The studio group who helped Boz Scaggs record the bulk of his hits in the 1970s, including "Lido Shuffle" and "Lowdown" would go on to form the nucleus of the band Toto. Jeff Porcaro, David Hungate and David Paich scored four Top Ten hits of their own with "I Won't Hold Back" (#10), "Hold The Line" (#5), "Rosanna" (#2) and "Africa" (#1).
In 1984, former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page founded a new band called The Firm with ex Bad Company and Free vocalist Paul Rodgers. Page said the group was to be a vehicle to show people that he was not a washed up drug user. In the fall of the same year, he was arrested for possession of cocaine.
Janis Ian got the inspiration for her hit "At Seventeen" while sitting at the kitchen table reading a New York Times article about a debutante. The opening line of the story was "I learned the truth at 18." Janis wrote the lyrics as "at seventeen" because it flowed better.
Five different record companies, including Decca, Roulette, Columbia, RCA and Atlantic turned down "That'll Be The Day" by Buddy Holly. Finally, Bob Thiele at Coral / Brunswick Records heard the demo and signed Holly to a contract.
In order to give fans a "gold record", the first 100,000 copies of "We're An American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad were stamped out of gold colored vinyl.
Lesley Gore appeared in two episodes of the TV show Batman in 1966. She played the role of "Pussycat", one of Catwoman's henchwomen. She may have had a little help landing the role, as Howie Horwitz, one of the show's producers, is her uncle.
Even though they have such strange names as Moon Unit, Diva, Dweezil and Ahmet Rodan, Frank Zappa once said that he believed that his kids would always have more trouble because of their last name.
According to the Amusement & Music Operators Association, Patsy Cline's 1962 hit, "Crazy" is the most played song on jukeboxes across the United States. It is followed by "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger and "Hound Dog" / "Don't Be Cruel" by Elvis Presley.
Years before scoring 1972's number one smash "I Can See Clearly Now", Johnny Nash entered a talent show in Houston Texas. He lost to a young Soul singer named Joe Tex, who would have a chart topping hit of his own in 1968 with "Skinny Legs and All".
Jimi Hendrix was hired as the Monkees opening act for their 1967 Summer tour. Unfortunately, US audiences had never seen anything like Hendrix before and booed him off of the stage. He quit the tour after two weeks.
According to BMI, the performing rights organization that represents, songwriters, composers and music publishers, Mason Williams' 1968 hit, "Classical Gas" has received more radio airplay than any other instrumental.
Before starting his run at the legendary Whisky A Go Go, Johnny Rivers hired a fill-in bass player named Sylvester Stewart. Things didn't go well the first night and Stewart was promptly fired. A few years later, he would re-appear on the music scene as the leader of his own band...Sly and The Family Stone.
According to guitarist Robbie Robertson, Bob Dylan's backup band resisted all conformity, even naming their ensemble. After landing their own recording contract, record company executives pressed them for a group name, but had to settle for simply The Band.
In April, 1967, the Greyhound bus company began offering a guided tour of what they called "Hippyland" in San Francisco.
According to producer Mickie Most, The Animals went into a recording studio at 8 A.M. to cut "House Of The Rising Sun" and 15 minutes later, the track was complete. With studio time costing the equivalent of $20 an hour, the song cost $5 to record, but would go on to top both the US and UK charts.
The set on which Rick Nelson appeared in the TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, was an exact copy of the Nelson's real Hollywood home.
Frank Sinatra once called Rock and Roll "The most brutal, ugly, degenerate, vicious form of expression it has been my displeasure to hear."
The musicians who backed The Chiffons on their 1963 #1 hit "He's So Fine" were all members of The Tokens, who had scored their own chart topper with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in 1961.
In the Fall of 1965, while the Four Seasons' "Let's Hang On" was a Billboard #3 smash, they also scored a #12 hit with "Don't Think Twice" under the name of The Wonder Who. At the same time, lead singer Franki Valli reached #39 with a solo release called "You're Gonna Hurt Yourself", giving him three Top 40 hits at the same time, all under different names.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Classic Album Cover Art - The Beatles Revolver
Revolver is the seventh album by the Four Lads, released on August 5, 1966. The album showcased a number of new stylistic developments which would become more pronounced on later albums. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous, folk-rock inspired album “Rubber Soul.” It reached #1 on the UK chart for seven weeks and #1 on the US chart for six weeks.
Revolver was released before the Beatles' last tour in August 1966 however they did not perform songs from the album live. Their reasoning for this was that many of the tracks on the album, for example "Tomorrow Never Knows", were too complex to perform with live instruments. A key production technique that was utilized for the first time on this album was automatic double tracking (ADT). ADT was invented by EMI engineer Ken Townsend on April 6, 1966 and used two linked tape recorders to automatically create a doubled vocal track. The standard method was to double the vocal by singing the same piece twice onto a multitrack tape, a task Lennon deplored. The Beatles were reportedly delighted with the invention, and used it extensively on Revolver and ADT quickly became a standard pop production technique, and led to related developments, including the artificial chorus effect.
Arguably the first psychedelic rock album, Revolver was praised for its musical experimentation--the Indian sounds of "Love You To," the Motown-inspired "Got To Get You Into My Life," the backwards guitar in "I'm Only Sleeping." "Tomorrow Never Knows" was the most radical departure from previous Beatles' recordings for its skeletal bass/drums propulsion enhanced only with tape loops (contributed by all four Beatles and added in the mix-down process), more backwards guitar, and an eerie John Lennon vocal. Add in George Harrison’s bitter, yet catchy “Taxman,” McCartney’s ode to the lonely "Eleanor Rigby," the upbeat songs like "Good Day Sunshine" and "Yellow Submarine,” Lennon’s ode to his dealer “Doctor Robert” and the vocal prowess of cuts like "Here, There and Everywhere" "And Your Bird Can Sing" along with the other cuts and you have, arguably, one of the best albums of all time.
The cover illustration is the creation of German-born bassist and artist Klaus Voormann, who was one of the Beatles' oldest friends from their days at the Star Club in Hamburg. Voormann's illustration, part line drawing and part collage, included photographs by Robert Whitaker, who also took the back cover photographs and many other images of the group between 1964 and 1966, such as the infamous "butcher cover" for Yesterday and Today. Voormann's own photo as well as his name (Klaus O. W. Voormann) was worked into Harrison's hair on the right-hand side of the cover. Harrison's Revolver image was seen again on his single release of "When We Was Fab" along with an updated version of the same image.
The title "Revolver", like "Rubber Soul" before it, is a pun, referring both to a kind of handgun as well as the "revolving" motion of the record as it is played on a turntable. The Beatles had a difficult time coming up with this title. According to Barry Miles in his book Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, the title that the four had originally wanted was Abracadabra, until they discovered that another band had already used it. After that, opinion split: Lennon wanted to call it Four Sides of the Eternal Triangle and Starr jokingly suggested After Geography, playing on The Rolling Stones' recently released Aftermath LP. Other suggestions included Magical Circles, Beatles on Safari, Pendulum, and, finally, Revolver, whose wordplay was the one that all four agreed upon. The title was chosen while the band were on tour in Japan in June–July 1966.
Revolver Notes:
In 1997, it was named the 3rd greatest album of all time in a Music of the Millennium poll conducted in the United Kingdom by HMV Group, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM.
In 2006, Q magazine readers placed it at number 4, while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 1 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.
In 2001 the TV network VH1 named it the number 1 greatest album of all time, a position it also achieved in the Virgin All Time Top 1,000 Albums.
A PopMatters review described the album as "the individual members of the greatest band in the history of pop music peaking at the exact same time,” while Ink Blot magazine claims it "stands at the summit of western pop music."
In 2002, the readers of Rolling Stone ranked the album the greatest of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 3 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It placed behind only the Beatles' own Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.
"The biggest miracle of Revolver may be that the Beatles covered so much new stylistic ground and executed it perfectly on one record, or it may be that all of it holds together perfectly. Either way, its daring sonic adventures and consistently stunning songcraft set the standard for what pop/rock could achieve" ~ AllMusic.com
In 2006, the album was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.
In 1972, Lennon offered some context for the influence of drugs on the Beatles' creativity (quoted in The Beatles Anthology):
“It's like saying, 'Did Dylan Thomas write Under Milk Wood on beer?' What does that have to do with it? The beer is to prevent the rest of the world from crowding in on you. The drugs are to prevent the rest of the world from crowding in on you. They don't make you write any better. I never wrote any better stuff because I was on acid or not on acid.”
I’ll have what he was having, to me, this album is one the Beatles’ best (right behind the White Album).
Music News & Notes
Hey Folks, 09/09/09 Today is Beatles Day!
The fourth quarter of 2009 for the music and video game industries looks like it's shaping up to be all about the Beatles. And both could use some "Help!" The video game industry has high hopes The Beatles 'Rock Band' will pull it out of recession and there is no reason why it won't, as a new generation is now discovering the iconic rock band.
It's been 40 years! The band, which released its last full album of original music in 1970, is the focus of the simultaneous Wednesday release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" for the Rock Band video game franchise, as well as the digitally remastered box set of the Beatles 13-album discography by EMI. Analysts expect a spike in video game and CD sales, which have been declining through the year.
For audiophiles the release of the remastered CDs in mono and stereo will be the first re-release of the Beatles catalogue since 1987.
"It's probably the biggest catalogue remaster that has ever happened," said Paul Bromby, EMI's senior marketing manager heading the re-release for the London-based company.
Today, 09/09/09 is music history!
Now, there are unconfirmed rumors about the Beatles' music being available for digital downloading...just in time for Christmas I bet.
Pick Up Your Beatles The Beatles [Stereo Box Set] Here:
========================
ANVIL CHORUS' new album, "The Killing Sun", will be released on September 29 via Rockadrome Records.
Nearly three decades after the group's formation and a couple years after their recent reformation, this legendary underground band unleashes its full-length debut. Consisting solely of newly recorded material from ANVIL CHORUS' early '80s heyday, it's destined to be the classic album everyone has long expected from this magical group. Led by guitarist Thaen Rasmussen and vocalist/bassist Aaron Zimpel, the group's integrity is fully maintained and should please anyone who has followed the band through the years or owned any of their heavily circulated demo tapes. A 16-page color booklet with liner notes written by San Francisco metal legend Ron Quintana (KUSF radio, Metal Mania fanzine) and cover art by Mark Devito (MOTÖRHEAD), packed with lyrics, photos and memories, complete this magnificent and much-anticipated release.Musicians featured on the recording include:
Aaron Zimpel - Vocals, Bass, Synthesizer
Thaen Ramussen - Guitar, Vocals
Joe Bennett - Drums
Phil Bennett - Keyboards, Piano, Hammond B3
Doug Piercy - Guitar ("Deadly Weapons", "Red Skies", "Man Made Machines", "Death of a Dream", "Tales", "Blade", "Once Again", "Such is Life")
Additional musicians:
Carlos Hernandez - Guitar (Death of a Dream)
Mark Bradley - Piano (Once Again)
Jon Simon - Keyboards (Once Again)
========================
POWERMAN New Release In October
POWERMAN 5000 has new music in the works and are hard at work on a new release for 2009. They have now revealed the cover art for the name album, which is titled ‘Somewhere On The Other Side of Nowhere.’ The album hits stores on October 6th, 2009.
In a recent interview Spider commented:
“We made this record with a clear vision and a purpose. We wanted to reclaim a sound we created and represent certain influences as only a band like Powerman 5000 can. While writing we would watch Godzilla or Ultraman films to ensure the sonics were on point. We knew that this record needed to sound like the footsteps of a giant robot!”
The album will be available on i tunes and all digital outlets as well as in CD format with a 12 page booklet.
==========================
Rammstein confirms artwork for upcoming single
The single, available exclusively via iTunes, is the first new music to come from the Berlin-based band in over four years. Having sold three million albums in the U.S. alone (and over 14 million worldwide), anticipation for the new album, whose title has been a closely guarded secret, is high with rumors running rampant worldwide as to the theme and contents of the new release. The album will be released in the U.S. via Universal Music Germany through a marketing and distribution deal with Vagrant Records on Oct. 20.
==========================
David Bowie Gets Spider Named After Him
Joining the ranks of Neil Young and Stephen Colbert, rock’n’roll legend David Bowie has had a newly discovered species of spider named after him.
According to a report from the Guardian, the new species of Malaysian spider has been discovered by spider genius Peter Jäger, who has apparently found 200 new kinds of spider in the last ten years.
Jäger says the purpose of naming the spider after the celebrity is to alert the world to its endangered status. "It is working against time," he said. "Along with the species, we are also quickly losing genetic resources that have evolved over more than 300 million years."
The giant, yellow, hairy spider has been named Heteropoda davidbowie, and yes, that’s him pictured up at the top.
No word yet on whether the spider is from Mars.
==========================
New Album cover art for "Haulin Ass" by Thunderhorse
ThunderHorse was formed by San Jose natives Pete Rice and Justin Estep. Pete and Justin met in high school back in 1992 and played together in the ska/punk band The Janitors Against Apartheid. After the Janitors broke up, they both pursued a career in electronic music and occasionally teamed up to bang out tracks. Frustrated with the lack of a rock/metal scene in San Jose, they returned to their instruments of choice in 2000. Both created names for themselves in the local music scene by playing in bands such as: American Avenue, Highcyde, A Life in Vain and If Time Fails.
As fate had it, they both ended up at the same practice facility and started collaborating in February of 2007. Always having been fascinated with medieval times they decided to make that the band's theme and settled on the name ThunderHorse. Missing that final component of low-end they found Manell "Ian" Menor in July of 2007 on craigslist. Ian's thunderous bass playing compliments Justin's loud, machine like drumming. Together, they round out the ThunderHorse sound.
Gary “80” Velasco, the newest member of ThunderHorse will be adding to the stampede, bringing back that duel guitar sound we all know and love. The combination of Pete’s crunchy rhythm and Gary’s triumphant leads bring the thunder to the horse. Taking from all their musical influences ThunderHorse has managed to invent a style of their own, creating a style of metal that will stand out in any crowd. Ian and Pete will also be sharing vocal duties now at shows. Stay tuned for studio versions in the near future!
========================
Bad Religion Reissues Coming (very limited releases)
Epitaph Records has represessed three of Bad Religion's classic early albums. The records include "How Could Hell Be Any Worse?", "Suffer" and "No Control".
Each album is limited to 300 copies and available directly through Epitaph's merch store.
"How Could Hell Be Any Worse?" includes the 1st EP, "Back To The Known" and songs from the "Public Service" Comp, similar to the 2004 CD remastered version, while "Suffer" and "No Control" are repressed on orange and green vinyls respectively
========================
Jay-Z Rush Releases 'The Blueprint 3', Announces Huge Tour
In the US...
Jay-Z has rush released his new album 'The Blueprint 3' after it leaked online.
The rapper's latest effort was due out on September 11 to coincide with the eighth anniversary of the original 'Blueprint'.
But as a result of the album's leak earlier this month, fans can now purchase the album from today (September 8).
Meanwhile, Jay-Z has also announced details of a huge US tour, which will begin in Philadelphia on October 9.
========================
Houston On Top
Whitney Houston's "I Look To You" is expected to top the pop charts this week, according to Billboard analysts.
The diva is on pace to sell over 200,000 copies this week of her new album… her first in seven years. She's competing with a new EP from Miley Cyrus, "The Time Of Our Lives" – a Wal-Mart exclusive initially set for release this week, but that dropped last Friday instead, selling 62,000 copies to enter the Billboard 200 at No. 3 on the current chart. Whitney's last album, 2002's "Just Whitney," entered the charts at No. 9 with 205,000 copies sold, on par with her expected numbers for "I Look To You."
========================
I'll Drink To That
American Songwriter magazine has published their editor's list of the all-time ten best drinking songs.
Drinking songs have been around since almost the beginning of time, at least in the annals of handed down folk music. They have been sung at parties, on sailing ships and at most other big occasions, especially where everyone knows the words and everyone can join in. Today, drinking songs have a very firm base in country, folk and blues music; however, the people at American Songwriter have not chosen any blues songs and only one from the folk genre. Maybe they drank too much and have forgotten some of the oldies (what about "In Heaven There Is No Beer or 99 Bottles of Beer on The Wall?) Can anyone think of any more that belong on the list?
1. Tequila - Champs
2. There's a Tear in My Beer - Hank Williams
3. Whiskey River - Willie Nelson
4. Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett
5. Gin and Juice - Snoop Dog
6. Brass Monkey - Beastie Boys
7. Whiskey in the Jar - Traditional
8. Red Red Wine - UB40, Neil Diamond
9. Chug-a-Lug - Roger Miller
10.The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) (An Evening With Pete King) - Tom Waits
This Date In Music History-September 9
Birthdays:
Inez Foxx (1942)
Luther Simmons - Main Ingredient (1942)
Doug Ingle - Iron Butterfly (1945)
Dee Dee Sharp (1945)
Freddy Weller - Paul Revere and the Raiders Also co-wrote the immortal "Dizzy" with Tommy Roe (1947)
Dave Stewart - Eurythmics (1952)
Macy Gray (1970)
Michael Bublé (1975)
Stuart Price - British electronic musician (1977)
They Are Missed:
In Springfield, Tenn., Bill Monroe died in 1996 at the age of 84. The vocalist, fiddler, and guitar player is considered the father of bluegrass music.
Born on this day in 1940 , Joe Negroni - Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (died on September 5, 1978)
Born today in 1941, Otis Redding - soul singer. Redding was killed in a plane crash on December 10, 1967.
Born today in 1946, Billy Preston - singer, keyboard player, some called him the 5th Beatle (died on June 6, 2006)
Born on this day in 1946, Bruce Palmer, bass, Buffalo Springfield (died October 4, 2004)
In 2004, US guitar maker Ernie Ball died after a long illness. In the late 50’s Ball opened the first music store in the USA in Tarzana, California to sell guitars exclusively. He developed the guitar strings called ‘Slinkys’ specifically designed for rock and roll electric guitar.
In 2007, founding Outlaws guitarist-singer Hughie Thomasson died after apparently suffering a heart attack at his home in Brooksville, FL. Thomasson, 55 years old, was also a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd from '96 to '05. He left for another stint with the Outlaws. "We have lost another one of our brothers to the Rock & Roll heaven," says Lynyrd Skynyrd in a press release. "We had many a good time writing and playing with Hughie and spent many miles on the road together."
History:
Elvis played at the opening of the Lamar-Airways Shopping Center in Memphis Tennessee in 1954. Johnny Cash was in the audience and after the show met Elvis for the first time.
The J.P. Seeburg Corporation introduced its Dual Music System Jukebox in 1955. It was the first ever equipped to handle a hundred singles and two song per side EPs.
In 1956, Elvis Presley made the first of three appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. He belted out "Love Me Tender," "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel" and "Ready Teddy." But what's most notable about this performance was that Elvis was shot just from the waist up, so that his gyrating pelvis wouldn't corrupt the nation's youth. Yeah, that would have done it.
US newspaper The Hollywood Reporter ran the following advertisement in 1965: "Madness folk & roll musicians, singers wanted for acting roles in new TV show. Parts for 4 insane boys." The Monkees were born.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono met in an art gallery in 1966 and his life (or the Beatles) would never be the same.
Sam & Dave's soul classic, "Soul Man" was released in 1967.
While working at Abbey Road studios in 1968, the Beatles recorded "Helter Skelter." John Lennon played bass and honked on a saxophone, roadie Mal Evans tried his best at playing trumpet. Paul McCartney recorded his lead vocal and George Harrison ran about the studio holding a flaming ashtray above his head.
John Lennon's Imagine LP was released in 1971.
The Eagles' "Witchy Woman" was released in 1972.
Jim Croce started a five-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1972 with 'You Don't Mess Around With Jim.'
In 1973, Todd Rundgren recorded a thousand of his fans singing in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for the song "Sons of 1984." The session ends in disarray after police arrest one crowd member for allegedly dealing cannabis. In the ensuing fight, 11 arrests are made. If you dust off your copy of 1974's Todd, the San Francisco choir can be heard in the left channel of your stereo. In the right are the voices of 5,000 fans Rundgren previously recorded in New York.
In 1977, David Bowie appeared on Marc Bolan's ITV show, 'Marc', singing a duet with Bolan. After the show they recorded demo's together which were never finished after Bolan was killed in a car crash one week later.
A Taste Of Honey started a three week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1978 with "Boogie Oogie Oogie."
(sad but true, people did dance like that, that could have been your dad dancing there - or me, I will admit to going to a disco, um, that's where the women were...yeah, that's it, the women, certainly not the music)
The Rolling Stones' "Beast Of Burden" was released in 1978.
The Who's final album with Keith Moon, "Who Are You" entered the LP charts in 1978.
U2 opened for The Stranglers at the Top Hat Ballroom outside of Dublin in 1978. The Stranglers took up two dressing rooms, leaving U2 to dress behind their amps.
Amnesty International's "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" took place in 1981. Sting played his first solo set as does Phil Collins.
In 1982, Al Green and Patti LaBelle made their Broadway debut in Vinnete Carroll's, "Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God." It opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York City. Both Green and LaBelle got rave reviews from both critics and the audiences and the intial performances of 30 were expanded to 80.
New Kids On The Block scored their second US #1 single in 1989 with "Hangin' Tough," (also #1 in the UK in 1990) Just proves that pop music sucked at the time.
In 1992, Nirvana's Chris Novoselic knocked himself unconscious during the MTV music and video awards after being hit on the head with his guitar after throwing it up in the air.
Aaliyah went to #1 on the US album chart in 2001 with her self-titled album.
An episode of "Judge Judy" aired in 1998 in which Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten appeared as the defendant in a case involving a drummer who sues Rotten for allegedly head-butting him in a contract dispute. No word if Judge Judy got an autograph.
In 2003, Sinead O'Connor released "She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty," which she claimed will be her final album. The double CD's title was a quote from the Bible and they stopped printing it becasue of a shortage of ink.
Also in 2003, Velvet Revolver - the "super-group" made of ex-members of Guns N' Roses and Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland - signed a recording deal with RCA.
09/09/09 - The Beatles: Rock Band video game is out on Wii, Xbox and PlayStation 3 game systems. The soundtrack has 45 songs along with previously unreleased conversations between band members from their recording sessions. According to a press release, The Beatles: Rock Band "[takes] players on a journey through the legacy and evolution of the band's legendary career."
Also today - The Beatles' complete studio catalog is issued in a box set to coincide with the arrival of the The Beatles: Rock band video game (see above). Updated packaging and liner notes are among the enticements. 2009
Inez Foxx (1942)
Luther Simmons - Main Ingredient (1942)
Doug Ingle - Iron Butterfly (1945)
Dee Dee Sharp (1945)
Freddy Weller - Paul Revere and the Raiders Also co-wrote the immortal "Dizzy" with Tommy Roe (1947)
Dave Stewart - Eurythmics (1952)
Macy Gray (1970)
Michael Bublé (1975)
Stuart Price - British electronic musician (1977)
They Are Missed:
In Springfield, Tenn., Bill Monroe died in 1996 at the age of 84. The vocalist, fiddler, and guitar player is considered the father of bluegrass music.
Born on this day in 1940 , Joe Negroni - Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (died on September 5, 1978)
Born today in 1941, Otis Redding - soul singer. Redding was killed in a plane crash on December 10, 1967.
Born today in 1946, Billy Preston - singer, keyboard player, some called him the 5th Beatle (died on June 6, 2006)
Born on this day in 1946, Bruce Palmer, bass, Buffalo Springfield (died October 4, 2004)
In 2004, US guitar maker Ernie Ball died after a long illness. In the late 50’s Ball opened the first music store in the USA in Tarzana, California to sell guitars exclusively. He developed the guitar strings called ‘Slinkys’ specifically designed for rock and roll electric guitar.
In 2007, founding Outlaws guitarist-singer Hughie Thomasson died after apparently suffering a heart attack at his home in Brooksville, FL. Thomasson, 55 years old, was also a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd from '96 to '05. He left for another stint with the Outlaws. "We have lost another one of our brothers to the Rock & Roll heaven," says Lynyrd Skynyrd in a press release. "We had many a good time writing and playing with Hughie and spent many miles on the road together."
History:
Elvis played at the opening of the Lamar-Airways Shopping Center in Memphis Tennessee in 1954. Johnny Cash was in the audience and after the show met Elvis for the first time.
The J.P. Seeburg Corporation introduced its Dual Music System Jukebox in 1955. It was the first ever equipped to handle a hundred singles and two song per side EPs.
In 1956, Elvis Presley made the first of three appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. He belted out "Love Me Tender," "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel" and "Ready Teddy." But what's most notable about this performance was that Elvis was shot just from the waist up, so that his gyrating pelvis wouldn't corrupt the nation's youth. Yeah, that would have done it.
US newspaper The Hollywood Reporter ran the following advertisement in 1965: "Madness folk & roll musicians, singers wanted for acting roles in new TV show. Parts for 4 insane boys." The Monkees were born.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono met in an art gallery in 1966 and his life (or the Beatles) would never be the same.
Sam & Dave's soul classic, "Soul Man" was released in 1967.
While working at Abbey Road studios in 1968, the Beatles recorded "Helter Skelter." John Lennon played bass and honked on a saxophone, roadie Mal Evans tried his best at playing trumpet. Paul McCartney recorded his lead vocal and George Harrison ran about the studio holding a flaming ashtray above his head.
John Lennon's Imagine LP was released in 1971.
The Eagles' "Witchy Woman" was released in 1972.
Jim Croce started a five-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1972 with 'You Don't Mess Around With Jim.'
In 1973, Todd Rundgren recorded a thousand of his fans singing in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for the song "Sons of 1984." The session ends in disarray after police arrest one crowd member for allegedly dealing cannabis. In the ensuing fight, 11 arrests are made. If you dust off your copy of 1974's Todd, the San Francisco choir can be heard in the left channel of your stereo. In the right are the voices of 5,000 fans Rundgren previously recorded in New York.
In 1977, David Bowie appeared on Marc Bolan's ITV show, 'Marc', singing a duet with Bolan. After the show they recorded demo's together which were never finished after Bolan was killed in a car crash one week later.
A Taste Of Honey started a three week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1978 with "Boogie Oogie Oogie."
(sad but true, people did dance like that, that could have been your dad dancing there - or me, I will admit to going to a disco, um, that's where the women were...yeah, that's it, the women, certainly not the music)
The Rolling Stones' "Beast Of Burden" was released in 1978.
The Who's final album with Keith Moon, "Who Are You" entered the LP charts in 1978.
U2 opened for The Stranglers at the Top Hat Ballroom outside of Dublin in 1978. The Stranglers took up two dressing rooms, leaving U2 to dress behind their amps.
Amnesty International's "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" took place in 1981. Sting played his first solo set as does Phil Collins.
In 1982, Al Green and Patti LaBelle made their Broadway debut in Vinnete Carroll's, "Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God." It opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York City. Both Green and LaBelle got rave reviews from both critics and the audiences and the intial performances of 30 were expanded to 80.
New Kids On The Block scored their second US #1 single in 1989 with "Hangin' Tough," (also #1 in the UK in 1990) Just proves that pop music sucked at the time.
In 1992, Nirvana's Chris Novoselic knocked himself unconscious during the MTV music and video awards after being hit on the head with his guitar after throwing it up in the air.
Aaliyah went to #1 on the US album chart in 2001 with her self-titled album.
An episode of "Judge Judy" aired in 1998 in which Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten appeared as the defendant in a case involving a drummer who sues Rotten for allegedly head-butting him in a contract dispute. No word if Judge Judy got an autograph.
In 2003, Sinead O'Connor released "She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty," which she claimed will be her final album. The double CD's title was a quote from the Bible and they stopped printing it becasue of a shortage of ink.
Also in 2003, Velvet Revolver - the "super-group" made of ex-members of Guns N' Roses and Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland - signed a recording deal with RCA.
09/09/09 - The Beatles: Rock Band video game is out on Wii, Xbox and PlayStation 3 game systems. The soundtrack has 45 songs along with previously unreleased conversations between band members from their recording sessions. According to a press release, The Beatles: Rock Band "[takes] players on a journey through the legacy and evolution of the band's legendary career."
Also today - The Beatles' complete studio catalog is issued in a box set to coincide with the arrival of the The Beatles: Rock band video game (see above). Updated packaging and liner notes are among the enticements. 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Beatles: Remastered
I would like to thank Bryan over at Delusions of Adequacy (http://www.adequacy.net) for the fine material and the exclusive rights to reprint it.
Imaginative, experimental, gifted, trendsetters, remarkable and simply special are all words that can be used to describe John, Paul, George and Ringo: The Beatles. They were all about making albums to thrill and love and terrific as they were, they knew how to make everything come off like it was the easiest music in the world to make. Beginning with albums that amassed as many top pop hits as possible — combining R&B with Doo Wop with Rock — it wasn’t long before they were blurring the lines of genres with their creative methods. And before you knew it, everything under the bright yellow sun had been covered by these four gentlemen from Liverpool.
This was always a band that knew how to make dizzyingly amazing music. And without repeating too many of the clichés that have been already stated, they are the most important band of all time, period. The Beatles were able to release thirteen of the greatest albums we will ever have the pleasure of listening to. And it goes without saying that their presence — both as musicians and human beings — has towered over humanity for the entire forty years since they broke up.
Equally visceral and eclectic, melodic as much as harmonious and honestly playful, the music The Beatles have given us will always be dearly thought of. Their vocal harmonies are unmatched, their capacity to treat the studio as another instrument has been copied by everyone from The Beach Boys to The Rolling Stones, their ear for all the good things in music was downright spectacular and their ability to combine each member’s talents and desires into these amazing bodies of work is utterly staggering. So this one’s for you guys, an expository look into the catalog of music you’ve blessed us with and before we forget, thanks for everything. – Bryan Sanchez
March 22, 1963: The Beatles – Please Please Me by Bryan Sanchez
Rushed to the studio, the entire album was started and finished in one day; along with a relentless touring schedule that spanned three years, it’s no surprise that The Beatles delivered an album that still sounds fresh to anyone’s ear. Producer George Martin hinted at recording the album live before booking time at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) where the band was recorded in an effort to re-create their excellent live sound. This created an air of significance in realizing that every take counted but it also established their imposing proficiency as musicians.
Courageously bold and fashionably energetic, the tightness of the band is on full display throughout these eight originals and six covers. Tender love songs like “P.S. I Love You” are equipped with countermelodies, clever vocal interplays and crisply stunning musicianship. And the boisterous fun of “Boys” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret” showcase Ringo and George, respectively, as equal counterparts. They left “Twist and Shout” for the end, to save John’s voice as he battled a cold, right? Or maybe it was to allow everyone in the band to let loose and shout for joy as they delivered one of the finest first-takes of all time. Who knows for sure but what we do know is that everyone else hasn’t stopped shouting for joy since.
November 22, 1963: The Beatles – With the Beatles by Bryan Sanchez
Wasting no time to place all of their limitless talents onto another LP, The Beatles returned with fourteen more songs of wondrous music. Following the same formula as their inauguration—employing eight originals and six covers—With the Beatles demonstrated a band that was growing by leaps and bounds. Beginning with some of the best songs to ever start an album, it also includes George Harrison’s first composition: the sultry and slicing, “Don’t Bother Me.”
It was at this point that people began to realize that this was a band to reckon with and for countless reasons: their impeccable taste of R&B and Motown placed the best possible covers on the album, their chemistry as a band was at the point where they could release multiple albums per year and each still be astoundingly fantastic but furthermore, those aforementioned covers now paled in comparison to the exceptional originals that they were crafting. For every gifted take on samba (“Till There Was You,”) there was also a gorgeous rendition of a cover (“You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”) but most of all, John and Paul really took to rivaling each other in terms of songwriting and melodies. It’s a flawless album in every sense of the word; just four months after their debut and they were already cutting albums that illustrated maturity, dexterity and above all, incomparable skill.
July 10, 1964: The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night by Jon Gordon
The Beatles third album shows them at the top of their early period game. The thrill of Beatlemania carries its own enthusiasms into the music and while songs like “Can’t Buy Me Love” remain familiar to just about everyone even today, the rest of the album contains some real moments of near or actual genius.
Clocking in at a little over thirty minutes, these are still the Hamburg Beatles, and the energy of the title track is sustained throughout the album with a relentlessness that gives even the slower tracks the air of Reeperbahn crowd pleasers. Containing some of Lennon’s best early work, “Tell Me Why” might have been a serious contender for the follow-up to “She Loves You” and “I Should Have Known Better” is a sneering stomp, replete with the entire band’s new-found confidence as the biggest, and already most revered act of 1963. Songs of the quality of “Any Time At All” (another powerful Lennon performance,) the bluesy shakedown of “You Can’t Do That” and the moody folk-based sturm und drang of “Things We Said Today” remain as listenable today as they were 45 years ago. Meanwhile, “Can’t Buy Me Love” must’ve sounded a bit funky back in the day — it’s certainly more than several steps removed from the standard 12-bar rhythms that practically every other beat combo were dishing out at the time. What A Hard Day’s Night might’ve lacked in quantity it more than made up for in terms of quality.
December 4, 1964: The Beatles – Beatles for Sale by Bryan Sanchez
Once again, hurried back into the studio after their third consecutive masterpiece, The Beatles were truly running on empty by the time Beatles for Sale hit the scene — “Eight Days a Week” was equally insightful and invigorating. Noticeable in everything from the cover, with their drained expressions, to the use of their old standby: the eight original and six cover formula; at the height of Beatlemania, you’d think they were finished. No, instead you have Lennon’s oft-described ‘trilogy’ as the gloomy, depressing beginning of the album. And this trio of songs is highlighted by “I’m A Loser,” which happens to signal the band’s first notice into the presence Bob Dylan’s music was starting to possess.
The covers took a dip only because they lacked that fire and flavor the previous albums were richly enriched in. However, the prolific Lennon/McCartney duo was writing music at a relentless pace. It’s still obvious to many what songs were John’s (“I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party”) and which were Paul’s (“I’ll Follow the Sun”) but from the careful attention of timbre and tone, to the substantial growth in wordplay, it’s evident that they were profoundly influenced by each other. It’s unquestionably carried by the soaring highs; their sheer talent and quality-infused ability would never lead you think these were four tired men
August 6, 1965: The Beatles – Help! by Mike Sanders
They still hadn’t gotten the formula quite right, maybe, but Help! should share the same “The Record That Shows The Beatles’ Burgeoning Maturity” status that Rubber Soul basks in — the songs are wonderful. “Help!” is quintessential John Lennon: a woe-is-me anthem buried under layers of melody and George Martin shine and “I’ve Just Seen A Face” is The Beatles at their most rollicking and fun.
But every song must take a backseat to the two masterpieces adorning this album: “Yesterday” and “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.” There’s been so much written about “Yesterday” that I wouldn’t be able to add anything meaningful in that department, suffice it to say that it very nearly outshines a majority of The Beatles’ later work. “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” however, often gets overlooked. Featuring a melody and lyrics that represent John Lennon at his most Dylan-esque, the song is a nice indicator of the newer direction The Beatles were going to go in; it’s the aural opposite of early hits like “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You,” but you’d never notice it upon first listen. And that friends, is a little something called progress.
December 3, 1965: The Beatles – Rubber Soul by Bryan Sanchez
Some of the band’s earnest chemistry was on Rubber Soul, an album that presented a band further progressing into the destined prominence that followed. Lyrically, they were moving towards the mature direction where relationships could be expressed through metaphors and introspective imagery. Musically, the shift towards the psychedelic and peace and love fusion was just starting to flow through them — their influences had taken a hold of them and would never let go from here on out. Harrison, enthralled by world instruments and befriending David Crosby, persuaded for the use of the sitar on “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),” where it would become the first pop recording to use an actual sitar. Besides the French licks on the delectably delicious “Michelle” and the piano disguised as a harpsichord on Lennon’s infamous, “In My Life,” The Beatles shaped these innovations into their own, distinctive yet brilliant creations.
Closely examined, the thoughtfulness of every little detail: that deep sighing in “Girl,” their “ooh…la la la” chants, in a nod to the R&B that sustained them on erstwhile records, Ringo’s matches tapping in the background of “I’m Looking Through You,” was all irrefutably masterful. It captures The Beatles during a time when they were gelling as a band, each one growing within each other and within the band. Its magnitude was immeasurable for sure, but in many regards, even if they stopped right here, everything was already gold.
August 5, 1966: The Beatles – Revolver by Matt Cohen
At its heart, Revolver is an album about expansion; expanding your mind, expanding instrumentation and recording techniques, expanding influences. It’s a revolution of sound, where rock and roll not only gets trippy and acid-washed, but thoughtful and introspective, becoming more than just a pleasant diversion in the grand field of music history. Rock and roll as a performance-driven art? The Beatles stopped touring. Rock and roll bands dressed uniformly? The Beatles cut their hair, grew facial hair, and wore the trendy clothes they, not former manager Brian Epstein, wanted them to wear. Rock and roll bands kept a clean cut image and hid the seedy underbelly of the lifestyle from the public eye? The Beatles sang about doing drugs and the positive effects drugs have on the human consciousness. For the first time, they questioned who they were and who they wanted to be.
To understand the truth, significance and legend behind The Beatles is to understand the two entirely different bands that comprise The Beatles. There’s the Fab Four, mop top teen sensation with undeniable charm. And there’s the revolutionary psychedelic experience, the four mad scientist musicians (and producer George Martin) huddled up in Abbey Road studios, unleashing their brilliant creations upon the world. Revolver is the genesis of the second form of the Beatles. They de-constructed the idea of a rock band, then rebuilt it the way they wanted it to be, in such a fashion that still stands today.
June 1, 1967: The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by Jordan Blum
They were tired of the expectations, the pressure, and most of all, the unprecedented fandom. To escape, they stopped touring, Lennon delved further into his obsession with LSD, and Harrison retreated to India to be ensconced in the culture and learn the sitar from legendary musician Ravi Shankar. The concept album had rarely, if ever, been explored but The Beatles certainly took the idea to new ground with this musical preface. It continued where Revolver left off, tracks like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!,” and “Within You Without You” (Harrison’s only cut, which he had to fight for) progress the colorful, drug induced psychedelic production further than it had ever been.
From the artwork, to the music, to the lyrics and to its legend, it still amazes us visually and sonically. Pieces like “She’s Leaving Home,” “When I’m Sixty-Four” and “Good Morning Good Morning” implement classical instruments (courtesy of producer George Martin) that broke barriers for what a “pop” song could do. On top of all of this, it includes the song often viewed as the greatest collaboration between Lennon and McCartney, “A Day in the Life.” It’s amazing that an album released forty years ago and with a running time of less than forty minutes can still bring us so much joy, inspiration and intrigue, but then again they were The Beatles, and this is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
November 27, 1967: The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour by Greg Argo
As a cobbled together album, Magical Mystery Tour holds together as well as or better than their proper full-lengths thanks to an across-the-board commitment to sensuously enveloping sound worlds and a second side consisting of top-of-the-line A-sides of singles from ’67. The songwriting is top-notch, with Lennon continuing on his hippy-dippy way (co-opted 20 years later by an aging, peace sign flashing, head-wagging McCartney) with kaleidoscopic mindfucks like “I Am the Walrus” and “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and McCartney offering more saccharine-sweet pop, chronicling a dreamy domesticity in songs like “The Fool on the Hill,” “Your Mother Should Know,” “Penny Lane,” and “Hello Goodbye.”
Still, it’s the everything-to-the-front, Technicolor production aesthetic, continued and expanded from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, that is the most influential aspect of this release. Miraculously, it sounds like all the individual parts are mixed both as loud as possible and at exact equal levels, creating an environment both immersive and transporting. It feels as if you are actually strolling along Penny Lane or tripping in fields of strawberries. With The White Album right around the corner, this marks the end of The Beatles’ carefree and childlike period, and their heads were never again so gloriously in the clouds.
November 22, 1968: The Beatles – The Beatles (White Album) by Bryan Sanchez
Inventive, imaginative, innovative; The Beatles were everything and then some on their prolific self-titled album, affectionately known as The White Album. They could be wildly passionate and still boyishly in love (“Sexy Sadie”), they were experimental in the method that they could advance the real and unreal (“Revolution 9”), they could rock out and put their impeccable talent on display (“Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey”) and they could display gorgeous, symphonic music (“Good Night.”) And that was just on the second record!
The superlatives don’t do it justice, they don’t even come close. So I thought I’d share some personal back-story to my personal love for this album. About ten years ago, I really started to crave and seek music. I was only fourteen then but I would beg my father to take me and buy me music. At first, clueless and somewhat curious, I found this album and had remembered the praise shouted from the rooftops for it. I’d often get two albums every so often and this time I grabbed that one and walked to the cashier with it. My dad, wondering what I had, just shrugged at the album and was more bothered by the price tag; nonetheless it was mine. The following two weeks were thrilling: hearing the ‘shot’ on “Rocky Raccoon,” the vibrant energy on “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” or the perfect love song that is “I Will,” it was magical — and that’s just the first record!
The Beatles (White Album) is a landmark album for many reasons and each is an importantly distinguished one. It’s well-known that a lot of it was recorded individually with each member often sitting in a studio room by himself while the other three worked in their own individual rooms. After making neat, tidy albums that spanned fourteen songs, they imploded: not only did they cram it with song after song of tremendous and sprawling music but they did so in a manner that revealed their collective imaginations. And with every proceeding listen, it continues to astonish and amaze through every single note
January 13, 1969: The Beatles – Yellow Submarine by Jon Gordon
Listening again, it’s apparent that “Only a Northern Song” and “It’s All Too Much” were both too strong Harrison performances to sit comfortably alongside McCartney’s developing music hall sentiments and Lennon’s increasingly erratic experiments. Although in different ways, both songs are at odds with the wild humor and the chintzy surrealism that characterized much of The Beatles later output. “Only A Northern Song” is probably the greatest song Lennon never wrote, its sonorous keyboard overriding the seemingly obligatory Pepperesque sound collage of brass and choir that it ends on, while “It’s All Too Much” is a feedback drenched guitar raga that seriously prefigures the work of many 70s groups. Neither track really belongs on any other Beatles release, somehow.
For the rest, “Hey Bulldog” is a properly focused Lennon jibe at whomever his target was that week, while both “All You Need Is Love” and the title track were already familiar to Beatles fans. The George Martin tracks sound very much like what they are, which is orchestral film soundtracking containing only a very brief musical reference to the “Yellow Submarine” tune, although “Sea Of Holes” has a darkly gleeful touch to it. “All Together Now” really does sound like whistling in the dark from the rapidly disintegrating band themselves. So, does Yellow Submarine constitute as a proper Beatles release? That’s up for debate but it does provide a curious glimpse of how a less experimental version of The White Album might’ve sounded.
September 29, 1969: The Beatles – Abbey Road by Adam Costa
I’m not sure what the Fab Four would have to say about it if a 40th anniversary summit were possible today, but few music aficionados will refute that The Beatles’ Abbey Road is one of the finest — not to mention most iconic — swan songs ever committed to tape. With relationships turning to shambles after that spring’s disastrous Let It Be sessions, the boys from Liverpool made a conscientious decision to put their personal gripes on hiatus in order to enter the studio one final time. Making the most of the new technology afforded by the era, it was the only Beatles album in which a majority of its tracks were laid down on an 8-track tape machine. Additionally, Abbey Road’s meticulous production values set a precedent for future artists who would openly acknowledge that the studio was as much an instrument as any guitar or drum.
The album is chock full of examples of The Beatles’ sturdiest musicianship, ranging from the inane lyrics and slick bass of “Come Together” to the song suite that encompasses the only drum solo Ringo ever recorded with the group, “The End.” With estimable songwriting contributions from all four Beatles, it’s in cuts like George’s “Something” and the Lennon/McCartney epic “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” that we hear a band that still had one hell of a sparkle left, even as it was burning out.
May 8, 1970: The Beatles – Let It Be by Damon
You might say Let It Be shows that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The band’s final release was, for McCartney, a doomed final effort to reconnect. The album denied fans the closure they sought, and its confused temporal relationship with Abbey Road didn’t help. To recapture the band’s spirit, the boys tried recording as a blues-based rock ensemble like the early days. But after production controversy, bejeweled arrangements crept in anyway. While the production on “Across the Universe” and “Long and Winding Road” may be a bit overdone, the two burgeoning but abandoned songs, “Dig It” and “Maggie Mae” are outstanding. Lennon delivers his best vocals on “Dig a Pony” and McCartney gives his on “I’ve Got a Feeling.” Harrison’s remorseful rocker “I Me Mine” and the undeniably apt “Let It Be” have their definite strengths.
The mythology around the album — the film, the in-fighting and walkouts, the rooftop concert, Yoko — often eclipses the music. The remarkably easy feeling of “Two of Us” is a funny way for a bunch of guys who can’t stand each other to start an album but at least album closer “Get Back” gives fans one last catchy, accessible song to go. Maybe there was no other suitable goodbye.
Realizing that their original catalog was finally going to be remastered and reissued was surreal but that day has finally come. They had their share of influences, sure, but it goes without saying that The Beatles influenced everyone that heard their music. After Brian Wilson matched them with his perfect Pet Sounds, once he heard “Strawberry Fields Forever,” he had fully resigned in competing with them. And even John Lennon would go on to joke that they were more popular than Jesus but when you put everything into context, he knew what he was talking about.
Their story is rich with imagery, their arch is absorbing and their allure is immense — the pure mystique of their history as a band is overwhelmingly crucial. And if you sit back and reflect, they made some of the best music of all time during the narrow span of seven years. It’s unheard of and seldom seen when a musical artist makes more than one album a year, let alone one album every two years. Just imagine bands making albums once a year and each one being revolutionary, inescapable, flawless and utterly transfixing. It’s one thing when you can be good at what you do but to be the best at what you do and still, insanely popular, is entirely exceptional. This was The Beatles, unlike anything we’ll ever witness. – Bryan Sanchez
SOURCE: http://www.adequacy.net
Reprinted By Permission
Imaginative, experimental, gifted, trendsetters, remarkable and simply special are all words that can be used to describe John, Paul, George and Ringo: The Beatles. They were all about making albums to thrill and love and terrific as they were, they knew how to make everything come off like it was the easiest music in the world to make. Beginning with albums that amassed as many top pop hits as possible — combining R&B with Doo Wop with Rock — it wasn’t long before they were blurring the lines of genres with their creative methods. And before you knew it, everything under the bright yellow sun had been covered by these four gentlemen from Liverpool.
This was always a band that knew how to make dizzyingly amazing music. And without repeating too many of the clichés that have been already stated, they are the most important band of all time, period. The Beatles were able to release thirteen of the greatest albums we will ever have the pleasure of listening to. And it goes without saying that their presence — both as musicians and human beings — has towered over humanity for the entire forty years since they broke up.
Equally visceral and eclectic, melodic as much as harmonious and honestly playful, the music The Beatles have given us will always be dearly thought of. Their vocal harmonies are unmatched, their capacity to treat the studio as another instrument has been copied by everyone from The Beach Boys to The Rolling Stones, their ear for all the good things in music was downright spectacular and their ability to combine each member’s talents and desires into these amazing bodies of work is utterly staggering. So this one’s for you guys, an expository look into the catalog of music you’ve blessed us with and before we forget, thanks for everything. – Bryan Sanchez
March 22, 1963: The Beatles – Please Please Me by Bryan Sanchez
Rushed to the studio, the entire album was started and finished in one day; along with a relentless touring schedule that spanned three years, it’s no surprise that The Beatles delivered an album that still sounds fresh to anyone’s ear. Producer George Martin hinted at recording the album live before booking time at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) where the band was recorded in an effort to re-create their excellent live sound. This created an air of significance in realizing that every take counted but it also established their imposing proficiency as musicians.
Courageously bold and fashionably energetic, the tightness of the band is on full display throughout these eight originals and six covers. Tender love songs like “P.S. I Love You” are equipped with countermelodies, clever vocal interplays and crisply stunning musicianship. And the boisterous fun of “Boys” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret” showcase Ringo and George, respectively, as equal counterparts. They left “Twist and Shout” for the end, to save John’s voice as he battled a cold, right? Or maybe it was to allow everyone in the band to let loose and shout for joy as they delivered one of the finest first-takes of all time. Who knows for sure but what we do know is that everyone else hasn’t stopped shouting for joy since.
November 22, 1963: The Beatles – With the Beatles by Bryan Sanchez
Wasting no time to place all of their limitless talents onto another LP, The Beatles returned with fourteen more songs of wondrous music. Following the same formula as their inauguration—employing eight originals and six covers—With the Beatles demonstrated a band that was growing by leaps and bounds. Beginning with some of the best songs to ever start an album, it also includes George Harrison’s first composition: the sultry and slicing, “Don’t Bother Me.”
It was at this point that people began to realize that this was a band to reckon with and for countless reasons: their impeccable taste of R&B and Motown placed the best possible covers on the album, their chemistry as a band was at the point where they could release multiple albums per year and each still be astoundingly fantastic but furthermore, those aforementioned covers now paled in comparison to the exceptional originals that they were crafting. For every gifted take on samba (“Till There Was You,”) there was also a gorgeous rendition of a cover (“You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”) but most of all, John and Paul really took to rivaling each other in terms of songwriting and melodies. It’s a flawless album in every sense of the word; just four months after their debut and they were already cutting albums that illustrated maturity, dexterity and above all, incomparable skill.
July 10, 1964: The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night by Jon Gordon
The Beatles third album shows them at the top of their early period game. The thrill of Beatlemania carries its own enthusiasms into the music and while songs like “Can’t Buy Me Love” remain familiar to just about everyone even today, the rest of the album contains some real moments of near or actual genius.
Clocking in at a little over thirty minutes, these are still the Hamburg Beatles, and the energy of the title track is sustained throughout the album with a relentlessness that gives even the slower tracks the air of Reeperbahn crowd pleasers. Containing some of Lennon’s best early work, “Tell Me Why” might have been a serious contender for the follow-up to “She Loves You” and “I Should Have Known Better” is a sneering stomp, replete with the entire band’s new-found confidence as the biggest, and already most revered act of 1963. Songs of the quality of “Any Time At All” (another powerful Lennon performance,) the bluesy shakedown of “You Can’t Do That” and the moody folk-based sturm und drang of “Things We Said Today” remain as listenable today as they were 45 years ago. Meanwhile, “Can’t Buy Me Love” must’ve sounded a bit funky back in the day — it’s certainly more than several steps removed from the standard 12-bar rhythms that practically every other beat combo were dishing out at the time. What A Hard Day’s Night might’ve lacked in quantity it more than made up for in terms of quality.
December 4, 1964: The Beatles – Beatles for Sale by Bryan Sanchez
Once again, hurried back into the studio after their third consecutive masterpiece, The Beatles were truly running on empty by the time Beatles for Sale hit the scene — “Eight Days a Week” was equally insightful and invigorating. Noticeable in everything from the cover, with their drained expressions, to the use of their old standby: the eight original and six cover formula; at the height of Beatlemania, you’d think they were finished. No, instead you have Lennon’s oft-described ‘trilogy’ as the gloomy, depressing beginning of the album. And this trio of songs is highlighted by “I’m A Loser,” which happens to signal the band’s first notice into the presence Bob Dylan’s music was starting to possess.
The covers took a dip only because they lacked that fire and flavor the previous albums were richly enriched in. However, the prolific Lennon/McCartney duo was writing music at a relentless pace. It’s still obvious to many what songs were John’s (“I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party”) and which were Paul’s (“I’ll Follow the Sun”) but from the careful attention of timbre and tone, to the substantial growth in wordplay, it’s evident that they were profoundly influenced by each other. It’s unquestionably carried by the soaring highs; their sheer talent and quality-infused ability would never lead you think these were four tired men
August 6, 1965: The Beatles – Help! by Mike Sanders
They still hadn’t gotten the formula quite right, maybe, but Help! should share the same “The Record That Shows The Beatles’ Burgeoning Maturity” status that Rubber Soul basks in — the songs are wonderful. “Help!” is quintessential John Lennon: a woe-is-me anthem buried under layers of melody and George Martin shine and “I’ve Just Seen A Face” is The Beatles at their most rollicking and fun.
But every song must take a backseat to the two masterpieces adorning this album: “Yesterday” and “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.” There’s been so much written about “Yesterday” that I wouldn’t be able to add anything meaningful in that department, suffice it to say that it very nearly outshines a majority of The Beatles’ later work. “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” however, often gets overlooked. Featuring a melody and lyrics that represent John Lennon at his most Dylan-esque, the song is a nice indicator of the newer direction The Beatles were going to go in; it’s the aural opposite of early hits like “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You,” but you’d never notice it upon first listen. And that friends, is a little something called progress.
December 3, 1965: The Beatles – Rubber Soul by Bryan Sanchez
Some of the band’s earnest chemistry was on Rubber Soul, an album that presented a band further progressing into the destined prominence that followed. Lyrically, they were moving towards the mature direction where relationships could be expressed through metaphors and introspective imagery. Musically, the shift towards the psychedelic and peace and love fusion was just starting to flow through them — their influences had taken a hold of them and would never let go from here on out. Harrison, enthralled by world instruments and befriending David Crosby, persuaded for the use of the sitar on “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),” where it would become the first pop recording to use an actual sitar. Besides the French licks on the delectably delicious “Michelle” and the piano disguised as a harpsichord on Lennon’s infamous, “In My Life,” The Beatles shaped these innovations into their own, distinctive yet brilliant creations.
Closely examined, the thoughtfulness of every little detail: that deep sighing in “Girl,” their “ooh…la la la” chants, in a nod to the R&B that sustained them on erstwhile records, Ringo’s matches tapping in the background of “I’m Looking Through You,” was all irrefutably masterful. It captures The Beatles during a time when they were gelling as a band, each one growing within each other and within the band. Its magnitude was immeasurable for sure, but in many regards, even if they stopped right here, everything was already gold.
August 5, 1966: The Beatles – Revolver by Matt Cohen
At its heart, Revolver is an album about expansion; expanding your mind, expanding instrumentation and recording techniques, expanding influences. It’s a revolution of sound, where rock and roll not only gets trippy and acid-washed, but thoughtful and introspective, becoming more than just a pleasant diversion in the grand field of music history. Rock and roll as a performance-driven art? The Beatles stopped touring. Rock and roll bands dressed uniformly? The Beatles cut their hair, grew facial hair, and wore the trendy clothes they, not former manager Brian Epstein, wanted them to wear. Rock and roll bands kept a clean cut image and hid the seedy underbelly of the lifestyle from the public eye? The Beatles sang about doing drugs and the positive effects drugs have on the human consciousness. For the first time, they questioned who they were and who they wanted to be.
To understand the truth, significance and legend behind The Beatles is to understand the two entirely different bands that comprise The Beatles. There’s the Fab Four, mop top teen sensation with undeniable charm. And there’s the revolutionary psychedelic experience, the four mad scientist musicians (and producer George Martin) huddled up in Abbey Road studios, unleashing their brilliant creations upon the world. Revolver is the genesis of the second form of the Beatles. They de-constructed the idea of a rock band, then rebuilt it the way they wanted it to be, in such a fashion that still stands today.
June 1, 1967: The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by Jordan Blum
They were tired of the expectations, the pressure, and most of all, the unprecedented fandom. To escape, they stopped touring, Lennon delved further into his obsession with LSD, and Harrison retreated to India to be ensconced in the culture and learn the sitar from legendary musician Ravi Shankar. The concept album had rarely, if ever, been explored but The Beatles certainly took the idea to new ground with this musical preface. It continued where Revolver left off, tracks like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!,” and “Within You Without You” (Harrison’s only cut, which he had to fight for) progress the colorful, drug induced psychedelic production further than it had ever been.
From the artwork, to the music, to the lyrics and to its legend, it still amazes us visually and sonically. Pieces like “She’s Leaving Home,” “When I’m Sixty-Four” and “Good Morning Good Morning” implement classical instruments (courtesy of producer George Martin) that broke barriers for what a “pop” song could do. On top of all of this, it includes the song often viewed as the greatest collaboration between Lennon and McCartney, “A Day in the Life.” It’s amazing that an album released forty years ago and with a running time of less than forty minutes can still bring us so much joy, inspiration and intrigue, but then again they were The Beatles, and this is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
November 27, 1967: The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour by Greg Argo
As a cobbled together album, Magical Mystery Tour holds together as well as or better than their proper full-lengths thanks to an across-the-board commitment to sensuously enveloping sound worlds and a second side consisting of top-of-the-line A-sides of singles from ’67. The songwriting is top-notch, with Lennon continuing on his hippy-dippy way (co-opted 20 years later by an aging, peace sign flashing, head-wagging McCartney) with kaleidoscopic mindfucks like “I Am the Walrus” and “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and McCartney offering more saccharine-sweet pop, chronicling a dreamy domesticity in songs like “The Fool on the Hill,” “Your Mother Should Know,” “Penny Lane,” and “Hello Goodbye.”
Still, it’s the everything-to-the-front, Technicolor production aesthetic, continued and expanded from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, that is the most influential aspect of this release. Miraculously, it sounds like all the individual parts are mixed both as loud as possible and at exact equal levels, creating an environment both immersive and transporting. It feels as if you are actually strolling along Penny Lane or tripping in fields of strawberries. With The White Album right around the corner, this marks the end of The Beatles’ carefree and childlike period, and their heads were never again so gloriously in the clouds.
November 22, 1968: The Beatles – The Beatles (White Album) by Bryan SanchezInventive, imaginative, innovative; The Beatles were everything and then some on their prolific self-titled album, affectionately known as The White Album. They could be wildly passionate and still boyishly in love (“Sexy Sadie”), they were experimental in the method that they could advance the real and unreal (“Revolution 9”), they could rock out and put their impeccable talent on display (“Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey”) and they could display gorgeous, symphonic music (“Good Night.”) And that was just on the second record!
The superlatives don’t do it justice, they don’t even come close. So I thought I’d share some personal back-story to my personal love for this album. About ten years ago, I really started to crave and seek music. I was only fourteen then but I would beg my father to take me and buy me music. At first, clueless and somewhat curious, I found this album and had remembered the praise shouted from the rooftops for it. I’d often get two albums every so often and this time I grabbed that one and walked to the cashier with it. My dad, wondering what I had, just shrugged at the album and was more bothered by the price tag; nonetheless it was mine. The following two weeks were thrilling: hearing the ‘shot’ on “Rocky Raccoon,” the vibrant energy on “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” or the perfect love song that is “I Will,” it was magical — and that’s just the first record!
The Beatles (White Album) is a landmark album for many reasons and each is an importantly distinguished one. It’s well-known that a lot of it was recorded individually with each member often sitting in a studio room by himself while the other three worked in their own individual rooms. After making neat, tidy albums that spanned fourteen songs, they imploded: not only did they cram it with song after song of tremendous and sprawling music but they did so in a manner that revealed their collective imaginations. And with every proceeding listen, it continues to astonish and amaze through every single note
January 13, 1969: The Beatles – Yellow Submarine by Jon Gordon
Listening again, it’s apparent that “Only a Northern Song” and “It’s All Too Much” were both too strong Harrison performances to sit comfortably alongside McCartney’s developing music hall sentiments and Lennon’s increasingly erratic experiments. Although in different ways, both songs are at odds with the wild humor and the chintzy surrealism that characterized much of The Beatles later output. “Only A Northern Song” is probably the greatest song Lennon never wrote, its sonorous keyboard overriding the seemingly obligatory Pepperesque sound collage of brass and choir that it ends on, while “It’s All Too Much” is a feedback drenched guitar raga that seriously prefigures the work of many 70s groups. Neither track really belongs on any other Beatles release, somehow.
For the rest, “Hey Bulldog” is a properly focused Lennon jibe at whomever his target was that week, while both “All You Need Is Love” and the title track were already familiar to Beatles fans. The George Martin tracks sound very much like what they are, which is orchestral film soundtracking containing only a very brief musical reference to the “Yellow Submarine” tune, although “Sea Of Holes” has a darkly gleeful touch to it. “All Together Now” really does sound like whistling in the dark from the rapidly disintegrating band themselves. So, does Yellow Submarine constitute as a proper Beatles release? That’s up for debate but it does provide a curious glimpse of how a less experimental version of The White Album might’ve sounded.
September 29, 1969: The Beatles – Abbey Road by Adam Costa
I’m not sure what the Fab Four would have to say about it if a 40th anniversary summit were possible today, but few music aficionados will refute that The Beatles’ Abbey Road is one of the finest — not to mention most iconic — swan songs ever committed to tape. With relationships turning to shambles after that spring’s disastrous Let It Be sessions, the boys from Liverpool made a conscientious decision to put their personal gripes on hiatus in order to enter the studio one final time. Making the most of the new technology afforded by the era, it was the only Beatles album in which a majority of its tracks were laid down on an 8-track tape machine. Additionally, Abbey Road’s meticulous production values set a precedent for future artists who would openly acknowledge that the studio was as much an instrument as any guitar or drum.
The album is chock full of examples of The Beatles’ sturdiest musicianship, ranging from the inane lyrics and slick bass of “Come Together” to the song suite that encompasses the only drum solo Ringo ever recorded with the group, “The End.” With estimable songwriting contributions from all four Beatles, it’s in cuts like George’s “Something” and the Lennon/McCartney epic “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” that we hear a band that still had one hell of a sparkle left, even as it was burning out.
May 8, 1970: The Beatles – Let It Be by Damon
You might say Let It Be shows that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The band’s final release was, for McCartney, a doomed final effort to reconnect. The album denied fans the closure they sought, and its confused temporal relationship with Abbey Road didn’t help. To recapture the band’s spirit, the boys tried recording as a blues-based rock ensemble like the early days. But after production controversy, bejeweled arrangements crept in anyway. While the production on “Across the Universe” and “Long and Winding Road” may be a bit overdone, the two burgeoning but abandoned songs, “Dig It” and “Maggie Mae” are outstanding. Lennon delivers his best vocals on “Dig a Pony” and McCartney gives his on “I’ve Got a Feeling.” Harrison’s remorseful rocker “I Me Mine” and the undeniably apt “Let It Be” have their definite strengths.
The mythology around the album — the film, the in-fighting and walkouts, the rooftop concert, Yoko — often eclipses the music. The remarkably easy feeling of “Two of Us” is a funny way for a bunch of guys who can’t stand each other to start an album but at least album closer “Get Back” gives fans one last catchy, accessible song to go. Maybe there was no other suitable goodbye.
Realizing that their original catalog was finally going to be remastered and reissued was surreal but that day has finally come. They had their share of influences, sure, but it goes without saying that The Beatles influenced everyone that heard their music. After Brian Wilson matched them with his perfect Pet Sounds, once he heard “Strawberry Fields Forever,” he had fully resigned in competing with them. And even John Lennon would go on to joke that they were more popular than Jesus but when you put everything into context, he knew what he was talking about.
Their story is rich with imagery, their arch is absorbing and their allure is immense — the pure mystique of their history as a band is overwhelmingly crucial. And if you sit back and reflect, they made some of the best music of all time during the narrow span of seven years. It’s unheard of and seldom seen when a musical artist makes more than one album a year, let alone one album every two years. Just imagine bands making albums once a year and each one being revolutionary, inescapable, flawless and utterly transfixing. It’s one thing when you can be good at what you do but to be the best at what you do and still, insanely popular, is entirely exceptional. This was The Beatles, unlike anything we’ll ever witness. – Bryan Sanchez
SOURCE: http://www.adequacy.net
Reprinted By Permission
Classic Album Cover Art
The Beatles: Yesterday and Today
This original cover -- showing the band surrounded by decapitated, dismembered baby dolls -- created so much controversy that it was quickly replaced a studio photo of the band posed around a foot locker. Maybe the most overvalued copy of any Beatles cover, it is a collector's dream to have one, hence the value for cover usually brings a hefty price.
Released in June 1966, this album's controversial cover marked the first time that the Beatles' judgment was severely criticized by the media and the public. Nevertheless, the album reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard charts by July 30, 1966 and was certified gold soon after. Apart from the butcher cover, this album is of interest to collectors for the appearance of unique mixes of Revolver-era tracks unavailable elsewhere.
The record was released just after John's infamous interview in which he stated that the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus", which angered Americans and provoked many bans on their music and public incinerations of memorabilia. In early 1966, photographer Robert Whitaker had The Beatles in the studio for a conceptual art piece entitled "A Somnambulant Adventure." For the shoot, Whitaker took a series of pictures of the group dressed in butcher smocks and draped with pieces of meat and body parts from plastic baby dolls. The group played along as they were tired of the usual photo shoots and the concept was compatible with their own "black humor." Although not originally intended as an album cover, The Beatles submitted photographs from the session for their promotional materials. In particular, John Lennon pushed to use it as an album cover. A photograph of the band smiling amid the mock carnage was used as promotional advertisements for the British release of the "Paperback Writer" single.
In the United States, Capitol Records printed approximately 750,000 copies of Yesterday and Today with the same photograph as "Paperback Writer". They were assembled in Capitol's four U.S. plants situated in different cities: Los Angeles; Scranton, Pennsylvania; and Jacksonville, Illinois. Copies from the various plants may be easily differentiated by examining the number printed near the RIAA symbol on the back; for example, stereo copies from the Los Angeles plant are designated "5" and mono Los Angeles copies are marked "6". Mono copies outnumbered stereo copies by about 10 to 1, making the stereo copies far more valuable today. A small fraction of the original covers were shipped to disc jockeys and store managers as advance copies. Reaction was immediate. The record was immediately recalled. All copies were ordered shipped back to the record label, leading to its collectability. It has been substantiated that the record was indeed for sale in some stores in limited areas, probably for only one day.
Capitol initially ordered plant managers to destroy the covers, and the Jacksonville plant delivered most of its copies to an area landfill. However, faced with so many jackets already printed, Capitol quickly changed course and decided instead to paste a new cover over the old one, cropping the open end of the album jacket by about 1/8 inch to address problems where the new sheet was not placed exactly "square" on top of the original cover. Tens of thousands of these were sent out. As word of this manouvre made the rounds, people attempted, sometimes successfully, to peel off the pasted-over cover of their copy of the album, hoping to reveal the original image hidden below.
A new cover was pasted over the original after the "butcher" cover resulted in controversy.Copies that have never had the white cover pasted onto them, known as "first state" covers, are very rare and command the highest prices. Copies with the pasted-on cover intact above the butcher image are known as "second state" or "pasteovers"; today, pasteover covers that have not been altered in an attempt to remove the white cover are also becoming increasingly rare and valuable. Covers that have had the white cover steamed or peeled off to reveal the underlying butcher image are known as "third state" covers; these are now the most common (and least valuable, although their value varies depending on how well the cover is removed) as people continue to peel second state covers to reveal the butcher image underneath. In December 2005 a "first state" copy of the album was sold for $10,500.
Then-president of Capitol Records, Alan Livingston, has in recent years confirmed the existence and private sale of twenty "first state" butcher covers, salvaged from his personal collection. These still-sealed pristine items with the controversial cover are the very rarest specimens. The so-called "Livingston Butchers" today command prices of $40,000 and up among collectors.
At the time, some of the Beatles defended the use of the photograph. Lennon said that it was "as relevant as Vietnam" and Paul McCartney said that their critics were "soft". However, not all of them were as comfortable with it. George Harrison commented, "I thought it was gross, and I also thought it was stupid. Sometimes we all did stupid things thinking it was cool and hip when it was naïve and dumb; and that was one of them." Capitol Records apologized for the offense. Yesterday and Today was the only Beatles record to lose money for Capitol.
Side one
1."Drive My Car" – 2:30
2."I'm Only Sleeping" – 3:01
3."Nowhere Man" – 2:45
4."Doctor Robert" – 2:15
5."Yesterday" – 2:08
6."Act Naturally" (Morrison-Russell) – 2:33
Side two
7."And Your Bird Can Sing" – 2:01
8."If I Needed Someone" (George Harrison) – 2:24
9."We Can Work It Out" – 2:15
10."What Goes On" (Lennon-McCartney-Richard Starkey) – 2:51
11."Day Tripper" – 2:50
New British Beatles exhibit features highest priced piece of memorabilia ever on sale
A new exhibit at the Saint Giles Street Gallery in Norwich in the UK with rare printed items and photography of the Beatles features what is labeled as the most expensive piece of Beatles memorabilia ever put up for sale.
The highlight of "The $11 Million Dollar Picutre Show," on exhibit from Sept. 10 through Oct. 24, is a printer's proof of the Beatles famous "butcher cover" out of John Lennon's personal collection with a note handwritten by the late Beatle.
The note reads, "Here’s the famous banned butcher cover. You can sell it for $11 million dollars." Coincidentally, tha'ts the price gallery owners are asking for the picture, which they say makes it the most costly piece of Beatles memorabilia ever.
The original album cover was shot by legendary Beatles photographer Robert Whitaker, who will also be showing some of his rarer images along with a unique set of limited edition silkscreen prints of each Beatle that have been psychedelized, and have never been shown in public before. At the exhibit, Whitaker is also selling the original printer’s proof for the U.S. "Beatles ‘65" album, which he also photographed.
Additional highlights include rare photos by a number of '60s photographers inciuding Norman Parkinson, Terry O'Neill, Frank Hermmann, Michael Ward and Harry Benson. Tom Murray's famous "Mad Day Out" pictures, taken during a special photo shoot in central London in 1968, will also be exhibited.
Also on sale will be rare film posters, original cartoon cells from "Yellow Submarine" and the official exhibition poster, which has been designed as a limited edition collector’s item.
SOURCE: http://community.livejournal.com
=====================================================
=====================================================
Digital technology: The Beatles done better?
By Ben Fulton The Salt Lake Tribune
Digitally remastered recordings of pop- and rock-music staples enter the market so often and in so many different guises they've become grist for jokes.
In his renowned comic strip "Life in Hell," cartoonist and "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening once quipped that they're called CDs because record companies have a "Compact with the Devil" to sell the same music in a different format again and again.
Capitol/EMI has boasted that its scheduled Sept. 9 re-release this year of The Beatles' digitally remastered catalog will be "the highest fidelity the catalog has seen since its original release."
This being The Beatles, the marketing department at Capitol/EMI will make money regardless of how good the re-issues sound.
John Tueller, manager of the Graywhale CD chain along the Wasatch Front, is one of the lucky few who heard three select tracks of the new remastered versions at a music retailers' convention this April in San Diego.
"I heard all of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' just wash over me," he said. "The difference is night and day. Most of the time a remaster of old music doesn't mean a lot. With these, there's a huge difference. We're getting a lot of people asking about them in advance."
The last time Capitol/EMI unleashed a digital version of The Beatles' music was in 1987 on compact disc, but many fans complained it was a rush job. Technology back then was good, but nothing compared with today.
More crucially, the preservation of the original master tapes' vintage analog sound onto the latest digital format is vital. Sooner or later, said Dave Evanoff, owner and operator of Sound Design Studios in Salt Lake City, the magnetic coding will fall right off the original tapes, and with it the first generation sound of The Beatles' music.
"We've grown in 20-plus years to a place where those true analog sounds can be captured in more true sound," Evanoff said. "With these reissues they can sound more like the original tapes, as if you're sitting right inside Abbey Road studios."
Unlike other bands of the era, The Beatles' recordings went from original tape to a mixed master to acetate on vinyl, giving their recorded legacy the best preservation possible at the time. Still, nothing compares with the sound of a digital remaster from the original tape.
"It's very important to get these digital recordings as the technology improves," Evanoff said.
A massive fan of the Fab Four, Evanoff said that along with The Beach Boys, The Beatles pioneered the use of studio technology as an instrument in itself. Key among their contributions was "automatic double-tracking," or re-recording sounds to give them a thicker texture. Along with producer George Martin, often called "the fifth Beatle," and studio engineer Geoff Emerick, the band also invented the warping of sounds. This involved recording an instrumental or vocal line, playing it backwards to notate it on sheet music, recording it once more and then playing it in reverse. This gave the impression of sounds flowing forward, but with a strange backward quality, as if "evolved out of air," Evanoff said.
"Even if it was just a sound one of them [The Beatles] described from their dreams, George and Geoff were bold enough to say, 'Let's do it. Let's find that sound,'" he said.
His own favorite Beatles album or song changes depending on his mood, Evanoff said. "A Day in the Life," however, never fails to impress.
"We're not hearing anything too amazing in terms of effects, but the sound is just so pristine," he said. "Every microphone was placed just right, from the way the crescendo mounts to that final chord and the alarm clock. Nobody's done it better since. I love it every time I listen to it."
SOURCE: http://www.sltrib.com
New Music Releases - September 8, 2009
Buy New Music Here
A Fine Frenzy - Bomb in a Birdcage
AIDS Wolf - Dustin' off the Sphynx
Amerie - In Love & War
Anders Parker - Skyscraper Crow
April Wine - Live in London
Bananarama - Love Comes (Single)
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns (2-CD 1-DVD deluxe edition)
Ben Neill - Night Science
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - How Big Can You Get?: The Music of Cab Calloway (vinyl)
Bitfrost Arts - Come O Spirit!
Blk Jks -After Robots (vinyl)
Bobby Conn - Bobby Conn (reissue)
Boys Like Girls - Love Drunk
Brandon Swift - Brandon Swift
Breeders - Pod (vinyl reissue)
Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Live Oblivion
Brooks & Dunn - #1's...And Then Some
Brown Recluse Sings - Soft Skin (vinyl)
Bruce Springsteen - The Interview Sessions
Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Ike Turner - Cobra
Circulatory System - Signal Morning
Clean - Mister Pop
Commodores - Definitive Collection
Connie Francis - Fallin' - The Early Years
Cotton Jones -The Rio Ranger [EP]
Cribs - Ignore the Ignorant
Damon & Naomi - The Sub Pop Years
Danko Jones - Never Too Loud
Dot Allison - Room 7 1/2
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Eddy Current Supression Ring (reissue)
Elvis Presley - Elvis at the Movies
Erasure - Erasure Club EP
Ernie Halter - Ernie Halter: Live
Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
Feelies - The Good Earth
Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush - Live / Tales of the Unexpected / What's Next
Frank Turner - Poetry Of The Deed
Fray - Never Say Never
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires (2-CD edition)
Future of Forestry - Travel II
Gears - Rockin' at Ground Zero
Get Up Kid s- Something to Write Home About (reissue with bonus DVD)
Girlyman - Everything's Easy
Glenn Jones - Barbecue Bob In Fishtown
Gossip - Heavy Cross
Hatcham Social - You Dig the Tunnel, I'll Hide the Soil (vinyl)
HEALTH - Get Color (vinyl)
Howie Day - Sound the Alarm
Insomnium -- 'Across the Dark' -- Candlelight
LoveHateHero -- 'Fight Or Flight' – Ferret
J. Tillman - Year in the Kingdom
Jack Bruce & Robin Trower - Seven Moons Live
Jane Wiedlin - Jane Wiedlin
Janis Ian - Essential
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 (3-CD collector's edition)
Jeb Loy Nichols - Strange Faith and Practice
Jeremy Jay - Breaking The Ice (vinyl)
Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor
Jimmy Clanton - The Best of Jimmy Clanton: Venus in Blue Jeans
Joey Casio - Debtor's Prism b/w Artists in Time (vinyl)
John Abercrombie - Wait Til You See Her
John Forte - StyleFREE [EP]
John Mayall and Sonny Boy Williamson - Transatlantic Blues
Johnny Paycheck - Nowhere To Run: The Little Darlin' Years 1966-1970
Juan McLean - Happy House (Lazaro Casanova Remix) (vinyl)
Juan McLean - Happy House (VHS Or Beta Remix) (vinyl)
Julian Lennon - Help Yourself
Julian Lennon - Mr. Jordan
Julian Lennon - The Secret Value of Daydreaming
Juliette Lewis - Terra Incognita (vinyl)
Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - Miss Smith To You!
Lofty Pillars - When We Were Lost
Lusine - A Certain Distance
Magic Kids - Hey Boy
Marc Almond & Alexei Fedorov - Orpheus in Exile Songs of Vadim Kozin
Marie Digby - Breathing Underwater
Maserati - Passages
Matt Marque - Nothing Personal
Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement (CD & vinyl single)
MC5 - Thunder Express (vinyl reissue)
Mika - We Are Golden
Mike Clarke - West Coast Connection / Steel & Fire
Mindy Smith - Stupid Love (vinyl)
Monotonix - Where Were You When It Happened? (vinyl)
Mumlers - Don't Throw Me Away
My Milky - Way Arms Lightsaber Circuit Breaker
Nadja & Black Boned Angel - Nadja & Black Boned Angel (vinyl)
Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring (CD & DVD)
Nudge - As Good As Gone
Octopus Project - One Ten Hundred Thousand Million (vinyl reissue)
Old Wives' Tales - Younger Limbs
Os Mutantes - Haih Or Barauna
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson - Break Up
Peter White - Good Day
Phish - Joy
Polar Bear Club - Chasing Hamburg (vinyl)
Polvo - In Prism (vinyl)
Prefab Sprout - Let's Change the World With Music
Proclaimers - Notes and Rhymes
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Ray Stevens - One For the Road
Remi Nicole - Cupid Shoot Me
Rick Danko - Live at Dylan's Cafe, Washington D.C., December 1987
Rick Danko & Richard Manuel - Live at O'Toole's Tavern, Scranton, PA, December 1985
Ricky Nelson - Rockin' & Boppin' - The Early Years
Robert Cray - This Time
Rodrigo Y Gabriela - 11:11
Roots - How I Got Over (vinyl)
Ryan Blotnick - Everything Forgets
Saosin - In Search of Solid Ground
Shannon Stephens - The Breadwinner
Shirley Bassey - As I Love You 1956-1958
Simon Joyner - Hotel Lives
Sondre Lerche - Heartbeat Radio
Spencer Day - Vagabond
Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers - The Bear (vinyl)
Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (remastered with bonus tracks) (2-CD 1-DVD deluxe edition) (3-CD 3-LP 1-DVD limited collector's edition) (2-LP vinyl edition)
Sweetwater - sweetwater
Taken By Trees - East of Eden (vinyl)
T-Bone Walker - Essence of (2-CDs)
Thea Gilmore - Recorded Delivery (Live)
Thee Midniters - Songs of Love, Rhythm and Psychedilia (4 CDs)
Thelonious Monk - Monk (reissue)
They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science (CD & DVD)
U2 - I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (2 Track Single)
Valleys - Sometimes Water Kills People
Various Artists - A Solitary Man: The Early Songs Of Neil Diamond
Various Artists - Mercury Prize 2009
Various Artists - Mr. Mark Twain: The Musical
Various Artists - The Laurie Records Story, Volume 3: Girls & Girl Groups
Various Artists - The London American Label: Year By Year - 1960
Various Artists - Theme Time Radio Hour: Season 2 - With Your Host Bob Dylan
Visqueen - Message To Garcia
Vivian Girls - Everything Goes Wrong (vinyl)
Vladislav Delay: Tummaa (vinyl)
Wallis Bird - New Boots
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
Yaron Herman Trio - Muse
Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs (vinyl)
Buy New Music Here
09/09/09
Buy Beatles Box Set Here
Beatles: A Hard Day's Night (remastered)
Beatles: Abbey Road (remastered)
Beatles: Beatles For Sale (remastered)
Beatles: Help! (remastered)
Beatles: Let It Be (remastered)
Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (remastered)
Beatles: Past Masters (remastered)
Beatles: Please Please Me (remastered)
Beatles: Revolver (remastered)
Beatles: Rubber Soul (remastered)
Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (remastered)
Beatles: The Beatles Stereo Box Set (17-CD box set of remastered albums)
Beatles: The White Album (remastered)
Beatles: With The Beatles (remastered)
Beatles: Yellow Submarine (remastered)
Buy Beatles Box Set Here
A Fine Frenzy - Bomb in a Birdcage
AIDS Wolf - Dustin' off the Sphynx
Amerie - In Love & War
Anders Parker - Skyscraper Crow
April Wine - Live in London
Bananarama - Love Comes (Single)
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns (2-CD 1-DVD deluxe edition)
Ben Neill - Night Science
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - How Big Can You Get?: The Music of Cab Calloway (vinyl)
Bitfrost Arts - Come O Spirit!
Blk Jks -After Robots (vinyl)
Bobby Conn - Bobby Conn (reissue)
Boys Like Girls - Love Drunk
Brandon Swift - Brandon Swift
Breeders - Pod (vinyl reissue)
Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Live Oblivion
Brooks & Dunn - #1's...And Then Some
Brown Recluse Sings - Soft Skin (vinyl)
Bruce Springsteen - The Interview Sessions
Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Ike Turner - Cobra
Circulatory System - Signal Morning
Clean - Mister Pop
Commodores - Definitive Collection
Connie Francis - Fallin' - The Early Years
Cotton Jones -The Rio Ranger [EP]
Cribs - Ignore the Ignorant
Damon & Naomi - The Sub Pop Years
Danko Jones - Never Too Loud
Dot Allison - Room 7 1/2
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Eddy Current Supression Ring (reissue)
Elvis Presley - Elvis at the Movies
Erasure - Erasure Club EP
Ernie Halter - Ernie Halter: Live
Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
Feelies - The Good Earth
Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush - Live / Tales of the Unexpected / What's Next
Frank Turner - Poetry Of The Deed
Fray - Never Say Never
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires (2-CD edition)
Future of Forestry - Travel II
Gears - Rockin' at Ground Zero
Get Up Kid s- Something to Write Home About (reissue with bonus DVD)
Girlyman - Everything's Easy
Glenn Jones - Barbecue Bob In Fishtown
Gossip - Heavy Cross
Hatcham Social - You Dig the Tunnel, I'll Hide the Soil (vinyl)
HEALTH - Get Color (vinyl)
Howie Day - Sound the Alarm
Insomnium -- 'Across the Dark' -- Candlelight
LoveHateHero -- 'Fight Or Flight' – Ferret
J. Tillman - Year in the Kingdom
Jack Bruce & Robin Trower - Seven Moons Live
Jane Wiedlin - Jane Wiedlin
Janis Ian - Essential
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 (3-CD collector's edition)
Jeb Loy Nichols - Strange Faith and Practice
Jeremy Jay - Breaking The Ice (vinyl)
Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor
Jimmy Clanton - The Best of Jimmy Clanton: Venus in Blue Jeans
Joey Casio - Debtor's Prism b/w Artists in Time (vinyl)
John Abercrombie - Wait Til You See Her
John Forte - StyleFREE [EP]
John Mayall and Sonny Boy Williamson - Transatlantic Blues
Johnny Paycheck - Nowhere To Run: The Little Darlin' Years 1966-1970
Juan McLean - Happy House (Lazaro Casanova Remix) (vinyl)
Juan McLean - Happy House (VHS Or Beta Remix) (vinyl)
Julian Lennon - Help Yourself
Julian Lennon - Mr. Jordan
Julian Lennon - The Secret Value of Daydreaming
Juliette Lewis - Terra Incognita (vinyl)
Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - Miss Smith To You!
Lofty Pillars - When We Were Lost
Lusine - A Certain Distance
Magic Kids - Hey Boy
Marc Almond & Alexei Fedorov - Orpheus in Exile Songs of Vadim Kozin
Marie Digby - Breathing Underwater
Maserati - Passages
Matt Marque - Nothing Personal
Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement (CD & vinyl single)
MC5 - Thunder Express (vinyl reissue)
Mika - We Are Golden
Mike Clarke - West Coast Connection / Steel & Fire
Mindy Smith - Stupid Love (vinyl)
Monotonix - Where Were You When It Happened? (vinyl)
Mumlers - Don't Throw Me Away
My Milky - Way Arms Lightsaber Circuit Breaker
Nadja & Black Boned Angel - Nadja & Black Boned Angel (vinyl)
Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring (CD & DVD)
Nudge - As Good As Gone
Octopus Project - One Ten Hundred Thousand Million (vinyl reissue)
Old Wives' Tales - Younger Limbs
Os Mutantes - Haih Or Barauna
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson - Break Up
Peter White - Good Day
Phish - Joy
Polar Bear Club - Chasing Hamburg (vinyl)
Polvo - In Prism (vinyl)
Prefab Sprout - Let's Change the World With Music
Proclaimers - Notes and Rhymes
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Ray Stevens - One For the Road
Remi Nicole - Cupid Shoot Me
Rick Danko - Live at Dylan's Cafe, Washington D.C., December 1987
Rick Danko & Richard Manuel - Live at O'Toole's Tavern, Scranton, PA, December 1985
Ricky Nelson - Rockin' & Boppin' - The Early Years
Robert Cray - This Time
Rodrigo Y Gabriela - 11:11
Roots - How I Got Over (vinyl)
Ryan Blotnick - Everything Forgets
Saosin - In Search of Solid Ground
Shannon Stephens - The Breadwinner
Shirley Bassey - As I Love You 1956-1958
Simon Joyner - Hotel Lives
Sondre Lerche - Heartbeat Radio
Spencer Day - Vagabond
Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers - The Bear (vinyl)
Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (remastered with bonus tracks) (2-CD 1-DVD deluxe edition) (3-CD 3-LP 1-DVD limited collector's edition) (2-LP vinyl edition)
Sweetwater - sweetwater
Taken By Trees - East of Eden (vinyl)
T-Bone Walker - Essence of (2-CDs)
Thea Gilmore - Recorded Delivery (Live)
Thee Midniters - Songs of Love, Rhythm and Psychedilia (4 CDs)
Thelonious Monk - Monk (reissue)
They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science (CD & DVD)
U2 - I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (2 Track Single)
Valleys - Sometimes Water Kills People
Various Artists - A Solitary Man: The Early Songs Of Neil Diamond
Various Artists - Mercury Prize 2009
Various Artists - Mr. Mark Twain: The Musical
Various Artists - The Laurie Records Story, Volume 3: Girls & Girl Groups
Various Artists - The London American Label: Year By Year - 1960
Various Artists - Theme Time Radio Hour: Season 2 - With Your Host Bob Dylan
Visqueen - Message To Garcia
Vivian Girls - Everything Goes Wrong (vinyl)
Vladislav Delay: Tummaa (vinyl)
Wallis Bird - New Boots
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
Yaron Herman Trio - Muse
Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs (vinyl)
Buy New Music Here
09/09/09
Buy Beatles Box Set Here
Beatles: A Hard Day's Night (remastered)
Beatles: Abbey Road (remastered)
Beatles: Beatles For Sale (remastered)
Beatles: Help! (remastered)
Beatles: Let It Be (remastered)
Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (remastered)
Beatles: Past Masters (remastered)
Beatles: Please Please Me (remastered)
Beatles: Revolver (remastered)
Beatles: Rubber Soul (remastered)
Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (remastered)
Beatles: The Beatles Stereo Box Set (17-CD box set of remastered albums)
Beatles: The White Album (remastered)
Beatles: With The Beatles (remastered)
Beatles: Yellow Submarine (remastered)
Buy Beatles Box Set Here
Rock/Pop Tidbits
I guess he didn't write this song - The Barry Manilow hit "I Write The Songs", written by The Beach Boys' Bruce Johnson, has been recorded by over two hundred artists and has a cumulative, worldwide sales figure of twenty-five million copies.
Seven-foot drag queen RuPaul appeared with comedy legend Milton Berle at the MTV awards. Uncle Milte said, “You know RuPaul, thirty years ago when I was on television, I used to wear dresses too.” “That’s interesting,” the giant cross-dresser snapped. “You used to wear dresses, now you wear diapers.”
During the last years that Elvis Presley performed live, he opened his shows with "The Theme From 2001". When asked about it, Presley said that he felt the number 2001 had a special significance in his life that he couldn't explain. Elvis died August, 16, 1977, which numerically is 8-16-1977. When these numbers are added up, they equal 2001.
The day after Elvis died, Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD) reported that in one day, the number of orders for flowers to be delivered to Graceland had surpassed the number for any other event in the company's history.
Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" for Julian Lennon after John's divorce from his first wife, Cynthia. The song's original name was "Hey Julian", then changed to "Hey Jules" before settling on the final title.
The members of Exile, who scored a US number one hit in 1978 with "Kiss You All Over", toured with the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars in 1965 as back-up band for artists including Brian Hyland and Tommy Roe.
Billboard Magazine printed the first Hot 100 singles chart in August, 1958. Their first #1 hit was "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson.
When he was a boy, David Bowie took art lessons from Peter Frampton's father, Owen.
In 1963, artists managed by Brian Epstein placed 85 songs in the Top Ten of the British record charts.
In 1966, songwriter Tommy Boyce asked Del Shannon to record the theme for Dick Clark's upcoming TV show Where The Action Is. Shannon didn't like the song and turned it down. It was then offered to Freddy Cannon, who had a #3 US hit with it.
Mary McGregor recorded her 1977, number one hit, "Torn Between Two Lovers" while standing in a bathroom, to take advantage of the room's natural echo.
The Notorious B.I.G. married his flame, Faith Evans, only eight days after he met her. Responding to a reporter’s question on how it was working out, Biggie replied, “She ain’t speaking to me right now.”
Marilyn Manson has always denied rumors that he was a child actor who had appeared on the popular television show “Mr. Belvedere.” “I’ve masturbated during the show when it was on TV,” he explained. “But, I have never been on it.”
At the same time as "Love Will Keep Us Together" was starting to fade from the Billboard Hot 100, The Captain and Tennille had a Spanish version of the same song ("Por Amor Viviremos") enter the chart. It was the only time in Rock history that an act had two versions of the same song in different languages and on different singles, appear simultaneously on the Hot 100.
While Ernie K-Doe's hit "Mother-In-Law" was at the top of the US charts in 1961, Dick Clark decided he would not have K-Doe on American Bandstand because he felt the song was disrespectful towards his Mother-in-Law.
The line from Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode, "That little country boy could play" was originally written as, "That little colored boy can play." Berry knew that in order to get the song played on the radio, he would have to change that lyric.
The world's most expensive record has an estimated value of $180,000 and is in the possession of Paul McCartney. The disc is the first pressing of "That'll Be The Day", recorded in 1958 by the Quarry Men, made up of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Colin Hanton and John Duff Lowe.
It was Paul Simon who actually wrote The Cyrkle's 1966 hit "Red Rubber Ball" under the assumed name of Jerry Landis.
Seven-foot drag queen RuPaul appeared with comedy legend Milton Berle at the MTV awards. Uncle Milte said, “You know RuPaul, thirty years ago when I was on television, I used to wear dresses too.” “That’s interesting,” the giant cross-dresser snapped. “You used to wear dresses, now you wear diapers.”
During the last years that Elvis Presley performed live, he opened his shows with "The Theme From 2001". When asked about it, Presley said that he felt the number 2001 had a special significance in his life that he couldn't explain. Elvis died August, 16, 1977, which numerically is 8-16-1977. When these numbers are added up, they equal 2001.
The day after Elvis died, Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD) reported that in one day, the number of orders for flowers to be delivered to Graceland had surpassed the number for any other event in the company's history.
Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" for Julian Lennon after John's divorce from his first wife, Cynthia. The song's original name was "Hey Julian", then changed to "Hey Jules" before settling on the final title.
The members of Exile, who scored a US number one hit in 1978 with "Kiss You All Over", toured with the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars in 1965 as back-up band for artists including Brian Hyland and Tommy Roe.
Billboard Magazine printed the first Hot 100 singles chart in August, 1958. Their first #1 hit was "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson.
When he was a boy, David Bowie took art lessons from Peter Frampton's father, Owen.
In 1963, artists managed by Brian Epstein placed 85 songs in the Top Ten of the British record charts.
In 1966, songwriter Tommy Boyce asked Del Shannon to record the theme for Dick Clark's upcoming TV show Where The Action Is. Shannon didn't like the song and turned it down. It was then offered to Freddy Cannon, who had a #3 US hit with it.
Mary McGregor recorded her 1977, number one hit, "Torn Between Two Lovers" while standing in a bathroom, to take advantage of the room's natural echo.
The Notorious B.I.G. married his flame, Faith Evans, only eight days after he met her. Responding to a reporter’s question on how it was working out, Biggie replied, “She ain’t speaking to me right now.”
Marilyn Manson has always denied rumors that he was a child actor who had appeared on the popular television show “Mr. Belvedere.” “I’ve masturbated during the show when it was on TV,” he explained. “But, I have never been on it.”
At the same time as "Love Will Keep Us Together" was starting to fade from the Billboard Hot 100, The Captain and Tennille had a Spanish version of the same song ("Por Amor Viviremos") enter the chart. It was the only time in Rock history that an act had two versions of the same song in different languages and on different singles, appear simultaneously on the Hot 100.
While Ernie K-Doe's hit "Mother-In-Law" was at the top of the US charts in 1961, Dick Clark decided he would not have K-Doe on American Bandstand because he felt the song was disrespectful towards his Mother-in-Law.
The line from Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode, "That little country boy could play" was originally written as, "That little colored boy can play." Berry knew that in order to get the song played on the radio, he would have to change that lyric.
The world's most expensive record has an estimated value of $180,000 and is in the possession of Paul McCartney. The disc is the first pressing of "That'll Be The Day", recorded in 1958 by the Quarry Men, made up of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Colin Hanton and John Duff Lowe.
It was Paul Simon who actually wrote The Cyrkle's 1966 hit "Red Rubber Ball" under the assumed name of Jerry Landis.
Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales
Week Ending 09/05/2009
1. 45 - The Crystals "The Screw Pt 1" / "The Screw Pt 2" Philles - $3,499.99
2. LP - The Beatles "Yesterday and Today" First State Butcher Mono - $2,600.00
3. 45 - Nirvana "Love Buzz" 243/1000 Sub Pop - $2,499.00
4. 45 - David Bowie "Space Oddity" / "Starman" RCA Mexico Picture Sleeve - $2,333.00
5. LP - Led Zeppelin "I" Atlantic UK Turquoise 1st Press - $2,244.31
Note: Last Week's gitantic bid For The Beatles "Please Please Me" Stereo Parlophone Gold UK First Press - $36,409.41 turned out to be a fake and the record is still for sale
As always, a special thank you to Norm at http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com for this great data. Stop in and listen to their unique radio show Accidental Nostalgia with Norm & Jane On Radio Dentata Thursdays 4PM PDT/7PM EDT
1. 45 - The Crystals "The Screw Pt 1" / "The Screw Pt 2" Philles - $3,499.99
2. LP - The Beatles "Yesterday and Today" First State Butcher Mono - $2,600.00
3. 45 - Nirvana "Love Buzz" 243/1000 Sub Pop - $2,499.00
4. 45 - David Bowie "Space Oddity" / "Starman" RCA Mexico Picture Sleeve - $2,333.00
5. LP - Led Zeppelin "I" Atlantic UK Turquoise 1st Press - $2,244.31
Note: Last Week's gitantic bid For The Beatles "Please Please Me" Stereo Parlophone Gold UK First Press - $36,409.41 turned out to be a fake and the record is still for sale
As always, a special thank you to Norm at http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com for this great data. Stop in and listen to their unique radio show Accidental Nostalgia with Norm & Jane On Radio Dentata Thursdays 4PM PDT/7PM EDT
Ask Mr. Music with Jerry Osborne
I am continuing our new feature: Ask "Mr. Music." Now in its 23rd year of syndication (1986-2008), Jerry Osborne's weekly Q&A feature will be a regular post every Wednesday from now on. Be sure to stop by Jerry's site (www.jerryosborne.com) for more Mr. Music archives, record price guides, anything Elvis, buy & sell collectibles, record appraisals and much more. I thank Jerry for allowing the reprints.
FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 7, 2009
DEAR JERRY: While visiting relatives in Yakima, Washington last month, I read an obituary in their paper about a local musician named Larry Knechtel. Rural Yakima is somewhat isolated and not exactly the entertainment capital of the world, so I'm not sure Larry's passing made the news outside south-central Washington.
I bring this up because the obit made reference to Larry being a Grammy-winning artist, with hundreds of recordings to his credit, and his being associated with many big-name acts.
I don't have a computer but I have since asked dee jays and record collectors, and not a one knows this man.
Can you tell me more about Mr. Knechtel, and the singers he's worked with?
—John Russell, Racine, Wisc.
DEAR JOHN: You are right about the limited coverage of Larry Knechtel's death. I find no mention of Larry at all in CNN's archives, and only brief Associated Press notes on other leading news sites. There is so much more to be known about Knechtel.
Primarily a keyboardist and electric bass player, Larry could play many instruments and any style of music, from classical to country and jazz to rock. It also didn't hurt that he was gifted with perfect pitch.
Larry's big break came in 1959 when Duane Eddy, the nation's top instrumentalist, asked Knechtel to join his band, the Rebels. There he became friends with Steve Douglas, Duane Eddy's saxophonist.
Douglas then took a job in Los Angeles with Phil Spector and a flock of musicians who would later be known as the Wrecking Crew. In 1963, Larry Knechtel joined the Crew.
Not until about 20 years after their glory days did anyone even refer to them as the Wrecking Crew, but it was Hal Blaine's 2003 book, “Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew: The Story of the World's Most Recorded Musician” is that cemented the name in musical history. Best known for their sessions at Gold Star Studios, and in particular Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, Larry and other Wrecking Crewmen can be heard on, as the Yakima obituary stated, “hundreds of recordings.”
In 1971, Knechtel joined the group Bread, founded by David Gates. Larry's guitar artistry is featured on their hit albums “Baby I'm-a Want You” and “Guitar Man,” both issued in 1972.
Fittingly, the guitar man playing those distinctively hot licks on the Top 10 hit, “The Guitar Man” (Elektra 45803), is Larry Knechtel.
Besides his work on tracks by Duane Eddy, Bread, and numerous Phil Spector hits, here are just A FEW more whose recordings feature or include Larry Knechtel: Association; Chet Atkins; Hoyt Axton; Joan Baez; Beach Boys; Byrds; Ray Charles; Elvis Costello; Spencer Davis Group; John Denver; Jackie DeShannon; Neil Diamond; Dixie Chicks; Fats Domino; Doors; Everly Brothers; 5th Dimension; England Dan & John Ford Coley; Connie Francis; Jerry Garcia; Art Garfunkel; David Gates; Dale Hawkins; Jan & Dean; Billy Joel; Phil Keaggy; Al Kooper; Mamas and the Papas; Henry Mancini; Dave Mason; Monkees; Randy Newman; Harry Nilsson; Roy Orbison; Dolly Parton; Partridge Family; Poco; Mike Post; Perez Prado; Elvis Presley; Righteous Brothers; Johnny Rivers; Tommy Roe; Diana Ross; Seals & Crofts; Paul Simon; Simon & Garfunkel; Nancy Sinatra; Steppenwolf; John Stewart; Barbra Streisand; Tina Turner; Turtles; Conway Twitty; Tim Weisberg; Hank Williams Jr.; and Mason Williams. Knechtel's lone Grammy Award is for Best Arrangement, rewarding his work on what turned out to be the 1970 Record of the Year: Simon and Garfunkel's “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
In a surprising development, MCA-Universal in Nashville signed Larry as a solo artist in 1989. His debut album, “Mountain Moods” (MCA 6279), includes 11 of his jazz-based originals.
The following year, Larry's second and last solo album, “Urban Gypsy” (Capitol CDP 7 94382 2) came out.
The Musician's Hall of Fame inducted Larry, and other Wrecking Crewmen, in November 2007.
Knechtel, 69, died August 20th at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital. The cause of death is given as “an apparent undetermined illness.”
IZ ZAT SO? How many players did Phil Spector use to create all those Wall of Sound hits?
In his book “Phil Spector - Back to Mono (1958-1969),” included with the boxed set of the same name, Phil credits 182 musicians, some of whom are household names in the music world: Herb Alpert; King Curtis; Plas Johnson; Sandy Nelson; Billy Preston; Ike Turner; and Brian Wilson.
Credited separately in the book are “Phil's Regulars” — the nucleus of the Wrecking Crew. Among those are: Hal Blaine (drums); Sonny Bono (percussion); Red Callendar (bass); Glen Campbell (guitar); Al Casey (guitar); Steve Douglas (sax); Jim Horn (sax); Carol Kaye (Fender bass); Barney Kessel (guitar); Larry Knechtel (keyboard); Jack Nitzsche (arranger, percussion); Leon Russell (keyboard); Billy Strange (guitar); Tommy Tedesco (guitar); and Nino Tempo (sax, keyboard).
Copyright 2009 Osbourne Enterprises- Reprinted By Permission
============================================
Toll-Free: (800) 246-3255
END OF THE YEAR SALE
Call with the code "CVR" and receive $10 off your purchase!
http://www.jerryosborne.com/
Jerry Osborne's "Rockin' Records" has long been the most popular record guide. Now with 1,104 pages, it is by far the biggest record guide we've ever made. It is regarded throughout the industry as the best available guide, and it is the one accepted by all the major insurance companies.
Call today with the code "CVR" to receive your discount!
FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 7, 2009
DEAR JERRY: While visiting relatives in Yakima, Washington last month, I read an obituary in their paper about a local musician named Larry Knechtel. Rural Yakima is somewhat isolated and not exactly the entertainment capital of the world, so I'm not sure Larry's passing made the news outside south-central Washington.
I bring this up because the obit made reference to Larry being a Grammy-winning artist, with hundreds of recordings to his credit, and his being associated with many big-name acts.
I don't have a computer but I have since asked dee jays and record collectors, and not a one knows this man.
Can you tell me more about Mr. Knechtel, and the singers he's worked with?
—John Russell, Racine, Wisc.
DEAR JOHN: You are right about the limited coverage of Larry Knechtel's death. I find no mention of Larry at all in CNN's archives, and only brief Associated Press notes on other leading news sites. There is so much more to be known about Knechtel.
Primarily a keyboardist and electric bass player, Larry could play many instruments and any style of music, from classical to country and jazz to rock. It also didn't hurt that he was gifted with perfect pitch.
Larry's big break came in 1959 when Duane Eddy, the nation's top instrumentalist, asked Knechtel to join his band, the Rebels. There he became friends with Steve Douglas, Duane Eddy's saxophonist.
Douglas then took a job in Los Angeles with Phil Spector and a flock of musicians who would later be known as the Wrecking Crew. In 1963, Larry Knechtel joined the Crew.
Not until about 20 years after their glory days did anyone even refer to them as the Wrecking Crew, but it was Hal Blaine's 2003 book, “Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew: The Story of the World's Most Recorded Musician” is that cemented the name in musical history. Best known for their sessions at Gold Star Studios, and in particular Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, Larry and other Wrecking Crewmen can be heard on, as the Yakima obituary stated, “hundreds of recordings.”
In 1971, Knechtel joined the group Bread, founded by David Gates. Larry's guitar artistry is featured on their hit albums “Baby I'm-a Want You” and “Guitar Man,” both issued in 1972.
Fittingly, the guitar man playing those distinctively hot licks on the Top 10 hit, “The Guitar Man” (Elektra 45803), is Larry Knechtel.
Besides his work on tracks by Duane Eddy, Bread, and numerous Phil Spector hits, here are just A FEW more whose recordings feature or include Larry Knechtel: Association; Chet Atkins; Hoyt Axton; Joan Baez; Beach Boys; Byrds; Ray Charles; Elvis Costello; Spencer Davis Group; John Denver; Jackie DeShannon; Neil Diamond; Dixie Chicks; Fats Domino; Doors; Everly Brothers; 5th Dimension; England Dan & John Ford Coley; Connie Francis; Jerry Garcia; Art Garfunkel; David Gates; Dale Hawkins; Jan & Dean; Billy Joel; Phil Keaggy; Al Kooper; Mamas and the Papas; Henry Mancini; Dave Mason; Monkees; Randy Newman; Harry Nilsson; Roy Orbison; Dolly Parton; Partridge Family; Poco; Mike Post; Perez Prado; Elvis Presley; Righteous Brothers; Johnny Rivers; Tommy Roe; Diana Ross; Seals & Crofts; Paul Simon; Simon & Garfunkel; Nancy Sinatra; Steppenwolf; John Stewart; Barbra Streisand; Tina Turner; Turtles; Conway Twitty; Tim Weisberg; Hank Williams Jr.; and Mason Williams. Knechtel's lone Grammy Award is for Best Arrangement, rewarding his work on what turned out to be the 1970 Record of the Year: Simon and Garfunkel's “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
In a surprising development, MCA-Universal in Nashville signed Larry as a solo artist in 1989. His debut album, “Mountain Moods” (MCA 6279), includes 11 of his jazz-based originals.
The following year, Larry's second and last solo album, “Urban Gypsy” (Capitol CDP 7 94382 2) came out.
The Musician's Hall of Fame inducted Larry, and other Wrecking Crewmen, in November 2007.
Knechtel, 69, died August 20th at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital. The cause of death is given as “an apparent undetermined illness.”
IZ ZAT SO? How many players did Phil Spector use to create all those Wall of Sound hits?
In his book “Phil Spector - Back to Mono (1958-1969),” included with the boxed set of the same name, Phil credits 182 musicians, some of whom are household names in the music world: Herb Alpert; King Curtis; Plas Johnson; Sandy Nelson; Billy Preston; Ike Turner; and Brian Wilson.
Credited separately in the book are “Phil's Regulars” — the nucleus of the Wrecking Crew. Among those are: Hal Blaine (drums); Sonny Bono (percussion); Red Callendar (bass); Glen Campbell (guitar); Al Casey (guitar); Steve Douglas (sax); Jim Horn (sax); Carol Kaye (Fender bass); Barney Kessel (guitar); Larry Knechtel (keyboard); Jack Nitzsche (arranger, percussion); Leon Russell (keyboard); Billy Strange (guitar); Tommy Tedesco (guitar); and Nino Tempo (sax, keyboard).
Copyright 2009 Osbourne Enterprises- Reprinted By Permission
============================================
Toll-Free: (800) 246-3255
END OF THE YEAR SALE
Call with the code "CVR" and receive $10 off your purchase!
http://www.jerryosborne.com/
Jerry Osborne's "Rockin' Records" has long been the most popular record guide. Now with 1,104 pages, it is by far the biggest record guide we've ever made. It is regarded throughout the industry as the best available guide, and it is the one accepted by all the major insurance companies.
Call today with the code "CVR" to receive your discount!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
