View Full Version : It Was Fifty Years Ago Today
Sailor Steve
03-22-13, 11:44 AM
On March 22, 1963, The Beatles released their first album.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/SteveStuff/front_zps03dceb89.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Please_Please_Me
"It was 50 year ago today,
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play..."
You are really making me feel old Steve:haha:
This is the cover of the first album by them that I bought!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/Thony/Beatles_zps9a7c67b1.jpg
Sailor Steve
03-22-13, 01:17 PM
Yep, Capitol's first Beatles album. There was actually an earlier US release, from VeeJay records, with 12 of the original 14 from Please Please Me. The Capitol album was the US version of their second album, With The Beatles, released in November. It had 9 of the 14 songs from the British version, plus two songs from a single* not on the British album, and a song from the first album.
*It was a curious difference between British and American albums. Not only did the British versions have 14 songs to the American's 12, but songs that were being released as singles in Britain were intentionally not put on albums. When Capitol put up the money for the CD releases they chose to go with the original British versions. This led to much confusion from American fans from the old days, especially albums like Rubber Soul and Revolver, which not only had songs not on the American versions, but were missing songs that had already appeared on earlier British albums, and to the release of Past Masters vol. 1 & 2, two full discs of singles that were never on the British albums.
GoldenRivet
03-22-13, 01:20 PM
the influence the beatles had on rock and roll is undeniable
that said, i cannot STAND that group.
used to like em a lot... but i eventually just gave up on my oldies radio station because every 5th or 6th song was a beatles song and it seemed as if you would hear several songs repeatedly within a span of a few hours.
then the beatles version of rock band came out... kids anywhere from 10-16 who yesterday - wouldnt give the band a second glance and considered it old fart music - the next day they could name every member of the band and had a half dozen of their favorite beatles songs and they would come on the radio and beg you to leave it there.
ugh.... eventually it just got to the point that i couldnt stand it.
I all but have them blocked on pandora :haha:
I have a Beatles white album printed on white vinyl. :D
BTW just happened to run across this in the news today:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/advance_bids_for_autographed_sgt_x5cqecXEvmBj9gdoG ThG6K?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=National
DALLAS — Advance bids for a copy of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album autographed by all four band members are even higher than the auction house anticipated.
Dallas-based Heritage Auctions said Friday that bidding for the 1967 album has reached $110,500 and could surpass $150,000 by the March 30 auction. Heritage originally estimated the album would go for around $30,000.
The Beatles signed the album on the gatefold above pictures of their heads.
The auction company's consignment director, Garry Shrum, says there's no telling when an autograph of such quality will show up again and "people are responding to that."
Shrum says the bidding seems to have "taken on a life of its own."
Bids started at $15,000 and include the buyer's premium.
http://www.nypost.com/r/nypost/2013/03/22/news/web_photos/sgt_pepper--525x250.jpg
*It was a curious difference between British and American albums. Not only did the British versions have 14 songs to the American's 12, but songs that were being released as singles in Britain were intentionally not put on albums. When Capitol put up the money for the CD releases they chose to go with the original British versions. This led to much confusion from American fans from the old days, especially albums like Rubber Soul and Revolver, which not only had songs not on the American versions, but were missing songs that had already appeared on earlier British albums, and to the release of Past Masters vol. 1 & 2, two full discs of singles that were never on the British albums.
The difference between the US/UK versions also was the prime reason the Beatles formed Apple Records. THe Beatles, particulary John, were upset about the exclusion, exclusion, or rearranging of the order of the songs on the US album releases. The band had worked to put the songs in a particular order for an overall effect on the listener. The Beatles were among the first artits to view an album as a whole work rather than just the inclusion of a hit single or two padded out with filler songs. When Sgt. Pepper was released, the Beatles caused the record companies in the US/UK great consternation by refusing to release any singles from the album. This was coupled with a drawn out battle over the album cover design (John had originally just wanted to release the album in a simple brown cardboard cover) and the inclusion of the lyrics on the album's back cover...
Another little noted difference was Captol Records (US) tinkering with the recordings themselves. There are differences in the editing of some songs and sometimes a bit of audio "sweetening" was added by Capitol in the final US releases...
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Jimbuna
03-22-13, 04:26 PM
Grew up and was weaned on them...don't have any vinyl now but got all their main albums on CD :rock:
u crank
03-22-13, 04:40 PM
On March 22, 1963, The Beatles released their first album.
I was 13 years old and the Beatles had a huge impact on my musical interest. My favorite albums were the ones that preceded Sgt. Pepper, Rubber Soul and Revolver. Watching their performances on Ed Sullivan inspired me and my two brothers to play guitar. And we all still do.
Sailor Steve
03-22-13, 06:45 PM
THe Beatles, particulary John, were upset about the exclusion, exclusion, or rearranging of the order of the songs on the US album releases. The band had worked to put the songs in a particular order for an overall effect on the listener.
I've known about that for years, and I've laughed at them for years. Yes, I would challenge Lennon and McCartney themselves if I could. If that's true then they could have done a lot better job of it.
The back side of Help!, in particular, seems to be a hodgepodge of leftover songs thrown together just to fill out the side. Nothing special about it at all, and annoyingly done.
When Sgt. Pepper was released, the Beatles caused the record companies in the US/UK great consternation by refusing to release any singles from the album.
Except of course for 'Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever', which were recorded for the album but pulled to make a single. As I said, the standard British practice was to never include songs on an album that were scheduled for single release. I can show several more examples by the Rolling Stones and The Who.
Sailor Steve
03-22-13, 07:02 PM
Grew up and was weaned on them...don't have any vinyl now but got all their main albums on CD :rock:
Well, you know me. We've talked about it before. I have all the British and all the American albums, and the singles, and the EPs, all sorted by date.
I prefer the US version of albums like Rubber Soul, partly because that's the version I've listened to all these years, and partly because that version of 'I'm Looking Through You' has the "false start" guitar track at the intro not found on the British version. Conversely only the British version of Sgt. Pepper's has the cool laugh track at the very end.
Steve, this might interest you; there are a couple of Beatles-themed radio shows here in Los Angeles available also over the 'Net:
Saturday Withe the Beatles (KCSN 88.5) Saturdays, 10:00 am - 1:00pm PST
http://www.kcsn.org/programs/saturday-with-the-beatles/
Breakfast With The Beatles (KLOS 95.5) Sundays, 9:00 am - 12:00pm PST
http://www.955klos.com/common/page.php?pt=Breakfast+with+the+Beatles&id=321&is_corp=0
The Sunday show has the distinction of being the longest-running Beatles radio show, broadcasting for nearly 30 years.
Both shows feature Beatles news, rare tracks and outtakes and specials shows for the Beatles' birthdays and such. The Sunday show also plays 1960s Beatles radio promos and commercials from local radio station 93 KHJ. It is quite a kick to hear an ad for "the latest Beatles album available for just $2.95". Ah, for the days when I could go down to a recrd store and but four albums for $10.00...
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Sailor Steve
03-22-13, 07:04 PM
I was 13 years old and the Beatles had a huge impact on my musical interest. My favorite albums were the ones that preceded Sgt. Pepper, Rubber Soul and Revolver. Watching their performances on Ed Sullivan inspired me and my two brothers to play guitar. And we all still do.
Same here, except I wasn't really aware of them until Ed Sullivan, and they didn't really affect me for another year. In '65 I saw Help! in the theater, and when the movie started girls were screaming at them on the screen!
Sailor Steve
03-22-13, 07:07 PM
Steve, this might interest you;
Saturday I'm not familiar with, but Breakfast is nationwide. I used to hear it in my car years ago. On the other hand I can listen to anything I want by anyone I want anytime I want, so I don't listen to much radio anymore.
My favorite radio station of all time was one I used to listen to back in 1970 in L.A. They would play two or three different versions of the same song. Something recently popular would actually be a cover of an older, maybe unknown song, and you could decide if the popular cover was really better than the original. That's when I first found out that Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' was actually an uncredited ripoff of a Small Faces song, which was actually a ripoff of a Muddy Waters song that was actually written by Willie Dixon.
I was 12 when the first album came out and 13 when they did the Sullivan show. I was also one of the very many who got a guitar soon after...
I also saw "A Hard Day's Night" when it came out at our local theater in San Francisco. When I say I saw it, I mean that literally; there were girls screaming out the Beatles names before the movie even started and, once the film did start, there was a non-stop wall of screams and I had to go back some time later to actually be able to hear the dialogue...
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frau kaleun
03-22-13, 09:58 PM
I heard something about this on the radio today and my first thought was whether or not Steve would post something about it. :rock:
Oh, and the Beatles are/were/will always be awesome. That is all.
Sailor Steve
03-22-13, 10:11 PM
LOL.
Actually I've been awaiting this day for weeks now, hoping that no one else would think of it first. :oops:
:rotfl2:
Just ordered this Steve, want to hear the acoustic version of Imagine!:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_(John_Lennon_album)
Bilge_Rat
03-25-13, 03:50 PM
Beatles, schmeedles...always been more of a Led Zep fan, still am.
This is the first album I ever bought.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbhgvuODuF1r0u7koo1_500.jpg
Sailor Steve
03-25-13, 04:32 PM
Beatles, schmeedles...always been more of a Led Zep fan, still am.
Cool. Six years from now you should start a thread to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first album.
When you do, don't forget to mention that their most famous songs were ripped off from other people, without credit.
Jimbuna
03-25-13, 05:00 PM
Most profound but quite accurate all the same :hmmm:
*A LZ fan*
When you do, don't forget to mention that their most famous songs were ripped off from other people, without credit.
Amen to that, Steve. There used to be a blues progam on the public radio here in Los Angeles called "Nothing But The Blues" and the host of the show was a personal friend of a great many of the blues greats. One of them was Willie Dixon, the famed musician, songwriter, arranger of Chess Records, who made several in-studio appearances on the program. The number of hit songs he wrote or co-wrote is staggering and the names of the people who (other than himself) recorded those songs reads like a "Who's Who" of bluse, rock, pop, and country music. He would sit in the studio and recall all the various sessions and songs he worked on and he would detail the who, what, where, when, and why of all the works. His memory was truly awesome and there were times when other blues musicians were blown away by his ability to recall even the smallest details. During the period of the program's existence, Willie was talked into filing suit against Led Zepplin by his family who felt he was being ripped off with no proper recognition and certainly no royalties. There were several songs in question, but the main offender was "Whole Lotta Love". The progress of the case was followed by the host of "Nothing But The Blues" and by interviews with Willie until, finally, a ruling came down in Willie's favor for back royalties and damages. I don't recall what the total amount was, but it was substantial. Willie then turned around and used the money to form a charitable foundation, "Blues Heaven" to support working blues and R&B musicians who may have fallen on hard times, particularly the older musicians, and to promote new blues music development through scholarships. The foundadtion also bought the original Chess Records building to use as a headquarters, in the process saving a historic cultural monument...
As a bit of a side note, Led Zep was also successfully sued by the mother of Richie Valens, of "la Bamba" fame, for the rip-off of Valen's song "Oh, My Head" and using it as their song "Boogie With Stu". She made a very tidy sum as well...
Outside of Michael Jackson, I can't think of any performer or group sued for plagiarism more often than Led Zepplin...
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Sailor Steve
03-25-13, 07:12 PM
Don't get me wrong, I like the Zep. A lot. I like their versions of the songs they did. If 'Whole Lotta Love' had just said Willie Dixon on it instead of Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant there would be no problem. It's far and away the best version of the song, at least as far as I'm concerned.
To be fair, George Harrison was also successfully sued over 'My Sweet Lord', which was a note-for-note copy of 'He's So Fine', written by Ronald Mack for The Chiffons. It happens.
John Lennon was sued by Big Seven Music and Morris Levy, who held the rights to Chuck Berry's music, over the use of the line "Here come Old Flattop..." on 'Come Together'. Berry himself said he didn't mind, and liked Lennon's song.
But that's not what this was meant to be about. It wasn't just the Beatles, as much as I love them. It's about the 50th anniversary of a whole lot of great music, starting with their first album. They were influenced by those who came before, so I could have started anywhere. I started with the Beatles because it was seeing them in a movie that started me playing, and seeing them live that cemented it.
I am also a fan of Led Zepplin, but right is right, and the list of those who have taken Zep to court is rather longish and this does tend to taint my feelings for them. If you look at all the other bands/performers who came up at about the same time, you would see how a vast majority went out of their way to give proper due to the blues and R&B performers and writers who influenced their careers. The Rolling Stones, The Beatles (George and a Chuck Berry pro forma suit against Lennon, notwithstanding), Cream, The Animals, The Beach Boys (also sued by Berry), and many more have given credit to those they revered. The Stones have even made it a decades long practice to intentionally include at least one old school blues or R&B opening act on all their tours as ameans of both paying back the performers and to enlighten the audience about the roots of their music. A benefit of this policy was a performance I attended in Oakland, Californis in 1969 where the two opening acts for the Stones were B. B. King and the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Both acts were allowed to do their full sets, not shortened sets as most opening acts are allowed. And, the tickets were only about ten bucks...
I remember seeing a clip of a news conference Elvis gave when he had first started to gain worldwide fame. A reporter asked who his main influnces were and Elivis started to list Arthur "Big Boy" Cruddup and a couple of other blues (or, in those days, "race") artists when Col. Parker, in a bit of a panic, cut Elvis short (the look of bewilderment on Elvis' face was amusing) and stopped the news conference, rushing Elvis out of the room. I guess the King had to appear to have come from whole cloth or, perhaps, it would be seen the King had had no clothes... :)
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Sailor Steve
03-26-13, 06:20 AM
I was asleep at the wheel yesterday, so this one is a day late, but speaking of getting sued...
On March 25, 1963 The Beach Boys released their second album, Surfin' U S A.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Front_zpsfa3969ff.jpg
Brian Wilson was later sued for using a direct ripoff of the music from Chuck Berry's 'Sweet Little Sixteen'. Berry himself was not involved in the suit, and later said he liked Wilson's version.
Brian Wilson was later sued for using a direct ripoff of the music from Chuck Berry's 'Sweet Little Sixteen'. Berry himself was not involved in the suit, and later said he liked Wilson's version.
If you view the DVD of the T.A.M.I. Show (1964), both Chuck and the Beach Boys perform live, separately, and the Beach Boys sing "Surfing U.S.A.". The show was shot in a single day as a non-stop program, so Chuck and the
'Boys' were both there during the entire program and were together on stage at the finale. It would appear there was no bad feeling between them...
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Sailor Steve
11-22-13, 02:54 AM
I had to resurrect this thread because, while everyone is talking about the other famous event which happened on November 22, 1963, this also happens to be the fiftieth anniversary of the release of The Beatles' second album, With The Beatles. :rock:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/WithTheBeatles_zps1f7a92e1.png (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/WithTheBeatles_zps1f7a92e1.png.html)
Cybermat47
11-22-13, 05:41 AM
The Beatles must be famous. I actually know the names of some of their songs.
Jimbuna
11-22-13, 05:58 AM
A few tracks from the album by the Fab Four :cool:
Beatles - I Wanna Be Your Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-CjxASY3to
The Beatles - All My Loving
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T098BBuvmjs&feature=kp
The Beatles - Roll Over Beethoven
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4-16zxVMw0
The Beatles must be famous. I actually know the names of some of their songs.
You know. I hear they were the band Paul McCartney was in before Wings... :)
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Sailor Steve
11-30-13, 08:52 AM
Aaaargh! I completely forgot! :damn:
British record companies started making it a habit to leave single songs they were pushing for big sales off of albums. This is why there are the two "Past Masters" CDs now. In this case it meant that The Beatles released a new single on November 29, 1963 - just one week after the release of the second album.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/2501731_zpsb531c53b.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/2501731_zpsb531c53b.jpg.html)
Wolferz
11-30-13, 12:43 PM
I still have a fond memory of my brother and I having to beg Pop to watch the Ed Sullivan Show when the Beatles made their first appearance.
Afterward, dad commented that they would be a flash in the pan and forgotten within a year.
I begged to differ. :haha: Wasn't the first time I proved my father wrong.
Jimbuna
11-30-13, 03:11 PM
Aaaargh! I completely forgot! :damn:
British record companies started making it a habit to leave single songs they were pushing for big sales off of albums. This is why there are the two "Past Masters" CDs now. In this case it meant that The Beatles released a new single on November 29, 1963 - just one week after the release of the second album.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/2501731_zpsb531c53b.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/2501731_zpsb531c53b.jpg.html)
LOL....yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah :)
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