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- A brief (?) hiatus - April 22, 2023
- Something Happened - March 6, 2023
Four little-known musicians from Liverpool, 1964
MIKE GERBER • We’ve linked to the devilishly delightful site Willard’s Wormholes before, and in the process of fixing that link this morning, I found a wonderful something I just had to pass along.
My love for 1964’s Oh-Shit-Christmas-Is-Coming LP Beatles For Sale is almost as idiosyncratic as my affection for psychedelia.* Truth be told, I think my love began when I heard Malcolm McDowell’s almost ominous descriptions of the period in “The Compleat Beatles”. (“Haggard”…”windswept”…am I making this up? I distinctly remember it.) It’s the backside of Beatlemania that I’m always more interested in.
Anyway, this post allows you to listen to the Fabs constructing “I’m a Loser” from that lovely, though admittedly minor, album. Enjoy.
*I think this is getting out of hand. I spent most of an hour this morning listening happily to The Stones’ instrumental tracks for Satanic Majesties.
That is something I’d never thought I’d type.
Donations to the Save Mike from Mellotrons Fund can be sent through PayPal.
Related posts:
Attention Millionaires: Beatles for Sale! (including John and Yoko’s Sexual History)
I Forgot to Remember “I Forgot to Remember to Forget”
Mike’s Dream Bootleg: Beatles Complete Anthology Recording Sessions Box Set
Sid Bernstein obituary
Buckley on hating the Beatles
The Beatles (at the BBC) Again
The magic number
World Party: What The Beatles Might Have Sounded Like Had They Been Just One Guy (Who Grew Up Listening to The Beatles)
Let us now praise VERY WHITE people…
Did The Beatles Help Kill Rock and Roll?
Great Beatles Tumblr: Amoralto
"I’m 15 and I feel like 80"
Beatles for Sale was always one of my favorite albums. Even now I find myself picking it to listen to over even Abbey Road and Revolver. I cherish these I’m a Loser out takes. They are all also among my favorites to listen to.
You Are Not Alone. The SMR instrumentals are addictive for 2 unbeatable reasons:
1) They expand on & elucidate what will (surely?) one day be viewed as the Stones’ most awesome period. Oh yes. I’m sorry but “We Love You” is a MUCH better record than “All You Need Is Love”. Sorry again. It’s because of J&P of course (obviously).
2) I can play the Stones at home because there’s no Jagger (whose voice is not well-tolerated by mah husband) in there.
Um, I don’t have any strong opinions on Beatles For Sale unfortunately, other than “I really like the fact that it’s comparatively mellow, especially side 2 (which nobody ever seems to mention as all everyone EVER goes on about in connection with BFS is how terrible “Mr Moonlight” is, which is of course a lie).
I too love “Beatles For Sale.” I adore “I’ll Follow the Sun,” which has lovely Lennon/McCartney harmonies, and the cover of “Words of Love,” which has similarly great Lennon/Harrison harmonies. In general the vocals on this album seem especially cooperative to me. And “Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey” is a lot of fun—everyone sounds like they’re having a great time doing it.
I even have a sneaking fondness for “Mr. Moonlight.” How can you hate a song that starts with that Lennon exclamation and includes a skating-rink organ break? (Clearly, the Mellotrons have already come for me.)
Nancy, there is nothing remotely sneaking about my fondness for “Mr Moonlight.” It is (predictably) loud and proud.
If a person cannot hear the awesomeness of a Hammond organ in full groan, there is nothing to be done for them. (My mother is one of this sad group, btw.) But I think the real reason I love “Mr Moonlight” is how, well, awkward it is. It is the clumsiest Beatles song I can think of, and this makes it to me as adorable and winning as a 13-year-old whose eyes haven’t caught up with his/her nose.
Once you get past the shameless copying of ‘Pepper’, ‘Majesties’ is not a half-bad album. Citadel and 2000 Man could fit on any Stones album of that era, and She’s A Rainbow is good psychedelia. Overall, not a bad effort considering they were in and out of court and jail throughout its making.
Quite! And “The Lantern” – why isn’t this on every Stones compilation instead of, pfff, “Out of Time” or something?
May I direct the assembled connoisseurs towards a nifty summary of that period? More shameless “Pepper” copying ahoy! Includes “Anyone For Tennis”!
http://thesoundthepastmakes.blogspot.de/2010/12/cosmic-christmas.html
Since this was more of a BFS post, however, I would also like to add that there are not only no bad songs on that record (only the Ringo and George covers are a bit “huh?”), there is also stuff that puts most of the preceding and subsequent alsbums to shame. I don’t even know what to say about “No Reply”. And the cover! Why didn’t they do those gatefold things more often? Imagine a gatefold “Rubber Soul” with even more pics of John peering out from a hedge and even more moody smoking!
Um, I guess that should have read “puts most of the songs on the immediately preceding and subsequent albums to shame”. I do not believe that BFS is a better record than Revolver.
Does anyone know if the whole CD of the outtakes for Beatles for Sale (which include the I’m a Loser versions) can be obtained/bought anywhere?
Chris, BootlegZone lists it and it may be available for trade–haven’t gotten anything through this site, so I can’t give guidance in that way, but here’s the relevant link: http://www.bootlegzone.com/album.php?name=PC-112
Chris, there are also a million torrent sites out there; I’ve never been able to figure them out–and don’t want malware–but I suspect everything is available somewhere for the brave. I know, for example, the Purple Chick label is web-only.
Here’s a little info on Purple Chick: http://licorice-pizza.blogspot.com/2008/07/with-purple-chick-beatles.html
What I wouldn’t give for a remastered, even re-jigged Compleat Beatles.
Yes, agreed. It was an interesting first-take Anthology, without the help/hindrance of being Beatle-approved.
According to the director of The Compleat Beatles, Paul purchased the rights himself in the lead up to Anthology to clear it off the market. So I doubt it’ll ever see the light of day again. (There are VHS and laserdisc rips extant as torrents for those interested however!)
I’m surprised it was MPL, and not Apple, just for tidiness’ sake.
One of the nicest things about Compleat Beatles is the narration by Malcolm McDowell. And because it came out so soon after the death of John Lennon, it was gobbled up by us in the theater. I remember people crying. I remember watching it at Beatlefest ’84 as well.
There’s something gauzy, and tragic about it, at least in my memory.
The Compleat Beatles made me a fan as an eight year-old who was curious who these fascinating ghosts from the past were whose catalog coming out on CD was being hyped on MTV in 1987. I love McDowell’s dry delivery: “The idea [for Magical Mystery Tour] was to travel the English countryside in a bus filled with friends, actors and circus freaks, and to film whatever happened. Unfortunately, nothing did.”
Yes, McDowell’s great — nice balance of reverence and irreverence.
The Compleat Beatles was the first documentary I ever saw on the band. It got me hooked on them as people, and every song blew me away because it was all still new to me, even though I started listening to some of the records before I watched it. It didn’t make a difference who wrote a particular song, which goes to show that it was a creative effort by all of them plus George Martin. I loved McDowell’s narration as well. To be honest, I didn’t care for the lack of narration in The Anthology. It didn’t help that John didn’t have the current perspective that the others got to share. I wonder why Paul wanted Compleat Beatles off the market. It wasn’t slanted toward any Beatle as far as I could tell, and it just told the history and nothing more. Maybe because it wasn’t an official Beatle release.
Oh, I still have it somewhere on an old VHS tape at my parents’ house. Probably not in great condition. I think I recorded it from PBS.
@Michelle, I suspect it wasn’t much more than typical corporate bigfooting — if you can remove a competitor, and make your version the only version, you do it.
I just rewatched it on Internet Archive, and posted with a link.
Thank you!