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

Maxwell just doesn't fit on side one of Abbey Road at all. In context of a different album (like the eclectic-ness of the white album or twee-ness of MMT) I think it would have worked better. Having it follow Come Together and Something just intensifies the one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-other vibes the track projects in relation to the rest of AR.

"rocky raccoon" is a great song. "maxwell's" to some degree i get the hate, but that one, no

― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Monday, December 6, 2021 3:07 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i like the dementedness & as a kid i was super into the morbid angle

Ditto on liking it as a kid (I got Abbey Road for my 5th birthday). It has not aged well for me, though. It's like if Dana Carvey's Paul impression was a song, but not funny.

Maxwell just doesn't fit on side one of Abbey Road at all. In context of a different album (like the eclectic-ness of the white album or twee-ness of MMT) I think it would have worked better. Having it follow Come Together and Something just intensifies the one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-other vibes the track projects in relation to the rest of AR.

― bookmarkflaglink (Darin), Monday, December 6, 2021 1:43 PM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

that same side has "oh darling" -> "octopus' garden" -> "i want you," i'm not sure this "doesn't fit in" thesis holds up

lmao otm

I'm half way through the second episode and I have to say I'm not enjoying it nearly as much as the first. Having been told that the first one was the slog, I find myself pining for the torment of Twickenham. Maybe I'm just a miserable bastard but I can do without all the bonhomie that's suddenly back, and especially the resurgence of John and all his silly voices and banter. Bring back subdued/smacked-out John.

It doesn't help that there's an awful lot of Dig a Pony. Or indeed Get Back, which I'm not the biggest fan of.

dont worry youll get brainwashed into liking them soon

I finished ep2, and given that I'm doing this piecemeal, but I'm not finding anything a slog. I am finding it difficult to pull myself away when I should e.g. sleep. The occasional natural break certainly helps..

I will say that the show is in danger of keeping every 'funny' that John does, to the point of overkill.

I did wonder if John was on pep pills in the second episode. IIRC correctly, he was unable to stop a constant flow of 'puns' and silly voices nonsense when on uppers, going back to the Hamburg days.

Also add Billy Preston to category of people (Mo Starkey, Mal Evans) with startlingly sad wiki pages.

that same side has "oh darling" -> "octopus' garden" -> "i want you," i'm not sure this "doesn't fit in" thesis holds up

Maybe it's more of a tack sequencing issue. Come Together and Something are just sonically heavier to my ears and Maxwell sounds so goofy on their heels.

*track* sequencing

It’s not clear to me what George Martin’s job is at this point.

i never got how people who loathe maxwells dont loathe octopus' garden more

The calendar transitions have been a good place to pause.

the story note implied that magic alex fucked everything up and glyn 911'd GM to come clean up the mess. not specific i know but im sure there's some nerd book that gets into it.

Xpost it does,yes

Saw a 1993 interview on youtube where George Martin said he wanted "Produced by George Martin. Overproduced by Phil Spector" on the Let It Be credits.... but the production seems to have been all Glynn Johns.

i never got how people who loathe maxwells dont loathe octopus' garden more

― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), M

Ringo, bro

I love George's guitar work on "Octopus's Garden," which really expands on the few but charming fills he applied to "Maxwell's." Song just works better as a kids' song too - Ringo's modest delivery probably does it in that respect. (Wasn't this a zoo jingle in Illinois at one point? I feel like there was one with a swimming elephant that I used to see on TV but could be a kid's imagination.)

Saw a 1993 interview on youtube where George Martin said he wanted "Produced by George Martin. Overproduced by Phil Spector" on the Let It Be credits.... but the production seems to have been all Glyn Johns.

Yes, Giles goes over this exact quote in great detail for the new box set reissue, and he does say it shortchanges what Johns did for the whole project.

i should say, i like "maxwell" and "octopus" both. (to me, "because" has always sounded like the obvious weak link/sore thumb on abbey road)

I hate these 2 songs equally

I've cooled on Abbey Road considerably over the years

weirdly enough in the past two years i've become an abbey road superfan, after years of being a white album or bust person

the ilm post-beatles poll profoundly changed my relationship to their work in a good way. i had all of their records as a teenager but felt like i just stopped short of totally "getting" it (ofc i was also clashing with the old stereo mixes on the cds up to and including sgt. pepper). but exploring their solo careers, and especially figuring out how much i loved ram and all things must pass, made me cherish the core, the heart music so much more

“Octopus’” is charming. “Maxwell’s” is relentlessly insisting you find its utter charmlessness charming.

(Wasn't this a zoo jingle in Illinois at one point? I feel like there was one with a swimming elephant that I used to see on TV but could be a kid's imagination.)

I don’t think so. If a Beatles song was used in a Chicago-area zoo ad when I was a kid, I would’ve flipped my shit and insist that my parents take me to said zoo. I do remember, however, Magical Mystery Tour airing on a Chicago UHF station (either channel 44 or 66) in 1978 or ‘79 in the middle of a weekday. I very fortunately had school off that day, so I got to watch it. I’d had the album for a few months at that point, and I found the movie delightfully baffling.

There's a layer of sonic gloss over everything on Abbey Road which doesn't destroy the great songs, but really limits the listenability of the average stuff. The crispness and detail they had only a year before is gone.

..... what

i love the gloss! but in a different way than i love the crunch of the earlier records.

i wonder how many people around my age really got put off the Beatles by the original CDs. i was already well into the band on my parents' vinyl when I first heard the CD of Sgt. Pepper's and couldn't believe how tinny and unimpressive it sounded. OTOH i heard Revolver first on CD (one of the first three discs i ever got!) and adored it. can still kinda hear the too-crisp separation of the tracks in my head...

finally: suppose Ringo sang on Maxwell's... how many of the haters hate the song, versus hating the up-in-your-face Paulness of it?

..... what

I don't like the compressed, over-stuffed and reverbed sound, I prefer the dryness of The Beatles.

it sounds so good tho

my parents only owned the red and blue comps on cassette when i was a kid. they couldn't stand the psychedelic beatles. weird to me in retrospect bc my parents' favorite bands ended up being led zeppelin and fleetwood mac

with sickening inevitability i have been whistling the melody line to maxwell's silver hammer all morning

do do do do do

my parents only owned the red and blue comps

correction they only owned the red comp. diehard early beatlesers

maxwell's silver hammer is a fun song to play on the piano. lots of paul's granniest of granny songs are, to be honest (honey pie, when i'm 64, good day sunshine)

abbey road is def one of my top albums
i like it’s warmth, soundwise, love every track and the final collage/medley is unfuckwithable … and the finality is like a garnish of bittersweet sadness

The strangest thing this show has brought to my attention is the fact that there are people out there who don't like "Dig A Pony", which is inconceivable to me as it's one of my favourite Beatles tracks and always has been. Admittedly the rooftop performance, which is the one included on Let it Be (with the beginning and end chopped off) is what sells it best, its just terrific. But no reason to separate the song from its performance. I just love it, and cant understand how anyone can't. I almost think they're lying (which is a bonkers thought obviously, but its so alien to me, how can you not like that fantastic performance??).

dig a pony rules, ppl are stupid

"dig a pony" is so dope

i decided to try out the '69 glyn johns mix from the let it be box and boy this sucks

Dig a Pony was a very very slow grower for me --- when i first got LiB as a teen I found it kinda boring, didn't like the texture, verse wasn't melodically hooky or headsticky (for me), etc. but it's been one of the biggest earworms for me this past week, so i guess that's a good index of how much my listening tastes have evolved!

We had the blue album on vinyl. I listened mostly to the first LP, it seemed "kid-friendly" while the second LP had a gritty "adult" feel that intimidated me a little (at 6 or 7).

Love “Dig A Pony,” always have. And watching Get Back, I’m reminded that editing out the “all I want is you” after the riff/before the verse was a very smart move (on the part of Lennon or Spector, not sure who made that decision). “Dig A Pony” is probably my favorite song on the Let It Be record, for that matter…or maybe neck-and-neck with “I’ve Got A Feeling.”

pro-Pony here and also surprised that people could not (ahem) dig it

i read one of the worst beatle songs threads on here recently, and got a sense that maybe people didn't like the "just another stodgy 70s rock band" feel of get back/don't let me down/pony/i got a feeling

"just another stodgy 70s rock band" could never have made "i've got a feeling"

yes sorry not endorsing that POV at all - i like all those songs - but trying to understand the objections

I also didn't know people didn't dig Dig a Pony, which I like a lot

Will never buy into Maxwell's Silver Hammer apologia, goofy peepee poopoo baby crap

It just occurred to me: the difference between "Maxwell" and "Octopus" is the difference between Paul and George as producers.

Harrison is the only one who selflessly produced other acts. He lived to jam! He wanted to make new acts comfortable! And "Octopus" sounds like a quietly painstaking production.