Beatles Archives - Page 6 of 35 - Ramblin' with Roger

Balm in Gilead – MUSE/IQUE (vocalists Ben Harper and Maiya Sykes, drummer Jimmy Paxson, bassist Michael Valerio, violinist Charles Yang, and keyboardist Deron Johnson, joined by Herman Cornejo, principal dancer with American Ballet Theater)

Billboard: Eddie Van Halen’s 15 Best Songs and Thanks, Eddie (RIP)

Stir It Up – Johnny Nash (RIP).

We’re All Doomed – Trump vs. Biden, featuring “Weird Al” Yankovic

K-Chuck Radio: The real debate … Helen Reddy or Mac Davis? (Both RIP)

Live From SpragueLand Episode 11 – Peter Sprague Plays The Beatles

Piece for Chamber Orchestra by Edward Bland

Sounds from St. Olaf – Episode 1: A St. Olaf Ensemble Showcase

Colors – Black Pumas

American Standard: Teach Me Tonight – James Taylor

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – Julien Neel

Mad World – Pentatonix

Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing -San Diego Master Chorale. Arrangement and solo by Zanaida Robles. Singing starts at 29 minutes.

American Tune – Paul Simon

Coverville 1327: Human League Cover Story and Thomas Csorba Interview and 1328: 50th Anniversary of Led Zeppelin III

A new Rolling Stone top album list

Pet Sounds, still.

Somehow I missed the release of a new Rolling Stone top album list back on September 22.

Consequence of Sound notes its semi-import. “It’s nerd news, yes, but the list — if only because it has been the most famous and accessible of its kind — has been as much an authority and tome as anything else over the last two decades on what’s essential when it comes to popular music albums.”

The last time the list was fully updated was in 2003 . This list of the Top 100 from that year is far more accessible.

Here is Top 10 for 2020 (and where that album was in 2003):

01. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (6)
02. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (2)
03. Joni Mitchell – Blue (30)
04. Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life (56)
05. The Beatles – Abbey Road (14)
06. Nirvana – Nevermind (17)
07. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (26)
08. Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain (72)
09. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks (16)
10. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (314)

The 2003 version (and where that album is in 2020):

01. The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (24)
02. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (2)
03. The Beatles – Revolver (11)
04. Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited (18)
05. The Beatles – Rubber Soul (35)
06. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (1)
07. The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main Street (14)
08. The Clash – London Calling (16)
09. Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde (38)
10. The Beatles – The White Album (29)

In with the new

The CoS notes Five Reasons to Appreciate Rolling Stone’s New Top 500 Albums. they are Inclusion; Canons Change; More Music Is a Good Thing; The Purpose of Criticism Has Changed; and Precedent.

As it turns out, I have all of the albums in each Top 10 list. But my collection is sorely bereft of rap/hip hop. So I don’t have any Kayne West (#17) or The Notorious B.I.G. (#22), e.g.

I know these lists have helped me discover music I haven’t listened to. Rolling Stone Top 10 Albums of the 1980s got me to add Shoot Out The Lights by Richard And Linda Thompson to my collection. Likewise, I’ve only acquired Public Enemy (#15) and Kendrick Lamar (#19) recently.

I’m actually happy to see the Beatles relinquish dominance of the Top 10, from four albums to a totally different one. Likewise, two Dylan albums have been replaced by another. I’m amazed how Pet Sounds has remained at #2. Joni, Stevie, and Prince belonged there years ago.

Here are some songs from those Top 10 albums according to Rolling Stone in 2020.

Lost Ones – Lauryn Hill.
Shelter from the Storm – Bob Dylan.
Take Me With U – Prince.
The Chain – Fleetwood Mac.
In Bloom – Nirvana.

Because – The Beatles.
All Day Sucker – Stevie Wonder.
A Case of You – Joni Mitchell.
I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times – Beach Boys.
Right On – Marvin Gaye.

John Lennon would have been 80

“The whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension.”

John-Lennon The problem with me writing about John Lennon is that I’ve written about him, as a solo artist or with The Beatles, about 200 times. Examples are here (The Word) and here (John and Yoko).

As I’ve noted, when my sisters, a neighbor girl, and I used to charge the local kids a couple cents to watch us lipsynch to the songs of Beatles VI, I was John.

Ten years ago, I listed my Top Ten Lennon songs, which has not appreciably changed. BTW, NONE of the original music links worked, but I replaced at least those.

Here are some covers

David Bowie Covering “Imagine” Live.

Covers by various artists of the entire Imagine album.

John Lennon’s Rock ‘n’ Roll album from 1975. The links don’t work. BUT here is the whole album. I bought it on December 9, 1980, in no small part because Double Fantasy was sold out.

A few covers of (Just Like) Starting Over.

Instrumentals from HELP

Since Coverville celebrated the 55th anniversary of the album HELP, I found the desire to listen to the instrumentals that were on the American soundtrack, arranged by Ken Thorne.

The James Bond Theme (Help ‘intro’). When I was about to be on JEOPARDY! back in 1998, Glenn Kagan from the show was going over my response card. He asked about my favorite group, to which I replied, “The Beatles.” This led to a conversation about the American Beatles albums and the two of us started doing this instrumental. I said, “I’m not familiar with that. How does it go?” We both laughed heartily. (On the videotape, this looks VERY goofy.)

From Me To You Fantasy
In the Tyrol
Another Hard Day’s Night
The Bitter End/You Can’t Do That
The Chase

Help is the first Beatles movie I ever saw. The title song is among the top five of my favorites of the group’s songs. Lennon said he wrote the song while feeling “the whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension” and subconsciously crying out for help.

Miscellany

John Lennon official site

Biography.com

A Songwriting Mystery Solved: Math Proves John Lennon Wrote ‘In My Life’

Rolling Stone interview, November 1968

An updated, comprehensive guide from Beginner Guitar HQ on how to play rhythm guitar like John Lennon

John Lennon posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994.

Lest I forget, it’s also Sean Ono Lennon’s 45th birthday.

September rambling: demand decency

“I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing”

The Illegitimacy of a Conservative Supreme Court.

Demand decency.

Staying Sane in Anxious Times (without being useless).

A Catholic’s Case Against Amy Coney Barrett. Plus The Supreme Court: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Pasco’s sheriff created a futuristic program to stop crime before it happens. It monitors and harasses families across the county.

Uninsured up from last year and pandemic likely to exacerbate this trend.

Renewed calls for diversity and inclusion in ballet.

A Texas County Clerk’s Bold Crusade to Transform How We Vote.

The Twisted History of Cursive Writing.

How to Make Your Writing Funnier – Cheri Steinkellner.

NFL Legend Gale Sayers Dies at 77: CNN and NPR.

Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock has died at 81.

Secret ‘Man Cave’ Discovered in Room Beneath Grand Central Station.

NANCY is again a comic strip?

Ken Levine interviews Michael Uslan, The Man Who Saved Batman, Part One and Part Two.

Dick York After ‘Bewitched’.

The Judy Jetson controversy.

Tomato quick bread recipe.

Now I Know

The Original Scapegoat and The Final Frontier of Telemarketing and The Last Confederate POW and Why Roosters Don’t Deafen Themselves.

Antiracism Challenge

Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman on race, injustice, and protest.

A series of short films about identity in America.

The Speak Up Handbook by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

What Is Privilege?

‘Intergroup anxiety’: Can you try too hard to be fair?

Racism is Trauma.

Allegories on race and racism – Camara Jones, TEDxEmory.

ALICE — Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

IMPOTUS

His Rage Is Worse Than You’ve Heard.

Every Lie Is a Confession.

He Fuels March Toward Fascism With “Anarchist Jurisdictions” Edict.

He Says Coronavirus ‘Affects Virtually Nobody,’ As U.S. Has World’s Highest Death Toll.

His HHS ad blitz raises alarms.

Blacks have themselves to blame for inequality, and Jews ‘are only in it for themselves’.

DOJ Unveils Proposal That Would Make It Harder for Twitter and Facebook to Block His Dangerous Posts.

He Is $1.1 Billion in Debt.

They got Al Capone for tax evasion, too…. cf I Found Joe Biden’s Tax Returns.

He celebrates violence against his enemies as recurring rally theme.

Shock (?) Over His Refusal To Promise ‘Peaceful Transfer Of Power’.

Barbara Walter Interview on ABC’s 20/20 – August 17, 1990.

I Won’t Vote Trump – Randy Rainbow.

MUSIC

RIP, Toots.Zooming in with Frederick Nathaniel “Toots” Hibbert — the Legend Who Literally Invented “Reggae”. Bam Bam and 54-46 Was My Number and Sweet and Dandy and Pressure Drop.

I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I’ll Get It Myself) – James Brown

I’d Rather Go Blind ~ Rebecca Jade at Spaghettini.

Tiny Desk (Home) Concert – Phoebe Bridgers.

With God On Our Side – NEVILLE BROTHERS.

We Have All The Time In The World – Louis Armstrong.

Virtual Sabbath Prayer.

Coverville 1324: Cover Stories for Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars and 1325: 50 Years After…After the Gold Rush (Album Cover) and 1326: Jimi Hendrix Cover Tribute.

Attention by Pamela Z.

4’33” by John Cage.

Without the Beatles.

1970 Earth Day music v. the war

Everyday people, sing a simple song

Fifty years ago, in 1970, the country was experiencing racial tension, worrying about the environment, and fighting a far-off war. It’s so much different now.

Here were the #1 songs on the pop charts in 1970. I remember all of them and I own most. Some of my favorite tunes. RB=rhythm charts.

Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel. #1 for six weeks. Gold record. My second favorite S&G song.

I’ll Be There– Jackson Five. Or Jackson 5ive, if you prefer. #1 for five weeks; #1 for six weeks RB.

Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head – B.J Thomas. #1 for four weeks. Gold record. From the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which I saw in the cinema.

(They Long To Be) Close To You – Carpenters. #1 for four weeks. Gold record.

My Sweet Lord – George Harrison. #1 for four weeks, Gold record.

I Think I Love You – Partridge Family. #1 for three weeks. Gold record.

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Diana Ross. #1 for three weeks; #1 RB. This tune was used for some high school Black History assembly I was in, or so I seem to recall.

American Woman – The Guess Who. #1 for three weeks. Gold record. I kept the 1:15 album intro. One of Tricia Nixon’s favorite songs.

War – Edwin Starr. #1 for three weeks; #3 RB. The Temptations were the first to record this. “Motown head Berry Gordy didn’t want them associated with such a controversial song, so he had Starr record it and his version was released as a single. Starr didn’t have as big a fan base to offend.”

Mother Mary

Let It Be – The Beatles. #1 for two weeks. Double platinum record.

The Tears of a Clown – Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. #1 for two weeks; #1 for three weeks RB. “Just like Pagliacci.”

Mama Told Me Not To Come – Three Dog Night. #1 for two weeks. Gold record. A Randy Newman song.

ABC – The Jackson Five. #1 for two weeks; #1 for four weeks RB.

The Love You Save – Jackson Five. #1 for two weeks; #1 for six weeks RB. I always liked sing the Jermaine parts.

Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin) – Sly and the Family Stone. #1 for two weeks; #1 for five weeks RB. Gold record. I’m a sucker for a song that namechecks other songs by the group.

Everything Is Beautiful – Ray Stevens. #1 for two weeks. Gold record.

The Long and Winding Road – The Beatles. #1 for two weeks. Platinum record. the last Beatles single for a while.

Make It With You – Bread. Gold record.

I Want You Back – Jackson Five. #1 for four weeks RB. Platinum record.

Venus – The Shocking Blue. Gold record.

Cracklin’ Rosie – Neil Diamond. Platinum record.

Now I Know

Racial inequity

Superspreader-in-Chief

MUSIC

In with the new

Here are some covers

Instrumentals from HELP

Miscellany

Now I Know

Antiracism Challenge

IMPOTUS

MUSIC

Mother Mary