Category: Uncategorized
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The Beatles recorded many great album tracks that could have been–actually, absolutely would have been–singles for other bands. I’ll kick off this sub-series by examining their four 1963-64 albums to find a song that they could have released as a single. For this exercise, I’m only choosing singles from (and excluding singles that have already…
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I recently came in possession of a quickie 1964 American paperback titled The Beatle Book (Lancer Books, Inc.). No author’s name appears on the cover or title page, but the many photographs are attributed to Dezo Hoffman. The photos seem to end roughly around their visit to Miami, the last stop of their February Ed…
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A mini trend in Paul’s lyrics, both with The Beatles and later, involves references to being “right” (usually Paul) and/or “wrong” (usually the person to whom Paul’s singing)*. I’ll take a look at some of Paul’s songs that contain those references (and not, for example, John’s Anytime at All or A Hard Day’s Night, even…
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In The Beatles Anthology book, Paul tells this story about writing She Loves You in June 1963: John and I wrote ‘She Loves You’ together. There was a Bobby Rydell song out at the time and, as often happens, you think of one song when you write another. John also chimes in: It was Paul’s…
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I’m kicking off an occasional series looking at each of The Beatles’ 13 albums and deciding who’s the album’s Most Valuable Beatle (MVB). I’ll start off by examining the songwriting, singing, and playing on each album, but not in any real depth or with any actual “expertise.” (I’m just a fan with no musical background…
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How many Beatles albums are there? That ought to be an easy question to the answer. But it depends on (a) who’s counting, (b) when you were introduced to the band, and (c) which side of the Atlantic you lived. I grew up a Beatles fan outside Philadelphia in the ’70s. When I was a…
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One reason I find Geoff Emerick’s memoir Here, There and Everywhere so interesting is that we don’t have many examples of members of The Beatles’ inner circle speaking critically, even negatively, about “the boys.”* Emerick questioned not only George’s guitar-playing, but also, as I mentioned in part 1, his character. “It seemed to me as…
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Geoff Emerick’s memoir, Here, There and Everywhere was published in 2006. Emerick began his career as the assistant to the assistant of Beatles’ engineer Norman Smith,* then took over as the Beatles’ engineer in 1966.** If you’ve read, or even heard of, Emerick’s book, you’re likely aware that he admired Paul a great deal. George,…
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John wrote Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! based on a 1843 circus poster (a reproduction of which you should be able to find pretty easily online).* I always interpreted “for the benefit of Mr. Kite” to mean that the show was staged to raise money for Mr. Kite. In modern usage, benefits are…
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I became a Beatles fan in the summer of 1976, when I was 12. I’ve tried to piece together the chain of events that led to my fandom, and here’s what I’ve determined: I must have heard Hey Jude on the radio and decided that I liked it. It was probably among the first songs…
Off The Beatle Track 