Saturday, August 28, 2010

"Here, There and Everywhere"

"Here, There and Everywhere" is a song largely written by Paul McCartney (though credited to Lennon/McCartney), recorded for the Beatles 1966 album Revolver. In his biography, "Many Years From Now", McCartney is quoted as saying that the song is one of his favourites. Beatles' producer George Martin has also mentioned it as one of his favourite Paul McCartney songs. John Lennon reportedly told Paul he felt it was "the best tune on the album" and said in his 1972 Rolling Stone interview it was "one of my favorite Beatle tracks."

Origins

The song is known for its bittersweet tune, harmonic scheme, and subtle arrangement. The cheerful melody of the verses is counteracted by the more haunting minor modes of the bridge. McCartney, in fact, mentioned in the 1989 radio series McCartney On McCartney that the beginning with its ooh-aah backing vocals was meant to have a Beach Boys sound.

This track features one of McCartney's highest vocals; he said in his autobiography that he was actually trying to sing it in the style of Marianne Faithfull. His vocals are multi-tracked.

Cover versions

Noted performers who have covered "Here, There and Everywhere" include John Denver, Bobbie Gentry, Locksley, George Shearing, Emmylou Harris, Clay Aiken, Jose Feliciano (instrumental), The Lettermen, John McDermott, Claudine Longet, CĂ©line Dion (for a George Martin/Beatles tribute album), George Benson, Perry Como and Sissel. The Original Flying Pickets created an a cappella version of this song. There is an Irish music version by Sharon Hussey. Kenny Loggins did his own version of the song for his Kenny Loggins Alive album. The live version was his acoustic set in one of his recorded concerts. Japanese performer Maaya Sakamoto covered it with her self-accompanied guitar solo. Episode 6 also covered the song.

Cultural references

In the TV series Friends, this song is played on steel drums when Phoebe Buffay walks down the aisle during her wedding. It was the second time a song written by Paul McCartney was used in a wedding sequence in the series; the first being "My Love" when Chandler and Monica married.

Geoff Emerick, who engineered many of the Beatles' recordings, used the song title in the title of his own 2006 memoir, Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles (Gotham Books, ISBN 1-59240-179-1).

Credits

* John Lennon: rhythm guitar, background vocals and finger-snaps.
* Paul McCartney: bass guitar, double-tracked lead vocal, background vocals and finger-snaps.
* George Harrison: 12-string lead guitar, background vocals and finger-snaps.
* Ringo Starr: drums and finger-snaps.

Album: Revolver
Released: 5 August 1966
Recorded: Abbey Road Studios, 14 June 1966
Genre: Pop rock, soft rock
Length: 2:25
Label: Parlophone
Writer: Lennon/McCartney
Producer: George Martin

Wikipedia

Friday, August 27, 2010

Paul McCartney on "She's Leaving Home"

"It's a much younger girl than 'Eleanor Rigby,' but the same sort of loneliness. That was a Daily Mirror story again. This girl left home and her father said: 'We gave her everything, I don't know why she left home.' But he didn't give her that much, not what she wanted when she left home."

Thursday, August 26, 2010

"Here Comes the Sun"

"Here Comes the Sun" is a song by George Harrison from The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road.

Origin

The song, one of Harrison's best-known Beatles contributions alongside "Something", originated from a songwriting collaboration between Harrison and close friend Eric Clapton called "Badge," recorded by Clapton's group Cream, and featuring an arpeggiated guitar riff that is similar to the one that forms the bridge of "Here Comes the Sun". 1969 was a difficult year for Harrison: he was arrested for marijuana possession, he had his tonsils removed, and he had temporarily quit the band. The song was written while Harrison was away from all of these troubles.

Harrison stated in The Beatles Anthology:
“ "Here Comes the Sun" was written at the time when Apple was getting like school, where we had to go and be businessmen: 'Sign this' and 'sign that'. Anyway, it seems as if winter in England goes on forever, by the time spring comes you really deserve it. So one day I decided I was going to sag off Apple and I went over to Eric Clapton's house. The relief of not having to go see all those dopey accountants was wonderful, and I walked around the garden with one of Eric's acoustic guitars and wrote "Here Comes The Sun".”

Recording

Harrison sang lead vocals and played acoustic guitar and Moog synthesizer. Paul McCartney sang backing vocals and played bass guitar. Ringo Starr played drums, with all three Beatles providing handclaps. John Lennon did not contribute to the song as he was recovering from a recent car crash (he was also absent from George Harrison's "Long, Long, Long"). Unnamed musicians played violas, cellos, double bass, piccolos, flutes, alto flutes, and clarinets.

Harrison capoed his guitar on the 7th fret, resulting the final key of A major. He also used the same technique on his 1965 song "If I Needed Someone," which shares a similar melodic pattern.

Harrison, McCartney and Starr recorded the rhythm track in 13 takes on 7 July, 1969. Towards the end of the session Harrison spent an hour re-recording his acoustic guitar part. The following day he taped his lead vocals, and he and McCartney recorded their backing vocals twice to give a fuller sound.

A harmonium and handclaps were added on 16 July. Harrison's guitar solo was overdubbed on 6 August, and the orchestral parts were added on 15 August. "Here Comes The Sun" was completed four days later with the addition of Harrison's Moog part.

Voyager Proposal

Astronomer and science popularizer Carl Sagan had desired for the song to be included on the Voyager Golden Record, copies of which were attached to both spacecraft of the Voyager program to provide any entity that recovered them a representative sample of human civilization. Although the Beatles favored the idea, EMI refused to release the rights and when the probes were launched in 1977 the song was not included.

Cover versions

The song was covered by reggae artist Peter Tosh and released as a hit single; another popular Jamaican version was released in 1971 by singer and producer Rupie Edwards on his Success label. Additionally, American folk singer Richie Havens saw his 1971 version reach #16 in the U.S.

The most successful UK cover was by Steve Harley who reached number 10 in 1976. Singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone also recorded the song on an album with the same title: Here Comes the Sun (1971). The German bandleader James Last also made a cover version, taking the style of the song sung by Richie Havens as a basis for a version sung on his Beachparty2 album in 1971. In 2002 Linda Eder covered this song as the first track on her Gold album. It had been recorded on 19 November 2001 - just 10 days before the death of writer George Harrison. A recent cover (instrumental) by Bill Laswell appears on the album OHM Shanti by Asana (2005), and on the album Una Guitarra, Un Sentimiento (2005) by classic Latin guitar master Pedro Guasti. The pop/rock singer Paul Monday (aka Gary Glitter) also recorded the song and issued it as a single in 1969. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have also covered the song.

The song was also performed by George Harrison and Paul Simon in a televised appearance on Saturday Night Live, in 1976.

There is a live cover by Belle and Sebastian recorded in Belfast in 2001 included on their BBC Sessions album released in 2008.

Les Fradkin has an instrumental version on his "While My Guitar Only Plays" CD with Nokie Edwards of The Ventures on 2nd guitar.

Acen sampled the song for the Breakbeat Hardcore track "Close Your Eyes," but copyright issues led to its removal from some releases.

The Punkles did a Punk cover of this song on their fourth Album "For Sale".

Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora also performed the song as a tribute to Harrison after his death.

Lindsey Buckingham performed an acoustic solo guitar version of the song on New Year's Eve, 2001 as a tribute after Harrison's death.

Voodoo Glow Skulls recorded a cover of this song for their album Who Is, This Is?.

Sheryl Crow recorded a version of this song for Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie played at the end of the movie and over the end credits.

Brooke White performed the song on American Idol in 2008 during "The Beatles" week (Top 11).

Rockapella recorded the song for their 2002 album Smilin'.

Yo-Yo Ma performs a version along with James Taylor on the album Songs of Joy and Peace released October 10, 2008

Sarah Bettens covered this song as a b-side to her single Stay from her album Scream.

Travis covered Here Comes The Sun as a b-side on their single Flowers In The Window.

George Benson has also covered it.

Coldplay has covered the song live.

Credits

* George Harrison: lead and rhythm acoustic guitar; lead and background vocals; Moog Synthesizer and harmonium and handclaps.
* Paul McCartney: bass, backing vocals and handclaps.
* Ringo Starr: drums and handclaps.
* Orchestrated and conducted by George Martin (with George Harrison).

Album: Abbey Road
Released: 26 September, 1969
Recorded: 7 July-19 August, 1969
Genre: Folk rock, Pop rock
Length: 3:05
Label: Apple Records
Writer: George Harrison
Producer: George Martin

Wikipedia

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

"Her Majesty"

"Her Majesty" is a song written by Paul McCartney (although credited to Lennon/McCartney) that appears on The Beatles' album Abbey Road. "Her Majesty" is the final track of the album and appears fourteen seconds after the song "The End", but was not listed on the original sleeve. As such, it is considered one of the first examples of a hidden track in rock music.

Recording

The song was recorded in three takes on 2 July 1969, prior to The Beatles beginning work on Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight. McCartney sang and simultaneously played an acoustic guitar accompaniment. The decision to exclude it from the Abbey Road medley was made on 30 July.

Structure and placement

The song was originally placed between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam"; McCartney decided that the sequence did not work and the song was edited out of the medley by Abbey Road Studios tape operator John Kurlander. He was instructed by McCartney to destroy the tape, but EMI policy stated that no Beatles recording was ever to be deleted. The fourteen seconds of silence between "The End" and "Her Majesty" are the result of Kurlander’s lead out tape added to separate the song from the rest of the recording.

The loud chord that occurs at the beginning of the song is the ending, as recorded, of "Mean Mr. Mustard." "Her Majesty" ends abruptly because its own final note was left at the beginning of "Polythene Pam". Paul applauded Kurlander's "surprise effect" and the track became the unintended closer to the LP. The crudely-edited beginning and end of "Her Majesty" shows that it was not meant to be included in the final mix of the album; as McCartney says in The Beatles Anthology, "Typical Beatles - an accident." Consequently, both of the original sides of vinyl closed with a song that ended very abruptly (the other being "I Want You (She's So Heavy)").

The CD version also mimics the original LP version in that the CD contains a 14-second long silence immediately after "The End" before "Her Majesty" starts playing. However, if the song is jumped to from another song on the CD or played on a CD player or MP3 player in shuffle play, the song starts immediately.

At 23 seconds long, "Her Majesty" is the shortest song in the Beatles repertoire. The song was not listed on the original vinyl record's sleeve as the sleeves had already been printed; subsequent pressings and the CD edition correct this. The song starts panned hard right and slowly pans to hard left.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by:

* Chumbawamba (with a length of 1:48, including new lyrics critical of the Queen and a new bridge)

* Peter Combe (with a length of 2:19)

* Tok Tok Tok (with a length of 0:22)

* Dave Matthews (with a length of 0:29 including the recital of several lines from Come Together)

* Eddie Vedder performed the song live on April 10, 2008 at Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara, CA, and on April 16, 2008 at Spreckels Theater in San Diego, California.

* Paul McCartney performed the song live from Buckingham Palace Gardens in 2002, as part of the celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

Album: Abbey Road
Released: 26 September 1969
Recorded: 2 July 1969
Genre: Folk
Length: 0:23
Label: Apple Records
Writer: Lennon/McCartney
Producer: George Martin

Wikipedia



Monday, August 23, 2010

Traveling Wilburys

Traveling Wilburys were a 1980s supergroup consisting of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. The band recorded two albums during the two years they were together.

"Wilburys" was a slang term coined by Harrison and Lynne during the recording of Cloud Nine as a pet name for various types of equipment in the recording studio; Harrison, referring to errors caused by malfunctioning equipment, jokingly remarked to Lynne: "We'll bury 'em in the mix." The term was used again when the entire group was together. Harrison suggested "The Trembling Wilburys" as the group's name; instead, Lynne suggested "Traveling," which was agreed on by the group.

1988–1990

Starting at a meal between Roy Orbison, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne, the group came together at Bob Dylan's home studio in Malibu, California, to record an additional track as a B-side for the single release of Harrison's "This Is Love". Tom Petty's involvement came by chance as Harrison had left his guitar at Petty's house. The band, however, decided that the song that resulted, "Handle with Care", was too good to be released as a "single filler".

The members enjoyed working together so much that they decided to create a full album together under various pseudonyms, all sons of a fictional Charles Truscott Wilbury, Sr. and half brothers. Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, written by all the members, was recorded over a ten-day period as Dylan was scheduled to leave on a tour in May 1988. It was released on October 18. It was ranked #70 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s and nominated for Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1990. Despite the death of Roy Orbison on December 6, 1988, preventing further full collaborations, the remaining members did continue to make a follow up album to the highly successful Volume 1. In tribute to Orbison, during the video for "End of the Line", when Orbison sings, his photo is shown followed by a shot of his guitar in a rocking chair.

The Traveling Wilburys contributed the title track, "Nobody's Child", to the Romanian Angel Appeal benefit album "Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal", released on July 24 1990. The final studio album by the Wilburys, intentionally misnumbered Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3, was released on October 30, 1990, but with less success than the previous one. In the booklet contained in the 2007 box set, the album name is credited to 'George being George'. Fans sometimes refer to Tom Petty's album Full Moon Fever as Traveling Wilburys Vol. 2 because the songs were written, performed, and produced by Petty and Jeff Lynne, the similarity of its sound to the Wilburys's songs, and due to its release after Wilbury's Vol. 1 but before Vol. 3, making it a kind of honorary Wilburys album.

2007

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the two Traveling Wilburys albums had limited availability and were out of print in most areas. Harrison, as primary holder of the rights, did not reissue them before his death in 2001. In June 2007, the two albums were reissued as The Traveling Wilburys Collection, a box set including both albums on CD (with bonus tracks) and a DVD featuring a twenty-four minute band documentary and a collection of music videos.

The box set was released in three editions; the standard edition, with both CDs and DVD in a double Digipak package and a 16-page booklet; a "deluxe" boxed edition with the CDs and DVD and an extensive 40-page booklet, artist postcards, and photographs; or a "deluxe" boxed edition on vinyl. This version omits the DVD, but adds a 12" with rare versions of the songs.

The release surprised many when it debuted at #1 in the UK Album Charts and the Australian album charts. On the US Billboard 200 it reached #9. The collection sold 500,000 copies worldwide during the first three weeks and remained in the UK top 5 for seven weeks after its release.

Members

The Traveling Wilburys of Volume 1 were:

* Nelson Wilbury - George Harrison
* Otis Wilbury - Jeff Lynne
* Lefty Wilbury - Roy Orbison
* Charlie T. Jr. - Tom Petty
* Lucky Wilbury - Bob Dylan

The Traveling Wilburys of Volume 3 were:

* Spike Wilbury - George Harrison
* Clayton Wilbury - Jeff Lynne
* Muddy Wilbury - Tom Petty
* Boo Wilbury - Bob Dylan

Additional named Traveling Wilburys on the 2007 Collection were:

* Buster Sidebury - Jim Keltner
* Ayrton Wilbury - Dhani Harrison

Keltner, the session drummer and percussionist, was not listed as a Wilbury in Volume 1 or 3; however he is in some of the music videos. In the DVD released in 2007, he is given the Wilbury nickname 'Buster Sidebury'. Furthermore, overdubs to the unreleased tracks "Maxine" and "Like a Ship" credit Ayrton Wilbury, a pseudonym for Dhani Harrison.

The lead guitar on the song "She's My Baby" (from Volume 3) was played by blues guitarist Gary Moore.

Common bootlegs

* Traveling Wilburys Vol. 2 (1989 demos and extended songs from Vol. 1) Note that Full Moon Fever is often erroneously but understandably described or advertised as Vol. 2.
* Traveling Wilburys Vol. 4 (1990 out-takes from Vol. 3)
* Rare Studio Sessions

Wikipedia

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Yoko Ono on John Lennon's Interest in Scotland and Salmon Fishing

"He used to tell me about his salmon fishing. One of his aunties lived in Scotland and married a Scottish man, so whenever John visited them, he went salmon fishing. Not often. I think that this man really liked salmon fishing and he did that by himself usually, but sometimes John was allowed to join him. And salmon was a big thing. John used to say, 'Oh, salmon . . . Scottish salmon. There's nothing like it.' And when I visited this auntie with him, I did get to eat the salmon, and it was very fresh. We used to get smoked salmon to eat here in New York, but most of them were so salty we didn't like it. The ones that we got in Scotland were really good. I don't know why they don't export them. Salmon was one of the things that we really enjoyed eating."