On The Records

For decades, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has topped most lists of the best albums.  Should it?

Some fans don’t even think it’s the best Beatles album, with Revolver, Rubber Soul and Abbey Road mentioned the most (articles on those three are also on this site).  But, let’s take a close look at why Sgt. Pepper has been so highly thought of through the years.

The Sgt. Pepper recording sessions started on November 24th, 1966.  By then, The Beatles had stopped touring, and they’d barely seen each other for about two months.  John Lennon said that after acting in a film, How I Won The War, he was especially happy to get back with his friends.  Earlier that year, The Beatles had recorded the extremely innovative Revolver album in which they had cleverly utilized the recording studio in many new ways.  So, what was the next step?

The first song to be recorded was John Lennon’s  “Strawberry Fields Forever”.  It’s now considered one of his best songs, but at the time, it seemed strange.  The song started with a Mellotron (an early synthesizer) , which was a new sound.  It also had a varied-speed vocal that sounded a bit weird, and psychedelic elements (backwards cymbals, a swarmandal [Indian harp]) that were definitely foreign to listeners.  “Strawberry Fields Forever” deserves a full article, but we’ll move on to the next major song, “Penny Lane”.

With John referencing a place he played during his childhood (the garden of a Salvation Army children’s home), it triggered memories for Paul McCartney about another place they knew, Penny Lane.  The song turned into an energetic description of the sights and sounds in that area of Liverpool.  “Penny Lane” has a great feel, and an excellent arrangement using a wide variety of instruments, including a piccolo trumpet in a classical music style.

The Beatles kept recording more songs, but EMI and Capitol thought it had been too long since The Beatles had released anything, so they pushed the band for a single.  The Beatles agreed to release “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” as a double A-side single (February, 1967).  It’s one of the best 45-rpm releases by The Beatles.  “Penny Lane” hit #1 in Billboard, with “Strawberry Fields” #8.  Producer George Martin said one of his biggest disappointments was that they didn’t hold the two songs for the Sgt. Pepper album.  Today, most people probably add the songs to their Sgt. Pepper playlists.

The title for the album came from Paul’s idea that calling themselves Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band would allow them to approach music from a different perspective.  Paul wrote the title song that rocks the opening of the  album, and then introduces us to Billy Shears (played by Ringo Starr).  He sings “With A Little Help From My Friends”, which is probably Starr’s best vocal performance.

Although Sgt. Pepper could be thought of as a concept album, it really was more of a theme.  Some of the songs obviously fit…”Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!”, “When I’m Sixty-Four”…but it was mainly that The Beatles really did open their minds (with a little help from their LSD) to extremely inventive musical arrangements with thoughtful lyrics…”She’s Leaving Home”, “Within You Without You”, “A Day In The Life”…and psychedelic visions…”Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”, “Fixing A Hole”.

(Even the inner record sleeve was a psychedelic vision.)

The album was released on June 1st of 1967.  Dropping the needle on it was a memorable experience!  If you were musically aware at that time, you knew that nothing like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had ever been made.  It also seems impossible that an album with such complicated and intricate arrangements could have been created using a 4-track recording console!

The most complex song on the album is “A Day In The Life”.  The main part is John Lennon’s “I read the news today, oh boy” lyrics that creatively lay out stories as they were found in a newspaper.  Then there’s Paul McCartney’s middle-eight with the “Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head” part of an everyday life.  Although John normally gets most of the credit for the song, it’s actually a great example of The Beatles and George Martin working together.

Paul came up with the line “I’d love to turn you on”, as well as the sweeping orchestral crescendo that connects the song’s pieces and provides the big ending.  Of course George Martin turned the orchestral idea into reality, with a 40-piece orchestra overdubbed to sound like 160.  Ringo developed his own creative drumming and percussion that add so much to the underlying feel of the piece.  Some critics think “A Day In The Life” is The Beatles’ finest work.

(All photos can be enlarged with click or zoom)

Capitol Records certainly thought Sgt. Pepper was “The Greatest Ever!”…as you can see in the above promotional ad.  Let’s take another look at the song list:

1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. A Little Help From My Friends
3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing A Hole
6. She’s Leaving Home
7. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
8. Within You Without You
9. When I’m Sixty-Four
10. Lovely Rita
11. Good Morning Good Morning
12. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13. A Day In The Life

There can’t be any other album that contains no singles, yet has so many songs that are well known.  The imagination of the songs and the complicated arrangements stunned other musicians, because there had been nothing like it.  Many artists said it opened the door to greater musical possibilities and the full use of the recording studio.

Let’s imagine The Beatles did release singles from the album.

If the combination track “Sgt. Pepper/With A Little Help From My Friends” had been released on the same day as the album it wouldn’t have been a question of whether it would hit #1, the question would be for how many weeks.  The flip side could have been “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite”.  The next single might have been “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” backed with “When I’m Sixty-Four”.  The final fantasy single would be “A Day In The Life” backed with “She’s Leaving Home”.

Stranger Things:  After this article was complete, I discovered I actually have a couple of singles with songs from Sgt. Pepper.  They were among some colored vinyl records we bought in 1987 that were meant for use in jukeboxes.  We had a jukebox, but never actually played these…they were just collectibles…and I forgot which songs were on them.

The “Sgt. Pepper/With A Little Help” single has “A Day In The Life” on the flip side.  The other one is just like the second single I proposed…”Lucy In The Sky” backed with “When I’m 64”.  They’d have been big hits in 1967!

St. Pepper was the first Beatles album to be released in exactly the same form in Britain and America.  Revolver and Rubber Soul were both missing songs in the U.S.  Now that they’re viewed in their complete forms, they’ve grown in stature.

So, is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band the best album ever?  If you look at the impact it had on the culture and the advancement it made in the recording industry, the answer is…yes.  Beatles fans have their personal favorites.  Solid arguments can certainly be made for Revolver and Rubber Soul, and it seems the later generations of Beatle fans often choose Abbey Road.  Of course people who are not Beatles fans will make other choices for best album.

(All photos can be enlarged with a click or zoom)

Still, the quote at the very bottom of the back cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band probably sums up most people’s reaction to the album…”A splendid time is guaranteed for all”.

Update (Aug, 2023):  There was a myth that the photo on the back of the album wasn’t McCartney, because his back was turned.  A recently uncovered photo shows it was indeed Sir Paul.

Update:  About 50 years at the top was enough.  Rolling Stone did a new Top 500 albums list in 2020.  Sgt. Pepper (which had been #1) didn’t even make the Top 20!  The top Beatles albums were:  Abbey Road #5 (was #14), Revolver #11 (was #3), Sgt. Pepper #24 (was #1), The White Album #29 (was #10), Rubber Soul #35 (was #5).  Instead of 4 Beatles albums in the Top 10, there’s now 1.  The magazine‘s staff writers, and all the people they surveyed, have changed over the years.  All we can do is turn the world over to the perceptions (misperceptions?) of new generations.  The people who know The Beatles the best are no longer the audience for the magazine.  The list is meant to appeal to a younger base.

Here’s a link to my article about the crazy new 500 Greatest Albums list:  https://ontherecords.net/2020/09/greatest-albums-list/

Something has made America great again.  It’s probably a combination of touring and a recent rash of interviews that’s returning them to popularity.

After their appearance on the CBS program Sunday Morning, I found America had the numbers 3 and 4 positions on the iTunes sales chart with their two greatest hits albums.  That’s pretty impressive for a band that had most of their hits from 1972 to 1976, and their last big hit in 1982.

Americans Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek (l-r above) were in London because their fathers were stationed at an Air Force base there.  After high school, the trio of singers, songwriters, and guitarists formed a band.  They called themselves America, so people wouldn’t think they were a British band trying to sound American.

In 1971, they recorded their self-titled first album at Trident studios in London.  America has ringing acoustic guitars and beautiful harmonies, but the album didn’t take off until they added one more song to it…”A Horse With No Name”.  The song is by Dewey Bunnell, and it went all the way to #1 on the Billboard singles chart in March of 1972.  It sounded amazingly similar to the song it replaced at the top…”Heart Of Gold”.  Honestly, it sounds like Dewey is channeling Neil Young.  America fit in perfectly with the music scene of CSN&Y and singer-songwriters, and the album went to #1 on the Billboard chart.

The second single from the album was “I Need You” (#9) by Gerry Beckley.

America then came back to the United States to record their appropriately titled second album, Homecoming, in Los Angeles.

It was still 1972.  Homecoming featured the singles “Ventura Highway” (#8) by Dewey Bunnell, and “Don’t Cross The River” (#35) by Dan Peek.  America won the “Best New Artist” Grammy at the 1973 awards ceremony.

Unfortunately, the third album Hat Trick produced no hits in 1973.

So, America went to London in 1974 to have The Beatles’ producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick help them with their fourth album, Holiday.

George Martin added the right touches, and America returned to the Top 10 singles chart with “Tin Man” (#4)  by Dewey Bunnell, and “Lonely People” (#5) by Dan Peek & his wife Catherine.  It was the only Top 10 single with Dan Peek as the songwriter and lead singer.  Both singles hit the top of the Adult Contemporary chart.  The album was also successful…#3 in Billboard.

Their hits continued in 1975 with two songs from Gerry Beckley…”Sister Golden Hair” (#1) and “Daisy Jane” (#20).  The album, Hearts, went to #4 in Billboard.  Also in 1975, America released their greatest hits album, History (they were naming all their albums so they started with an “H”).

The album was #3 and a multi-platinum success.  The cover artwork is by actor/SNL cast member Phil Hartman.  His brother, John, managed America.

And then things started going downward.  Their 1976 album Hideaway did okay (#11), but didn’t produce any big hits.  The 1977 follow-up, Harbor, did worse (#21), and had no singles chart.  Dan Peek decided to leave the group to forge a solo career in the Christian Music genre.

America’s last real commercial success came 5 years later with the release of “You Can Do Magic”, a song written and produced by ex-Argent guitarist Russ Ballard.  “Magic” went up to #8 in 1982, and was the last big hit for America.

Fast forward 37 years to 2019.  After all those years of on-and-off touring and less than successful studio and live albums, America (with Dewey Bunnell & Gerry Beckley) is popular again.

I recently read a glowing review of one of their concerts (by a professional critic), and saw a very positive interview and profile on the CBS TV show Sunday Morning.  Their efforts have produced a nice bump in sales for their greatest hits albums.

America: The Complete Greatest Hits is the best collection available.  The song list has all 17 of their charting singles, including seven Top 10 hits, four more that made the Top 40, and some popular tracks like “Sandman” that got FM radio play.

(Click or zoom to enlarge the song list.)

If you haven’t listened to the music of America lately, you might want to stream or maybe download this album.  You may also want to go back and enjoy their breakthrough 1st album.  Of course if they’re in concert nearby, you could check them out, because apparently America is great…still.

The development of “The California Sound” started in the 1960s in Laurel Canyon, a part of Los Angeles.  On the left side of the below  movie poster, you can see the artists who were interviewed, and on the right side are more current musicians who performed many of the era’s classic songs in a concert that was woven into the documentary.

Laurel Canyon was a neighborhood that was home to some of the most important music artists of the 60s.  They included members of The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Mamas & The Papas, and more.

The movie starts out with an interview with Tom Petty, who was one of the artists most influenced by the Laurel Canyon musicians and songwriters.  He explained and demonstrated how important the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar was to the sound of The Byrds and The Beatles.  It’s so great that they interviewed Petty before we lost him. This film includes a lot of other important artists whose interviews will also be considered priceless someday.

Above is a performance by Jakob Dylan, Beck, and other musicians in front of a large screen showing The Byrds.  The song was “Goin’ Back” a Byrds track that was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King.  It was the best performance of the film.  Even though I would have enjoyed more archival footage of the original bands playing their songs, it was good to see another generation adding their own touches to the classic songs.

Musicians being interviewed by Jakob Dylan, such as Roger McGuinn and David Crosby above, provided the best moments.  All of the artists opened up about insightful and often humorous events that humanized the time when magical music was coming from the canyon.

Eric Clapton told the story of hanging out at Stephen Stills’ house along with members of Buffalo Springfield (shown above).  Clapton says when neighbors complained about the music being too loud, police officers stopped by.  Because marijuana was being illegally used, Stills slipped out the back of the house.  Stephen Stills embarrassingly confirmed he had abandoned his friends.  Of course the most interesting part is that English musicians like Clapton, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison visited Laurel Canyon and were friends with many of the musicians there.  There was a lot of sharing of musical ideas between the Brits and the Americans.

Michelle Phillips Of The Mamas & The Papas was very candid.  While married to John Phillips, she had an affair with the group’s other male vocalist, Denny Doherty.  She says “Go Where You Wanna Go” (and do what you wanna do)  was written by John as a response to Michelle’s infidelity.  A decade later in Los Angeles, Lindsey Buckingham wrote “Go Your Own Way” after his breakup with Stevie Nicks.  It would also be appropriate to do Echo In The Canyon Volume 2 that focused on all of the 1970s artists who lived in that same area…the Eagles, Jackson Browne, CSN&Y, Linda Ronstadt, J.D. Souther, and more.

Update:  Another documentary, Laurel Canyon (on Epix), covers some of the same ground as Echo, but extends to about 1975 to include the artists mentioned above and more.  There’s a review on this site.  Laurel Canyon is excellent!

If you have an interest in the music and artists represented in this film, it’s really “can’t miss”.  The 90-minute run-time seemed a little short, but there was a good sample of all that “California Dreamin’” that emanated from Laurel Canyon.

The trailer for the movie Yesterday came out in February, and the film finally arrived in theaters at the end of June.  (Note:  It’s now available for streaming.)

The main character, Jack (Himesh Patel), is a struggling musician.  After his bicycle is hit by a bus during a world-wide power outage, he wakes up to find out he’s the only one who even knows The Beatles existed.  He uses Beatles songs as if he had written them, and becomes famous (as shown in the trailer).  Besides that high concept, the main story is the relationship between him and his manager/girlfriend Ellie (Lily James).  Both actors are excellent in these roles.

(All photos by Universal)

So how was the movie?   My wife & I loved it.  (We went a second time 3 weeks later with our daughter-in-law and grandson [12]…who’s been listening to a lot of Beatles music lately.)

You can tell the makers of the movie have great affection for The Beatles, and even though this is a romantic comedy, the legacy of The Beatles is never tarnished in any way.  Paul McCartney said he and his wife Nancy snuck into a theatre to watch Yesterday, and “loved it”.

The excitement of The Beatles (”I Want To Hold Your Hand”, “She Loves You”) and the beauty of their songs (”Yesterday”, “In My Life”) are both there.  Of course Jack is not as good as The Beatles, but the songs still shine.

Helping Jack along the way are Ed Sheeran (as a version of himself), and Sheeran’s manager (played by Kate McKinnon).  Sheeran does a great job, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he gets more acting roles.  McKinnon is funny as the obviously greedy manager.

The movie also has it’s heart in the right place, and there are some very nicely surprising scenes I won’t spoil.  You’ll be glad you didn’t read any spoilers.

By the way, one of the scenes from the first trailer was eliminated from the movie.  You may have seen where Jack is asked to “write something” on James Corden’s Late Late Show.  Of course Jack writes George Harrison’s “Something” right there.  The scene was cut to eliminate the female character (actress Ana de Armas) who Jack was singing to on the show.  The writer and director decided they didn’t want to add a romantic figure in Jack’s life who could interfere with his main relationship with Ellie.

There have been some reviewers who wanted the movie to dig into things such as…would The Beatles’ songs still be relevant to today’s young people?  Maybe that could be a question for a podcast, but this is just a fun fantasy!  This weekend’s movie goers have rated the movie highly (90% approval), and it won the audience prize at the Montclair film festival.

So, if you love The Beatles and good romantic comedies, do yourself a favor, and see Yesterday…it’ll make all your troubles seem so far away.

Buffalo Springfield was the key to multiple successful careers.

“For What It’s Worth (Stop, Hey What’s That Sound)” was the only hit by Buffalo Springfield, but the group turned out to be much more important to Rock & Roll.

The seed for the band was planted when Stephen Stills met Neil Young in Canada in 1965.  Both were in minor groups at the time.  In early 1966, Neil Young decided to drive to L.A. (in an old hearse) with fellow musician Bruce Palmer to look for Stills.  In those days, it would seem to be  an impossible task to somehow find one person in L.A.  After a week, they gave up and were heading out of town.  Stephen Stills and Richie Furay happened to be driving the opposite direction on Sunset Boulevard.  Stephen says he spotted the hearse, and Neil says he spotted Stephen.  Anyway, It was meant to be.

The four of them formed a band, along with drummer Dewey Martin.  They chose their name after seeing a sign for a steamroller company, Buffalo-Springfield.  Soon, they had a steady gig at The Troubadour and a contract with Atco Records.  Before the end of 1966, they had recorded their first album.

The album was released just as Stephen Stills wrote “For What It’s Worth” after seeing riots on the Sunset Strip.   As a single, the song made it to #7 in Billboard, and was added to a new pressing of the album in March of 1967.

Stephen Stills & Richie Furay sing “For What It’s Worth” on TV

Buffalo Springfield had two more albums and no more hits.  Neil Young was wanting to record on his own, and the group decided to disband in 1968.  I had only purchased the single “For What It’s Worth”, but then bought their album Retrospective in early 1969.

Atco did a great job of choosing the right songs.  Besides their hit single, the best songs by Stephen Stills include  “Rock And Roll Woman” and “Bluebird”.  Neil Young’s songs that later became part of his concerts include ”Mr. Soul”, “On The Way Home” and “I Am A Child”.  Richie Furay wrote and sang “Kind Woman”.  The band’s use of banjo and pedal steel guitar for some of the songs put them on the leading edge of country rock.  There was plenty of regular rock, along with some innovative arrangements.

On the back of the album was a paragraph from the head of Atlantic/Atco Records, Ahmet Ertegun:

“Of all the groups to have emerged in the middle sixties, Buffalo Springfield will be remembered as one of the most creative and exciting.  The very power of the individual writing and performing talents of the members was also the reason for the breakup of the group.  It was comprised of Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin, and Bruce Palmer, later replaced by Jim Messina.  More will be heard from all of them.”

At the time, February of 1969, it seemed like hype for a group that hadn’t really made it.  Actually, it was very prophetic.

Dewey Martin (drums), Jim Messina (bass & production), Neil Young (guitar), Richie Furay (guitar), Stephen Stills (guitar & keyboards)

The end of Buffalo Springfield meant the beginning of several more bands.

Stephen Stills formed Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Neil Young recorded a solo album, and then added the band Crazy Horse.  Of course he soon joined Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Richie Furay and Jim Messina started the Country Rock band Poco.

Later, Jim Messina joined Kenny Loggins to form Loggins & Messina.

Richie Furay got together with John David Souther and ex-Byrd Chris Hillman as The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band.

Manassas was a really great group of musicians brought together by Stephen Stills.  They released two albums in the seventies.

Of course, Stills and Young have had impressive solo careers, and have played on-and-off together for five decades.

All of this happened because Neil Young and Stephen Stills happened to be driving on Sunset Strip at the same time.

This used to be the question that was asked….”Who do you like better, Lennon or McCartney?”  I think it was meant to determine how cool you were.  Since Paul was considered the cute/commercial one, and John was thought of as the poet/cerebral one, the “John” answer was supposed to be cooler.  You might get even more points for answering “George” or “Ringo”.

That assessment has changed over the years.  We know they were both excellent musicians and vocalists, so let’s compare Lennon & McCartney as songwriters for The Beatles.

From the beginning of their fame (1963 in England, and 1964 in America), John and Paul were quickly recognized as a great songwriting team.  Often, they would sit across from each other with acoustic guitars and work out songs together.  McCartney said they never had a writing session that wasn’t successful.

As early as 1964, fans began to see that there were “Paul songs” and “John songs”.  Normally, the main songwriter would also sing the lead vocal.

So, which one…Lennon or McCartney…wrote the biggest hits and best known songs for The Beatles?  Here’s a list of their #1 hits in the U.S., showing the main songwriter(s).

1. I Want To Hold Your Hand…both
2. She Loves You…both
3. Can’t Buy Me Love…Paul
4. Love Me Do…both
5. A Hard Day’s Night…John
6. I Feel Fine…John
7. Eight Days A Week…both
8. Ticket To Ride…John
9. Help…John
10. Yesterday…Paul
11. We Can Work It Out…both
12. Paperback Writer…Paul
13. Penny Lane…Paul
14. All You Need Is Love…John
15. Hello Goodbye…Paul
16. Hey Jude…Paul
17. Get Back…Paul
18. Come Together…John
19. Let It Be…Paul
20. The Long And Winding Road…Paul

For those keeping score, that’s 9 for Paul, 6 for John, and 5 together.

It also shows the progression.  John was stronger in the early years.  John had 4 of the first ten #1’s, Paul had 2 and together they wrote 4.   By 1966, things changed.   Paul had 7 of the last ten #1’s, John had 2, and they had 1 together.

(Writing together in 1968.  Photo by Linda McCartney)

Of course, even though John & Paul admitted they were competitive, such as trying to get the A-sides of singles, they also readily helped each other with lyrics and song structures in order to make each recording the best possible version.

To compare their output, here are two lists of songs that can mostly be attributed to the individual Beatles as the main songwriter.

Beatles songs by John:

1. You Can’t Do That
2. This Boy
3. A Hard Day’s Night
4. If I Fell
5. I Feel Fine
6. Yes It Is
7. Help!
8. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
9. Ticket To Ride
10. Day Tripper
11. Norwegian Wood
12. Nowhere Man
13. In My Life
14. Rain
15. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
16. Strawberry Fields Forever
17. A Day In The Life (John’s song, Paul’s “bridge”)
18. I Am The Walrus
19. All You Need Is Love
20. Revolution
21. Julia
22. Don’t Let Me Down
23. Across The Universe
24. Come Together
25. Because

Beatles songs by Paul:

1. I Saw Her Standing There
2. All My Loving
3. Can’t Buy Me Love
4. And I Love Her
5. I’ll Follow The Sun
6. Yesterday
7. We Can Work It Out (Paul’s song, John’s “bridge”)
8. Michelle
9. Paperback Writer
10. Eleanor Rigby
11. For No One
12. Here There And Everywhere
13. Penny Lane
14. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
15. When I’m Sixty-Four
16. The Fool On The Hill
17. Lady Madonna
18. Hey Jude
19. Back In The U.S.S.R.
20. Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
21. Blackbird
22. I Will
23. Get Back
24. The Long And Winding Road
25. Let It Be

If you spend a little time with the lists, you can determine which group of songs is stronger to you.  Of course Beatles fans like most of the songs from both lists.  I wouldn’t want to be without any of them.

It’s generally believed that John was the better lyricist, and Paul the better melody writer.  The above examples show just how strong they each were at both words & music.

Music critics tend to look to the lyrics of songs as they search for meanings upon which to write reviews.  John’s songs often had thought provoking lyrics and clever word play.  He was generally more popular with critics.

For the public, melodies come first, and the meanings of songs come later as the lyrics become familiar.   Paul was generally more popular with the public, because of his memorable melodies.  Even John joked about that.  He said he never expected to be walking down the street and hear someone whistling “I Am The Walrus”.

(During 1969 Abbey Road cover shoot.  Photo by Linda McCartney)

As for their solo success from 1970 through 1980, Paul was the best-selling singles artist of the 1970’s.  He edged out Elton John.  He also had five #1 albums (7 platinum) during those years.  John Lennon wasn’t nearly as active (he took about 4 years off when his son, Sean, was born), but had three #1 (platinum) albums, and what may be his best song did come from his solo career…”Imagine”.  Of course some might prefer “A Day In The Life”, “Strawberry Fields Forever” or “In My Life”.  Paul’s best song came from his time with The Beatles, but is it “Yesterday”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Hey Jude”, “Blackbird” or “Let It Be”?  Recently, he’s mentioned “Here There And Everywhere” as his personal favorite.

The most important reason The Beatles were far and away the most popular group ever, is because John Lennon and Paul McCartney were in it together.

Lennon or McCartney?  The coolest answer is…both.

Update:  Here’s a quote about Paul McCartney made by John Lennon on the day he died.  John’s comment reflects well on both Paul & John.  When asked about his relationship with Paul, John said the rift had been “overblown” and that Paul was “like a brother.  I love him.  Families – we certainly have our ups and downs and our quarrels.  But at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, I would do anything for him, and I think he would do anything for me.”  (This is from Kenneth Womack’s book John Lennon, 1980: The Last Days in the Life.)

Update 2:  I only recently became aware of very interesting comments Bob Dylan made about both Paul & John (in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2007).  Dylan said:  “I’m in awe of McCartney.  He’s about the only one I am in awe of.  He can do it all, and he’s never let up.  He’s just so damn effortless.  He’s got the gift for melody, he’s got the rhythm.  He can play any instrument.  He can scream and shout as good as anybody, and he can sing the ballad as good as anybody.  His melodies are, you know, effortless.  I mean I just wish he’d quit, you know. (laughs) Everything and anything that comes out of his mouth is just framed in a melody.”  In conclusion Dylan said:  “They were fantastic singers.  To this day, it’s hard to find a better singer than Lennon was, or that McCartney was and still is.”

 

Sunshine Rock isn’t real.  No artists were making “Sunshine Rock”.  It’s not like Folk Rock, Country Rock, or Psychedelic Rock…which artists were consciously developing.  No one called any music Sunshine Rock in the ‘60’s.

This CD was released in 1988.  The name was invented as a way of looking back at the 1960’s and grouping various artists into a “Greatest Hits” album.  The artists and songs selected only loosely fit together.  I bought this disc, because back then it was the first time most of these songs were available digitally.

You can see the songs kind of go together, and kind of don’t.  “Bus Stop” is one of the best songs by The Hollies, but whose brilliant idea was it to start out a collection called “Sunshine Rock” with a song about meeting in a rainstorm?

The Hollies, The Monkees, The 5th Dimension, The Lovin’ Spoonful and Spanky & Our Gang could put out Greatest Hits albums themselves, but most of the other artists were limited to one or two hits.  This was a way for music companies to make money from those old hits.  They weren’t going to sell any more singles or albums by themselves.

Some of the cuts that fit the theme are “Happy” by The Sunshine Company, “Come On Down To My Boat” by Every Mother’s Son, “Hello Hello” by Sopwith Camel”, “More Today Than Yesterday” by Spiral Starecase, and “Red Rubber Ball” (a Paul Simon song) by The Cyrkle.  Of course mixing in some bigger hits provides value, and helps sell the lesser songs.

Spanky & Our Gang (shown above with lead singer Elaine “Spanky” McFarlane) might be the group most associated with Sunshine Rock, or as it has morphed into today, Sunshine Pop.  Their hits “Sunday Will Never Be The Same”, “Lazy Day”, “Sunday Mornin'”, and “Like To Get To Know You” fit perfectly on such lists, even though their intricate arrangements sometimes have elements of Psychedelic Rock and Jazz.

They also could do serious songs rooted in folk lyrics, such as “Give A Damn”, which is about visiting a ghetto.  They sing:  “And it might begin to teach you, how to give a damn about your fellow man”.  It’s a really good song, but might have been a bit harsh for Top 40 radio.

Spanky & Our Gang were only popular from 1966 to 1969.  Their crowning achievement is the album Anything You Choose/Without Rhyme Or Reason.

It’s brilliant.  Possibly the only reason I know the album, is because it was a commercial failure.  I spotted it in a dollar bin in the late ’60’s, and bought it.  When I looked at the two sides of the album they were labeled Side 1 and Side A.  Which one to play first?  Anyway, each side is complexly and cleverly arranged so the songs flow into one another.  This was not some simple cross-fading or other studio trick, but well thought-out musical transitions.  The songs are good too.  Besides “Give A Damn” (which just missed the Top 40), there are minor hits like “Yesterday’s Rain”, “And She’s Mine”, and “Anything You Choose”.  The album is available to stream.  It takes some time to get to know the songs, and they might not fit everyone’s taste in pop; however, we have the whole album as part of our Spanky & Our Gang playlist.  Spanky & Our Gang was really a Jazz Vocal Group disguised as a Pop Group.

There are a lot of 1960’s Pop Rock songs that fit the Sunshine Pop theme.  Those include:  “Every Day With You Girl” by The Classics IV, “I Will Always Think About You” by The New Colony Six, “59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy”) by Harper’s Bizarre, “Groovin'” by The Rascals, “Daydream” by The Lovin Spoonful, “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan, “Happy Together” by The Turtles, “Windy” by The Association…and even songs by The Beach Boys and The Mamas & The Papas are sometimes placed in that category.

A lot of Soft Rock music from the 1970’s could also be called Sunshine Rock or Sunshine Pop.   In fact, there are so many songs, Rhino Records has released 25 volumes of it.  But, they came up with a uniquely 70’s way to describe the music…Have A Nice Day.

A few examples of the songs include…”It Never Rains In Southern California” by Albert Hammond, “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash, “Hitchin’ A Ride” by Vanity Fare, “Brandy, You’re A Fine Girl” by Looking Glass, and “Nice To Be With You” by Gallery.

When you listen to this stuff, you know you’re going to be feelin’ groovy and have a nice day.

 (Haley Reinhart…performing in Portland, Oregon.  Photos can be clicked to enlarge.)

Haley Reinhart owns the stage.  She’s a theatrical type of performer who dresses in costumes rather than the cool fashions of the day.  She writes or co-writes most of her songs, which are a mix of pop, rock, soul, and jazz.  We experienced all of those styles when we saw Haley in Portland on April 23rd, 2019.

When we bought the tickets, we didn’t know it was a standing only show.  We got there early, standing in line for an hour, and then standing more than two hours for the show.  But, at least we were right by the stage.  That also gave us a chance to talk with a young man who had been the producer/engineer on one of Haley’s new songs, and with a guy who regularly video’s shows for Haley.  Both expressed belief in her singing talent, and expect the 28-year-old to break through to larger audiences at some point…versus the 500 capacity of the Hawthorne Theatre where this event was held.

Haley Reinhart was introduced to the nation through American Idol in 2011, when the TV show was still extremely popular.  Even though she finished third to a couple of likable country singers, Haley was obviously the best vocalist on the show.  Her three octave range and ability to tackle any style of music was reminiscent of Kelly Clarkson’s Idol run.

Musicians took note.  American Idol had requested the use of songs by Led Zeppelin for performers on the show, but had been turned down.  When Robert Plant and Jimmy Page saw Haley Reinhart perform, they called American Idol and said she could perform one of their songs.  In the above photo she’s singing Zeppelin’s “What Is, And What Should Never Be”.  Likewise, Lady Gaga was a fan and gave permission for Haley to sing one of her brand new songs at the time, “You And I”.

Three of Haley Reinhart’s videos are the most viewed in the show’s history, and for years after her time on Idol, her studio recordings from the show held 8 of the top 10 most-purchased American Idol tracks on iTunes.

So, has she gone on to conquer the music world?  No…but there have been some impressive successes.

Haley performed with Jazz groups in high school, college, and before-and-after American Idol.  Her videos with the group Postmodern Jukebox have topped the Jazz charts and have garnered hundreds-of-millions of views.

Haley Rinehart’s first album Listen Up made it to #17 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, and included her singles “Free” & “Oh My!”, as well as popular cuts “Wasted Time” and “Hit The Ground Running”.

Her most successful single is “Can’t Help Falling In Love” (the old Elvis hit).  Her recording has over 250-million streams, and has been certified as “Gold” by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Haley Reinhart has toured the U.S. coast to coast, and has toured in Asia.  She also toured Europe with Postmodern Jukebox.

Her two most recent albums are What’s That Sound?, featuring many 1960’s hits, plus some original songs, and Lo-Fi Soul, which is her newest album of all-original songs.

The album has received excellent reviews, and has a 5-star rating on iTunes.  It features a mix of pop and soul, with elements of rock and jazz.  Haley sang most of the album’s songs during the Portland concert.

She certainly showed us her full vocal range and power.

Here, the two guitarists had just finished a major battle of dueling rock guitars, and dropped to their knees as if they were exhausted.  The uptempo songs and dramatic vocals gave way at times to ballads and intricate jazz vocals.

The enthusiastic fans at the concert certainly think Haley Reinhart’s career is on the way up.

Rubber Soul is a great album, but it might actually be a little under-appreciated.  These days, Sgt. Pepper and Revolver (and more recently Abbey Road) get most of the praise, and a lot of fans think Rubber Soul should be right there with them.

One reason it might not be, is because of the differences between the British and American versions.  They’re somewhat like two separate albums, with a six song variance.  Capitol left off 4 songs and added 2. That’s half-an-album’s worth of songs!

The American version starts off with a song that had been on Help in England…”I’ve Just Seen A Face”…a country-tinged acoustic song.    The first track on side two was also from Help, “It’s Only Love”, another acoustic song.  Capitol Records apparently wanted Rubber Soul (released December 3rd, 1965) to fit in with the Folk Rock trend of that year.  Besides adding the two acoustic songs, they took away 4 songs…”Drive My Car”, “Nowhere Man” (released as a single in February, 1966), “What Goes On”, and “If I Needed Someone”.

The British version of Rubber Soul started with a rocker, “Drive My Car”.  Paul McCartney said “Drive My Car” and some of the other songs were influenced by American soul music.  The name Rubber Soul came about after McCartney heard an American musician use the term “plastic soul” when referring to Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones.  McCartney said he thought of Rubber Soul as an English version of soul music.  Meanwhile, American fans mostly thought of Rubber Soul as a Folk Rock album, because of the song choices.

Here are the album track lists.  The U.S. version has 12 songs, and the U.K. version 14.  The original vinyl  albums divided the songs equally between the two sides.

Here’s a confession.  Although my Beatles playlists basically follow the British album versions, I placed “I’ve Just Seen A Face” at the beginning and moved “Drive My Car” to the middle, because (to me) that’s how Rubber Soul starts!

Capitol Records succeeded in having Rubber Soul be mostly an acoustic album to fit the trend, but in doing so, they left off three really strong songs…”Nowhere Man”, “Drive My Car”, and “If I Needed Someone”, which hurts the overall impression of the quality of the album with Americans (even though it was extremely popular as it was).  Surprisingly, the American version of Rubber Soul included no singles at all.  That did have the positive effect of the album being thought of as an artistic statement, rather than just a collection of songs.

(Here’s the original pose before it was fashioned into the cover.)

Let’s look at how the full version of Rubber Soul came to be.

Already in 1965, The Beatles had been touring, wrote and recorded the songs for the album Help, filmed the movie of the same name, and then toured America (including the Shea Stadium concert).  So of course their record company wanted them to do another album before Christmas.

The Beatles with four of their albums before Rubber Soul.

It was already mid October, 1965.  The Beatles needed to write, record, and mix 16 new songs (14 for the album, and 2 for a single) in about a month and a half!  As crazy as that sounds now, it was actually more uninterrupted time than their hectic schedule had allowed for previous albums.

While on tour, The Beatles had interacted with Bob Dylan, The Byrds, and other American artists.  Dylan introduced them to marijuana and his lyrics.  Both would expand The Beatles thinking and affect Rubber Soul.

The Beatles’ songwriters came through.

John Lennon was the most prolific.  He was the lead writer on 9 songs…including “Norwegian Wood”, “In My Life”, “Day Tripper”, “Girl”, and “Nowhere Man”…which John said just came to him all at once.

Paul McCartney was the main writer on 5 songs…“Drive My Car”, “You Won’t See Me”, “We Can Work It Out”, “I’m Looking Through You”, and “Michelle”…one of the most recorded songs of all time.

George Harrison provided 2 songs…”Think For Yourself” and “If I Needed Someone”…which was a salute to the style of their new friends, The Byrds.

“We Can Work It Out” and “Day Tripper” were selected as a double A-sided single to be released the same day as the album, but were not actually on the album.

Rubber Soul accented three-part vocal harmonies to go with the more sophisticated lyrics.

Even though The Beatles were on a deadline, they were innovative.  This was the first rock/pop album with a sitar.  They also incorporated other unusual instruments, including a harmonium (a type of pump organ).  George Martin was able to produce a Baroque harpsichord sound by playing a piano part along with a slowed down tape of “In My Life”, and then having the effect sound perfect at regular speed.  Rubber Soul was the transitional step The Beatles needed to get to the full studio experimentation of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper.

We all know there is no definitive answer as to what Beatles album is best.  Our own opinions can change.  But, how does Rubber Soul stack up?  When The Beatles’ 4-record “best of” collection (the red and blue albums) was assembled, the selections included more songs from Rubber Soul than any other album…8 of the 16 songs recorded during those sessions.  In a 1995 interview, George Harrison said it was his favorite Beatles album.

Update:  Remix producer Giles Martin says there are enough alternate takes to justify a box set for Rubber Soul.  That remix was expected to follow the Revolver box set that came out Oct. 28, 2022.   However, with the November 2023 release of the new expanded and remixed Red & Blue albums, the Rubber Soul box set should have been released in 2024, but it wasn’t, so 2025?  Half of the album’s 14 songs are remixed on the new Red Album, and there are a total of 9 from the Rubber Soul recording sessions (the most of any Beatles album).   The original photo for the cover would look good on the front of the Rubber Soul box set.

Revolver was a revolution for Rock & Roll.

It’s hard to believe this 1966 album was made just two years after The Beatles broke in America with songs like  “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “Can’t buy Me Love”.  They’re excellent songs, but nothing like the style of recordings The Beatles created for Revolver.

The very first song of the Revolver sessions was “Tomorrow Never Knows” in April of 1966.  This is the one where John Lennon sings:  “Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream.”  The recording has backwards guitars, ADT (automatic double-tracked) vocal, experimental tape loops that sound a bit like seagulls, variable-speed recording, psychedelic lyrics, and half of Lennon’s vocals were through the spinning horns of a Leslie Hammond organ speaker.   A far cry from “I Want To Hold Your Hand”.  I admit it took me awhile to get into “Tomorrow Never Knows” when I first got the album in 1966.  The song was startlingly different from anything I’d ever heard.

The Beatles had obviously embraced the recording studio as an art form, and didn’t care if they could play these songs on their final concert tour that year.

Before “Eleanor Rigby”, no one would have imagined an uptempo Beatles song with none of them playing on it.  The instrumentation is only an octet of strings impressively arranged by George Martin.  Like most of the songs on Revolver, the lyrics had evolved far beyond The Beatles’ early work.  Paul McCartney did the lead vocal, and George & John provided background vocals.

This album was a high point for Paul McCartney.  Besides “Eleanor Rigby”, his songs include two of his most beautiful…”Here There and Everywhere” and “For No One”.  Plus, “Good Day Sunshine”, “Got To Get You Into My Life”, and he was the main writer of “Yellow Submarine”.  He also wrote “Paperback Writer” which was a #1 single from the Revolver sessions.

Besides “Tomorrow Never Knows”, John Lennon contributed “She Said She Said”, “And Your Bird Can Sing”, “Doctor Robert”, and “I’m Only Sleeping”.  Almost unbelievably, those last three songs were taken from the album and released about a month and a half earlier on the American album “Yesterday”…and Today.  Sure that meant Americans got an early sample of the new album (although we didn’t know it at the time), but it left Lennon with only two songs on the U.S. version of Revolver.  After that, all Beatles albums were the same in England and America (except albums that collected old singles).

(Photo from video shoot for “Paperback Writer” & “Rain”.)

Lennon also wrote “Rain”, which was the flip side of “Paperback Writer”, the single released prior to the album.  Rain was the first rock/pop song to have a backward vocal.  Stories vary on how this came about, but John Lennon says he played a reel tape at home that was “tails out”, and playing that without rewinding it first results in backwards audio.  Lennon liked the sound, so George Martin reversed the tape for the last line of the song.  Backward recordings were used throughout the album to give the instruments new and unusual sounds.  That included George Harrison carefully constructing guitar solos so the melodies worked when the tapes were played backwards.

If you’ve never listened closely to “Rain”, check out the extremely effective and unusual drumming by Ringo Starr.  It’s doubtful any other drummer could have come up with anything so perfect for the song.

For the first time, a George Harrison song, “Taxman”, was the lead track on a Beatles album.  The song lyrics are in response to the English government taking over 90% of their money when they entered the highest tax bracket.  “Taxman” is a rocking song, with excellent guitar solos by Harrison and McCartney.  George also wrote “Love You To”, which featured extensive use of Indian instruments, and “I Want To Tell You”.  The latter is a good song, but the prominent dissonant piano notes usually caused me to move the turntable needle to the next song.  For me, that arrangement choice is the only flaw of the entire album.

(My Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby sleeve & Corgi metal sub.)

“Yellow Submarine” and “Eleanor Rigby” were the only singles released from the album, and they were on the same 45.  Paul McCartney says “Yellow Submarine” was always meant as a children’s sing-a-long song, and doesn’t have any unusual meanings as sometimes speculated.  When McCartney played his unfinished song for Donovan, the singer/songwriter gave McCartney the line “Sky of blue, sea of green”.

“Eleanor Rigby” is a masterpiece.  It was mostly by Paul McCartney, but he did get some lyric input from the other Beatles, plus that brilliant string arrangement from producer George Martin.  Martin said he based the attack-style violin playing on the music used in Alfred Hitchcock’ movie Psycho.  If someone pushed me to name my favorite Beatles song, I’d say “Eleanor Rigby”.  I later found out it’s the only song The Beatles ever recorded on my birth date…April 28th.  Coincidence?

There were engineering and production techniques that assisted The Beatles in realizing their vision for the album.  Geoff Emerick, then just 20 years old, became the engineer for producer George Martin.  Emerick was the one who suggested putting Lennon’s voice through a Leslie speaker when the singer asked to have his voice sound like “The Dalai Lama singing from a mountain top.”  Emerick also used new techniques for improving the recording of Paul’s bass guitar and Ringo’s bass drum.

His innovation with placing microphones close to instruments missed when he put them inside the bells of the horns on “Got To Get You Into My Life”.  Yeah, it was different, but the tone came out sounding thin and pinched.  The technique never became a popular way to record horns.  But, that’s just one small misstep among the otherwise innovative engineering, and it didn’t ruin the song.  Emerick went on to win Grammy Awards for engineering Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road.

The appreciation for Revolver has grown over time.  For decades, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has topped most lists that attempt to rank the best albums of all time.  In recent years, Revolver has sometimes taken over that spot, or has been very close to the top.  Some of that may be to simply provide a change from the usual choice, but it may also be because people came to realize how Revolver was truly a breakthrough.

Update:  The remixed box set for Revolver was released October 28th, 2022.  Here’s the link to my review:

https://ontherecords.net/2022/10/beatlesrevolver-remix-box-set-review/