What are you listening to?

[movieman1957]

Since we're talking about John I have both the famous book interviews with Lennon. The Rolling Stone book from 1970 and the Playboy interview from 1980. THe contrast in the man is amazing. He is still very much "all you need is love" just before his death but there is a calmness in him and a bit of nostalgia.

He often referred to the '70 interview at times to say nothing more than a statement was a lie. He was mad and he just wanted to put something out there.

As far as his albums go I thought when many songs were great but when they weren't that great they weren't very good. It always amazed me that the man who could write "How Do You Sleep" could also write "Oh, My Love" and "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out" and "Meat City." The contrast of "Love" and "Well, Well, Well" I found amazing. He almost seemed bi-polar.

[MichiganJ]

Boy, How Do You Sleep is a mean little song, isn’t it? But while it certainly skewers McCartney (with the added “benefit” of George on guitar), I think the song is far more a reflection on John than on Paul. John was very aware that Paul had written many of the Beatles biggest hits (Yesterday, Hey Jude, Let It Be, etc.), and that gnawed at him. It also irked him that Paul was the one to announce the “break up” when. by nearly all accounts, it was John who had quit first (not counting when George and Ringo quit only to be cajoled to come back.). He was also attacking Paul over the Eastman/Allen Klein debacle, and of course, it turned out Paul was right. I remember as a kid being mad at John for the song, and at George for playing on it, but it’s such a good song, what can you do?

It is fun to contrast Lennon’s 1970 interview with that of his last one with Playboy. Obviously time, distance, and maturity come into play, and again, you can tell how much rage was under the surface for Lennon in 1970.

I love the song-by-song analysis in the Playboy interview, and it’s interesting that McCartney, in the book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, pretty much agrees with Lennon’s assessments. They only disagree on one or two songs (I seem to remember the lyrics of Eleanor Rigby as one) and that's pretty impressive, given the quantity (let alone quality) of songs they wrote together (and apart, of course.)

[traceyk]

I found a copy of Sgt Pepper's in a box of old records belonging to my wild hair Uncle Terry. That was my intro to the Beatles and I've been a fan ever since. We have a rule in my car--"Thou shall not change a Beatles song" I don't have all the background facts--I just love the songs.
Favorite albums: Sgt Peppers; Rubber Soul; Abbey Road; Hard Day's Night


Currently playing on my media player: My Life by Billy Joel. Preceded by Walking after Midnight (Patsy Cline); Satin Chic (Goldfrapp); One Week and Call and Answer (Bare Naked Ladies); Ripple (Grateful Dead); Sing, Sing Sing (Benny Goodman); Little Brown Jug and Chatanooga Choo Choo (Glen Miller); Baby Elephant Walk (Mancini); Moon over Bourbon Street (Sting) Start Wearing Purple (Gogul Bordello)
Coming up: a big block of Beatles beginning with She came in through the Bathroom Window; some Green Day; Marlene Dietrich; selections from Book of Secrets (Loreen McKennit)Irish tunes by Slainte Mha, Tartan Terrors and Flogging Molly; Fiona Apple; Cherry Poppin' Daddies and Squirrell Nut Zippers.

[movieman1957]

The Beatles rule applies in our cars and luckily nobody will feel the need to argue. My two (21 and 17) are fans enough to know most of the material.

[traceyk]

Chris, my son is a Beatles fan, but my daughter's taste runs more to Avril Levigne and Good Charlotte. We did compromise--we decided that the parts were not as great as the whole and so if a solo ex-Beatle comes on, she can change it. Except for Live and Let Die and Imagine.

[bryce]

Speaking of the Beatles, Oasis, my second favorite band of all time (have been since 1997! Take that evolving tastes!), will be releasing their new album the first week of October. I've been listening to their first single, "The Shock of the Lightning" over and over and over again over the past couple days, as I finally broke down and listened to it. Yeah, it's just one track, but more than just about any other band since the Beatles, you've always been able to judge Oasis's albums by their singles - if they go to radio with a killer tune, they'll go to record shops with a killer album full of songs better than the single.

As far as my listening habits lately?

Rocket from the Crypt - All Systems Go 3
Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth (demos)
Local H - Twelve Angry Months
The Night Marchers - See You in Magic
Anything from the "Mick Collins Music Empire"
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (original mono)
Beatles - Sgt Pepper (original mono)
Jimi Hendrix - Axis (original mono)
The Who - Sell Out (original mono)
Unreleased tracks from The Livers, Sullen (best punk band of the last ten years) and Short & Sweet
Presidents of the USA - Freaked Out and Small
...and a ton of random surf and teen-idol r&b.
A lot of mono mixes because they were so much better (see: HOTTER!) than their weak stereo counterparts as anyone who grew up on AM or with dash-mount single-speaker radios can attest.

I'm so boring and predictable!

[MichiganJ]

Maybe because I’m such a big Beatles fan, I just could never get into Oasis at all. There music just seems so derivative, and rather uninspired. It’s odd, too, because I love some of the albums that were intended as homages to the fab four, most notably Todd Rundgren’s Utopia album, Deface the Music (to my knowledge never made available on CD). Recognizing this inconsistency in my taste, I did buy the Oasis collection Stop the Clocks, but remain indifferent to their music, and I’m unsure why. McCartney says he loves ‘em. (For what it’s worth, I do love the song Cigarettes and Alcohol.)

By the way, The Smithereens are following up their Meet the Smithereens album with the album, B-Sides the Beatles, which will feature Andy White on drums! (Andy, being the session drummer George Martin hired to play on the single version of Love Me Do while Ringo was relegated to playing the triangle!) Album drops on September 2.

Lately I’ve been in a Morrissey mood listening to:
You Are the Quarry, Ringleader of the Tormentors, Southpaw Grammar and Viva Hate

Few others on the desk:
Boz Scaggs: My Time; A Boz Scaggs Anthology
Duffy: Rockferry
Heart: Little Queen
Yo La Tengo: Painful
REM: Accelerate
Alice Cooper: Muscle of Love
Rolling Stones: More Hot Rocks
PJ Harvey: The Peel Sessions (1991-2004)

[inglis]

I am a die hard Beatle fan .They will always be my favorite .I started collecting their albums as soon as I got my first job .My Mom was a huge fan and could play all their hits on piano .Rubber Soul is my favorite album .I love all the songs on that one .I now have a nice a record collection and some imports that I picked up in my travels as well .I bought a Japanese release of Abby Road way back when and it was expensive ,itwas $24.99 never been played I still have it.I have another one that has never been opened Veejay,intoducing The Beatles Englands no.1 vocal group they are wearing these wild suits with pink checkered shirts and those famous little collars.I read that book that Bob Spitz wrote and it was an undertaking .Over 800 pages but it was worth it I learned so much more about them .A great read if some of you have not read it yet

[bryce]

Maybe because I’m such a big Beatles fan, I just could never get into Oasis at all. There music just seems so derivative, and rather uninspired.

(emphasis mine) Whoa! You just broke my heart.

PJ Harvey and Heart sure do rock, though. Two of my favorite musicians/bands of the feminine variety. They stack up in talent and attitude to the entire rest of your list, too. Speaking of girl bands and the Stones, putting the two Exile albums (on Main St and in Guyville by Liz Phair) back to back makes for one interesting listening experience, if you haven't done it yet.

[MichiganJ]

inglis

I’m in complete agreement with you about Spitz’s book. It’s one of the best written and “fair’ chronicles of The Beatles. He doesn’t play favorites like so many of the other books about the Fabs (there must be, what, like 6 books written about The Beatles )
I also agree about Rubber Soul. I think. It’s either Rubber Soul or Revolver. Maybe Help!, unless it’s With the Beatles. Could even be Abbey Road. Yea, it is. No wait, Yellow Submarine (Hey Bulldog rocks!) The White Album is what we put on when my wife and I decorate our Christmas tree, so it could be that, too....

Seriously (!), I’d recommend the latest album Love, which is the re-mixed set used for the Cirque de Soleil show. It really mixes things up, but allows you to hear some of the familiar tunes in a new way. Another disc I’d suggest is the Live at the BBC set. It includes them doing a number of their hits “live” in the studio, but better is they perform many of the cover songs they performed in Hamburg, etc. I actually pulled these songs off the set and burned a new disc that really rocks.

Bryce,

I tried to make it clear that I think the fault is mine as to Oasis. Admittedly I never sat down and listened to one of their albums (except for the above mentioned Stop the Clocks), and know them almost entirely from their singles. Any suggestions on an album or two I should sample would be greatly appreciated.

(I can’t get enough of PJ Harvey. )

[movieman1957]

The Spitz book is on my shelf so I had better get started. I also found the "Love" album very enjoyable. I thought it fascinating the things the Martins did with the old recordings. I know some purists weren't too thrilled but if Paul and Ringo and Yoko and Olivia all give it their blessing I wasn't going to dismiss it.

"Rubber Soul" or "Revolver" rank at the top of my list.

[inglis]

inglis

I’m in complete agreement with you about Spitz’s book. It’s one of the best written and “fair’ chronicles of The Beatles. He doesn’t play favorites like so many of the other books about the Fabs (there must be, what, like 6 books written about The Beatles )
I also agree about Rubber Soul. I think. It’s either Rubber Soul or Revolver. Maybe Help!, unless it’s With the Beatles. Could even be Abbey Road. Yea, it is. No wait, Yellow Submarine (Hey Bulldog rocks!) The White Album is what we put on when my wife and I decorate our Christmas tree, so it could be that, too....

Seriously (!), I’d recommend the latest album Love, which is the re-mixed set used for the Cirque de Soleil show. It really mixes things up, but allows you to hear some of the familiar tunes in a new way. Another disc I’d suggest is the Live at the BBC set. It includes them doing a number of their hits “live” in the studio, but better is they perform many of the cover songs they performed in Hamburg, etc. I actually pulled these songs off the set and burned a new disc that really rocks.

Bryce,

I tried to make it clear that I think the fault is mine as to Oasis. Admittedly I never sat down and listened to one of their albums (except for the above mentioned Stop the Clocks), and know them almost entirely from their singles. Any suggestions on an album or two I should sample would be greatly appreciated.

(I can’t get enough of PJ Harvey. )

Michigan ,it is hard to pick which is the best or favoriteI have live at the BBC just excellent. I need to get the Love cd .Believe it or not we had it but we traded it in for Beatles First U.S Visit DVD .I had heard the Love cd at friends and because I had heard it already we decided to get the U.S visit .Rubber Soul to me is when they started to grow .There was some incrediable writing going on there not to say that the earlier albims were not as good .I can't really explain it but this album was the start of a different soundand many changes to come afterward.

[bryce]

Very interesting - I couldn't stand Love at all. I just... can't stand mash-ups, no matter how catchy they are - and they are, too. My loss, as I respect the project itself.

As far as my favorite Beatles album? The White Album. Well, half of it, anyway. Even in its grandiose original form it is their best work, but cut it down and how could you say no? Back in the U.S.S.R., Dear Prudence, Birthday, Rocky Raccoon, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Helter Skelter, Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey, The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill and Long, Long, Long alone would've cut better as a pop record, I feel.

Do I go to the dunce corner for loving Revolver and Rubber Soul but, for whatever reason, always feeling like I don't quite "get" them? They always seemed like the awkward "middlin'" period, still great, but not somethin' I can listen to everyday like the first and last eras!

[Mr. Arkadin]

I love some of the albums that were intended as homages to the fab four, most notably Todd Rundgren’s Utopia album, Deface the Music (to my knowledge never made available on CD).

Deface the Music did come out on Rhino in the late 80's early 90's. It's available at Amazon:

http://tinyurl.com/6msrcf

[movieman1957]

Bryce:

I'm with you on "The White Album." About half is really good. Only one or two songs are throw away tunes. (I would have to let "Rocky Raccoon" go as I like it less over the years.

Anyone want to compare "Let It Be" with "Let It Be - Naked" or even The Beatles covers on "Give My Regards To Broad Street?" Maybe none is needed.