09/09/09 The Beatles

Norm Apter

For those interested, I highly recommend the book Revolution in the Head by Ian MacDonald. I've read several books on the Beatles, but MacDonald's is shaping up to be the best of the bunch; unlike most authors, he's not a fanboy. Aside from a fascinating opening essay on monumental shifts in rock-n-roll in the 1960s, most of the book consists of song-by-song analysis (the lyrics, the instruments, the ideas, the studio tricks) in the order they were recorded. The late MacDonald was given exclusive access to records of the recording sessions, and some of what he reveals is surprising. That guitar solo on "Tax Man" we all assumed was George...well, that's actually Paul playing. And this was true for several other songs officially credited to George, just to give one example.

This book probably isn't for the casual fan, but if you're an aspiring Beatologist it makes for aweful good reading as you listen to the newly re-issued recordings in high fidelity.

tcrossma

F1nut wrote: »

So, anyone else get their copies yet?

I got my stereo copy last week. I haven't listed to all of the CD's yet, but I'm very happy with it thus far.

comfortablycurt

Norm Apter wrote: »

For those interested, I highly recommend the book Revolution in the Head by Ian MacDonald. I've read several books on the Beatles, but MacDonald's is shaping up to be the best of the bunch; unlike most authors, he's not a fanboy. Aside from a fascinating opening essay on monumental shifts in rock-n-roll in the 1960s, most of the book consists of song-by-song analysis (the lyrics, the instruments, the ideas, the studio tricks) in the order they were recorded. The late MacDonald was given exclusive access to records of the recording sessions, and some of what he reveals is surprising. That guitar solo on "Tax Man" we all assumed was George...well, that's actually Paul playing. And this was true for several other songs officially credited to George, just to give one example.

This book probably isn't for the casual fan, but if you're an aspiring Beatologist it makes for aweful good reading as you listen to the newly re-issued recordings in high fidelity.

I'll have to check that book out...I've read a few books about the Beatles before...but never that one. I love having an insight into the people behind the music, and how the music came to be.

Thanks for the suggestion.

nspindel

I have that book, but haven't read it yet. It's been recommended to me as the definitive Beatles book for a song by song accounting.

I cancelled my order for the mono set on that cdpacific site. That site was a bit too flakey for me, and when I tried phoning I got a message that the phone number was not in service. I'll pay a few more bucks to Amazon so I know who I'm dealing with. They estimate that I'll have it on Nov. 5.

Norm Apter

comfortablycurt wrote: »

I'll have to check that book out...I've read a few books about the Beatles before...but never that one. I love having an insight into the people behind the music, and how the music came to be.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Curt, as a musician, I think you would especially like it. There's discussion of chords, key changes and the like that is above my head (as a non-musician), but of course there's also really neat anecdotes contained in the footnotes (which are sometimes just as fascinating as the text). For example, one footnote states that in fall 1966 Paul and his girlfriend smoked pot, went cruising on mopeds, and then Paul crashed apparently from being too high(?), leaving him with a gash over his upper lip. Thats why he (and then the rest of the Beatles apparently) grew mustaches in the run up to Pepper (you can see the earliest manifestation I believe in their videos for Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane which preceded the Pepper sessions). Maybe useless Beatles trivia, but I find stuff like that interesting.

nspindel wrote: »

I cancelled my order for the mono set on that cdpacific site.

I did the same exact thing. I've heard from others on another board that CD Pacific is a reliable seller, but the fact is that they listed the item as "available" when it wasn't and that turned me off. I have 110% confidence in Amazon (for example in case of damaged goods or something like that) so an extra $8 is a small price to pay for "insurance"

Another book, which I've just checked out from the Library, is The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, 1962-1970 by Mark Lewisohn (1988, rep. 2006). It adopts the same approach, but I don't think its as insightful as the MacDonald; unlike the MacDonald, however, which is pretty much just text, Lewisohn's volume contains some pretty cool photographs of the Beatles while they were recording (many of the later ones taken by Linda McCartney), plus set lists and other memos, images of the original Parlophone LPs and other artifacts from the studio. In sum, it seems to be a good supplement to Revolution in the Head. Unfortunately, the former is OOP and quite pricey.

reeltrouble1

OK so I have had my disc set for going on two weeks or so.

Did anybody who bought these not go into an extended Beatles Fest........lots of Deja Vu moments as I listened to tracks that I had not heard in such a long long time.

RT1

F1nut

Still there.

nspindel

F1nut wrote: »

Still there.

What he said! You're making it sound like the Beatles fest is already over when you say "Did anybody..."

One thing that I did, which was kinda cool, was make myself a Red Album and Blue Album mix for the car. When I listen at home I have the luxury of sitting down for a period of time to listen to entire albums straight through. In the car, it's more quick trips, 20 minutes here and there, where a greatest hits mix is a bit better when you can't listen for a fixed amount of time. I always liked the selection of songs on the Red and Blue album, so these mixes I made are a lot of fun.

janmike

F1nut wrote: »

So, anyone else get their copies yet?

Still waiting. :mad:

reeltrouble1

its a Brit plot against Canada, they want your ice.

RT1

janmike

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

its a Brit plot against Canada, they want your ice.

RT1

I could have paddled a canoe there for the time it's taking. As long as it is here by Christmas I'll be ok.

mizthuphee

like the energizer bunny... beatles fest is stlll goin!:D

reeltrouble1

When I heard Come Together I had a flashback recollection of moments past with a sweet young lass named Nancy Stapanski, how sweet it can be..........wonder what every happened to her.....she giggled when she heard that juju eyeballs thing, we drank our Coca-Cola, then she put her tongue in places....wow, talk about Holy Roller.

RT1

nspindel

I just got some good news. Email from Amazon saying my mono set will be shipping sooner than expected, I should receive it by Oct. 27. Excellent!!!

Systems

Its the kind of CD I love to listen to over and over. The sound rocks!:D

BlueFox

nspindel wrote: »

I just got some good news. Email from Amazon saying my mono set will be shipping sooner than expected, I should receive it by Oct. 27. Excellent!!!

I got tired of reading all these Beatle posts, so I ordered the mono set from Amazon. Estimated ship date 10/27.

As an FYI, Sound and Vision has a huge review in the current issue of both sets, and the game.

TECHNOKID

TECHNOKID wrote: »

Couldn't find anything either in Ottawa or Gatineau. Guy at BB in Gatineau said it took only 1/2 hour to sell their stock. He said there was only 13K copies for Canada, hope this is baloney, I know Canada is small country population wise but not that small. Apparently COSTCO in Gatineau had a few sets for 189$, didn't last too long and apparently is now back order :mad:

After the above disappointment, I solely focused on COSTCO checking both the Gatineau (close from home) and the Nepean (closed from work) stores. Finally, I got Nepean delivery date (between Oct. 20 - 26th) but nothing for Gatineau. Yesterday I did a confirmation check and I was told that the Nepean store was getting 30 mono sets delivered straight to the store and Gatineau only had 10 sets which would be deliveved from their Montreal warehouse and therefore would probably not get to the Gatineau store until Oct. 29th. This morning, I made it a duty/priority to stop my work and drop by the Nepean store. I was somewhat unsure and expected to potentially be disappointed. To my joy and surprise, the delivery happened before store openening as the clerk told me. I joyfully put my paws on one of the sets that were on the shelf (approximately 15 on shelf). I haven't had the opportunity to do any listening yet but the simply opening the package and looking at the packaging and all of the dedication put toward the presentation was a joy by it self :cool: When this thread started, I was expecting Canadians to have only a limited amount of sets available (which BB claimed) and was (as usual) expecting Canadians to pay a hefty premium over US pricing. Honestly, pricing is quite comparable since I paid 225$ + our nice CDN taxes which brings the total price of the package to 254$. All in all, this is a great day, I feel like a kid that has been given the moon This is an early Xmas gift from self to self and in all honesty, I feel this is the best Xmas gift I have beeen given in years I have made my mind up, I will NOT give those a listen until my vintage speakers are back in shape (replacing mid driver with a matching pair and the drivers are on their way) as I feel those speakers are the only ones worthy of Beatles listening (my Polk speakers are HT type and not best suitable for music listening, my bedroom rig is also somewhat small).

janmike wrote: »

Still waiting. :mad:

Do you have a local COSTCO in your area? If so, you should hurry and see if they received any sets.

Cheers!
TK

janmike

I wish.

nspindel

Got another mail from Amazon that my mono set has been shipped and I should have it by the 26th :-))

TECHNOKID

nspindel wrote: »

Got another mail from Amazon that my mono set has been shipped and I should have it by the 26th :-))

I am convinced you are gone love this, no regrets what so ever. My only problem since I acquired my set is the lack of sleep. Yesterday evening I turned my office into a mini studio. I fixed my vintage speakers and had the bad idea of using this newly acquired collection to do the testing. Well, the driver replacement sure didn't take long but the testing was quite lenghty as it turned to be a Beatles mono auditioning, a real Beatles fest!

Cheers!
TK

mizthuphee

nspindel wrote: »

Got another mail from Amazon that my mono set has been shipped and I should have it by the 26th :-))

nice!:cool: i'm sure you're going to enjoy your beatle fest!!

nspindel

I'm heading straight for Sgt. Pepper and The White Album, where some of the most striking differences between the stereo and mono mixes supposedly lie. Looking forward to confirming that! Can anyone with both box sets suggest where my next priorities should lie?

vc69

I gotta quit reading this thread. My priorities lie elsewhere right now and you guys are killing me.

pmckeealaska

nspindel: Agreed on going straight to Sgt Peppers and the White Album. Pepper is like a whole different album in my opinion....and superior to the stereo version in many ways. You should also check out Revolver. I'm Only Sleeping is fairly different as are a few other tunes. I also like Help in mono better than the stereo. The Mono Masters are really interesting as well. Hey Bulldog really rocks....enjoy!

nspindel

vc69 wrote: »

I gotta quit reading this thread. My priorities lie elsewhere right now and you guys are killing me.

Yeah, ummmm, let me know how that works out for you...:D

nspindel

pmckeealaska wrote: »

nspindel: Agreed on going straight to Sgt Peppers and the White Album. Pepper is like a whole different album in my opinion....and superior to the stereo version in many ways. You should also check out Revolver. I'm Only Sleeping is fairly different as are a few other tunes. I also like Help in mono better than the stereo. The Mono Masters are really interesting as well. Hey Bulldog really rocks....enjoy!

I can't wait. I feel like a little kid being so excited about these cd's. I seriously don't think I've been as excited about the release of any music titles since the original Beatles cd's came out 22 years ago!

pmckeealaska

I know the feeling. I am still excited about it, as I have only been able to scratch the surface of all of the albums. The clarity and detail is simply stunning. You're in for a real treat for sure. The one album I was most supirsed by was Help! in stereo and the gem of all of them is Abbey Road. That album is just jaw dropping in its sonic improvement.

nspindel

Don't know why I didn't mention this earlier. Going to see Beatlemania tonight. Saw them about 5 years ago and it was amazing. Should be a great show!

nspindel

Yes! Mono boxed set just arrived. Time to do some listening!!!

nspindel

Beatlemania was really fun. Tight band, they do great impressions. Great selection of songs, cool costumes, and a fun crowd. Awesome to see so many kids there dancing in the aisles and singing along to so many songs. Very cool that they knew the words to so many, there's hope for the younger generation after all! They played for 2 1/2 hours. Quite a good time...