And We Are All Together / The Beatles Thread

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

But you agree that the Love and YS Songtrack mixes are good, right?

Pretty much.

[knee tunes]

Wow, don't know how I missed that White Album set above -- thanks, you guys! I am downloading it now.

I don't visit many other message boards -- do all other message boards have such talented and generous people doing stuff like this? Not only for the band that is the subject of the board, but for an array of artists? Sometimes I just feel so damned lucky to have found this place that I wish I could just fly you all to my house for a great big fuckin' hug.

oh, neat!

[zeb]

But you agree that the Love and YS Songtrack mixes are good, right?

Pretty much.

[Birds in Hell]

I don't have any interest in the surround mixes but I just listened to some of the new stereo mixes and I thought they sounded pretty great.

[bada]

Any consensus on the best book about the Beatles? Particularly one that focuses on their songwriting process?

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Any consensus on the best book about the Beatles? Particularly one that focuses on their songwriting process?

There is a book that details their recording sessions that is really good...that's probably as close as you're gonna get to their inner process. There is also a day-by-day type book that is very popular. I don't think it's even possible to write a book about their songwriting process, because even John and Paul couldn't agree on the details of who wrote what 10 years later. There are no available McCartney demos, and only a few Lennon ones.

[McParadigm]

No single book, sure. But I think this combination (which also represents a great and interesting set of reads) captures it well enough for imagining:

1. Tune In
2. The Complete Sessions
3. Here, There, and Everywhere (Geoff Emerick's book)
4. The notorious Bob Spitz book (full of errors, but doesn't seem to have any misconceptions about writing that aren't cleared up by the other books)

The Paul McCartney biography also has some good details on the matter, and is hardly a source-controlled PR piece.

Emerick's book is particularly entertaining/insightful, and the audiobook version is narrated by somebody who does great impressions of Paul, John, and Ringo. It makes for stupendous commute listening.

[McParadigm]

Really, check the Emerick audiobook. It's worth it for the condom story and the following declaration alone:

"I AM FUCKING STONED.

I am more stoned than you have ever been.

NO!

I am more stoned than you. Will. Ever. Be."

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Several people who were "present" during some of the "stories" in Emerick's book claim that he's totally full of shit, and to take his book with a grain of salt.

[McParadigm]

Several people who were "present" during some of the "stories" in Emerick's book claim that he's totally full of shit, and to take his book with a grain of salt.

These are books about events that happened many decades ago, often relying on interviewees who were using hallucinogenics for much of the time period in question. They should all be taken with a grain of salt, which is why having multiple books on a band like this is a real bonus. You can see the places where there are consistencies, and where there are not.

Ken Scott is the one person I've read taking true umbrage to Here, There, and I don't worry too much about him for a couple of reasons:

1. In spite of complaining of incorrect 'facts,' he mostly slags Emerick's opinion statements. Which is fair, because a lot of his opinions are ridiculous (and usually come down to, 'If I didn't work on it, I feel like it's one of their weaker albums').

2. Ken has spoken on numerous occasions about having used hypnotherapy and other 'memory retrieval services' to help him remember in crisper detail all of those heady months. In addition to being just about the stupidest thing I've ever heard, all this would do is make him more susceptible to the creation of false memories.

3. Some of the greater complaints stem from Geoff's status as "Paul's guy," and from the feeling that he is more keen to discuss Paul's achievements than anybody else's. This is certainly fair, but I consider a book like that to be slightly correctional. Way too much emphasis is typically placed on George and John in media and discussion, with Paul often getting unfairly painted as being basically Graham Nash. Considering that George didn't really start to blossom until the last year or two of the group, and John was half-checked out for most of the post-Revolver run, it's welcoming to get a chance to shake off some of that mythologizing.

[zeb]

http://www.julienslive.com/view-auction ... lot/71120/

[bodysnatcher]

mine probably sounds the same

[zeb]

I'm interested in hearing this. New mixes from Giles Martin.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I don't have any interest in the surround mixes but I just listened to some of the new stereo mixes and I thought they sounded pretty great.

Compare them to the original mixes. Listen to the compression pumping in and out. It sounds like someone added 3:1 compression in a cheap WAV editor, with bass frequencies swelling up poking out all over the place. It's a joke. But the only other people I know who are horrified by this are other producers/engineers. Everyone else seems to like it fine.

[evenslow]

Any consensus on the best book about the Beatles? Particularly one that focuses on their songwriting process?

This is not necessarily "the songwriting process" but a very interesting read nonetheless:

[evenslow]

4. The notorious Bob Spitz book (full of errors, but doesn't seem to have any misconceptions about writing that aren't cleared up by the other books)

Hadn't realized that this was "notorious" for errors. What are some of the problems with it?

[evenslow]

3. Some of the greater complaints stem from Geoff's status as "Paul's guy," and from the feeling that he is more keen to discuss Paul's achievements than anybody else's. This is certainly fair, but I consider a book like that to be slightly correctional. Way too much emphasis is typically placed on George and John in media and discussion, with Paul often getting unfairly painted as being basically Graham Nash. Considering that George didn't really start to blossom until the last year or two of the group, and John was half-checked out for most of the post-Revolver run, it's welcoming to get a chance to shake off some of that mythologizing.

This is exactly why I felt the Spitz book was especially useful. It opened my eyes to how much Paul was doing '67 and beyond.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[swan]

Any consensus on the best book about the Beatles? Particularly one that focuses on their songwriting process?

This is not necessarily "the songwriting process" but a very interesting read nonetheless:

That is an awesome book

[mastaflatch]

Any consensus on the best book about the Beatles? Particularly one that focuses on their songwriting process?

This is not necessarily "the songwriting process" but a very interesting read nonetheless:

That is an awesome book

A great read for sure but it shouldn't be considered objective nor always accurate by any means.