Browsing Tags's Archives »»

2010 7 Feb

Review Of The Beatles Album Beatles For Sale

no comment Posted by keepin-real

Beatles For Sale is an often overlooked Beatles album. I think that is a real shame because while it’s positively not among The Beatles greatest albums, it still has some good qualities and I do think it is worth taking a close listen to.

Particularly I think the eight original Lennon/McCartney songs on the album are very good (even if not as great as the originals on Help! and A Hard Day’s Night) What I really like about these eight originals is that they have a special connected feeling with them. I think these songs would work fantastically as an EP.

Side one really starts wonderfully with the John Lennon penned originals “No Reply,” “I’m A Loser,” & “Baby’s In Black.” These are three great tunes and all of them have this downcast mood that ties them together wonderfully.

I am not a huge fan of the covers on the album, unfortunately. Even more unfortunately is that the not so great covers make up nearly half of the album (six of the fourteen songs are cover songs.) The only covers that I have any patience for are Buddy Holly’s “Words of Love” and Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music” But even these are not as good as The Beatles originals.


The most popular of those Beatles originals on the record is “Eight Days A Week” which is a recording that both Lennon and McCartney dismissed and they never played it live, not even once. However despite that, it is a good tune. No, it isn’t among their best work, however it’s catchy and the fade-in opening is extremely cool.

All of the tracks on this album (both the originals and the covers) sound far better on the 2009 remastered CDs than they did on the previous CDs. I definitely recommend that you purchase The Beatles Stereo Box Set and The Beatles in Mono CD Box Set and give both the stereo and mono remastered versions of this album a good listen before you go about your business.

I’m not trying to say that the Remastered Beatles For Sale is destined to be your new favorite Beatles album, but I do believe you’ll find that is far better than it’s reputation. I believe Beatles For Sale is better than With The Beatles, Please Please Me, and Yellow Submarine.

Of course I listen to later albums like Rubber Soul and Abbey Road a lot more often than early LPs like this one, but that does not mean I do not enjoy listening to the earlier albums too. I think there are interesting elements in almost all of their albums. And I can barely wait to hear all of their records in remastered vinyl when The Beatles Remastered Vinyl Box Sets are released in 2010.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)


  • Share/Save/Bookmark
Published under Music | send this post
Tags: , , , ,
2009 12 Dec

Here, There, And Everywhere By Geoff Emerick

no comment Posted by keepin-real

Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles is perhaps my most favorite Beatles related book. Why? Because it provides such a fascinating and lifelike perspective on recording The Beatles legendary LPs.

I love that this book is targeted on what was occurring in the studio rather than what the members of the band were doing in their personal lives. Comparatively other books are too targeted on the biography of The Beatles and not enough on the music. It is as a result of of their songs that anyone is interested in their biography in the first place!

The book isn’t entirely concerning The Beatles, it’s really a Geoff Emerick biography (with an obvious focus on his time working with The Beatles) however if you think that may make it less interesting, I really do not think that is true. I actually think it helps make his stories about The Beatles seem more “real.”

The book’s “realness” is one of the best things about it. I have read a heap of books on the band but most of them seem quite clinical. Like a bunch of facts thrown together. With Here, There, and Everywhere I felt like I was really there at Abbey Road Studio in the 1960s. Sort of like a fly on the wall, taking it all in.


This book gives a nice look into The Beatles as musicians there’s actually a series of books called The Beatles as Musicians which goes into that more indepth.) We get a glimpse at Paul working tirelessly to get his bass guitar parts just right and we see George Harrison significantly improve his guitar playing talents through the decade.

Emerick was a very vital part of the band’s sound throughout their psychedelic period. Incredibly on his initial full day as lead recording engineer he came up with concepts that helped make the last track on Revolver, “Tomorrow Never Knows,” sound so futuristic.

If you’re interested in shopping for this book you aren’t stuck with shopping for it on old fashioned paper, you’ll be able to also obtain it for your Kindle. If you do not have a Kindle yet then I recommend shopping for the Kindle DX Digital Reader because of it’s greater size, it makes it far easier to read. If you reside outside of the States, you will need to buy a Worldwide Kindle.

Of course, as much as I love reading about the recording of The Beatles music, I love listening to their songs even more than that. I think it is a wonderful idea to have the new Beatles remasters available to hear to while you’re reading through this great book. I particularly suggest getting The Beatles Mono Box Set since Emerick mentions on several occasions in the book how much he prefers the mono mixes (especially Sgt Pepper.)

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)


  • Share/Save/Bookmark
Published under Music | send this post
Tags: , , , ,
Next Page »