The Beatles Backyard

[Karl Henning]

I listened to Let it Be Nekkid the other day.

This time, "For You Blue" kicked my butt.

Thanks for the reminder. Must slip that into the queue.

[San Antone]

I listened to Let it Be Nekkid the other day.

This time, "For You Blue" kicked my butt.

I might be alone in not really enjoying the Naked LIB album. After hearing the original one for so long, I miss the production. 

[Kalevala]

Oh, and Being for the Benefit of Ms. @Kalevala

Thanks!  I didn't recognize the title, but as soon as I started playing it, I recognized the music.

K

[Karl Henning]

Thanks!  I didn't recognize the title, but as soon as I started playing it, I recognized the music.

K

I couldn't say, now, whether I knew, the first I heard it, that the middle section is in five.

[Karl Henning]

I knew you knew, and I just used your question as an excuse for rambling on about a favourite topic.

Tomorrow, you'll be able to say you watched Yesterday yesterday. Oh no, wait! - you watched it last night. So you DID watch Yesterday yesterday.
[/quote]
You've provoked the discovery of a title which I must use someday: "Yesterday Never Knew."

[Spoiler Alert]

Much of the music in Yesterday, of course, is Jack re-discovering/re-creating songs. Two of my favorite musical moments are early on: cleverly subtle echoes of "I Am the Walrus" and "A Day in the Life." I like the movie very much. I want to call it very good but shy of great, but the jury is still out. What I found confusing (not that I object out of hand to a degree of confusion) and I'm not sure if this draws it back from "excellent" or keeps it just at the verge, was the occasional glimmer that Jack is not, in fact the last man on earth to know who the Beatles are/were: the threat on live TV that Ringo and Paul are backstage and have an objection to raise, and Rocky's "weird people" who know but have no intention of pointing the finger. On the aforementioned echoes of "I Am the Walrus" and "A Day in the Life" ... they immediately precede Jack's "event." I like that we get a taste of those songs then, because they're too reliant on production for Jack to carry off on his own, even though at one point he's working out "dragged a comb across my head." I like the conflict between the surreal conceit and the central relationship of the movie. Like the music itself, there's a lot to like, and it doesn't yield all its secrets easily.

[Elgarian Redux]

Much of the music in Yesterday, of course, is Jack re-discovering/re-creating songs. Two of my favorite musical moments are early on: cleverly subtle echoes of "I Am the Walrus" and "A Day in the Life." I like the movie very much. I want to call it very good but shy of great, but the jury is still out. What I found confusing (not that I object out of hand to a degree of confusion) and I'm not sure if this draws it back from "excellent" or keeps it just at the verge, was the occasional glimmer that Jack is not, in fact the last man on earth to know who the Beatles are/were: the threat on live TV that Ringo and Paul are backstage and have an objection to raise, and Rocky's "weird people" who know but have no intention of pointing the finger. On the aforementioned echoes of "I Am the Walrus" and "A Day in the Life" ... they immediately precede Jack's "event." I like that we get a taste of those songs then, because they're too reliant on production for Jack to carry off on his own, even though at one point he's working out "dragged a comb across my head." I like the conflict between the surreal conceit and the central relationship of the movie. Like the music itself, there's a lot to like, and it doesn't yield all its secrets easily.

I decided that I wouldn't enquire too deeply into the various rational questions that arise (eg. Who are those two people who mysteriously know the Beatles music and how did they come to know it? I decided instead to just enjoy the ride. I wouldn't regard it as a 'great' movie myself, but it is a lot of fun - sometimes solemn fun - and repeatedly watchable. And he does well with the songs!

[Karl Henning]

I decided that I wouldn't enquire too deeply into the various rational questions that arise (eg. Who are those two people who mysteriously know the Beatles music and how did they come to know it? I decided instead to just enjoy the ride. I wouldn't regard it as a 'great' movie myself, but it is a lot of fun - sometimes solemn fun - and repeatedly watchable. And he does well with the songs!

Yes!

[Karl Henning]

I decided that I wouldn't enquire too deeply into the various rational questions that arise (eg. Who are those two people who mysteriously know the Beatles music and how did they come to know it? I decided instead to just enjoy the ride. I wouldn't regard it as a 'great' movie myself, but it is a lot of fun - sometimes solemn fun - and repeatedly watchable. And he does well with the songs!

Emphasis mine. Aye, I let the question turn with my potter's wheel on the Low setting, aware that I should be overthinking things if I let it interfere with the entertainment. And "All You Need Is Love" is wonderful.

[Szykneij]

I couldn't say, now, whether I knew, the first I heard it, that the middle section is in five.

Although the beginning can be squeezed into a 4/4 time signature, there really isn't a sense of four. Could it be George was using a tala fitting to the Indian nature of the piece?

[Number Six]

I might be alone in not really enjoying the Naked LIB album. After hearing the original one for so long, I miss the production. 

I like it because of that. The music feels fresh and raw. It's a nice variety alongside a lot of the stuff they were doing in the mid-late 60s.

[Number Six]

My favorite musical adaptation in Yesterday is the emo version of "Help" he plays at the concert. It's perfect for the character's story, and it's the perfect tone for the lyrics.

[Karl Henning]

My favorite musical adaptation in Yesterday is the emo version of "Help" he plays at the concert. It's perfect for the character's story, and it's the perfect tone for the lyrics.

Yes. Tangentially, I've just watched it again with the commentary. 

[Karl Henning]

That looks like a fun album!

K

Indeed. My copy just landed.

[Kalevala]

Indeed. My copy just landed.

You bought an actual LP?!  I didn't think that you bought those these days?  Or did you go for the CD of it?

K

[Karl Henning]

You bought an actual LP?!  I didn't think that you bought those these days?  Or did you go for the CD of it?

K

The CD. I haven't done vinyl (myself) in decades.

[Karl Henning]

A thoroughly enjoyable album, not surprisingly. My own very favorite tracks are pretty much the usual suspects: Jeff Beck's "A Day in the Life" (I haven't checked, but expect it must be distinct from the track released on Performing This Week -- Live at Ronnie Scott's.) "Because" as a vehicle for violinist Vanessa Mae, similarly "Here Comes the Sun" with Jn Williams. I should really add Geo. Martin's Pepperland Suite, since I counted on him burnished it a bit. Looks like the CD release omits "Ticket to Ride." I can live with that.

[Karl Henning]

A thoroughly enjoyable album, not surprisingly. My own very favorite tracks are pretty much the usual suspects: Jeff Beck's "A Day in the Life" (I haven't checked, but expect it must be distinct from the track released on Performing This Week -- Live at Ronnie Scott's.) "Because" as a vehicle for violinist Vanessa Mae, similarly "Here Comes the Sun" with Jn Williams. I should really add Geo. Martin's Pepperland Suite, since I counted on him burnished it a bit. Looks like the CD release omits "Ticket to Ride." I can live with that.

There's also the poignancy of hearing the voices of those no longer with us: Robin Williams, Jeff Beck, Sean Connery.

[Karl Henning]

Yes. Tangentially, I've just watched it again with the commentary.

Fun factoids: they had an 18-song limit (they don't give us the story behind that) but they could get around that if Jack spoke, rather than sang, as happens with "Nowhere Man" (which musically wouldn't work great without additional voices, anyway) and when he's trying to remember the words to "A Day in the Life" and "Eleanor Rigby."

[Elgarian Redux]

A thoroughly enjoyable album, not surprisingly. My own very favorite tracks are pretty much the usual suspects: Jeff Beck's "A Day in the Life" (I haven't checked, but expect it must be distinct from the track released on Performing This Week -- Live at Ronnie Scott's.) "Because" as a vehicle for violinist Vanessa Mae, similarly "Here Comes the Sun" with Jn Williams. I should really add Geo. Martin's Pepperland Suite, since I counted on him burnished it a bit. Looks like the CD release omits "Ticket to Ride." I can live with that.

Karl, have you seen the documentary on the making of this album? Fascinating stuff: I fell in love with Goldie Hawn when I watched it. It's here:

[San Antone]

I like it because of that.

Yeah, I get that - but to me the songs sound like demos.