Okay, okay, so I know what you’re thinking: how could I have screwed the lyrics up so badly at the end of the song. You see, when I say, “That’s the real thing, ain’t it?” it should actually be “That’s the real thing, i’n’t it.”
Hopefully you can see past my error…
Seriously though, I welcome you to the Monday night Laptop Session. This is my first song choice in anticipation of a new music release this year — in this case, tomorrow’s release of Ringo Starr’s Y Not. Based on the quality of Ringo’s past several albums, I can only imagine that this oddly titled release will be excellent. There appear to be some promising collaborations with such artists as Van Dyke Parks, Ben Harper, Joss Stone, Richard Marx, and — most exciting — Paul McCartney.
I’ll be honest — the title does throw me off a bit. After all, can there ever be a good justification for a man of Ringo Starr’s age and stature to use Instant Messenger shorthand in his album or song titles? I certainly can’t think of one. And this isn’t the first time that Ringo has utilized such abbreviations. As you can tell, my song choice tonight was based on the fact that “R U Ready?” — from 2008’s Liverpool 8 — uses IM shorthand for “Are You.” I can’t tell you why Ringo made this decision when writing the song, but I can tell you that it is indeed a great song. It was fun and easy to play, and I got to break in my “D” harmonica. Ever since I started exploring the different keys in my array of harps, I’ve been having more fun than ever breaking them out and playing them.
I’ll have to think of another harmonica-ready song for next week…
But, for now, I hope you’ll enjoy my cover version of “R U Ready?” Then, consider taking a listen to the new Ringo Starr album Y Not, to be released tomorrow, Tuesday, January 12th, 2010. He has truly been on a roll these past several years, releasing outstanding records in 2003, 2005, 2008, and now a mere two years later in 2010. I know where I’ll be heading after school tomorrow — to my local Newbury Comics store for a copy of Y Not.
With Ringo’s recent track record, I ask you: y not?
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…
Welcome to my first of two installments for “Number Ones” week at https://guitarbucketlist.com ! I’m happy to bring you my second Ringo Starr cover this year, “Photograph.” Co-written with George Harrison, this is certainly one of his most well-known songs and probably one of his catchiest. If nothing else, it’s one of his most memorable, as it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100!
There’s lots more to come as the week rolls on, so I hope you’ll check the blog to hear the songs that Jim and Jeff are recording — Jeff’s first installment of the week will be here tomorrow.
