The Beatles' HELP! at 50

 

Fifty years ago this month one of the all-time classic Beatles' songs, "Help!" hit Number One on the US Billboard chart. The song was from the movie of the same name, directed by Richard Lester, who has also directed the Beatles' first film, A Hard Days' Night  (1964).

The Beatles meet Elvis 8-27-65

On the evening of August 27, 1965 in Elvis Presley's Bel-Air mansion, the Beatles came a'calling. In the stories of that evening that I have read (such as from the UK Daily Mail, linked here) it sounds like it was less a meeting of minds than it was a cultural "generational gap." Like your older brother not approving of your musical tastes or something. Still, it is telling that The Beatles wanted to meet Elvis, who they considered one of the leading guiding lights in their musical paths.

In the spirit of having two musical legends get together, Friends of Justice hereby presents two super hits from 1965, one by each legendary act. I am unashamedly a fan of both.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Sir Paul McCartney!

Tomorrow June 18 is the birthday of some guy who helped form some band in the Sixties that a few people have heard of....his name is Paul something, hold on....

Seriously, The Beatles are one of FRIENDS of JUSTICE's heroes; we can't let a holiday like this go by without mentioning it! Even though the actual day is tomorrow, today is MUSIC MONDAY here at FRIENDS, so excuse me if I'm a little early.

Happy Birthday, Paul McCartney!

 

 



art by Mr. Steve Lightle

the last time Paul & Ringo were with George, in 2000

Here's one of my favorite Paul McCartney songs.....hope you like it, too.

 

The End of The Beatles 4-10-70

On April 10, 1970 Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving The Beatles. After atleast a year of Paul, John, George, and Ringo trying to keep things going, this was it. Although they had not been together in the studio in several months, with this announcement it was suddenly and painfully official: the Beatles were done.

Of course, the Beatles will never really end. Just like classic films that are "discovered" by new generations of fans, the Beatles will always be with us. They had another huge increase in sales when their catalog was made available on itunes, for example. Their music is, although definitely of a specific time, in the greatest
sense of the word, timeless. 

The songs that would be turned into the Beatles "last" album, "Let It Be," were recorded first; the album that was their last chronological recording was "Abbey Road," which was released first. Phil Spector took all of the acetates from the "Let It Be" sessions in January 1969 and tried to salvage them. For example, he added the chorus and strings to "The Long and Winding Road," the Beatles' 20th and last Number One hit in the United States (June 1970). Ironically, Paul hated this version of the song; when he requested that Spector's version be revised John, George, and Ringo disagreed with him. Probably this was another straw on Paul's back; he made the announcement that he was leaving the band after "Let It Be" was released. Oddly enough, "The Long and Winding Road" is one of the few Beatles hit songs that I can't stand. And it the last bit of irony, "Let It Be" was the Number One song in the US the week Paul McCartney made his announcement. 

So here is the last recorded Number One hit by the Beatles, "Come Together." How is THAT for irony?

It looks to me like this is video of the actual "Abbey Road" sessions....if it's not, I apologize for my mistake. 

John & Yoko's Anniversary 3-20-69

In my opinion, John Lennon and Yoko Ono are the musical equivalent of Liz & Dick. Are there people who have heard of one person without also knowing the second? I bring this up because this week is the 44th anniversary of the wedding of John and Yoko. They evidently met in London in 1968; Yoko and Paul give different versions of how John initially met her. Yoko had been married twice before; John was in the midst of separating from his first wife, Cynthia. As soon as this divorce was final, he married Yoko. Their partnership-marriage had a lasting effect on the Beatles, and therefore on pop culture in general. For the last year or so of the Beatles' existence, Yoko Ono was there. Some say she helped break up the band, and although it seems easy to attribute blame to an "outsider," the true story is probably a little bit more complicated. 

As it was, the courtship and honeymoon between John and Yoko was presented to the world in the song, "The Ballad of John and Yoko." It was written immediately after the incidences it is about, and was a Top Ten hit single in the summer of 1969. At this time John and Yoko were in the midst of their second bed-in in Canada. 

John recorded several albums and songs with his wife. "Number 9" on The Beatles (The White Album) was by them, for example. Their most famous work is probably "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" from 1971. And of course, Yoko's presence was keen on their last recordings, Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey, although none of the singles from this period were actual duets between them. 

To help celebrate one of the truly great pop cultural marriages, here are The Beatles (really only John and Paul) singing, "The Ballad of John and Yoko." 

Happy Birthday, George Harrison!

February 25 would have been George Harrison's 70th birthday. Unfortunately for all of us, he died in 2001 of cancer.
When I was a kid my favorite Beatle was Paul. He was the cute and out-going one, and he was very seldom shown with really long hair and a beard. To me as a kid I thought bearded and long-haired John and George were kind of intimidating or even scary. Ringo was the comic relief.

As I got older I came to side with John against Paul's "silly love songs" and actually started to dis-like Paul. However, for years John was a bit too radical for me. So that means I just naturally came to like George more. I definitely think it's part of my personality...I like the supporting characters over the leads, and Aquaman instead of Batman. Obviously, all of the Beatles were musical geniuses, and I like them all. But to me George had a sense of class that stood out above the rest.

George took his fame and used it for the good of the world. He was the performer who helped organize the charity concert for Bangladesh, for example, which was the first world-wide rock and roll charity event of its kind.

George took his money and helped fund HandMade Films, which produced Monty Python's Life of Brian, Time Bandits, and Mona Lisa, among other movies.

George was also the one who recorded two songs dedicated to John Lennon, "All Those Years Ago" and "When We Was Fab." We played his song, "I've Got My Mind Set On You" at our wedding. He was the one who helped co-create The Travelling Wilburys, a wonderful non-band of other musical geniuses Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne.

When all is said and done, George left a lot of good music and movies out there for us to enjoy.

Happy Birthday, George Harrison!

We miss you

art by Steve Lightle 

 

The last time the three surviving Beatles played together? 

For the ANTHOLOGY project in 1995. 

RIP John Lennon

John Lennon

1940-1980

I remember where I was when I heard that John Lennon had been murdered: I had just gone to bed and was listening to the radio as I started to fall asleep. The DJ came on as they do and in a very somber voice said something to the effect of "initial reports are that John Lennon has been shot...." 
So of course I jumped up out of bed and ran downstairs to watch the news. 
My father was watching Monday Night Football, and we listened as Howard Cosell made his famous announcement that John Lennon had been killed. 

I didn't cry. I wasn't a "Beatles Freak" by any stretch of the imagination. I was 16, a sophomore in high school. I did know that it was a tragedy, though. I had had those talks about "Which Beatle is your favorite?" I liked John more than Paul because I thought John had more integrity than Paul, who I thought had turned into a hack. George was my actual favorite, though. I did like that John was a Libra, just like me. His birthday is a week after mine (in days). 
 

This is a review by ESPN from 2010 of the events of that night and how ABC came to know about the murder and to announce it during the football game.

Warning: this is sad stuff. You may not want to watch it.

I didn't cry then, but I'm crying now. 
 
Every time I think of John Lennon I think of DOUBLE FANTASY, his last studio album. His big hit at the time was "Just Like Starting Over," which became an even bigger hit, a sadly ironic end to his musical career. Oddly enough, I also think of the 80s group Blondie, who not only knocked John Lennon off from the Number One spot in January 1981 but also prevented his next single, "Woman" from reaching the Number One spot in March, 1981 (with "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture," respectively.)

What would the Eighties have been like if John Lennon had been there to comment on them? We'll never know. What we do know is that his murder helped re-inspire George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who returned to the spotlight after too many years away. (Paul was always around, haha)

Rest in Peace, Mr. Lennon

   

Happy Birthday, Gary Lawson!!

Gary Lawson, the creator of THE FAR SIDE, was born on August 14, 1950. So today he is 62 years young!

There is nothing to say that Mr. Lawson's work can't say better, so...without further ado...some of my favorite FAR SIDES!

There is a similar one about cats, but I was always a
dog person. And I saw this one first, so I think it's funnier.

I remember seeing this in college and thinking, "HUH?"
It was only later that I figured out that the penguins
were too stupid to realize that the polar bear was not a
penguin. Loved having to think.

Every time I see a stray run across traffic I think
of this cartoon. ;-)



My all-time favorite FAR SIDE. I have a card of this
on the wall in my bathroom.

Happy Birthday, Buck Owens!

I am embarassed to admit that I came late to the Buck Owens band-wagon. I knew him only as the host of HEE HAW when I was a kid. As I got older I learned that he had written "Act Naturally" for the Beatles. As I got older still I figured out that I had that last part a tad backwards. Then I learned that he also wrote "Crying Time Again" that I knew as a Ray Charles hit. I listened to many of his songs and became a fan.
Buck Owens was born on August 12, 1929.
At his height in the late 60s and early 70s, he had 21 Number One hits on the Billboard Country & Western charts. Among my favorites are "Act Naturally," "Johnny B. Goode (live)," "Love's Gonna Live Here," and "Buckaroo (instrumental)." I go back and watch him on HEE HAW and notice just how good he was. Sure, the jokes are terrible (!) but the fun feeling is palpable. He was quite an entertainer. 

Buck Owens died on March 25, 2006.

Here he is doing another one of my favorites, "Above and Beyond," with his best friend Don Rich. It was written by Harlan Howard, and hit #3 on the C&W chart in 1960.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUCK OWENS!!

Anniversary of the movie HELP!

Forty-seven years ago today, the Beatles' second movie and first color motion picture made its debut. HELP! had its ROYAL premiere on July 29, 1965. And just so that we're clear, "Royal" in this case meant that Queen Elizabeth herself was at the theatre when the movie was first shown!!

If you haven't seen this movie yet or recently and you like spoofs or James Bond type movies or The Beatles, you should see it again. It's not exactly hilarious, but it is fun. Just watching the trailer below you can see that the excitement inherent in the story.

Oddly enough, none of The Beatles actually cared for the movie all that much. They felt "outside the creative loop" with director Richard Lester (who also did A HARD DAY'S NIGHT the year before) and thought the story was not as good as the first one. There had been plans for more Beatles movies, but except for a British TV production a few years later (MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR) the only movies left to be made were concerts.

I always thought it was cool that the lads were spelling out the word "help" in flag semaphore code in the poster and on the LP cover. However, I have since learned that they aren't! They're just standing there as if they were....their gestures are close to "R-V-U-J" in the semaphone code, which, obviously, means.....nothing.

Here's the movie trailer from 1965, though. It means something. ;-)

Happy Birthday, Ringo Starr!

Richard Starkey was born on July 7, 1940 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.
He is better known to the entire world as Ringo Starr.

There isn't anything I can say about Ringo that others haven't said before or better. So suffice it to say....

Happy Birthday, Ringo!

May you celebrate many, many more!

And now, my two favorite Ringo videos.....

ACT NATURALLY

by Buck Owens

He really looks like he's having a great time!

...and a commercial for Pizza Hut shows he has an awesome sense of
humo(u)r!

PIZZA HUT COMMERCIAL

A Hard Day's Night 1964

On July 6, 1964 the Beatles' first and best movie A HARD DAY'S NIGHT had its premiere in London. The movie, directed by Richard Lester from a script by Alun Owen, tells the story of "the boys" and what happens to them in the course of one day. They start off from their homes in Liverpool, get chased by fans, set up and prepare for a TV concert in London, and go on various adventures before the concert is recorded live.

The movie is a "mocumentary" that had a profound effect on music videos and on several Screen Gems/Columbia producers in particular: THE MONKEES TV show was patterned after this film.

The title is attributed to something Ringo Starr said after an especially long day, "It's been a bloody hard day's night all right." The Beatles shared this malopropism with the producers and the title was chosen. John Lennon then wrote the song using this phrase as the title.

Many people talk about how important the Beatles were to their generation. I missed out on their actual existance, but when I watched this movie I got something akin to the feeling of what "Beatlemania" must have been like. If you have never seen this film, see it. The Beatles are in their early 20s, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, loving their success and having a great time playing. It's an incredibly entertaining film.

The Japanese movie poster. In Japan
the title was "Yeah Yeah Yeah"
(the six characters on the right)  

Happy Birthday, Paul McCartney!

Today June 18 is Sir Paul McCartney's birthday. He was born on this date in 1942, which means he is 70 years young!

There isn't much to say about Paul that hasn't been said before and better than I ever could.

So I'll leave you with a few of my favorite Paul images and one two of my all-time favorite Paul songs.

Happy Birthday, Paul McCartney!

I hope you're around for many more years!!

"I Want To Hold Your Hand"

(from February 1964)

For some reason it wouldn't let me imbed

the video I actually wanted to use...

"COMING UP"

so see it here:

 http://youtu.be/cDBkySeyiDo

Some Obscure Rock-n-Roll Band Called The Beatles

I don't remember a time when I didn't know who The Beatles were. In my house we had the one stereo (aka Record Player) and next to it were all the various albums belonging to the people who lived there with me: my two sisters, my brother, and my parents. (Being the youngest, at this point I didn't have any albums of my own.) From a very young age I would look at the album covers because I wasn't allowed to play the records for fear of scratching them. We had The Red Album and The Blue Album. Before I even listened to them (or knew what they sounded like) I was attracted to the design: same pose, same building, several years apart: what a cool idea!

    

Of course, I soon realized that this group was the same one I was hearing on the radio all the time (I think "Hey Jude" was the first Beatles song I remember knowing). So I knew who The Beatles were (and what they sounded like) pretty early. While I was growing up it seemed like they were everywhere: Paul McCartney sang "Live and Let Die" and "Band On The Run," Ringo Starr was on the radio with "Photograph" and other hits, and the band itself was mentioned on Saturday Night Live almost every other week. As I got older, I learned to recognize super-hits like "All You Need Is Love" and ""She Loves You," as well as more obscure songs like "Helter Skelter" (which to this day I simply can't listen to!) and "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." And of course, I was only 16 when John Lennon was murdered, leading to the subsequent huge increase in "Beatlemania." This also led to George Harrison returning to the world stage.  

I think because the Red and Blue "greatest hits" albums were my first introduction to most of their songs, it has always been easy for me to think of them in terms of "Early Beatles" and "Later Beatles." There were so many Beatles songs that I would be hard pressed to pick one "era" over the other; for every "Revolution" there was a "Please Please Me;" for every "We Can Work It Out" there is a "Penny Lane."    

However if I had to pick only one of these albums to listen to from now on, though, I think I would have to pick The Red Album. Not only do they seem better/sharper/more focused, but there are more collaborations between Lennon and McCartney instead of solo efforts, and they are *fresh.* There is just so much joy and happiness in their early hits, like "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Twist and Shout." Even songs like "PS I Love You" that are supposedly sad are so bouncy (for lack of a better term). If you want to really understand just how great the early Beatles songs are, think of their context. In the weeks before The Beatles hit the US singles charts, these were some of the biggest hits in America:  "Sugar Shack" (Jimmy Glimmer), "I'm Leaving It Up To You" (Dale & Grace), "Deep Purple" (Nino & April), "Dominique" (The Singing Nun), "There! I've Said It Again" (Bobby Vinton), and "My Boyfriend's Back" (The Angels). In this group, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" must have been literally a breath of fresh air! 

The Beatles, for several reasons, were a phenomenon that no one has ever been able to replicate. There has never been any other group, musical or otherwise, like them. The newest Justin Bieber or Hannah Montana are nothing like the popularity that The Fab Four had to deal with. Think about it: How many other rock-and-roll bands are there where the majority of people can name all the members? John, Paul, George, and Ringo...you don't even need their last names. When they burst onto the scene they were still trying to fit into the "band uniform" characterizations, but by the end of their professional life together they had become four indidvidual musicians. Just look at the two photos above and below this paragraph for proof.

I think it was Paul who said the reason they were so successful was just because they were a hell of a good rock and roll band. That they were. And so, so much more. 

I leave you now with one of my all-time favorite Beatles' songs, "HELP!"