was at when he dispensed this advice. The rediscovered version
of <i>‘Please Please Me’</i> from September
11<sup>th</sup>, once thought lost and later included on ‘<i>Anthology 1’</i>, presents the song in almost identical form to the
final version, recorded on November 26<sup>th</sup>. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The structure is identical to the completed
version, as are the melody and harmonies. Most convincingly, the song’s signature
hooks are clearly in place. These include the stops and starts, Harrison’s
scaled guitar intro on each verse, his verse-chorus splitting riff, the call
and response <i>“C’mon, C’mon”</i> of the
chorus, and the busy drum fills which permeate the track. There is also little
difference in the tempo of these two versions, which conflicts significantly
with Martin’s claim that at this stage (September 11<sup>th</sup>) the song was
“very slow”.<i> </i> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">So is it possible Martin actually made the
comments based on the version rehearsed the previous week (September 4<sup>th</sup>)
with Ron Richards at the helm? If so, then the problem is that Martin was reportedly
not present at this pre-session rehearsal. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Confusing? Yes. However, it serves as a
reminder that when analysing Beatles’ recordings, individual and collective accounts
often conflict and can never be totally trusted without corroborative evidence.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">There is also confusion about which drummer
can be heard on the rediscovered September 11<sup>th</sup> recording. Ron
Richards stated that Starr did not play drums at all that day. However Geoff
Emerick, then a young apprentice tape-op, recalled how session drummer Andy White
was dismissed after his input on <i>‘Love Me
Do’/’P.S. I Love You’</i>. Emerick remembers Beatles roadie, Mal Evans, setting
up Starr’s kit as White was leaving. To further confuse matters, Emerick also
recalls this version of <i>‘Please Please Me’</i>
being slow in tempo, a claim that the resurfaced recording seems to contradict.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">We can never state categorically who sat on
the drum stool during this early demo of ‘<i>Please,
Please Me’</i>. However it seems probable, based on the similar styles evident
on the September 11<sup>th</sup> and November 26<sup>th</sup> versions, and
with Geoff Emerick’s recollections of the session, that with <i>‘Love Me Do’/’PS I Love You’</i> in the bag
on September 11<sup>th</sup> and his job complete, Andy White may have handed
over the drum stool to Starr. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The style of drumming, the snare and
tom-tom fills, the stops and starts, indeed the pace and overall feeling on
both tracks (Sept 11<sup>th</sup>/Nov 26<sup>th</sup>) are too similar, one
might argue, to be the creative input of two different drummers, two months
apart. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">In fact, apart from a slight change in the
snare/tom-tom fills leading into the bridge, the main drum pattern and the
fills for each dynamic verse-chorus-bridge intro/outro are nearly identical.
The brisk, energetic flurries of each of these fills, and in particular the
identical ‘machine-gun’ phrased ending on the snare on both versions sound very
much like Starr’s signature style.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Despite confusion over earlier sessions, on
November 26<sup>th</sup> 1962 the Beatles did regroup at Abbey Road studios
with a reworking of the composition which was tight and explosive. Taping began
in earnest around 8:00 pm and was completed in 18 takes. Starr’s performance on
the drums that evening was so incandescent, that he permanently banished any
notions that he was another ‘Pete Best’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US">‘Please
Please Me’</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> begins with a
hammer ‘baddum-dum’ pluck of the A string in E major, probably played on
Harrison’s Gretsch (or Lennon’s Gibson J160E). This introduces us to the main
hook of the song; <st1:place w:st="on">Harrison</st1:place>’s scaled intro on
guitar coupled with Lennon’s harmonica (overdubbed later in the session). The
clever use of harmonica provides a familiar continuity with the group’s debut
single, helping to establish a signature sound. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Just as the previous release, <i>‘Love Me Do’</i>, may have been influenced
by <i>‘Bye Bye Love’</i>, the harmonies on <i>‘Please Please Me’</i> are most likely
borrowed from another Everly Brothers single. Lennon’s lower melody, accompanied
by McCartney’s high ‘E’, is particularly reminiscent of the style employed on
the Everly’s 1960 hit <i>‘Cathy’s Clown’</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">The vocals are utterly resolute,
introducing the listener to the plight of the protagonist (thought to be
attempting to coax his partner into engaging in oral sex). The animated, rushed
climb of the chords, from G through A to B, matched by Starr’s energetic fills
after the first line, serves to underline a climactic, sexually frustrated
desperation. A sudden stop on ‘E’, preceded by some brisk strumming on guitar,
again matched by Starr, introduces Harrison’s fat rockabilly riff on ‘E’.
Lennon’s four desperate “<i>C’mon”</i> calls
are delivered with a gruff sincerity. Each is answered by Harrison and
McCartney, providing the representation of peer pressure. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">A cleverly truncated scaled riff drops the
listener into the bridge, courtesy of some expressive snare/tom-tom fills from
Starr, who then deploys a Latin tinged rhythm, complete with a ‘cha-cha-cha’
response on the snare. During the bridge, Lennon explains why he’s expecting to
be pleased, while McCartney and Harrison provide harmonies</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">that would make Buddy Holly’s Crickets proud. In fact, the line referring
to “<i>rain in my heart”</i> is borrowed
from Holly’s <i>‘Raining In My Heart’</i>
(1959). However what really broke ground here in contemporary pop music was the
audacious ending.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">The coda concludes with an aptly climactic
triplet of repetitive pleading, with the last <i>“you”</i> held and then bent in falsetto. Meanwhile the guitars rise
and fall through a climactic chord sequence, interspersed by a fill of four,
even sixteenth notes on the snare. The result was one of the most revolutionary
two minutes of pop committed to tape at the time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">George Martin certainly thought so. At the
end of the final take he switched on the talk-back mic from the control room
where he was sitting and remarked...<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Textbody" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0084d1; font-family: Cambria, serif;">“You’ve
just made your first Number One”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">...George Martin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">...his prediction was not wrong.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Interestingly, an unsolved issue with the
original master tape from the November 26<sup>th</sup> session forced George
Martin to create the stereo mix of <i>‘Please
Please Me’</i> from three separate takes (16, 17, and 18). One of these takes
featured a lyrical fluff by Lennon, who mixes up his lines with McCartney’s.
This error remains on the stereo mix at 1:27 as does the chuckle from Lennon
during the first <i>“C’mon”</i> at 1:33, in
acknowledgment of the error. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Upon its UK release, the single reached
number one on both the <i>NME</i> and <i>Melody Maker</i> polls. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">In the US the single was offered to, and
rejected by Capitol Records. This blend of R&B was traditionally associated
with black musicians and Capitol were thought to have believed that the sound
was too raucous for a white group and, that the sexual reference within the
song was too risqué for a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place>
release. It seems unlikely however that the Beatles’ ethnic background would
pose a problem for a society which had experienced white musicians such as
Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly playing R&B seven years previously. The most
likely explanation is that Capitol executives were simply deaf to a new sound
when they heard it, and skeptical of a new musical phenomenon from England, an
unlikely source of a rock ‘n’ roll revolution. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">After the release of <i>‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ </i>in the US, and the subsequent explosion
of Beatlemania, <i>‘Please Please Me’</i>
was re-released and peaked at number 3 in the Billboard Hot 100. The two songs
at numbers 1 and 2 were; <i>‘I Want To Hold
Your Hand’</i> and <i>‘She Loves You’</i>
respectively.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The release of <i>‘Love Me Do’/’P.S. I Love You’</i> had guaranteed the group’s debut
release was comprised exclusively of McCartney compositions. Now, <i>‘Please Please Me’/’Ask Me Why’</i> ensured
their second release was a totally Lennon affair. Over the next year, while busy
conquering the world, most of their single releases would be joint ventures.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">This article is an excerpt from the
App/eBook; <i><a href="http://www.dinosauralbumguides.com/">Please Please Me – The AlbumGuide</a></i>. Created by Dinosaur Album Guides, this guide is available on <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/dinosaur-album-guides-01/id487666948?mt=8">iPad</a>
and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Please-Beatles-Definitive-album-ebook/dp/B006LABAG6/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1323894393&sr=8-8">Kindle</a>, and on multiple devices (PC/Mac/Android/iPhone/Blackberry) using
Amazon’s free Kindle reader application.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Textbody" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.dinosauralbumguides.com/">www.dinosauralbumguides.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-3917861945554361792012-01-04T18:59:00.002+00:002019-01-10T18:16:02.040+00:00The Beatles Road Manager and Gentle Giant Remembered, 36 Years After His Death<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Article first published as <a href="http://blogcritics.org/music/article/the-beatles-road-manager-and-gentle/">The Beatles Road Manager and Gentle Giant Remembered, 36 Years After His Death</a> on Blogcritics.<br />
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There are many contenders for the coveted title of "Fifth Beatle." Some qualify due to their brief yet influential period as a fifth musical component of the Beatles' early career. Candidates include Stu Sutcliffe (bass) and Pete Best (drums) and to a lesser degree Chas Newby, who temporarily replaced Sutcliffe on bass, and who declined John Lennon’s request to join the group permanently in Hamburg in favour of returning to University. </div>
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Others qualify due to their business relationship with the group, Brian Epstein and Neil Aspinall spring to mind. Then you have production candidates: Geoff Emerick, Norman Smith and of course "Fifth Beatle" extraordinaire, George Martin. There is one candidate however who fits almost all criteria as "Fifth Beatle", and who spent more time with the group than possibly anyone else in their short professional career. Road manager, bouncer, minder, nursemaid, travelling companion, loyal friend, session musician, talent scout, producer and general dogsbody: step forward, Mr. Fixit, otherwise known as Mal Evans. </div>
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Born in 1935, Malcolm Evans was already married with a young family, a mortgage and a steady job as a communications engineer with the Post Office when he stumbled into a lunchtime Beatles session in 1962, altering his fate forever. After quickly befriending the group, George Harrison recommended Evans to Cavern owner Ray McFall as a bouncer at the chaotic underground entrance of the busy Liverpool music venue. This was a job that fit naturally with his calm demeanour and intimidating 6’6” hulking frame. In August 1962, just before Ringo Starr replaced Best and the group’s career began to take off, Evans was hired by Brian Epstein to assist Aspinall in roadie duties. He soon became the default van driver, the man who patiently set up the group’s backline equipment, tested it, stood by prepared for all disasters, and packed the van up again after the show had ended. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mx-9tbVi2tY/TwShyXH7aGI/AAAAAAAAAPs/4sOFzVRMQ8s/s1600/DrumMal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mx-9tbVi2tY/TwShyXH7aGI/AAAAAAAAAPs/4sOFzVRMQ8s/s400/DrumMal.jpg" width="332" /></a>As Beatlemania emerged, Evans fulfilled a pivotal role beyond stage duties by serving as the royal guard, protecting the group from hordes of fans while also performing the discreet role of minister of selection for female companionship. In other words, Evans would be sent out from hotel rooms to find suitable groupies to party with the boys. Evans has the unique distinction of being present at every Beatles concert from the time he started working with them. From the ballrooms and clubs of early 1960s Britain to the baseball stadiums and orchestral bowls of the world’s finest cities, if there was a fly on the wall, it was Mal Evans. </div>
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It was Evans who punched out a cracked windscreen on a freezing motorway and drove hundreds of miles through the night into howling winds while the group drank whiskey and huddled for warmth in the back. Evans was also frog-marched off the plane alongside Epstein in Manila, and punched by crowds when the Beatles came close to being lynched by a mob in 1966. His duties on the road brought him into close personal contact with the group, and Evans maintained a relationship and trust with all four Beatles which perhaps extended beyond that of their own wives and girlfriends. </div>
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He seemed to have enjoyed a particularly close relationship with both Lennon and Paul McCartney. He accompanied McCartney on a European road trip and African safari during the group’s career hiatus after ceasing touring in 1966, and he was also known to serve as the group’s watchdog when they were dropping acid. As they "turned on", Evans would remain with them to ensure their trips did not go bad or end in disaster. </div>
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This relationship was, however, almost completely one-sided. Although Evans was an insider on the rollercoaster that was Beatlemania, he was also often subjected to verbal abuse, becoming the scapegoat for anything that went wrong during a gig. He was subjected to Lennon’s wrath many times, particularly for the theft of his beloved Gibson J160E acoustic guitar after a Christmas show in 1963. His role in the group’s circle was somewhat accurately portrayed in the 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night by the roadie character Shake. Harrison’s line “Shake, where’s me other boot? And would you get us some tea while you’re there" seemed to echo Lennon’s supposed trademark bark in Evans’ direction: “Mal, Socks!" </div>
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Evans not only appears in A Hard Day’s Night himself (carrying a cello down a hallway), but he has the distinction of appearing in every Beatles film, Yellow Submarine excepted. He appeared as a lost long-distance swimmer (Help!), a magician (Magical Mystery Tour), and several times as himself (Let It Be). </div>
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In addition to movie cameos, Evans also appears on several Beatles recordings despite being unable to play an instrument. The impressive run of credits include “You Won’t See Me” (organ, single note), “Yellow Submarine” (bass drum and vocals), “A Day In The Life” (ending piano, clock, and counting voice), “Strawberry Fields Forever” (tambourine), “Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite” (harmonica), “Magical Mystery Tour” (various percussion), “You Know My Name, Look Up The Number” (spade in gravel), “Helter Skelter” (trumpet), “What’s The New Mary Jane” (possibly handbell), “Dear Prudence” (backing vocals, handclaps), “Birthday” (handclaps), and “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (anvil). </div>
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The highlight of Evans' career with the Beatles, however, must have been August 27, 1965. The big man never made any qualms about the fact that his idol was the King of Rock 'n Roll, even if his wages were paid by the Beatles. So it must have been the most surreal event of Evans' life to find himself suddenly socialising in the Bel Air mansion of Elvis Presley himself. Evans had worn a suit and tie for the occasion, and was reported to have been totally starstruck after shaking Presley's hand. </div>
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During the chaos of the Apple years, Evans was given extended responsibilities, and is credited with discovering The Iveys, later Badfinger. He also enjoyed a brief period as a record producer for Apple Records, before finding that business and finances were stronger than loyalty and friendship. Evans kept a regular diary through the Beatle days, and on January 13th 1969 he wrote: </div>
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<i>Paul [McCartney] is really cutting down on the Apple staff members. I was elevated to office boy and I feel very hurt and sad inside—only big boys don't cry. Why I should feel hurt and reason for writing this is ego... I thought I was different from other people in my relationship with The Beatles and being loved by them and treated so nice, I felt like one of the family. Seems I fetch and carry. I find it difficult to live on the £38 I take home each week and would love to be like their other friends who buy fantastic homes and have all the alterations done by them, and are still going to ask for a rise. I always tell myself—look, everybody wants to take from, be satisfied, try to give and you will receive. After all this time I have about £70 to my name, but was content and happy. Loving them as I do, nothing is too much trouble, because I want to serve them. Feel a bit better now—EGO? </i></div>
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It seems some Beatle associates were more equal than others. One might speculate that his position as dogsbody lost him the respect of the employers he saw as friends. As a jack of all trades, he never seemed to settle on one role. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2pYhes5oXrE/TwSkqHo2fnI/AAAAAAAAAP4/q3ud_D9HPc8/s1600/mal_evans_on_the_roof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2pYhes5oXrE/TwSkqHo2fnI/AAAAAAAAAP4/q3ud_D9HPc8/s320/mal_evans_on_the_roof.jpg" width="320" /></a>Evans found himself in such dire financial straits by 1969 that he was forced to ask Harrison for a raise, and when the Beatles imploded the following year, Evans found himself adrift and out of work. He roadied again for Lennon and his Plastic Ono Band, and spent the next few years alternating between sparse production work and various solo Beatle projects. </div>
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When Lennon separated from Yoko Ono and stumbled drunkenly around L.A. for a year and a half, Evans was on hand to serve his old master. Once Lennon had reunited with Ono however, he was again surplus to requirements. </div>
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In 1976, while still living in LA and separated from his wife and kids, Evans was working on the memoirs of his Beatle days <i>Living The Beatles' Legend</i>. He became increasingly depressed after his wife requested a divorce, and was drinking and taking pills. Following a fracas with his partner at his rented house in an L.A. suburb, the police were called and informed that Evans had a gun. Apparently drunk and disoriented from valium, Evans refused to drop his gun upon request, and 36 years ago on January 5, 1976, he was shot several times. He died instantly, and later was found to be in possession of an air rifle. </div>
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Like his friend and former employer, shot dead four years later, Evans was 40 years old. Sadly, none of the former Beatles attended his funeral service or cremation, although Harrison did see that his wife receive £5,000. Evans became another victim of life after the Beatles’ success, and like Brian Epstein and John Lennon, had his life cut tragically short. </div>
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Evans was there throughout all of Beatlemania, through the drugs, the fights, the triumphs, the letdowns, the implosion, even the fisticuffs. No one, aside from Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starr, was as exposed as Evans was to the Beatles’ incredible rollercoaster ride. As yet, no book has been published from his memoirs. This unique fly-on-the-wall witnessed it all. Evans, the old workhorse and real unsung hero of the Beatles' incredible saga, could have told some stories.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-6812157046522717372011-12-31T14:47:00.000+00:002012-01-02T12:54:06.717+00:0050 Years On, We Thank Decca Records For Rejecting The Beatles, Thanks Decca!<div style="text-align: justify;">
January 1st 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles infamous Decca audition. When Brian Epstein had suggested managing the Beatles in December 1961, he set about securing them a recording deal through his contacts in the record retail industry. Epstein's NEMS store was one of the largest record retailers in the English North, and he used his status to pressure various labels to review his new proteges. One of the labels to respond and send an A&R man north was DECCA. Mike Smith was dispatched to Liverpool, and upon hearing the Beatles play at the Cavern, he agreed that an artists test should be set as soon as possible. </div>
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This was hastily arranged for January 1st, 1962. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqjaTM3RSgs/Tv8gQKHap5I/AAAAAAAAAOk/aute9v-JdwY/s1600/decca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqjaTM3RSgs/Tv8gQKHap5I/AAAAAAAAAOk/aute9v-JdwY/s320/decca.jpg" width="319" /></a>The fact that Epstein had secured an artists test at a large and influential recording company, less than five weeks after first hearing and meeting them, must have impressed the group enormously. Perhaps Epstein's feat dazzled them enough to allow them to trust his judgment in choosing the songs to present to Decca staff. </div>
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On new years even 1961, the Beatles drove south to London in a battered van, enduring brutal conditions, and losing their way several times en route. Arriving just in time for the stroke of the new year, they retired to a cheap hotel in a city they new little about, and appeared at Decca's west Hampstead studios at the arranged time the next morning. Running through 15 songs in just one allotted hour is hardly the best way to showcase your talent, but regardless, that's all the time the group were given.</div>
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Of the 15 songs, (while a little rough around the edges) the performances, musically and vocally, were considerably sound, with two Lennon-McCartney originals, "Like Dreamers Do" & "Hello Little Girl" offering potential single material. Others, obviously chosen by Epstein to showcase the group's eclectic appeal, made them sound comedic at best, and inconsistent in style at worst. The playing was tight, although understandable nerves can be detected in the singing. Interestingly, Pete Best's drumming, while a little erratic in time-keeping, was solid, and very different to the imploding mash of patterns he utilized at the EMI session later that year, which ultimately sealed his fate. </div>
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The group left Decca, seemingly assured that enough had been done to secure a deal. So much so in fact that Epstein began to let it leak that his group were now Decca recording artistes. Three weeks later however came the crushing news that they had been rejected, with Lennon furiously blaming Epstein for his selection of the material. Incensed, Epstein traveled to London and demanded a u-turn by Decca executives. Realising this was futile Epstein is reported to have uttered that Decca were out of their minds, his boys would be bigger than Elvis Presley. Decca's reply was polite smiles; a boastful claim indeed. </div>
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Apparently Dick Rowe, head of Decca A&R attempted to smooth the atmosphere by informing Epstein that guitar groups were simply on the way out. We will never have any way of knowing if either statement was ever made. For his part, Rowe denied ever saying such a thing. But of course he would deny it. If he had said it, he proved himself to be the most out of touch music executive in the country at that time, one who had just made a criminal error of judgment. </div>
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Rowe has always been held up as the biggest idiot in A&R history, the man who rejected the Beatles! While George Martin has been hailed as his direct opposite, the man who discovered the Beatles, the genius who recognised the genius. </div>
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This is however just a lazy conclusion, and simply incorrect. Another guitar band auditioned the same day as the Beatles for Decca. Brian Poole and The Tremeloes (or simply The Tremeloes) auditioned for the same staff. In the end it seems Decca signed The Tremeloes, from nearby Dagenham, in favour of the Beatles, from far away Liverpool. Perhaps it was a matter of cheaper travel expenses, or practical geo-logistical artiste management. Perhaps The Tremeloes were more confident in their performance, perhaps they appealed to Decca as the better option for a gamble. Remember, George Martin himself stated that he didn't really think much of the Beatles musically, in June 1962. He maintained it was their charm that encouraged him to take a risk with them.</div>
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The risk is also another factor. Decca were a big label with big artists. They would have been expected to turn a new signing into profit, quickly. Parlophone were on the other hand, an unfashionable gimmick label who produced comedy records, and the terms which George Martin initially offered that Beatles were so meager, that he stood to lose little financially. This meant his job was secure if they failed. </div>
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In the end, Epstein's wild boast regarding his group toppling Elvis Presley was proved correct, and he had Decca to thank for it! It was while attempting to cut an acetate from the Decca tapes that Epstein finally ran into George Martin, and the rest as they say, is history. </div>
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The Beatles career, often dazzling and seemingly the result of pure genius, was ultimately, the sum of many, many, apparently small parts. Around the same time Decca rejected the Beatles, they also rejected a request for employment from a 15 year old school leaver by the name of Geoffrey Emerick. Later, the engineer responsible for the sounds on Revolver and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. </div>
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Dick Rowe later signed The Rolling Stones, on the advice of one George Harrison, and was thus able to recoup some of his losses, and save his skin.</div>
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In a final twist, EMI staff (still unable to believe Decca had rejected their new Golden Geese) sent Rowe a plainly packaged acetate of the soon to be released 1963 chart topper "Please Please Me" 7". They were hoping to lure him into rejecting them a second time. No response was received from Decca.</div>
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If the Beatles had signed with Decca, chances are they would have recorded a few shallow and hasty singles (possibly covers) that may have flopped, sending them back to Liverpool for a life of anonymity. Fate intervened, and they fell into the hands of EMI and George Martin. I love fate.</div>
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Half a century on, I'd like to thank Decca for the 4 best things they ever did for us:</div>
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1. Funding and facilitating the Beatles contract with EMI</div>
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2. Rejecting The Beatles</div>
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3. Rejecting Geoff Emerick</div>
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4. Signing The Rolling Stones </div>
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Happy New Year Decca</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-20778041784331747362011-12-21T22:16:00.001+00:002012-01-03T10:34:18.488+00:00The Beatles - Please Please Me: The Album Guide, Video Demo<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/AJeAQIE5E3c?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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This video demo takes you through the functionality of Dinosaur Album Guides new Beatles iPad App & eBook: Please Please Me - The Definitive Album Guide<br />
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Starting with 'Please, Please Me; The Definitive Guide', Dinosaur Album Guides deliver the details you want to know in a style which is objective, interactive, engaging, educational and above all, fun. Each song is broken down into sub-sections of Background, Recording, Analysis, Impact and Discography, as we present you with all the details you ever wanted to know. Who plays which instrument? Which amplifiers were used? How many takes were involved? What were the individual influences behind each song? How were the songs recorded? And much more... In addition, quotes from the band and EMI staff complete the fascinating story behind this seminal album. Just $9.99 for <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/dinosaur-album-guides-01/id487666948?mt=8">iPad</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Please-Beatles-Definitive-album-ebook/dp/B006LABAG6/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1323894393&sr=8-8">Kindle</a> and many <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_ipad_mkt_lnd?docId=1000493771">more devices</a>*<br />
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*If you don't have a Kindle or iPad, you can still download this book on most media devices. Amazon provides a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_ipad_mkt_lnd?docId=1000493771">FREE Kindle reader</a> which is available for PC, Mac, Blackberry, Android, iPhone & more.<br />
Get your free reader, and you can continue to download this exciting new Beatles guide from Amazon.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-41241113568192718902011-12-17T12:43:00.001+00:002012-01-03T10:34:08.277+00:00The Beatles - Please Please Me, The Album Guide<br />
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Dinosaur Album Guides launch the first in an exciting new series; a definitive guide to The Beatles debut LP, Please Please Me. For <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/dinosaur-album-guides-01/id487666948?mt=8">iPad</a> & <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Please-Beatles-Definitive-album-ebook/dp/B006LABAG6/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1323894393&sr=8-8">Kindle</a>. </div>
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We leave no stone unturned as we trace the history of this seminal rock album. Each song is broken down into sub-sections of background, recording, analysis, impact and discography, as we present you with all the details you ever wanted to know. Who plays which instrument, which amplifiers were used, how many takes were involved, what were the individual influences behind each song, how were the songs recorded, and much more. In addition, quotes from the band members and EMI staff help to flesh-out the story behind each song, as well as the album itself. The perfect Christmas gift for your favourite Beatles fan.</div>
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Find out more about this app and eBook <a href="http://www.dinosauralbumguides.com/">here</a>, and get your copy.</div>
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iPad app screen captures<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifj4YD9-JVxIsDMeSaK1b6gaYZK659ueXEC77X38Hs0LqDqCzsTpJOAFiSBanGPZGcDnVR5rM83tlZm_E_n6aaV2Yi14T71t3c1UIhb9Eliri2TbFend4NUpnjTWL4L-rWQ7a-Sy7nh2HM/s1600/pic2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifj4YD9-JVxIsDMeSaK1b6gaYZK659ueXEC77X38Hs0LqDqCzsTpJOAFiSBanGPZGcDnVR5rM83tlZm_E_n6aaV2Yi14T71t3c1UIhb9Eliri2TbFend4NUpnjTWL4L-rWQ7a-Sy7nh2HM/s320/pic2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-61259926803522877062011-12-07T11:45:00.001+00:002011-12-08T10:41:37.422+00:00Ten Story Love Song - John Lennon's Top Ten<div style="text-align: justify;">
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December the 8th is here again (ain't been round since you know when...)</div>
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31 years ago today, John Lennon, arguably one of the 20th centuries most interesting, and most paradoxical stars was gunned down by a demon on a New York street.<br />
Doubtless today's papers, magazines, blogs and various online media will be filled with messages of peace, love and understanding...nothing funny 'bout that. However many will present the annual token deconstruction of Lennon's 'genius'. Some will refer to him as Gandhi, Jesus, or even a God- like figure (the irony is not lost), while others will counteract with the usual comments that he was a cruel and aggressive asshole who turned his back on his first family and served his own interests first. None of the former group is true of course, while some of the latter certainly hold water.<br />
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Don't listen to any of them. In truth it's all utter bollox.</div>
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What the man was, and what he did is irrelevant. His music however will never be such. Not to belittle the compositions of his songwriting partner and former band-mates, but Lennon was in a different league completely because he was cursed. He possessed an internal honesty and filter for bullshit that the careful sensibilities of McCartney, and the distracted spirit of Harrison could never quite aspire to. That's not to say that his lyrical conclusions or suggestions were always right, he was often wrong and too easily misled. However, he was <i>always </i>thought provoking, and has remained perpetually relevant. Lennon has never been passé.<br />
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I've taken the liberty to choose Lennon's ten greatest achievements on record. Many of these reflect his brutal honesty about how he saw himself, and the world around him.</div>
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But how do you pick 10 of Lennon's most notable songs you say? Seriously? Well, not without pacing the floor and losing sleep, that's for sure. There are far fewer tea bags in the tin than there were when this idea was first suggested to me. But if you're partial to other peoples musical suggestions, and you trust the opinion of someone who has been listening to John Lennon's music for 32 of his 42 years, then please, read on.</div>
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<b>10. Imagine (1971)</b></div>
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Overrated? Perhaps. This is not John Lennon's greatest song, and it's certainly not the greatest song of the 20th century. I even toyed with the idea of excluding it from the top ten. I included it for two reasons however; 1. I don't want to hear a tap-tap on my back door only to open it and find hundreds of disgruntled Lennon fans holding a noose in the light of burning torches, and 2. I love how this song gets up the nose of cynics who miss the point. It's not called "Instruction", "Action" or "Do". The hint is in the title folks. It's as relevant today with our world crumbling and those who value possessions over people scrambling to protect their interests, as it was in 1971. I've included the acoustic version to distance this beautiful song as far from the candle carrying mob that I possibly can. </div>
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<b>9. Watching the Wheels (1980)</b></div>
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In the middle of the punk revolution in 1977 England, NME published an edition which featured John Lennon in Hamburg on the cover. The caption read: "Oh no, not another angry punk dressed in leather on the cover...which reminds us...where the hell are you John Lennon?". NME, and the UK wanted Lennon back, they <i>needed </i>him. His answer 3 years later was "Watching the Wheels". The song was the final installment in a career of self searching and self yearning that began with the pained "There's A Place" in 1963. It was followed through with "I'll Be Back", "I'll Cry Instead", "I'm A Loser", "Help!", "In My Life", "I'm Only Sleeping", "Good Morning, Good Morning", "I'm So Tired", "The Ballad Of John And Yoko", "Don't Let Me Down", "Mother", "God", "Working Class Hero", "My Mummy's Dead", "Crippled Inside", "How?" and culminated in "Watching the Wheels", "Woman" and "Just Like Starting Over". Placed chronologically, you can almost trace Lennon's life through his introspective habit of writing about what he knew best; himself. "Watching the Wheels" seemingly finds him at peace, two months before his death.</div>
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<b>8. I Should Have Known Better (1964)</b></div>
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My own personal favourite from the giddy, bright and optimistic soundtrack to Beatlemania, and the endless possibilities of post-war Europe now that the future belonged to war-babies and not their warring, scrounging, sensible parents. It couldn't last alas, but this fabulous pop song is timeless in its simplicity. My 2 year old sings it enthusiastically, cutely muddling the words, but never the melody which seems to have him possessed. That's the point of pop music isn't it? If aliens landed and had an hour to absorb our culture, this would be the Beatles song I would play them. Sums the entire crazy 7 years up in 2 and a half minutes. </div>
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<b>7. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (1965)</b><br />
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Forget the perpetual stories about sitars and which female Lennon was referring to. Who really cares? What matters here is the sound of Lennon, and the Beatles' coming of age. Possibly the most beautiful acoustic intro sequence ever captured on tape. That Gibson is so rich, so lush. The strumming deliberately held back, escaping from its waltz-like structure through an enthusiastic accent at just the perfect moment. Rhythm guitar playing is an art, here in the hands of one its greatest masters, it can be heard at its best. </div>
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<b>6. Tomorrow Never Knows (1966)</b><br />
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Although this is the manic track that winds up <i>Revolver</i>, providing a perfect cliff hanger, and the missing link that bridges <i>Revolver </i>and <i>Sgt Peppers;</i> this was actually the first song recorded for the album. How they found the energy and enthusiasm for the rest of <i>Revolver </i>after recording this amazing feat of experimentation is a wonder indeed. Sampling, tape loops, and thundering break-beats were all pioneered with this recording. How sneaky of the Beatles to discover and then discard 'Drum n Bass', 20 years before it was 'invented'!</div>
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<b>5. She Said, She Said (1966)</b><br />
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Again, a point of opinion on whether this is <i>Revolver's </i>greatest track or not, I've included it because, personally I think its the Fab's coolest albums' coolest track. It's <i>effortlessly </i>cool. And all the more so because while every other track on <i>Revolver </i>was painstakingly and expensively created over months and months, "She Said, She Said" was laid down on the last night of mixing as an afterthought. Interestingly McCartney does not appear on the track at all; Harrison plays bass. Now, I never suggested that's why it might be so bloody cool, you thought that in your own head! </div>
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<b>4. A Day In The Life (1967)</b><br />
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Another lyrical Lennon trawl through his life of (dis)content in The City of London 'stockbroker belt', even the song's title betrays its origins; a narrative of his post-touring life (reading papers, reading film scripts, reading papers). So much has been documented about the recording of this incredibly beautiful pop song that to regurgitate it all here would be completely predictable and boring. McCartney provides the light relief, and the song wouldn't be the same without it. Starr provides lead drums, roadie Malcolm Evans is on alarm clock and countdown, and several pianos were used to create the crashing E chord at the end. Picture George Martin squirming as he told the 40 piece orchestra that he could give them the lowest note, and the highest note, but that in between, it was every man for himself<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. "Of course, they all looked at me as though I were completely mad" </span></div>
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<b>3. I Am The Walrus (1967)</b><br />
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Conscious of the fact that his old grammar school (which had told him he would amount to nothing) was discussing his lyrics in English classes, Lennon set about composing these Lewis-Carroll inspired lyrics over the course of several acid trips. The anti-establishment lyrics are one thing, the aural landscape they are set within is another. George Martin always maintained that recording a song was like painting a picture in sound. If so, this ranks among the strangest works of Dali. The track contains a darkness and intensity that is unmatched in the entire Beatles catalogue. This is Lennon at his creative Beatles peak. The slope from this point on was ever so slightly downward.</div>
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<b>2. Strawberry Fields Forever (1967)</b><br />
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I'm going to leave this one alone and let you enjoy it. I don't want to spoil it. There is nothing I could possibly say which could further enhance it. Pop music becoming high brow art becoming pop music. </div>
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<b>1. God (1970)</b><br />
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God is a concept, by which we measure, our pain.<br />
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This is not my personal favourite Lennon song. However, I'm awarding this my number one spot purely because the song contains a revolutionary lyric. The type of vitriolic denunciation contained in Lennon's lyric was previously the privilege of religious leaders, senate hearings, state departments or despotic dictators. As much as popular music had progressed by 1970, this type of honesty and scathing criticism of the failures of the apparent 'progress' of the past 6 years had never been seen or heard before. Lennon not only denounces his friends and the Beatles themselves (sharp intake of breath through teeth), he condemns organised religion, spirituality, politics, the far right, liberalism, and the entire counter culture movement itself. His prognosis accompanied by some tinkering piano parts a la "Love Letters" is that all that matters is you and yours. Everything else is irrelevant. This should be on every school curriculum.<br />
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And so dear friends, you'll just have to carry on...</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-68877253121662320452011-12-07T10:23:00.001+00:002011-12-07T15:22:34.272+00:00Pugwash, The Olympus Sound<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Beautiful harmonies, sumptuous melodies, swirling organs, Mellotrons, chiming Rickenbacker guitars and beguiling chords all mashed together with shades of The Jam, The Who, XTC, ELO , The Kinks, The Small Faces, The Beach Boys and, dare we say it, Peter Frampton: who else could it be but Dublin’s own Pugwash.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLb2rIJxawIJK0qQ_w1WyRUCP8yW7yj0PMJt0cizT6YLcowpRaqBpv5yp9RLtTGxCgpJzpC3WViTI-iAt7_LC22kAgzCwnzc3rIX-ed7VWaB9UVIT8bNayhA8LLJFFtyOgFEqbU6HAesc/s1600/51gUOy-ZP9L._SL500_AA280_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLb2rIJxawIJK0qQ_w1WyRUCP8yW7yj0PMJt0cizT6YLcowpRaqBpv5yp9RLtTGxCgpJzpC3WViTI-iAt7_LC22kAgzCwnzc3rIX-ed7VWaB9UVIT8bNayhA8LLJFFtyOgFEqbU6HAesc/s1600/51gUOy-ZP9L._SL500_AA280_.jpg" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">The Olympus Sound, released in August 2011, is the fifth offering from Pugwash front man/songwriter Thomas Walsh, and follows Almond Tea (1999), Almanac </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;">(2002), Jollity (2005), and Eleven Modern Antiquities (2009). Pugwash have always been something of an oddity, crafting intelligent and honest retro pop within a city, indeed a country, which cares little for the genre.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">The Irish music scene has produced some wonderful pop groups over the last few decades, but few have been able to carve out a successful mainstream career with its financial rewards. Such success seems all too easy for rock bands who take themselves too seriously, or artists with a traditional music variable who can rely on a heavy appeal to a pre-conditioned population. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Ireland simply doesn’t have a huge tradition in pop, which is not surprising given the special hold trad has within and without the major towns and cities. This is compounded by the damaging and one-dimensional legacy which followed on the success of the country’s major international rock acts throughout the ‘70s/’80s/’90s and beyond. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">"Dublin Is Dead" was the controversial slogan of one of Dublin’s few indie acts of the mid 90s. The city, and the country has however undergone a regeneration of sorts over the past 10-15 years, producing an eclectic array of pop acts which, while hardly rivalling the output of any major UK city, has still been a vast improvement on its sometimes dull musical past.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Over the past 12 years, Thomas Walsh and Pugwash have been at the core of this renaissance. Walsh, like many purveyors of his particular brand of classic pop (what some call "power pop") was weaned on the giants of the genre: The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Kinks, ELO, and XTC.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">It was his discovery that Andy Partridge of XTC composed in his garden shed which led Walsh to erecting a wooden shed in his parents' back garden, filling it with cheap recording devices and instruments and running a power cable from his home in Drimnagh to his new abode. It was in this same shed that Walsh spent 10,000 hours learning his craft and amassing a wealth of demo tapes.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">These tapes eventually led to his discovery by US producer Kim Fowley and hitting the touring circuit with Belfast singer/songwriter Andy White.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Walsh formed Pugwash in 1997, and their debut Almond Tea was released in 1999. Twelve years on, The Olympus Sound and its first single "Fall Down" finds Walsh in familiar pop territory (albeit with a more accomplished and mature sound), but still short of the mainstream success which you would expect this style and calibre of music to deliver. Walsh, thankfully, prefers to focus on what he has than what he has not. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Commercial success may have eluded him thus far, but Walsh has never been short of critical acclaim. In fact the list of heavyweights who have heaped praise on his talent is, frankly, intimidating. Walsh met his idol Brian Wilson in 2005 following the release of the band's third album Jollity. The album contained the track "It’s Nice To Be Nice" which was a sublime homage to Wilson’s Beach Boys, and unsurprisingly, it caught Wilson's attention.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Not content with the praise of one idol ringing in his ear, Walsh next caught the attention of and befriended Andy Partridge of XTC, who called Walsh "the saviour of modern pop." Walsh is a rich man indeed. His interest in XTC has been long and formative, with Walsh declaring that the group's 1986 release Skylarking "changed my life." </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Partridge signed Pugwash to his own label in 2009, and has even composed with Walsh. Their close friendship and Partridge’s high regard for the Dubliner's talent is evident in his remark that Walsh is "better than McCartney; fatter than Lennon". </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Walsh however got his closest brush with the high-rollers and mainstream success following his collaboration with The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, and their cricket-themed work, The Duckworth Lewis Method (2009). Walsh was nominated for an Ivor Novello award for his contribution.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Following this project, Pugwash returned to the studio and the result is The Olympus Sound. Again, and unsurprisingly, Walsh’s influences shine through on the 12 tracks.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">"Answers On A Postcard" contains some wonderful Beach Boys harmonies, and a syncopated rhythm section which is more than a nod to "Good Vibrations." This single also contains swirling, hurdy-gurdy organs a la The Small Faces and an opening that evokes the intro of The Who’s "Out In The Street." "There You Are’" contains shades of XTC and ELO, with a little of what The Who might like sound like if they’d been tamed by a spell in Borstal. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">The beautiful "To The Warmth of You" plants Walsh in XTC heaven, and could easily be an outtake from Skylarking itself, while a comparison with Paul McCartney’s Chaos And Creation In The Backyard seems fitting. The albums’ second single "Fall Down" is probably its strongest commercial track, sounding just a little like the late output of George Harrison; particularly the Jeff Lynne-stamped solo. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">"Dear Belinda" and "I Don’t Like It But I’ve Gotta Do It" return to XTC territory a la Skylarking while "15 Kilocycle Tone" sounds like earlier Pugwash, with a beat borrowed from Revolver’s "Tomorrow Never Knows." "Such Beauty Thrown Away" and "Four Days" mirror Wilson once again, while "Be My Friend A While" is inescapably ELO. "Here We Go Round Again" is a sublime nod to ‘70s pop, with a just a hint of Frampton in the melody, yet just the right amount of late 60s Mellotron’s subjected to more XTC-influenced vocal melodies and harmonies.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">The Olympus Sound is, overall, more tightly produced, somehow more compressed than its predecessors, with a palpable lack of the brightness of "It’s Nice To Be Nice." But that darkness gives the album a maturity and consistency which previous Pugwash albums may have lacked. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Walsh may find the constant comparisons to his idols in his work grating at times, but the truth is that he weaves these into his own songs so well that he escapes their clutches easily. Like their Scottish counterparts of power pop, Teenage Fanclub, Pugwash may wear their musical loves on their sleeves, but Pugwash still sound like Pugwash. In a city that will barely acknowledge beautiful, bright, shiny pop such as this, they will always be unique. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Walsh isn’t fazed by his lack of international success. “If people are gonna remember me for something, it might as well be a beard. Some people never get remembered, so it might as well be a beard for me.” The Olympus Sound, the band’s four previous albums, and whatever Pugwash may still have up their sleeve ensures Walsh will be remembered for his honest and intelligent approach to pop music, and not his facial hair.</span></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-449418664039087142011-11-29T13:19:00.001+00:002011-11-29T13:20:50.951+00:00Remembering George, 10 years dead today, R.I.P.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DFquB0jz83-vSkwlMdVdW0DKP1UbH8NLbqsNb0WYzdwhr5f9-Fro60N7BOutP4N30MGKYNnqDFMZDEayx2ZCtRtUC8Gv7BuT8gZjqxJhJHyo-1FuLgM-23dtnAjBjuepSX8F1AHiL5Ov/s1600/r6422_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DFquB0jz83-vSkwlMdVdW0DKP1UbH8NLbqsNb0WYzdwhr5f9-Fro60N7BOutP4N30MGKYNnqDFMZDEayx2ZCtRtUC8Gv7BuT8gZjqxJhJHyo-1FuLgM-23dtnAjBjuepSX8F1AHiL5Ov/s1600/r6422_b.jpg" /></a></div>
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A goofy little game for you to waste a few moments on. How many song references can you find in the 'Free As A Bird' video? I can find a total of 25 (listed below). Have I missed any? I'm referring to songs only, and not albums or various other Beatle events/characters</div>
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1. 0:05 Photos on mantlepiece: <i>In My Life</i></div>
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2. 1:03 Strawberry Fields gate: <i>Strawberry Fields Forever</i></div>
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3. 1:14 Penny Lane:<i> Penny Lane</i></div>
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4. 1:19 Eggman delivery van: <i>I Am The Walrus</i></div>
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5. 1:31 Nurse selling poppies from tray and barbershop: <i>Penny Lane</i></div>
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6. 2:02 Happy Birthday cake in window:<i> Birthday</i></div>
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7. 2:20 Car crash scene: <i>A Day In The Life</i></div>
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8. 2:35 Helter Skelter Slide: <i>Helter Skelter</i></div>
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9. 2:35 Kite in air: <i>Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite</i></div>
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10. 2:42 Ladder to upstairs window: <i>She Came In Through The Bathroom Window</i></div>
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11. 2:50 Pigs in lane: <i>Piggies</i></div>
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12. 2:56 Man typing: <i>Paperback Writer</i></div>
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13. 3:09 Chairman Mao sticker on window: <i>Revolution</i></div>
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14. 3:11 Blue Meanie in chimney: <i>Yellow Submarine</i></div>
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15. 3:22 Woman leaving house getting into taxi:<i> She's Leaving Home</i></div>
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16. 3:22 Chairman Mao picture crossing road: <i>Revolution </i>(again)</div>
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17. 3:24 Yellow submarine passing top of street?: <i>Yellow Submarine</i></div>
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18. 3:31 Indian hunting party with elephants: <i>The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill</i></div>
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19. 3:47 Sgt Pepper drum and cutouts: <i>Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band</i></div>
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20. 3:58 Eleanor Rigby headstone: <i>Eleanor Rigby</i></div>
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21. 4:01 Old English sheepdog: <i>Martha My Dear</i></div>
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22. 4:04 Paul McCartney dancing on wall: <i>The Fool On The Hill</i></div>
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23. 4:04 Woman walking with suitcases: <i>She's Leaving Home</i> (again)</div>
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24. 4:05 Winding road to distance: <i>The Long And Winding Road</i></div>
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25. 4:32 Hard days night footage: <i>A Hard Day's Night</i></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-977627291766121182011-11-23T11:18:00.001+00:002011-11-23T11:40:10.504+00:00Would The Real Drummer On "Please Please Me" Please Please Stand Up?<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Most Fab Four fans are aware that "Please Please Me" was the Beatles' second 7” single release in the UK, and arguably their first number one record. The track, along with its flip side "Ask Me Why," was recorded on November 26, 1962, exactly 49 years ago this week. We all know that the single featured the now familiar line-up of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr on drums, and followed the shaky start of their debut UK single "Love Me Do." That track required a total of three drummers and three recording sessions to get it right.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZeuFU7lDVVyFvygonKPldJUtLxendqehqfwgCFdhYVgx5JuPUv4cSG-gocdODFkfNH0qUD1e6cA1m0NdgTU_jbYmPsWtHk3Zpfr0zAMZFwx27c2rIYXsZ8LLFkZ-AhYkMbfRyVSD4AKht/s1600/whitestarr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; height: 246px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; width: 401px;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZeuFU7lDVVyFvygonKPldJUtLxendqehqfwgCFdhYVgx5JuPUv4cSG-gocdODFkfNH0qUD1e6cA1m0NdgTU_jbYmPsWtHk3Zpfr0zAMZFwx27c2rIYXsZ8LLFkZ-AhYkMbfRyVSD4AKht/s400/whitestarr.jpg" width="400" /></a>However, the release of Anthology 1 in 1995, and particularly its inclusion of an earlier recording of "Please Please Me," introduced some confusion into the song’s history. The existence of that version also provokes some interesting questions which have, as yet, remained unanswered. From which recording session did this version originate, and depending on the answer to that question, who sat on the drum stool as it was taped? In the red corner we have Liverpool's own Ringo Starr; in the blue, Glaswegian session drummer Andy White. In the interest of historical accuracy (and Beatles geekery) we put this session under the microscope.<br />
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The stuttering start to the Beatles' EMI recording career between June and September 1962 witnessed the dismissal of one drummer (Pete Best), and the temporary suspension of another (Starr) in favour of installing a seasoned professional (Andy White) for the "Love Me Do" session of September 11, 1962. The fading memories of all involved have, too often, conflicted in comparative recollections regarding these early sessions.</div>
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Furthermore, the fact that EMI willingly destroyed the tapes and all session sheets after the recordings means that there is no existing evidence to study, other than the finished product itself of course. This is why the sudden appearance of an earlier recording of "Please Please Me" in 1994 is so interesting; here at last was an existing piece of evidence which could be compared with the final released version recorded on November 26, 1962. But at which early Beatles session was this earlier version captured – September 4 and 11, or November 26?<br />
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The official sleeve notes on Anthology tell us that the acetate (flexible plastic disc cut at the end of a session) dates from September 11, and various internet sources suggest this disc contains a catalogue number of E47852. This is of course the infamous session for which George Martin had hired professional drummer White, and during which the Beatles, with White on drums, cut the versions of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" which were featured on the Please Please Me LP.<br />
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The sleeve notes also suggest that the song was recorded with White on drums and not Starr. These details match (or perhaps are based upon) session producer Ron Richard’s recollections that Starr did not play drums at all that day. However, the appearance of the acetate in 1994 seems to fly in the face of these "facts," particularly as it conflicted with the well-known remarks of Beatles producer Martin.<br />
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Martin has always claimed that the group brought him "Please Please Me" on September 11, and that he had deemed it unfit for release at that time. He claims it was "very slow" and "very dreary." He advised them to speed it up and add some tight harmonies. The problem is that these remarks just don’t fit the rediscovered acetate. Anyone with a half-decent pair of ears can tell that this version is incredibly close in arrangement and performance to the released version. It’s practically identical in tempo, and is certainly not "very slow" in comparison.<br />
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All the elements (harmonica excluded) in the final released version are present in this earlier version. The song’s signature hooks are clearly in place as are the stops and starts, as are Harrison’s scaled guitar intro on each verse, his verse-chorus splitting riff, the call and response “c’mon, c’mon” of the chorus, and the busy drum fills which permeate the track. Most convincingly, the tight harmonies (which Martin claims to have requested) are present and accounted for in this earlier version.<br />
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So, is Martin simply confused, a victim of mixed memories in a head rammed to the bursting point with dates and sessions, songs and faces? Perhaps he was referring to the yet earlier session of September 4, during which "Please Please Me" was first presented to EMI in a rehearsal, but not recorded?<br />
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Surely we can turn to the established Beatles scholars for answers. Famed Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, author of the seminal and wonderful The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, attributes the drum credits on September 11 (including this attempt at recording "Please Please Me") to White, with no mention of Starr, aside from his tambourine and maraca cameos. Lewisohn was, after all, writing six years before the discovery of the earlier acetate version. His work was so definitive that its details have never been questioned or revisited, and pretty much every author who picks up the story thereafter falls in with Lewisohn’s production credits. John C. Winn in Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles Recorded Legacy also echoes Lewisohn’s credits.<br />
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Curiously however, critic Ian McDonald in Revolution In The Head: The Beatles Records And The Sixties, claims that the newly discovered version was actually an earlier take from the November 26 session which harvested the released version. McDonald seems to offer this alternate idea as an afterthought; it’s even presented in parenthesis. The problem is that he fails to reference it at all. A common problem throughout his book is the author’s replacement of fact with his own opinion, and this remark seems to be no different. Besides, why would EMI staff cut an acetate of an inferior and seemingly random take of a song, from an evening that produced the final released master version? It makes no sense.</div>
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It seems we are left to conclude that the rediscovered acetate was a cut from the session of September 11 after all, and the overwhelming written evidence seems to point towards White on drums.</div>
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But wait – the defence has just produced a star witness, and as his memories were recorded in 2005, none of the classic Beatles scholars have had a chance (or bothered) to depose him. Geoff Emerick, the young engineer behind the sounds captured on Revolver, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and so much more in the Beatles' later canon, was in 1962 a young EMI apprentice tape-op (button pusher to you and me). Emerick was present at the September 11 session (aged 16), and in his book Here There And Everywhere: My Life Recording The Beatles, he recalls that after White had recorded drums on "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You," he packed up and left. Emerick witnessed Beatles roadie Mal Evans setting up Starr's kit, and later the group’s recording of "Please Please Me" with Starr on drums. Thank goodness for that, because to be honest, the drumming style and feel on both versions seems just too close to be the work of two separate drummers, captured almost three months apart. Of course Emerick too could be wrong.<br />
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Occam’s Razor specifies that all things being equal, the simpler explanation is the most likely one. With that in mind, are we to believe that White, during a short three-hour session which involved recording three songs, had time to work out and rehearse a drum pattern to a song which he had never heard before, and which contained a complex arrangement of stops and starts? If so, that means Starr must have copied White's contributions verbatim, and reproduced them for the November session. Or, is it more likely that White packed up for the night with his job done, allowing Starr the opportunity to step in on an unscheduled attempt at taping a new song, one which he and the band had previously worked on during rehearsals?<br />
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Why should we really care who played on that particular track? I mean does it really matter in the grand scheme of things who sat on a drum stool in a room 49 years ago? Of course not.<br />
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On the other hand, as interest in the Beatles shows no signs of waning, and the growing number of new and old Beatles books stress-test the industrial shelving in Amazon's aircraft-hanger sized warehouses, I think it's important to focus on facts over opinion. Many of these Beatles books still retain glaring inaccuracies, questionable myths, and more annoyingly, journalistic opinion. It's important that we continue to ask questions and seek the objective truth behind the band's history, in the same way we would treat any other historical topic. <br />
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We may never know for sure who sat on the "beat-seat" for this early recording, but based on the available evidence, my money’s on Ringo Starr.</div>
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If you like this article check out the new <em>Please Please Me</em> album guide, available on iPad/iPhone and Kindle, from December 2011. For more details visit: <a href="http://www.dinosauralbumguides.com/">http://www.dinosauralbumguides.com/</a></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-44376993972013479892011-11-18T14:59:00.001+00:002011-11-18T15:00:56.777+00:00Please Please Me Album; Making of Documentary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-49457044350973925162011-11-17T19:16:00.001+00:002011-11-18T14:03:12.360+00:00Acoustic Trio Elevens Release Second E.P. Torn At The Seams<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Irish acoustic trio Elevens released their second EP, Torn at the Seams, at a performance in Dublin's Unitarian Church on Friday November 11th, or 11/11/11.</div>
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Elevens is the new project of former Sack frontman Martin McCann, who is backed on acoustic guitar and vocals by Tony Barrett (ex-The Brilliant Trees), and Mark Healy (ex- Jerry Fish and The Mudbug Club).</div>
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Torn At The Seams follows on the success of the EP Tender To The Touch, released earlier in 2011, and finds the group in familiar territory. McCann's intimate and melancholy lyrics conjure images of broken dreams and empty lives which are sublimely backed by a sophisticated blend of acoustic layers, married with various guest instrumental elements, such as violin on "Torn At The Seams" and soprano sax on "We Really Do Care"' and "Love In An Instant." These three tracks are joined on the EP by three more, which were recorded live in April 2011 at Dublin's Project Art's Theatre: "The Art Of Landing On Your Feet," "Dry Land," and "No Two Clouds The Same."</div>
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It's hard to put a foot wrong when you have the calibre of McCann's sweet and sentimental voice (said to be a favourite of former Smiths singer Morrissey) in your arsenal. The sparse arrangements, with the accompaniment of hand-bells, omnichord, and melodica, make for an unusually sentimental and reflective pop style (sounding very close to some early EBTG) which thankfully continues the recent trend of emerging Irish acts with a distinctly non-Irish sound.</div>
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The asthetics and acoustics of the Unitarian Church on Stephen's Green provided the perfect setting for a harmonious 90 minutes of music which set the tone for the release of the EP to a packed, albeit reasonably medium sized venue. Some clever usage of distant microphone placements enhanced the natural acoustics of the venue itself and the trio were joined on stage/altar by live additions of soprano sax and violin from Ciaran Wilde and Kenneth Rice respectively.</div>
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Torn at the Seams is available from Amazon & iTunes, and Elevens continue to promote the EP release on a mini-nationational tour of Ireland, playing Weds 23 - Cork -THE ROUNDY BAR and Fri 25 - Belfast - BLACK BOX (with Mary Coughlan).</div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&npa=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=wwwdinosaural-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=tf_til&asins=B005X5JCJW" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-59361324144457024662011-11-05T09:59:00.018+00:002011-11-11T11:40:20.957+00:00The Forgotten Father of the Music industry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On November 9th 1961, Brian Epstein, an unknown Liverpool record store owner, descended the dark and grimy concrete steps of The Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time to catch a lunchtime performance by The Beatles. That brief encounter 50 years ago was a watershed moment in popular culture which sent shockwaves round the world in a little over two years, turning the shy Epstein into an internationally famous promoter, and a rough and ready young local beat group into the most successful rock band of all time. On the half century anniversary of this fateful meeting of minds we take a look at Epstein’s life and career and ask how this introverted individual became a major music impresario. What was the main motivation behind making the leap from store manager to pop manager: a sexual attraction to his clients, a burning desire to succeed in the arts, or desperation to escape from provincial drudgery?<br />
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Today, the Beatles are arguably more popular and seemingly more relevant than ever before. The groups’ music and fascinating story holds an everlasting appeal which attracts and transfixes fans born years after they split in 1969. Yet, The Beatles modern profile is centred on the four core individuals of Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starr, with occasional focus given to the groups’ producer George Martin. Martin is often awarded the fans own Medal of Honour; that of ‘Fifth Beatle’, the individual or more accurately individuals with which fans and critics’ alike cite as the ‘X’ factor in the groups phenomenal global success and appeal. Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best, the groups’ original bassist and drummer, or Norman Smith and Geoff Emerick, EMI’s talented staff sound technicians often tend to crop up as alternative ‘fifth Beatle’ candidates. However these choices ascribe the groups’ success and appeal to a merely creative or musical variable, excluding the business elements which helped to engender their fame. Brian Epstein was the groups’ manager for the five years from 1962 until his untimely death from an accidental drug overdose in 1967. However his part in the Beatles story has faded since his death, overshadowed by the music and the legend.<br />
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Descended from Russian and Lithuanian Jewish immigrants who prospered in retail and manufacturing, Brian Samuel Epstein was born in Liverpool in 1934 and as a child was expelled from two schools for laziness and poor performance. In his teens Epstein informed his father of his intention to study fashion and become a dress designer; Harry Epstein overruled his sons dream and the young Brian was forced into a retail apprenticeship. During his military draft service and relocation to London Epstein’s sexual orientation began causing him problems. He was discharged from the army for impersonating an officer; a ploy to cruise bars in an alluring uniform, and on another occasion his wallet, passport, birth cert and wristwatch were stolen during a rough mugging which was commonplace for gay men who ran the gauntlet of ‘cottaging’ in public lavatories at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain. Upon discovering his sons sexual preference his father consented to funding Epstein’s enrolment at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art’s, away from Liverpool, where he plotted a career as an actor alongside classmates such as Peter O’Toole, Susannah York and Albert Finney. He soon dropped out however, later stating a preference for becoming a producer rather than walk the boards himself. After enjoying a period of self-exploration in a more sexually tolerant Barcelona he returned to Liverpool and took up a career in his father’s furniture store. When the family business added a music department to the empire, Epstein, with his keen interest in the arts grasped the venture with both hands and steered it to success with his flair for aesthetics and detail. Interestingly, Paul McCartney’s father purchased the family piano from Epstein’s store in the mid fifties. Epstein expanded the music department to incorporate the new genres of genres rock n roll and pop alongside classical and opera and as a result began writing a promotional column for the fledgling ‘Mersey Beat’ pop magazine, edited by an art school friend of John Lennon’s. Legend (perpetrated largely by Epstein’s own autobiography) has always maintained that a Beatles fan entered the store asking for a Beatles recording made in Germany, and that Epstein’s undying commitment to customer satisfaction led him to tracking the group down to obtain the record. However, this alleged event coincides with a period when the Beatles often loitered around Epstein’s store listening to, and perhaps even lifting favourite records to incorporate into their live set. In the autumn of 1961 he asked Harry to arrange a meeting, and so on November 9th he stood at the back of the Cavern and experienced the groups wild and frenetic rock n roll show on home ground. Epstein later created much of the legend surrounding that meeting himself stating that he was attracted to their style and image, their clothes, their look, and later their personal charm. His recollection was mocked cruelly in the 1976 comedy The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, produced by ex-Beatle George Harrison, in which Epstein is portrayed as bungling, homosexual pervert Leggy Mountbatten.<br />
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His motivation for offering to manage the group has been the stuff of hot debate for decades, and certainly there was no smoke without fire. Drummer Pete Best recalled how he politely rebuked Epstein’s request to spend a night with him, and his interest in John Lennon has taken on a legend all of its own. In April 1963 with the group at number one in the UK charts Lennon and Epstein flew to Barcelona for a holiday while the rest of the group relaxed in Tenerife. Naturally this pairing raised a lot of eyebrows within the group and beyond, even becoming the subject of a 1991 film starring Ian Hart; The Hours And Times. For his part Lennon maintained he was interested in observing Epstein hitting on boys, confessing that he and Epstein had a pretty intense relationship that was never consummated. Years later Paul McCartney provided a much more pragmatic theory for the holiday, claiming that Lennon had an astute, political persona, and that he took the opportunity to get Epstein alone to impress upon him exactly who was the leader of the group he was steering to stardom. Tellingly, after they returned to London, the next and all subsequent Lennon and McCartney collaborations were accredited to Lennon-McCartney, instead of the previous format of McCartney-Lennon. McCartney was informed of the change by Epstein who batted away his protestations claiming “it ‘sounded better that way”. Lennon remained prickly about the nature of his relationship with Epstein and their trip. At Paul McCartney’s 21st birthday celebration months later, Lennon beat Cavern DJ Bob Wooler severely breaking his ribs and hospitalising him following a disparaging remark about his relationship with his manager. Epstein saved their respective careers by pulling out the stops to keep the story out of the press.<br />
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Despite an early awareness of his homosexuality and familial warnings of financial dealings with a Jewish manager, the initially sceptical group were suitably bowled over by Epstein’s charm, demeanor and his material wealth...they finally put pen to paper on a managerial contract on January 24th 1962 (which Epstein did not initially sign). Within five months of signing with Epstein the group became EMI clients; within 12 months they were number one in the UK and within 2 years they were number one in America. While he may have been attracted to the rough beat scene with its attractive young men dressed in provocative clothing, the Beatles among them, sexual desire is too simplistic and lazy a motive to attribute to a man with Epstein’s cultured intelligence and business acumen. His prime motivation was almost certainly a burning desire to achieve success in the arts, and escape the provincial confines of the working class north, and his father’s store. With the Beatles he found his calling, and he launched himself into the making of their success.</div>
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While the group, and Epstein himself enjoyed a certain amount of good fortune on the road to fame, it was Epstein’s stewardship, his vision and his steadfast confidence in his, and the Beatles abilities which allowed him to orchestrate what no other British manager had done before him; to break America with a British artist. George Martin stated that although he wasn’t musically sold on the Beatles, he had an instinct that they offered something different in contrast to contemporary pop chart fare. It was Epstein’s confidence and belief in his artists however which swayed him to offer them a recording deal when all others had turned them down. Epstein worked his contacts in the music industry tirelessly and when Decca records declined interest in the group he famously dressed them down stating; "You must be out of your minds. These boys are going to explode. I am completely confident that one day they will be bigger than Elvis Presley!” A laughable boast in those days, yet Epstein prevailed and his wild prediction became reality within 2 years.<br />
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Epstein also lent his keen eye for fashion and the theatre to the Beatles act, convincing them to ditch leather jackets for the modernist fashions sweeping London’s cafes and high streets and, within a year their suits and haircuts would ignite a fashion revolution which swept the world and was reflected in almost all aspects of popular culture. He coached their on-stage behaviour, encouraging them to play constructed and less chaotic performances, and to bow for the audience. Epstein’s mentorship was playfully mocked in the Beatles first feature film, A Hard Day’s Night; upon entering an upmarket club, the groups’ fictional manager Norman Rossington pleads with the group to behave in such a posh place, to which Lennon replies; “we know how to behave, we’ve had lessons”. These lessons’s paid off when the group landed in the US for the first time in 1964 and were greeted by an army of sceptical reporters who turned up to slate them. They were soon knocked off balance however by the Beatles behaviour and their straightforward answers to questions. The groups’ image and demeanour charmed and disarmed, but their acerbic wit shocked and alarmed, they were the perfect contrast; pop stars simply didn’t behave like this...and the media were instantly sold. Epstein had not stifled their personalities, but he had packaged the product perfectly. No doubt he stood in the wings at Kennedy airport and savored the fruits of his success.<br />
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After cracking America however Epstein had peaked. The world sought him out instead of the other way round. He was inundated with offers of business deals, films, concerts for obscene amounts of money and he took his eye off the ball as he built an empire of recording artists which brought him additional wealth and acclaim. As the circus that was Beatlemania ran itself, Epstein was faced with hard business decisions within an industry which could be unforgiving, and he began making mistakes. Critics, including the Beatles themselves, have pointed a finger at Epstein’s shortcomings and indicated that he was out of his depth, particularly his mishandling of merchandising. As Beatlemania crested and the Beatles presented the biggest marketing opportunity since Mickey Mouse, Epstein empowered Seltaeb to licencse everything from guitars, chewing gum, record players and toilet paper in the Beatles’ image. However he grossly underestimated the financial potential of merchandising and he struck a deal whereby Seltaeb took 90% of sales leaving Epstein and his clients with 10%. The Beatles cut was shared out only after Epstein deducted 25% of that 10% gross for himself. Epstein focused on record and concert sales primarily and publishing rights secondly. He viewed merchandising as a novelty venture which was beneath his esteemed perception of himself; it was simply not a serious business. Had he done his homework and investigated his nearest rival he would have found that merchandising netted Col Tom Parker and Elvis Presley $20 million in 1957 alone. By the time he realised his error it was too late. He dragged Seltaeb into court to renegotiate their deal but before that was settled John Lennon’s “the Beatles are bigger than Jesus” remark fatally wounded the groups’ popularity in the US, and the Beatles merchandising juggernaut sank beneath the waves. Epstein’s howler is estimated to have cost the group a potential $100,000,000.<br />
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As the group tired of Beatlemania and ceased touring in 1966, Epstein’s influence and relevance began to wane. His relationship with his boys began to harden and he found himself not only excluded but also on the receiving end of cruel remarks and jokes. When he once shopped for a title for his autobiography, Lennon cruelly suggested ‘Queer Jew’, unperturbed Epstein suggested a ‘Cellar Full Of Noise’, referring to their Cavern beginnings, Lennon retorted: “how about a Cellar Full Of Boys”. On another occasion he dared to offer some musical advice during a recording session only for Lennon to curtly remind him to stick his percentages and they would handle the music.</div>
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To counter his idleness Epstein leased the Saville Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue in 1967 and finally realised his dream of becoming a producer while he enjoyed life as a wealthy socialite, dining each evening on expensive meals and fine wines in London’s top class clubs and casino’s. However, his success, his wealth and his social status brought him little happiness in the end. Largely irrelevant to the Beatles new artistic directions, Epstein sank into depression. His gambling and drug habits spiralled out of control to such an extent that he spent the entire period during the making of Sgt Peppers drying out in rehab, checking out briefly for the albums launch before checking back in again.</div>
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As the Beatles were basking in their creative peak during the ‘Summer of Love’, Epstein was wallowing in his own lack of worth. On August 27th 1967 he returned to his London flat at low ebb having arranged to spend the bank holiday weekend with a party of rent boys who failed to turn up. Alerted by his lack of response and his friends’ worried calls, his butler phoned the police, who found him dead in his bed the next afternoon. The verdict was accidental overdose from a cocktail of alcohol and sleeping pills to which he had developed a dangerous tolerance. He was 32.<br />
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Ironically, seemingly surplus to requirements to the Beatles needs Epstein’s death precipitated the group’s disintegration. Lennon reflected in 1970 that he thought they’d had it when Brian died, he knew it was the end. He was proved right. McCartney, who held form for irritating his colleagues with badgering and demands of perfection stepped into the vacuum left by Epstein and immediately steered the group into the Magical Mystery Tour film, the groups’ very first critical failure. Attempts to manage themselves and others resulted in a civil war which allowed business sharks like Allen Klein to walk into their camp unchallenged. The bitter fallout from the loss of Epstein’s business shield, and in particular the revelations of the poor business deals and losses he had concealed from them destroyed the creative Beatles. The group were forced to become businessmen, a role they were shockingly unskilled at. Lennon was right after all; they needed to handle the music while someone else stuck to the percentages.<br />
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Epstein should be remembered for his great triumphs...and there were many. He managed to take a rough group of talented individuals, polish them, and against all the odds launch them into the international limelight to dramatically change and influence global culture throughout the 60’s and each subsequent decade beyond. He repeatedly thought outside the box when promoting his artists, seeking bigger and bigger venues to promote for bigger and better purses. His greatest triumph was perhaps the seminal Shea Stadium performance of 1965 which ushered in the era of the stadium concert, while his many other ventures at the dawn of the modern rock era helped to shape and influence how that industry would evolve. Epstein masterminded the British cultural invasion of America in the 1960’s, an act which profoundly altered the direction of rock music to such an extent that its shockwaves are still evident in popular music today. He was a man who dared to dream big and hit the jackpot... and yet found no comfort or happiness in his success. He was an influential mentor and guardian to his artists when required, he was a confidant, a discreet fixer, a banker, but most of all he was a man who needed to be needed. Incredibly he has yet to be inducted into the non-performers section of the rock n roll hall of fame, while George Martin was added years ago. This is an oversight which should be respectfully remedied immediately. Brian Epstein should be remembered fondly as the father of the modern music industry.<br />
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See more onlyanorthernsong work at www.dinosauralbumguides.com. PLEASE PLEASE ME album guide launches for iPad/iPhone & Kindle November 2011.</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7097564220291038603.post-25914482924463663122010-08-13T21:08:00.002+01:002011-11-07T10:44:06.111+00:00Hamburg: an apprenticeship in rock and roll, 50 years on<div style="text-align: justify;">
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August 17th marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles first performance in Hamburg,Germany, beginning a period that would not only define the band themselves, but also help to shape the 1960's and beyond. What really went on in Hamburg is the story of how five provincial nobodies became rock star contenders.</div>
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The Beatles career is often all too easily compartmentalised into periods of musical or social significance, and the bands early days are no different. The group in its various forms, graduated from Skiffle to Rock n Roll, Merseybeat to Beatlemania, and Folk Rock to Psychedelic, before reverting back to their roots and finishing up playing good old Rock ‘n’ Roll on a rooftop in London. It was to those Rock ‘n’ Roll roots, forged in the dockside cafes and bars of 1950's Liverpool and Hamburg that the group would turn to escape the madness of stardom. After all, in their own words, they were, at best, just scruffs, teddy boys...”a band that had made it very very big, that’s all”.</div>
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In August 1960, teenagers John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison left Liverpool for Hamburg, a rough and ready seaport strikingly similar to their own hometown. Travelling with them were recently acquired bassist and artist Stuart Sutcliffe, and drummer Peter Best.</div>
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Lennon, McCartney and Harrison had been knocking about Merseyside playing church halls, working men’s clubs and bus depots as a skiffle band from 1956, and aside from progressing to the finals of a skiffle competition in Manchester, they had scored little success. Without a steady bass player, and cursed by ever deserting drummers, the band may have eventually melted away into the obscurity of a normal life, most likely for careers at sea, as electricians or primary school teachers, but for an offer to travel to Germany. Hamburg was about to make history, Hamburg was about to ‘make’ The Beatles.</div>
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So much of this period has been covered in films and documentaries that myth and legend have often eclipsed the facts, yet this is a fascinating and significant period of the history of rock music which should be remembered fondly and studied closely.</div>
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So many vital components of what was to become the most successful rock band in history were assembled in this small and unsavoury city that its contribution to rock n roll should never be overlooked. It was in Hamburg that the Beatles played seven hours a day, seven days a week forging themselves into the dynamic musicians and songwriters that would explode in Britain in 1962. It was in Hamburg that the Beatles mop-top haircut was adapted, a look that was copied by every British invasion band who followed, and which permeated every level of western society for the next ten years, from school yards to Hollywood screens. It was in</div>
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Hamburg that John Lennon acquired his 1958 Rickenbacker 325 guitar, and McCartney his Hofner 1961 Viola bass, the two instruments which were to figure significantly in forging that early 1960's electric sound which was to influence so many other bands. It was in Hamburg that one Richard Starkey, AKA Ringo Starr first sat in with the Beatles on drums,sometimes with Paul McCartney on bass. So it was thus in Hamburg, and not Liverpool that the Beatles were born.</div>
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In fact the group changed their name from the Silver Beetles to The Beatles on the eve of leaving for Hamburg, and as a result the very first public performance by 'The Beatles' took place at The Indra Club, on the Grosse Freiheit, a seedy side street off the Reeperbahn, August 17th, 1960.</div>
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For five teenagers working as professional musicians, exposure to life on The Reeperbahn, Europe's premier red light district at the time, was to open their eyes and change them forever. Boys literally became men overnight. It was during this first trip that George Harrison, just 16, lost his virginity, and various other members of the band were involved in some particularly shocking acts of violence and depravity; mugging drunken sailors, knife fights on stage, stealing instruments, taking to the stage in just their underpants, and urinating from a balcony onto church-goers below. The entire group were evicted from the Indra club for being, of all things too loud, and had to be moved up the road to a larger venue. Paul McCartney and Pete Best were arrested and jailed for attempted arson, and later deported, while George Harrison was also deported for working as an illegal minor. All this took place against a backdrop of raw rock ‘n’ roll thumping along eight days a week, with seemingly endless sexual encounters with girls from the audience fuelled by a daily cocktail of alcohol and drugs, while Lennon persisted in deriding the German audience from the stage about their Nazi past. It was quintessential rock ‘n’ roll behaviour, before such behaviour was invented, the like of which would not be seen by the general public until the arrival of the Who, and it made The Rolling Stones look about as dangerous as Jedward by comparison. So if they tore it up in the capital of sleeze and sailors, why did the Beatles end up with such a squeaky clean image, while the Rolling Stones were perceived to be the bad boys of 1960's rock?</div>
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Brian Epstein understood that to sell the Beatles to a national and possibly an International audience, he would have to 'de-Hamburg' the group, to eradicate all of the unsociable habits they had picked up on the banks of the rivers Elbe, and Mersey. To do so, Epstein carefully suppressed the Beatles Hamburg days, which included bribery to bury pictures of John Lennon walking around Hamburg in his underpants, and a press story which was close to informing the British public how Lennon had violently and mercilessly beat Cavern Club DJ Bob Wooler senseless at his own 21st birthday. At the helm Epstein was so successful in his endeavours, that by putting a rough working class band into suits and steering them through a carefully groomed early career, he scored huge International success, and simultaneously paved the way for the British invasion of America. By ensuring that the Beatles lived up to the fabricated 'nice boy' image of his creation, his actions ironically facilitated the deliberate marketing of The Rolling Stones as the ‘anti-Beatles’ by Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Oldham would mould the Stones; middle class London boys, into the very rough and tumble image The Beatles had just cast off.</div>
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If one pivotal event in Hamburg defined the Beatles career, it was being contracted to record a single for Polydor records by Bert Kaempfert. After seeing them perform in the Kaiserkeller,Kaempfert booked the group to back another Scouser, Tony Sheridan, on a recording of ‘My Bonnie’. One dedicated Beatles fan on the scent of this elusive single recorded in Germany walked into a local Liverpool record store looking to import a copy. The man who took his order was the proprietor, Brian Epstein. Surprised to discover the group were not German, but local lads playing at the Cavern, and who frequented his store, he wasted no time. One month later they were contracted to Epstein, seven months after that they were contracted to EMI, and eight months later the group were number one. The Beatles were made in Hamburg.</div>
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The group finished their fifth trip to Hamburg on New Years Eve 1962. Those days were behind them now. They had a chart hit in the UK and 1963 would catapult them out of Hamburg and Liverpool into the national spotlight. The Grosse Freiheit, the German groupies, the dark and smelly clubs and the cheap booze had all served their purposes and were no longer necessary for the Beatles’ rise to international stardom. Those Hamburg days however, continued to shape them for the rest of their career. Klaus Voorman, whom they first met at the Kaiserkeller, designed the album covers for ‘Revolver’ in 1966 and the ‘Anthology’ project in 1995. Klaus later played bass with Lennon’s ‘Plastic Ono Band’, featuring on such huge hits as ‘Instant Karma’ and ‘Imagine’. Lennon later turned to his Hamburg days to record his 1975 covers album, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’, which featured a photograph of him on the cover taken by Astrid Kircherr during their first Hamburg trip. Astrid had been engaged to Stuart Sutcliffe, best friend of Lennon and the former Beatles’ bass player who had dropped out of the group and enrolled</div>
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in Hamburg’s College of Art and died of a brain hemorrhage in 1962.</div>
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Little is left of the original Hamburg the Beatles experienced, save for a plaque on a wall informing the passer by where it did actually all begin. The exterior of the Indra still exists, complete with plaque, although the interior has changed. The Kaiserkeller remains intact; still hosting bands and still selling cheap beer. Although a plaque also marks the spot, The Star Club burned down in 1969, while the building which housed the Top Ten Club still stands on the Reeperbahn.</div>
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Although the Grosse Freiheit has now taken on that tacky ‘Beatles tourism’ look which befell Matthew Street in Liverpool, visitors should remember that this seedy little street played a pivotal part in the formation of modern Rock music. Less than 14 months after stepping off stage at The Star Club for the last time, The Beatles stepped onstage at The Ed Sullivan Show in New York, in front of 70 plus million TV viewers. Known as 'the night that launched a thousand bands', that show was responsible for demonstrating to an excited youth that you could play electric instruments loudly on stage and that being in a band didn’t mean you had to have a band leader. The rest is history, and many a modern rock band, be it Oasis, Nirvana, or Kings of Leon can trace their ancestry back to that night. Arguably you could trace it all back to 219 hard days and nights of hedonistic sex, booze, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll on the Elbe.</div>
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Essential viewing, Backbeat (1994)</div>
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Essential reading, John Lennon: The Life, Philip Norman, (Harper Collins)</div>
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