The 2000 release of number one songs by the Beatles, The Beatles’ 1, is getting a new updated release in a couple of different forms with music videos and the group’s short films. Among the video content, the new Beatles 1+ package includes the Beatles’ original video for “A Day in the Life” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).
The video for “A Day in the Life” shows the playful side of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The video footage of them hanging out with friends like the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards also includes shots of an orchestra during the 1967 recording sessions. Check out the video for “A Day in the Life.”
New Orleans legend Antoine “Fats” Domino Jr., was born in the Big Easy on February 26, 1928. Fats Domino began recording in 1949 but had his big breakthrough in the mid-1950s with the classic “Ain’t That A Shame,” which was soon followed by “Blueberry Hill” and “I’m Walkin’.”
For Domino’s birthday, check out this video that puts together his appearances on a 1957 Perry Como Show. Rock music was still young in those days, but Domino illustrates why it was around to stay.
When The Beatles came along in 1964, many original rock and roll singers like Domino were pushed aside. Domino’s streak of hits ended that year.
But he did have a top 100 song when he covered The Beatles’ “Lady Madonna” in 1968. Interestingly, Paul McCartney originally wrote “Lady Madonna” as an homage to Domino’s boogie-style piano playing. Similarly, John Lennon recognized Domino’s work when he recorded Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” for his 1975 Rock and Roll album.
Belos is Fats Domino’s version of “Lady Madonna.” There is another connection between the song and Domino too. Domino’s song “Blue Monday” followed a man through the work week (“Here comes Tuesday, Oh hard Tuesday”). And McCartney’s “Lady Madonna” follows a similar trajectory from the female perspective (“Tuesday afternoon is never ending”).
Domino continued to perform in later decades. But he passed away on October 24, 2017. So we will settle for listening to his records and thinking of him on this birth date of one of the great joys of American music.
What is your favorite Fats Domino 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.
Last night, Stephen Colbert was absolutely giddy about having Paul McCartney on his show The Colbert Report. During the interview segment, Colbert led McCartney into an interesting discussion about McCartney’s band Wings and his pre-Wings band, The Beatles.
One of the reasons for the McCartney appearance was to promote a new remastered version of Wings Over America (1976). But some of the most interesting parts of the interview were where McCartney discussed the great Wings album, Band on the Run (1973).
McCartney also performed five songs during the show: “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “Hi, Hi, Hi,” “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” “Listen to What the Man Said,” and “Lady Madonna.” He also performed a web-exclusive version of “Birthday.” Below is his performance of “Listen to What the Man Said.” [2016 Update: Unfortunately, the videos from the show are no longer available.]
How did it all fit into the half-hour show? Well, they had to expand The Colbert Report to a half hour to fit it all in, and of course it was worth every minute. You may catch the full episode on The Colbert Report website.
What is your favorite part of the interview? 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 “