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Not a huge Beatles fan but the last 16 minutes of Abbey Road I'd put up against anything out there.


Dottleshead

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A college friend of mine was a Beatle nut.  Cynical guy who was smart as hell and a guru of rock and roll history-- was a total fan.  I was 'Meh, they're OK'.  I was not familiar with them enough at the time to know their catalog and album releases except maybe a few spotty songs and the like.  Even though I was/am familiar with most of their work now -- when it comes right down to it -- I find their medley on side 2 of Abbey Road to be some of the best music I've ever heard recorded.  They literally threw 8-9 songs together trying to make it work -- and boy does it.  Remember, this from a gen-X guy that peaked listening to Def Leppard and other marginal stuff.  I've always listed to the 60s and early 70s stuff but I keep coming back to these tracks.  IMHO they truly have stood the test of time and no other rock music catches my emotions quite like it.

There's 9 little doodles in all woven together.

Brilliant.

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1 hour ago, Dottles said:

A college friend of mine was a Beatle nut.  Cynical guy who was smart as hell and a guru of rock and roll history-- was a total fan.  I was 'Meh, they're OK'.  I was not familiar with them enough at the time to know their catalog and album releases except maybe a few spotty songs and the like.  Even though I was/am familiar with most of their work now -- when it comes right down to it -- I find their medley on side 2 of Abbey Road to be some of the best music I've ever heard recorded.  They literally threw 8-9 songs together trying to make it work -- and boy does it.  Remember, this from a gen-X guy that peaked listening to Def Leppard and other marginal stuff.  I've always listed to the 60s and early 70s stuff but I keep coming back to these tracks.  IMHO they truly have stood the test of time and no other rock music catches my emotions quite like it.

There's 9 little doodles in all woven together.

Brilliant.

At one time, I had about 40 CDs of outtakes from the Abbey Road Studios sessions, IIRC it included material that was recorded both for Abbey Road and Get Back (or As Nature Intended). Some of it was really short takes and difficult to listen to in succession, but other parts were some really wonderful music. Some versions of songs that I prefer to the studio releases.

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It's all amazingly good but I pick out "Golden Slumbers > Carry That Weight > The End" as about the best six minutes of pop music ever made.  And Abbey Road is probably my all time favorite album, period.

The Beatles could barely stand each other and I think the writing was on the wall regarding their future as a band - they wanted to make one more really good album.  The guitar solo in "The End" has a cool story - would have loved to be in that room:

[from Wiki]  McCartney, Harrison and Lennon perform a rotating sequence of three, two-bar guitar solos. The idea for a guitar instrumental over this section was Harrison's, and Lennon suggested that the three of them each play a section... Geoff Emerick, the Beatles' recording engineer, later recalled: "John, Paul and George looked like they had gone back in time, like they were kids again, playing together for the sheer enjoyment of it. More than anything, they reminded me of gunslingers, with their guitars strapped on, looks of steely-eyed resolve, determined to outdo one another. Yet there was no animosity, no tension at all – you could tell they were simply having fun."  The first two bars are played by McCartney, the second two by Harrison, and the third two by Lennon, then the sequence repeats. Each has a distinctive style which McCartney felt reflected their personalities.

I recently read the book by Geoff Emerick that's referenced above.  Lots of good stuff in there - though I subsequently read that some high-profile people disagreed with some of his accounts.

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Interestingly, while on vacation last month, we stayed at the same resort that John Lennon signed the final paperwork to dissolve the Beatles forever. http://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-lennon-ended-beatles-at-disney/

Growing up in the 60s and 70s I guess I never appreciated the music as much as I should have. Everytime I get grief for listening to my lame "70's grandpa music" I ask "Do you mean awesome music like this?" Then I tell alexa to play this noise over and over. "OK dad/grandpa OK, we get your point."

 

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I always liked the Beatles, I had their albums on vinyl. I never thought about why I liked them. Me youngest son (the musician/songwriter) found them and flipped out at the quality of their music. He explained to me what made them so exceptional. My you tube drummer girl explained what was exceptional about Ringo. 

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4 hours ago, TrentonMakes said:

It's all amazingly good but I pick out "Golden Slumbers > Carry That Weight > The End" as about the best six minutes of pop music ever made.  And Abbey Road is probably my all time favorite album, period.

The Beatles could barely stand each other and I think the writing was on the wall regarding their future as a band - they wanted to make one more really good album.  The guitar solo in "The End" has a cool story - would have loved to be in that room:

[from Wiki]  McCartney, Harrison and Lennon perform a rotating sequence of three, two-bar guitar solos. The idea for a guitar instrumental over this section was Harrison's, and Lennon suggested that the three of them each play a section... Geoff Emerick, the Beatles' recording engineer, later recalled: "John, Paul and George looked like they had gone back in time, like they were kids again, playing together for the sheer enjoyment of it. More than anything, they reminded me of gunslingers, with their guitars strapped on, looks of steely-eyed resolve, determined to outdo one another. Yet there was no animosity, no tension at all – you could tell they were simply having fun."  The first two bars are played by McCartney, the second two by Harrison, and the third two by Lennon, then the sequence repeats. Each has a distinctive style which McCartney felt reflected their personalities.

I recently read the book by Geoff Emerick that's referenced above.  Lots of good stuff in there - though I subsequently read that some high-profile people disagreed with some of his accounts.

Golden Slumbers is amazing.

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2 hours ago, TrentonMakes said:

Check this out - a vocals-only mix of "Because", from the Anthology series that was released in the mid-90s.  As I recall this was Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, overdubbed twice over (so effectively nine voices).

 

Actually I just had time to listen to this.  Bad arse!

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  • 1 month later...

I'm not even a Boomer and the last time I listened to Abbey Road, I was probably stoned at the time and playing chess in college. Well, fast forward almost 30 years and almost 6 weeks since I posted this in the forum --- I'm still listening to it.  In  particular the medley on side 2 is brilliant.  Some really, really good chit. Some of their best work.  I think I've listened to it now almost every day in the last month and a half -- and not even sick of it yet.  I can't wait to hear it again tomorrow.  I'm also still blown away that I'm listening to something over 50 years old.  I was 2 years of age when it was released.

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On 2/12/2019 at 9:03 PM, Dottles said:

Notice how Paul McCartney is the only Beatle who is in bare feet crossing Abbey Road on the cover.

There was a rumor started by a radio disc jockey that spread like wildfire in the late 60's that Paul was dead, the Beatles were covering it up, but they were giving hints in pictures and songs. Paul in bare feet here was allegedly one of the hints.  At the end of the song Strawberry Fields Forever, as the music fades out, John Lennon says, "I'm very bored."  The conspiracists claimed he is saying, "I buried Paul."

They also claimed a line in another song, "I have a clue for you all, the walrus was Paul," was another death clue about Paul.  If you played a song in the White Album backwards (Revolution No. 9?), you supposedly heard "Paul is dead," repeated over and over.  There were many more "clues" people uncovered in songs and in pictures on the St. Peppers album cover, etc.

It sure was a good publicity stunt - it sold a lot of albums!

 

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