http://historum.com/blogs/praisegod_barebones/ Historum History Discussion Forums en Tue, 21 May 2013 01:31:51 GMT vBulletin 60 http://cdn.historum.com/images/classic/misc/rss.jpg http://historum.com/blogs/praisegod_barebones/ http://historum.com/blogs/praisegod_barebones/30-under-appreciated-songs-beatles-part-3.html Sun, 02 Jan 2011 15:32:19 GMT *_You Never Give Me your Money_* The first track in the Abbey Road medley and a medley in its self. Starts with a slow classical style piano to... You Never Give Me your Money

The first track in the Abbey Road medley and a medley in its self. Starts with a slow classical style piano to accompany vocal harmoney (actually I believe just Paul with return) with lyrics about the bands well documented money disputes. Then with a flourish develops into a story of social reality about losing one's job and struggling to have the money to stay above water. Aside from the fantastic opening to the song what puts this song up there with the best Beatles songs is the fantastic if all to brief Harrison guitar solo near the end that manages to seem perfectly fitting in this melange of sound. A point of interest I always find with You never give me your money is the whine from McCartney as the song is winding down that sounds disturbingly like Robert Plant and I still have to remind myself that it isn't him every time I hear it. ]]> PraiseGod_Barebones http://historum.com/blogs/praisegod_barebones/30-under-appreciated-songs-beatles-part-3.html http://historum.com/blogs/praisegod_barebones/24-under-appreciated-songs-beatles-part-2.html Fri, 31 Dec 2010 16:19:28 GMT Helter Skelter

So confession, I'm actually a huge White Album mark, it is in fact my favourite Beatles album. I concede that it is not the best Beatles album, not by a long way but I love the strange variety on the self titled album. From the strange bluesy warbling on Rocky Raccoon, to the inverted Beach Boys Back in the USSR even the avant garde Revolution 9 but my favourite track on the album is The Beatles rockiest number Helter Skelter and song now more closely associated with Charles Manson than with its creators. If Back in the USSR tribute to the Beach Boys then Helter Skelter is a tribute to the high octane work of The Who. The lyrics are nonsense (unless you're that crazy cat Charles Manson) but the power of the song doesn't lie in its lyrical content, instead it lies in the guitar and the delivery of the vocal which is at times Mick Jagger like. From the opening guitar that blows your socks off if played loudly to the closing remarks by Ringo (not as many think John) this songs defies everything that would have been assosiated with the The Beatles just a few years before and shows that the one of the greatest things about the band was the ability to go out on a limb, do something different from regular scheduling and still blow you away.

'I've got blisters on me fingers' ]]> PraiseGod_Barebones http://historum.com/blogs/praisegod_barebones/24-under-appreciated-songs-beatles-part-2.html http://historum.com/blogs/praisegod_barebones/18-under-appreciated-songs-beatles-part-1.html Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:32:37 GMT Since this blogging function is here I may as well use this power for the good of humanity. What people may not know about me is that I am quite the... Since this blogging function is here I may as well use this power for the good of humanity. What people may not know about me is that I am quite the fan of compiling lists, mostly in my head but I really like doing it. It soothes me and help me block out conversions I don't wish to be a part whilst doing things I don't really wish to do. So over the next few days I will use this new found blogging power to compile a list of what I consider to be under appreciated Beatles songs as I often read lists in magazines, newspaper and on the net of the greatest Beatles tracks but am often left feeling bored and a little disappointed by the selection. Not to say the choices are bad but it's the same selection of about 20 songs and tend to occupy every top 10 with about 5 of those being dead certs for the list (A Day in the Life, Stawberry Fields, Yesterday etc). So this list will take songs that I feel should known by more people for starters in many cases and given more credit by critics. So lets begin with

She's Leaving Home

Composer Ned Rorem said of this song that it was 'equal to any song that Schubert ever wrote' and that pretty much sums up what I think of it.
The origins of the song are that Paul saw a story in the newspaper about a girl who left home and had been found so they wrote that basically. What is truly amazing about this song as with much of Lennon and McCartney's song writing is that they manage to convey so beautifully emotions that at their age they had couldnt understand, having a child abandon you by their own free will. This is something they do in 'In My Life' with incredible skill hence why when an elderly Johnny Cash covered it, it sounded still so genuine.

Often overshadowed on Sgt Peppers by another great work of newspaper inspired story telling (A Day in the Life) I would argue that She's Leaving Home is a more accomplished piece of writing, especially as it didn't involve any instrumental section from the band itself and shows that in Lennon and McCartney's song writing is probably the best cultural source of the time for the study of Britain socially at the time. ]]> PraiseGod_Barebones http://historum.com/blogs/praisegod_barebones/18-under-appreciated-songs-beatles-part-1.html