My Amazon Reviews: The Beatles "On Air - Live at the BBC Vol 2"

Hungry and Young Beatles Mount Their Plan for World Domination 2 1/2 Minutes at a Time
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The second edition of The Beatles "On Air - Live at the BBC" is a collection of songs to remind you just how young and hungry The Beatles were in their early days. With a couple of exceptions, you've heard the studio versions of these a million times over, and the most rabid of fans likely have the bootlegs. But it's fascinating to hear how they sink their teeth into "I Saw Her Standing There" (complete with a 1-2-3-Fooour! count-off) or the already precise interlocking harmonies on the likes of "Chains" and "And I Love Her."

The intros and interview profiles also show how the Beatles were already establishing their individual personalities in the band format. George can be heard clowning around in the "Absolutely Fab" segment and Paul has fun with his old school house on "5E." The between songs banter is often as interesting as the songs themselves, but still, this was the height of Beatlemania, and each little 2 minute firecracker was a shout heard everywhere. "On Air - Live At The BBC Vol 2" still has a raw sound to it, and shows that George Martin was a main component to The Beatles' sound, but there's no escaping the amount of energy on display here.

What this disc also does is make me wonder why "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" has yet to see a reissue, or for that matter the compilations "Love Songs" and "Rock and Roll." There's obviously still an audience for all of these, so why are they still in the tape vaults? In the meantime, enjoy this, and Volume One, of The Beatles as they take over the world, one sonic boom after another.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Paul McCartney "New"

You've got something that will save us now.
4 Out Of 5 Stars
 

Like the modernistic neon bars used to indicate the "New" title, Paul McCartney steps up to the new world of modern-ish music and applies a sheen and glow to his newest collection of pop-tunes. While "Memory Almost Full" seemed like a coda to a long career and well lived life and "Kisses From The Bottom" had a wiff of the old-fogy about it, "New" tosses that aside and finds McCartney still willing to challenge his younger contemporaries, down to having hot-shot Mark Ronson produce a few selections, in particular, the buoyant title track.

The lead-off, "Save Us," is a rocker in the Wings mold, without the annoyance of "Nod Your Head" (from "Memory") or the screaming mania of "Cut Me Some Slack," the song Paul recorded with the surviving members of Nirvana. Yes, despite the willingness to go out on the occasional limb, "New" is an album that is eager to please, even if it doesn't play its hand as a totally safe one. In that aspect, it's reminiscent of "Flaming Pie," one of Paul's best from the 90's. Which also means that there's a shout out to his days as a Liverpool youngster on "Early Days," where he tells those who have romanticized The Beatles too much for his tastes by stating "I don't see how they can remember/When they weren't where it was at."

McCartney certainly isn't above a little cheekiness, as "Early Days" and the buzzy "Queenie Eye" show. And who would have thought Paul still had time for a little lyrical nonsense like the clever "Alligator?" It's also a pleasant surprise to hear the keyboard driven "Road," which is the haunting final song before the uncredited song "Scared." "I'm still too scared to tell you...the simplest of words won't come out of my mouth, though I'm dying to set them free," he croons in the way only McCartney can in "Scared." That McCartney can still be so emotionally naked and willing to try and challenge himslef in the way "New" does is a pretty remarkable feat for a man making music for over 50 years.

     

Passings: Tony Sheridan, one time Beatle

Tony Sheridan, the British singer, songwriter and guitarist who once fronted the Beatles, died Saturday (Feb. 16) in Hamburg, Germany. He was 72.

The news of his death was made public by his daughter Wendy Clare Sheridan-McGinnity, according to the New York Times.

Although he wasn't a part of the Beatles for long, Sheridan's involvement with the band was pivotal. He met the group -- which then included John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison on guitars, Stuart Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums -- when they arrived in Hamburg to work as a club band in 1960. Sheridan was already an accomplished singer, but took a liking to the Beatles. When Sutcliffe and Best left the band, McCartney took over on bass and Ringo Starr officially became the new drummer in 1962. (In recent years, Sheridan claims he helped arrange Starr's first few performances with the Beatles).

In the spring of 1961, German producer Bert Kaempfert offered recording contracts to both Sheridan and the Beatles, with the intention of the Beatles acting as Sheridan's backup band. Still, the option was open for the Beatles to record on their own.

During studio sessions in Hamburg in 1961 and 1962, Sheridan and the Beatles recorded nine songs together under the name Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers. Sheridan sang seven of them -- “My Bonnie,” “The Saints,” “Why (Can’t You Love Me Again),” “Nobody’s Child,” “Take Out Some Insurance On Me, Baby,” “Sweet Georgia Brown” and “Swanee River.” The other two tracks were Beatles performances -- “Cry for a Shadow,” an instrumental by Lennon and Harrison, and “Ain’t She Sweet,” sung by Lennon.

When the group's first single, "My Bonnie," was released in Germany on the Polydor label in Oct. 1961, Beatles’ fans in Liverpool took over local record shops, requesting the disc. One store manager, Brian Epstein, wanted to see what all the fuss was about and caught a performance by the group at the Cavern. He obviously liked it, as he persuaded the Beatles to hire him as their manager, and within a year, got them a recording contract of their own with EMI.

McCartney called larger-than-life Sheridan "The Teacher." His most recent recordings include “Vagabond” (2002) and a DVD, “Chantal Meets Tony Sheridan” (2005), which includes the only recording of “Tell Me If You Can,” a song Sheridan wrote with McCartney in 1962.

Sheridan is survived by his three sons, Tony Jr., Bennet and Felim, and daughters, Wendy Clare and Amber.

My Amazon Blu-Ray Reviews: The Beatles' Yellow Submarine

We All Live On
5 Out of 5 Stars

Lovingly restored and recolored, the Blu-Ray of The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" is an opening of a time capsule, with the dust of years wiped clean. The mix of traditional animation and the Peter Maxian designs still holds a fascination to this day, with the sound quality now absolutely stunning. Granted, the imaginations behind much of the movie was lysergically enhanced, but it adds to the time-charm of the movie. I can't recommend this enough to Beatles Fans, who already know the songs and probably many of the scenes by heart.

Extra Credit due Dept: I really dig the 'cell' reproductions included in the Blu-Ray package. The bonus interviews with surviving members of the cast and crew are brief but delightful, but the VH1 Interview with the surviving Beatles from the '99 DVD release might have been a nice addition. You can choose between mono and 5:1 surround, depending on your purist nature, and the sequence for "Hey Bulldog" has been reintegrated into the film seamlessly. It's a must own, and I now anxiously await future Beatles' Blu-Rays.

   

My Video from today's Occupy Philly March

My Amazon Reviews: Paul McCartney "McCartney II"

Probably better than you remember  
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Sometime Paul McCartney doesn't get the credit he deserves for separating himself from his past. As a Beatle, he all but defined what popular music is to this date. As a solo artist and Wings-man, he reinvented himself as the leader of a band and made a lot of substantial music under that name. And sometimes, he just wanted to do something that was in the way-out-o-sphere. Thirty years later, when you put "McCartney II" in sequence with albums he's done as "Thrillington" or "The Fireman," there's an experimental streak that becomes clear. "McCartney II," originally released in 1980, I remember a Rolling Stone review that was titled "McCartney Hits a New Low Again."

Granted, this is no "Ram" or "Band On The Run," it's not even "Pipes of Peace." However, with the burgeoning new wave movement surrounding him, Paul made the effort to see if he could rein things back and go minimalist. He did the one man band bit, and recorded the whole thing by plugging his mic right into the tape deck. He then proceeded to ape Devo on "Temporary Secretary," while "Coming Up" sounds like he was trying to write a Beatles song for Orchestral Maneuvers in The Dark. "One The Way" and "Nobody Knows" tilted towards blues and rockabilly, while the lovely "Waterfalls" and "One Of These Days" are the kind of earnest ballads it seems Paul can toss off in an afternoon.

What is telling is how much of "McCartney II" is devoted to electronic instrumentals. "Front Parlour," "Summer's Day Song" and "Frozen Jap" could easily be from his Fireman persona that he debuted in 1994. I don't think that these are the songs any McCartney fan would have in a heavy rotation, but they did show that, after years of being a rock idol, he was willing to go way outside his comfort zone. That still doesn't excuse "Bogey Music" and "Darkroom" or the album's overall this sound. The remaster does help a bit with that issue, though.

The bonus disc is a worthy addition, as it includes the USA hit version of "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)" the considerably improves the song's qualities. Both "Blue Sway" and "Secret Friend" could have easily been a part of the original album without affecting its sound. The Christmas tune "Wonderful Chritsmastime" makes another appearance on CD, which is OK for those that haven't heard it enough already. The rest are experiments and songs that were left off for good reason. All together, not worth the scorn heaped on it when originally released. Makes me eager for coming reissues.

 

My Amazon Reviews: John Lennon "Walls and Bridges"

Ah! Bowakawa pousse, pousse!
4 Out Of 4 Stars

Coming out from his infamous "Lost Weekend" period in Los Angeles, John Lennon returned to New York with a batch of songs and renewed focus. From that wellspring came "Walls and Bridges," Lennon's first album to contain a solo number one single. I know a lot of Lennon fans characterize this album as one of Lennon's weaker albums; I happen to have a certain nostalgic love for it.

After all, Lennon had befriended Elton John and Elton famously bet Lennon that "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" would be a chart-topper. This being 1974, Elton was at one of his peak periods and it's his piano and backing vocals that propelled the song. Lennon lost the bet and the payoff was to be a guest at Elton's Madison Square Garden show, which infamously was Lennon's last live appearance and the duo performing "I Saw Her Standing There" eventually appear as the B-Side to Elton's "Philadelphia Freedom." The album also contains the one time John and his son Julian appeared together on record, as Julian plays drums with his dad as the album closes on the oldie "Ya Ya" (which John eventually recorded for inclusion of the "Rock 'n' Roll" album).

Even with these touching moments, Lennon had compiled some wonderful songs. "Number 9 Dream" is a mystical, hallucinatory dream diary where Lennon took words and thoughts from dreams and formed them into a nugget of psychedelia. "Scared," which opens with a lone wolf howl, is emotionally naked and can't be seen without the backdrop of his separation from Yoko. Nor can the stark "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out," which also bares its soul in a Dylanesque manner.

"Walls and Bridges" was the final album of original material from Lennon until "Double Fantasy" with Yoko six years later. While it was the last of Lennon's solo written albums, it often lost. With such open and autobiographical songs as "Going Down on Love," the bitter "Steel and Glass" (allegedly written about Lennon's disgust with Allan Klein) and even the jubilation of "Whatever Gets You Through The Night," it deserves better.

 

My Amazon Reviews: John Lennon "Imagine"

100 Proof, Undiluted, Lennon  
5 Out of 5 Stars  

"Imagine" is the pinnacle of John Lennon's solo albums. Coming after the experiment "Two Virgins" and the primal scream motivated "Plastic Ono Band," it was his turn to classic, accessible melodies and multi-faceted look at his complex personality. The title track alone is one of the best songs ever written, an anthem to Utopian vision that still rings true some five decades later.

In the course of "Imagine's" eleven songs, you hear Lennon the hippie romanticist on the title track, the hard edged political commentator ("Gimme Some Truth," "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier"), the artist battling self doubt ("How?," "Jealous Guy") and the lovesick puppy ("Oh! Yoko!"). Of course, there's also the infamous divorce from Paul McCartney, "How Do You Sleep," where he snarls "the best thing you done was "Yesterday"...the sound you make is muzak to my ears." George Harrison adds a wicked slide guitar, which left little doubt to whose side he was on at the time (he also added a great solo to "Gimme Some Truth").

Probably more than any of his other solo albums, "Imagine" was Lennon's statement of purpose. It was his very public dismissal of The Beatles, an openly obvious attempt to prove that he could make 'hits' on his own, and proof to himself that he was still on solid musical footing in the seventies. "Imagine" was a kiss goodbye to the sixties as well as John Lennon's look to a hopeful future.