the beatles

What’s the Most Hurtful Act Committed by Anyone In or Closely Associated With The Beatles?

Aug 312011

America?

What’s the most hurtful act committed by anyone in or closely associated wth The Beatles? It could be a recording, a guest appearance, a public statement, a private affair, an actual felony, or whatever by anyone in or closely associated with The Beatles. If you need examples of what it means to be “in or closely associate with” the band, this old thread may help.

If Paul McCartney‘s dispicable treatment of Hamish Stuart doesn’t take the cake, I propose that George Martin producing America may be the most hurtful act committed by anyone in or closely associated with The Beatles. When I learned, as a Beatles-obsessed boy, that he produced America’s big hit records I felt sick in the stomach, like I’d learned some horrible secret about a favorite uncle or teacher. I still feel that way.

Gun to the Head: What’s the Most Overrated Beatles Song?

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 262011

Picking up on what was most likely the most horrible feature ever proposed here in the halls… It’s like Dugout Chatter but laser focused and violent. It’s anathema to all that Rock Town Hall stands for. But the concept is simple. A question is posed. You answer it as quickly as possible with zero qualifications as if you had a… gun to the head. Ready?

Q: For you, what’s the most overrated Beatles song?

That is, what’s the Beatles song you know is good, that you’re not necessarily sick of hearing, yet you think to yourself whenever it comes on, You know what, this song is overrated.

I know there’s a gun to your head, but think about it: Your most overrated Beatles song should be a song that is by all accounts, even your own, actually a good (maybe even really good) song. It should be a song good enough that you once liked it—or still like it. It should be more than a great song that you’re simply sick of hearing. And finally, it should not be a song that you simply suggest is overrated because you hate Paul McCartney. In other words, don’t waste your opinion on “Michelle” or “Yesterday,” which I would argue are actually very good songs but songs that it is assumed we are too cool to have ever thought were anything but overrated.

Got me? My nomination for Most Overrated Beatles Song follows…after the jump.

New Beatles Album Released… and, Thanks to You, It’s Terrible!

Posted by hrrundivbakshi

Aug 242011

Yeah, yeah. The White Album should’ve been edited down to a single disc. Ho-hum, Yellow Submarine was padded out with awful George Martin instrumental garbage. Yawn, Let It Be was an EP at best.

Here’s a question for Beatles fans with BALLS: can you assemble a Beatles album — 10 tracks minimum, using only official album and single tracks on which at least half of the band played — that you would never listen to? One that you would actively dislike, and dissuade your friends from buying because it sucked so much? What would be on that suckiest Beatles album to never be released?

I look forward to your responses — especially yours, EPG.

HVB

The Alive Theory of Rock and Roll: Nilsson Schmilsson Considered

Posted by E. Pluribus Gergely

Aug 112011

Ever read that book Alive, about the Uruguayans who crashed in the Andes and were so desperate for food that they resorted to cannibalism? I suffer like that once in a while as well. Sometimes I get so hungry for something new to listen to that I’ll plop just about anything on the turntable, literally anything: The Damnation of Adam Blessing, The Beacon Street Union (Boston, by the way, is hands down the all time worst town for rock and roll), The Fort Mudge Memorial Dump, etc. It’s been ages since I’ve unearthed a single gem. There’s damn good reason why all those obscure psych bands never got anywhere. They blow. The world would be much better off if some kind soul would root out all that crap and bury it in a landfill. Too much precious time is wasted trying to find studs of corn in those turds.

About a week or so ago, I decided to call it quits with the whole psych thing to spend time with a bunch of records that did well on the charts but never made it to my turntable. Hence, my visit with Nilsson Schmilsson. Over the years, I’ve had the thing for sale at least 30 times. It always sells. I just assumed it had to be bad based on the fact that Nilsson was responsible for it. Simply put, Nilsson meant “dogshit.” For years, I told myself I wasn’t gonna get screwed by him again. I pissed away good money on his first two records based on the fact that John and Paul high fived the efforts. They were both yawners, filled with lots of neat sounds that didn’t add up to anything.

That said, I loved and still love “One” and “Everybody’s Talkin’.” How can you not think those songs are absolute winners?

Probably because I was too tired to look for anything else as well as the two winners cited above, I decided to remove the Nilsson Schmilsson ultrafloppy RCA Dynaflex disc from its jacket and give it a spin. What follows is my take on the thing:

The Two LP Set: Defensible Doubles or Twofers of Unearned Arrogance

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jul 212011

The following piece made its way up from the lp-jammed basement of E. Pluribus Gergely.

Once a month or so, I spend about 2 to 3 hours in my basement chopping up cardboard into mailers for my record bidness. Truth be told, that’s when I listen to music. When I’m in the car, it’s usually NPR. Sad but true. Anyway, before the chopping ensues, I head over to the stacks to pick something out to listen to while I chop. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up something like Electric Ladyland and said, “Too much work to get to ‘All Along the Watchtower’,” ‘Crosstown Traffic,’ and a few others.” Really, you’ve gotta have a Hitler-like ego to think you can keep the interest of any listener for more than a single serving.

After racking my brain for a good half hour or so, I arrived at the following list of essential double LPs.

Charlie Parker, The Very Best of Bird (all the Dial sides with just a few outtakes). And yeah, I know it’s like a greatest hits thing, but I’m letting this one slide because it’s the best way to hear all that Dial stuff in one shot.
The Beatles, White Album. Yep, it’s all great. “Wild Honey Pie,” “Revolution #9,” “Why Don’t We Do it in the Road”…absolutely necessary. It’s all over the place, and it’s my favorite Beatles album, probably because it’s jam packed with a lot of unexpected weirdness that works extremely well together.
The Rolling Stones, Exile On Main Street. Still on my list despite the fact that it dies after “All Down the Line,” the opening track on the fourth side. As I’ve stated before it’s the ultimate statement of “Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll.” The cover, the 3 decent sides, and the snapshots on the inner sleeves (especially those of Mick and Keef and Jack at the microphone and Keef finishing off a sandwich whilst having a smoke) make it the LP that mom and dad worry most about in your teenage record collection.
The Clash, London Calling. The ultimate statement of life-changing rock. Again, that killer album cover, 4 sides of doozies with only a track or two of filler, and finally…2 inner sleeves jam packed with the lyrics to all the songs. The revelation that Strummer’s M16-like yammering is actually on a ’63–’66 Dylan lyric level is mindblowing. And continues to be so. On a recent trip to Hellerstown to buy a bunch of garage 45s, I revisited London Calling for 456th time and still heard things for the first time.

And that’s it. “What,” you ask, “no Blonde on Blonde?” Hell no. I can honestly say I never need to hear “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” ever again. It goes on and on forever, which is most probably what’s behind the meat of the thing. Dylan most probably wanted the world to know that he was the first to be skillful enough to fill a whole side with a single song. You know what? Nice try, but it doesn’t really work.

“No Freak Out?” Again, forget it. Jam “Trouble Every Day” somewhere on side 1 or 2, leave out the second wax slab of Edgar Varese/noise poop, and you’ve got a real winner. Again, too much ego and not enough good ideas.

“No Beatles Live in Hamburg ’62?” Just between you and me, I wanna add that thing to my list in the worst way, but I absolutely and positively cannot defend 4 sides of monotonous mach schau “Red Sails in the Sunset” sturm and drang. My weakness? Anything “Beatles” remains utterly fascinating. I would read a 600-page tome by George Martin’s tailor should he choose to tell all.

As far as greatest hits releases are concerned, real thought went into The Beatles: 1962–1966, The Beatles 1967–1970, Hot Rocks, More Hot Rocks, and The Kinks Chronicles. To put it bluntly, no filler. Come to think of it, add The Rolling Stones’ Through the Past Darkly (that “stop sign” looking thing) to that mix and you more or less have everything found in Townsman andyr‘s record collection. That’s not an insult. That’s a high five. That’s andyr in a nutshell. No time for bullshit.

Who knows. Maybe I’m wrong about all this. Maybe some of you see Refried Boogie, the 40-minute second LP of Canned Heat‘s Living the Blues, as an argument for the existence of God. Needless to say, your insights are always greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

E. Pluribus

Last Man Standing: Non-Rock Musicians Known to Rock Music Lovers Primarily for Their Essential Overdub on a Rock ‘n Roll Song

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 112011

In honor of classical music trumpeteer David Mason, who overdubbed the legendary piccolo trumpet solo on The Beatles’ “Penny Lane” and who died today at 85 years of age, let us honor non-rock musicians known to rock music lovers primarily for their essential overdub on a rock ‘n roll song. I stress the importance of these musicians being known primarily to rock fans for their overdub to exclude an already legendary and likely known to rock fans non-rocker’s appearance on a rock recording, such as reknowned jazzman Sonny Rollins‘ solo on The Rolling Stones’ “Waiting on a Friend.” Got me?

Perhaps these musicians might say something similar to what Mason said about his unexpected claim to fame:

I’ve spent a lifetime playing with top orchestras, yet I’m most famous for playing on “Penny Lane”!

You may know these musicians’ names off the top of your head or you may look them up and list them here. But remember, this is a Last Man Standing competition, so don’t bogart that Comments box! You may enter as many entries as you like but only one entry per Comment, please.

UPDATED: Ever hear Mr. Mason’s famous “Penny Lane” solo in German True Stereo?

New Wave Skinny Tie Poseurs

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Apr 292011

Who among the following New Wave–era skinny tie wearers were Skinny Tie Poseurs and who were the Real Deal, Stylish Hepcats?

Real Deal, Stylish Hepcat or Opportunist?

If you don’t recall or are too young to have lived through it, the New Wave era of the late-1970s was when skinny ties were first brought back into hipster vogue by a generation of forward-thinking, backward-dressing musicians who weren’t comfortable with the wide ties of the late-1960s through mid-1970s. While The Clash sang about phony Beatlemania having beaten the dust, a number of their music-scene peers were embracing the skinny ties and suits that Brian Epstein and his tailor pushed as de rigueur among original British Invasion bands.

Goin' skinny!

It’s funny, to me, that The Beatles’ skinny tie beginnings carried so much stylistic clout because they were not skinny tie purists. Through the 1960s they would ride the vanguard of rock tie fashion: from skinny to bow to wide ties and eventually the cravat. Not that it really matters to this discussion, but as a boy I modeled my fashion sense along with each new development in the Fab Four’s Look, which explains why I’ve never moved past a deep preference for wide ties let alone developed much of a Look beyond what the band left me following their breakup. Continue reading »

Older Entries Newer Entries