The tenth track on The Beatles’ White Album (1968), “Martha My Dear,” was a tribute by Paul McCartney to someone he loved: “That you and me were meant to be for each other / Silly girl.” But it was not about a girlfriend. It was about his Old English sheepdog.
Martha was McCartney’s first pet, and if you are shocked to learn that “Martha My Dear” is about a dog, you are not alone. John Lennon was surprised when he saw how much McCartney loved the dog.
After discovering how much he could love an animal, McCartney went on to have other Old English sheepdogs and to become a famous vegetarian. Martha, however, likely holds a special place as his first and as the inspiration for a song.
And Martha has her own Facebook page that is dedicated to her too.
What is your favorite song about an animal? Leave your two cents in the comments.
For this anniversary of John Lennon’s death that occurred on December 8, 1980, below is a recent video of Paul McCartney on The Jonathan Ross Show. On the show, the 72-year-old McCartney discussed his reaction to hearing that Lennon had been killed. According to People, he also talked about how he was glad that he and Lennon were once again good friends at the time of Lennon’s death.
Check out this short clip from the show where McCartney discusses what he felt when he heard the news that his Beatles bandmate had been killed.
Sometimes I hate the invasiveness of new technology into our lives, but other times I figure we are pretty lucky. One of those times was when after watching Enemy (2013) I realized I could immediately seek help from the Internet in decoding what Jake Gyllenhaal saw. And recently, while watching Boyhood (2014), there was a scene with a mix CD where I thought, “I bet I’ll be able to find the track listings for the pretend CD on the Internet.” And, of course, I did.
In Boyhood, there is a scene where Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) gives his son Mason Jr. (Ellar Coltrane) a mix CD he made, called The Beatles’ Black Album. The father explains that it is a compilation of the post-Beatles solo work by George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr. He tells how the music fits perfectly together, illustrating what albums we might have heard had the Beatles never broken up, continuing to work together in their mature years.
We get a glimpse of the track list in the movie. And in the theater, I then spent the next several minutes missing what was happening in the film because I was wondering what was on the CD.
The CD, however, was not created just for the movie. Ethan Hawke first made The Black Album for his daughter, even writing liner notes explaining his choices and why he made the album. Fortunately for us curious folks, he reworked the notes a little bit more and released them to the world via the Internet, along with the track listings. For the touching liner notes, which are worth reading, head over to Buzzfeed. You can catch the track listings from the three CDs of The Black Album below.
Disc 1: 1. Paul McCartney & Wings, “Band on the Run”; 2. George Harrison, “My Sweet Lord”; 3. John Lennon feat. The Flux Fiddlers & the Plastic Ono Band, “Jealous Guy”; 4. Ringo Starr, “Photograph”; 5. John Lennon, “How?”; 6. Paul McCartney, “Every Night”; 7. George Harrison, “Blow Away”; 8. Paul McCartney, “Maybe I’m Amazed”; 9. John Lennon, “Woman”; 10.Paul McCartney & Wings, “Jet”; 11. John Lennon, “Stand by Me”; 12. Ringo Starr, “No No Song”; 13. Paul McCartney, “Junk”; 14. John Lennon, “Love”; 15. Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney, “The Back Seat of My Car”; 16. John Lennon, “Watching the Wheels”; 17. John Lennon, “Mind Games”; 18. Paul McCartney & Wings, “Bluebird”; 19. John Lennon, “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)”; 20. George Harrison, “What Is Life”
Disc 2: 1. John Lennon, “God”; 2. Wings, “Listen to What the Man Said”; 3. John Lennon, “Crippled Inside”; 4. Ringo Starr, “You’re Sixteen You’re Beautiful (And You’re Mine)”; 5. Paul McCartney & Wings, “Let Me Roll It”; 6. John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band, “Power to the People”; 7. Paul McCartney, “Another Day”; 8. George Harrison, “If Not For You (2001 Digital Remaster)”; 9. John Lennon, “(Just Like) Starting Over”; 10. Wings, “Let ‘Em In”; 11. John Lennon, “Mother”; 12. Paul McCartney & Wings, “Helen Wheels”; 13. John Lennon, “I Found Out”; 14. Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney, “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey”; 15. John Lennon, Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band, “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)”; 15. George Harrison, “Not Guilty (2004 Digital Remaster)”; 16. Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney, “Heart of the Country”; 17. John Lennon, “Oh Yoko!”; 18. Wings, “Mull of Kintyre”; 19. Ringo Starr, “It Don’t Come Easy”
Disc 3: 1. John Lennon, “Grow Old With Me (2010 Remaster)”; 2. Wings, “Silly Love Songs”; 3. The Beatles, “Real Love”; 4. Paul McCartney & Wings, “My Love”; 5. John Lennon, “Oh My Love”; 6. George Harrison, “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)”; 7. Paul McCartney, “Pipes of Peace”; 8. John Lennon, “Imagine”; 9. Paul McCartney, “Here Today”; 10. George Harrison, “All Things Must Pass”; 11. Paul McCartney, “And I Love Her (Live on MTV Unplugged)”
Regarding the movie Boyhood, it is a fun experience seeing how director Richard Linklater filmed the story over twelve years so that the characters, and in particular the young man at the center of the story, age just like the actors. It is worth checking out for that reason alone. Be prepared that the movie is a little long and there is not a lot of plot. But the movie captures real life, which is pretty great for a film. So you should check it out.
As for the Black Album, the CD is a great idea, and while I might make some different choices, it is pretty cool to sit back and just enjoy the list and think “what if?”
What songs would you change on your Beatles’ “Black Album”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Ringo Starr became the third Beatle to have a solo number-one song when “Photograph” hit the top spot in 1973.
On November 24, 1973, Ringo Starr became the third former Beatle to have a solo number one song with “Photograph.” John Lennon would join the other three a year later with his first number one solo song, “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night.”
“Photograph” appeared on the album Ringo (1973), which would be the only time the four Beatles would contribute to an album by one of their former members. That contribution illustrates the fondness they all felt for the man also known as Richard Starkey, who was born on July 7, 1940.
George Harrison co-wrote “Photograph” with Ringo, and Harrison sang backing vocals and played a 12-string guitar solo on the song. McCartney wrote another song on the album and sang backup on “You’re Sixteen,” while John Lennon wrote “I’m The Greatest” on the album and played piano and sang backup.
“Photograph” is one of my favorite Ringo songs. I love the way the music contrasts with the story being told. “Photograph” is one of the happiest sounding broken-heart songs in history.
But at this 2002 Concert for George, a memorial concert on the first anniversary of George Harrison’s passing, Ringo briefly explained that the meaning of the song had changed since Harrison’s passing. Then he turns “Photograph” into a wonderful celebration of Harrison’s life.
What is your favorite Ringo Starr song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
A recent video isolates the vocals of the Beatles on their closing Abbey Road (1969) album “medley.” The song cycle features “You Never Give Me Your Money,” “Sun King,” “Mean Mr. Mustard,” “Polythene Pam,” “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry that Weight,” “The End,” and the epilogue “Her Majesty.”
I always enjoy hearing the Beatles in new ways. For great classic artists, we often get so used to hearing the songs in the same way, we lose the wonder we had for the first several times we heard the song. Hearing this medley without the music helps refresh our memory about why the Beatles were so great.
Update: The video with just vocals is no longer available, but the video below uses clips of the vocals-only recordings to analyze what the Beatles were doing in this song cycle. Check it out.
Other cool things about the isolated track include that you more clearly can hear what John Lennon says before the start of “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” (around 8:25). Also, when the quiet parts come up, you may test yourself on whether you remember the musical breaks.
Abbey Road was the final album recorded by the Beatles, although the earlier recorded Let It Be(1970) would be their last released. In the book Tell Me Why: The Beatles: Album By Album, Song By Song, The Sixties And After, author Tim Riley writes that side two of Abbey Road, which consists largely of the above song suite, “revives different stages of their career for a remarkable nostalgic resonance and comprises an ingenious manipulation of rock ‘n’ roll textures.” From inside the studio, though, John Lennon felt that the recording of Abbey Road was “torture.”
Now, you may return to listening to the song cycle with music.
What is your favorite part of the isolated vocal track? Leave your two cents in the comments.
, author Tim Riley writes that side two of Abbey Road, which consists largely of the above song suite, “revives different stages of their career for a remarkable nostalgic resonance and comprises an ingenious manipulation of rock ‘n’ roll textures.” From inside the studio, though, John Lennon felt that the recording of Abbey Road was “