May 21, 20241 yr Help! was The Beatles growing up and showing they werent just going to write love songs. I can't separate the widescreen travelogue exotic colour movie from my love of it, both when it came out and on John's death in 1980 when it was repeated on TV. John wore his heart on his sleeve, always. In 1976 when the Beatles singles charted again, Help! was up there with the big ones - and along with Yesterday the only early one to chart (if we take 1965 as the cut-off for early). Love the Nana's version, not so keen on Tina Turner's - but it works in any take.
May 21, 20241 yr Love the Nana's version, not so keen on Tina Turner's - but it works in any take. Interested to hear you thoughts on these two versions then - itpRFQnpMEQ OyEOYJDjGGM Apparently Lennon loved the Deep Purple version and wished The Beatles had played it slower.
May 21, 20241 yr Author 7th: 567 points Tomorrow Never Knows m4BuziKGMy4 Jade 49 Chez Wombat 49 Notorious D.O.T. 47 danG 45 gooddelta 45 Brer 41 popchartfreak 39 JulianT 38 King Rollo 37 Roba. 36 dandy* 36 steve201 35 Bjork 34 jimwatts 31 Severin 3 WhoOdyssey 2 …ready for it 0 ben08 0 This was the closing track on “Revolver” in 1966 . As well as using Indian instruments and an irregular drum beat, it has backwards guitar playing and uses sampling techniques based on pre-recorded segments. The idea that you would make a track only for a recording and not for performance was quite new at the time. The initial critical reception was mixed - one NME journalist expressed confusion that we are being asked to relax and float downstream in the midst of seagulls and noises that sound like they’re from outer space. However it is now seen as a pioneering track not only of the psychedelic rock genre but of electronic music. Didn’t this do well here? It’s the only track not on the original red and blue albums to even make the Top 20.
May 21, 20241 yr Author 6 mega classics left, all with over 600 points, but which has fallen just short of the Top 5?
May 21, 20241 yr One of their best and most innovative tracks, it's stunning to me how it comes from 1965 (not the least with the number 1 it inspired over thirty years later!), it sounds so far beyond anything a modern mainstream dance producer can do today.
May 21, 20241 yr Another fantastic discovery 'Tomorrow Never Knows' was. Also really impressive result for it.
May 22, 20241 yr Everything I said about A Day In The Life I echo for Tomorrow Never Knows, incredible piece of music. :wub:
May 22, 20241 yr Interested to hear you thoughts on these two versions then - Apparently Lennon loved the Deep Purple version and wished The Beatles had played it slower. Always have a soft spot for The Damned, bless 'em, fun and they even manage to use a few of the original vocal notes here and there :lol: One of my friends is a massive Deep Purple fan, has everything released and seen them more than once on every tour, so he will no doubt rate this version. I'd have preferred a more "Fireball"-styled frantic cover (like the Damned) but I think the Prog Rock slowed-down works too. Tina's version was slowed down as well, more gospel though.
May 22, 20241 yr Tomorrow Never Knows a major fave though a fellow Fabs fan not so keen because of the two-chord structure - but I really think that helps make it haunting and hypnotic. I first heard this on a radio series called The Rock N Roll Years which mixed news events of the year in question (one episode per year) with key tracks of that year. It started with the early 50's and just kept going episode by episode. 1966 was all about the build-up in the Viet-Nam War, still fresh in our minds really when this was broadcast in the late 70's/early 80's, and the episode ended with Tomorrow Never Knows - it really did seem to be a dividing line into a modern era of music and was hugely powerful in that context. I'd never heard it before that (it wasnt on the Red album)....
May 22, 20241 yr Author 6th: 601 points Let It Be CGj85pVzRJs Chart run: {2}-3-4-7-11-16-26-34-34-43R(24)->10 steve201 49 ben08 49 dandy* 49 gooddelta 48 …ready for it 47 Roba. 47 Bjork 44 popchartfreak 42 Chez Wokbat 42 jimwatts 39 JulianT 39 King Rollo 34 danG 32 Brer 25 Severin 10 Jade 5 Notorious D.O.T. 0 WhoOdyssey 0 This was the last single while the band were together and the title track of the last studio album. It debuted at #2 in the UK but was held off by the rather eclectic “Wand’rin’ Star” by Lee Marvin, but did top the Billboard chart after achieving the highest ever debut there at #6. It features backing vocals from Linda McCartney, the only time she contributed to a Beatles song, a guitar solo from George, and a backing orchestra which features quietly in the single mix. Clearly it isn’t the most inventive Beatles track musically but I still find the lyrics and the simplicity of it moving.
May 23, 20241 yr I wonder if it would have done better if we were rating the Naked version. Both McCartney and Starr have stated it is the superior version, and whilst I've never adored the song I would probably have given more marks for it.
May 23, 20241 yr The strings version was the version I first heard in Singapore and it was the cultural (UK) goodbye to the Fabs, love it, still takes me back to tropical happy memories, and has always moved me. It's basically a gospel song, witness the many covers in that groove. I've never much rated most other version though, oddly, especially the many charity re-births over the years and dodgily-sung elder McCartney live versions to end his gigs in recent times. Theyve tarnished it a bit, but I still want the original, and that means the single version. Saw Paul do it in the 80's though, when he was still fab vocally and Linda was still there. And it still wasn't the showstopper track of the night......TBC
May 23, 20241 yr Let it be is just fantastic just a culturally important song. I actually used to think it was a cover of a classic ancient song it’s so legendary! Can I ask a lot of posters have said how some Beatles songs they didn’t hear as they weren’t on the Red/Blue albums or released as singles. Other than Sgt Peppers did the other Beatles long players not get many sales when initially released?
May 23, 20241 yr Author 5th: 637 points Strawberry Fields Forever HtUH9z_Oey8 Notorious D.O.T. 50 Bjork 49 Chez Wombat 48 danG 46 Jade 45 JulianT 44 King Rollo 43 Severin 42 jimwatts 42 gooddelta 42 popchartfreak 38 steve201 37 ben08 35 dandy* 21 WhoOdyssey 16 Roba. 15 …ready for it 12 Brer 12 Another John song that was a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre here. Its promotional video was also a key early example of that medium. Like its double A twin “Penny Lane” written by Paul, it’s based on real childhood memories. Strawberry Field was a Salvation Army house and garden in Liverpool: the site is still there and was opened to the public in 2019. Like “Tomorrow Never Knows” the track uses Indian instruments and experimental techniques such as backwards recording. It’s also the most celebrated use of a Mellotron keyboard. John considered it his best work with The Beatles. Apparently Brian Wilson, who had been struggling to complete the Beach Boys’ “Smile” album, said on hearing the track that they’d got there first with what he wanted to do. This received Dot’s 50 points and was in the Top 10 of more than half the voters, with nobody giving it less than 12.
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