Fifty Years Of Rubber Soul

Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album of the Beatles.It is one of the first albums[along with A Hard Day's Night] wherein the band didn't include any covers and thus considered to be at the certain point the band had started to have a sound of their own.

We all know that older rockers from the fifties particularly the Everly Brothers have influenced the fab four that was evident on the vocal harmonies on the early singles and the debut album.But as the Beatles started to grow as musicians,they began experimenting on their sound,band set up and drop D tunings even before they became a standard.

Rubber Soul is also a breakthrough album wherein the band had started experimenting with their sound by featuring exotic instruments like the sitar featured on the song "Norwegian Wood",played by George Harrison,the instrument added a lot of flavor to the song by blending perfectly with John's acoustic guitar and Paul's bass.It is also the LP wherein Harrison is starting to emerge as a songwriting rival to both Lennon and McCartney,though previous albums like With The Beatles and  Help!  already featured songs written by George,it is in this album wherein he started putting out his more finer output-a thing that will eventually start the rift between him and the Lennon-McCartney team.As John would later said post-breakup "George was a fine songwriter but Paul and I were tougher" referring to the rivalry that was in a way being pointed out as one of the reasons behind the band's dissolution-though one would argue that it is in fact done by so many people around bad business deals and bad management the band had to endure.

Released on December 3rd 1965,the album was recorded in merely a month between tour breaks.It is astonishing for a rock band to release an average of two to three albums a year-this is a feat which is undefeated and no other rock group has done such even today.The album's genre is primarily folk rock which was obviously influenced by Bob Dylan though there are fast and catchy pop rock tunes along with it like  "Drive My Car","The Word" and "You Won't See Me".

Vinyl back cover,1965

The album's fine contrasts became the subject of controversy and its also one of the seven albums altered by Capitol in the sixties-"Drive My Car", "Nowhere Man"."What Goes On" and "If I Needed Someone" were removed and was instead compiled in a non-significant but often disputed album called Yesterday And Today which also featured songs taken from Help! and Revolver.The album became controversial over the fact that the Beatles had their photo taken in butcher suits and decapitated dolls expressing their feelings toward Capitol for 'butchering' their albums.The band's American label would alter one last album Revolver in which Target's  store website best describes the Capitol LPs as 'bastardized American albums'.

The original 14 track album was finally released in the US in 1987 with the unification effort made by EMI and deleted the US albums since.Though the 12 track US version with songs from side two of Help! was included in the Beatles US albums box set and was also reissued in 2014 as a separate album sold exclusively by Walmart.Oddly enough,Goldmine mag was praising the 12 track butchered version saying that no one would get used to "Drive My Car" as an opening track but "I've Just Seen A Face"-the said article was published in the early 2000s so I made a reply to it writing my own article challenging it by defending the standard albums which were the original 13 LPs.
The only significance the said periodical was praising was the 'false start' of the song "I'm Looking Through You" and a different mix of "The Word" wherein Lennon had double his vocals on the mix.But then,why would you want those versions on a butchered album that took other songs from an older album.A butchered album that didn't have the approval of the band themselves nor created according to their own artistic vision in which the way they conceived the original EMI releases.


Rubber Soul is dominated mostly by acoustic guitar songs and was branded among the best with the folk rock genre.It was succeeded with a more electric guitar themed album which is the total opposite of the former.The follow-up album was christened Revolver which became one of the biggest albums of 1966 and went on to be one of the most influential albums in rock music fusing hard rock and psychedelia.

TRACK LISTING

1.Drive My Car (Lennon-McCartney)
2.Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Lennon-McCartney)
3.You Won't See Me (Lennon-McCartney)
4.Nowhere Man (Lennon-McCartney)
5.Think For Yourself (Harrison)
6.The Word (Lennon-McCartney)
7.Michelle (Lennon-McCartney)
8.What Goes On (Lennon-McCartney-Starkey)
9.Girl (Lennon-McCartney)
10.I'm Looking Through You (Lennon-McCartney)
11.In My Life (Lennon-McCartney)
12.Wait (Lennon-McCartney)
13.If I Needed Someone (Harrison)
14.Run For Your Life (Lennon-McCartney)

With the album ranked number five by Rolling Stone magazine on its 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time list[The Beatles' Sgt Pepper was actually ranked by the rock periodical at number 1],Rubber Soul remains one of the most enduring albums of rock music fifty years later and no other band has ever done like what the Beatles did in terms of release patterns and creativity.Thus,making the Beatles the greatest rock group of all time and space.


(c) 2015 Keith Vernon Adagio

credits: Rubber Soul album cover,EMI Parlophone

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The Beatles Chronology

The Special Connection Between George Harrison and Brian Jones

THE ALBUM FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE

There's been a new buzz that's been spreading around the internet lately which made it the talk of the town not only among Beatles fans but of netizens alike.A man who hid his real name under the pseudonym James Richards claims that he traveled into another dimension parallel to our own world and discovered that the Beatles never broke up[at least in that realm] and are all alive and well.Richards even claimed that the fab four continued to release new albums the way the Stones did in our world.

Richards proceeded with the story about him chasing his dog around September 9.2009 when he tripped into a rabbit hole and hit his head on a rock that knocked him unconscious.He then claimed that he woke up in a room with a machine he had never seen before and  a man who introduced himself as Jonas said that he had brought him to his world to help him.Richards claimed that he had a fine conversation with the strange man that they started talking about the things that they both like and that includes the Beatles which astonishingly mentioned here before never broke up and carried on in the decades releasing more albums.

Richards claimed that he saw all the albums including Sgt Pepper which,according to him,has a slightly different cover.It was never mentioned how he got back to our dimension but he managed to bring a 'proof' of the said album to our world.According to the claim,the strange man Jonas told him that he would bring nothing from that world when he goes back.So Richards managed to steal a small cassette tape with the claimed 'album' which he brought back to our world.He even uploaded the strange album to his own website for people to hear.

SKEPTICISM

Well we can't really argue the fact that a lot of strange things do happen including several phenomena that just cannot be explained even by science itself.But still we cannot remove the possibility of it being a hoax considering that he had managed to bring back a cassette of the said album with the songs handwritten on the sleeve.Shouldn't it be an album cover itself with at least a photo of the fab four on what they might have looked like in the present day,considering that John Lennon was never shot and George Harrison didn't die of cancer.Or perhaps he could've brought back a vinyl or a CD which is more likely if that other world was more technically advance than ours.Anyway, a cassette is still more practical over the fact that it is easy to hide in one's pocket but shouldn't be an album cover be present instead of a recorded cassette? A lot of questions still lies on the credibility of the said claim though but we still can't argue that it could have happened after all.

The said album has also been uploaded on youtube which I included here for you guys to listen.You be the judge,is a parallel universe with our own doppelgangers ever existed? Or is this another hoax by a person who is seeking attention?

TRACK LISTING:

The Beatles 

"Everyday Chemistry"

1. Four Guys
2. Talking To Myself
3. Anybody Else
4. Sick To Death
5. Jenn
6.  I'm Just Sitting Here
7. Soldier Boy
8. Over The Ocean
9.  Days Like These
10. Saturday Night
11. Mr Gator's Swamp Jamboree

credits: single sleeve of "Free As A Bird" courtesy of EMI Records

(c) 2015  Keith Vernon Adagio

MY TOP 10 JOHN LENNON SONGS

John circa 1965(photo credit:Robert Whitaker)

In celebration of what would have been John Lennon's 75th birthday I neatly compiled what I think are the top 10 of John's finest work both with the Beatles and as a solo artist alike.
I first wrote and published this on my facebook page three years ago and I just decided to put the top 10s over here my website as well.

MY TOP 10 JOHN LENNON SONGS

With the Beatles:



1.ITS ONLY LOVE--written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney;from the album Help!

2.IN MY LIFE--(Lennon-McCartney);from the album Rubber Soul










3.SHE SAID SHE SAID--(Lennon-McCartney);from the album Revolver

4.ANNA (GO TO HIM)--written by Arthur Alexander;covered by the Beatles with lead vocals by John Lennon;from the album Please Please Me

5.ACROSS THE UNIVERSE--(Lennon-McCartney);from the album Let It Be

6.EVERY LITTLE THING--(Lennon-McCartney);from the album Beatles For Sale

7.LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS--(Lennon-McCartney);from the album Sgt Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band

8.STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER--(Lennon-McCartney);from the album Magical Mystery Tour

9.ALL I'VE GOT TO DO--(Lennon-McCartney);from the album With The Beatles



10.YOU CAN'T DO THAT--(Lennon-McCartney);from the album A Hard Day's Night

 AS A SOLO ARTIST


All songs written by John Lennon,except noted:

1.WOMAN

2.OH MY LOVE











3.NOBODY TOLD ME

4.MOTHER













5.IMAGINE
















6.WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT--written by John Lennon with arrangements by Elton John

7.LOVE















8.COLD TURKEY

9.HOW DO YOU SLEEP
















10.GIVE PEACE A CHANCE--written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Photo credits: AP,Getty Images,Bob Whitaker,Bob Gruen

(c) 2015 Keith Vernon Adagio

IMAGINE JOHN AT 75

John Lennon 1971 (photo credit:M.Putland/Hulton Archive)

2015 is actually the year John Lennon would've been 75 years old and one can hardly picture what would've been like for him if he didn't die after being gunned down by a deranged fan on that night of December 8th 1980.

Lennon as we all knew it is the founding member of the Beatles and was even responsible for giving the band its name-when asked he replied with all his magical prowess with the famous lines "A man on flaming pie appeared and said 'from this day on you are the Beatles with an A'".Such prophetic words from the man who is considered to be an icon,or perhaps a saint of the rock n roll industry.And thus,the Beatles,being the rock band who are actually responsible for the world's introduction to Modern Rock and remains the yardstick on which how modern rock music is measured.

As tributes pour down from every rock musician,writers and people from all walks of life-there's been an endless forums of "what ifs" on how it might have looked like if he didn't left us too soon.Some graphic designers even tried to progress his age digitally by trying to see him on how he would've looked like today.Several musicians like Sinead O' Connor to name a few actually pictured him somehow appreciating the rap movement or something like that.While we're on the subject I actually had an argument over with a friend who's stressing the fact that John might have liked rap at all in which Im very much not convinced.There's been a lot of different opinions on how he might have liked the music that came along after he died so this would be a matter of different conjectures with different writers but to be frank with everyone I dont think he would've liked today's music.But then,we dont really know how he would've reacted to it all.

    " I like rock n' roll. I don't like much else"
                                                                     -John Lennon,Rolling Stone magazine interview 1971

So I'm gonna base it on what he has said on the above quote.Though it was actually known that John admired Bob Marley and the Wailers through reggae music but then that is actually a lot different than rap.His one time songwriting partner Paul McCartney was also fond of reggae where his wife Linda actually recorded a reggae track under the pseudonym Suzy And The Red Stripes which was actually their rock group Wings. To be honest, a lot of ex-Beatles were finding it hard to deal with the rave that has came out after the breakup.We all know that John spent much of the seventies in a lazy haze and had actually retired from the business.And when he did wanted to come back he did it by playing with several rock groups at the time with musicians like Jim Keltner,Cheap Trick and several members of REO Speedwagon who played on what supposed to be his last album.

From this writer's point of view which is yours truly I don't think John would have appreciated rap for I honestly based it all on that quote that actually came straight from the horse's mouth,from the man himself,the certified genius,guru and grandmaster of rock music which we all know today.There's not even a hint of recorded material whether in writing or video form that John liked the disco genre as a whole which had actually been budding back in the late seventies,so what more with rap? And to let you guys know the fact that Michael Jackson actually befriended all three other ex-Beatles beginning with George Harrison,then Paul McCartney(which he later collaborated with musically) and Ringo-all of them except John,so what made him different from the rest of the group then? Is it like John is mean back then that MJ got so scared of getting near him? Or was it just like they just didn't have that chemistry at all? Unfortunately,the guy who would've answered that question is gone too.Basing on all those facts,I picture John of hating the Kanye-Paul collaboration as well and all the feud they had in the early seventies would've been ignited again by such collaboration. Like I said,a lot of different writers may vary from each other's opinion and being a blogger for 13 years I would just like to see it that way.

Fifty years have passed since the Beatles changed the course of music forever.And with such amazement,its actually fascinating to know that a lot of us were still under the mania.something that actually has passed down through generations.A lot of us will always have that "what ifs"  and wonder what really could've happened if  John Lennon wasn't taken away from us too soon.We may not know what will really happen by then and what would be on his mind.All we have to do right now is just IMAGINE.

 (c) 2015 Keith Vernon Adagio

 

The Missing Scene From Help!

English actress Wendy Richard

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of both the album and film Help! we remember one deleted scene that was actually featured on the 2007 digitally remastered DVD of the said film.Added on the second disc as a 'bonus feature',English actress Wendy Richard remembers as she describes on how thrilled she was working with the world's greatest rock band.

Story goes that Wendy portrays a student at a drama school wittily christened Sam Ahab's School Of Transcendental Elocution. Sam Ahab,was actually an anagram of Bahamas spelled backwards.The said fictionized character was played by comedian Frank Howerd who director Richard Lester describes as being kind of nervous working with the band.Lady Macbeth which was the character Richard was portraying was practicing her drama skills which Beatle George find it very irritating that he took some earplugs so he wont be able to hear it.Happens that Clang,portrayed by Australian actor Leo McKern has plotted his army of thugs to play some kind of a hypnotic music that actually put everyone spellbound.Enter Clang and the thugs they eventually got a hold of Ringo and tried to pull out the ring from his finger.When that option failed they eventually switched to plan B which is to cut Ringo's hand using a hatchet.Unknown to everyone,George wasn't affected by the hypnotic chant for wearing those earplugs earlier that he actually confronted Clang and his minions.Took them a while and then the spell started to wear off that others soon woke up from such hypnosis.Clang soon saw the failure in his plan that he decided to abort and fled along with Ahme(portrayed by Eleanor Bron) and his two other thugs.

In an interview included in the bonus feature,Richard described on how heartbroken she was when she was told that the whole scene was removed but was glad anyway that she was given a copy of the photos that was taken from the scene.Lester later pointed out that the scene didn't actually turned out to suit the movie itself that they decided to remove it in the editing blade.Sadly,Wendy Richard passed away two years later in 2009 at age 65.Frank Howerd,however, passed away in 1992.

Frank Howerd(center) with the Beatles

Three of us:Howerd and Richard with Paul McCartney  

(c)Keith Vernon Adagio 

The Beatles' best selling "1" Compilation Album Reissued

Beatles "1" album cover

The Beatles' best selling compilation album,titled 1 is to be reissued on a 5.1 digital surround stereo most of which were the first for the said album.

Due November 6,Apple Corps remastered 27 songs that all went to number one on both Billboard and UK charts,it will be available on different configurations such as single disc CD,DVD,Blu ray versions as well as CD/DVD,CD/Blu ray combo packs and a two disc vinyl edition.There will also be a deluxe package that will include DVD and Blu ray bonuses which contains music videos,some of which were never before seen and released in such format.

The Beatles 1 reissue track listings:

"Love Me Do"
"From Me To You"
"She Loves You"
"I Want To Hold Your Hand"
"Can't Buy Me Love"
"A Hard Day's Night"
"I Feel Fine"
"Eight Days A Week"
"Ticket To Ride"
"Help!"
"Yesterday"
"Day Tripper"
"We Can Work It Out"
"Paperback Writer"
"Yellow Submarine"
" Eleanor Rigby"
"Penny Lane"
"All You Need Is Love"
"Hello Goodbye"
"Lady Madonna"
"Hey Jude"
"Get Back"
"The Ballad Of John And Yoko"
"Something"
"Come Together"
"Let It Be"
"The Long And Winding Road"

Bonus material DVD/Blu ray deluxe edition

Music videos:

"Twist And Shout"
"Baby Its You"
"Words Of Love"
"Please Please Me"
"I Feel Fine"
"Day Tripper"
"Day Tripper" (alternate version)
"We Can Work It Out" (alternate version)
"Paperback Writer" (alternate version)
"Rain"
"Rain" (alternate version)
"Strawberry Fields Forever" (with Paul McCartney audio commentary)
"Within You Without You"/"Tomorrow Never Knows"
"A Day In The Life"
"Hello Goodbye"
"Hello Goodbye" (alternate version)
"Hey Bulldog"
"Hey Jude" (alternate version)
"Revolution"
"Get Back" (alternate version)
"Free As A Bird"
"Real Love"

The compilation,originally released in November 13,2000 went to number one in 22 countries,it was also the number one album in the US in 2001 according to Billboard,breaking records and bringing new generations of Beatles fans.


(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

‘The Beatles 1′ Reissue Track Listing
Disc 1:
“Love Me Do”
“From Me to You”
“She Loves You”
“I Want to Hold Your Hand”
“Can’t Buy Me Love”
“A Hard Day’s Night”
“I Feel Fine”
“Eight Days a Week”
“Ticket to Ride”
“Help!”
“Yesterday”
“Day Tripper”
“We Can Work It Out”
“Paperback Writer”
“Yellow Submarine”
“Eleanor Rigby”
“Penny Lane”
“All You Need Is Love”
“Hello, Goodbye”
“Lady Madonna”
“Hey Jude”
“Get Back”
“The Ballad of John and Yoko”
“Something”
“Come Together”
“Let It Be”
“The Long and Winding Road”

Read More: 'The Beatles 1' to Receive Deluxe Reissue | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/beatles-1-reissue/?trackback=tsmclip

‘The Beatles 1′ Reissue Track Listing
Disc 1:
“Love Me Do”
“From Me to You”
“She Loves You”
“I Want to Hold Your Hand”
“Can’t Buy Me Love”
“A Hard Day’s Night”
“I Feel Fine”
“Eight Days a Week”
“Ticket to Ride”
“Help!”
“Yesterday”
“Day Tripper”
“We Can Work It Out”
“Paperback Writer”
“Yellow Submarine”
“Eleanor Rigby”
“Penny Lane”
“All You Need Is Love”
“Hello, Goodbye”
“Lady Madonna”
“Hey Jude”
“Get Back”
“The Ballad of John and Yoko”
“Something”
“Come Together”
“Let It Be”
“The Long and Winding Road”

Read More: 'The Beatles 1' to Receive Deluxe Reissue | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/beatles-1-reissue/?trackback=tsmclip

A Word From The Author

I would like to say to everyone that I will be back on releasing posts in a while as my hectic schedule and busy day job is keeping me from posting newer articles.

As to the lady who had been attacking my other article about the Stones can you provide proof that you are a producer of one program or another for the cyber world is full of scams as well.And who do you think you are to tell me what to do on my webpage? You attacked my post and want it to be taken down is it because Im still a nobody compared to Bob Spitz who had a lot of inaccuracies in his book about the Beatles? And he definitely got away with it coz his book went into circulation despite of all the inaccuracies, Anyway,in the meantime Im disabling the comments on my other articles to avoid destructive people like you and I hope you are reading this.You can message me if you like but I do want proof that you are really a producer and not some cyber asshole.

Turns out that you are just the latter.Putting this site down? Ain't gonna happen.

More blogs to come.

"Another Girl" PLAYED LIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME

Sir Paul in action(photo credit:Getty Images)

Its been almost fifty years since the Beatles played at the Budokan in Tokyo and Sir Paul McCartney is somewhat sentimental for playing there again.And one fact that Sir Paul made another first in the past 49 years by playing "Another Girl" onstage.The track which was on the band's fifth album Help! was never sung live until today.

Here are some other fun facts regarding the song:

1.On the album version it was Paul McCartney and not George Harrison who played lead guitar throughout the song.

2.The song was recorded in one take,and George Harrison's supposed to be guitar solo and lead guitar was said to have been mysteriously removed when McCartney remixed the song in the studio.

3.The song's music video which was actually a scene/song number on the Beatles' second feature film Help! was shot in Balmoral Island,Bahamas where McCartney was standing on a coral reef with a female model standing in as his "human guitar".Each of the Beatles had traded each others instruments on the video,with John Lennon playing drums,Ringo playing acoustic guitar and George Harrison playing bass.

4.Paul McCartney wrote the song himself while on a 10 day holiday in Tunisia though the track has been credited as "Lennon-McCartney" as their contract had stated.

While on his sentimental and historical performance in the Budokan,McCartney was said to have quipped
"It was sensational and quite emotional remembering the first time and then experiencing this fantastic audience tonight"

This serves as an awesome treat from Sir Paul to his Japanese fans considering that his tour of the country was cancelled last year due to illness.

Ticket to Paul's Japan concert 2015(photo credit:Karin Tokyo)

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

Cynthia:The First Beatle Wife

Cynthia Lennon circa 1967 (photo credit:unknown)

The world of rock music was once again stunned over the news that Cynthia Lennon,first wife of Beatle John Lennon has passed away.Cynthia,known as the first Beatle wife married John Lennon just as the Beatles were starting world domination.

Cynthia Powell was born in Blackpool,Lancashire on September 10,1939,the youngest among three children  of Charles and Lilian Powell.It was in art college where she met and later married John,and they both had a son,whom she named John Charles Julian Lennon,who would later follow his dad's footsteps into rock stardom.

With the Beatles trying to make it to extreme popularity,Cynthia was often the casualty on that scenery,she would often follow the band by riding in entourage cars and would often kept silent by the management as to not hurt John's budding music career.As a result,her relationship with Lennon later soured and John would later leave her when he met Yoko Ono in 1966.

Cynthia was best known not only as the mom of Julian Lennon but as the first Beatle wife who went through a lot of things,things that Linda McCartney had called Beatle "madness": having to get pass through the pressures of rock stardom,groupies,insane paparazzis and crazy publishing deals.

Cynthia wrote two books about her relationship with John Lennon and later married Noel Charles who died in 2013.Her son Julian, was said to be by her bedside during her passing.Tributes from Beatles fans around the world and from friends like Paul McCartney and May Pang poured in as the news of her death graced the headlines.

A memorial on Julian's facebook page was created to her memory.

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

RELATED LINKS:

The Women Of The Beatles