The Beatles' Love

[Andrew McGeever]

For anyone needing an introduction to the Fab Four, this is it!
For those who, like me, were brought up with their music, there's much to be enjoyed by the way George Martin has weaved/stitched/linked the tracks. The only new sounds on this gorgeous album are provided by George and his son Giles' orchestration of George Harrison's beautiful "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".
My eldest son and my daughter-in-law attended the world premiere in Las Vegas last year: the album is the sound track for the show.
I'll say two things: hear this album, and, better still, get your ears round the original L.P.s of the greatest group ever.

Andrew.

[Teratogen]

Yeah, this album was great. I was constantly surprised all the way through. I have all the Beatles studio albums and know them all like the back of my hand, so hearing some of the mash-ups and medleys and remixes I was floored and I loved it.

[Paula]

I agree with you Andrew the Beatles were the best ever group. I have all their albums they are timeless and brilliant.

[lizzytysh]

Every time I hear them, I have those exact, same feelings, Paula . So happy they were part of my generation , so was hearing them continually, in all measure of circumstance .


Love,
Lizzie

[~greg]

Ah! So! So that's what "mash-up" means!

Well, obviously, Leonard must be jealously protected
from any and all such abuse!

~~

Let me show you how bad it could be if that kind of thing
were to be allowed in his case.

I have worked up the following mashy-like-thingy,
as a sort of "proof-of-absence-of-any-real-concept".

It took me only 2 minutes to make, but I think it at
least does show the terrible possibilities skulking in this territory:

http://relay.twoshakesofalambstail.com/LCmashup.MP3


(the site has been having "server problems",
but i expect it's fixed by now, and the rebel leaders
executed.)

[lizzytysh]

(the site has been having "server problems",
but i expect it's fixed by now, and the rebel leaders
executed.)

Since you no longer have need, could ya send the executioners on over t'my house?


Thanking you in advance,
Lizzy

[Andrew McGeever]

Ah! So! So that's what "mash-up" means!

Well, obviously, Leonard must be jealously protected
from any and all such abuse!

~~

Let me show you how bad it could be if that kind of thing
were to be allowed in his case.

I have worked up the following mashy-like-thingy,
as a sort of "proof-of-absence-of-any-real-concept".

It took me only 2 minutes to make, but I think it at
least does show the terrible possibilities skulking in this territory:

http://relay.twoshakesofalambstail.com/LCmashup.MP3


(the site has been having "server problems",
but i expect it's fixed by now, and the rebel leaders
executed.)

Dear greg,
The "mashy -like thingy" (sic) doesn't apply to the Love album: I think it was Teratogen who triggered that for you.
What you must do is listen to the album, then make unmashy criticisms.
Fab Four Forever,
Andrew.

[~greg]

Dear greg,
The "mashy -like thingy" (sic) doesn't apply to the Love album:
I think it was Teratogen who triggered that for you.
What you must do is listen to the album, then make unmashy criticisms.
Fab Four Forever,
Andrew.

Teratogen! Triggerman!
:)

But I shouldn't be quite so fast with the versus, if I was us,
-- Oh Andrew the Rhymer:

AMG http://www.allmusic.com/

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

If boiled down to a simple synopsis, the Beatles' LOVE sounds radical:
assisted by his father, the legendary Beatles producer George,
Giles Martin has assembled a remix album
where familiar Fab Four tunes aren't just refurbished,
they're given the mash-up treatment,
meaning different versions of different songs are pasted together
to create a new track.

Ever since the turn of the century, mash-ups were in vogue in the underground,
as such cut-n-paste jobs as Freelance Hellraiser's "Stroke of Genius"
— which paired up the Strokes' "Last Night" with Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle"
— circulated on the net, but no major group issued their own mash-up mastermix
until LOVE in November 2006. . . .
...

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... 3qran1k~T1

And I had heard the Love CD.

(But not the one which comes with the "bonus DVD"
(which, judging from AMG song list, is just the same 26 songs,
perhaps differently (more radically?) re-mixed.))

And I wasn't criticizing it.

You are of course right that my
" "mashy -like thingy" (sic) doesn't apply to the Love album"
-- in the sense that it doesn't come anywhere near it in quality,
exactly.

But that was my point.
I mean, who is Leonard Cohen's "George Martin" to be
able to do it for Leonard near as well Martin & Son did it
for the Beatles?

(I - just being the Dr Frankenstein of LC mashes - as
reference point for how bad it could be.)

Phil Spector?

~~~

Anyway, I do like the Martins' Love album,
although the AMG review of it is an odd read.

This isn't an art project and it isn't underground, either:
it's a big, splashy commercial endeavor, one that needs
to surprise millions of Beatles fans without alienating them,
since the mission is to please fans whether they're hearing this
in the theater or at home. And so, the curious LOVE,
a purported re-imagining of the most familiar catalog in pop music,
winds up being less interesting or surprising than its description would suggest.
Neither an embarrassment or a revelation,
LOVE is at first mildly odd but its novelty soon recedes,
revealing that these are the same songs that know you by heart,
...
And that's the frustrating thing about this entire project:
far from being a bold reinvention, a Beatles album for
the 21st century, the Martins didn't go far enough in their mash-ups,
creating new music out of old, turning it into something mind-blowing."

And I think that that's probably all true.

But for me it's irrelevant.

For me the subtler the differences are from the originals,
the more *useful* the album might be.

Like the old fashioned stereoscope images
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereoscope
it is the subtlest differences that bring out the 3D effect.

In this case the 3D effect being the more vivid nostalgia.

As with the other respondents to this thread, Beatles'
music is burnt in every synapse in my brain.

Not that I was a "fan" at the time. They were much too popular
for me to idolize. But I always liked all their songs,
and, the important thing for me, every single one of them
brings back specific memories of time and place.

Not that I like nostalgia. I more or less hate it.

But nostalgia can be useful, in small doses, to help kick-start
and motivate a fresh approach to living in the now.

What I fear is the image of the old man in the rocking chair,
reminiscing.

It may be cute when the child demands the same story be read,
every single night, for a year, in exactly the same way.
Or throws a tantrum.

And it is sometimes therapy for us, for exactly the same reason,
when we hear the music from our time. (Other times though it's
just extremely annoying. In my neighborhood every single radio
station is an "oldies", --meaning 1960s!, -- and the vast
majority of it STILL SUCKS, just as much as it did back then.)


Resistance to the now may be touching, perhaps,
but not quite so cute in the old man.

The following is the touching instance where Matt
fairly quickly comes back around.

But it is the more and more frequent times that we don't
come around, that I am fearing...

(- for those who catch my drift
.. drift, ...... drifting ...awayeee ee... ...... )

-from Guess Who's Coming To Dinner script:

Matt Drayton (Spencer Tracy) > I had a special kind of favor that I liked very much.
- But I can't remember what it was.

Girl > - I'Il bring you the list.

Matt > No, you must know what it is.

Girl > Daiquiri Ice? Honeycomb Candy?
Cocoa Coconut? Jamoca AImond Fudge?
Mocha Jamoca? Peanut Butter and Jelly?
Cinnamon Banana Mint?

Matt > - Must have been some other place.

Girl > - Fresh Oregon Boysenberry Sherbet?

Matt > That's it!
I'm sure that's it. Bring me a Fresh Oregon Boysenberry.
- Bring me a big one.

Girl > - Right.

Matt > - Will you have some? It's delicious.

Christina Drayton (Katharine Hepburn) > - No. Black coffee.

Girl > One double Fresh Oregon Boysenberry Sherbet
and one black coffee. Thanks.

Christina > You know, Matt...I think Mike was right
that Joey is lucky. The work he's doing is so important...
she'll be able to help him with it and share it all with him.
The best break any wife can have. You know, for us,
it's all been great...but do you know what was the best time
of all? It was in the beginning when everything was a struggle...
and you were working too hard and sometimes frightened...
and there were times when I felt... that I really knew
that I was a help to you. That was the very best time of all for me.

Girl > - One black coffee.

Christina > - Thank you.

Girl > And one Fresh Oregon Boysenberry Sherbet.

Matt > Thank you.

Matt (after one taste, making angry faces) > This is not the stuff!!!
I never had this stuff before in my life!!!

Matt (after two tastes) > You know, it's not bad.
Not bad at all!
I kinda like it.
Fresh Oregon Boysenberry.
Yes, sir.
Well, when l had the ice cream before...
- this isn't the stuff I had,
but I like it.
- it's very good. I like it very much.

Girl > - Okay.

[Teratogen]

Well, here's the thing: A mash-up is when the lyrics from one song are input (or, mashed up) into another song. For instance, I heard one amazing mash-up featuring the music of the Velvet Underground's "Rock and Roll" with Christina Aguilera singing "What A Girl Wants" over it. Another fantastic one I heard was the music of Blondie's "Rapture" with Jim Morrisson singing "Riders on the Storm" over it. It was called "Rapture Riders." It was excellent.

There really wasn't a lot of the mash-up going on on the LOVE album, but it existed. For instance, the second track is just labeled "Get Back," but in the beginning of it you can hear the music from "The End," y'know, from Abbey Road. One of my favorite tracks is titled "Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing," but as far as I know there was never a Beatles song called "What You're Doing," and they basically used the music to "The Word" over the lyrics of "Drive My Car."

Andrew, if I may be wrong please tell me, but I know that's what I heard and I know that's what the definition of a mash-up is.

[lizzytysh]

Hello again ~

the Martins didn't go far enough in their mash-ups,
creating new music out of old, turning it into something mind-blowing."

... yet this is very thing that may be keeping it from alienating.

As with the other respondents to this thread, Beatles'
music is burnt in every synapse in my brain.

I agree. It will be elevator music ~ and played by symphonies ~ forever.

Not that I was a "fan" at the time. They were much too popular
for me to idolize.

I never idolized them, but I loved getting high to them. Songs such as "Here Comes the Sun" ~ hearing the first line sung, even mind, takes me back to some glorious, fresh air days when I was experiencing it literally, as well as singing it joy/fully throughout the day.

. . . brings back specific memories of time and place.

One: In the middle of summer, listening and looking out the kitchen window onto 40 acres, from the apartment over the garage, smoking with my paramour/husband-to-become and his brother, before we went riding all over the countryside in his black Eldorado, with him and his German Shepherd, Axle... windows wide open, laughing and singing to the tape, "Here comes the sun . . . "

Not that I like nostalgia. I more or less hate it.

Yep. Some do. Some don't.

But nostalgia can be useful, in small doses, to help kick-start
and motivate a fresh approach to living in the now.

Agree... as well as to trigger lovely memories that are as vivid as today.

What I fear is the image of the old man in the rocking chair,
reminiscing.

Why, Greg? For me, this image couldn't be lovelier. It's one of the things that can make old people so precious. I won't suggest this as being ageism, but won't rule it out, either. Perhaps, it's something else . . . ?

It may be cute when the child demands the same story be read,
every single night, for a year, in exactly the same way.
Or throws a tantrum.

For me, this would be the older person who plays the same song repeatedly and is simply 'stuck' in yesterday; yet, this would be the same for me as the 40- or 16-year-old who is stuck in last year. Mildly obsessive-compulsive to outright mentally ill, but no longer inside the realm of nostalgia.

"oldies", --meaning 1960s!, -- and the vast
majority of it STILL SUCKS, just as much as it did back then.)

For me, it's the 1950s ~ and the music is as wonderful now as it was then.

Resistance to the now may be touching, perhaps,
but not quite so cute in the old man.

Just as touching and just as "not quite so cute" in the young one. Poor old people are really taking a beating in your analogies here, Greg.

But it is the more and more frequent times that we don't
come around, that I am fearing...

(- for those who catch my drift
.. drift, ...... drifting ...awayeee ee... ...... )

Great description of drifting away into mental illness/senility/Alzheimers [scarey in all cases] rather than reverie [pleasant when I see or experience it].

( - for those who catch my drift . . .

Is there a code to be cracked ?

My take on this scene is quite different from yours, Greg. This is mine, stated in the 'absolute' for expediency's sake [you know how expediency is... she's not nostalgic ]:

. . . The work he's doing is so important...
she'll be able to help him with it and share it all with him. The best break any wife can have. You know, for us,
it's all been great...but do you know what was the best time
of all? It was in the beginning when everything was a struggle...
and you were working too hard and sometimes frightened...
and there were times when I felt... that I really knew
that I was a help to you. That was the very best time of all for me.

Sharing and losing oneself are not the same. Not nostalgia, so much as a description, via remembrance of a time when she was still herself, and he was still himself, as two individual people struggling together, before she became eclipsed by his world and lost hers... a longing for individuation and sense of self, with the past just happening to graphically represent a time when she had it. "The best break any wife can have" is the double-edged sword of this together. Her use of this line is to hold his attention for what follows, rather than losing it to the feeling of alienation that she is experiencing herself, due to his absorption of her into his world and loss of self in what ought to be her own. This isn't nostalgia, so much as a well- and poignantly-phrased deep level of complaint. Her black coffee symbolizes the sense of down-to-earth reality that she longs for, for herself.

Matt (after one taste, making angry faces) > This is not the stuff!!!
I never had this stuff before in my life!!!

Matt (after two tastes) > You know, it's not bad.
Not bad at all!
I kinda like it.

A childish, spoiled reaction in the beginning, reflective of his all-consuming attention to his own tastes and expectations of how the world should be. He adjusts and 'moves on'... a good thing; yet, he's 'moving on' in his world, still consumed by it and this 'new addition' to it, another coat of sealant, with the focus on him in these lines being so intense and all-consuming as to be symbolic of his world, overall, now; since those early days, and with her still barely present in it.

For me, this is one of those scenes with more than one or two layers. It also reminds me of the Starbuck's phenomenon, with seemingly infinite insistence on individuality, to the extent where the good of 'variety' has become the ridiculous and altogether bypassed the sublime. [No offense to Starbucks drinkers and lovers . I've had occasional cups .] I suspect Leonard might have a regular cup of coffee... and, perhaps, just black.

Back to the Beatles and the LOVE album... wasn't the creation of it part-and-parcel of the Cirque du Soleil production based on it? I listened to a segment on NPR about it and loved what I heard. Fascinating.

Okay, time to get ready for work... gotta turn up the radio for that old song I'm hearing faintly . . . drifts off and awayeeeee . NOt to disappoint you, but it's actually the news on NPR, telling how many died in a car bomb today.


~ Lizzy

[Diane]

What I fear is the image of the old man in the rocking chair,
reminiscing...

Greg, it is not necessary to listen to newly produced stuff. In fact it is unseemly, and embarrassing for one's teenaged children or grandchildren. Only kidding. But when I play my (mostly "old") records I am enjoying them Now. My excuse.

Are you afraid of getting old? Here's a lovely line I read somewhere:

"An old man loved is winter with flowers."

Diane

[Paula]

Just to make you all jealous I saw the Beatles live on CRACKERJACK!

[lizzytysh]

I saw the 'Live' on the Ed Sullivan Show ~ first time around... I wouldn't call that Live, though .

What is "CRACKERJACK," Paula?


~ Lizzie

[Pete]

CRACKERJACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pete]

Just to make you all jealous I saw the Beatles live on CRACKERJACK!

Wow!!!
You saw Crackerjack!!!!
and the Beatles!!!

Did you scream??????