Random Music Thoughts

We finished watching Peter Jackson's "Get Back" yesterday. We both loved it. While some reviews have panned it, I thought it was a great view into the dynamics between the four members of the band and how that helped and hurt them at the same time. I also loved seeing how just futzing around with strumming some chords and mumbling nonsense sounds evolved quickly into the songs we know. I recommend it highly if you have any interest in the Beatles and seeing their working process.
Also, I started reading McCartney's book, "The Lyrics". It's fascinating to learn of the (often) simple roots of a song from the person who should know best. And it's not just Beatles songs. It's every song Paul wrote up to his latest album.
 
Nickyboy said:
We finished watching Peter Jackson's "Get Back" yesterday. We both loved it. While some reviews have panned it, I thought it was a great view into the dynamics between the four members of the band and how that helped and hurt them at the same time. I also loved seeing how just futzing around with strumming some chords and mumbling nonsense sounds evolved quickly into the songs we know. I recommend it highly if you have any interest in the Beatles and seeing their working process.
Also, I started reading McCartney's book, "The Lyrics". It's fascinating to learn of the (often) simple roots of a song from the person who should know best. And it's not just Beatles songs. It's every song Paul wrote up to his latest album.
Click to expand...
I wanted to like “Get Back”, I really did. The Fab Four fascinate me and I had high hopes that Peter Jackson had unearthed some diamonds in the rough among the countless hours of noodling. Unfortunately, the man who spent 686 minutes telling the “Lord of the Rings” story was not the right choice to distill the essence of the rambling mess that Michael Lindsay-Hogg left behind.

To its credit, “Get Back” does bring the end game Beatles into our living rooms, up close and personal. But this intimacy comes at a price. Watching the tensions gradually build among members of a beloved group, exacerbated by the presence of outsiders like Hogg and Yoko, is vaguely disquieting, like overhearing your friendly neighbors having a nasty argument.

It was enlightening to observe the body language, especially that of discontented George, disengaged Ringo and disconnected Yoko (needlepoint, books, newspaper clippings, I was half expecting her to pull out a Rubik’s Cube). But at the end of the day, watching the band’s valiant efforts to get back to where they once belonged fail so dismally was a real bummer.

I have to admit, I skipped through part two and the beginning of part three to get to the rooftop concert. A second rate group of songs performed under adverse weather conditions with the superfluous Billy Preston seems like a poor exit strategy, without even taking into account the farcical entry of the London constabulary. Cream, The Band, even The Seekers managed to exit the public stage more gracefully.

I have the Purple Chick roio of the complete sessions but never made it past the third disc. :zzz: Seeing it on the screen made it easier to catch their mumbled asides but it’s still like watching grass (or, more accurately, weeds) grow.
 
Listen to both on headphones.
One of my favorites from the late 70s, for its minimalism and starkness:

I recently came across this cover, by the Church. I must say, while I don't normally like covers, I think they fleshed this one out well:
 
Ojai Sam said:
So, you thought the big elections were last week? Not so! The Association For Recorded Sound Collections has opened the polls for the selection of 10 notable recordings made before 1923. The idea is to celebrate the recent revision to copyright law placing everything recorded before that date in the public domain.

ARSC Ten Notable Pre-1923 Recordings Nominees

Nominees for ARSC Ten Notable Pre-1923 Recordings (ARSC - Association for Recorded Sound Collections)
www.arsc-audio.org www.arsc-audio.org

This page lists dozens of worthwhile candidates with brief explanations of the importance of each selection along with links so that you can hear the original recordings. Bert Williams, Billy Murray, Fanny Brice, The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Sergei Rachmaninoff, even early pioneer George W. Gaskin, make for a fascinating look at the dawn of the recording industry.
Click to expand...
And here are the winners and runner ups:

ARSC Ten Notable Pre-1923 Recordings Nominees

ARSC Ten Notable Pre-1923 Recordings (ARSC - Association for Recorded Sound Collections)
www.arsc-audio.org www.arsc-audio.org

Looking at it from a 21st Century perspective, there are no big surprises but I suspect the voters of 1923 would have been less politically self-conscious.
 
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