Ask my old brain about the Beatles

[skysaw]

I don't know why, but I thought it might be fun to try to answer as much as I can WITHOUT using any references at all... just relying on my memory. I've been listening to the Beatles since 1969 when I was 5 years old. I pretty much have most of the lyrics of most of their songs commited to memory. I'm not good at exact dates, but I know a lot about people involved, recording techniques, which Beatle wrote which songs (all of John and Paul's were listed as "Lennon/McCartney," though usually just one of them wrote it), which album songs appeared on and usually in which order, which songs were initially left off of U.S. versions, and lot's more completely useless things. So ask me anything you like (especially pre-breakup), and I promise not to use the internet, books, or my i-Pod to help me. If I want to look it up after I answer just to see, I'll mention it here.

[Mes Tarrant]

This is making me depressed. I knew just about everything about the Beatles until age 16 or so when I finally began to listen to other music. When did they finally start to receive their fair share of money, and how did they make that happen?

[skysaw]

This is making me depressed. I knew just about everything about the Beatles until age 16 or so when I finally began to listen to other music. Aww... why depressed? I actually don't listen to them all that much any more, but I do have several of their albums on my iPod, and a song comes up now and then and always puts a little smile on my face. When did they finally start to receive their fair share of money, and how did they make that happen? This is an interesting question, and one I don't feel I have a very clear picture of, but I'll give it a try. It's a bit difficult to define "fair share" here, but I think hiring Brian Epstein as their manager would have had a lot to do with it. They certainly weren't making any money playing in the "Cavern" or in Germany.

[The Enterer]

What were the two reasons Paul used as an excuse for having a hard time nailing the bassline to 'One after 909'?

[skysaw]

What were the two reasons Paul used as an excuse for having a hard time nailing the bassline to 'One after 909'? Wow... fantastic question. I know I've heard this one before, and I'm sure know the answer to this one somewhere in the back of my head. But I'll have to go a bit on intuition here, since the precise story escapes me. I believe one had to do with using a pick vs. using his fingers. The other was probably trying to sing while playing. However... this is not yet my final answer. Let me think a bit about this one and come back to it. The old brain is slow to retrieve at times. I might have to resort to listening to that track again and paying attention to the bassline to spark the memory, but I promise to report having done so. EDIT: Brain still churning. I think I also remember something about many repeated notes being tiring on his hand? Hmmm

[The Enterer]

Damn! You got the first one right. I'm already impressed! EDIT: I didn't see your edit. Very close but not quite.

[skysaw]

Damn! You got the first one right. I'm already impressed! EDIT: I didn't see your edit. Very close but not quite. Well I just listened to the track on my i-Pod because nothing else was coming to mind. I'm still thinking it had to do with his hand getting tired, but there weren't so many repeated notes. In fact, the part is very simplistic, so I'm thinking it might have been the stretch going from I-V-I (octave). I don't think that should be too hard, but I can't translate it in my head to the left-handed version he would have been performing. Come to think of it, I don't recall if he flipped his guitars with or without the string change. Either way, I'm sure it would be tiring if they did a lot of takes. The only complicated sounding part was during the instrumental break, and I think I actually hear a flub a few seconds before the verse comes back. One interesting thing about this song is that it was actually one of the first songs they wrote back in the very early 60s, but they didn't record it until Let It Be.

[The Enterer]

Oh man, you even said it and didn't even know it. I'll give you a hint - it doesn't really make sense as an excuse.

[skysaw]

Oh man, you even said it and didn't even know it. I'll give you a hint - it doesn't really make sense as an excuse. LOL... the only thing I can think of is that the part was "too easy!"

[The Enterer]

[skysaw]

Thanks, but I'm not sure the bow was deserved since I was so heavily prompted. It is sort of coming back to me slowly, now that the secret has been revealed. I was thinking as a fun side-game, feel free to name a song, and I'll try to give as much trivia about that song as I can. I do much better with Rubber Soul and later than the earlier stuff, but I'll see what I can manage.

[Mes Tarrant]

I recently caught some special on the Beatles, and apparently Brian Epstein was who was practically robbing them of their money. I didn't watch the entire special, so I don't know when exactly the situation was remedied, but apparently they had very little money even in year 1965! Whodda thunk it.

[skysaw]

I recently caught some special on the Beatles, and apparently Brian Epstein was who was practically robbing them of their money. I didn't watch the entire special, so I don't know when exactly the situation was remedied, but apparently they had very little money even in year 1965! Whodda thunk it. Interesting. I got the feeling that he wasn't a particularly great manager, but John was very fond of him anyway.

[CoLd BlooDed]

What's a Teddyboy?

[Grod]

Man, I should have done this thread too. What is the mistake in Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da?

[Taosaur]

What is the mistake in Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da? They're nonsense words.

[Grod]

They're nonsense words. ob: a major river of western Siberia; flows generally northward and westward to the Gulf of Ob and the Kara Sea la: genus of moths of the Crambidae family. There are four species in the genus, and all have been given punning names. di: an ethnic group in China. They lived in areas of neighboring borders of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Shaanxi. da:district attorney: an official prosecutor for a judicial district Wrong, but nice try. (question still stands to SkySaw)

[Sornaensis]

No. I demand to speak with your new brain.

[Taosaur]

ob: a major river of western Siberia; flows generally northward and westward to the Gulf of Ob and the Kara Sea la: genus of moths of the Crambidae family. There are four species in the genus, and all have been given punning names. di: an ethnic group in China. They lived in areas of neighboring borders of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Shaanxi. da:district attorney: an official prosecutor for a judicial district A district attorney is pronounced dee-ay, not da. But I'll defer to your expertise; the song is obviously about Chinese lawyer lepidopterists on a river expedition.

[skysaw]

What's a Teddyboy? Hmm... not sure if this is a serious question, or if there's anything even interesting behind it, so let me know if there is. Of course Teddy Boy is a post-Beatle McCartney song, which I didn't claim domain over. As far as I know, it's just a "story about a boy named Ted," whose father dies, and who wants to become the man in the family, and take care of his mother.

[skysaw]

Man, I should have done this thread too. What is the mistake in Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da? Are we talking about a mistake in the lyrics or in the music? Let me see if anything comes to mind with the lyrics... I guess it could be that Desmond takes the ring to Molly "waiting at the door" a couple of years before they built their home. Not sure if this would really be a mistake though, since it could be her door, and not theirs. Or it could be that "Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face" (Instead of Molly) on the repeat, but I always thought this was just a little goofiness Paul threw in there on purpose.

[Grod]

Or it could be that "Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face" (Instead of Molly) on the repeat, but I always thought this was just a little goofiness Paul threw in there on purpose. yeah. I heard it was like Paul accidentally said Desmond instead of Molly, but the other Beatles didn't really like the song so they told him to keep it.

[skysaw]

I heard it was like Paul accidentally said Desmond instead of Molly, but the other Beatles didn't really like the song so they told him to keep it. That's funny, It's not one of my favorites either. It's definitely better with the mistake!

[dreamsinmymynd]

Why does Helter Skelter sound so much different than most of their songs, especially the other mainstream ones.

[skysaw]

Why does Helter Skelter sound so much different than most of their songs, especially the other mainstream ones. I'm pretty sure I have your answer. This was in a way a "response song." I may be a little sketchy on some of the details, but here's how I remember it. They had read a review of a Rolling Stones (I think) song where the critic had said it was the raunchiest, noisiest thing they had ever heard. The Beatles decided they wanted to have the raunchiest, noisiest thing the critic had ever heard! Of course the real answer that they don't want you to know is that it was a secret message to Charles Manson telling him to go on a rampage!