By Steve Marinucci
Published on November 18, 2003, San Jose Mercury News (CA)
• The Beatles, ``Let It Be . . . Naked,'' (Capitol) **
The year is 1970. The group: the Beatles. The album: ``Let
It Be,'' the last the Fab Four released before the breakup.
But the Beatles couldn't. Let it be, that is.
Which brings us to 2003 and ``Let It Be . . . Naked,'' a
name coined by Ringo Starr for the streamlined, revamped
version of the ``Let It Be'' album released today. (Also new
today are packages on the two deceased Beatles: ``Lennon Legend,'' a DVD
collection of John Lennon videos put together by Yoko Ono; and ``Concert For
George,'' a DVD and CD soundtrack of the 2002 tribute concert to George
Harrison.)
The surviving Beatles' intent was to remove the ``wall of sound'' excess wrought
by producer Phil Spector and let the original music shine through.
But the result isn't nearly as revealing as it should be. There are significant
differences on only a couple of songs. It may be that listening to all those bootlegs
of ``Get Back,'' as ``Let It Be'' was known in its early stages, makes this
album dispensable for all but the most die-hard Beatle fans.
``Let It Be'' was conceived as a movie and an album designed to give an inside
look at the Beatles in the studio. In January 1969, a camera crew headed by
director Michael Lindsay-Hogg recorded every note the Beatles played, with
no overdubs or special effects. Additional sessions, produced by Glyn Johns
and with Billy Preston on keyboards, also took place that month. The eventual
album and film were intended to show the Beatles ``warts and all,'' as John
Lennon loved to say.
But what was supposed to be a series of friendly musical moments to show the
band ``as nature intended,'' as a press release of the day proclaimed, became a
claustrophobic nightmare. So much bitterness crept into the sessions that George
Harrison walked out at one point.
The Beatles wanted nothing to do with the finished tapes, and handed them off
to Johns to make the ``Get Back'' album. Johns' attempts -- raw and unpolished
-- were ultimately rejected, although they later surfaced on bootlegs. Desperate,
the Beatles turned over the tapes to Spector, the eccentric producer of the
Ronettes, Darlene Love and the Crystals.
``They just gave the tapes to him, and so he did what Phil Spector does and overdubbed
and put orchestras on and all the rest of it,'' says longtime Beatles associate
Neil Aspinall in the press kit of the new album. ``In a sense, he did a really good
job. It's a great album, but it wasn't what the concept was in the first place.''
Spector made ``Let It Be'' his own, overwhelming the sound with echo, strings
and a choir. Given the simple concept of ``Get Back,'' it was the most overdone
and most unlikely album that could have emerged. But it was released, despite
the group's dissatisfaction.
``Let It Be . . . Naked'' came about after Paul McCartney and Lindsay-Hogg
discussed a DVD release of ``Let It Be.'' Although that appealed to McCartney,
he was more enthusiastic about the idea of a revised ``Let It Be'' album.
``I had been listening to the original mixes without any of the overdubs thinking,
`Wow! These are almost scary! It's so bare.' I really liked it!'' McCartney
says in the press kit for the new album, which he calls ``pure.'' ``It's the energy
that was in the studio and the great thing about the remixed version is that with
today's technology, it sounds better than ever.''
However, anyone who hoped for a radically different album than the original
``Let It Be'' will be disappointed. Even with the cleaner versions, many of the
songs closely resemble the original versions, minus the between-song chatter.
The new album does feature a new running order and is missing two songs from the
original: ``Maggie Mae'' and ``Dig It.'' ``Don't Let Me Down'' is added.
Unlike the extensive remixing that took place for the release of ``Yellow Submarine
Soundtrack,'' many of the differences here are more subtle.
The differences are most noticeable on ``The Long and Winding Road'' and
``Across the Universe,'' the most overblown songs on the original. In its new
version, ``Road'' sounds more tender and heartfelt; ``Universe'' has been stripped
to the bare bones. ``Get Back'' here is missing its original coda.
So how will ``Naked'' be received? Some Beatle fans certainly will wish they'd
gone further with the remixing. And as cleaned up as it is, ``Let It Be . . Naked''
is not going to satisfy fans who had hoped the wonderful ``Get Back'' albums
available for years on bootlegs would surface officially.
But, at least Paul McCartney now has the version of ``The Long and Winding
Road'' he's always wanted.
© 2003 Mercury News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
../millennium/news/03_nov/18_bayarea_7285334.htm
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Friday, November 7, 2003
Four Fab shows: New DVDs provide a complete picture of the Beatles' visits to 'Ed Sullivan' in 1964, '65
By Steve Marinucci
Published on November 7, 2003, San Jose Mercury News (CA)
In the house where I grew up during the 1960s, there was one TV show above all others that spelled ``family time'': ``The Ed Sullivan Show.''
Sullivan started his career as a New York newspaper columnist, a journalist pounding a typewriter, but became one smart variety-show host. He knew that to attract a big audience every week he had to present something for each member of the family -- adults, youngsters and teens.
More often than not, what the teens got was that wild, raucous rock 'n' roll music they loved. If you're too young to remember those days, you might be surprised at what raised the ire of '60s parents: hairstyles that today seem tame; unusual clothes; and a noisier style of music than expected by those accustomed to Frankie Avalon and Paul Anka.
You can check out some of that with ``The Four Historic Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring the Beatles,'' a new two-DVD set from Sofa Entertainment, distributed by Goodtimes Video.
The discs include not just the performances by the Fab Four, which are available in clip compilations of the Sullivan show elsewhere, but also everything else on the show: Sullivan's introductions, other performers and the commercials. But forming the centerpiece are the 20 songs performed by the Beatles, 11 of which haven't been seen since they first aired. There are no extras; the shows speak for themselves.
Sullivan liked to tell the story of how he found out about the Beatles, on Oct. 31, 1963. ``My wife, Sylvia, and I were in London, at Heathrow Airport,'' he has been quoted as saying. ``There was the biggest crowd I'd ever seen in my life! I asked someone what was going on, and he said, `The Beatles.' `Who the hell are the Beatles?' I asked. But I went back to my hotel, got the name of their manager and arranged for them to do three shows.''
The first, on Feb. 9, 1964, attracted a TV audience of 73 million, setting a record that stood for years. That show is still vivid in my memory. The adults at my house were relaxing in chairs, the kids lying on the floor. Mom and Dad wanted to see the cast of the Broadway musical ``Oliver!'' (which included a young British actor named Davy Jones, later one of the Monkees) and British singer Tessie O'Shea. But my sister and I cared only about the band our schoolmates buzzed about and whose records we'd coaxed our parents to buy for us.
Finally, Sullivan got down to business. ``Now, yesterday and today, our theater's been jammed with newspapermen and hundreds of photographers from all over the nation, and these veterans agree with me that the city never has witnessed the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool who call themselves the Beatles,'' he told viewers, looking almost frightened at what he was about to unleash.
``Now tonight,'' he continued, ``you'll be entertained twice by them -- right now and in the second half of the show. Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles!''
Screams from ecstatic fans pierced the TV speaker as the Fab Four launched into ``All My Loving.'' My sister and I sat hypnotized.
Our folks were less enthralled. The musicians had long hair. And Ringo -- was he homely!
The band performed ``Till There Was You'' and what would become its American trademark, ``She Loves You.'' But all too soon, the segment ended.
Sullivan reminded us the Beatles would be back in the second half, which meant we'd have to wait through magician Fred Kaps, the ``Oliver!'' cast, impressionist Frank Gorshin (the Riddler on the ``Batman'' TV series), Olympic athlete Terry McDermott, Tessie O'Shea and comics Mitzi McCall and Charlie Brill.
Whew!
After what seemed an eternity, the band was back on camera to do ``I Saw Her Standing There'' and ``I Want to Hold Your Hand.'' The screams of the audience blared through the speaker. The Beatles appeared to be having a great time.
Overall, their onstage performances here are livelier than the studio versions. Given that they had an audience of screaming young girls, that's really no surprise.
Sullivan had booked the Beatles again for the following Sunday, from the Deauville Hotel at Miami Beach, and for Feb. 23 in New York, a segment actually prerecorded before the band returned to England.
Those shows are here, too, as well as the Beatles' Sept. 12, 1965, appearance on the Sullivan show, when the fresh-faced group looked far more self-assured than the year before.
In addition to the Beatles, the shows spotlight comics Allen and Rossi, dancer Mitzi Gaynor, comic Myron Cohen, the British comedy team of Morecambe & Wise, singers Gordon and Sheila MacRae, Cab Calloway, instrumentalist Acker Bilk, Soupy Sales (who does his big hit, ``The Mouse'') and Cilla Black, a Liverpudlian who, like the Beatles, once worked at the Cavern Club and was managed by Brian Epstein.
Some of the acts were dreadful. Gordon and Sheila MacRae's takeoff on ``The Garry Moore Show,'' with Gordon's horrible impersonation of that show's host; Dave Barry's embarrassing comedy routine about teenagers on a show a lot of teens were watching; fellow Britishers Morecambe & Wise doing a weak routine about rare antiques. (The comic duo comes off much better in an appearance with the Beatles included on the ``Beatles Anthology'' videos.)
Still, the images are pristine. Watching them is like being transported back to the '60s.
And oh, by the way, my parents finally did become Beatles fans -- once they saw the Rolling Stones on the Sullivan show six months later.
Published on November 7, 2003, San Jose Mercury News (CA)
In the house where I grew up during the 1960s, there was one TV show above all others that spelled ``family time'': ``The Ed Sullivan Show.''
Sullivan started his career as a New York newspaper columnist, a journalist pounding a typewriter, but became one smart variety-show host. He knew that to attract a big audience every week he had to present something for each member of the family -- adults, youngsters and teens.
More often than not, what the teens got was that wild, raucous rock 'n' roll music they loved. If you're too young to remember those days, you might be surprised at what raised the ire of '60s parents: hairstyles that today seem tame; unusual clothes; and a noisier style of music than expected by those accustomed to Frankie Avalon and Paul Anka.
You can check out some of that with ``The Four Historic Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring the Beatles,'' a new two-DVD set from Sofa Entertainment, distributed by Goodtimes Video.
The discs include not just the performances by the Fab Four, which are available in clip compilations of the Sullivan show elsewhere, but also everything else on the show: Sullivan's introductions, other performers and the commercials. But forming the centerpiece are the 20 songs performed by the Beatles, 11 of which haven't been seen since they first aired. There are no extras; the shows speak for themselves.
Sullivan liked to tell the story of how he found out about the Beatles, on Oct. 31, 1963. ``My wife, Sylvia, and I were in London, at Heathrow Airport,'' he has been quoted as saying. ``There was the biggest crowd I'd ever seen in my life! I asked someone what was going on, and he said, `The Beatles.' `Who the hell are the Beatles?' I asked. But I went back to my hotel, got the name of their manager and arranged for them to do three shows.''
The first, on Feb. 9, 1964, attracted a TV audience of 73 million, setting a record that stood for years. That show is still vivid in my memory. The adults at my house were relaxing in chairs, the kids lying on the floor. Mom and Dad wanted to see the cast of the Broadway musical ``Oliver!'' (which included a young British actor named Davy Jones, later one of the Monkees) and British singer Tessie O'Shea. But my sister and I cared only about the band our schoolmates buzzed about and whose records we'd coaxed our parents to buy for us.
Finally, Sullivan got down to business. ``Now, yesterday and today, our theater's been jammed with newspapermen and hundreds of photographers from all over the nation, and these veterans agree with me that the city never has witnessed the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool who call themselves the Beatles,'' he told viewers, looking almost frightened at what he was about to unleash.
``Now tonight,'' he continued, ``you'll be entertained twice by them -- right now and in the second half of the show. Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles!''
Screams from ecstatic fans pierced the TV speaker as the Fab Four launched into ``All My Loving.'' My sister and I sat hypnotized.
Our folks were less enthralled. The musicians had long hair. And Ringo -- was he homely!
The band performed ``Till There Was You'' and what would become its American trademark, ``She Loves You.'' But all too soon, the segment ended.
Sullivan reminded us the Beatles would be back in the second half, which meant we'd have to wait through magician Fred Kaps, the ``Oliver!'' cast, impressionist Frank Gorshin (the Riddler on the ``Batman'' TV series), Olympic athlete Terry McDermott, Tessie O'Shea and comics Mitzi McCall and Charlie Brill.
Whew!
After what seemed an eternity, the band was back on camera to do ``I Saw Her Standing There'' and ``I Want to Hold Your Hand.'' The screams of the audience blared through the speaker. The Beatles appeared to be having a great time.
Overall, their onstage performances here are livelier than the studio versions. Given that they had an audience of screaming young girls, that's really no surprise.
Sullivan had booked the Beatles again for the following Sunday, from the Deauville Hotel at Miami Beach, and for Feb. 23 in New York, a segment actually prerecorded before the band returned to England.
Those shows are here, too, as well as the Beatles' Sept. 12, 1965, appearance on the Sullivan show, when the fresh-faced group looked far more self-assured than the year before.
In addition to the Beatles, the shows spotlight comics Allen and Rossi, dancer Mitzi Gaynor, comic Myron Cohen, the British comedy team of Morecambe & Wise, singers Gordon and Sheila MacRae, Cab Calloway, instrumentalist Acker Bilk, Soupy Sales (who does his big hit, ``The Mouse'') and Cilla Black, a Liverpudlian who, like the Beatles, once worked at the Cavern Club and was managed by Brian Epstein.
Some of the acts were dreadful. Gordon and Sheila MacRae's takeoff on ``The Garry Moore Show,'' with Gordon's horrible impersonation of that show's host; Dave Barry's embarrassing comedy routine about teenagers on a show a lot of teens were watching; fellow Britishers Morecambe & Wise doing a weak routine about rare antiques. (The comic duo comes off much better in an appearance with the Beatles included on the ``Beatles Anthology'' videos.)
Still, the images are pristine. Watching them is like being transported back to the '60s.
And oh, by the way, my parents finally did become Beatles fans -- once they saw the Rolling Stones on the Sullivan show six months later.
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