Category: Music

Groovin’ On Beatles Oddities

Beatles Alternate Butcher Cover

This is a picture of The Beatles that I bet you haven’t seen. It’s the original concept for what became the infamous butcher cover for the initial pressings of the US LP “Yesterday and Today.” The idea was to give the impression that the woman was being disemboweled. Pleasant, eh?

The Beatles hated the way Capitol in America put out their records, and they felt their material was being butchered. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band was the first LP that was released exactly as it was in the UK. Well, almost. It was missing the inner groove at the end of side 2. This is how it sounded.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/BeatlesChordUS.mp3]

This is how it sounded in the UK, assuming you had a manual record player that left the tone arm down.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/BeatlesChordUK.mp3]

Note the superior sound quality of the British pressing. Listen carefully at 28 seconds and you’ll hear Ringo’s shoe squeak; however, at the end, the full three seconds of the inner groove don’t play. The CD release of Pepper has it played in a loop, but this single-play recording is from an LP.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/BeatlesInnerGroove.mp3]

EMI Assembly Line 1965
Rubber Soul records being inserted into sleeves, England 1965

One of the best known Beatles song anomalies is the false start to “I’m Looking Through You” on Rubber Soul that is missing on the UK version. But instead of that, I’ll offer the rarely heard hi-hat intro to “All My Loving.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/AllMyLovingHiHatIntro.mp3]

And finally, here’s the end of “Penny Lane” as it was originally heard on the radio in America and Canada. The horn will either sound strange to you or, if you’re old enough, it will be something very distant, yet familiar.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/PennyLaneHornOutro.mp3]

Another Beatles Death — Neil Aspinall

Only a couple of weeks after the passing of Beatles recording engineer Norman Smith, Beatles road manager and business associate Neil Aspinall has died. It would take a long time to explain Neil’s relationship and roles with the Beatles, so I won’t even try. But it’s safe to say that without Neil Aspinall, the massive Beatles Anthology project in the mid-90’s would never have gotten done.

Here’s a link to an obituary in The Los Angeles Times. If that doesn’t work, click here instead. And at this link is the BBC’s write up on Neil.

Godawful Godfrey

Arthur GodfreyThe popularity of Arthur Godfrey, a recording then TV star, in the 40’s and 50’s is a mystery to me. He was on television into the 60’s, and I know of at least one friend who liked Godfrey’s easy and relaxed style; but to me he always seemed drunk, and there was something unsettling and decidedly uneasy about him that he kept hidden beneath the surface. Even feeling as I do, I was nevertheless stunned and shocked upon hearing a certain song recorded by Godfrey sixty years ago, in 1948. As much as I wanted some confirmation that my suspicions about the man were correct, I still wasn’t prepared for “Slap Er Down Agin Paw.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/SlapErDownAginPaw.mp3]

This was a top ten hit! I can’t fathom who would have thought this was entertaining in any way at all, even as a novelty tune. As D.F. Rogers says in reference to this horrible song, in an intentionally ironic way, “There are just so many fascinating levels to study…”

Shield-ed Music

If you’re over 40, and you’ve never heard of composer Leroy Shield, that’s because the music he’s best known for was written without credit. If you’re under 40, it’s likely you’ve never heard his music at all, because around 1970 the black and white films of The Little Rascals and Laurel and Hardy, produced by Hal Roach in the 1930’s, were no longer a staple on TV.

WFMU’s Beware of the Blog notes that there is now a Leroy Shield Web site. Thanks go to Tom Tastewar for the tip-off. The audio player has a couple of tunes written by Shield, performed by the Beau Hunks.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/GoodOldDays.mp3,http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/OnToTheShow.mp3]

This Is Her Song

Tickets for Petula Clark’s appearance on Mother’s Day at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, a mere 80 miles from here, go on sale today at 10am.

 

P.S. I have my tickets! Ordered them online, and I have a link that lets me print them myself. Also, our man in Scotland, Dave, reports the following has been posted by the British government at this link.

Read the Government’s response

Thank you for your e-petition.

Petula Clark’s achievements in music are well known and respected. It is easy to see why so many people want to see her record formally recognised. This is underlined by the fact over a thousand people have signed the e-petition on the No 10 website calling for her to be made a Dame. Your support has been carefully noted.

This is only acknowledgment that the PET-ition has been noted, not that it is being acting upon. The whole concept of petitioning the UK gov’t online is new, so there’s no way of knowing if this is the standard response. I would point out, however, that there’s no mention of Pet being such a trouper for the troops during WWII. My feeling is her contributions to morale during the war in and of themselves warrant the title of Dame. And of course she’s had such a wonderful career ever since then!

My Favorite Beatles Song

Do I have one single favorite Beatles song? Actually, yes, I think I do. Overall, I tend to favor John over Paul, but this one is my favorite.

[flv:/Video/2008/MAR/HelloGoodbye.flv 440 330]

And while I have the old Laser (pre-DVD) video disc player going, here’s a delightful short scene from Magical Mystery Tour. Seeing this, it’s obvious that John had a kid of his own.

[flv:/Video/2008/MAR/MagicalMysteryTour.flv 440 330]

Extra: That version of “Hello, Goodbye” is obviously not the original stereo mix from Thursday, November 2, 1967. Further, it’s slower. Or perhaps the mix for the record was sped up. I’ll put it here for comparison, taken from the original Capitol Records LP of Magical Mystery Tour that I first heard 40 years ago.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/HelloGoodbye.mp3]

In the UK, Magical Mystery Tour was a double EP, and it had only the songs on side 1 of the American LP.

Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge