Beatles Timeline: 50 years on

[Satchmo Distel]

Good podcast on Esher sessions:

http://somethingaboutthebeatles.com/...d-esher-demos/

[G-Man]

LOL, as the parents of our grandchildren used to say.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

By the recording of this set, only Paul is still really a Beatle.

And he's dead.

[G-Man]

It is also the last time Lennon is really a Beatle, arguably.

By the recording of this set, only Paul is still really a Beatle. George was set to leave, John wanted to, Ringo actually did.

The solo stuff put out by George and John at that point was not in competition with Beatles material yet, much of the White Album is a collection of solo projects, with the others as session players (if at all). There was some collaboration between John and Paul, notably on "Birthday".

By every account, the recording of Abbey Road was a greater cohesive group effort than anything since St Pepper's, though even then, John's attention was not, let's say, undivided.

[imp]

Thanks, SD. The request has now been registered by the appropriate Xmas authorities. I really like the White Album outtakes on Anthology.

[Satchmo Distel]

I'm thinking of asking for this White Album six-disc outtakes extravaganza thing for my Xmas, given it's my favourite Beatles album and possibly my favourite album ever. Will I listen to a disc and a half and then file it on the shelf to collect dust, like I do with most boxed sets I get for Xmas, or will I be entranced by genius through to the end of March?

I think the Esher disc is a keeper that you will go back to. The band is more harmonious than on the studio album and the playing has more vigour in some cases. It feels fresher. It is also the last time Lennon is really a Beatle, arguably.

The other out-take discs are like Anthology - meh in most cases.

[Sits]

I was glad to see Good Night made your listing. Ringo's best vocal, sounds like he means it.

[G-Man]

For a single album, making allowance for the formula of two George and a Ringo track, and cutting a few great John tracks (Bungalow Bill, Cry Baby Cry) to accommodate Paul stuff, I’d go for the following, though in a different sequence:

Back In The U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
I’m So Tired
Blackbird

Birthday
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long Long Long
Revolution
Good Night

[Lang Spoon]

But what would you cut? I despise bungalow bill, wild honey pie, piggies, rocky raccoon and savoy truffle... but everyone seems to hate Honey Pie, Revolution No9 and I love them. Fuck it, I even enjoy Don’t Pass Me By. Somehow the whole benefits from the shite.

[Prester John]

Is The White Album the 'Sandinista of the sixties'? Some of their best material but a sprawling mess of an album.

[Disco Child Ballads]

Interesting stuff, G-Man. Disappointed that you didn't include Fats Domino's version of 'Everybody's Got Something to Hide...'.

[imp]

I'm thinking of asking for this White Album six-disc outtakes extravaganza thing for my Xmas, given it's my favourite Beatles album and possibly my favourite album ever. Will I listen to a disc and a half and then file it on the shelf to collect dust, like I do with most boxed sets I get for Xmas, or will I be entranced by genius through to the end of March?

[Aitch]

And many thanks to Satchmo Distel for this thread:https://www.onetouchfootball.com/sho...cks-on-Youtube

Tanks to G-Man, too.

Thanks,

Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water thanking it
standing by the windows looking out
in our directions back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks we are saying thank you
in the faces of the officials and the rich
and of all who will never change
we go on saying thank you thank you
with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is

W.S. Merwin

[Sits]

Well done G-Man. Knew I'd miss it.

A remastered version of Helter Skelter came up on Spotify the other day. So much better than I ever remember it. Fresh and raw, never got that.

[G-Man]

And the White Album was out 50 years ago. To celebrate, here it is in cover versions.

[Satchmo Distel]

Two different Beatles compositions are No. 1 on different sides of the Atlantic - 'With A Little Help From My Friends' (Joe Cocker) in the UK, 'Hey Jude' (Beatles) in the USA. Yoko is in hospital and their unborn child will die on Nov 21st. IIRC this pushes Lennon and Yoko towards the heroin habit that makes him even more uncommunicative in the 'Get Back' sessions in January. 'Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins' is released tomorrow (11/11/68) in the USA.

[Sits]

Recording completed on The Beatles pending 22nd November release, and seeds of disintegration well and truly sown.

[Stumpy Pepys]

I think with Penny Lane, it had a rhythm and tempo that seemed slightly at odds with pop songs of the time and it still doesn't quite seem a comfortable fit.

If you haven't watched it, check out Howard Goodall's The Beatles: A Musical Appreciation and Analysis.

He goes as far to say the Beatles, particularly Paul McCartney, were up there with Mozart. And that they rescued classicial music from itself.

His deconstruction of Penny Lane is really interesting. It's quite complex musically.

[wittoner]

Superb lengthy piece in the latest "Record Collector" magazine about the making of the LP. One of the incidental points it makes is that it was "the Beatles" or "The Double Album" for a while. It was from about 1972 onwards that "The White Album" became the accepted common name.

[Jon]

I tried to get to see the 50th anniversary release of Yellow Submarine a few weeks ago but couldn't manage to get a showing.

As Serge mentioned upthread, they are recording The White Album at the moment (does anyone ever call that album 'The Beatles'?) It's definitely my favourite Beatles album. I've been listening To Harry Nilsson's Harry album (1969) a lot lately and any fans of the McCartney songs on the White Album would be well advised to listen to it. There's a great version of Mother Nature's Son on it bu also many of Nilsson's self-penned songs on that album could almost be outtakes from the White Album.

Talking of the McCartney side of things, I recently heard Peter Serafinowicz talking about his love for the McCartney lyrics in A Day in the Life and how he wished there were more of them, so he could he find out what happens after he gets off the bus. So he did his own version. It's great fun.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByU...JOcEhpNE0/view

[elguapo4]

It's easy stuff,there's so much about them to write about, SHOUT by Philip Norman is still the definitive work in my opinion

[Sits]

Or Dylan even. And he's had a lot written about him.

[Beatle Simon]

They'd already started recording the 'White Album' in May, and McCartney just fancied a break from recording. The falling out started when Lennon was taking Yoko to the recording sessions, and when they were filming the 'Let It Be' film in Jan '69, the tension is there for all to see.
I've only seen 'Let It Be' once in the early '80s, and was surprised to see how well they got on at the final rooftop concert. It was only years later that I came to realise that The Beatles were always the happiest when performing.
One of the reviews for the 'Mad Day Out' book states that he can't believe that a book has been published about what is just a photo session, but looking at the year of Feb '68 to Jan '69, the following recent books have been released:

Their extended holiday in India, Feb '68 to May'68;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Across-Univ...atles+in+india

The 'Mad Day Out', July '68;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles-Tom...es+mad+day+out

And two books about their final (42 mins) concert, Jan '69

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles-Roo...S0NYJS6PW8FW50

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roof-Beatle...EY4G233MACRV9Z

I can't think of any other artist(s) whose life/career has been broken down and analysed as much as The Beatles, not even Elvis.

[Satchmo Distel]

I thought they'd fallen out by then, but they seem to be OK in these photos. Yoko was apparently not yet surgically attached to Lennon's right arm although they had been living together since May.

[Beatle Simon]

This post is four days late, but 28th July marked the 50th anniversary of 'the mad day out.'

https://www.beatlesbible.com/1968/07...-location-one/

Its even got a book about it:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles-Tom...es+mad+day+out