Right. I have some explaining to do.
Yesterday I went out with friends to watch “Man of Steel”, the new Superman movie. I was out for a long time, I couldn’t put out my post and for that, I apologise to the small number of people who actually view this blog.
To be honest the film wasn’t that good; I don’t see what all the fuss is about.
Today, I bring a special two-in-one post.* Only to make up for yesterday though, don’t be expecting anything more.
“Ram” is the second album released by Paul McCartney after The Beatles split in 1970. However, it was credited to both he and his wife Linda, and therefore doesn’t really count as a solo album.
“Ram” is one of the happiest albums I’ve listened to. Whereas “McCartney”, his first album, was more of a collection of old songs he had written whilst he was still in The Beatles, “Ram” on the other hand gave off a sense of freedom and also a sense of closure. Paul had ‘found his love awake and waiting to be’ and was ready to take things head on.
“The Back Seat of My Car” is the final track on the album, and probably the most emotional. Love is a theme that runs throughout, but this is when it reaches its peak.
The story in the song is pretty simple. The couple have dreams of getting away ‘along the highway’ to ‘Mexico City’ but prefer making out in the back seat of a car unbeknownst to the girl’s father who is always nagging at them. Awww. How romantic is that?
Sure, the story is short and sweet. The actual composition is beautifully performed, with calming and soothing vocals by Paul and slight changes in tempo here and there culminating in an audience participation section and a rocking outro make it perfect for the album closer.
Also, the song contains what is probably the best vocal delivered by McCartney. Ever.
I can’t describe it very well, just listen to it; you’ll get what I mean.
John Lennon thought this was one out of several songs on the album on “Ram” that was aimed at him and Yoko, it isn’t, but you can hear his thoughts about it if you search for it on YouTube.
*8/7/26 – There were originally two posts merged into one here, but I’ve decided it didn’t look nice and split them into two. If you want to see how this was originally laid out, here is is on the original site.
My iPod #61: The Beatles – Back in the U.S.S.R.
You don’t know how lucky you are.
Today’s song is another one by those four guys from Liverpool. I don’t have access to my computer at the moment so I hastily type this up using my iPod Touch.
“Back in the U.S.S.R” is the opening track to the band’s double album “The Beatles” – also known as “The White Album” due to the album’s front cover. I prefer to call it “The Beatles” though because… that’s the name of the album.
1968 is known as the year when the members of the band started to get a bit annoyed with one another. You probably wouldn’t think that listening to this classic though. Upon first listen you might think, “Yeah, I can dig this! Paul sounds like he’s having a good time, they are all whooping and stuff in the middle. Ah, those guys.”
IT’S ALL LIES. Tension was building amongst the group, and for a number of different reasons. George felt under appreciated, as did Ringo and John had brought along a force that would totally break the harmony between the four for the rest of their years together.
For anyone who didn’t know, Ringo doesn’t play on this track. It is actually Paul on the drums. I’m sorry to break it to you if he’s your favourite or whatever.
In regards to “The Beatles”, it was a matter of ‘back to basics’ for the band. Their last full release was “Sgt. Pepper” which is known for its wide variety instrumentation and the colourful front cover and whatnot, and so after travelling to India for ‘spiritual enlightenment’ the band were ready to keep things simple.
“Back in the U.S.S.R.” is a great opener, I can’t imagine it anywhere else on an album. It’s got that sense of urgency and pace and gets you hyped up for what is to come.
Until tomorrow.
Jamie.
My iPod #60: The Beatles – Baby, You’re a Rich Man
“How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?”
“Baby, You’re a Rich Man” was originally released a b-side to “All You Need Is Love” in the summer of 1967.
Everything was still fine with the group; Brian Epstein was alive and they had been revelling from the success of their then new album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. Yep, things were going strong. Probably better than ever before.
The band then decided to start work on “Magical Mystery Tour”, in those sessions this song was recorded. The actual thing started out as two separate ideas that Lennon and McCartney had, the former with the aforementioned quote at the top and the latter with the “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” chorus. With a few tweaks and shape ups, they ended up with the song that you and I enjoy today.
Apparently at the very end of the song when everyone is singing the chorus, John sings ‘baby, you’re a rich fag jew’ in reference to their manager Brian Epstein who was a homosexual… and Jewish. I can’t hear it, it’s probably just a rumour. Thinking on the lyrics now, it may be that the song is about him – but that’s for discussion.
It’s very groovy, with smooth bass playing by Paul and a clavioline by John which makes those random noises in the intro and during the verses. The highlight for me is at the end when the song picks up pace, everyone’s shouting the title at the top of their voices and the song fades out. Everyone sounds so happy and we all know that they wouldn’t be that way for much longer, but that particular part makes me want to be in the studio with them.
You know the video for “Hello, Goodbye” when everyone starts dancing? This is the audio version is that.
It’s also something that makes me want to have more songs on The Beatles Rock Band. Can we have more songs on that game? Probably not.
Until tomorrow.
Jamie.
My iPod #59: The Fratellis – Baby Fratelli
Apparently, ‘fratelli’ is ‘brother’ in Italian. So here we have The Brothers with the song ‘Baby Brother’.
Evening, everybody.
The Fratellis are a three-piece band from Scotland. They haven’t been around for some time, but around 2006/07 the band was one of the most popular indie rock bands in the UK.
I first came across the band when I was eleven – a time when MTV still showed music, and ‘MTV Rocks’ was ‘MTV2’ and a much better music channel.
“Creepin’ Up the Backstairs” was their first single, but it was released as a song on their first EP and so it was not eligible for a placement in the charts. It’s good, I like it. The band re-recorded for inclusion on their first album, but I much prefer the video version.
They released “Chelsea Dagger” which became their most popular song due to its memorable hook, and because it is played in many sports stadiums when a team scores a goal.
“Baby Fratelli” was the album’s fourth single. You may recognise it as a song that is played in the film ‘Hot Fuzz’. I’ve never seen that film, but the actual music video for the song features random clips of it that are thrown amongst the band performing the song on a rooftop somewhere.
Even though they are Scottish, I always get this Italian vibe when I listen to their music. Especially on their first album. I know they are called The Fratellis, and that itself is an Italian word, but it’s just something about their songs. I always get a picture in my head of Italian people. And images of people doing the can-can.
The latter springs to mind in this song, particularly in the final chorus when the horns kick in.
I don’t know what this song is about, I just like it.
Until tomorrow.
Jamie.
My iPod #58: The Who – Baba O’Riley
NOT ‘Teenage Wasteland’.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Rest until July, then I’ll find something to do.”
That was one exchange of words by my mum and I after I had finished my last exam in secondary school. I have been working endlessly all year for this stuff, and it feels like a whole weight has been lifted off my shoulders, it feels very relaxing. Everytime I feel like I should be doing something… but I don’t, and it feels weird and a bit creepy.
It’s fine not doing anything at the moment but seeing as other people still have exams to do, it’s quite boring being in your house by yourself when the weather’s crappy and there’s nothing on except…. daytime television…. eurgh.
At least I have my iTunes library to keep me company. And that reminds me… it’s the second of the ‘B’ series. Yay.
I feel like I’ve already gone on about The Who in an earlier post, so I won’t rabble on too much. “Who’s Next”, the album ‘Baba O’Riley’ is on, is actually the most recent one of theirs that I downloaded and listened to. It’s considered to be their magnum opus by many critics, and I knew that their two most overplayed songs including this and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” were on it. I didn’t want to listen to an album which I thought was only good for two songs, so I chose to listen to “Quadrophenia” and “Sell Out” instead. Heck, I might have even listened to “By Numbers” before it. I can’t remember. I’ll have a look at my computer.
Yeah, “Who’s Next” is beast. This song is the perfect way to start things off.
Firstly, the synthesizer which seems to last for an eternity until the descending riff is introduced by the piano and Moon’s drums come crashing in. “Who’s Next” is mainly regarded to be the album in which each individual member had reached their peak in creativity, much like “Revolver” by The Beatles. Although Roger Daltrey wasn’t much of a songwriter, but listen to his vocals on here compared to those of “Tommy”… I know right? Pete Townshend was well in the way of writing songs with meaning, and with links between one another to tell a story, simply put as a concept album, and had completely abandoned the writing for the “singles band” that The Who was once regarded to be. John Entwistle and Keith Moon…. well with a rhythm section like that, how much better can you get? Come on, people.
Yep. I don’t want to ruin the song for you. It’s already up there.
Until tomorrow.
Jamie
P.S. I can confirm that I did listen to “The Who by Numbers” before “Who’s Next”. And what… bitch.
