The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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WestwayKid
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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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Dr. Medulla wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 1:11pm
Inder wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 12:31pm
I think John genuinely didn't have much here — he groused later that Paul would say "It's time to record an album" and that he'd have to write a bunch of songs. Abbey Road he described as him getting rid of a bunch of half-written stuff.
Which, I would guess, was due to the heroin more than anything else (i.e., Yoko). The White Album has been characterized as the group returning from India overloaded with songs and ideas, but then a few months later John's got little in the tank? What's happened between India and Get Back? Heroin (which itself was connected to his self-destructive instincts).
But then he does Plastic Ono Band (December 1970) and Imagine (September 1971), both of which are considered strong collections of songs. I know a handful were older songs (Jealous Guy, for instance), but he appears to have regained his songwriting mojo. I wonder if the White Album left him depleted? Those sessions ended in late 1968, maybe 4 months before they started work on Get Back.
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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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WestwayKid wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 1:17pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 1:11pm
Inder wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 12:31pm
I think John genuinely didn't have much here — he groused later that Paul would say "It's time to record an album" and that he'd have to write a bunch of songs. Abbey Road he described as him getting rid of a bunch of half-written stuff.
Which, I would guess, was due to the heroin more than anything else (i.e., Yoko). The White Album has been characterized as the group returning from India overloaded with songs and ideas, but then a few months later John's got little in the tank? What's happened between India and Get Back? Heroin (which itself was connected to his self-destructive instincts).
But then he does Plastic Ono Band (December 1970) and Imagine (September 1971), both of which are considered strong collections of songs. I know a handful were older songs (Jealous Guy, for instance), but he appears to have regained his songwriting mojo. I wonder if the White Album left him depleted? Those sessions ended in late 1968, maybe 4 months before they started work on Get Back.
Leaving the band generated pressure to prove himself and opportunities to self-evaluate (plus he was doing that primal scream therapy at the time). Plenty of inspiration there. And, imo, shit goes way downhill for him after that. Dribs and drabs.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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Just speculating here ofc, but a lot of the first Plastic Ono album and the early singles sound fresh and “now” — off the back of the primal scream stuff, his renewed enthusiasm for activism (if you want to call it that), his feelings towards his ex-band, and so on.

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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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Dr. Medulla wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 1:42pm
WestwayKid wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 1:17pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 1:11pm
Inder wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 12:31pm
I think John genuinely didn't have much here — he groused later that Paul would say "It's time to record an album" and that he'd have to write a bunch of songs. Abbey Road he described as him getting rid of a bunch of half-written stuff.
Which, I would guess, was due to the heroin more than anything else (i.e., Yoko). The White Album has been characterized as the group returning from India overloaded with songs and ideas, but then a few months later John's got little in the tank? What's happened between India and Get Back? Heroin (which itself was connected to his self-destructive instincts).
But then he does Plastic Ono Band (December 1970) and Imagine (September 1971), both of which are considered strong collections of songs. I know a handful were older songs (Jealous Guy, for instance), but he appears to have regained his songwriting mojo. I wonder if the White Album left him depleted? Those sessions ended in late 1968, maybe 4 months before they started work on Get Back.
Leaving the band generated pressure to prove himself and opportunities to self-evaluate (plus he was doing that primal scream therapy at the time). Plenty of inspiration there. And, imo, shit goes way downhill for him after that. Dribs and drabs.
Yup, it did go way downhill, though he showed flashes of brilliance at times. I feel like that could describe George and Paul, as well. George comes screaming out of the gate with All Things Must Pass, chocked full of great songs he'd been saving up. Living in the Material World is good, perhaps riding the wave of ATMP, but by Dark Horse he's the quality has gotten uneven and he'd never touch those heights again. Paul goes from McCartney and Ram to Wild Life. The downward slope hit them all.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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WestwayKid wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 2:10pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 1:42pm
WestwayKid wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 1:17pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 1:11pm
Inder wrote:
08 Dec 2021, 12:31pm
I think John genuinely didn't have much here — he groused later that Paul would say "It's time to record an album" and that he'd have to write a bunch of songs. Abbey Road he described as him getting rid of a bunch of half-written stuff.
Which, I would guess, was due to the heroin more than anything else (i.e., Yoko). The White Album has been characterized as the group returning from India overloaded with songs and ideas, but then a few months later John's got little in the tank? What's happened between India and Get Back? Heroin (which itself was connected to his self-destructive instincts).
But then he does Plastic Ono Band (December 1970) and Imagine (September 1971), both of which are considered strong collections of songs. I know a handful were older songs (Jealous Guy, for instance), but he appears to have regained his songwriting mojo. I wonder if the White Album left him depleted? Those sessions ended in late 1968, maybe 4 months before they started work on Get Back.
Leaving the band generated pressure to prove himself and opportunities to self-evaluate (plus he was doing that primal scream therapy at the time). Plenty of inspiration there. And, imo, shit goes way downhill for him after that. Dribs and drabs.
Yup, it did go way downhill, though he showed flashes of brilliance at times. I feel like that could describe George and Paul, as well. George comes screaming out of the gate with All Things Must Pass, chocked full of great songs he'd been saving up. Living in the Material World is good, perhaps riding the wave of ATMP, but by Dark Horse he's the quality has gotten uneven and he'd never touch those heights again. Paul goes from McCartney and Ram to Wild Life. The downward slope hit them all.
Agree wholeheartedly. That Paul still produces something okay once in a while is more a product of quantity than a self-nourishing genius. Excluding the Fireman thing he did with Youth—which I really dig—the last Paul song I genuinely love is "Take It Away," which is forty years in the past. Maybe the times were so important to them, maybe it was the chemistry working together, but other than that flush of initial post-Beatles work, it's for completists and masochists.
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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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Watched part one of the doc last night. It was pretty good. It didn't exactly hold my attention the entire time, I'd kinda fade in and out, but I also don't know what I'd precisely suggest cutting. The ebb and flow of how interesting it actually was felt like part of the process.
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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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Hmmmm... if I had to grade Macca albums in 20 seconds,

McCartney — great, love it
Ram — great, love it
Wild Life — pretty good, love it
Red Rose Speedway — erm
Band on the Run — classic
Venus and Mars — good, better than it gets credit for
Speed of Sound — I think I've listened to this once
London Town — never really bothered
Back to the Egg — the signature song on this album has the lines " Say you don't love him, my salamander" and "radio, play me a danceable ode"
McCartney II — great, love it
Tug of War — supposed to be his last great album, haven't really gotten into it
everything afterwards — the piranha got eet

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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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Inder wrote:
09 Dec 2021, 2:15pm
Hmmmm... if I had to grade Macca albums in 20 seconds,

McCartney — great, love it
Ram — great, love it
Wild Life — pretty good, love it
Red Rose Speedway — erm
Band on the Run — classic
Venus and Mars — good, better than it gets credit for
Speed of Sound — I think I've listened to this once
London Town — never really bothered
Back to the Egg — the signature song on this album has the lines " Say you don't love him, my salamander" and "radio, play me a danceable ode"
McCartney II — great, love it
Tug of War — supposed to be his last great album, haven't really gotten into it
everything afterwards — the piranha got eet
I really liked Run Devil Run and Flaming Pie was fairly good too. He went through a pretty awful phase after Mccartney II.

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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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Inder wrote:
09 Dec 2021, 2:15pm
Hmmmm... if I had to grade Macca albums in 20 seconds,

McCartney — great, love it
Ram — great, love it
Wild Life — pretty good, love it
Red Rose Speedway — erm
Band on the Run — classic
Venus and Mars — good, better than it gets credit for
Speed of Sound — I think I've listened to this once
London Town — never really bothered
Back to the Egg — the signature song on this album has the lines " Say you don't love him, my salamander" and "radio, play me a danceable ode"
McCartney II — great, love it
Tug of War — supposed to be his last great album, haven't really gotten into it
everything afterwards — the piranha got eet
I think he's done some good work in the years since Tug of War. McCartney III was really good, as was Flaming Pie and Chaos and Creation. Mid-80's to Mid-90's were the dark era: Give My Regards to Broad Street, Press to Play, Off the Ground.
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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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Inder wrote:
09 Dec 2021, 2:15pm
Hmmmm... if I had to grade Macca albums in 20 seconds,

McCartney — great, love it
Ram — great, love it
Wild Life — pretty good, love it
Red Rose Speedway — erm
Band on the Run — classic
Venus and Mars — good, better than it gets credit for
Speed of Sound — I think I've listened to this once
London Town — never really bothered
Back to the Egg — the signature song on this album has the lines " Say you don't love him, my salamander" and "radio, play me a danceable ode"
McCartney II — great, love it
Tug of War — supposed to be his last great album, haven't really gotten into it
everything afterwards — the piranha got eet
Surprisingly, I'm mostly in agreement with you here with the exception of Wings—I'm good with BotR, but otherwise the best of is more than enough. My recollection is that Chaos and Creation wasn't bad. Otherwise, the only thing I have use for, post-Tug of War, is the two Fireman albums he did with Youth. Maybe not having his name attached (at least until the secret leaked) loosened him up, but he seemed really laid back and creatively open there.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by weller259 »

Inder wrote:
09 Dec 2021, 2:15pm
Hmmmm... if I had to grade Macca albums in 20 seconds,

McCartney — great, love it
Ram — great, love it
Wild Life — pretty good, love it
Red Rose Speedway — erm
Band on the Run — classic
Venus and Mars — good, better than it gets credit for
Speed of Sound — I think I've listened to this once
London Town — never really bothered
Back to the Egg — the signature song on this album has the lines " Say you don't love him, my salamander" and "radio, play me a danceable ode"
McCartney II — great, love it
Tug of War — supposed to be his last great album, haven't really gotten into it
everything afterwards — the piranha got eet
Speed of Sound is pretty good, to me it is his last solid album. London Town has a few moments (I've Had Enough for one) but overall isn't as strong as his previous stuff, and McCartney II has a couple of moments but is kinda weak overall. Loose songs after that but its ok, I mean, HOW MANY great classic songs can one man write? He gets a pass from me for anything after 1980 because of his work from 1962 to then.
McCartney is a legend and rightfully so, his body of work is pretty much unmatched in my opinion.
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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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There's an amazing combination of iciness, peace, and modest humour in the man. A good-natured, serene prick?
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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Started watching Anthology, which I'm pretty sure is the first time since it was broadcast (apart from bits and pieces). I was confused by copy because there's a thin green bar on the left side of the screen and some clips have the timer. It finally dawned on me that, fuck, right, I bought a director's cut on some blackmarket site. More content (what I don't know) but slightly lesser viewing experience. :meh:

Freaky that I'm older now than the guys were when they made this documentary.

edit: There's also a clip from the Get Back rehearsals in the first episode that is grainy and flat, which just smacks you in the face re. what Peter Jackson did to clean up that film.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The Beatles song you're thinking about right now thread

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Image
Image
Question: Was Jimmy Nichol a Romulan scout?
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