Tag Archives: John lennon

Beatles, Great albums, Music Calendar

Today: Bringing It All Back Home (48) & Please Please Me (50)

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Bob Dylan - bringing it all back home

 

the beatles please please me

“Bringing It All Back Home” is not included in the “Music Calendar post” … It has a separate post (part of the “Bob Dylan Albums” series):

..now let’s focus on The Beatles debut album..“Please Please Me” released 50 years ago today!

….they were a group with the luck to meet opportunities, the wit to recognize them, the drive to seize them, and the talent to fullfil them. Please Please Me is the sound of them doing all four.
~Tom Ewing (pitchfork.com)

#1 – I Saw Her Standing There 

Wikipedia:

Released 22 March 1963
Recorded 11 February 1963,
EMI Studios, London
Genre Rock and roll, pop
Length 32:45
Label Parlophone
Producer George Martin

Please Please Me is the debut album by the English rock band the Beatles. Parlophone rush-released the album on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom to capitalise on the success of singles “Please Please Me” (No. 1 on most lists but only No. 2 on Record Retailer) and “Love Me Do” (No. 17).

Of the album’s fourteen songs, eight were written by Lennon–McCartney (originally credited “McCartney–Lennon”), early evidence of what Rolling Stone later called “[their invention of] the idea of the self-contained rock band, writing their own hits and playing their own instruments”. In 2012, Please Please Me was voted 39th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

beatles-w-album-please-please-me

…It’s a blueprint of everything the Beatles would ever do, mixing up doo-wop, country, R&B, girl groups, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Tin Pan Alley into their own exuberant sound. John and Paul sang the openhearted originals “Ask Me Why,” “There’s a Place,” and “I Saw Her Standing There.” Ringo shouted, “All right, George!” in his gender-flipped cover of the Shirelles’ ultrafemme “Boys.” All four Beatles sang and played with total emotional urgency, holding nothing back, knowing their first shot at getting out of Liverpool could have been their last. You can hear John completely blow out his voice in the last track, “Twist and Shout.”
~Rollingstone.com

#7 – Please Please Me

Beatles Please Please Me

Recording

In order for the album to contain fourteen songs (the norm for British 12″ vinyl pop albums at that time was to have seven songs on each side, while American albums usually had only five or six songs per side) ten more tracks were needed to add to the four sides of their first two singles recorded and released previously. Therefore, at 10:00 am on Monday, 11 February 1963, the Beatles and George Martin started recording what was essentially their live act in 1963, and finished 585 minutes later (9 hours and 45 minutes). In three sessions that day (each lasting approximately three hours) they produced an authentic representation of the band’s Cavern Club-era sound, as there were very few overdubs and edits. Optimistically, only two sessions were originally booked by Martin—the evening session was added later.

beatles and george martin 1963

The day ended with a cover of “Twist and Shout”, which had to be recorded last because John Lennon had a particularly bad cold and Martin feared the throat-shredding vocal would ruin Lennon’s voice for the day. This performance, captured on the first take, prompted Martin to say: “I don’t know how they do it. We’ve been recording all day but the longer we go on the better they get.”

#14 – Twist and Shout

Track Listing

All songs written by McCartney–Lennon, except where noted.

Side One

  1. “I Saw Her Standing There”
  2. “Misery”
  3. “Anna (Go to Him)” (Arthur Alexander)
  4. “Chains” (Gerry Goffin, Carole King)
  5. “Boys” (Luther Dixon, Wes Farrell)
  6. “Ask Me Why”
  7. “Please Please Me”

Side two

  1. “Love Me Do”
  2. “P.S. I Love You”
  3. “Baby It’s You” (Mack David, Barney Williams, Burt Bacharach)
  4. “Do You Want to Know a Secret”
  5. “A Taste of Honey” (Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow)
  6. “There’s a Place”
  7. “Twist and Shout” (Phil Medley, Bert Russell)

beatles please please me album back

 

Personnel

According to Mark Lewisohn:

The Beatles
  • John Lennon – lead vocals, background vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, hand claps
  • Paul McCartney – lead vocals, background vocals, bass guitar, hand claps
  • George Harrison – background vocals, lead vocals on “Chains” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret”, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, hand claps
  • Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine, maracas, hand claps, lead vocals on “Boys”
Additional musicians and production
  • George Martin – producer, mixer, additional arrangements, piano on “Misery”, celesta on “Baby It’s You”
  • Norman Smith – audio engineer, mixer
  • Andy White – drums on “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You”

The Beatles

Reception

  • Please Please Me hit the top of the UK album charts in May 1963 and remained there for thirty weeks before being replaced by With The Beatles. This was surprising because the UK album charts at the time tended to be dominated by film soundtracks and easy listening vocalists.
  • In 2012, Please Please Me was voted 39th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. It was ranked first among the Beatles’ early albums, and sixth of all of the Beatles’ albums, with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Revolver,Rubber Soul, The Beatles (The White Album) and Abbey Road ranked higher.
  • Rolling Stone also placed two songs from the album on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time: No. 139, “I Saw Her Standing There”, and No. 184, “Please Please Me”.
  • According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic, “Decades after its release, the album still sounds fresh”, the covers are “impressive” and the originals “astonishing“.

Full album (UK Mono) from youtube:

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Beatles, Music Calendar, The Best Songs

Today: The Beatles recorded “Ticket To Ride” in 1965 – 48 years ago

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the beatles ticket to ride

The Beatles were such a prolific album act that it’s sometimes hard to abstract their later singles; here, they ride their roots as a bar band in Liverpool and Hamburg to a new kind of glory.
~Dave Marsh (The Heart of Rock & Soul)

The opening circular riff, played on 12-string guitar by George Harrison, was a signpost for the folk-rock wave that would ride through rock music itself in 1965.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)

Wikipedia:

Released 9 April 1965
Recorded 15 February 1965,
EMI Studios, London
Genre Rock
Length 3:10
Label Parlophone
Writer Lennon–McCartney
Producer George Martin

“Ticket to Ride” is a song by the Beatles from their 1965 album, Help!. It was recorded 15 February 1965 and released two months later. In 2004, this song was ranked number 394 on Rolling Stone‘s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

The-Beatles-Help

the beatles ticket to ride2

They say this was one of John’s personal favorites, probably because it has his most soulful vocal ever. But “Ticket to Ride” is intricate and interesting all the way through, with Paul playing mean lead guitar and Ringo dispelling all doubt about his prowess as a drummer: The groove comes straight out of his pure backbeat.
~Dave Marsh (The Heart of Rock & Soul)

Original 1965 Promotional Video:

Composition

The song was written primarily by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney), with Paul McCartney’s contributions in dispute. Lennon said that McCartney’s contribution was limited to “the way Ringo played the drums”. McCartney said that was an incomplete description, and that “we sat down and wrote it together… give him 60 percent of it… we sat down together and worked on that for a full three-hour songwriting session.” This song was also the first song by the band in which McCartney was featured on lead guitar.
The song features a coda with a different tempo that extends the song’s length past three minutes, the first Beatles single ever to do so. Lennon said this double-time section (with the lyric “My baby don’t care”) was one of his “favourite bits” in the song.

Shea Stadium Live 1965 – HQ:

Critical Response

Music critics Richie Unterberger of Allmusic and Ian MacDonald both describe “Ticket to Ride” as an important milestone in the evolution of the musical style of the Beatles. Unterberger said, “the rhythm parts on ‘Ticket to Ride’ were harder and heavier than they had been on any previous Beatles outing, particularly in Ringo Starr’s stormy stutters and rolls.” MacDonald described it as “psychologically deeper than anything the Beatles had recorded before … extraordinary for its time — massive with chiming electric guitars, weighty rhythm, and rumbling floor tom-toms.” MacDonald also notes that the track uses the Indian basis of drone which might have influenced the Kinks’ “See My Friends”.

the beatles ticket to ride3

 

Meaning of ‘Ticket To Ride’

While the song lyrics describe a girl “riding out of the life of the narrator”, the inspiration of the title phrase is unclear. McCartney said it was “a British Railways ticket to the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight”, and Lennon said it described cards indicating a clean bill of health carried by Hamburg prostitutes in the 1960s. The Beatles played in Hamburg early in their musical career, and “ride/riding” was slang for having sex.

the beatles 1965

So we round off with The Beatles final appearance @ “Ed Sullivan Show” – 14th August 1965

They performed six songs: I Feel Fine, I’m Down, Act Naturally, Ticket To Ride, Yesterday and Help!

Other February 15

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Elvis Presley, John lennon, Video

My 5 Best Christmas Songs….

Let’s roll…

1. John Lennon -Happy Christmas (War Is Over):

2. Elvis Presley – Blue Christmas:

3. The Pogues Featuring Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale Of New York:

4.Bing Crosby & David Bowie – The Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth:

5. Bruce Springsteen – Santa Clause is Coming to Town:

Anyways.. that’s my list…

-Egil

Chuck Berry, Music Calendar, Rock'n Roll

Today: Chuck Berry is 86

OLD post … You’re being redirected to a newer version……

 “Roll over, Beethoven, and tell Tchaikovsky the news.”

Keith Richards Inducts Chuck Berry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1986):

“Chuck was my man. He was the one who made me say ‘I want to play guitar, Jesus Christ!’…Suddenly I knew what I wanted to do.”
~Keith Richards (1992)

“..if you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’.”
~John Lennon

“Well, now, Chuck Berry was a rock & roll songwriter. So I never tried to write rock &
roll songs, ‘cause I figured he had just done it.”
~Bob Dylan (to Kurt Loder October 1987)

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Charles Edward Anderson Berry
Born October 18, 1926 (age 86)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Genres Rock and roll, blues,rhythm and blues
Occupations Musician, songwriter
Instruments Guitar, vocals
Years active 1955–present
Labels Chess, Mercury, Atco
Website www.chuckberry.com

Charles Edward Anderson “Chuck” Berry (born October 18, 1926) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as “Maybellene” (1955), “Roll Over Beethoven” (1956), “Rock and Roll Music” (1957) and “Johnny B. Goode” (1958), Chuck Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, with lyrics focusing on teen life and consumerism and utilizing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music.

From allmusic – Cub Koda:

Of all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none is more important to the development of the music than Chuck Berry. He is its greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, and one of its greatest performers. Quite simply, without him there would be no Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, nor a myriad others. There would be no standard “Chuck Berry guitar intro,” the instrument’s clarion call to get the joint rockin’ in any setting. The clippety-clop rhythms of rockabilly would not have been mainstreamed into the now standard 4/4 rock & roll beat. There would be no obsessive wordplay by modern-day tunesmiths; in fact, the whole history (and artistic level) of rock & roll songwriting would have been much poorer without him.

  “he wrote all of the great songs and came up with all the rock & roll beats.”
~Brian Wilson

Those who do not claim him as a seminal influence or profess a liking for his music and showmanship show their ignorance of rock’s development as well as his place as the music’s first great creator. Elvis may have fueled rock & roll’s imagery, but Chuck Berry was its heartbeat and original mindset.
….read more over @ allmusic.com 

Johnny B Goode:

While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together. It was his particular genius to graft country & western guitar licks onto a rhythm & blues chassis in his very first single, “Maybellene.”
-Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

 

Legacy:

  • Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984
  • Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986, with the comment that he “laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance.”
  • The Kennedy Center Honors in 2000
  • being named seventh on Time magazine’s 2009 list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all-time
  • On May 14, 2002, Chuck Berry was honored as one of the first BMI Icons at the 50th annual BMI Pop Awards. He was presented the award along with BMI affiliates Bo Diddley and Little Richard.
  • Berry is included in several Rolling Stone “Greatest of All Time” lists. In September 2003, the magazine named him number 6 in their list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
  • This was followed in November of the same year by his compilation album The Great Twenty-Eight being ranked 21st in the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
  • The following year, in March 2004, Berry was ranked fifth out of “The Immortals – The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.
  • In December 2004, six of his songs were included in the “Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, namely “Johnny B. Goode” (#7), “Maybellene” (#18), “Roll Over Beethoven” (#97), “Rock and Roll Music” (#128), “Sweet Little Sixteen” (#272) and “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” (#374).
  • In June 2008, his song “Johnny B. Goode” ranked first place in the “100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time”.
  • Berry’s recording of “Johnny B. Goode” was included on the Voyager Golden Record, attached to the Voyager spacecraft as representing rock and roll, one of four American songs included among many cultural achievements of humanity.
  • Berry was honored alongside Leonard Cohen as the recipients of the first annual Pen Awards for songwriting excellence at the JFK Presidential Library, Boston, Mass. on February 26, 2012
  • Today, at the age of 86, Berry continues to play live.

Album of the day – The Ultimate Chuck Berry (2007)

 

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Country, folk, Music Calendar

Today: The late Sara Carter was born in 1898 – 114 years ago

From Wikipedia:

Sara Carter (July 21, 1898 – January 8, 1979) was an American Country music musician. Known for her deep and distinctive singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Carter Family:

The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country music stars. Their recordings of such songs as “Wabash Cannonball“, “Can the Circle Be Unbroken“, “Wildwood Flower” and “Keep On the Sunny Side” made them country standards.

The original group consisted of Alvin Pleasant “A.P.” Delaney Carter (1891–1960), his wife Sara Dougherty Carter (1898–1979), and his sister-in-law Maybelle Addington Carter (1909–1978). Maybelle was married to A.P.’s brother Ezra (Eck) Carter and was also Sara’s first cousin. All three were born and raised in southwestern Virginia, where they were immersed in the tight harmonies of mountain gospel music and shape note singing.

Throughout the group’s career, Sara Carter sang lead vocals; Maybelle sang harmony and accompanied the group instrumentally; on some songs A.P. did not perform at all but at times sang harmony and background vocals and once in a while, lead vocal. Maybelle’s distinctive guitar playing style became a hallmark of the group.

Legacy:

  • The Carter Family was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and were given the nickname “The First Family of Country Music”.
  •  In 1988, the Carter Family was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and received its Award for the song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”.
  • In 1993, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring A.P., Sara, and Maybelle.
  • In 2001, the group was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.
  • In 2005, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mother Maybelle & Sara Carter – While The Band Plays Dixie:

Album of the day:

 

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