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In which Gary Wenstrup and I return where we left off in offering our picks in ranking Bronze, Silver and Gold tracks off of The Beatles’ 1965 releases, as well as a little beyond. This show represents the first hour of our conversation – part two coming next.
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We commence Beatles Olympiad 2, where we left off, which was starting with their fifth album released in the summer of 1965, Help! Got two albums out of them that year, one being a soundtrack, more or less. It certainly was in the States and Capitol. Then the year ended with a bang, with Rubber Soul; two versions of that. Then in the next year, we got only one new album of material out of them, Revolver. In the States, it being the States, we got another one of those Capitol-only issues, which I think we will talk about today. Because I don’t know if we’re going to talk about Oldies, which came out on Parlophone, the end of ’66, while they were working on Strawberry Fields, but we’ll see what we feel like. For the show, I think we can talk about the UK Help!, both Rubber Souls and Yesterday and Today.
It is amusing to me that Robert always chooses Lennon songs in the top 3 choices.
I agree that You’re Gonna Lose That Girl is an exceptional track, but for me the hidden gem is Tell Me What You See.
The vocal interplay between Lennon and McCartney on that song matches any other track. “Listen to me one more time” .. it is 3/4 Lennon vocal 1/4 McCartney and 100% Macca in “how can I get thru”.. I love those vocal contrasts.
The Teenage Fanclub version of this song is cool too.
On another matter, no one has ever put forward the proposition that the song You’ve Got to Hide Your Love is about Lennon hiding his “love” for Sonny Freeman, the wife of Robert Freeman.
It is amusing to me that Robert always chooses Lennon songs in the top 3 choices.
I agree that You’re Gonna Lose That Girl is an exceptional track, but for me the hidden gem is Tell Me What You See.
The vocal interplay between Lennon and McCartney on that song matches any other track. “Listen to me one more time” .. it is 3/4 Lennon vocal 1/4 McCartney and 100% Macca in “how can I get thru”.. I love those vocal contrasts.
The Teenage Fanclub version of this song is cool too.
On another matter, no one has ever put forward the proposition that the song You’ve Got to Hide Your Love is about Lennon hiding his “love” for Sonny Freeman, the wife of Robert Freeman.
I love this series of shows! Completely agree with Robert about side 2 of Help! being a hodgepodge what sounds like no real thought. Dizzy Miss Lizzy is a bad closer. I consider it the worst flipside of any Beatles album (including Yellow Submarine). Though this may be colored by the fact it was the last Beatle album I heard in its entirety.
I agree with TK. The second side of the Help! album is the worst side of any Beatles album. I can’t believe any thought went into sequencing that mess. It sounds like they worked on the A (movie) side and then gave the leftovers to some underling to be tossed into the space that was left, in no particular order, on the B side.
I also agree with TK that Dizzy Miss Lizzy is a bad (I would say terrible) closer and one of the worst throwaways of Lennon’s career. It sounds like they needed one more song so they spent 5 minutes and just threw down one of their easy to play Cavern standards. It’s a great Lennon vocal, but so repetitive and so boring. It should have been the B side of a single. Or left unreleased and replaced with Leave My Kitten Alone.
I really enjoyed your comment about Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, which is probably my favourite Christmas song, because it’s so sad, although I don’t think I have ever heard the perfect version of it. I would argue that most recordings of it have too much arranging, or too much angst in the vocal. As Robert points out the line “muddle through” is far better than the shinning star on the tree which doesn’t make any sense in the context of the song or the movie.(And that is one bizarre movie, but that’s another topic.) Also, the original is “until then your troubles will be miles away” – not “our troubles” which gives the song a completely different meaning.
And while I’m on that topic, another feature of the old standards is that most of them had a lengthy into – often an entire verse in length, which were, in many cases, practically ‘another song’ and I would guess, likely part of the influence on the Beatles to really concentrate on beginnings and endings to their compositions. Most modern versions of old classics omit the intros.
Finally, isn’t We Can Work It Out a Paul song? I distinctly heard you lumping it in with your 7 Lennon favourite 1965 compositions.
DID I say that about WCWIO? If I did, it was a mis-statement, as I sure wouldn’t consciously attribute it to John.
Thanks for the comments!
Dizzy Miss Lizzy is a superb rocker and a great closing track. However, the Beatles best version was Live at the Hollywood Bowl. My only issue with the album version is that George never stops playing the lick. Listening to the live version – Lennon’s vocal is tremendous, John’s rhythm blending with George and Paul accentuating the lick is powerful. George only plays the lick during his solo. Better dynamics that way.
I love this series of shows! Completely agree with Robert about side 2 of Help! being a hodgepodge what sounds like no real thought. Dizzy Miss Lizzy is a bad closer. I consider it the worst flipside of any Beatles album (including Yellow Submarine). Though this may be colored by the fact it was the last Beatle album I heard in its entirety.
I agree with TK. The second side of the Help! album is the worst side of any Beatles album. I can’t believe any thought went into sequencing that mess. It sounds like they worked on the A (movie) side and then gave the leftovers to some underling to be tossed into the space that was left, in no particular order, on the B side.
I also agree with TK that Dizzy Miss Lizzy is a bad (I would say terrible) closer and one of the worst throwaways of Lennon’s career. It sounds like they needed one more song so they spent 5 minutes and just threw down one of their easy to play Cavern standards. It’s a great Lennon vocal, but so repetitive and so boring. It should have been the B side of a single. Or left unreleased and replaced with Leave My Kitten Alone.
I really enjoyed your comment about Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, which is probably my favourite Christmas song, because it’s so sad, although I don’t think I have ever heard the perfect version of it. I would argue that most recordings of it have too much arranging, or too much angst in the vocal. As Robert points out the line “muddle through” is far better than the shinning star on the tree which doesn’t make any sense in the context of the song or the movie.(And that is one bizarre movie, but that’s another topic.) Also, the original is “until then your troubles will be miles away” – not “our troubles” which gives the song a completely different meaning.
And while I’m on that topic, another feature of the old standards is that most of them had a lengthy into – often an entire verse in length, which were, in many cases, practically ‘another song’ and I would guess, likely part of the influence on the Beatles to really concentrate on beginnings and endings to their compositions. Most modern versions of old classics omit the intros.
Finally, isn’t We Can Work It Out a Paul song? I distinctly heard you lumping it in with your 7 Lennon favourite 1965 compositions.
DID I say that about WCWIO? If I did, it was a mis-statement, as I sure wouldn’t consciously attribute it to John.
Thanks for the comments!
Dizzy Miss Lizzy is a superb rocker and a great closing track. However, the Beatles best version was Live at the Hollywood Bowl. My only issue with the album version is that George never stops playing the lick. Listening to the live version – Lennon’s vocal is tremendous, John’s rhythm blending with George and Paul accentuating the lick is powerful. George only plays the lick during his solo. Better dynamics that way.
Hi Robert,
I view, and have since the beginning, SATB as my premier Beatles Podcast and will remain loyal due to the incredibly high standard of production and content.
So I went to your survey to help out as you requested. There were NO questions about SATB or the band, just requests for HIGHLY personal information (income? Marital status? Really?) with no context, so I did not take part.
Hi Robert,
I view, and have since the beginning, SATB as my premier Beatles Podcast and will remain loyal due to the incredibly high standard of production and content.
So I went to your survey to help out as you requested. There were NO questions about SATB or the band, just requests for HIGHLY personal information (income? Marital status? Really?) with no context, so I did not take part.
Hi Robert, I’m still around, just way behind on casts! Perfect 1,2,3 choice re Help! Side 2 is the worst side of their career. Very good observation re Gerry & the PM It’s Gonna Be Alright.
Hey Paul – great to hear from you!
Welcome back – if you were ever gone…
Hi Robert, I’m still around, just way behind on casts! Perfect 1,2,3 choice re Help! Side 2 is the worst side of their career. Very good observation re Gerry & the PM It’s Gonna Be Alright.
Hey Paul – great to hear from you!
Welcome back – if you were ever gone…