Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! I hope you had a joyous Turkey Day, “stuffing” yourself in the company of friends and “spuds” — I mean, buds. If you have tomorrow off, then that’s just “gravy”…
Okay, that’s enough of that.
Seriously, I hope you had a positive day, filled with family members and friends, enjoying a day off from work. As for me, I woke up late (almost afternoon) to a phone call from my sister. Knowing me all too well, my mother asked her to call me and tell me that dinner would take place a half hour before it would actually start.
At least I got there on time!
My day essentially started as soon as I got out of bed (at the early hour of noon) and went to my parents’ house. I had a nice, relaxing time talking with my parents and grandparents, as well as hanging out with my sister and talking about music. I brought my laptop over so I could finally finish the “2008 Essentials” mix CD I’ve been wanting to make for weeks. Some highlights were…
– “Living Well is the Best Revenge” (REM)
– “Valley of the Low Sun” (Jakob Dylan)
– “7 8 9” (Barenaked Ladies)
– “Cowboys” (Counting Crows)
and, of course,
– “These Streets” (MoU)
I’m not biased about that last one, I swear! 🙂
After dinner, I spent a long time talking with my parents and grandparents. Then, once the company had gone, my father and I watched the Tom Selleck movie The Shadow Riders. It was based on a Louis L’Amour novel, so it was pretty cheesy at times, but overall, it was a fun film. Once the movie ended, the day was still long from over. I went over Jim’s parents’ house to watch this week’s special Turkey Bowl edition of TNA Impact! (the highlight of which was, without a doubt, Mick Foley “dealing with” Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machine Guns).
A half hour after TNA was over, Jim and I were back home recording this great Beatles cover song, “Thank You Girl.” Why did I pick this song, you ask? Is it a favorite? Well, no. In fact, I didn’t even know it until yesterday. The reason is that it goes along with the theme of today — giving thanks!
I actually posted this video late because Jim and I ended up playing great Beatles and Christmas songs for another hour and a half before going downstairs to snack, watch a Jack Johnson DVD, and do research for our Black Friday adventure.
And, yeah, I’m going to bed at 4am, prepared to wake up at 5am…
It is truly a testament to the outstanding talent and staying power of the Beatles that Let It Be, their final and perhaps least ambitious — by their own designs, at least — release, is composed of such an impressive assortment of tracks.
For this reason alone, the 2009 remastered version of this classic 1970 album is worth your time and money.
Held up against the previously released audio on the CDs that have been standard issue for over two decades now, this remaster is crisper and cleaner in all the right places. To be fair, this is probably one of the less drastic remasters, as Let It Be was originally issued in actual stereo. Still, the seasoned Beatles fan will immediately take note of the subtle improvements, such as the even warmer ambiance of the background vocals in “I Me Mine” and the clearer separation between piano notes and vocals in both “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road.”
It is a joyful experience to hear the individual vocals and instrumentation as clearly as possible. After all, when the bulk of these tracks were laid down in January 1969 — almost one and a half years before the release of the album — the keyword had been simplicity. Following the tumultuous White Album sessions, they had decided to adopt a more “live in the studio” feel for their next album. Paul in particular felt that they had lost the cohesion that could only come from playing live. Considering the backbreaking schedule of live shows in their early years and the relative happiness of their early period, it is difficult to disagree.
The Beatles’ “Let It Be” (1970)
For this reason, as well as the fact that Let It Be was mixed, remixed, re-arranged, and shuffled around by so many people outside the Fab Four before its initial release in 1970, I think Let It Be…Naked should be and is the first and best way to experience this album. Purists, traditionalists, and historians may disagree, but any detractors to this theory must first explain why the Beatles’ initial intentions for the concept of this album should be all but ignored in favor of the “actual” release. Why tracks like “Maggie Mae” and “Dig It” could ever belong on the same vinyl — or silver, for that matter — disc as gems like “Two of Us,” “Across the Universe,” and “Let It Be” is beyond this writer.
Before I trample upon too much musical holy ground, I should reinforce that the 2009 remaster provides a great experience. Some argued that the tracks should have been stripped down and entirely remixed. While I wouldn’t have been against that idea if it had been engineered by the right team, there doesn’t seem to be the need for anything quite so drastic here.
Perhaps the focus should instead fall on the pressures within and around this record. Within, it is interesting to consider how complicated and tense the Beatles’ interpersonal relationships had become, and yet to listen in wonder at the beautiful music they made despite it all. Outside of the recording process, there was a great deal of expectation when the album was released, especially considering that it wasn’t available for sale until after the Beatles had announced that they were breaking up. That put a lot of weight on this very final addition to what is arguably the greatest rock ‘n roll catalog of all time. Even Rolling Stone fluctuated wildly, dismissing the album at its release but soon after adding it as #86 on their list of the best rock albums of all time.
Regardless of your perspective on this album, Let It Be is a strong addition to anyone’s music collection, if only for the outstanding songs it contains — and not only the singles, but many of the deep tracks, as well.
I’ll probably still click one more space lower on my iPod for Let It Be… Naked, but I have enjoyed hearing the original in remastered audio. And make sure you watch all of our great Beatles cover songs videos here on the music video blog!
Hello and welcome to my first traditional “video and a post” Laptop Session in weeks! For the past few posts, I’ve opted to write reviews, but now its back to Beatles cover songs for me! This was actually a lot of fun, but I don’t get to write as directly and personally as I do in a post like this one. Thus, I’m back with a guitar, recording my first cover song music video since “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” Let’s just say it’s good to be “back”!
You’ve probably already noticed that the Laptop Sessions main page has suddenly been filled with “chords & lyrics” posts. Let me start by explaining these four new additions to the blog.
First, the Beatles chords (for “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”) are obviously meant to accompany this post. If you enjoy it, then by all means, jump in and start playing it yourself. Actually, you might want to read the rest of my post before you break out your axe…
So, why the added chords and lyrics?
Well, I’ve been itching to record a cover version of a track from the new Pearl Jam album Backspacer ever since I started listening to it last Sunday. Specifically, there are two largely acoustic tracks that are very easily translatable into acoustic music videos — namely, “Just Breathe” and “The End.” The first single, “The Fixer,” is more of a full-band, harder rock affair, but its structure is fairly simple and it is truly a great deal of fun to sing. I’m still deciding which song to record for my session (anyone care to hazard a guess before next week?).
Now, normally I would wait until next Monday to post the chords, but I’ve been learning/practicing all three and going out of my mind attempting to comprehend how anyone could post the chords and lyrics without having even the slightest idea as to what the correct words are. This, in fact, is one of the most profoundly aggravating aspects of the decline of CD’s, at least in my mind — people who download digitally do not necessarily get a booklet, and even if they do, do not necessarily take the time to read the liner notes and lyrics. Has music really become that abundant and easily accessible that we couldn’t care less what the singer is actually saying, or what the album as a whole is actually about? This is the feeling I get when I surf the web for chords and lyrics.
This is also why I enjoy spending time in CD stores like Newbury Comics or — as I visited today — Exile on Main Street. It’s a good feeling to see albums that you had forgotten about, never actually seen in person, or perhaps never even heard of before. I left today with my hands covered in a thin layer of dust, having purchased an album that had collected a considerable amount of that aforementioned dust — the Charlie Sexton Sextet’s Under the Wishing Tree. (Sexton played with Dylan for a few years, left the band a while back, and just recently rejoined — he was perhaps my favorite guitarist that I’ve seen in Dylan’s band, so I had to check it out. More to come after I’ve listened more closely to the album…)
After all this posting, I suppose I should actually take a few moments to address the video you’re about to watch…
Following Jeff’s excellent rendition of “Yesterday” last Thumpin’ Thursday, I decided I couldn’t let the Beatles marathon slip away on my watch. I had been planning to record a Pearl Jam song (as I mentioned earlier), so I opted instead to record a Beatles song that had been sung by Eddie Vedder in a cover version a few years back. “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” is the third track from the Beatles’ excellent 1965 album Help! — Nicole’s favorite Beatles album. Thankfully, I was able to borrow her copy of the 2009 remastered version of Help! and ensure that I was more than prepared to record this great song.
The video that follows is a perfect example of what seems like a short, simple song but is in actuality a little gem. To me, this song exemplifies how the Beatles really aren’t overrated — even with a simple verse-verse-chorus-repeat-fade song, Lennon and McCartney had to throw in some interesting chords and variations. It’s not simply G or C that you’re hearing — instead, my underworked and not-so-dexterous pinky finger was called into play to make the song sound entirely accurate. Even as I type, my hand is still recovering from the workout! Overall, I’m very pleased with how the recording came out, even if my lips ended up a bit dry and thus led to a few flubs during my “vocal flute” solo at the outro. I hope you can forgive the slight inaccuracies and enjoy this great Lennon/McCartney classic!
Oh, as a quick “P.S.,” I should mention that my review of the 2009 remaster of Let It Be really will be coming eventually. My internet was a bit screwy last week and I lost all my progress, so I put it aside temporarily.
It’s been a great Yom Kippur (see my Twitter posts above), and although it’s back to school for me tomorrow, I still have another surprise up my sleeve for later this week. That is, if my internet connection can hold steady…
G Em
There’s no one else I know
Em G Em
Who makes me feel so…
Em G Em
I never want to see that girl go.
Em C D
Stay all of the time, all of the time…
But she’s not here tonight,
And if she’s out with you, that’s just not right.
I’d really hate to have to start a fight,
But I think that I might; I think that I might…
Bbm Em
Everywhere she is I want to be,
Bbm C D
And when I’m holding her it makes me weak.
Bbm Em
We’ve got a kind of love that’s hard to see,
C D
And your lies are tearing her away from me.
So leave and you’ll be fine.
You tell another story, I’m drawing the line.
I end up in the middle all of the time,
All of the time, all of the time…
SOLO (over verse chords)
Everywhere she is I want to be,
And when I’m holding her it makes me weak.
We’ve got a kind of love that’s hard to see,
And your lies are tearing her away from me.
So leave and you’ll be fine.
You tell another story, I’m drawing the line.
I end up in the middle all of the time,
All of the time, all of the time…
G Em
I really love her…
I can’t stop thinking of her…
You got in the way…
Now, hear what I say…
