Sunday, September 6, 2009
...and so it begins
I always get a perverse thrill, and a collective duh when i announce this as my favorite Beatles song. Almost a guaranteed conversation ender w/a diehard fan, which is not necessarily a bad thing...
Who in the world could claim this song as a throwaway, requiring a trip to the deepest darkest corners of the catalogue to find? The Hauling of the Ashes, that generational event known as "Let's Put The Beatles Catalogue Out Again" is now upon us...arriving in stores this week as mammoth boxes of mono or stereo mixes, and individual cd's to beat the band. This is but an appetite whetter, so if they not be your particular cuppa, go to sleep for a week or two, and then we'll be back to the usual.
Amongst my peers, they are more myth than music, and the refreshing part of this round is the focus on the music...Early accounts are raves-i skipped the original cd releases, was torn between the lack of pops and skips and the downright crap stereo mix. Word is Capitol got it right this time...i'm looking forward to dipping in.
As for the cross merchandising in the form of a video game, I'll let the younger generation come to grips with that...If that's what it takes to indoctrinate a whole new generation, so be it. And rather than just being overwhelmed by the media myth, maybe they'll come away with a deeper appreciation of the nuts and bolts of the actual music...
As for me, their greatest accomplishment was exploding the possibilities of multi.track recording. It still blows my mind that Sgt Pepper was done on 4 tracks...
Enough for now; more to come...
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Cool song, I can't say if I've heard it before or not. Certainly like it better than some Beatles tracks I've heard.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I'm curious on how the video game guitar generation is going to think of music in a decade or so.
Agree on the 4track thing - people got some serious mileage out of those things.
From whatever year my brother got obsessed w/the Beatles, (i'm sure he'll fill in the blank at some point, but i was way young), what attracted me was the bittersweet nature of the songs...what i know know as 'Rubber Soul' (& of course Abbey Road's 'Octopus' Garden done by Muppetts must be shouted out...).
ReplyDeleteThis song however, comes from the later years of the band, marked by ego and internal bickering, and what i appreciate the most about it, (and this video shines a light on...) is the sheer fun they had playing together, and it reminds me what a badass George Harrison was (certainly up there with his all time guitar riffs like 'taxman', 'guitar gently weeps', wicked solo in 'good morning', etc.
i had a playlist specifically for indie rock kids i would work with who would turn up their nose when the band came up, specifically designed to kick their behinds...i'll have to resuscitate that. (cue dread at scaling 'Cassette Mountain')
Generational thing, but i still think of the label first when i see any media mention of Apple, not the computer company, impossible as that may seem now...and speaking of which, Apple's annual press conference that announces new tinkerings of the Ipod to captivate the back to school market is interestingly timed for Wednesday...Has the Hatchet been buried, and is the Catalogue finally coming to ITunes?
we will see...