Beatles Archives - Page 7 of 36 - Ramblin' with Roger

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.

Ringo Starr, Beatle, is 80

Tanglewood in June 2021

Ringo Starr has been mentioned at least a couple hundred times in this blog. Unsurprising, given my unabashed affection for the Beatles. And I see that, 50 years after the band broke up, the Beatles and Ringo generate a lot of comments online.

Questions such as whether he is a good drummer. “Dave Grohl, frontman of Foo Fighters and former drummer of the legendary grunge band Nirvana, said about him: ‘Define ‘best drummer in the world’. Is it someone that’s technically proficient? Or is it someone that sits in the song with their own feel? Ringo was the king of feel.'”

Of course, he was picked to replace Pete Best. Ringo himself said his best drumming for the Beatles was on Rain.

The Beatle also known as Richard Starkey had his particular brand of charisma. The other Beatles insisted he was the best actor in their first movie, A Hard Day’s Night. The storyline of the second film, Help!, was centered around him.

Ringo still tours with his All-Starr band. I have never seen him play, though the tour has been in my neck of the woods a few times. In fact, he was supposed to have been at Tanglewood last month, but that program was postponed a year.

Ringo was scheduled to play with Steve Lukather (Toto guitarist), Colin Hay (Men at Work singer), Gregg Rolie (Santana keyboardist), Warren Ham (vocals/sax/flute), Gregg Bissonette (drums), and Hamish Stuart (Average White Band bass/guitar/vocals),

Previously…

Back in 2018, I wrote about his country album Beaucoups of Blues, which I think is pretty darn good. Unfortunately, many of the links are not working. So check out the album here or here.

In 2016, I discussed Ringo’s “peace and love” initiative, and how we should still do it, even if we’re not sure it’s working.

In 2011, I noted that, around Ringo’s birthday, I play Beatles cover albums. And I have a lot of them.

Finally, back in 2010, I listed my favorite songs by Ringo Starr. Many of the links no longer worked, but I’ve replaced them.

Happy 80th birthday, Ringo. Peace and love to all of us.

Hey Jude/The Beatles Again album

Lady Madonna, yes, but why not The Inner Light?

A buddy of mine included the Hey Jude/The Beatles Again album as one of his favorite albums. There are some magnificent songs on it. But as someone who was purchasing the US Capitol albums, it was disappointing for what it left off. Then I was reminded of all the missed opportunities the Capitol Records compilers had to bring us more songs.

Side one
1. “Can’t Buy Me Love” 2:19 (in the US on the Hard Day’s Night soundtrack album on United Artists)
2. “I Should Have Known Better” 2:39 (ditto)
3. “Paperback Writer” 2:14 (Revolver-era single)
4. “Rain” 2:58 (ditto)
5. “Lady Madonna” 2:14 (the last Beatles single on the Capitol imprint)
6. “Revolution” 3:21 (the first Beatles single on the Apple imprint)
Total length: 15:45

Side two
7. “Hey Jude” 7:06 (ditto)
8. “Old Brown Shoe” 3:16 (B-side of The Ballad of John and Yoko single)
9. “Don’t Let Me Down” (B-side of the Get Back single) 3:30
10. “The Ballad of John and Yoko” 2:55 (single)
Total length: 16:47

It seems that I complained about the Capitol American albums before. So I’ll note what songs should have been added to which albums, to get them up to at least 12 songs, with links to each song. (Hey Jude album link above.)

The Capitol albums

Meet the Beatles! (1964) – 12 songs.

The Beatles’ Second Album (1964) – the first opportunity to add From Me To You (1:58), which finally appears on the 1962–1966 (Red) album.

Something New (1964) – From Me To You or Sie Liebt Dich (2:20), the German version of She Loves You. But it doesn’t show up on a Capitol/Apple US album until Rarities in 1980.

Beatles ’65 (1964) – If I understand correctly, Capitol had the rights to all the songs from the A Hard Day’s Night soundtrack. It just couldn’t actually put out a soundtrack album. So, theoretically, A Hard Day’s Night (2:33, first appearance on 1962–1966) could have shown up here. Or one of the two songs from Hey Jude: Can’t Buy Me Love (which shows up on the odd Capitol compilation Big Hits from England and the USA) or I Should Have Known Better.

The Early Beatles (1965)- much of this from the first UK album Please Please Me, which comprised most of the VeeJay album Introducing the Beatles. The two songs left off were Misery (1:49) and There’s A Place (1:51). At least one of these should have made it, or From Me To You.

Beatles VI (1965) – any of the preceding songs.

Help! (1965) in the US, a soundtrack album with 12 tracks.
Rubber Soul (1965) – in the US, 12 songs.

Talkin’ ’bout nineteen sixty-six

Yesterday and Today (1966) – another album that really bugs me. They stole three songs from the forthcoming Revolver album when they could have picked any of the previous songs, or I’m Down (2:33), the B-side of the Help single, which didn’t show up until the post-breakup Rock ‘n’ Roll Music album. BTW, it was the few songs I did not own. Yes, I bought it for essentially one song.

Revolver (1966) – even if they kept one of the three Lennon songs they stole – And Your Bird Can Sing breaks up two McCartney songs on Side 2 – that would have been a less savage pillaging.

Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) – not messing with that album!

Magical Mystery Tour (1967) – I wish Paperback Writer, or preferably Rain had gone here, 1st song on Side 2.

The Beatles (White Album) (1968) – not touching that.
Yellow Submarine (1969) – soundtrack.
Abbey Road (1969) – not touching that.

Hey Jude (Beatles Again) (1969) – all the songs that didn’t make it before then, plus The Inner Light (2:36, the B-side of Lady Madonna), which doesn’t show up until Rarities.

Let It Be (1970) – essentially a soundtrack.

Bubbling Under the Hot 100

Good Morning, Vietnam

One of the many music reference books – yes, I said BOOKS – that I own is Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100, 1959-2004. These are songs that didn’t quite make it to the promised land on the primary US singles chart.

There are several reasons. Some were regional hits. Some were B-sides of bigger hits but managed to nearly chart anyway. A few are re-releases that had charted higher in the past.

Since the book is nearly 300 pages long, I’m limiting myself to songs I actually own in physical form, either on compact disc or vinyl. You’ll recognize quite a few, I promise. This will take a while.

New York New York – Ryan Adams, #112 in 2002, filmed 9/7/2001. I put this on a mixed CD in my early blogger days.
Baby Please Don’t Go – Amboy Dukes – #106 in 1968
Show Some Emotion– Joan Armatrading – #110 in 1978; I LOVED her albums of that era
What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong with the Tommy Goodman Orchestra – #116 in 1968; #32 in 1988, due to its inclusion in the movie Good Morning, Vietnam
The Shape I’m In – The Band, #121 in 1973; B-side of Time To Kill (#77 pop)

The Beach Boys

I gave a friend their box set, and when she knew she was dying, she wanted me to take it back
Why Do Fools Fall in Love, 101 in 1964; B-side of Fun, Fun, Fun (#5 pop)
She Knows Me Too Well – 101 in 1964; B-side of hen I Grow Up (To Be A Man) (#9 pop)
Cottonfields – #103 in 1970
Marcella – #110 in 1972
Barbara Ann – #101 in 1975 rerelease; #2 in 1966
Wouldn’t It Be Nice – #103 in 1975 rerelease; #8 in 1966

The Beatles

I have some interest in this group.
From Me To You, #116 in 1963; #41 in 1964
I’m Down, #101 in 1965; B-side of Help! (#1 pop) The only B-side of The Beatles first 21 regular Capitol/Apple releases not to make the Top 100
Boys, #102 in 1965; one of a series of singles released on Capitol’s green label “The Star Line”

I Can’t See Nobody – Bee Gees, #128 in 1967; B-side of New York Mining Disaster 1941 (#14 pop)

David Bowie

I have a fair amount of his output on LPs
Space Oddity, #124 in 1969 on Mercury Records; it hit #15 in 1973 on RCA Victor
Let’s Spend the Night Together, #109 in 1973
D.J., #106 in 1979
Ashes to Ashes, #101 in 1980

It Don’t Matter to the Sun – Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines, a fictional character for a proposed movie, The Lamb, starring Brooks; B-side of Lost in You (#5 pop)
Please, Please, Please -James Brown – #105 in 1960, though #5 on the R&B charts in 1956, and a live version went to #95 pop in 1964

Next time, I’ll get much further into the alphabet.

It doesn’t matter much to me

Let me take you down

It doesn't matter much to me Nearly four decades after his death, there’s an inordinate interest of What If? when it comes to John Lennon. Quite often it comes from people who were born after the Beatles broke up, or even after John died.

If he had lived, would he have left Yoko? One can find theorists suggesting that he would, that their marriage was a sham. The thought was that once he started writing music again, he was regaining his inner strength. Eventually, after Double Fantasy, or maybe the followup, he’d leave her.

Of course, the Beatles reunion is always at the heart of this sort of speculation. John was fond of some songs on McCartney II in 1980, Paul’s first album sans Wings in a decade.

George had a modicum of commercial success. His first album after the murder, Somewhere in England, contained a tribute to John. His album after that, 1982’s Gone Troppo, was not a big hit. Ringo had had all three on his various albums, although not simultaneously. So I suppose a reunion might have been possible.

Now you know I remain a massive Beatles fan. When my sisters and I lipsynched to the songs of Beatles VI in 1965 for the neighbor kids, I was always John. Lennon was always my favorite Beatle. I was devastated by his death.

Let me take you down

Yet I find all the speculation is not at all interesting. As he wrote, “It doesn’t matter much to me.” So I don’t have much of an opinion on which songs would be on a 1981 Beatles album if there had been such a thing.

For one thing, the interaction among them would have been far different than it was in 1969. Would they even get along in the studio again? Does George get more songs? Who knows? NOBODY and no one ever will.

Enough grumpiness. Some songs:

BEATLES
Ticket to Ride
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
Norwegian Wood
Rain
Tomorrow Never Knows
Strawberry Fields Forever; “It doesn’t matter much to me”
I Am the Walrus, from LOVE
Come Together

SOLO
I’m Losing You
Nobody Told Me

Robert Freeman, the longtime photographer for the Beatles, died. He had an exhibit at the Albany Institute of History and Art. “The complementary exhibition, THE BEATLES: Community Stories, from December 21, 2002 through March 2, 2003, is an… exhibition that celebrates the Fab Four with a selection of memorabilia on loan from Capital Region residents.

“From toys to tea towels, from posters to photographs, from autographs to collectibles…you’ll see it all at the Albany Institute.” I had but one magazine, but I also brought in some bootleg LPs and The Beatles in Italy.