So, tomorrow is both my first day back at work after my holiday, and also the first day after the Olympics, so for at least one reason I'm going to be pissed off in the morning, whilst the rest of the country are just feeling a little down after the end of quite a sporting spectacle. With this in mind, what better way to cheer us all up than to lay before you ten unsung gems from the four greatest musicians that ever lived (just a clue, they are all from Liverpool, and were in the same band)...
1) I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Heavy, guitar driven bluesy perfection!
2) The Ballad of John And Yoko
News reporting in song form!
3) Hey Bulldog
A piano pounding rock and roll song!
4) Tell Me Why
Harmonies and guitars!
5) The Word
The word is Love!
6) The Night Before
On Salisbury Plain, if you believe the film!
7) Roll Over Beethoven
George does Chuck!
8) Rocky Raccoon
Slightly crazy country ditty!
9) For No One
Another of Macca's solemn efforts!
10) Fixing A Hole
Apparently doing just that, and not about drugs!
There's your ten to savour. Go and enjoy them as you ought to. And then go to the Specs, Rugs And Sausage Rolls Facebook page and click like. Once I get to the magic 30 'likes', this very blog will see the publication of my 'Fifty Shades of Dave' story. So, it's well worth the visit, and also, tell your friends!!
Showing posts with label The Beatles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Beatles. Show all posts
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Musical Influences
It can be said that most people's musical taste is formed in their childhood. And parents take a large part of the blame or praise for that. Then, as you grow, you become exposed to more and begin to develop your own direction. Unfortunately, this is where people go wrong and get mixed up in RnB nonsense, but they can be rescued.
2) My mum. Along with my dad, my mum has her own influence. Not her current music tastes, granted, but the likes of Marvin Gaye and the first two Beatles albums (although my dad lays claim to one of them). To be fair, even Tina Turner and Cliff Richard have left their mark on my steamy windows!!
So, those five people can stand up and take a bow and congratulate themselves on creating a musical connoisseur (or snob, take it as you will).
Anyway, I'm off to listen to a bit of Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band... (just kidding, it's The Sopranos soundtrack)
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| My dad in his Freddie Mercury phase! |
But this isn't about them, this is about me and my influences. I can put my musical education down to five people and here they are:
1) My dad! As a youngster, all those car journeys that were accompanied by the likes of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and the like have instilled a liking of the 50's era. Add to that the occasional flicks through his record collection revealing delights as The Rolling Stones, The Hollies, Elvis Presley and of course Monty Python's Life of Brian!
2) My mum. Along with my dad, my mum has her own influence. Not her current music tastes, granted, but the likes of Marvin Gaye and the first two Beatles albums (although my dad lays claim to one of them). To be fair, even Tina Turner and Cliff Richard have left their mark on my steamy windows!!
3) My mate Doug (and probably his parents too!). Growing up together at the time of the British music boom in the early to mid-nineties, he was probably one step ahead of the game thanks to avid readership of NME. From there he ensured I got to appreciate the likes of Oasis, Supergrass, Kula Shaker, Cast and many more. Thankfully we both managed to skip the drabness of Coldplay. And he also helped me make the first connection with Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin and probably most joyously of all Nick Harper.
4) My lovely lady Marisa. I was already pretty advanced by the time she came into my life, and had written off the majority of 'new' music. She still managed to get me hooked on the Fleet Foxes and Mando Diao, whilst embedding Led Zeppelin further into my consciousness.
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| James, possibly pointing the way to music nirvana |
5) My brother James. Easily the greatest influence on my musical education. Whilst I was playing my Subbuteo and Game Gear in my room, he was next door with his 'music centre' (radio, twin cassette AND turntable) blasting out the likes of De La Soul, Beastie Boys, The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. He also did his Ibiza phase which I just don't get. It didn't stop there, he embedded the Beatles in my head forever (although it took me a while to officially give in), The Beautiful South (and the Housemartins by association), and House of Pain.
So, those five people can stand up and take a bow and congratulate themselves on creating a musical connoisseur (or snob, take it as you will).
Anyway, I'm off to listen to a bit of Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band... (just kidding, it's The Sopranos soundtrack)
Monday, 14 November 2011
Albums You Should Own Part 7
Welcome back to another in my well-established series of suggestions for your record collection. When I say well-established, I mean I've actually put some thought into it and come up with more than a couple of posts in the same vein!!
I'm sure by now your bank balances have recovered from the serious outlay that was the entire Beatles studio back-catalogue, so we can move on to my next offering.
All Things Must Pass by George Harrison
Totally inspired by the showing of Martin Scorsese's documentary on the BBC over the weekend, my next offering is the debut solo album from the "under-rated Beatle". Fresh from the Beatle break-up and subsequent law-suits, George Harrison found an outlet for his ever growing stockpile of songs deemed 'not good enough' for Beatles albums Let It Be and Abbey Road. And, boy, what an album to produce.
Released at the end of 1970, in the vinyl format of the 'olden days', this was a triple album, but technological advancement meant that it fit on to two cds (even the 30th Anniversary edition produced in 2001 with bonus tracks).
It starts with "I'd Have You Anytime", a writing collaboration with Bob Dylan that gives a mellow opening before kicking up a few gears with the mammoth "My Sweet Lord", a song that both made George a fortune and also cost him a fair bit (a lawsuit centering on the similarity between this and "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons). Play this song and before the first chorus is over, you will be singing along. I guarantee it.
Following closely behind is "Wah Wah", written the day George walked out of the Let It Be sessions after a filmed heated discussion with Paul McCartney. The recording is distorted and noisy, thanks to Phil Spector (still basking in the perceived success of the Let It Be production), something George admitted his dislike of initially, but it grew on him.
Another gear change down brings us the first of two versions of the song "Isn't It A Pity?". This version is seven minutes long and beautiful. Enough said. Then George takes us back up a notch with a real gem, "What Is Life". I first heard this song on the Goodfellas film soundtrack, just a snippet during the film - the full version became one of my firm favourites. From here, we then have a rare cover version - George's rendition of Bob Dylan's "If Not For You". Equally as good as Bob's version, and possibly easier on the ear! This is followed by three good solid tracks (although many artists would kill to be able to have songs like them on an album) in "Behind That Locked Door", "Let It Down" and "Run Of The Mill".
After this, you'd be forgiven for wondering if the quality of songs might dip. Not just yet, for we are treated to another truly wonderful song, "Beware Of Darkness".
For me, the rest of the album does struggle to maintain the standards so far set, but one final mention should be given to the album's title track - "All Things Must Pass". First written and demoed during the Let It Be sessions (see the Beatles Anthology albums for the song's Beatle-days incarnation), George finally gets to air this masterpiece of musical philosophy and gives it the platform it deserves. It would have been a crime to have this playing second fiddle to "One After 909" or "Dig It".
And then the album finishes off with some good, solid if not unremarkable tracks including the second version of "Isn't It A Pity", "The Art of Dying" and the closing "Hear Me Lord". Then we get an extra treat in the form of recorded session jams, one for the purists only I think (a banner I happily fall under).
And there we have it, a real beauty of an album, often forgotten thanks to the extensive post-Beatles outputs from Lennon and McCartney. Hard to believe it's 10 years since George left us, but with albums like this, he'll always, always live on.
Ta'ra!!
And as George would say, "Hare Krishna"!
I'm sure by now your bank balances have recovered from the serious outlay that was the entire Beatles studio back-catalogue, so we can move on to my next offering.
All Things Must Pass by George Harrison
Released at the end of 1970, in the vinyl format of the 'olden days', this was a triple album, but technological advancement meant that it fit on to two cds (even the 30th Anniversary edition produced in 2001 with bonus tracks).
It starts with "I'd Have You Anytime", a writing collaboration with Bob Dylan that gives a mellow opening before kicking up a few gears with the mammoth "My Sweet Lord", a song that both made George a fortune and also cost him a fair bit (a lawsuit centering on the similarity between this and "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons). Play this song and before the first chorus is over, you will be singing along. I guarantee it.
Following closely behind is "Wah Wah", written the day George walked out of the Let It Be sessions after a filmed heated discussion with Paul McCartney. The recording is distorted and noisy, thanks to Phil Spector (still basking in the perceived success of the Let It Be production), something George admitted his dislike of initially, but it grew on him.
Another gear change down brings us the first of two versions of the song "Isn't It A Pity?". This version is seven minutes long and beautiful. Enough said. Then George takes us back up a notch with a real gem, "What Is Life". I first heard this song on the Goodfellas film soundtrack, just a snippet during the film - the full version became one of my firm favourites. From here, we then have a rare cover version - George's rendition of Bob Dylan's "If Not For You". Equally as good as Bob's version, and possibly easier on the ear! This is followed by three good solid tracks (although many artists would kill to be able to have songs like them on an album) in "Behind That Locked Door", "Let It Down" and "Run Of The Mill".
After this, you'd be forgiven for wondering if the quality of songs might dip. Not just yet, for we are treated to another truly wonderful song, "Beware Of Darkness".
For me, the rest of the album does struggle to maintain the standards so far set, but one final mention should be given to the album's title track - "All Things Must Pass". First written and demoed during the Let It Be sessions (see the Beatles Anthology albums for the song's Beatle-days incarnation), George finally gets to air this masterpiece of musical philosophy and gives it the platform it deserves. It would have been a crime to have this playing second fiddle to "One After 909" or "Dig It".
And then the album finishes off with some good, solid if not unremarkable tracks including the second version of "Isn't It A Pity", "The Art of Dying" and the closing "Hear Me Lord". Then we get an extra treat in the form of recorded session jams, one for the purists only I think (a banner I happily fall under).
And there we have it, a real beauty of an album, often forgotten thanks to the extensive post-Beatles outputs from Lennon and McCartney. Hard to believe it's 10 years since George left us, but with albums like this, he'll always, always live on.
Ta'ra!!
And as George would say, "Hare Krishna"!
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