Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail writes about the various versions of "A Day in the Life" that have come down through the years, including several that earned Grammy nominations (one of which is for this year).
Excerpt:
The song has been Grammy-nominated twice before. It lost out in 1968 to Ode to Billie Joe in the song-arrangement category; and it lost again in 2000 for Beck's studio version on George Martin's In My Life disc. But its nomination this year for best rock instrumental performance marks a rebirth of A Day in the Life as a live piece. No longer is the heaviest track on the staggering Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band album (Grammy winner, 1968) untouchable onstage.
. . .
So it became a piece of art rather than a rock standard. “It's definitely one of their crowning achievements,” says Ron Sexsmith, a Juno-winning Toronto singer-songwriter with his own gift for words and melodies. “If it didn't have McCartney's section of the song, it would still be a great song. But only one person on this planet could have written Lennon's part. There's so much character, the way Lennon sings, the humour in it, with a kind of sadness at the same time.”
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Inspired by the Beatles - "Sowing the Seeds of Love"
Writing for the New York Times in February of 1990, Stephen Holden offered this take on Tears for Fears' 1989 single, "Sowing the Seeds of Love:"
The song, which lovingly imitates the treadmill rhythms, trumpet-laced textures and exhortatory mood of ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,'' updates the Beatles' utopian sentiments to the present by proclaiming ''an end to need and the politics of greed with love.'' At the same time time it re-creates the childlike playfulness of late 1960's pop psychedelia by praising sunflowers and inventing catchy variations of vintage slogans. ''Kick out the style -bring back the jam!'' the lyric exclaims.
"Sowing the Seeds of Love" does all of the things that Holden attributes to it: it's pure Beatles pastiche. And he could have elaborated further by going into specific details. For instance, the stuttering drum line that opens the song brings to mind some of Ringo's handiwork, in particular certain sections of "A Day in the Life;" one of the brass parts recalls Alan Civil's expert playing of the French horn on "For No One;" and finally (this list is by no means exhaustive, to be sure), the backup vocal track on the chorus is exactly the kind of psych-pop maneuver that The Beatles often pulled.
Truth be told, there are few details in the song that don't seem like Beatles homage. The intent is unmistakable. This is not to suggest, though, that it's a great song. Unlike other well-known TFF releases - "Head over Heels" and "Mad World," foremostly - "Sowing the Seeds of Love" hasn't aged well, which maybe shouldn't be surprising considering that its inspiration, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, also doesn't sound as fresh and spirited as it likely once did. But the issue of that album's inflated status is contentious and will be left for another day. What shouldn't be contentious is how strongly Pepper influenced Tears for Fears on this outing.
(If the embedding is disabled, go here).
The song, which lovingly imitates the treadmill rhythms, trumpet-laced textures and exhortatory mood of ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,'' updates the Beatles' utopian sentiments to the present by proclaiming ''an end to need and the politics of greed with love.'' At the same time time it re-creates the childlike playfulness of late 1960's pop psychedelia by praising sunflowers and inventing catchy variations of vintage slogans. ''Kick out the style -bring back the jam!'' the lyric exclaims.
"Sowing the Seeds of Love" does all of the things that Holden attributes to it: it's pure Beatles pastiche. And he could have elaborated further by going into specific details. For instance, the stuttering drum line that opens the song brings to mind some of Ringo's handiwork, in particular certain sections of "A Day in the Life;" one of the brass parts recalls Alan Civil's expert playing of the French horn on "For No One;" and finally (this list is by no means exhaustive, to be sure), the backup vocal track on the chorus is exactly the kind of psych-pop maneuver that The Beatles often pulled.
Truth be told, there are few details in the song that don't seem like Beatles homage. The intent is unmistakable. This is not to suggest, though, that it's a great song. Unlike other well-known TFF releases - "Head over Heels" and "Mad World," foremostly - "Sowing the Seeds of Love" hasn't aged well, which maybe shouldn't be surprising considering that its inspiration, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, also doesn't sound as fresh and spirited as it likely once did. But the issue of that album's inflated status is contentious and will be left for another day. What shouldn't be contentious is how strongly Pepper influenced Tears for Fears on this outing.
(If the embedding is disabled, go here).
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Thursday Beatles potpourri
- A Beatles iPhone app has been released. The app "constitutes the first official Beatles content to be featured on iTunes."
- On Conan O'Brien's final Tonight Show, Tom Hanks appeared as a guest. As a warm gesture to the actor, Max Weinberg and the Tonight Show Band played a rendition of the Beatles' "Lovely Rita," seemingly in honor of Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson. The Roots' drummer ?uestlove had some interesting comments on the matter.
- In the UK and Europe, EMI will be releasing "(I Want To) Come Home" as Paul's newest single. It will arrive on March 1.
- CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz on the Jonas Brothers: "These guys are going to be the biggest thing since the Beatles."
- In this preview of Sunday's Grammy Awards, there's mention made of the 1966 competition for Best Rock Recording: The New Vaudeville Band's "Winchester Cathedral" beat out this classic and this classic. It seems a lapse in judgement took place at the time.
- Lastly, Ringo: "Well, the iTunes thing is, you know, a three-way situation. And the Beatles are interested in it, as well as Apple, but there is no conclusion yet."
- On Conan O'Brien's final Tonight Show, Tom Hanks appeared as a guest. As a warm gesture to the actor, Max Weinberg and the Tonight Show Band played a rendition of the Beatles' "Lovely Rita," seemingly in honor of Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson. The Roots' drummer ?uestlove had some interesting comments on the matter.
- In the UK and Europe, EMI will be releasing "(I Want To) Come Home" as Paul's newest single. It will arrive on March 1.
- CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz on the Jonas Brothers: "These guys are going to be the biggest thing since the Beatles."
- In this preview of Sunday's Grammy Awards, there's mention made of the 1966 competition for Best Rock Recording: The New Vaudeville Band's "Winchester Cathedral" beat out this classic and this classic. It seems a lapse in judgement took place at the time.
- Lastly, Ringo: "Well, the iTunes thing is, you know, a three-way situation. And the Beatles are interested in it, as well as Apple, but there is no conclusion yet."
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Glenn Beck takes on "Revolution" . . .
. . . and arrives at a very flawed understanding of the song. Read more here.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Obama the Taxman
Don't interpret my posting of this video as a political statement. My ideological leanings are neither here nor there. It's the ingenuity that I admire.
"Taxman Obama vs Rx"
(If the embedding is disabled, go here)
"Taxman Obama vs Rx"
(If the embedding is disabled, go here)
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