I’m
going to admit something to you… Christmas music isn’t my favorite music in the
world. In fact, I believe all the years of working in the retail world over the
holiday season may have permanently soured me on a large percentage of the holiday
tunes that tend to be piped into stores from November 1st through
the end of the year. Though, there are a couple dozen tunes that tend to be
staples in my music collection at Christmastime.
The
Carpenters Christmas albums (A Christmas
Portrait and An Old Fashioned Christmas)
never fail to bring happy memories of childhood Christmases. It’s probably my
favorite Christmas album. Karen's rich and warm voice over a dazzling selection
of beautifully arranged Christmas songs, is a perfect cup of hot chocolate for
the season. There a number of lovely classic Christmas tunes, saturated in gorgeous
harmonies and a few medleys (which, I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for). My favorites
of the Carpenters’ holiday songs are “Christmas Waltz”, “Sleigh Ride”, “It’s
Christmas Time”, “Little Alter Boy”, and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”. Of
course, I absolutely adore Richard’s impressive piano solo of “Carol of the
Bells” and my favorite Christmas carol for many years was the now classic, “Merry
Christmas Darling”.
Aside
from The Carpenters’ albums, there aren’t too many other full holiday albums
that I even listen to, let alone own. I do enjoy The Partridge Family song, “My
Christmas Card To You” and included it as the opening track on the Christmas CD
I sent out one year (instead of Christmas cards). Judy Garland’s “Have Yourself
A Merry Little Christmas” from Meet Me In
St. Louis is flawless. There are a handful of Frank Sinatra holiday carols
that tend to play on my iPod in December and of course, Nat King Cole’s
rendition of “The Christmas Song” may be the definitive version of the song in
my book. I couldn’t exclude Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” and I threw in his
collaboration with The Andrews Sisters, “Mele Kalikimaka” in last year’s
Christmas compilation. I ran across a duet that Bing did with Judy on his radio
show in 1950 and while I’m generally not a big fan of the song “Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer”, I found their rendition entirely amusing – especially the
bit about Rudolph “smoking Chesterfield’s all the day” (a shameless plug, I’m betting!)
When I was a child, I loved Barbra
Streisand’s speedy performance of “Jingle Bells”. I also remember when I was
about 8, I loved Amy Grant’s “Emmanuel”. And of course, I dug “You’re A Mean
One, Mr. Grinch”. These days, I prefer Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmastime Is Here.”
And, true to the die-hard Beatles fan I am, I will always find time to listen
to Paul’s “Wonderful Christmas Time” and John’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”. But
I think my favorite Christmas-y tune this year may be the 1967 Beatles Fan Club
message, “Christmas Time Is Here Again”, complete with John Lennon speaking
nonsense-speak. :)
Whatever Christmas tunes you prefer to
listen to, I do wish a happy holiday season to you all!
Alright, so
it here it is. My official commentary on the Paul McCartney Concert.
Like
previously stated, Paul was amazing. He may have even outdone himself in the
previous Paul concerts I’ve attended (I’ve been lucky enough to see him three
times now).
It was a
chilly and rainy evening and traffic getting to the stadium was very slow, but
once inside… even the air was exciting. Covers and remixes of Paul’s music was
playing when we found our seats and every time the music stopped, the audience
began to cheer in anticipation for the show. It was about 8:30 when the man himself
stepped out on the stage and launched into “Magical Mystery Tour”. It was 4 songs later before I remembered that I
would probably enjoy the show more if I continued to breathe regularly. But
seeing him play “Junior’s Farm”, “All My Loving”, “Jet”, and “Drive My Car”… Honestly,
who has time to breathe when you’re so busy screaming and singing along?
He played
quite a few songs that I’d never seen him play live, including “The Night
Before”, “Paperback Writer”, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five”, “I’ve Just
Seen A Face”, “Get Back”, “Mrs. Vanderbilt”, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, and “My
Valentine”. Of course, he also included the standard songs like “Let It Be”, “Live
and Let Die”, and “Hey Jude”. He seemed to be in a great mood and his energy
was high. He did quite a bit of talking with the audience, taking the time to
read signs, finding out if the audience prefers “St. Louie” or “St. Louis”, and
taking a moment to soak in the audience adulation, since he’d not done a “proper”
big show like this since May. He also treated us to a slight wardrobe change
and even managed to get the audience to bark during a short call and answer bit
between numbers.
My view of the stage
After playing
“And I Love Her”, Paul gave Rusty a good natured hard time about flubbing the
solo – and made sure the audience knew he’d never messed up that solo before.
He even had Rusty redeem himself by having the band play that section of the
song again! Then during “Dance Tonight”, the drummer, Abe Labrioel, accompanied
the tune with a bit of amusing choreography. I, of course, shed a couple tears
during Paul’s tribute to John (with “Here Today”) and George (with “Something”).
And was pleasantly surprised to hear his rendition of “A Day In The Life”
blended with “Give Peace A Chance”. Then during “Live and Let Die”, the stage
was literally ablaze with a ton of pyrotechnic tricks – that even caused me,
someone who was expecting some sort of firework drama, to gasp in surprise. And
during the very last number, he took a bit of a tumble and despite the fact
that it surely had to hurt, he popped right back up, struck a pose and even
joked that it was a staged fall.
Paul’s energy
was unparalleled throughout the evening and his musical ability is still as
astounding as it was 40 years ago. To see someone at age 70, play music he
wrote decades ago with so much enjoyment is incredible. The love from the
audience was clear and it was just as clear at how much he loves the audience. It
was one of the most amazing nights of my life. So for that, I must say thank
you to the audience and the band for being so great. Thank you to my best music
friends for coming along and making it an unforgettable experience for me. And
of course, thank you to Paul for being such an amazing showman and musician.
Thank you for your music, that has given me so much enjoyment and helped me to
make some very good Beatle-friends. And thank you for all the memories. I love
you, Paul!
In honor of John Lennon's 72nd birthday, I decided to write another Beatle-y entry, this time about Abbey Road. Even though it is the last Beatles album ever recorded, it's much more optimistic than the earlier recorded Let It Be. I bought Abbey Road during the summer before my senior year in high school and loved the entire album immediately. There's a lot of different kinds of songs featured, jumping around a bit in genres, but still unified and strong.
"Come Together" I'm sure is a song I'd heard before I got the album, but I didn't really know the song. It kicks off the album forcefully with the bass riff and drum beat and John's whispered "shoot me." It's got a great, bluesy feel and typical vague, seemingly nonsensical, Lennon lyrics. It's a pretty great rock song and I love the ending with the repeated "Come together, yeah" and George's super-clean guitar. "Something" is, in my opinion, one of George's best songs. There's a fabulous bass line, sweet lyrics, a clean slide guitar solo and intro, lovely sweeping orchestral backing, and a very cool drum part during the middle eight (and love that descending part taken by the bass and piano). And I know I already mentioned it, but I love the guitar solo – and slide guitar does something to me I don't know how to explain! "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" was the song I most remember singing loudly in the car with my friends, driving home from school (the chorus is a bit anthemic, after all). It's kind of a silly song – and not one that John particularly liked – in fact, I don't believe John made any contributions to the recording, aside from making Paul laugh during "writing fifty times". The song tells the tale of a guy who bashes in the heads of anyone who he feels threatened by. I like the piano arpeggios leading up to the last verse. "Oh! Darling" is kind of 1950s R&B throw back. Paul does a pretty amazing scream-y vocal performance. John does a great job on the piano and the lead guitar is fantastic as is the drumming. Pretty cool bass line, too. "Octopus's Garden" is a Ringo composition that's a fun, happy jaunt. There's a pretty awesome lead guitar part, some groovy drumming, and I dig the piano part. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is a very bluesy Lennon song about Yoko, with just the same lyric repeated throughout the 7 and a half minutes and has a little bit of a jam session feel. Paul contributes some great bass lines and Billy Preston is featured on organ (and he does an amazing job!). My favorite part is the "She's so heavy" bit. I also kinda dig how it ends, a repeated guitar riff, cool drumming, and then an abrupt cut, ending both the song and side A in sudden silence.
The B-side of this album is so fantastic – and I adore it! I think part of what gets me so excited is that I saw a Beatle cover band do the entire B-side, with "fake George" playing all three solos during "The End". It was an awesome performance – but The Beatles do a tremendous performance here. "Here Comes The Sun" is the great George track that opens the B-side of the album. It's got lovely, optimistic lyrics, an exquisite melody, and some very interesting time signatures over the bridge (Dhani mentioned that the bridge is very reminiscent of Indian music). George had really come so far as a composer by this point. There's a pretty orchestral accompaniment – I love the deep, mellow sound of violas and cellos. George Martin played the harpsichord on "Because." The choir of Beatle voices is pretty cool and I love the harmonies – particularly Paul's line. The song was influenced by Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" – worked around the chords reversed. "You Never Give Me Your Money" was instantly one of my favorite songs on the album – and one of my favorite songs to play on the piano. I initially thought it was sung by 2 different people, since I didn't recognize Paul's "Lady Madonna" voice as his. I love how the song shifts through so many styles and moods. My favorite part is when Paul segues into the swingy part – and the bass line… and then proceeding into that fantastic guitar riff – George does an amazing job here! There is so much in this song, it's hard to believe it's only 4 minutes. It's still one of my favorite Beatles tracks. "Sun King" features lush, multi-tracked harmonies and a made-up language reminiscent of Spanish. It fades into a drum fill by Ringo and is suddenly "Mean Mr. Mustard". There's some great John-Paul harmonizing and a pretty great fuzz-bass line. "Polythene Pam" is a fun song with John singing with a prominent Scouse accent. There's a nice guitar solo by George before John's "Oh, look out!" and Paul's "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window." George does some more fabulous lead guitar work and as always, Paul's bass line is exceptional. "Golden Slumbers" is a song that Paul called "Trad-Arranged McCartney" since the lyrics were based on an old lullaby. Paul plays piano, George is featured on bass, and Ringo on drums. There's a very lovely orchestral backing too. "Carry That Weight" is fantastic with its reprise of "You Never Give Me You're Money" and more great orchestra work. "The End" is noteworthy for the featured instrument solos by all 4 members of the band – and Ringo's only drum solo on a Beatles album. Of course, me being the guitar solo whore I am, I'm captivated by the guitar solos. I was so proud of myself when, in 2002 after realizing that the solos weren't played by one person, I could pick out which solo was performed by which Beatle – Paul is first, George is second, and John is last with the distorted guitar. The solos end with piano chords and the infamous line, "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." "Her Majesty" is the hidden and final track on the album. It was originally placed between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam", but didn't work there. That's the reason for the rather abrupt beginning and ending. Paul is the only Beatle featured on this 23 second track.
All in all, it's a fantastic album that anyone who loves music should own.
In 1963, my boys had already had some tremendously impressive songwriting skills, chops, and contagious melodies under their belts. A Hard Day's Night is notably different though. Please Please Me was literally a run-through of all the songs they played live at the Cavern, all recorded in one day. With the Beatles was much of the same. Both albums definitely demonstrated The Beatles songwriting ability, but there were a number of covers included. (On a side note, I think "Twist and Shout" and "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" are 2 of the best covers The Beatles ever did.) A Hard Day's Night is the very first Beatles album comprised of only Lennon& McCartney material.
The instrumental landscape is graced with driving acoustic guitars, John and Paul's unmistakable voices and harmonies, Paul's characteristic bass lines, Ringo's steady backbeat and of course, George's ringing 12-string guitar. George's playing was so influential -- especially on the classic title song --that seemingly an entire generation of young guitarists made the 12-string a part of their arsenal.
The album (and film) opens with that explosive and instantly recognizable chord. And from there, we are taken on an exhilarating ride. Both Paul and John take lead vocals on "A Hard Day's Night."It is a primarily John written song and the title came from Ringo. John gave the middle bit to Paul since he couldn't reach the notes comfortably. "A Hard Day's Night" is an infectious rocker and a lot of good fun. Great beat, catchy melody, easy to dance to, love the guitar solo, and adore the screams. "I Should Have Known Better" is another super-catchy pop song with a bright melody and John demonstrating his talents on the jaunty harmonica line, as was customary in the early Beatles albums. The guitar solo is a bit lacking, but there's plenty of ear candy to keep me amused – Including double tracked Lennon vocals (and just a side note: Love the way he sounds when singing "When I tell you that I love you, oh. You're gonna say you love me too, oh". Those "oh's" totally get to me!) and appealing lyrics. "If I Fell" is a beautiful ballad with an unusual song structure. John and Paul were definitely growing by leaps and bounds in their songwriting abilities. There's no obvious chorus, just versus with a lovely melody, sweet lyrics, and fantastic harmonies by John and Paul. Considering how distinctive and different their voices were, they had an amazing ability for their voices to blend and wrap around each other, forming heavenly harmonies. "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" is, while not a well-respected Beatles song, I love it and have always considered it one of my favorites from the album. I'm aware that it's a "basic formula" song and that John wrote it as a throw away song and never cared for it, but it's so catchy and George's performance is absolutely adorable. I can't help but picture him in A Hard Day's Night, doing his little jig during the song. I love the Bo Diddley guitar part during the verses and I think my favorite part is when the background vocals come in during the chorus (The "Ohhh ohhh's").
"And I Love Her" is a classic Paul ballad – infused with a bossa nova rhythm. It has the typical, sweet lyrics that are customary of McCartney love songs. The middle eight is fantastic (though, there's some debate over whether John or Paul wrote that) and while the guitar solo does nothing more than repeat the melody, it is done on acoustic guitar – which I love! Also, I love the key change – some key changes come across as a bit unnecessary, but this one, I love. "Tell Me Why" was quite obviously influenced by the R&B styles of girl groups during this time. I love the harmonies used continually (but I'm a sucker for harmonies). It has a swingy, walking bass line, a pretty great middle-eight (though, it was quite some time before I understood what they were saying in the falsetto bit), and a fantastic vocal performance from John. "Can't Buy Me Love" is a brilliant anti-materialistic rocker. I tend to prefer the live version featured in Anthology, but there's no denying that this is a fantastic early Beatles rock song. Amazing bass line, very cool guitar solo (love the twangy sound of the guitar), and an incredible scream from my Paulie.
"Any Time At All" is another one of my favorites from this album and kicks off the B-side of the album. It's lyrics are upbeat, there's a very cool middle eight with Paul pounding the melody out on the piano, and I love John's shout-y chorus (with Paul singing the echoing "Any time at all" because, again, John couldn't reach the notes). John had said that this song was an attempt to re-write "It Won't Be Long", which I can see – But since I love that song too, it doesn't detract at all. "I'll Cry Instead" features confessional lyrics set to a wistful, country-western musical backdrop. It's a captivating, snappy melody and flies by. This song clocks in under two minutes, and to me, there just isn't time to dislike it. My favorite part is "Don't wanna cry when there's people there" bit. "Things We Said Today" is one of my songs. I love the duga-dum acoustic guitar intro and Paul singing harmony with himself. I think the song is interesting lyrically, with the future tense of the song and how "the present" is somehow the past. I'm quite partial to the middle-8 bit too and the change from a minor key to a major key. "When I Get Home" is another Lennon rocker. I'm finding that I really do like the scream-y voice John uses on these early rock songs. "You Can't Do That" is another song I'm quite partial to. Wilson Pickett inspired, it's got great jangly guitar, nice background vocals, and I like the stop-start of the "I told you before, you can't do that." And there's a pretty nice scream before John launches into a very Lennon-esque guitar solo. "I'll Be Back" is a nice piece of songwriting with rather poignant lyrics. My favorite bit is "I thought you would realize…" It's kind of an unexpected choice as an album closer, but I like how it ends on the promise that "I'll be back again."
What
can I say about Paul McCartney that hasn’t already been written somewhere?
Probably not too much, but I’m gonna try.
Paul
McCartney is my favorite Beatle. I think it was the White Album picture that officially hooked me. I remember after I
had gotten The White Album while I
was in high school, I was laying on my bedroom floor looking at the photos
included with that album. I remember looking at that picture of Paul (you know
the one) and thinking, “Okay yeah, he’s pretty good looking.” Of course, there’s
much more to Paul McCartney than a pretty face. He is an amazingly talented
musician, songwriter, entertainer… I mean, how many people have written such a
vast amount of songs that basically everyone knows? I can tell you, there aren’t
that many songwriters you can say that about. His voice is so extraordinary –
it’s distinctive, but so versatile at the same time. It’s pretty amazing that
he could sing “Here, There and Everywhere” in such a sweet voice and
alternatively launch into a song like “Lady Madonna” or “Helter Skelter”. There
was a time when I didn’t realize the same person sang those songs! And as a
musician – his bass lines were always melodic and distinct, he played some
pretty awesome guitar solos, he can rock on the piano, and can even hold his
own on the drums.
Anyhow,
I’ve recently had the good fortune to get tickets to see Paul McCartney in
concert – again! I’ve been lucky enough to have seen him twice before. In fact,
my first real concert was to see Paul McCartney. Let me tell you, that was an
amazing experience. I was able to see him towards the height of my Beatlemania –
with my best Beatle friend – and it was the most incredible concert I’ve ever
been to. Even the second time I saw him couldn’t compare. Also, up until that
concert, I really couldn’t understand the girls during the ‘60s screaming and
carrying on the way they did when they saw the Fab Four. And while I still don’t
completely understand the logic of screaming during the performance of a song
(how can you hear it if you’re screaming?), I do understand the involuntary
emotional response that happens being so near such a magnetic and charismatic
presence. I’ve never been a very scream-y person, but at the beginning and
ending of each song, the excitement just is too much to keep bottled up.
Since
I found out I’m going to see Paul again, I’ve dug up all of my Paul-related CDs
and have been listening to him and The Beatles almost exclusively. This is
something I haven’t done for about 7 or 8 years. It’s been interesting and
amazingly, despite the fact that I know all of this music so well, it still
triggers that emotional response in me. Giddiness, exhilaration, and a bit of wonder
at the awesomeness of the songs.
I
think my favorite Paul album post-Beatles is Ram. “Too Many People” has been one of the songs I’ve been constantly
going back to this week. I really love the song. The guitar, the drums, the way it builds… To
me, it’s a pretty great way to open an album. “Dear Boy” is another track on the album that
I tend to keep going back to. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m such a
sucker for harmonies, and this song is saturated with them. Absolutely catchy
melody, simple lyrics, and so many layers of McCartney, that one could almost get lost in it. My
favorite bit is the last 30 seconds of the song when there are all those parts
going on at the same time. Oh my god! It’s almost as good as a guitar solo for
me!I also must mention the fantastic
guitar riff in “Smile Away”. But really, the entire album is incredible. It’s
strange for me to think that this album was actually met with a fairly poor
critical reception – especially since it’s so well revered now.
Oh
well, before I close for now, I do want to say one last thing. While I am
definitely a Maccaholic, I don’t want you to think I play that stupid game of “who
was better? John or Paul?” I just refuse to play that game, just as I reject
any suggestion that the Beatles could have done what they did, been what they
were (or are) to millions of us, without George or Ringo. They all had a very
important part in the band and are all amazingly talented individuals. And like
Paul said in Living In The Material
World, “I always likend us [The Beatles] to four corners of a square.
People say, ‘Ah, well, John and Paul were the important ones.’ But I say, ‘No,
no, it’s a square.’ Without any of the four corners, you collapse.”
So,
be prepared for more entries about “My Boys”, but until then, I’ll leave you
with this:
I’ve been trying to write a post about piano solos for the last
few weeks and somehow, the number of songs I discuss keeps getting way out of
control. There are just too many awesome piano dominated songs to talk about in
just one post, so I’ve forced myself to limit myself to just a few songs that I’ve
been more partial to recently.
Piano is a very versatile instrument.It works with a number of different genres
and rarely sounds out of place. Also, I love how you can get such a full sound
with just the one instrument. While I don't have the same infatuation with
piano solos as I do with guitar solos, I do love listening to a really great
piano part. There are tons of piano dominated music ranging from the classical
pieces, to ragtime (Scott Joplin was pretty awesome, by the way), to jazz, to
early rock ‘n’ roll. The Beatles used it constantly in their songs (and there
are a number of great Beatle-piano songs). Queen and Elvis Costello are no
strangers to piano music – and Billy Joel and Elton John are known for it.
Fiona Apple has a large amount of piano driven songs, as well. There just doesn’t
seem to be an end to artists that feature great piano parts, which is why I had
to take a step back and re-evaluate before writing this post! But here are a
few of my favorites:
I’ve still been on an Elliott Smith kick as of late. I mentioned
in my last post about Elliott’s talent as a songwriter, vocalist, and
guitarist, but he also was pretty decent behind the keyboard. (If you don’t
believe me, search on youtube for Elliott Smith playing Rachmaninoff). One song
that I’ve been going back to lately is off of the album Figure 8, “In the Lost and Found”. It has a pretty nice ragtime-y
piano riff that I enjoy listening to. It’s not the most impressive solo, but it’s
catchy as hell.
The Carpenters also had a ton of piano songs – Richard is an
exceptional pianist with an inclination towards jazz influenced solos, though,
he’s no stranger to classical composers (the arrangement of “From This Moment
On” accompanied by Bach’s “Prelude in C Minor” proves that). And there are
quite a few Richard solo songs featured on various Carpenters albums, but one
of my favorite solos is from “This Masquerade”. As is Richard’s style, his
excellent technique is showcased with jazzy runs and a lovely variation of the
melody. Though, the tune “Flat Baroque” is a lot of fun to play – and his
tribute to Karen, “Karen’s Theme” is exquisite.
I have already mentioned that The Beatles often featured the
piano in their music – and after the band called it quits, the instrument
continued to consistently be featured in their solo efforts. I suppose the most
popular of these songs is John’s “Imagine” – and while it is gorgeous song – I’m
more than a little partial to the piano solo in the song “Out the Blue” from Mind Games. (I find this album is quite
underrated, but that is best saved for another post). While the piano isn’t
performed by John, but rather jazz pianist Kenny Ascher, it is fantastically
performed. Wonderful mixture of rock and jazz combine into this love song. And
the solo is amazing. Love the tremolo moments and the arpeggios at the end of
the solo. As for Paul, he constantly uses piano in his songs as well – and though
(again) there are a number of songs I’d love to mention, my favorite is
probably “Maybe I’m Amazed.” While Paul
was never classically trained as a pianist, he definitely can hold his own –
and the chromatic runs are so much fun to play! (Of course, the guitar is great
as well!).
Jumping ahead in time a bit, Ben Folds is a rather impressive
pianist. He has a rather distinctive style that I enjoy listening to. Since he
is a pianist, you’re going to find some pretty remarkable piano work in all of
his songs. My favorites, however, may be the songs “Philosophy” and “Landed”.
Both include captivating intros and catchy melodies and lovely solo work. In “Philosophy”,
I really enjoy the ending – particularly when he launches into a bit of “Rhapsody
in Blue”. And I always love glissandos on the piano and how the very end it finishes
with a crash of chords. “Landed” is really just a really beautiful song so I
wanted to mention it here. (Though, he also has an Elliott Smith tribute song, “Late”,
which I have learned to play on the piano!)
It seems that there are quite a few women in pop music who have
a talent at the piano and Carole King is one of my favorites. She obviously has
significant talent for songwriting – since she co-penned dozens of chart
topping hits through the ‘60s, but she can really rock on the piano. The song, “I
Feel the Earth Move”, off of Tapestry,
has a great, driving piano part and pretty rocking solo.
Another female who rocks the piano is from one of my favorite
bands, The Dresden Dolls. The Dresden Dolls is a “Brechtian punk cabaret” band
out of Boston. There are just 2 members of the band, Amanda Palmer on piano and
Brian Viglione on drums. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them live and they are
both amazing to watch perform. Amanda, as a pianist, is forceful and
theatrical. I highly recommend the album, Yes
Virginia, particularly if you like piano driven rock – or women who play
their instruments with an uninhibited passion. The song with one of my most
favorite piano solos is “Necessary Evil”. I feel like that solo just builds to
a wonderful climax.
The last piano soloist I’m going to talk about here is Billy
Preston. He’s well-known for his work on The Beatles album, Let It Be, but he had a few hits during
his solo career as well. “Nothing From Nothing” is a song that never fails to
put a smile on my face. It has a great swingy piano groove that is a bit reminiscent
of the ragtime saloon style of the 1890s. The intro and solo are both amazing –
and like I’ve mentioned in other solos, I adore the tremolo part. The other
solo of his that just astounds me is during his performance of “Isn’t It A Pity”
at the tribute Concert for George. What
I find so impressive about his organ solo is that he seems to be able to bend
the notes the way a guitarist or vocalist can do – a technique you don’t hear all
that often on the keyboard. It’s really a fantastic performance. (Of course,
Eric Clapton’s solo is up there too!)
I’ve been an obsessed Beatles fan for quite some time. For me,
nothing can truly compare to The Beatles. My obsession was kicked into overdrive in November 2001 – after hearing
the news of George dying. I decided in an effort to pay tribute to him, I’d
spend the day listening to Beatles songs… It didn’t stop after that day though.
Something about me – when I really like something, I jump in with both feet
and completely submerge myself in everything I can find that is related to…
whatever it is I’m getting into. When it came to The Beatles and the vast
amount Beatle-related material, it took me about 2-3 years to finally come back
to the surface for air. It’s strange because
I’d known Beatles music for years and found it enjoyable, but for some reason
in 2001, it hit me in a completely different way. I guess before I hadn’t been
really listening… This time, it was a whole new kind of experience. In fact, it’s
kind of hard to put into words, but getting into The Beatles in such a way… It
had a rather profound effect on me. A lot of my thoughts and feelings
on music seem to generally lead back to The Beatles.So, I started off listening to
all their albums (most of which I owned, but hadn’t listened to thoroughly),
watched their films, read the books about the band (Anthology is still the definitive Beatle book in my opinion)… Then that
following summer, I branched out into the world of Beatles solo careers.
Anyway, I could probably go on
for ages about “my boys”, but in this post, I’m going to limit myself to
discussing the first actual Beatles album I ever bought. Rubber Soul. I bought it while I was a sophomore in high school and
it’s still one of my favorite albums of all time.
Rubber Soul starts
with the twangy guitar intro of "Drive My Car". There is so much that
I love about this song, it's hard to know where to start. It's upbeat,
optimistic, and unforgettable. The lyrics tell you an amusing story that deals
with gender role-reversal. Paul is featured on lead guitar here (and what a
cool guitar solo he comes up with!) and George takes the bass line. I love the
piano on the chorus – and I love how tambourine is used almost continually on
the album. "Norwegian Wood" is mainly a John song, written about an
affair. The lyrics are ambiguous, but the story is interesting and ends in a
fire – which I find kind of amusing. There aren't many instruments used on this
song, just acoustic guitar, bass, tambourine, and of course, the distinctive
sound of the sitar. George played the sitar on this song – and I believe this
is one of the first, if not the first, pop song where a sitar was featured.
"You Won't See Me" is one of my favorites of this album. I listened
to this song on repeat when I first got the album and still tend to go back to
it. It's a pure pop song, but a great melody and includes some of Paul's less
optimistic lyrics. Paul generally has a very upbeat attitude in his songs, but Rubber
Soul isn't full of the happy boy-loves-girl sorts of songs. I love the
background vocals and the drums on this song are fantastic. Ringo really does a
great job – in fact, he does on this entire album. He really shines here.
"Nowhere Man" features some great harmonies and very Lennon-like
lyrics. Obscure, but something I think a number of people can identify with. A
typical McCartney melodic bass line also is present. Also, love the harmonic at
the end of the guitar solo. "Think For Yourself" is a George
composition with more fabulous harmonies. Love the bass line and lead guitar –
and more tambourine! As for the lyrics, George said they were "probably
about the government", but I think (like any good song) they can be
applied to a number of situations. "The Word" is another song that is
up there as far as my favorite Beatles tracks. Great harmonies, cool lead
guitar, very idealistic lyrics, and fantastic drumming from Ringo –particularly
at the end of each chorus. My favorite part is the last time during the chorus,
when that highest harmony part comes out. Great, great song in my book!
Besides, it's a hell of a lot of fun to sing along to and blast in the car!
"Michelle" is the only song I knew when I bought the album. It's a
very typical Paul ballad with a bit of a Parisian feel with French lyrics
included. I believe the "I love you/I want you" middle 8 bit was
contributed by John, and it's probably my favorite part of the song – I really
love Paul's voice when he sings, "I want you, I want you, I want you"
the last time. I believe Paul played pretty much all of the instruments on this
track – except for maybe the drums.
The B-side of the album opens
with a Ringo co-penned song, "What Goes On." It's got the
characteristic country-western feel that a number of Ringo's songs had. The
lead guitar by George is very Carl Perkins-esque. Random Beatles fact: In the background,
if you listen hard, after Ringo sings "Tell me why" you can here John
say, "We already told you why!" "Girl" is next – John
really has a lot of great ones on this album. Of course, when I bought it back
in the day, I was very innocent and didn't realize during the middle 8 they
were singing "tit, tit, tit, tit." I believe I thought it was
"dit." Anyhow, the guitar has a Greek sort of sound – love the lead
guitar part. "I'm Looking Through You" is another less optimistic
Paul – I think he was having trouble with Jane during this period. More
tambourine! Ringo plays Hammond organ on this track. I love the guitar riff
after the chorus (at the end of the chorus?). I have a number of "The Soul
Sessions" recordings and it's interesting to hear the evolution of this
song. "In My Life" is one of John's best ballads – and another of my
favorite tracks. Beautiful melody, tender lyrics, and John does a captivating
vocal performance. Paul does great on the harmonies and bass, Ringo's drumming
is superb, and of course, George Martin's sped up piano solo is very fitting –
giving a classical feel to the pop song. "Wait" is considered a
"filler" piece, left over from the Help! Sessions. I've
recently re-discovered it and I adore the middle-eight, sung by Paul, with the
driving guitar and drums. Good harmonies and more tambourine! "If I Needed
Someone" is another George song and shows how very much George had grown
as a composer since "Don't Bother Me" the year before. Great lyrics,
lovely harmonies, hypnotic guitar intro, and cool bass line (more tambourine!).
I like the bridge a lot, too. I think it's the only George composed song that
was ever performed live on a Beatles tour. "Run For Your Life" was
apparently John's least favorite Beatles song. It's John in jealousy mode, a
theme in a number of Lennon songs. There's a pretty cool lead guitar part that
has been suggested that it's John playing rather than George. It's not overly
apparent as Lennon or Harrison, so I'm not sure. It's not my favorite on the
album, but still a song I enjoy.
