The Beatles Appreciation Thread

[Matt]

Thanks Lin and tgy. Very interesting. Maybe they oughta edit that Fidelity Investments commercial, "This is Paul":

This is Paul. He's been a Quarryman, Beatle, Wing, poet, plagiarist, father, front man, producer, business mogul, painter and, if that weren't enough, a knight. The key is, never stop doing what you love.

Alright, I'll give Sir Paul a break. It seems like Dekker's name should have at least been mentioned somewhere on the album... even if it wasn't required, just out of common courtesy.

I recall reading a Lennon quote as saying basically that so long as The Beatles kept putting out songs like "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" they could be sure of pleasing the senior citizens.     I don't think he liked the song much, I would guess.

[[email protected]]

1   Her Majesty
2   Mawell's Sliver Hammer

3   Golden Slumbers

[Lin Sunderland]

Matt and Lucky Punk,   Glad I was able to help.    We sang Golden Slumbers when I was little at school and that was before the Beatles came into being.   Of course there are songs and tunes that sound similar but blatant copies SHOULD credit the writer or composer.

[Jed Cooper]

1. Her Majesty
2. Golden Slumbers
3. Carry That Weight

Sorry I haven't made it a point to keep up with this great thread!

My brother pointed out to my the genius that is known as Abbey Road.  If I'm anywhere near it on my trip next month, I plan on getting a picture of myself walking across it.

Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Here Comes The Sun have always been favorites.  I remember hearing Harrison's song for the first time on a pair of my brother's headphones.  It made such an impression that I had to hear it numerous times.  By the time I was through, I could move my ears!  How funny is that?!  I think Macca considers Something as Harrison's best song, but I prefer Here Comes The Sun (out of his Beatles' work, anyway). 

[Gant]

1   Maxwells Silver hammer.... (Never liked this one..no loss)

2   Her Majesty


3   Golden Slumbers

[Doug]

Here's the actual quote I was referring to about "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," taken from A Day In the Life by Mark Hertsgaard.  (It's a good book, by the way.)

....and like that song ["Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"], Paul insisted on recording it over and over, until John and George were sick of it.  Harrison later called it a "really fruity" song.  A jeering Lennon said that the Beatles were assured of a mainstream audience so long as they kept producing "nice little folk songs like 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' for the grannies to dig."

 

I do like the song, though, more than some of Paul's other "really fruity songs," but that and "Octopus's Garden" both on the same side as "Come Together," "Something," "Oh! Darling" and "I Want You" diminish what could have been one of the greatest sides of a Beatles' LP. 

[Americanbeauty]

1. Her Majesty
2. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
3. Golden Slumbers

[D'Ambrosia]

1.Maxwell's Silver Hammer
2.Her Majesty
3.Carry That Weight

[Matt]

That ends Round 41. This time we lose "Her Majesty" and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer".


BEATLES SONG SURVIVOR - ROUND FORTY-TWO

All the songs this round are from the Abbey Road album. Some of the Abbey Rong tracks will cut off abruptly and/or start abruptly because several of the tracks run together and aren't meant to be separated.

As before, vote off two of the following songs, and list an alternate third choice that will only be used as a tie-breaker if needed. The three surviving songs from this round will be brought back later in the game to compete with the other rounds' survivors.

1.  "Come Together" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon
2.  "The End" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: McCartney, with Lennon and Harrison
3.  "Sun King" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon, with McCartney and Harrison
4.   "Mean Mr. Mustard" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon, with McCartney
5.   "Polythene Pam" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon, with McCartney and Harrison


(When I end a round and start the next, I'll need to take the songs from the previous round down so that the next round's songs will fit on the website. Therefore the links in each round will still show up, but they won't work once that round has ended.)

You can join in the game anytime. You don't need to have been voting from the beginning to play.

[Matt]

Who here isn't reaching for Abbey Road right now to listen to "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window"? It's just not right to break these songs up. 

Easy round for me:

1) Sun King
2) Mean Mr. Mustard

3) Polythene Pam

[Matt]

Has anyone here seen Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, starring Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees? It was the first movie I paid to see with my own money, and it was horrendous. I haven't seen it since it was in the theaters, but it was so bad that when I hear a song like 'Mean Mr. Mustard", I sometimes remember that movie, because the character was in it.

Other characters:


George Burns as "Mr. Kite". 


Steve Martin as Dr. Maxwell Edison


Billy Preston as Sgt. Pepper


The Bee Gees as the Hendersons

And, of course.... Peter Frampton as Billy Shears (with Sandy Farina as Strawberry Fields)



If you haven't seen it, don't. Unless you like really really bad movies, or plan on doing a "Mystery Science Theater" type thing.

Here's an excerpt from a review of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band that appeared in the Oct. 5, 1978 issue of Rolling Stone:

The major clods are Robert Stigwood and Dee Anthony, two entrepreneurs who, uh, masterminded a double fiasco so unique it should win some kind of award for ineptness beyond the normal call of duty. From the kernel of the Beatles' LP, Stigwood not only produced one of the worst movies ever made (Village Voice film critic Andrew Sarris can remember only two musicals more loathsome in the history of talkies), but also managed to trash whatever rock and roll reputations such seventies artists as Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees had before this excremental soundtrack was released.

Since the movie is now mercifully dead as Stigwood's and Anthony's consciences (so short was its run in Manhattan that those who were lucky enough to blink might have missed it), let's just say that the celluloid version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has set new standards--all of them lower. Frampton, whose macho cinematic presence makes Olivia Newton John look seem like Clint Eastwood, has absolutely no future in Hollywood unless he wants to redo the Tammy series, playing the Sandra Dee role. Stephen Schiff, writing in the Boston Phoenix, summed up the Gibb Brothers' thespian talents; "But the Bee Gees are so lifeless, you're always afraid they'll simply fall over and never get up."

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/7578/short_articles.htm#busted

(Thought the Clint Eastwood mention would go over well here. )

I actually bought the soundtrack album, horrendous as it was. I collected everything Beatles (and Beatles-related) back then.

Shame about Peter Frampton being involved in this. I've always enjoyed his music...

[The Schofield Kid]

1- Sun King
2- Mean Mr.Mustard

3- Polythene Pam

Has anyone here seen Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, starring Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees?

No,I've never seen this,but have heard it's probably up there in the top ten film turkey's of all time.So if it's that bad I'll definitely have to see it sometime if it's ever shown on cable here.

[Sylvie]

1.  Mean Mr Mustard
2.  Sun King

3.  Polythene Pam

[Doug]

1 Sun King
2 Polythene Pam
3 Mean Mr. Mustard

[[email protected]]

1) Sun King
2) Mean Mr. Mustard

3) Polythene Pam

[Jed Cooper]

Hi Matt,

Sorry I didn't respond to this sooner!  That would prove interesting for the Elvis fans, I'm sure, but I don't have the capacity to provide sounds for each song the way you have been doing with The Beatles.  Thanks for the suggestion, anyway.  Again, sorry I haven't been able to participate more.  I'll try to make more of an effort.

Good to see you joining in, Jed! Try to check in everyday to participate in every round. Sometime in 2006 when we're done Beatles Song Survivor, maybe you'd like to run an Elvis Song Survivor. You have all his music, so all you'd need is a program that creates MP3s from WAV files (if you don't already have one) and a few free Geocities sites. Think you might be up for that?

[Jed Cooper]

Here's my votes:

1. The End
2. Sun King

I definitely can't vote off Come Together and agree with Matt, I can't break up Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pam!

[Americanbeauty]

1. Mean Mr Mustard
2. Sun King
3. Polythene Pam

[Gant]

1   Sun King
2   Mean Mister Mustard


3  Polythene Pam

[Lucky Punk]

1. Sun King
2. Mean Mr Mustard
3. Polythene Pam