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The Beatles Appreciation Thread


Frankie Crisp

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I ''speak''on twitter to scot williams who played pete best in backbeat quite a bit top kopite as well.

 

As for the beatles films mentioned i love nowhere boy its amazing that it was the directorial debut of sam taylor-wood apparently..

 

plus it has this cracking song in it:

in spite of all the danger.
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I saw this thread over the weekend, but as I was away, typing my thoughts on an iPhone would have been an arse, so I've waited until today.

 

I LOVE The Beatles. I think Zeppelin are probably my favourite band, but if I was forced at gunpoint and told I could only ever listen to one band's output, I'd pick The Beatles.

 

Has anyone been to the BEATLEMANIA museum on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg? It is INCREDIBLE. A five storey tall museum near the Beatlesplatz that tells the story of the band, and it's one of the best museums I've ever been to. I wish I spoke fluent German so I could apply for jobs there. It starts at the top level with their Hamburg career, with loads of memorabilia, goes down into Abbey Road Studios (full replica) and into a room full of all the various merchandise they had in the early 60s, with a panoramic surround-screen room of the Shea Stadium concert. You go down through Strawberry Fields into the Sgt Peppers zone, where you can have your photo taken in the album cover. You progress to the Engine Room of the fucking Yellow Submarine and then down to the giant headphones where you can listen to the differences between the two versions of Let It Be at your leisure. Even the exit signs are brilliant - in German, 'Ausgang', in English 'Hello Goodbye'. YES. Here is the website. If you're a fan, GO. Two hours from Heathrow.

 

Mattyc on page 1 talked about how and that's true of me as well. I really got into them in teenage years, and found that as I discovered each album, somehow I already knew the majority of the songs, without ever having consciously listened to them. It's a weird feeling. They're kind of ingrained in the mind - you know The Beatles without even knowing you know them, and you hear a song and think, 'wait, they did this one as well?'

 

They've been part of my musical knowledge from a very early age, though - one of my first musical memories is in reception (age 4 or thereabouts) at school, and one of the teaching assistants keeping us busy by teaching us the words to 'Yellow Submarine'. Quite a few of the lesser-loved songs have got strong memory connections for me - for example, 'Octopus' Garden' always takes me back to painting my nana's living room walls for her.

 

My favourite album is Sgt Peppers. I know this is akin to a Floyd fan liking Dark Side of the Moon or a wrestling fan liking Savage-Steamboat but it's such a good album. I love every single song on it. I also like Rubber Soul if that makes me seem trendier.

 

One of the most amazing things about them is the fact that no matter how you're feeling, The Beatles have a song that fits perfectly with your mood. Fallen in love? Something (maybe my favourite ever love song). Chilled out and content with life? Here Comes The Sun or Dear Prudence. Angry? Helter Skelter. Lonely? She's Leaving Home. Reflective? In My Life. And so on, and so on, I could go on for ages.

 

Sometimes you don't even know how relevant a song is going to be. I was never a huge fan of 'Yesterday' - it was good, but never a first choice. Then one day, about a week after my ex and I broke up (she dumped me. It was brutal.) I was driving to meet some friends and it came on the radio. The impact it had... that song was written about me, it had to be. I know it wasn't, really, but every word was right - it was exactly how I felt at that time. That, to me, is the mark of truly superlative songwriting.

 

I tried to make a CD of my favourite Beatles songs to put in the car. It ended up being 72 songs long - and that was me being selective. You know the moment at a gig where you hear the first notes of your favourite song, the one you came to hear? I saw McCartney last year and got that feeling about twenty times... I'm going to attempt to do as others have done and add a couple of links, and I will have to try really hard not to turn it into a 60-odd long list of links.

 

So, with that in mind, I'll try not to replicate songs others have linked to.

 

I Want You (She's So Heavy) - one of my favourites. I always stick it one when I'm frustrated. There's something about that riff that appeals to anger.

 

- does anyone else rate this as among their very best? It's a perfect fifties-style rock and roll love song. So simple, but absolutely gorgeous. Love it.

 

- there's so much going on in this one. The lyrics are among the best of the 'weird' ones, the time/key changes really work, and there's
which is awesome purely for having Salma Hayek in a nurse's outfit singing the 'bang bang, shoot shoot' lines.

 

Speaking of Across The Universe, which I also love, there's

that cannot help but give me goosebumps all over the place. Stunning. The original version, of course, is just as stirring and moving. I think 'Let It Be' is one of those ones that's so well-known it's almost dismissed, but IT'S SUCH A GOOD SONG.

 

How do people rate the Love album from a few years ago? I really like it, there are some cracking re-arrangements in there. The best track, I think, is

I'd put this above the original. Seriously, I prefer it.

 

(This is partly because Eric Clapton almost ruined my enjoyment of the original by effectively claiming credit for its quality in his book (my personal interpretation of his words). Damn you, Clapton, you're good, but it's George's song no matter how many solos you did!)

 

And finally,

. How amazing is this song? When people talk about the best Beatles songs, quite often they'll look to the post-live era stuff of Sgt Peppers, Abbey Road, etc. But the early years have so many phenomenally crafted pop songs. Who couldn't love 'Paperback Writer'? Love, love, love it (love is all you need).

 

 

I'll stop now. But I :love: The Beatles, and Frankie Crisp for making this thread. :love:

 

Late to the party, but I think this is my favourite ever post on this board! Wonderful stuff!

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I was going to link this story from GeorgeHarrison.com but it's taking an age to load, so here's the BBC version.

 

George Harrison documentary due for release, directed by Martin Scorsese

 

Martin Scorsese's documentary about late Beatle George Harrison will debut on US cable channel HBO this autumn.

 

Co-produced with Harrison's widow, Olivia, it will feature home movies and interviews with surviving Beatles.

 

Scorsese, who also made Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light, said making the film was "a joy and an experience I'll never forget".

 

Living in the Material World will be shown in two parts in October. It will be available on DVD on 10 October.

 

Other interviewees include Harrison's friend Eric Clapton, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, and record producers Phil Spector and George Martin.

 

Scorsese said the documentary had allowed him to spend time with Olivia Harrison "interviewing so many of George's closest friends, reviewing all that footage, some of it never seen before, and listening to all of that magnificent music".

 

He said the first time he heard Harrison's 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass "was like walking into a cathedral".

 

"George was making spiritually awake music, we all heard and felt it, and I think that was the reason that he came to occupy a very special place in our lives."

 

An accompanying book, written by Olivia Harrison, will feature photographs, letters and diary extracts from the star's personal archive.

 

Harrison, who died of lung cancer in 2001, wrote Beatles songs including Something and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. He enjoyed further success, as a solo artist, and with the 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys.

Can't see it being anything but great. Looking forward to the book, too.

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See Hitman, I told you he'd have it.

 

Numbers was all nervous about asking you! :laugh:

 

AS IF!!

 

and cheers for the link gonna get that watched.

 

Just throwing it out there but john and george were way better writers than paul in fact it was unfair on george a really good writer having to compete with lennon/mccartney to get songs on there.. luckily ringo is shit at song writing so he didnt have to worry about trying to get a song on the albums.

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AS IF!!

 

and cheers for the link gonna get that watched.

 

Just throwing it out there but john and george were way better writers than paul in fact it was unfair on george a really good writer having to compete with lennon/mccartney to get songs on there.. luckily ringo is shit at song writing so he didnt have to worry about trying to get a song on the albums.

 

I think George is so under rated. The most interesting Beatles songs tend to be his (including my favourite) and when it comes to solo works, it is his that I adore, especially 'When We Were Fab'. As for my fave Beatles songs, would say these are my top 6:

 

6) Revolution

5) Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except For Me And My Monkey)

4) Across The Universe

3) A Day In The Life

2) Yesterday

1) While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Edited by rubbafish
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I think george's solo works are immense i mean theres all things must pas, something (yeah i know its a beatles song but still) isn't it a pity, beware of darkness while my guitar gently weeps.. I think his solo stuff is way better than paul's stuff johns solo stuff is ace as well with mother, mind games, julia instant karma. his version of stand by me and jealous guy being the standout song.

 

As for my top 6 beatles songs

 

6: a day in the life

5: something

4:cant buy me love

3: i am the walrus

2: hey jude

1: this boy.

 

since ''nowhere boy'' got released though i love in spite of all the danger amazing to think john wrote something that good when he wasn't even 20...

Edited by hitman89762000
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I'm not even going to attempt to put my favourites in any kind of order. Firstly, the order would change from one day to the next and secondly, I doubt I'd be able to narrow it down to 30, let alone 6!

 

I'll echo the love for Harrison; I agree that he and Lennon were the better lyricists whereas Paul was more advanced in terms of music composition. Although Harrison's later work in the group gets more recognition (those stated above, which are more well known), he also wrote some good songs as he grew with confidence from the mid-60's onwards. If I Needed Someone being a good example.

 

Oh and as I think I've mentioned in this thread previously, Long, Long, Long and Run of the Mill are two beautiful songs which are amongst my favourites by any artist, from any period. Sublime.

 

Lennon is still my favourite, though. Just.

 

since ''nowhere boy'' got released though i love in spite of all the danger amazing to think john wrote something that good when he wasn't even 20...

McCartney and Harrison wrote that, I forgot to say before.

Edited by Frankie Crisp
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For all four of them there are some solo songs which are better than their weaker Beatles songs, but in general I'd say no. Harrison is the one, for me anyway, who would come closest to that category but I think that's more down to him not having as many songs on Beatles records as Lennon and McCartney. As good as All Things Must Pass is as an album with the sheer quality and quantity it has, if you put While My Guitar..., Something or Long, Long, Long on it then it'd be seen as the best song on the album. That said, those songs weren't all about just the writer, as the entire production of Beatles work is a massive factor, too.

 

It's also difficult to compare some of Lennon's solo work to his Beatles output, because of the sheer diversity of it. Plastic Ono Band was like nothing he'd done before and by the time he got to Double Fantasy, he wasn't just a different songwriter, he was practically a different person than 10 years previous.

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Sorry but for me George was the most over rated Beatle. There is something really smug and self satisifed about how everything is an unenlightened twat except him; you can pretty much hear the audible patronising head shaking when he says "If they only knew" in "Within without you". I don't know about you, but I don't really like getting lectured by drug addled 24 years olds at the best of times. Even the most memorable solos in the Beatles catalogue weren't performed by him ("Sgt Pepper", "Taxman", "While My Guitar Gentle Weeps"), and his best tune ("If I Needed Someone") ripped off from the Byrds version of the "Bells of Rhymney".

 

Having said that, All Things Must Pass, is a fantastic album with a large help from Phil Spector. Check out that echo on "Awaiting on you All"!"

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