Ramblin' with Roger

Beatles songs not on US Capitol albums

adding songs to the CDs?

Every February, I play the American versions of the Beatles albums. Why is that? George was the first Beatle to visit the United States when he visited his sister Louise before Beatlemania broke. George’s birthday is in February.

Anyway, I’m reminded again of The Beatles songs, which were not on the US Capitol albums while the group was still together. I grew up on the Capitol and later Apple albums; for the former, it was what I got with my Capitol Record Club membership in 1966 and 1967.

I’m not talking about different versions of the same song, such as the single Love Me Do or even Sie Liebt Dich, the German version of She Loves You. The latter song appeared in the Rarities versions (1978-UK, 1980-US).

Misery and There’s A Place were both on the first UK album, Please Please Me, and the US Vee-Jay album, Introducing the Beatles. I heard them in the Beatles cartoons. But they didn’t make it onto The Early Beatles, Capitol’s belated version of Introducing. They finally showed up on the US Rarities.

From Me To You – a bust of a Vee-Jay single in the US in 1963, though it got up to #41 in ’64. Its B-side, Thank You Girl, was on The Beatles’ Second Album. From Me To You is not on The Early Beatles, either. It appears on the Red album (1973), functionally a greatest hits album for 1962-1966. It is the Beatles song I have the most difficult time recalling.

Movie non-soundtrack

A Hard Day’s Night—The movie soundtrack for the first Beatles movie was on the United Artists label in the United States. Capitol could use some of the songs – they did on the Something New album – but could not label the collection a soundtrack. I Should Have Known Better and Can’t Buy Me Love finally appeared on the Beatles Again/Hey Jude album. A Hard Day’s Night is first on the Red album.

I’m Down – The B-side of the Help single appears on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Collection (1976), the only new song on the double LP. I knew the song existed from the live version on the TV broadcast of The Beatles at Shea Stadium. It would have fit nicely on the Yesterday and Today album.

The Inner Light, the B-side of Lady Madonna, and You Know My Name (Look Up the Number), the B-side of Let It Be appear on both Rarities versions.

All of them, save You Know My Name, could/should have been on The Beatles Again.

Ah, the Beatles CDs

Of course, everything is made right in the CD era, using the British LPs plus Past Masters 1 and 2. I remember when the CDs first came out. There was speculation that the singles would be added to the albums. But why would they do that, aside from the fact that the early CDs were less than 40 minutes long and had a capacity of more than 70 minutes?

Still, From Me To You/Thank You Girl and She Loves You/I’ll Get You would easily fit on Please Please Me. One could throw in Sie liebt dich.

I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy plus Komm gib mir deine Hand might have appeared on With The Beatles; the first two were on the US near-equivalent Meet The Beatles.

The EP Long Tall Sally/I Call Your Name/Slow Down/Matchbox could have augmented A Hard Day’s Night.

Add I Feel Fine/She’s A Woman to Beatles for Sale.

Yes, It Is (the B-side of Ticket To Ride) and I’m Down (the B-side of Help), along with the US-only Bad Boy (from Beatles VI), could be added to Help.

Also:

Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out to Rubber Soul

Paperback Writer/Rain to Revolver

Lady Madonna/The Inner Light to Magical Mystery Tour

Hey Jude/Revolution to the white album

Get Back/Don’t Bring Me Down and You Know My Name (B-side of Let It Be) to Let It Be

Ballad Of John and Yoko/Old Brown Shoe to Abbey Road

Or maybe those latter singles in that singles-heavy period needed their own collection.

Funny Girl; Hindustani violin

Albany Symphony Orchestra

My wife said to me, “Should we try to do both of these things, or is this really stupid?” I replied, “Yes, we should, and yes, it’s really stupid.” We had tickets to see Funny Girl at Proctors at 2 pm on April 5th as part of our subscription.

I’ve never seen Funny Girl, as a movie or as a musical. I did know that it was based on a real vaudeville performer named Fanny Brice, who was in Flo Ziegfeld’s Follies and became a big star on Broadway. Yet I know some of the music: If A Girl Isn’t Pretty, I’m The Greatest Star, and People. Don’t Rain On My Parade contains some of the most interesting chord changes I’ve ever heard.

I liked the first act. The second act seemed to have more focus on Fanny’s husband, Nick. It was less exciting, and the actor’s voice wasn’t consistently strong, cracking at least once.

The genuine local interest was that there was a former Albany High School young woman in the cast, Annabelle Duffy, an understudy for Fanny Bryce, as well as a couple of other characters, and also a swing. Melissa Manchester, known for songs like Midnight Blue, played Fanny’s mother. I’m glad I saw it, but I didn’t love it. I wonder if it was the end of the tour’s wear and tear, for the next stop, in Rochester, was the last for the touring company.

Next gig

We had obtained tickets from friends of ours who were under the weather to attend the Albany Symphony Orchestra concert at the Palace Theater in Albany that evening. After we got something to eat, we needed to pick someone up and take her to the Palace by the 6:30 pre-concert talk led by conductor David Allen Miller and composer Reena Esmail, who had written the Concerto for Hindustani Violin, a piece in five parts: Aakash (space), Vayu (air), Agni (fire), Jal (water), and Prithvi (earth) with an atonement postlude.

We learned that the soloist was Kala Ramnath, playing the Hindustani violin while seated on a platform with her legs crossed. It’s tuned lower than the standard violin, often using viola strings. She’s considered the Ravi Shankar of Hindustani violin. She was accompanied by her tabla player, Abhijit Banerjee.

The first piece of the program was Bolero by Maurice Ravel. We heard it by ASO 11 years ago. As I said at the time, Bolero is much better and more interesting than listening to recordings.

The Hindustani violin piece of music doesn’t adhere to standard Western music signatures. I’m not sure about this, but I could have sworn that Ramnath was looking offstage at composer Esmail to see when to come in. Whether that was true or not, it did seem to work.

Passion

After intermission, it was an early Berlioz piece, Symphony fantastique. The story that Miller told about Berlioz highlighted how he was inspired by his passionate feelings for Irish actress Harriet Smithson, whom he first saw in 1827 in the Paris production of Romeo and Juliet. She later became his wife in an unhappy marriage. The unconventional 55-minute Symphony was subtitled Episode de la vie d’un artiste (episode from the life of an artist).

Then my wife took TWO people home, making it an entertaining but exhausting day.

Re: Berlioz, check out Discovering Classical Music and a live recording by The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Myung-Whun Chung.

Libraries are bellwethers

Libraries are bellwethers. “The mission of the American Library Association is to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.”

In the current issue of the ALA magazine, American Libraries, there is an interview with John Green, whose latest book is Everything Is Tuberculosis.

You’re also a staunch supporter of the freedom to read. What would you say to those who are concerned about the future of book challenges, especially in this political landscape?

“I’ve never been so worried about it. I’ve never experienced attacks on my work like the ones I’ve seen in the last couple of years, and that’s even more true for authors of color and LGBTQ authors. It is really upsetting to live in a world where the freedom to read is at such risk, where so many kids are denied access to the breadth of literature because of activist parents going and trying to get books removed from libraries.

Power

“I think it speaks to the power of literature. I think it speaks to the fact that these books are important. But the old saw that it’s good news when your book gets banned because it’ll sell more copies, that’s just not true. At least it’s not true now. What’s true now is that there has been a fair amount of success at removing books from the hands of kids who would otherwise read and be transformed by those books, and that worries me a lot.”

Here are the Banned and Challenged Books data from the ALA. Also, check out the FAQ: Executive Order Targeting IMLS. On Friday night, March 14, an Executive Order was issued to dismantle the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), as well as six other agencies.

Albany Public Library

As previously noted, there are Two Open Seats on the APL Board. Albany voters will select two trustees for the Albany Public Library Board in the May 20 election. Both positions carry full five-year terms, which commence on July 1.

Trustee nominating petitions, with at least 51 signatures, are due to the Clerk of the City School District of Albany by 5 pm on Wednesday, April 30. The library’s trustee election and budget vote are held in conjunction with the city school district. The library trustee candidates will be announced after the school district validates submitted nominating petitions.

I am aware of at least one trustee candidate whom I shall actively oppose. I won’t mention them here until after April 30, in case they choose not to run, although I’ve already seen their campaign literature, which appears to “oppose the property tax increase.” Nearly simultaneously, they’re also running for another public office, which I think is overly ambitious.

I haven’t voted AGAINST a candidate in over a decade, when a neo-Nazi was on the ballot. To show how nervous I was, I considered running myself.

The library is hosting the following public forum:

Meet the Trustee Candidates Forum and Library Budget Session

May 6 (Tue) | 6-7:30 pm | Washington Ave. Branch | 161 Washington Ave.

Talks!

Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library Author talks/book reviews in May, Tuesdays at 2 pm, 161 Washington Ave, large auditorium:

May 6 | Book Review | Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages by Gaston Dorren. Reviewer: David Brickman, longtime writer & editor, language lover, and FFAPL treasurer.

May 13 | Book Review | Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu & James Robinson. Reviewer: Frank S. Robinson, JD, philosopher, author, & blogger.

May 20 | Book Review | Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make — and Keep — Friends by Marisa G. Franco, PhD. Reviewer: Hailey Hamias, FFAPL volunteer & community development professional.

May 27 | Book Review | Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Reviewer: Elaine Garrett, BFA, MA, STEM Outreach and Workforce Development, SUNY Research Foundation at NY Creates and the NYS Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology, UAlbany.

Reading list for climate optimism

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Arcadia created a reading list for climate optimism. The company’s “mission is to stop climate change by breaking the fossil fuel monopoly. Our technology is lighting a cleaner path forward for everyone, from everyday consumers and small businesses to the innovators building the next generation of energy products.”

My problem is that I’m no longer a climate optimist. The climate clock indicates we have a little more than four years to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. I would be extremely dubious if the world were working together to achieve this goal.

But when FOTUS says we’re going to “drill, baby, drill..”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body that assesses the science of climate change. A recent report:

Human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming, with global surface temperature reaching 1.1°C above 1850-1900 in 2011-2020. Global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase, with unequal historical and ongoing contributions arising from unsustainable energy use, land use and land-use change, lifestyles, and patterns of consumption and production across regions, between and within countries, and among individuals.

It’s difficult for me to see how we can mitigate or ameliorate the situation.

Still…

But since you may be less pessimistic than I am, I will share the articles anyway. Here are a few books that can help energize an action-filled 2025:

Electrify: An Optimist’s Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future, by Saul Griffith

Revolutionary Power: An Activist’s Guide to the Energy Transition, by Shalanda Baker

Climate Optimism: Celebrating Systemic Change Around the World, by Zahra Biabani

Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul, by Auden Schendler

The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to the Climate Crisis, by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet, by Hannah Ritchie

Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility, edited by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua

How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World, by Chris Turner

Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action, by Dana R. Fisher

H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z, by Elizabeth Kolbert

I’m crossing my fingers and toes and rolling my tongue…

Silence dissenters

Turning Point USA

Would America silence dissenters? I’ve been reading Heather Cox Richardson since the middle of 2024. Frankly, I thought she was way too optimistic last year. Her philosophy as a historian was that she knew of worse times and that the United States has enough resilience to overcome the awful. But since the last election and particularly since the inauguration, she seems to be more concerned about what is happening and what might occur. This piece from mid-April 2025:

In a strange twist, I was actually researching the extraordinary powers of the Department of Homeland Security… for a radio show when Forbes broke the news that the DHS was looking for help compiling a database of “media influencers.” DHS leaders want the database to include journalists, editors, correspondents, social media influencers, bloggers, and so on, and to include the “sentiments” of the people in it.

While DHS spokesperson Tyler Q. Houlton tweeted that monitoring the media is normal practice and that “any suggestion otherwise is fit for tin foil hat-wearing, black helicopter conspiracy theorists,” many people have helpfully pointed out that, in fact, this is a move straight out of Putin’s playbook, and that media influencers with the wrong “sentiments” get arrested or attacked, or they disappear.

There is no way now to know which interpretation is the right one.

But I do know that it’s a funny thing as an American to realize that saying or writing something could lead to imprisonment, torture, or death. It happens in other countries, of course, and it has certainly happened here at times, but it has never been part of our lives that we had to worry that our own government would, in a systematic way, silence dissenters.

Nah, not here! Right?

The first reaction to this realization is denial: there is no way this could happen. And then it gets personal: there is no way this could happen to me. And finally, the personal turns the idea into a bit of a joke: the concept that I would be important enough to silence just proves that the idea is ridiculous.

But then you wonder. Perhaps every person thinks they’re safe right up until they hear the door slam against the wall.

And it goes on. She’s been put on a Professor Watchlist, “a project of 501(c)3 non-profit Turning Point USA. The mission… is to expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom. Professor Watchlist is a carefully aggregated list sourced by published news stories detailing instances of radical behavior among college professors.”

HCR wasn’t all that concerned about being on the roster until I understood how frightened other people were about my inclusion on it, and I suddenly saw that maybe the fact that our government supported the sort of folks who were policing universities meant that the watchlist was a very different thing than I had become accustomed to.

AmeriNZ

My good buddy Arthur, who was born in the US, but who now lives in New Zealand, wrote in response: “The regime absolutely intends to target US citizens who don’t bow down before the convicted felon to send them to an El Salvador death camp. That means that it’s absolutely rational to stay quiet and say nothing—were it not for the fact that there’s no safety in silence, as folks 80 years ago would attest to, had their own fascist regime not ended them. Moreover, the harsh truth is that once something is posted online, it’s forever: Nothing is ever actually ‘gone’ and cannot be erased. So, anyone who has ever criticised the Republican God-King is already on a List. If we’re doomed anyway, why no go out with a fricking bang?”

A US citizen told to self-deport: “‘They want immigrants to be uncomfortable here.’ Nicole Micheroni, an immigration attorney and U.S. citizen born and raised in Massachusetts, has not heard from the Department of Homeland Security since it told her to leave the country.”

Who, me?

Common Sense: “As independent journalist Ken Klippenstein reported, White House Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka said in an interview with Newsmax that the divide between the [regime], which has sent hundreds of people to a notorious foreign prison without trial and disobeyed a Supreme Court order, and those who oppose its actions boils down to a disagreement between those who ‘love America’ and those who ‘hate America..’

“‘We have people who love America, like the president, like his Cabinet, like the directors of his agencies, who want to protect Americans,’ said Gorka. “And then there is the other side, that is on the side of the cartel members, on the side of the illegal aliens, on the side of the terrorists….

“And you have to ask yourself, are they technically aiding and abetting them?” Gorka said. “Because aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists is a crime in federal statute.”

All of this has gotten me a bit discombobulated. I’ve written some, let’s say, less-than-complimentary posts about the current regime on my little blog, which gets a little over a thousand views a week. But surely, I don’t need to worry. Little ol’ me?

Certainly not. Probably not. Maybe not. Maybe? Despite being a political science major in college, I’d rather write about the arts and music than about politics. But this is the hand we’ve been dealt, so we play it.