OUT OF THE CAN!

THE SONGS JOHN LENNON AND PAUL McCARTNEY WROTE FOR OTHER ARTISTS

Peter And Gordon(photo:Rex pictures)

Though John Lennon and Paul McCartney have written a large bulk of material for the Beatles in the 1960s,they were never too busy to write songs for other bands and artists.Many have considered these tracks as "throwaways" but nevertheless,the songs they have written became staple hits and these friends/contemporaries became famous because of it.


1.PETER AND GORDON

Peter Asher is the brother of McCartney's then-girlfriend Jane Asher and Beatles fans could hardly imagine that Peter nearly became Paul's brother-in-law.The songs Paul wrote for the duo were credited as Lennon-McCartney as a part of the contract they had signed with Northern Songs.In 1964,at the height of Beatlemania,McCartney was living with the Ashers and was sharing a room with Peter,and with it began a long term friendship that Paul would soon give Peter And Gordon four songs which he eventually wrote.

"A WORLD WITHOUT LOVE"

This Lennon-McCartney track became a huge hit for Peter And Gordon where it went to number one  on both sides of the Atlantic.

"NOBODY I KNOW"

Peter And Gordon's second single for 1964 is also a Lennon-McCartney composition,it made the US top 20 and would be a top 10 hit in the UK.

"I DONT WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN"

The duo's third A side single was released on September 21,1964 and again,a Lennon-McCartney composition.It made the top 20 in the US yet failed to chart in the UK.

"WOMAN"

In 1966,Paul McCartney was challenged by the music press that anything he put his name on would become a hit.Paul then responded  by writing a song under the pseudonym Bernard Webb and once again giving it to Peter and Gordon.The result: the song made it to the US top 20.

2.BILLY J KRAMER

One of the few people from Brian Epstein's 'boys' and 'girls' eventually became more friendly with both Lennon and McCartney,though Im not really saying that their not friends with them all but lets just say that they got even closer to the extent of musical collaboration.Billy J Kramer is one of the few hometown neighbors that had  a huge hit with a Lennon-McCartney tune.

Billy J Kramer(photo:unknown)

Backed up by a Manchester-based group The Dakotas,Billy J Kramer actually started covering several Beatles tunes like "Do You Want To Know A Secret" and "I Call Your Name" before he was given a hit of his own.

Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas had a mega success in 1963 and 1964 with a couple of Lennon-McCartney tunes in their song catalogue.Sadly,his career waned in the mid-1960s after several record flops.







"BAD TO ME"

This is Billy J Kramer's biggest hit,written solely by John Lennon though credited to Lennon-McCartney as their contract would've stated.This song would go to the top of the UK charts and a top 10 hit in the US.Its B-side "I Call Your Name" is also a Lennon-McCartney composition with whom the Beatles had also recorded.Story goes that Kramer didn't like the song that much so it was issued as a B-side instead backing "Bad To Me".

The Beatles' version of  "I Call Your Name" was included on the Long Tall Sally EP and was issued  as a separate single,it was later compiled in 1988 on their Past Masters album.

"I'LL BE ON MY WAY"

This is somewhat an unreleased Beatles tune given to Billy J Kramer along with his own cover version of "Do You Want To Know A Secret".The song actually pre-empted his biggest hit "Bad To Me" which was featured here before.The Beatles did a live version of this song that can actually be found on their Live At The BBC album which was released in 1994.

"I'LL KEEP YOU SATISFIED"

This song is actually one of the last Lennon-McCartney compositions that would feature Billy J Kramer in the top 10.With another Lennon-McCartney penned song "From A Window" reaching the US top 40,Kramer was convinced that he was hereby living in the Beatles' shadow and decided to make it on his own.Sadly,it was a bad career move for him.

3.THE ROLLING STONES

One of the greatest rock n' roll bands of all time had their first huge hit in 1963 with a Lennon-McCartney tune.

"I WANNA BE YOUR MAN"

This song was given to the Stones as a gift by Lennon and McCartney.The Stones had their top 20 hit in the UK with mostly cover versions on their first and second albums.Inspired by Lennon-McCartney,Jagger and Richards was later persuaded by their then-manager Andrew Oldham to write original material for the band and thus started the trend of the singer/songwriter craftsmanship for most bands in the sixties.

The Beatles' version of the song with Ringo Starr on vocals was later released three weeks later and was featured on their second album With The Beatles.

4.THE FOURMOST

The Fourmost,1963

The  Fourmost were an English band also under the management of Brian Epstein.

The band had hits in the UK and a couple of minor hits in the US with several Lennon-McCartney tunes.










"HELLO LITTLE GIRL"

This song was written again by John Lennon though credited to Lennon-McCartney.It was actually written way back during the Quarry Men days and was said to be used during the Beatles' Decca audition wherein they were famously put down.The Beatles' version featuring Stuart Sutcliffe on bass was recorded in 1961 and was released later on Anthology 1 in 1995.

"I'M IN LOVE"

This is another Lennon-McCartney composition that was given to the Fourmost and would later make it to the UK top 20.

5.CILLA BLACK

Priscilla White is a former cloakroom attendant at the Cavern Club in Liverpool where the Beatles were famous for being a resident band.White was reputedly discovered by Brian Epstein and renamed her Cilla Black. She is one of among the Beatles' lady friends at Epstein's inner circle.

Cilla Black with Paul McCartney

"LOVE OF THE LOVED"

This Lennon-McCartney composition was given to Cilla Black and was considered to be her debut single.Though the Beatles had also recorded this on their infamous 1962 Decca audition they never issued it officially to themselves.A couple of bootlegs of the Beatles demo version were circulating that was taken from the original tapes of the said audition.Issued as Black's debut single,it barely made the UK top 40.

"ITS FOR YOU"

Another Lennon-McCartney composition that was given to Cilla Black that would put her in the UK top 10 in 1964.

"STEP INSIDE LOVE"

This Lennon-McCartney composition was actually written solely by Paul to be given to Cilla Black for her TV special titled Cilla in 1968.It would also be the show's theme song.The track was first cut by Paul McCartney with the Beatles during the White Album sessions though the band had actually never issued it for themselves.

The Beatles' demo version,however,later appeared on the Anthology 3 album released in 1997.

5.THE STRANGERS WITH MIKE SHANNON

One could hardly knew about the Strangers except that they were a South African rock band.Their song "One And One Is Two" which was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney was originally given to Billy J Kramer wherein it was rejected as he moves away from the Beatles' wing and had been set to have a career of his own without any songs written by the two Beatles.As bad as Kramer's next career move,the song would become one of the most forgettable tunes from the sixties as it failed to chart in both the US and the UK.

Listen to "One And One Is Two", a rare Lennon-McCartney track recorded by The Strangers with Mike Shannon:

6.THE APPLEJACKS

The Applejacks were a six piece 1960s pop/rock group and one of the earliest rock n'roll bands ever to feature a female musician.The band was way ahead of their time by featuring Megan Davies,the band's only female member and bass player--a thing that is unusual at the time.

The Applejacks(photo:Decca Records)

"LIKE DREAMERS DO"

This song written by Paul McCartney dates back during their days as the Quarry Men in the late fifties.Again,credited to Lennon-McCartney,the song would be the Applejacks' second single and would put the band in the UK top 20.

The Beatles' demo version features original drummer Pete Best and later came out on the Anthology 1 album in 1995.

7.PJ PROBY

Aside from the Beatles,PJ Proby also worked with then-session musician Jimmy Page who later became one of the greatest guitar players the world has ever seen.Working with the Beatles,he was given a song which would earn him a UK top 40 hit.

"THAT MEANS A LOT"

This Lennon-McCartney tune would be a hit for PJ Proby.Released in 1965,the Beatles had actually cut the song during the recording sessions for Help! but decided against it and was given instead to PJ Proby.The Beatles' recorded version later appeared on the Anthology 2 album released in 1996.

8.MARY HOPKIN

Mary Hopkin is a Welsh singer/musician and best known to be a protege of Paul McCartney.He discovered her through a mutual friend,sixties model Twiggy.She is one of the first artists ever to record on Apple,the Beatles' very own record label.

Mary Hopkin(second left) with the Beatles and Yoko Ono
(photo:Linda McCartney/Apple Records)

Mary Hopkin

McCartney would go on to produce Hopkin's biggest hit "Those Were The Days" that would top the UK charts in 1969.Her 1969 album Postcard was also produced by Paul McCartney.

By the time the Beatles had disbanded regarding business problems and Apple,Hopkin's career went into hiatus and never achieved the same success like when she had Paul as a producer/mentor.She was once married to producer Tony Visconti,who later married May Pang-Yoko Ono's former secretary and former girlfriend of John Lennon.

"GOODBYE"

This Lennon-McCartney tune would also be a hit for Mary Hopkin as a follow up to her mega success with "Those Were The Days".

Like most of Lennon and McCartney's throwaway tracks, "Goodbye" was never issued by the Beatles themselves though a demo version had floated around on some of the bootleggers. The song was actually recorded during the sessions for the White Album,hence,the trademark brass arrangement and choral part similar to songs from the album can be heard on the track.

9.BADFINGER

Like Mary Hopkin,Badfinger would be one of the few bands/artists that first got a record deal with the Beatles' own label Apple.

With a string of classic rock staples,Badfinger would be a rock group that was marred with bad management,tragedy and suicide among its members.

Badfinger(photo:the Express UK)

"COME AND GET IT"

This Paul McCartney-penned hit would catapult the band into stardom. Badfinger was among the first rock bands ever to sign a contract with Apple Records along with James Taylor,Mary Hopkin and Billy Preston.McCartney would go on and produce two more songs from the band namely: "Rock Of All Ages"  and "Carry On Till Tomorrow".

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

RELATED ARTICLES:

Beatles Sophomore Marks 50

The Beatles Chronology

The Women Of The Beatles

The Roadie

The Partnership

Pete Best:I Was A Beatle

The Forgotten Beatle

THE PARTNERSHIP

Paul McCartney and John Lennon 1966 (photo:Robert Whitaker)

Updated: April 3,2016


The Lennon-McCartney songwriting team is yet the greatest and most successful partnership in the entire history of music.Though many people were in awe of their musicianship and expertise,the partnership that proved to be the most famous tandem in rock music was marred with both personal and business-related problems.

The Beatles' boasts a record breaking 27 number one hits in the US alone and a vast majority of them were Lennon-McCartney compositions.John Lennon and Paul McCartney had been writing songs since their early teens with songs like "I'll Follow The Sun" and "One After 909" dating back to the earliest days when the group was known as the Quarry Men.The two got better and better as the years went by making their songs the youth's anthem in the sixties perhaps even today.

However,its not all fun and laughter for the songwriting duo,their partnership was marred with problems regarding royalties considering that not all the money went into their respective pockets.Paul and John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono continued to be rankled with such,as Paul described their relationship as not being the best of friends.

Indeed,McCartney and Ono got rankled up,with the former stating in an interview on how they had an issue over the song "Yesterday" which was written alone by Paul.According to the contract signed by both John Lennon and Paul McCartney,the two of them will be using the Lennon-McCartney name on each song they will be writing,either as a team or individually.On Yesterday's case,it was written alone by Paul McCartney,though it was still credited as a Lennon-McCartney composition.Fast forward 1995,the then-three surviving Beatles reunited for the first time in 25 years after the much publicized breakup in 1970.The Anthology project is a series of double albums featuring demos,alternate takes of songs the band had recorded including new material.On Anthology,it was decided that the song credits would go by John Lennon and Paul McCartney instead of Lennon-McCartney.And on Yesterday,with its alternate take being featured on the Anthology 2,Paul decided to talk to Yoko about putting Yesterday's credits as written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon,after all,it was a fact that John Lennon had always stated that he has nothing to do with that song.John's widow declined saying that she will never allow it to be changed which made Paul very upset.Linda McCartney even tried to get in-between trying to convince Yoko on the idea,but she was turned down too.So the issues between the McCartneys and the Lennons continued with that one with Paul saying in an interview that Yoko Ono wasn't even around when he wrote it.

Dick James

In 1962,John Lennon and Paul McCartney signed a contract with a music publishing company called Northern Songs.With the fore-mentioned Lennon-McCartney deal,both of them,unfortunately were misled on such financial issues that only 20 percent of the song's earnings would go into their respective pockets,that the half of the share would all go to Dick James-who is the owner of the said music publishing company.Another sad fact is that,George and Ringo would also be given 5 percent each from John and Paul's own share,so it was a matter of resentment for the band that their manager Brian Epstein got them into  bad publishing deals.Both George and Ringo had put up their own music publishing in the mid-sixties with mixed feelings regarding James trying to get even by putting something into them.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney's contract with Northern Songs would've lasted until 1973  though the last remaining three years of it would prove to be unnecessary for the band was no more by April of 1970.Thing is,both Lennon and McCartney would've acquired Northern Songs but Dick James seemed to have double crossed them by selling the company to ATV in 1969 without their knowledge.The giant conglomerate by then have acquired the rights to many if not all Lennon-McCartney tunes for the Beatles.These so-called business problems were even aggravated by the arrival of their new manager Allen Klein whom Paul McCartney strongly opposes.

With McCartney on one side campaigning for his father-in law's firm Eastman & Eastman to be the Beatles' and Apple's legal adviser and John,George and Ringo on the other side backing Klein,the Beatles' career spiralled downwards when Klein and his supporters had beaten the former with McCartney fumingly leaving the band and incited the group's disintegration for him to be able to sue.It was a big mess at the time as Beatles fans sat down and wonder whatever happened to the good times.

Though the Beatles had disbanded in 1970,it wasn't until 1975 when the dissolution was legally finalized,with a court ruling out that a rock band called the Beatles is no longer existing.

Single sleeve of "The Girl Is Mine"

In 1985,the Lennon-McCartney tunes propped up on US television looking for a right bidder.Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono were once again at the top of their game-aspiring to get the rights to ATV/Northern Songs.But by then,Michael Jackson got in the middle of them and bought the songs at a mere $47 million.McCartney's relationship with Jackson slowly fell out as a result.

Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson,1983(photo:Bettmann/Corbis)

Both Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson have known each other since the late 1970s when Paul was still with his band Wings.The first song which was written by Paul McCartney for Michael Jackson was "Girlfriend" which appeared on Jackson's 1979 album Off The Wall.A Wings version of the song can also be found on the album London Town with McCartney doing falsetto.

Though Jackson is also friends with ex-Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr,it was with Paul McCartney whom he had often hang out with and their friendship soon grew into collaborating musically.McCartney and Jackson had a duet on a pop tune called "Say,Say,Say" written by Paul and was featured on his 1983 album Pipes Of Peace,while Jackson returning the favor,wrote a song and had Paul appeared on his album Thriller in a duet called "The Girl Is Mine".Thriller would soon be known as the best selling album of all time which sold over 20 million copies at the day of its release.With each of them appearing on their respective solo albums in the eighties,one would say that McCartney could've felt a little betrayed when he found out that his 'friend' bought  the rights to his very own songs.

McCartney,however,with the help of his father-in-law became  the richest star in rock music.His father-in-law is a known expert on music publishing rights  and certainly made him the billionaire musician he was today.The said inspiration was learned from problems with the Beatles as far back as 1968 and 1969 and Lee Eastman made sure that whatever Paul will write in the future will surely make him rich and his grandchildren and that no publisher guy will ever rip them off again.With his own solo material plus the hits he wrote for his band Wings and having acquired Buddy Holly's back catalogue,Sir Paul became the richest rock star in the planet.

But then,there is still an excess baggage,Jackson still got a hold of most of McCartney's important songs,mostly with the ones he wrote for the Beatles.

A younger Michael Jackson circa Jackson Five(photo:AP)

 Paul McCartney stated in various interviews how he hated it being able to pay for the songs he has written himself everytime he goes out on tour with a number of Beatles tunes on his set lists.

Meanwhile,his friend MJ,no stranger to controversy himself,faced a number of child abuse charges in the early 90s in which the first lawsuit was brought while he was on the Bangkok leg of his Dangerous World Tour.Faced with all the problems,Jackson's career waned in the mid nineties as he stopped touring the US mainland.Despite of all of these,having toured overseas,he still managed to return to the top of the charts in 1995 with a single called "You Are Not Alone",written by soul singer R.Kelly.In that same year,probably to avoid bankruptcy and to be able to further finance his cases,Jackson sold 50% of the Beatles' publishing rights to Sony music in which it was said that MJ garnered an awesome amount of $95 million.

Jackson died unexpectedly in 2009,with the fate of the publishing rights for the Beatles' music still uncertain and nobody knows how much it is worth now in today's money.But thanks to the 1976 US copyright act,Sir Paul McCartney is set to win back the rights of his own songs by 2018 and 2019.

The copyright law stated that the songs written prior to 1978 will automatically be reverted to the property of the songwriter after 56 years.Sir Paul would be 76 years old by then.Now the question is,how would Sony,who now holds half of the rights would react on this? Will they give up their share of the rights and leave it all for Sir Paul? How about Yoko?

As early as November 2015,McCartney had already sent Sony a notice of termination filed under 17 USC section 304 (C), a move to get his songs back by the said reversion years.But a sad fact is that he can only acquire his share of the said copyright in the United States,as Sony still owns the copyright for the rest of the world.

"Not good friends",Paul and Yoko(photo:Getty Images)

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

Beatles Sophomore Marks 50

Cover album of With The Beatles

November 22,2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' second album With The Beatles.The album is known for the band's awesome covers of R&B and motown classics alongside beautifully written Lennon-McCartney originals.The second album is also noted for the Harrison-penned song "Don't Bother Me"-which is considered to be the first George Harrison composition ever to appear on a Beatles album.

With the fore-mentioned worldwide release date of November 22,1963,the album yet again failed to be released in the United States wherein a butchered album adopting its original cover was released instead on January 1964.About three months after the release of With The Beatles,Meet The Beatles was considered to be the first Beatles album to be released in the American market.Though the said claim was still in dispute(Introducing The Beatles was released by Veejay preceding Meet The Beatles at an earlier date) with the legal battles that went through between VeeJay and Capitol with the latter winning the case and ended up being the band's American distributor.++

TRACK LISTING:

 1.It Won't Be Long (Lennon-McCartney)
2.All I've Got To Do (Lennon-McCartney)
3.All My Loving (Lennon-McCartney)
4.Don't Bother Me (Harrison)
5.Little Child (Lennon-McCartney)
6.Till There Was You (Willson)
7.Please Mister Postman (Dobbins-Garrett-Gorman-Holland-Bateman)
8.Roll Over Beethoven (Berry)
9.Hold Me Tight (Lennon-McCartney)
10.You Really Got A Hold On Me (Robinson)
11.I Wanna Be Your Man (Lennon-McCartney)
12.Devil In Her Heart (Drapkin)
13.Not A Second Time (Lennon-McCartney)
14.Money(That's What I Want) (Bradford-Gordy)

Track number 9,Hold Me Tight dates back from the Please Please Me sessions but was put in the can  with a said reason of not being an appropriate song for the debut LP.
 

 WITH THE BEATLES VS. MEET THE BEATLES!

Contrary to what  one blogger on Rolling Stone had said,that both With The Beatles and Meet The Beatles have the same album cover,the latter album's was actually adapted from the original British and worldwide release in the sixties,for Meet The Beatles came out in a later date compared to the former.With the butchered US version featuring songs from the original With The Beatles album alongside singles the band issued for the US market like I Want To Hold Your Hand and its B side This Boy.The butchered album consists of  12 songs.Reasons on why Capitol altered the first seven Beatles albums in the sixties is still unclear with speculations ranging from copyright issues to lack of foresight or simply maximizing the label's profits.

Cover of the butchered US LP Meet The Beatles released January 20,1964

Again,let us compare the track listings of both albums,the original release and the US incarnation.

Track listing for Meet The Beatles-released January 20,1964

1.I Want To hold Your Hand*
2 I Saw Her Standing There+
3.This Boy*
4.It Wont Be Long
5.All I've Got To Do
6.All My Loving
7.Dont Bother Me
8.Little Child
9.Till There Was You
10.Hold Me Tight
11.I Wanna Be Your Man
12.Not A Second Time

*-single with "This Boy" as its B-side
+-originally from Please Please Me,the Beatles' debut album released in March 1963,the song also appeared on the album Introducing The Beatles(Butchered US version of Please Please Me) distributed by Veejay Records with the US release date of January 10,1964.

Other tracks that were removed on the US incarnation of the album were included on another Capitol LP The Beatles Second Album,along with singles the band has issued previously.Nevertheless,the said  albums never got the favor and approval of the fab four themselves.

Track listing for With The Beatles(already featured above,but featured here again for comparison)
worldwide release: November 22,1963 except the US

 1.It Won't Be Long
2.All I've Got To Do
3.All My Loving
4.Don't Bother Me
5.Little Child
6.Till There Was You
7.Please Mister Postman
8.Roll Over Beethoven
9.Hold Me Tight
10.You Really Got A Hold On Me
11.I Wanna Be Your Man
12.Devil In Her Heart
13.Not A Second Time
14.Money(That's What I Want)


CONFUSION AMONG FANS:

 With the same covers but with different logos nonetheless,both With The Beatles and Meet The Beatles has caused a bit of confusion among Beatles fans outside the US particularly in Japan when Japanese distributor Toshiba released the US version Meet The Beatles alongside With The Beatles in 1964.

UNIFICATION BY EMI

On February 26,1987, a unification effort was made by EMI Records and declared the original 13 albums the overall standard for the entire Beatles catalogue, hereby deleting the butchered US versions of the Beatles' LPs pre-Sgt Pepper in the 1960s wherein the latter got only available at the hands of bootleggers and recently on box sets.With The Beatles along with the original six albums were issued domestically in the US after being considered as an import in the past.The effort was made to avoid further confusion particularly with the American fans.

++[To see the complete story of the Beatles albums click here ]


CHART PERFORMANCE

With The Beatles topped the UK charts for 12 weeks trouncing off the Beatles' own debut album Please Please Me on December 1963.The album also fared well in other countries in Europe and Asia in the same year 1963,achieving gold certifications in Germany,Canada and Australia.

The album was also a huge success in Asian countries like the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan in 1963 with Beatlemania becoming a worldwide phenomenon.

Upon its US issue in 1987,the album was also certified gold by the RIAA and was praised by Rolling Stone magazine along with the original six albums pre-Sgt Pepper as the albums with the most cleverly arranged songs.It was ranked at 420 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time List along with other Beatles albums and with Sgt Pepper,released in 1967 hitting  the top spot.


OTHER HIGHLIGHTS AND ALBUM FEATURES

The Beatles with George Martin,Abbey Road studios 1963

Contrary to what younger Beatles fans might have thought,the song "Till There Was You" was not written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.Though the song was a regular on early Beatles concerts and recently became a regular on McCartney's tours post-Beatles,the song was actually written by Meredith Willson from the Broadway Musical "The Music Man".
A film adaptation of the play was released in 1962,wherein a version by actress Shirley Jones was featured in the movie.

 On the Beatles' own rendition of the song,it was noted that Paul McCartney was the only member of the band that was using electricity on his trademark Hofner bass,with George Harrison and John Lennon using acoustic guitars respectively.

A noted Motown cover song "You Really Got A Hold On Me" originally from Smokey Robinson & The Miracles was also featured on the album with John Lennon on lead vocals.The track,written by Robinson was a top 10 hit in 1962 with Lennon delivering that awesome R&B vocal,accompanied by Paul and George in harmonies.

George Harrison did three lead vocal duties on the album,aside from the self-penned song "Don't Bother Me",he was also the lead vocals on two cover songs "Devil In Her Heart" and the Chuck Berry staple "Roll Over Beethoven" where he delivered an awesome guitar lick.


THE COVER PHOTO

Robert Freeman,photo:SF Art Exchange

The famous album cover was shot by Robert Freeman,who was the Beatles' official photographer from 1962 to 1966.Freeman would later take three more album cover photos of the band,namely Beatles For Sale,Help! and Rubber Soul.


 The cover photo was said to have been shot in a hotel corridor with a natural light coming from an opened window contrary to other claims that it was shot in a studio with a spotlight from the right side of the band.

Ringo was actually sitting on a stool and that  made him look like he was lower than the others.The Beatles' wore their trademark 'drainpipes',a thing they use to describe their dark suits,and the results were way ahead of its time considering that it was nearly withdrawn coz the band,according to their label,wasn't smiling.But with the intervention from their ever-so-cool producer George Martin,the photo finally made it as the album cover.


TRIBUTES AND PARODIES

Like other Beatles albums,With The Beatles has also been parodied by other artists paying their huge respect and admiration to the band.

Land Of Confusion single sleeve

1.LAND OF CONFUSION

"Land Of Confusion" is a 1986 single by rock group Genesis from their album Invisible Touch.The single sleeve features a parody of  With The Beatles.

The single peaked at number 4 on the charts in 1986.

2.MEET THE R. STEVIE MOORE

Songwriter and musician R.Stevie Moore also parodied the album cover on his 2008 compilation album Meet The R.Stevie Moore.
Moore who has been recording since 1968 at the age of seven,cites this as his 401st album.

3.WITH THE MUPPLES

Though not really cited as a real music album,the Muppets, a group of androgenic and lifelike puppets created by Jim Henson,paid tribute to the album with a calendar version entitled With The Mupples.

Henson,who died in 1990,is known to be a huge Beatles fan.The Beatles were also parodied on several episodes of Sesame Street where Jim Henson's creations also appeared particularly The Beetles(muppet parody of the Beatles) with "Letter B" which is a parody of the band's 1970 song "Let It Be".

According to Muppet Wiki,the Muppets and its producers did tried to reunite the four Beatles on the show in the 1970s but  didnt have the alloted time and budget to do so.

4.MEET THE RUTLES


The Rutles were a Beatles parody band.Originally a fictional group,the Rutles became famous from a comedy sketch called All You Need Is Cash produced by ex-Beatle George Harrison.

Actor Zachary Levi in a scene from Alvin And the Chipmunks

5.MEET THE CHIPMUNKS

Though only a fictional album, Meet The Chipmunks was used in the 2009 film Alvin And The Chipmunks:The Squeakquel as a parody of the album With The Beatles.The parody LP can be seen hanging in the wall of David Seville's house where the Chipmunks also lived.

Merely a fictional group,the fabulous rodents who sang on records for children paid tribute to the Beatles by releasing an album called The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles Hits in 1964.

photo upper left: A scene from the film Alvin And The Chipmunks:The Squeakquel featuring actor Zachary Levi,a parody album Meet The Chipmunks can be seen in the background.

copyright 2009 20th Century Fox;Fox DVD


Photo right: The Chipmunks tribute album for the Beatles:The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles Hits released in 1964








Four long haired boys in a dark corridor wearing dark suits,With The Beatles remains a top rock music icon 50 years after its release.The album continues to influence and inspire people, thus gave birth to new generations of Beatles fans.The Beatles,having introduced modern rock in the sixties astonishingly prevails as  the most influential rock group of all time.Hence, the legacy of the band remains the yardstick on how modern rock is measured.

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

On Air-Live At The BBC Volume 2

19 years after the release of their Live At The BBC album in 1994,a second volume highlighting a collection of songs the band recorded for radio broadcast by the BBC between 1963 and 1964 is due for release on November 11.The new compilation album contains more than 40 songs including in-between speeches made by the band.The first volume of the BBC sessions was to be reissued on the same date with digital remastering for record collectors.

TRACK LISTING:

Disc 1:


1. ’And Here We Are Again (Speech)’
2. ’Words of Love’
3. ’How About It, Gorgeous? (Speech)’
4. ’Do You Want to Know a Secret’
5. ‘Lucille’
6. ‘Hey, Paul … (Speech)’
7. ‘Anna (Go to Him)’
8. ’Hello! (Speech)’
9. ’Please Please Me’
10. ‘Misery’
11. ‘I’m Talking About You’
12. ‘A Real Treat (Speech)’
13. ‘Boys’
14. ’Absolutely Fab (Speech)’
15. ‘Chains’
16. ‘Ask Me Why’
17. ‘Till There Was You’
18. ’Lend Me Your Comb’
19. ’Lower 5E (Speech)’
20. ‘The Hippy Hippy Shake’
21. ‘Roll Over Beethoven’
22. ‘There’s a Place’
23. ‘Bumper Bundle (Speech)’
24. ‘P.S. I Love You’
25. ’Please Mister Postman’
26. ‘Beautiful Dreamer’
27. ’Devil in Her Heart’
28. ‘The 49 Weeks (Speech)’
29. ’Sure to Fall (In Love With You)’
30. ‘Never Mind, Eh? (Speech)’
31. ‘Twist and Shout’
32. ‘Bye, Bye (speech)’
33. ‘John – Pop Profile (Speech)’
34. ‘George – Pop Profile (Speech)'

Disc 2:


1. ‘I Saw Her Standing There’
2. ‘Glad All Over’
3. ‘Lift Lid Again (Speech)’
4. ‘I’ll Get You’
5. ‘She Loves You’
6. ‘Memphis, Tennessee’
7. ’Happy Birthday Dear Saturday Club’
8. ’Now Hush, Hush (Speech)’
9. ‘From Me to You’
10. ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’
11. ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’
12. ‘Brian Bathtubes (Speech)’
13. ‘This Boy’
14. ‘If I Wasn’t in America (Speech)’
15. ‘I Got a Woman’
16. ‘Long Tall Sally’
17. ‘If I Fell’
18. ’A Hard Job Writing Them (Speech)’
19. ‘And I Love Her’
20. ‘Oh, Can’t We? Yes We Can (Speech)’
21. ‘You Can’t Do That’
22. ‘Honey Don’t’
23. ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’
24. ‘Green With Black Shutters (Speech)’
25. ’Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!’
26. ‘That’s What We’re Here For (Speech)’
27. ‘I Feel Fine (Studio Outtakes)’
28. ‘Paul – Pop Profile (Speech)’
29. ‘Ringo – Pop Profile (Speech)’

 To order the album and for other Beatles merchandise click here

LIVE AT THE BBC (1994)

The first live compilation album of songs recorded for radio broadcasts for the BBC was released in 1994.

The first volume contains songs recorded for radio broadcasts with no overdubs and played live in the studio between 1963 and 1965.The Beatles was said to have recorded more than 275 songs all in all for the BBC and a double album of such material wasn't even enough to fill in the entire BBC catalogue.

The live double album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard charts in 1994 and went to number one in the UK, a proof of the band's awesome longevity and timeless appeal.The album also caught the attention of new generations of Beatles fans many of who,wasn't even born yet during the band's hey day.

Will there be a third installment? That,we'll just have to wait and see.


(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

HELP! TOPS ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE'S BEST SOUNDTRACKS OF ALL TIME LIST

Rolling Stone has been a respectable rock music magazine since its inception in 1967.However,the publication itself faced several controversies and criticisms concerning its views in politics and opinions regarding music.

Last September 3,2013,Rolling Stone had put out  its Top 25 Best Soundtracks Of All Time List and the Beatles' 1965 album Help! made it to the top spot.However,several Beatles experts yet again criticized the publication arguing the fact that the Beatles album wasn't really a soundtrack.The 14 track album which was first released in 1965 contains the first seven tracks which were sung in the movie and another seven which were not in the movie.

One can argue the fact that the Beatles' first seven albums were released in a different format in the US back in the sixties wherein its American distributor Capitol Records has been accused of butchering the original British releases to create more albums for the American market.The 14 track Help! was then chopped down to seven songs and included with it instead was the background instrumental used in the film's chase scenes.The Beatles' reaction by then was a mixture of dismay and aghast that they got their revenge with the release of Yesterday And Today with its controversial butcher cover-which many believed as the band's reaction to what Capitol did to the albums the fab four themselves created according to their own artistic vision.Lennon himself even made a few sentiments over the "butchery". However,a unification made by EMI in 1987 had standardized the Beatles catalogue worldwide, thereby deleting the Capitol versions of the Beatles LPs and made the original format of the first seven albums(including the 14 track Help!) available locally in the US and has been the format since.*

Even with a 14 track lineup and a half set of songs that were neither on the movie,Help! is still very much considered as a soundtrack album,after all, it was all the fab four's brainstorm with a little help of course,from producer George Martin.

The following were Rolling Stone magazine's complete list of its Top 25 Best Soundtrack Albums Of All Time.It was after all,a publication's opinion.Take note that they had included a rap album on the list (RS was also criticized for declaring rap as real music and calling Eminem,50 Cent and other rap artists as "rock stars" and "musicians")

1.HELP!--The Beatles
2.PURPLE RAIN--Prince
3.THE HARDER THEY COME--Jimmy Cliff
4.A HARD DAY'S NIGHT--The Beatles
5.SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER--The Bee Gees
6.SUPERFLY--Curtis Mayfield
7.PULP FICTION--Various Artists
8.RUSHMORE--Various Artists
9.THIS IS SPINAL TAP--Spinal Tap
10.O BROTHER,WHERE ART THOU?--Various Artists
11.PRETTY IN PINK--Various Artists
12.WILD STYLE--Various Artists
13.TRAINSPOTTING--Various Artists
14.EASY RIDER--Various Artists
15.GOODFELLAS--Various Artists
16.THE GRADUATE--Simon And Garfunkel/Dave Grusin
17.AMERICAN GRAFITTI--Various Artists
18.BOOGIE NIGHTS--Various Artists
19.MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR--The Beatles
20.SINGLES--Various Artists
21.24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE--Various Artists
22.LOST IN TRANSLATION--Various Artists
23.JUICE--Various Artists
24.ROCK N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL--Various Artists
25.HEAD--The Monkees


(c) Keith Vernon Adagio


*RELATED LINKS:

The Beatles Chronology

Rolling Stone Magazine Official Website

Whats Elvis' Real Stand On The Fab Four?

Elvis Presley,photo:elvis.com

Elvis Presley is the ultimate icon of rock music.Without him,rock n' roll and its subsidiaries would not exist.Well,let it be known here and now,without Elvis,the Beatles themselves wouldn't have existed.John Lennon was famous for saying that before Elvis there was nothing-pointing out to the first time he ever heard "Heartbreak Hotel" in which the song  woke up his creative instincts and became the musician we still admire today.

How many bands have been influenced by Elvis,or at least touched by his music? Aside from the Beatles,Herman's Hermits and Led Zeppelin were both famous for meeting the KING.Jimmy Page was quoted on saying how much he loved Elvis' music and on how he was thrilled when he met him,even describing him as a "wonderful person".The Monkees and David Bowie were also noted for meeting the king of rock,with the Thin White Duke(Bowie) relating the story of how he was miffed by Elvis' presence.Other rock stars such as AC/DC guitarist Angus Young has always referred to the old rockabilly genre of the 1950s as the real rock music,citing both Elvis and Little Richard as his major influences.

Both the Beatles and Elvis Presley never co-existed like some other people might have thought.The Beatles were still high school kids by the time Elvis was selling records by millions and whooping it up onstage with the girls dropping dead on his feet in 1956.Though John Lennon himself,at age 16,had already formed a skiffle group at school which was then called The Quarry Men,their name was taken from their alma mater Quarry Bank High School.The group had various personnel and name changes that soon led to the formation of the Beatles though John Lennon met his future songwriting partner Paul McCartney also on this skiffle group about a year after it was formed.

By the time Beatlemania had reached the States,Elvis by then was already way past the music scene and was very busy making movies in Hollywood.Some music experts say that Elvis' career has waned by the time he joined the army and took a break from the music business from 1958 to 1960.So its up to Colonel Tom Parker to come up with the ideas on how he will bring Elvis' career back into the limelight.Though it sure wasn't healthy to transform him from a singer to an all around family entertainer.He was noted for making three movies in a year and that must be very exhausting and this was also the period when Elvis got hooked on drugs.

John Lennon(center) then age 16,fronting the Quarry Men 1956

Its is common knowledge that Elvis faded away from the charts when the Beatles took the US by storm.Though Elvis himself has a record breaking performance on the charts as being the solo artist whose had the most number one songs on Billboard.Come to think of it,its quite silly to compare these giants of rock music to each other,though the Beatles were citing Elvis as their major influence,they never really sounded like Elvis.One would point the fact that when the Beatles first came to America,somebody from the press called them "a bunch of British Elvis Presleys",well even the KING himself wasn't impressed by that name call.How can you compare a solo artist to a group after all?

It was during the Beatles' 1965 US tour when the fab four and the King finally met.They gathered at Elvis' mansion in Los Angeles while the King took a break from filming and the fabs themselves was on the last leg of their tour.The first thirty minutes of this famous meeting didn't actually went so well that Elvis had to break the ice with "If you guys are just gonna stare at me all night,I'm going to bed."

Perhaps John,Paul,George and Ringo were so overwhelmed on meeting their idol that they were actually speechless at first.It was John Lennon who actually had the guts of asking the King on why does he sing those gospel ballads[referring to the songs he was singing in his movies] and what happened to good  'ol rock n' roll.It was noted that Elvis has lost control of the material he was singing in the studio,a thing that he might've regretted,as Tom Parker took full control of his career and estate post-army,holding it in a tight grip.

A jamming session took place between the Beatles and Elvis that was rumored to have been recorded by one of  Presley's bodyguards--though no photos or videos were taken to the insistence of Parker.Presley was seen to be playing the bass and Paul McCartney was even delighted to show him a few riffs.In the end,Parker gave the lads a couple of gifts as they left the mansion,with the four of them just couldn't stop talking about Elvis even when they were already in the limo.

George Harrison,1960

(photo left:George Harrison during the Beatles' early days as a bar band,1960.Presley's influence is evident in the early days:leather boots,jackets and greasy hairstyle.The band changed their attire under the direction of Brian Epstein)


So the King and the fab four both went on their own separate ways.The Beatles changed forever the way rock music is presented and the way the audiences would listen.They opened the doors to other British groups and had set the standard for a modern day rock band.Local heroes such as the Beach Boys,the Doors and Jefferson Airplane answered back to the British Invasion of the 1960s.Unknown to everyone,modern rock has already started in the 60s with the advent of the Beatles and other rock groups that followed.Everyone was experimenting,trying new things and with modern rock,drug use has been common especially with the youth.

Meanwhile,Elvis continued to make films throughout the sixties and seem to have disappeared in the music biz.Record sales were reportedly down with the heavy competition of rock groups on both sides of the Atlantic.It was during this period that Elvis stood back and observed how rock music evolve right before his eyes.In 1968,he returned from retirement and made a successful comeback along with a tv special bearing his own name.The King was obviously overwhelmed on how fast rock music has changed.On one occasion he famously said on his show "Music has changed a lot,I would like to congratulate both the Beatles and the Byrds".

Elvis on Elvis Comeback Special,1968

Elvis covered a couple of Beatles songs himself.One particular track that was awesomely covered by him was "Something".This song,written by George Harrison was performed live in Hawaii in 1973 and was aired via satellite in 40 countries around the world.

With the heavy competition between rock n' roll bands in the late sixties,Elvis still managed to return to the top of the charts with "Suspicious Minds" in 1969.The song definitely put Elvis' career up and going but it was also his last number one song in the US.Several tracks posthumously hit number one overseas particularly in the UK.

Elvis with President Nixon,1970

All seemed went so pretty well until Elvis was presented with a Narcotics badge by President Nixon in 1970 wherein he had put the Beatles on top of his dopers list and accused the band of Anti-Americanism.Presley even went far by writing to the immigration and recommended to ban them from entering the US. The Beatles were reportedly shocked-to no one's surprise,with interviews handled by Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney saying that they felt kinda betrayed and that they really wanted to co-exist with him- sadly,a thing that never happened.No one ever knew what Presley was thinking at that moment,and a fit of jealousy is highly unlikely.

Well the King himself is no stranger to drugs.After trying several hard stuff in the sixties,he turned to pills and he uses them all the time.He use pills to stay awake,to eat,and to sleep.His stepbrother David Stanley is a witness to his drug taking and was even held at gunpoint by the King himself when he tried to advise him to stay away from pills.

It was said that he gave his doctors expensive gifts such as cadillacs just to get the prescription drugs he wanted.In fact,one of his doctors was even sent to prison for doing such malpractice. These drugs eventually led to his death on August 16,1977 of cardiac arrhythmia.About a year before he died,Elvis was obviously bloated and a medical assessment of his liver showed signs of abnormality.

 Rock music seemed to have died in 1977 with the former Beatles expressing their sadness when they heard that Elvis Presley had died.One such reaction came from former Beatle John Lennon who,himself took a break from the music biz and was raising his son Sean in New York."The King is dead.But rock n' roll will never die.Long live the King" said Lennon.His former songwriting partner Paul McCartney expressed his own eulogy as well,"I doubt very much if the Beatles would have happen if it weren't for Elvis".

In the recent years the former Beatles still expressed their admiration for Elvis,with the then three surviving members expressing their thoughts at their 2000 tell-all best seller book The Beatles Anthology.When George Harrison passed away in 2001,his former bandmate Paul McCartney continued to keep the band's flame alive along with former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.The remaining two went on with touring,releasing new solo albums and continued to mesmerize crowds and new generations of Beatles fans.






On one interview with Reader's Digest in 2005,while promoting his album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard,McCartney told the story of how Elvis' song "All Shook Up" has mended his headache.On May 2013,Paul paid a visit to Graceland and had put a guitar pick on Elvis' grave so that "he can play in heaven".This was during the Memphis leg of his 2013 Out There Tour,then the story of the Beatles meeting with the King suddenly was commemorated by such big event that one of the Beatles' entourage even bothered to make picks out of plastic spoons for Elvis.But Paul gave him a new one that he had put on his grave.

Paul McCartney at Elvis' grave,2013

Elvis covered a couple of Beatles songs during his comeback phase in the late sixties and the surviving Beatles could never be thankful enough for him for their own music career.It was,after all, a mutual admiration.


(c) Keith Vernon Adagio