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

is that documentary on youtube or something ?

Parts of it are, yes:

https://youtu.be/HWriMsTALF4?list=PL6208F5F8D1A8868F

The aforementioned animated sequence is missing. The documentary starts with Allen Ginsberg talking briefly about each track, with cutaways relating to said track. The doc on youtube is missing some of these, and opens with one such cutaway to musicologist Wilfred Mellers singing "She's Leaving Home." He appears later in the doc to talk about it more in depth.

xp I agree that George did seem rather upbeat about the era. It's a strange documentary, I didn't really think they actually managed to make any real connection between the Beatles making Sgt. Pepper and the American counterculture other than it being a soundtrack, but it does get loads of good contributions in it, most notably Derek Taylor.

Also love that animation with the cardboard heads. Feels canonically Beatlesy for some reason.

― in twelve parts (lamonti), Thursday, June 1, 2017 4:06 AM (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I remember not liking it much at the time, but mainly because I wanted more "when we did 'Lucy In The Sky,' Ringo put this tea-towel on that drum and then we all got super baked" kind of stuff. Now, I want less of that. We know all the stories, and they're good stories, but what's missing from most of the 50th anniversary retrospective pieces is any measure of contextualization. That is, Abbie Hoffman and Ed Sanders don't talk about Sgt. Pepper much, but they're essential to understanding its significance in its time.

As for George, he hadn't put out a record since 1982 (Cloud Nine was still months away). It had likely been years since he'd done a filmed interview, and he hadn't yet been subject to the endless repetition of the same questions to the degree that Paul had (but Paul never seemed to mind). By the time Anthology rolled around, he'd done tons of interviews and seemed sick of it.

isn't that doc what's in the box set? also PBS is running a doc this weekend; maybe the same one?

re: penny lane remix. I wish he'd been balsy and just put the horn over the ending. it's a remix after all, why not do something different.

Ah, that's the alternate "Capitol" version, on the "super" version, right?

I haven't seen the doc in the box, but I believe that one is from 1992. The PBS doc appears to be new, and (based on the trailer) much more about the Beatles and the record than about 1967.

xp

OK I've watched the parts available on youtube. Most of it was in the Anthology, though (but not some of the contemporary interviews).

I quite like Derek Taylor's tie-in book that accompanied the doc...talks about the album in the context of 1967 as a whole, with reminiscences of folks like Roger McGuinn, Sir Joseph Lockwood, Ed Sanders talking about the march on the Pentagon (happened on the day I was born), etc

I remember watching that doc on PBS when it originally aired, but it felt like a pale shadow of the superior Compleat Beatles to me

I thought the Compleat Beatles was decent, but this '87 doc is a different beast. Compleat didn't get much into what was happening in the world in '67 (or at any other time).

yeah it's not as focused on the cultural moment of '67, but as a Beatles document I just liked it more

Here's the intro, but without the audio due to a claim made by the copyright holder:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOI1fb18jMg

Not just cardboard animation. You've got some cutting-edge California Raisin claymation as well.

The new non-Apple doc (featuring er.. Pete Best!) is
this one, and is not featured in the box

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Fifty-Years-Today-Beatles/dp/B06Y2D59PV

yeah that was an amazing opening. so, is that doc NOT what's in the box?

Correct. The 1987 documentary with Abbie Hoffman and Ed Sanders and Derek Taylor and Roger McGuinn is NOT in the box.

A different documentary, from 1992 (I think), is in the box.

bah. how many fucking documentaries do we need on this record

Enough to fill the Albert Hall

The whole version of It Was Twenty Years Ago Today is embedded on a vimeo link on this page, but I don't know how to link to the vimeo page directly

http://www.diggers.org/it_was_twenty.htm

I still impressed by how heavy the remix version of "good morning" is.
from the first kickdrum it's so in your face. I think it might be the heaviest track on the album now which, finally, gives it a purpose !
it might have even been better if they had played on a key allowing Lennon to scream/sing more aggressively...

yeah that has become one of my favorite songs on this album in the past few years. really benefits from the remix.

Not blown away by this, but it's all right. I like fresh takes on old classics while they're still fresh.

I don't like hearing the studio chatter during the reprise intro. Also a couple other places where it gets cute, like boosting the fuck up on that WYWY laugh.

a beatles maniac who works at a local library ran an evening program on the 50th ann., where he played a handful of tracks in 5.1 surround. they were spectacular, in a gosh-wow sort of way, with that calliope in mr. kite spiraling every which way. but with all that clarity and detail, it was almost like there was too much to focus on. i'm not sure it really helped the songs qua songs. first impressions and all that, but who knows if i'll ever hear the 5.1 mixes again.

Wow @ rhythm section on Pepper remaster

that richard goldstein review is interesting. like, maybe the beatles intended there only to be one song on that album, and nicely bookended all the others between the two versions of sgt pepper, as prelude and pastiche. going with that for a moment, maybe they left off "penny lane" & "strawberry fields" so as not to divert attention.

Yeah, I mean, achieving one really 'profound' moment on a pop record seems like a pretty solid accomplishment to me.

For me the audience laugh at the end of the line "we're sorry but it's time to go.. " in the Reprise is the 'Han Shot First' moment in this whole remix caper. What the hell is a *laugh* doing there?? Makes no sense and isn't present on the Mono or the Stereo. Why would an audience laugh at that?? Seems typical of the 'hey you can't hear it in the original.. so let's have it in this new version!' thinking that blights the project.

I think, speaking of Star Wars, that in much the same way as the 1997 special editions of those movies were initially greeted with praise and approval ("It's just like the original Star Wars .. but with loads of extra stuff that wasn't there before! Fantastic!") there will ultimately be a realization that we've been had and the clamour for the preservation of the originals will begin in earnest in about 10 years' time.

I say again, a *laugh* at the end of that line!? Jesus tap-dancing Christ.

ah I haven't noticed that. but was it in the original recording or did they add it ? if it was there all the time but you couldn't really hear it, I don't have a problem and it's fun to discover new things (it's different from adding new stuff, like the awful star wars re-editions !).
I haven't listened to the album much since the release but I found they did a great job. And for people who don't like the new remix, the old ones are still there...

OK, I listened to it and to the "old" mix and although you can hear that crowd noise clearer in the new mix, it's also there in the old one...

Truly the final frontier...(of previously released stuff)

https://beatlesblogger.com/2017/11/04/the-beatles-christmas-records-box-set/

https://beatlesblogger.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/2017-beatles-christmas.jpg

I just realized while trying to make up some sleep this morning that Day Tripper is about getting high

xp great news

Do Not Feed The Turrican when he inevitably shows up

I've already eaten, mate.

please die

Anyway, I love 'Day Tripper' and think it's up there with their best singles, particularly when you factor in 'We Can Work It Out' on the flip. As big as they were by that stage, they still sound hungry and excited by what they're doing.

Wow, you're a charmer... even I would stop short of coming out with something like that, even at my most annoyed.

1967 Xmas Record is great

i love those album covers, especially the bottom 3

I don’t have the patience to go upthread and learn why you guys have a beef but life is very short

The short answer is that he doesn't like my opinions on The Beatles, and this obviously (according to him) deserves being told to "please die", which in turn doesn't really change my perception of the Beatle hardcore.

The thing about the Christmas records is listening to the bands attitude towards them change with each one. By the late '60s, they've gone from merely recording greetings, to little jingles to out-and-out pissing about.

Don't know if they specified it in some way as Double A-side, but the catalog number of "We Can Work It Out" is lower, indicating that if they didn't it was the A-side.

I don't know and I'm not particularly bothered about whether it was intended to be a double A side or what was intended to be the A or B side... ultimately it doesn't matter since they're both great tracks regardless. 'Day Tripper' was probably the more popular of the two generally, and the riff has a lot to do with that, but I personally love both equally and think it's a great single in terms of the whole package.

Fucking hell, someone has actually said on BBC Four... "this is how The Beatles helped to destroy communism" in the intro to a documentary about The Beatles in Russia. For fucks sake, people.

he probably stole that idea from paul

I had (have) the 1966 one, there are a few ideas that could have been some good full-size versions: Felpin Mansions, Podgy and Jasper, um that's it.

This is sweet, May purchase.

lol
SINCERE GOOD WISHES FOR CHRISTMAS AND THE NEW YEAR FROM john paul george & ringo
it's like having an office christmas card as a Christmas single

ease up on the christmas cheer boys jeez

have you seen the price?
£64.99 is all

Nine quid per disc

I like those christmas records, listening to them (by myself) has been a x-mas tradition for as long as I've had digital copies of them all. Nice to see them finally get a reissue though a 12 inch would have been more efficient, it's really cool to see the 7" covers.