Thursday, November 11, 2004

With the Beatles

Weekend Assignment #33: You can have any person, past or present, sing any song for you that you want. What is the song, and who is singing it for you?

Extra credit: Name a singer you wish you could sing like, but can't. So that means even those of you with excellent voices have to pick someone you can't sing like.

It's always been the Beatles.Only one person, past or present? I'd like four of them: John, Paul, George and Ringo. They were pretty much the only music John and I had in common when we met in 1977.  Later we shared many favorites from the New Wave era - The Clash, Devo, Elvis Costello, the Specials and Madness - and still later we both got interested in "ultralounge" music of the 1950s and early 1960s, especially the exotica of Martin Denny and Les Baxter. But really, it's always been The Beatles for us. John's published several books about them, and I once made him a scrapbook of Beatles clippings from the 1960s and 1970s.

So, if I can have the whole band, let's fire up the old time machine and get back to 1962 or so. John's request - and I think it's a good one - is to have them perform "a Lennon-McCartney original that nobody's ever heard of, and nobody has on tape - or a medley of them."
pages from the scrapbookNeedless to say, we'd soon rectify the lack of a decent recording! If we must choose a song we already know about, then let's have them play Thinking of Linking, an early song Paul McCartney has mentioned in interviews but never performed.

 If we have to cut the human want list to two, John wants Lennon and McCartney to perform You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) from 1969--live. Oh, yeah! Wild stuff. That B-side is pretty much the last recorded evidence of John and Paul really having fun together.

gum card wrappersAnd if we follow the assignment and only get one Beatle, let's bring back John Lennon, and hear what he would have done with Free As a Bird.  Heck, let's just plain bring back John Lennon. If I really had access to a time machine, that night outside the Dakota is one change in history I'd make without hesitation. Real world alternative: how about recording Thinking of Linking for us, Sir Paul?

Extra Credit: again, you can't do better than the Beatles, but of course I'm female. It would be very strange if P McC's voice came out of my mouth! I guess I'll go with either Judy Collins (circa 1968) or Ella Fitzgerald (not the scat part, the straight singing). Or maybe Peggy Lee (1950s era).

Karen

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

All my Beatle stuff was lost when my family moved from the old homestead to a larger house...I was in college, I mean playing at attending college in the mid-70's.  All that survived was one George card and a 16 magazine (devoted to the Beatles) minus the cover!  I would love to see more entries about your collection!

Anonymous said...

Hi :)

I like, no LOVE, your taste in music! I have been a lifelong fan of the Beatles since hearing "Here Comes The Sun" on the radio for the first time as a little one. It is still the one song I always put on homemade CDs I make for friends. I agree on another thing...I want John back also! :::Sigh::: Take care and be of good cheer.

Always, Carly :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Karen, Thanks for visiting my journal, feel free to visit it anytime!  =)  BTW,  I really love the Beatles, too!  They were the GREATEST ever! ~Nikki

Anonymous said...

Good choice. There's always room for Beatles. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Great choices YOu can never have too much of the beatles!!!
I like Peggy Lee too ;)
CHelle
http://journals.aol.com/chellebelle1977/chellesjournal