I have had it up to here waiting for the Beatles catalogue to be remastered

Also it looks like as soon as John got back into the studio, Paul was drilling everyone into turning "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" into the next "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", so I would guess that song curbed John's lack of interest more than anything.

The Maxwell sessions had to have been maddening

I don't mind that song, kinda love it, but ad nauseum would lead to homicide I'm sure

the irony.

funny that paul didn't just play the whole thing himself -- kind of sounds like he did anyway.

My favorite version of Maxwell is John's piss-take, where Paul chimes in Tiny Tim style. They could still have fun, even toward the end.

I just picture Paul grinning away, playing piano with everyone else scowling, grumpily banging hammers on a rail tie

Aren't railroad ties made of wood? I don't remmber hearing any railroad ties being played on Maxwell's Silver Hammer. Great, now there's another bootleg that I need to track down: the railroad tie mix of Maxwell's Silver Hammer.

Track not ties.

Just playin', I think it was actually an anvil in the Let It Be film.

Yep, Mal Evans is hitting an anvil w a hammer.

Imagine if the Beatles actually toured to support the Abbey Road album. They had have to stop everything and wait for Mal to trot out on stage with his anvil.

haha. wasn't Mal technically on the records more than anyone else aside from the Fabs themselves? like more than Yoko or Billy Preston or Clapton or whoever.

tie, track, anvil...I knew what I meant :)

If you read Mal Evans wikipedia page, it makes a strong case for him being the unsung fifth Beatle.

get in line, Mal

maybe there should be some kind of official voting

Evans was killed by police on 5 January 1976 at his rented duplex in Los Angeles. Officers were called when his girlfriend phoned the police and told them that Evans was confused and had a gun. The police believed that the air rifle Evans was holding was a rifle and shot him dead.]

WTF had never heard this story :(

They lost his remains in the mail too, prompting Lennon to say he was "dead mail".

Instant karma, John, instant karma...

instance, is John even on that? Or "Something"?

There's a session boot where John sings the lead vocal on "Something" so George can work out the harmony lines. If that's not helping, dunno what is.

His bass playing on The Long And Winding Road is really bad.

Apaprently, his bass playing was always really bad.

Not as bad as Mal's out-of-time Anvil playing. (The LP version does not feature him)

Also it looks like as soon as John got back into the studio, Paul was drilling everyone into turning "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" into the next "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", so I would guess that song curbed John's lack of interest more than anything.

This was the reason they split, according to Lennon. Macca was all "those wedding bells are breaking up that old gang of mine" which is why they might not have been as close in the latter days, but Lennon not wanting to do the McCartney songs he didn't personally like (without saying they had no merit) seems the truest reflection.

Apaprently, his bass playing was always really bad.

That version of Long And Winding Road was, for all intents and purposes, a rehearsal take. Ian MacDonald basically accuses Lennon of sabotage by passing it off as finished work, especially since Paul was around to overdub a decent bassline (I don't think they'd broken up just yet when Lennon got Spector in to assemble Let It Be).

From everything I've read, John must have been a 100% insufferable douchebag to be around by the end. I mean, in a way I guess they all were. But I remember being struck by that when I was reading 'Can't Buy Me Love'.

This is brilliant:

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/deconstructing_helter_skelter/

Paul's voice!

^^^!!!!!!!

Really cool!

biggest marvel is really the editing. insane how much they chopped together on four tracks

neato. and apparently that's another example of lennon on bass. he had ideas!

haha oh man that bassline is so retarded

yeah, lennon seemed to think playing bass was kind of hilarious, i guess? maybe being dumb on bass is the only thing to do when mccartney is in your band.

I'm actually crying, real tears of hilarity over that bassline!

Generalizing, that sounds exactly like what happens when a rhythm guitarist picks up a bass in the studio and takes a crack at it.

"Hey, Paul! This is easy!" *cronk cronk cronk, grum grum grum*

it's demonstrably worse than that, Lennon's barely even keeping time, much less actually, y'know, playing notes with a decent tone

Lennon's sloppy playing is just what the song needs though. I'd be surprised if McCartney didn't arrange it like this on purpose.

I dunno. I kinda understand now why McCartney snuck off and did "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" by himself.

I'd be surprised if McCartney didn't arrange it like this on purpose.

wouldn't exactly jibe with McCartney's annoyingly perfectionist rep

iirc the whole point of helter skelter for mccartney was to make the nastiest, meanest sounding song they possibly could, after he was disappointed by the who's I Can See For Miles and Miles.

I think Lennon's part works in context though. McCartney would have easily re-recorded that bassline if he wanted to. But yeah, it does help illustrate why Paul became such a control freak.

paul: "Umm, that came about just 'cause I'd read a review of a record which said, 'and this group really got us wild, there's echo on everything, they're screaming their heads off.' And I just remember thinking, 'Oh, it'd be great to do one. Pity they've done it. Must be great — really screaming record.' And then I heard their record and it was quite straight, and it was very sort of sophisticated. It wasn't rough and screaming and tape echo at all. So I thought, 'Oh well, we'll do one like that, then.' And I had this song called "Helter Skelter," which is just a ridiculous song. So we did it like that, 'cuz I like noise."

paul mccartney -- original noise dude

lol

Oh i loooooove the sound of that bass.

the dude was on acid and heroin every day for like ten years straight. that bass is pretty fuckin' punk rock. everything about that song is glorious though.

Apple couldn't be more annoying with this Apple/Apple deal. My local Apple shop was drenched in Beatles shit the other day. Abbey Road coming out the speakers at only-child volume (not that I mind necessarily), Beatles-specific gift cards, employees with the Abbey Road cover attached to their name tags etc etc. Jobso must have paid a bloody fortune for this thing.

they recorded that song a couple of weeks before i was born. i think i heard it in the womb. i had to come out. that song is literally yero zero for me. its a big influence on me in a non-stabbing non-killing way.

so *you're* the fifth beatle

Fifth fetal Beatle

Fetle

Featle, I mean

I Wanna Hold Your Placenta

Euuugh!