The Beatles' Thread

[Top Cat]

ok I've listened to Strawberry Fields on headphones several times and I hear "I'm very tall" at the 3:57 mark.
Is that the same place where cranberry sauce is heard instead?
It may be so burned into my consciousness that it's I'm very tall, that I can't hear anything else. lol
It's been awhile since I've listened to this album, but I can't help but say how brilliant their music is, still to this day for me.

[Hal...]

I wondered if that's what you were talking about. Ron's right. It's "cranberry sauce". I couldn't hear the "s" or "c" in "sauce" until I listened to the CD with headphones and fiddled with the EQ.

My personal belief is that John really said "cranberry sauce" but said it in such a way and then had it mixed the way it is so that it would confuse people.

I also believe John when he said the inspiration for "Lucy" was Julian's drawing. However, I also believe John picked up on the relationship to the letters LSD and wrote the song accordingly. The song is chock full of psychedelic imagery. How could it not be about LSD?

I also think that even if they didn't create the Paul is dead rumor - and I'm not certain of that - they certainly ran with it.

[Top Cat]

I wondered if that's what you were talking about. Ron's right. It's "cranberry sauce". I couldn't hear the "s" or "c" in "sauce" until I listened to the CD with headphones and fiddled with the EQ.

My personal belief is that John really said "cranberry sauce" but said it in such a way and then had it mixed the way it is so that it would confuse people.

I also believe John when he said the inspiration for "Lucy" was Julian's drawing. However, I also believe John picked up on the relationship to the letters LSD and wrote the song accordingly. The song is chock full of psychedelic imagery. How could it not be about LSD?

I also think that even if they didn't create the Paul is dead rumor - and I'm not certain of that - they certainly ran with it.

You're right, John did mess with that part. When I was trying to find information about my comment, I read several statements that he did have that section tweaked.
I have Magical Mystery Tour on vinyl in the Mono Box Set and will have to crank it up to see if I hear cranberry sauce, but after decades of thinking it was I'm very tall, my perception has been permanently warped.

I was a young lad in the military when this was released and I remember the whole Paul is dead thing as it happened, and it was pretty ridiculous.
But in typical Beatles fashion they handled that kind of stuff with their wonderful humor, humor which I think helped keep them sane in that little box they were kept in.

[ronmac]

You have to listen for "Cranberry Sauce." Otherwise, you'll hear what was planted in your brain. John said that at the end, because he preferred cranberry to strawberry.

They might not have started the Paul is Dead rumor, but they definitely had fun with it. Some of the clues are uncanny.

[Joe F.]

so what do the backwards spoken vocal say at the end of I'm So Tired? I've always heard Paul is Dead, Miss him, miss him, miss him. I jutst figured it was them having a laugh.

[ronmac]

so what do the backwards spoken vocal say at the end of I'm So Tired? I've always heard Paul is Dead, Miss him, miss him, miss him. I jutst figured it was them having a laugh.

There are a number of outtakes where john plays with some mumbling after that refrain, including the one in the middle of the song. That simply appears to be a remnant. I'm pretty sure it's not backwards.

[Hal...]

so what do the backwards spoken vocal say at the end of I'm So Tired? I've always heard Paul is Dead, Miss him, miss him, miss him. I jutst figured it was them having a laugh.

Play it at ¾ speed:

[JKL2000]

I think I heard another interpretation of I’m very tall/cranberry sauce is “I’m very tired.”

[ronmac]

I think I heard another interpretation of I’m very tall/cranberry sauce is “I’m very tired.”

Interesting. I have only ever heard "I buried Paul," as the alleged line.

[Top Cat]

I listened to my mono vinyl last night and my brain heard I'm very tall. I tried really hard to hear cranberry sauce but it wouldn't show itself to me. I'm too old to change what I thought it was, it's kind of like telling a child Santa's isn't real.(we all know he is, right?) lol

[Hal...]

Something to remember when listening to these kinds of things is that the boys were English. Meaning they don't pronounce certain vowels or words the same way we do. For instance, Greg Lake's singing the line "the cracked brass bells will ring" from "In the Court of the Crimson King" (this is always the first example I think of after hearing Howard Stern make fun of the song way back in the '80s when he was still on WXRK in NYC). The way Lake sings it, 'brass' sounds like 'brahss'. Similarly, Lennon pronounces 'cran', of cranberry, the same way, tho not quite as drastic.

-------------------------------------

One of the things I'm annoyed by, when it comes to their catalog, is that I really wanted to hear the official, mono versions of certain albums. But from what I've seen, they aren't available individually. They're only in a box set, right?

[ronmac]

I just created a photo composite of all of my Beatles bootleg vinyls and thought I'd share it.

[JJ88]

I don't really have any physical copies of bootlegs but it's a topic that interests me. The first I heard was probably the Artifacts sets circa 2010. (A surprising amount of what's on those is still not officially released.)

I delved into them a bit more after enjoying the 2nd BBC set On Air (which is better sequenced than the 1st, I think).

The early BBC bootleg Yellow Matter Custard was mistaken by Lennon for the Decca audition.

This EP was seemingly a big deal in collectors circles at the time, and then featured on one in your collage- Broadcasts:

http://www.45cat.com/record/g079

[ronmac]

^^ I have the original artifacts set. It's great.



The Broadcasts bootleg was culled from a BBC broadcast in the 70s that had finally presented some of those gems in better quality than those that were recorded off the air by fans. It pretty much opened up a lot to fans.

I also have a killer set of BBC recordings that was put out by Great Dane and pretty much forced the official release of the BBC material. Nine disc, 253 unreleased songs. Considered by many to be the greatest bootleg ever made.



Volume one of the official BBC was way over-produced and questionably edited. The second one was better-received.

[Jerjo]

I have a number of Stones boots in digital form and wow, the cover art goes in a decidedly darker direction. It's like the two bands had completely different visions.

[JJ88]

Volume one of the official BBC was way over-produced and questionably edited. The second one was better-received.

The problems with the first one, for me, are also to do with sequencing. The songs sort of run into each other and it's all a bit thrown together. Just a big blob of material with no real thought to its flow. The second one doesn't have so many of the 'exclusive' songs (although there's a couple left over like 'Beautiful Dreamer' and 'I'm Talking About You') but it's a better listen overall. Having said that I'm not sure I'd have included the long interview tracks.

I think they should have done a disc with most of the exclusive songs in one place. I'm pretty sure all of them fit on one disc, even if you include the relevant Pete Best tracks ('Dream Baby', 'A Picture Of You'...maybe 'Besame Mucho' as well, although there are two studio recordings of this anyway).

Quite a few of the songs they did record for Parlophone received superior performances on the BBC. 'Baby It's You' is a good example, that one was put out as a single in the 90s. It works better without the celeste. 'I'll Get You' is another one that is tighter in its various BBC performances.

[ronmac]

Those earliest recordings with Pete are some of my favorites (not because of him, though). But, as you noted, there are no good-quality recordings of those and, regretfully, they didn't make the cut. I think that's a shame.

My problem with the first official release is definitely the production. They seemed to be so concerned with the inherent hiss, that they sucked the live out of them. They also, deservedly, took flak for adding intros from one session to the songs from another.

[ronmac]

I have a number of Stones boots in digital form and wow, the cover art goes in a decidedly darker direction. It's like the two bands had completely different visions.

You mean like this?

[JJ88]

Those earliest recordings with Pete are some of my favorites (not because of him, though). But, as you noted, there are no good-quality recordings of those and, regretfully, they didn't make the cut. I think that's a shame.

My problem with the first official release is definitely the production. They seemed to be so concerned with the inherent hiss, that they sucked the live out of them. They also, deservedly, took flak for adding intros from one session to the songs from another.

Yes 'Keep Your Hands Off My Baby' was tampered with, with that robotic sounding drum loop intro. I noticed that being off the first time I heard this when I was a kid! I'm sure it should just kick in with the song like the Little Eva original hit does. There's a better sounding version of that around now as well.

The Pete Best tracks are definitely the roughest sounding. But, of course it's astonishing those tracks exist in any form. They were broadcast live, before they even had a record out.

[Jerjo]

You mean like this?

Well, there's a package called the Black Box, it has a gentleman, shot from the neck on down, in a finely tailored suit with his uncut schlong hanging out. A wonderful collection of Sticky Fingers outtakes uses a young maiden struggling out of her jeans instead of Mick. And so on, and so on.

[Jerjo]

I've downloaded the Beatles Artifacts (first volume) but still haven't devoted enough time to fully study it. I've gotten to that point where there's just more music than time to listen to it all.

[Hal...]

I finally saw the movie Yesterday recently. I was really looking forward to it. A few people in the movie thread said it was really enjoyable. My brother, who I usually do not trust with movie recommendations or assessments, said it was just okay.

My brother was right. Bummer. (that the movie was only okay, not because my brother was right)

[JJ88]

I've downloaded the Beatles Artifacts (first volume) but still haven't devoted enough time to fully study it. I've gotten to that point where there's just more music than time to listen to it all.

I think in some cases though they might have used the Geoff Emerick 80s Sessions mixes, which are appalling when you've heard the originals (and sometimes even if you haven't!). I'm not sure because the version I 'acquired' removed the officially released tracks.

The full 'Not Guilty' is there though. As is the full length 'It's All Too Much', another track still unreleased.

I finally saw the movie Yesterday recently. I was really looking forward to it. A few people in the movie thread said it was really enjoyable. My brother, who I usually do not trust with movie recommendations or assessments, said it was just okay.

My brother was right. Bummer. (that the movie was only okay, not because my brother was right)

I wouldn't want to see it but I understand it did very well in the US in particular- 'above expectations' was the phrase I saw used. I feared a disaster...of the kind seen with Cats in recent weeks, which is an all-time flop. I didn't want this great catalogue associated with something like that.

[ronmac]

I finally saw the movie Yesterday recently. I was really looking forward to it. A few people in the movie thread said it was really enjoyable. My brother, who I usually do not trust with movie recommendations or assessments, said it was just okay.

My brother was right. Bummer. (that the movie was only okay, not because my brother was right)

That is disappointing to hear. I haven't seen it. My family saw it, as did some other acquaintances. I had heard the same about how surprisingly good it was. And, "You'd like it." I was prepared to approach it with an open mind, but kinda knew better. I do find the plot interesting.

[ronmac]

The Pete Best tracks are definitely the roughest sounding. But, of course it's astonishing those tracks exist in any form. They were broadcast live, before they even had a record out.

Yep, March of '62. Thank god there was a guy with a microphone at his radio.

The BBC stuff is desert island material to me. I can't get enough of it.