The Beatles Appreciation Thread

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1-Girl
2-Got to Get You Into My Life
3.Tomorrow Never Knows

Edit: I was listening and change my votes

[Doug]

What ... there was a time when entertainment industry moguls DIDN'T want to make fans buy the same thing twice! 

Those were the days!

Yeah, in England.  In America we got the early Beatles albums all mangled and shortened.  The original U.S. version of Help! was horrible, but as it is now restored to its UK version, it's one of their best albums.  I barely recognized Rubber Soul when I bought it on CD.  Thankfully, though, I was always familiar with the proper version of Revolver, as the library had the UK version, which I'd made a tape of and which I would check out frequently.  

Wow, this is a tough round.  The only song I wouldn't mind seeing go is "Got to Get You Into My Life."

1 Got to Get You Into My Life
2 Rain
3 Girl

[Matt]

That ends Round 56. This time we lose "Girl" and "Taxman".


BEATLES SONG SURVIVOR - ROUND FIFTY-SEVEN

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.  "And Your Bird Can Sing" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon, with McCartney
2.  "I'm Only Sleeping" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon
3.  "Eleanor Rigby"  (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: McCartney, with Lennon
4.   "I Want To Tell You" (Harrison); Lead vocal: Harrison, with Lennon and McCartney
5.   "Here, There and Everywhere" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: McCartney


(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]

From "tgy":

Round 57 "proxy" votes:

1- Here There And Everywhere
2- I Want To Tell You

3- I'm Only Sleeping

[Matt]

My votes this round:

1) Here, There and Everywhere
2) I Want To Tell You

3) And Your Bird Can Sing

[Brendan]

Matt, would it be possible to list which album these songs are from? Maybe list it besides who the lead vocals are?

[Americanbeauty]

1. Here There And Everywhere
2. I Want To Tell You
3. I'm Only Sleeping

[Lucky Punk]

1.Here There And Everywhere
2.I Want To Tell You
3.I'm Only Sleeping

[Lin Sunderland]

1   Here There And Everywhere
2   I Want To Tell You

3   I'm Only Sleeping

[Matt]

Matt, would it be possible to list which album these songs are from? Maybe list it besides who the lead vocals are?

Sure. In this round, all the songs are from the Revolver album. 

[Doug]

1 Here, There and Everywhere
2 And Your Bird Can Sing
3 I Want To Tell You

[Gant]

1   Here There and Everywhere
2   And Your Bird Can Sing

I read somewhere recently that "and your bird can sing" was written as a little dig at Jagger and his then girlfriend Marriane Faithful   


3   I Want To Tell You

[Matt]

I read Albert Goldman's " The Lives of John Lennon"

It was a difficult read, he was very scathing about John's personality ( McCartney was painted in less than flattering terms too ). Very much warts and all kind of book - with the emphasis on the warts.

The book has been discredited by many writers, no doubt Goldman had his own agenda ( he did a number on Elvis too) but there are interesting background stories that are glossed over or left out of "official"
biographies

This is the first of the Beatles books that I ordered earlier in this game that I've finished reading. And what a depressing book it was. But, I thought it was excellent. Yes, Goldman goes to every length to make John both pitiable and unlikeable, but it's what he spent half the book on that I was most enlightened by.... Yoko Ono "the witch".

Anyone who knows anything about John Lennon knows he was no saint, and never tried to portray himself as one. We know he had faults, but honestly... what rock star in the 60's and 70's didn't do drugs, sleep around, and have a tendency toward violence? So, Goldman didn't shock me with much of anything he wrote about John, except when it came to his relationship with Yoko.

I haven't read a book about the Beatles or John Lennon since John was killed. That was a long time ago. And in all these years, I've always believed that John and Yoko loved each other, and were happy together, even if every day of their lives wasn't blissful... that much I felt was true. And even though I never really admired Yoko, I always appreciated her for making John happy. But, wow....  after reading this book, I have really changed my tune. She made his life hell, and he was completely dependent on her. So sad.....   

It's hard to believe that even the least Lennon fan mourned his death more deeply and longer than his own wife. That's what I take away from reading this book. How sad it was that a man who was that talented and who needed a partner and someone to love him had to fall in love with the worst sycophant he could have ever come across.

The Lives of John Lennon

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1. Here There And Everywhere
2. I Want To Tell You
3. I'm Only Sleeping

[Doug]

And in all these years, I've always believed that John and Yoko loved each other, and were happy together, even if every day of their lives wasn't blissful... that much I felt was true. And even though I never really admired Yoko, I always appreciated her for making John happy. But, wow....  after reading this book, I have really changed my tune. She made his life hell, and he was completely dependent on her. So sad.....   

It's hard to believe that even the least Lennon fan mourned his death more deeply and longer than his own wife. That's what I take away from reading this book. How sad it was that a man who was that talented and who needed a partner and someone to love him had to fall in love with the worst sycophant he could have ever come across.

The Lives of John Lennon

She was out for herself, no doubt about it, but the part about making his life hell and he being completely dependent upon her and there being no love between them...  That's a bit too slanted for me.  I just watched Gimme Some Truth the other day and they way they interact doesn't strike me as indicative of those things, but I don't know.  I read a biography of Yoko and it doesn't paint her in a great light, but it doesn't seem to go out of its way to make everything so negative.

[Matt]

I know what you mean. Any writer can distort a story, but in this case, the facts speak louder than the simple words in the book. Within 24 hours of John's death, she was meeting with David Geffen to promote her career. Within 6 months, she was remarried. The very day after John was killed, she had her next husband move into the Dakota with her. Not to mention how she behaved while he was still alive, numerous affairs that she threw in his face to make him miserable. And it also goes into how dependent John grew on her. I first read about this "dependence" from Julian on his website, and didn't want to believe it.

I don't believe everything I read, but there's an awful lot in there that acts as building blocks that over and over again build the story ... and it sure makes its case. John loved her.... and she used and manipulated him for her career while she tried to destroy his.

Well, if you get around to reading it, let me know what you think. The used hardcover is only 40 cents on Amazon... it's worth it.

[Matt]

That ends Round 57. This time we lose "Here, There and Everywhere" and "I Want To Tell You".


BEATLES SONG SURVIVOR - ROUND FIFTY-EIGHT

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.  "She Said She Said" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon (From Revolver)
2.  "Strawberry Fields Forever" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon (From Magical Mystery Tour)
3.  "Penny Lane" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: McCartney, with Lennon (From Magical Mystery Tour)
4. "A Day In The Life" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon, with McCartney (From Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)
5.   "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: McCartney, with Lennon (From Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)


(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]

From "tgy":

Round 58 "proxy" votes:

1- She Said She Said
2- Penny Lane

3- Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

[Matt]

My votes this round:

1) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2) Penny Lane

3) She Said She Said

[Americanbeauty]

1. Sgt Pepper
2. A Day In The Life
3. She Said She Said