the macca song that all the other beatles hated
Nov 2, 2024 12:36:33 GMT
Charlie O. and harrylemon like this
Post by loveless on Nov 2, 2024 12:36:33 GMT
Top 5 Beatles track for me.
One of the many things I enjoyed about Get Back was seeing just how much the other Beatles - John in particular - dug into this one when Paul brough it to Twickenham. John in particular (the premier "Granny Music Guitarist" of his era - see also "Honey Pie") plays an especially adept and thoughtful old timey rhythm guitar part high up the neck on his Casino.
That it became a stick for the others to beat Paul with (Ringo's claim that they spent weeks on it is especially rich - and the take numbers [16, as it happens] are nothing compared to any number of White Album tracks*) is unfortunate, and may speak to some of the interpersonal dynamics of the era. As received wisdom (HUGE in the Beatles fandom, neophyte or otherwise, certainly in the boomer wing), it feels like one of those click-baity things your phone will feed you now ("The Led Zeppelin album Jimmy Page HATED!"), and sort of KNOWING (years in advance) what lies on the other end of the click is one of the many things that will hasten the scrolling away.
It may or may not be "fruity", but it's a diamond sounding track, to my ears. Paul's warm, conversationally ranged lead vocal, the fantastic backing track (Paul's piano...specifically, the more bejeweled arpeggiated breakdown between the solo and final verse...but also, the main piano part works fantastically with the pokey and staccato bass and drums...nice, modest, and spartan in the verses...the Moog is magnificent, the acoustic guitar that comes in on the choruses is a masterful textural and dynamic touch, and George's twin electrics chime like diamonds...as an arrangement and production, it does indicate a move into all that we** love about Paul's unique and intuitive sense of sonic impressionism...going from "Penny Lane"/"Hello Goodbye" through to the likes of Ram, Band on the Run, and "With a Little Luck"...there's no point in pretending he doesn't know how to make records...and, yes, that sort of stealthy, and extremely forward chord progression that they use as a turnaround between choruses and verses...that's "money").
*There is a Beatles song that took 45 hours to record, spread over five weeks. It is NOT "Maxwell", nor is Paul the author. Similarly, the number of non-Paul authored songs that occasioned 70 takes/3 days (John), 100+ takes 4 consecutive sessions (George - this one an outtake that never made the album or a single/B side), interminable versions and arrangements (it would take a greater patience than I can muster to tally up the stats for the likes of "Revolution", "Good Night" or "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"...or, yes, Paul's "Ob La Di"...leaving the Groundhog Day nature of the Get Back project out of this...much as I may love "Dig a Pony" or "Don't Let Me Down", they may have been hammered a bit too hard in the documentary for most)...all this to say, that "Maxwell" seems to occasion decidedly selective memories among some number of the personnel. Might the song represent something about the author (and, more crucially, friend and bandmate) that inspires such invective?
**recuse yourself as necessary.
One of the many things I enjoyed about Get Back was seeing just how much the other Beatles - John in particular - dug into this one when Paul brough it to Twickenham. John in particular (the premier "Granny Music Guitarist" of his era - see also "Honey Pie") plays an especially adept and thoughtful old timey rhythm guitar part high up the neck on his Casino.
That it became a stick for the others to beat Paul with (Ringo's claim that they spent weeks on it is especially rich - and the take numbers [16, as it happens] are nothing compared to any number of White Album tracks*) is unfortunate, and may speak to some of the interpersonal dynamics of the era. As received wisdom (HUGE in the Beatles fandom, neophyte or otherwise, certainly in the boomer wing), it feels like one of those click-baity things your phone will feed you now ("The Led Zeppelin album Jimmy Page HATED!"), and sort of KNOWING (years in advance) what lies on the other end of the click is one of the many things that will hasten the scrolling away.
It may or may not be "fruity", but it's a diamond sounding track, to my ears. Paul's warm, conversationally ranged lead vocal, the fantastic backing track (Paul's piano...specifically, the more bejeweled arpeggiated breakdown between the solo and final verse...but also, the main piano part works fantastically with the pokey and staccato bass and drums...nice, modest, and spartan in the verses...the Moog is magnificent, the acoustic guitar that comes in on the choruses is a masterful textural and dynamic touch, and George's twin electrics chime like diamonds...as an arrangement and production, it does indicate a move into all that we** love about Paul's unique and intuitive sense of sonic impressionism...going from "Penny Lane"/"Hello Goodbye" through to the likes of Ram, Band on the Run, and "With a Little Luck"...there's no point in pretending he doesn't know how to make records...and, yes, that sort of stealthy, and extremely forward chord progression that they use as a turnaround between choruses and verses...that's "money").
*There is a Beatles song that took 45 hours to record, spread over five weeks. It is NOT "Maxwell", nor is Paul the author. Similarly, the number of non-Paul authored songs that occasioned 70 takes/3 days (John), 100+ takes 4 consecutive sessions (George - this one an outtake that never made the album or a single/B side), interminable versions and arrangements (it would take a greater patience than I can muster to tally up the stats for the likes of "Revolution", "Good Night" or "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"...or, yes, Paul's "Ob La Di"...leaving the Groundhog Day nature of the Get Back project out of this...much as I may love "Dig a Pony" or "Don't Let Me Down", they may have been hammered a bit too hard in the documentary for most)...all this to say, that "Maxwell" seems to occasion decidedly selective memories among some number of the personnel. Might the song represent something about the author (and, more crucially, friend and bandmate) that inspires such invective?
**recuse yourself as necessary.
