Song of the day

I am finally at the end of the list of my ten favorite songs from the White Album.  I ordered them in the order they appear on the album, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be Blackbird.  The song is so beautiful and simple.  I know it is a favorite of Sir Paul as well.  So before I get to the end of the list, here is a clip of Blackbird from the Movie Across The Universe.  As covers go, this one is quite good.

OK

So once again, here is the list so far.

1. Back in the U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence
3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
4. Happiness is a Warm Gun
5. Martha My Dear
6. Blackbird
7. Piggies
8. I will

The final additions:

1. Mother Nature’s Son
   This song probably ranks in my top 10 Beatles songs.  It is another of Paul’s and it is so simple yet so beautiful.  When I hear it I just imagine myself sitting in the country singing songs with my friends and just relaxing watching and listening to nature.
2. Revolution
   There are actually two released versions of this song.  There have been different versions of other Beatles songs that have come from rehearsals or different takes, but this is the only song that was actually released twice.  You can read about it on Wikipedia, but the first one recorded is the one that appears on the White album and was titled Revolution 1 to distinguish it from the one that was released as the B side of Hey Jude which was just called Revolution.  Personally, I like the slower version from the album.  I have both versions below.

There are precious few films or videos of the Beatles performing.  The movie Let it Be has quite a bit, and the TV documentary The Beatles Anthology has a bit more.  Beyond that there are a few scenes from televsion appearances and such.  By the time of the White ablum, The Beatles made a few promotional fils of their songs.  This is some of the earliest examples of what we would call music videos.  Below you will see the promotional film for Revolution.

Enjoy!

Mother Nature’s Son

Revolution 1

Revolution Film

Song of the day

One sad note about the White Album which thankfully is not too well known today is its use by Charles Manson.  I wont go into this more here, but you can read the Wikipedia article about it.

We are winding down to the end of this list of the best ten songs on the White Album.  So far we have:

1. Back in the U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence
3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
4. Happiness is a Warm Gun
5. Martha My Dear
6. Blackbird

Now for today’s additions.

1. Piggies
   This song that appeared in the song of the day a while back.  As I explained there, George wrote this song as a social commentary on class and corporate greed.  Unfortunately, Charles Manson took the song to be an anti-police song.  The song is one of my favorite (and one of the least remembered of George’s songs).  The use of the Harpsichord is wonderful.
2. I Will
   Paul wrote a number of songs for his wife Linda.  Two of them were Beatles songs and this is the first.  It is a beautiful ballad that is a foreshadow of what was to come for Paul and his music.

Enjoy!

As an extra special addition, here is the first take of I Will from the Anthology Album.

Song of the day

We interrupt One Hit Wonder Wednesday to continue the top ten songs from The Beatles White Album.  The list so far:

1.  Back in the U.S.S.R.
2.  Dear Prudence
3.  While My Guitar Gently Weeps
4.  Happiness is a Warm Gun

And today’s additions:

5.  Martha My Dear
I just like this song.  It was written by Paul, perhaps about Jane Asher (a longtime love interest of Paul’s) It has a great piano opening which appears throughout the song and a brass band as backup.

6.  Blackbird
Blackbird, also by Paul McCartney is probably my favorite song on the album.  Nuff said!

Enjoy!

Song of the day

Today is day two of my tour of the White album.  As I stated yesterday I am presenting my top ten list from the white album, in the order the songs are heard on the album.  Perhaps on Friday I will rank them in some way.

So far we have:

1.  Back in the U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence

and today’s picks…….

3.  While My Guitar Gently Weeps
This song is one of four songs by George Harrison that appear on the White Album.  Beginning with the Album HELP!, there would always be at least one Harrison song on each album.  This song is one of Harrison’s best known Beatles song (perhaps second only to Something).  The interesting thing about this song is that George decided to open up a book and write a song based on the first words he would see in the book.  Those were gently weeps.  This song is also the first time another artist is featured on a Beatles song (although uncredited).  Eric Clapton played lead guitar on this recording.  His being in the studio also brought a respite from the band’s bickering.

4.  Happiness is a Warm Gun
This is a John Lennon song and is a song about getting high.  The song is very complex in that it changes time signature at least 6 times during the song including 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, and 6/4.

Enjoy!

Song of the Day

Its Beatles week at My Kids Family again!  Yay!  This week I am going to pick some favorites from the album The Beatles which is more commonly known as “The While Album.”  This album is very significant in history of The Beatles.  First off, it is the best selling Beatles album and the 10th best selling album in the US.  It is during the White Album sessions that the group begins to fracture leading to the breakup of the group in 1970.

The Beatles did some of their best work on this album, but most of it was very individual.  Lennon and McCartney were not working together anymore, and although each song they wrote had both names on it, there was no collaboration.  Past albums were much more cohesive as a whole, and this album has many different musical genres on it.

I am going to present my top ten list from this album, in order that they appear on the album.  So today’s picks are:

Back in the U.S.S.R. and Dear Prudence.  Back in the U.S.S.R. is a parody of the Chuck Berry Song Back in the U.S.A. and the Beach Boy’s California Dreaming.  It was written by Paul.  The song segues into the next song Dear Prudence which was written by John.  Prudence refers to actress Mia Farrows sister who came with The Beatles (and her sister) to India to study Transcendental Meditation.  She stayed in her room for much of the time meditating.  John, fearing she was depressed, wrote this song for her.  It is perhaps the most beautiful of Johns songs.

Videos of The Beatles performing are rare (especially later songs).  These are audio only.

Enjoy!

Song of the day

Today in music history………..

On this day in 1970, The Beatles last album, “Let It Be” is released in the US.

This album is perhaps the most interesting in terms of its recording and release. You can read all about that on wikipedia, but suffice it to say that when The Beatles were recording this album, they were all but broken up. They were not getting along and the fact that there were film cameras in the sessions made it even worse. I highly recommend the film “Let It Be” as well, and you can see the tension (although there are some times in the film where you can see how much they really love each other).

The album was shelved for about a year, during which time Abbey Road was released (which is a much better album).

Finally the recordings were given to Phil Spector and he put together what may be one of the worst Beatles albums ever produced (in my humble opinion). In 2002 Paul McCartney recruited Abbey Road studio personnel to recreate the album the way the group intended and with the permission of the remaining Beatles they produced “Let It Be… Naked” which I think is a much better treatment of the work. The most striking difference is that of the song “The Long and Winding Road“. Paul had conceived it as a piano ballad, but Phil Spector, using his “wall of sound” technique, overdubbed an orchestra and choir to this song to create what most people think of when they think of this song. The clip below, from the movie, shows the song the way Paul intended. You can also here it this way on the Naked album.

Plus if you are interested in the movie, someone on youtube has uploaded the whole thing (I will not comment on the legality of this). Click here to go to the page that contains the 9 parts.

Enjoy!