Tag Archives: video

The Beatles 40 best songs: at 39 “Because”

abbey road above

“Because” is a ballad written by John Lennon and as usual credited to Lennon/McCartney. It features a 3-part harmony vocal performance between Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison, overdubbed three times to make nine voices in all. The results of this have been compared in sound to the Beach Boys. It appeared on the 1969 album Abbey Road, and is the song that precedes the extended medley that formed side two of the original LP record. George Martin plays the electronic harpsichord at the beginning of the song, and Ringo is nowhere to be heard. That said, Ringo kept the rhythm on a hi-hat, but only in the singers headphones, it was not recorded.

It was the last song recorded for Abbey Road.

Wikipedia:

“Because”
Song by the Beatles from the album Abbey Road
Released 26 September 1969
Recorded 1–5 August 1969,
EMI Studios, London
Genre Progressive rock, art rock
Length 2:45
Label Apple Records
Writer Lennon–McCartney
Producer George Martin

The Beatles – Because:

According to Lennon, the song’s close musical resemblance to the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata was no coincidence:

“Yoko was playing Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ on the piano … I said, ‘Can you play those chords backwards?’, and wrote ‘Because’ around them. The lyrics speak for themselves … No imagery, no obscure references.”

It do contain some similarities to Beethoven, but it isn’t obvious, but it’s a good story. It actually sounds a lot like the song “Stay in bed” included in the song “Amsterdam” from John Lennon/Yoko Ono’s  Wedding Album. Listen to the acoustic guitar at about 22:16, it has a very similar melody to “Because”:

Continue reading The Beatles 40 best songs: at 39 “Because”

Video premiere: St. Vincent – Digital Witness


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Annie Clark aka St. Vincent gives us  Digital Witness  — the second single from her eponymous fourth LP. It sounds (and looks) like David Byrne has influenced St. Vincent quite a bit…

Chino Moya directed the very arty and cool video.

Digital Witness:

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– Hallgeir

The photos are from Oya festival 2012 by Hallgeir Olsen

Bob Dylan: Man In The Long Black Coat, Bonn, Germany 4 July 2012 (Video)


bob dylan germany 2012

Crickets are chirpin’, the water is high
There’s a soft cotton dress on the line hangin’ dry
Window wide open, African trees
Bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze
Not a word of goodbye, not even a note
She gone with the man
In the long black coat

KunstRasen Gronau
Bonn, Germany
4 July 2012

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & harmonica)
  • Stu Kimball (guitar)
  • Charlie Sexton (guitar)
  • Donnie Herron (violin, mandolin, steel guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • George Receli (drums & percussion)

Somebody seen him hanging around
At the old dance hall on the outskirts of town
He looked into her eyes when she stopped him to ask
If he wanted to dance, he had a face like a mask
Somebody said from the Bible he’d quote
There was dust on the man
In the long black coat

Preacher was a talkin’, there’s a sermon he gave
He said every man’s conscience is vile and depraved
You cannot depend on it to be your guide
When it’s you who must keep it satisfied
It ain’t easy to swallow, it sticks in the throat
She gave her heart to the man
In the long black coat

There are no mistakes in life some people say
It is true sometimes you can see it that way
But people don’t live or die, people just float
She went with the man
In the long black coat

There’s smoke on the water, it’s been there since June
Tree trunks uprooted, ‘neath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
Somebody is out there beating a dead horse
She never said nothing, there was nothing she wrote
She gone with the man
In the long black coat

-Egil

Great versions of “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean” (videos)


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Along with “Matchbox”, “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean” is Blind Lemon Jefferson’s best known song. This is a day to remember & listen to BLJ, but also to his songs interpreted by others.

blind-lemon-jefferson-see-that-my-grave-is-kept-clean-paramount-78

“See That My Grave Is Kept Clean”
Single by Blind Lemon Jefferson
B-side “Where Shall I Be”
Released 1927
Format 10″ 78 rpm record
Recorded October 1927
Genre Blues
Length 2:54
Label Paramount (Cat. no. 12585)
Writer(s) Blind Lemon Jefferson

 

Here are BLJ & some fine versions of by other artists.

Blind Lemon Jefferson:

Bob Dylan – from his debut album:

Continue reading Great versions of “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean” (videos)