Unreleased Beatles material surfaces online - Fans are calling the find 'the holy grail'

NME ^ | Feb 23, 2009 | no byline

[wbill]

Setting aside whatever the current flavor of the month is for PopTart or BoyBand or Rap Artist....

IMHO, The Beatles may be the single most overrated Rock n' Roll band in the history of the genre.

They're good background music. Everyone knows a Beatles song or two, so that makes them a "safe" selection to play. That's about all I can say for them.

Donning Flameproof suit....Fire Away. :-)

[SunkenCiv]

The main difference in the 'new' version of 'Revolution 1' and the version of the same song that appeared on 'The Beatles' (commonly known as 'The White Album') is the track's length. The unreleased version is a full seven minutes longer than its released counterpart.

Gotta go track this down!

[SunkenCiv]

I pretty much agree with that. As John said, Paul’s songs weren’t about anything, and the “we weren’t a very good band.” ;’) I dislike John’s politics (George was just an airhead, Ringo a drunk, Paul a superficial twit), but some of his tunes are, by and large, my only reason for listening to that band. “Rain” comes to mind. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.youtube.com/v/CR6RqN-groQ&hl=en&fs=1
http://sharebee.com/4ad2b914
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2jkzzgzy3yj

http://nevergetoutoftheboat.blogspot.com/2009/02/beatles.html
http://www.rawkblog.net/2009/02/new-music-the-beatles-revolution-take-20/
http://www.nme.com/news/the-beatles/42967

http://mog.com/music/The_Beatles
http://mog.com/blog_post/content/716/1234050
http://mog.com/blog_post/content/723/1234133
http://mog.com/blog_post/content/265/1234338
http://mog.com/blog_post/content/906/1234577
http://mog.com/blog_post/content/647/1234822

[SunkenCiv]

Here.

[Mr_Moonlight]

The only thing worse than RAM, was RAM on 8-Track.

Hahhahaaaaa ... the only thing better is a RAM 8-Track tangled up in the trees alongside the highway ....

[KevinB]

Did their business guru Aspinwall die recently?

Yes, Neil Aspinall, who, incidentally fathered a child with Pete Best's mother, Mona, in the early sixties, died a year or so ago.

I bought that Love compilation which was remixes for the Circuq Soliel circus and it pretty much sucked. I did not like the remixes.

Ditto.

What George Martin was able to do with a 4-track tape recorder on the original stuff was pretty amazing.

Give George Martin credit for the song arrangements, but engineer Geoff Emerick was responsible for the 4-tragic magic. Geoff Emerick wrote a book about what life was like in the studio with the Beatles and describing some of the tricks he used during the recording/mixing process. I highly recommended it.

[KevinB]

My understanding is that it is a salute to Buddy Holly and the Crickets, along with a spelling that alludes to rock and roll.

Correct.

[Frantzie]

I may get flack from some Beatles fans but when you hear the session tapes when they are working on the rough songs- the songs sound pretty lame and crappy. Just another skiffle group.

Martin and Emerick must have been able to take fairly so so songs to the next level.

[KevinB]

Lennon always thought “Too Many People” was an attack of Yoko by Paul. Reading those lyrics in the context of what was going on at the time, it’s easy to see why. As far as I know Paul has never denied it.

[dfwgator]

Lennon always thought “Too Many People” was an attack of Yoko by Paul.

The story I heard was that when Paul recorded "Get Back", Yoko was in the studio, and Paul made a point of staring right at Yoko everytime he sang, "Get Back!"

[KevinB]

The Beatles may be the single most overrated Rock n' Roll band in the history of the genre.

No, that would be U2. The reality is that the Beatles, who were almost universally loved by critics and consumers, hugely influenced just about every act coming after them. That doesn't mean that they're your cup of tea of course.

[Frantzie]

Very true. Taxman was a George song? One person here said George was an airhead but he was supposedly just a nice man who work with two fairly unpleasant people who froze him out of song writing.

Sex Pistols “Bodies” is a semi-anti abortion song. It was all about personal responsibility. John Lydon said it was not pro or anti abortion. When you hear the song you know it is anti.

[KevinB]

As John said, Paul’s songs weren’t about anything, and the “we weren’t a very good band.”

I've read and heard just about every interview Lennon gave and don't recall him ever saying they weren't a good band. In fact, in an interview contained in the Anthology album he states that in terms of a band, "nobody could touch us." Lennon did admit that the quality of their musicianship declined over time when they couldn't hear themselves playing any more due to the screaming. Anybody who thinks they weren't a good band should listen to their live performances on the BBC album.

[KevinB]

I may get flack from some Beatles fans but when you hear the session tapes when they are working on the rough songs- the songs sound pretty lame and crappy. Just another skiffle group.

Most songs by any group start out like that. Take a listen to the BBC sessions album, consisting of live versions of their songs performed in the BBC radio studio, and you should gain some appreciation for their skill as musicians and performers.

[Frantzie]

Will do. As personalities they were peerless in the showbusiness sense. Their grueling club dates in Hamburg helped hone their musical skills as well. Oh I get it how the initial sketches of songs are usually pretty weak.

I think the band had the best studio production at the time by far. I am a bit of a Kinks and ray davies fan myself and wonder what they would have sounded like with George Martin.

Still you could get John and an acoustic guitar and get something like Across the Universe or Norwegian Wood.
I will not say Paul with just a piano because Hey Jude and Let It be are among my least liked songs - in fact I probably hate them. Hey Jude was actually an ode to john essentially being a lousy father to Julian.

I think one thing that was pretty staggering with the Beatles was the harmonies. Nothing really comparable except maybe Gerry & The Pacemakers or Freddie & the Dreamers. Freddie could have been good but he too goofy and their songwriting was weak.

[SunkenCiv]

I think it was the interview by Tom Snyder on “Tomorrow”, but anyway, he said, “we weren’t a very good group.” (iow, not “band” but “group”)

[KevinB]

Hmm, I have that interview and don't remember him saying that. I do remember him saying during the interview that their musicianship really suffered as a result of the screaming fans; they couldn't hear themselves play. I'll take another look at the interview.

Interestingly, Lennon often criticized the Beatles after they broke up, but would staunchly defend them against outside critics. It was sort of the "I can make fun of my little brother, but you can't" mentality. I think he always felt like he had sold out, which (along with prolific drug use) is a reason he became so weird later. Being a member of the most successful and influential group ever apparently was not good enough for him.

[KevinB]

You are right about the harmonies. They were simply amazing and it appeared to be virtually effortless. Regarding songwriting, Lennon and McCartney could both produce absolute greatness and utter tripe in the same day. Unfortunately, once they were responsible for their own albums much of the tripe saw the light of day. As they have both said, the primary strength of their partnership was that they could each be the other’s BS detector.

[SunkenCiv]

One thing I remember from the (same?) interview is hearing Lennon say the Beatles broke up from “boredom” — after they stopped touring (1966 was the last tour) he said, pretending to check his watch, “time to cut another album.”