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VOLUME 1, ISSUE 10 | February 1 -28 2006
Remembering the Beatles
By Ken Shane
February always makes me think about the Beatles. It was on February 7, 1964, that Pan Am flight 101 landed at the newly renamed JFK Airport in New York, delivering the Beatles to the United States for the first time. On February 9, the entire nation was glued to television sets as the Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. They played five songs that night. Nothing was ever the same.
On August 27, 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson accepted the Democratic nomination for president at his party’s convention, which was held at the old Convention Hall on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. It was within walking distance of my home. I can recall seeing LBJ and vice-presidential nominee Hubert Humphrey, together with their wives, waving from a balcony overlooking the crowd gathered on the boardwalk on the last night of the convention. The heroic Mississippi Freedom Delegation, led by Fannie Lou Hamer, had been denied seats at the convention and stayed out on the boardwalk for the entire week, representing the conscience of a nation. It had been less than a year since the president had picked up the mantle of power from a fallen young hero, and soon he would be presiding over a tragedy of his own.
Three days later, the Beatles came to town. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the show, which took place at the very same Convention Hall. Although the music could barely be heard over the shrieking of female fans, and although the band only played for about 20 minutes that night, it was a spectacle I won’t forget. This was, after all, the height of Beatlemania, and I remember the band looking very small from my balcony seat. Strobe flashes from hundreds of cameras made it appear that a storm was breaking loose inside the auditorium, and indeed it was.
It has been more than 30 years since the Beatles broke up. Yet despite the passage of time, the vagaries of style, and the tragic deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison, the Beatles are as popular as ever, maybe more popular. Each year sees new Beatles-related albums, DVD’s, and books, and there always seems to be an audience for these products.
In this piece I’m going to talk about a new solo album from Paul McCartney, the DVD release of a famous benefit concert that was organized by George Harrison, and a band of New York session musicians who are determined to present the music of the Beatles in the most faithful renditions possible as a labor of love.
PAUL MC CARTNEY
Chaos & Creation in the Backyard
Capitol Records
Paul McCartney has nothing to prove to anyone. Not anymore. He wrote and performed some of the most revered music of the 20th century, music that has delighted generations and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Nothing to prove? Well, maybe one thing: In the minds of many, Paul McCartney has yet to release a solo album that rises to the level of his work with the Beatles. There have been many great songs and several excellent albums, but not a single one on which everyone – critics and fans alike – agreed that McCartney had lived up to the promise he established in the 1960s.
That last hurdle has finally melted away with the release of McCartney’s new album, Chaos & Creation in the Backyard. Make no mistake about it: This is not only McCartney’s best solo work since the first McCartney album, it’s most likely his best ever. It is the output of a mature artist, a poignant look back to better days, but never without Sir Paul’s trademark optimism. It has been beautifully produced by Nigel Godrich, best known for his work with Radiohead, and the McCartney road band has been sidelined in favor of having Paul play nearly all of the instruments himself.
The album opens on an upbeat note with the “Lady Madonna”-like piano bounce of “Fine Line.” Skies soon begin to darken, however, as a chorus of somber trumpets introduce “How Kind of You” – a paean to someone who helped the singer through “that long dark night.” Afterward, it’s on to the much-discussed “Jenny Wren.” Some may see “Jenny Wren” as a simple recasting of The Beatles classic “Blackbird,” and it’s true there are similarities. Looked at in another light, however, the song is all the proof anyone should need that Paul McCartney can still write a great melancholy pop song.
One can’t help but be struck by the George Harrison-inspired “Friends to Go,” and if you close your eyes while listening, you’ll swear that George is there, providing high harmonies as he always did. “Too Much Rain” is a plea for optimism in the face of tragedy, made all the more powerful by the voice of a man who has endured his fair share of loss.
“Riding to Vanity Fair” is one of the most unusual songs that McCartney ever recorded. It’s a magnificent example of chamber pop, with dark orchestral tones and blank-verse lyrics. You could almost call it experimental, and the recounting of a lost friendship evokes a rainy English afternoon. Listen carefully and you might even hear a little Pink Floyd in the arrangement.
The strumming acoustic guitars that open “Follow Me” might remind you of Harrison again, and that’s a good thing. “Promise to You Girl” features multi-layered vocal harmonies that will immediately remind most listeners of “Sun King” from the Abbey Road album. This and “Fine Line” are the only other songs on the current album that could really be called upbeat. “This Never Happens,” on the other hand, is likely to inspire memories of other classic McCartney piano ballads like “The Long and Winding Road,” “My Love,” and “No More Lonely Nights.”
The album closes with “Anyway.” The piano introduction is right out of Jackson Browne’s “Rock Me on the Water.” But the song soon becomes all Paul McCartney – and a magnificent closing anthem.
Paul McCartney has known pain. His bright demeanor is sometimes mistaken for a lack of depth, when in fact he’s just a man who is determined to get on with his life. The loss of his boyhood friends, John Lennon and George Harrison, as well as his soul mate, Linda, must have been devastating. But he’s still here at age 63 with a new love in his life. The tone of his new album might be wistful, sometimes even a bit sad, but the final message is positive. It is some of the finest music Paul McCartney has ever made, and that’s saying something.
When The Beatles broke up in 1970, a lot of people felt lost and lonely. The four of them had been so much a part of our lives, and now they were no more. There were solo albums, but nobody was touring. We couldn’t see them anymore. By 1971, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison were dead. It was a bleak time in rock-n-roll history.
Then came The Concert for Bangladesh. George Harrison asked the Beatles first. Paul McCartney said no, still fuming over the rancor that had destroyed the band. John Lennon said yes at first, but George made it clear that Yoko Ono was not invited to participate, and as a result John bailed out a few days before the show. Ringo Starr, bless him, said yes, and so the event became the first concert appearance by any of the former Beatles since the dissolution of their partnership.
GEORGE HARRISON
The Concert for Bangladesh
Apple / Rhino Entertainment
Nearly three million Bengalis were killed in the early 1970s while East Pakistan struggled to gain independence as the new nation, Bangladesh. It was one of the most horrifying genocides of the 20th Century, fueled by Cold War politics.
The Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar, a Bengali himself, had relatives in East Pakistan, and he was desperately looking for a way to help them. Sometime earlier, the then-Beatle George Harrison traveled to India to seek instruction from Shankar. “I felt that his enthusiasm was so real, and I wanted to give as much as I could express,” Shankar said in a 1997 VH1 interview. In 1971 he called Harrison with an idea for a concert that could raise about $25,000. Seeing the pain in his friend’s eyes, Harrison immediately responded that they could do much better than that. He rounded up a star-studded roster of musical friends, including former bandmate Ringo Starr, booked Madison Square Garden, and put together a two-show event in only five weeks.
The Concert for Bangladesh became one of the defining moments in rock-n-roll history. It was “rock reaching its manhood,” said Rolling Stone. “Under the leadership of George Harrison, a group of rock musicians recognized in a deliberate, self-conscious, and professional way that they had responsibilities – and went about dealing with them seriously.” It was a precursor to events like Live Aid, Farm Aid, and Live 8. As so often happens, the first was the best.
In addition to Ringo Starr and Ravi Shankar, George brought in superstars like Eric Clapton, who hadn’t been seen in public since the end of Derek and the Dominoes the previous year, and Bob Dylan, who hadn’t performed live since the 1969 Isle of Wight concert in England. To the mix he added former Beatles sideman Billy Preston, and the popular keyboard player, Leon Russell. Harrison created a back-up band comprised of renowned musicians: Jim Keltner, Carl Radle, Don Nix, Klaus Voorman, Jesse Ed Davis, Don Preston, and the Apple band Badfinger.
Two shows were held on August 1, 1971 – one in the afternoon and one in the evening. I attended the evening show. By then, WNEW-FM was spreading the word on the one thing everybody had been wondering about, and even George Harrison didn’t know until earlier that day: Bob Dylan had indeed made an appearance at the afternoon show. A Dylan sighting in those days was cause for celebration, and Bob Dylan did elevate the show from special to historic.
I’ve always thought it very considerate of George Harrison to introduce his friend Ravi Shankar, who opened the show with traditional Indian music. Harrison knew that the audience was primarily there to see the rock stars of the day, but he was also aware that if he made the introduction, listeners would pay closer attention to Shankar’s music. “If you like the tuning, I hope you will like the music even more,” the Indian musician said in preparation for his group’s performance.
Then it was time for rock ’n’ roll. The assembled musicians opened with three George Harrison songs, which were followed by the pivotal, roof-raising performance of “That’s the Way God Planned It,” by Billy Preston. Ringo did his “It Don’t Come Easy” next, and we were so happy to see him that it couldn’t, and didn’t, fail to delight.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” featured searing work from Eric Clapton, still deep in the grip of heroin addiction. Leon Russell did a medley of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Youngblood” that had the crowd rocking.
Soon it was time for Dylan, and when he appeared the mix of emotions was virtually overwhelming. There is no way to overestimate the importance of this artist to my generation. He never wanted to be our spokesman, but he was. Despite his tireless efforts to avoid the spotlight, Bob Dylan was remarkably beloved. With Dylan backed up by Harrison on guitar, Leon Russell on bass, and Ringo Starr on tambourine, a music fan could not have imagined anything more special.
The concert closed with two more George Harrison songs. The classic “Something” was followed by a number he had written specially for the occasion, “Bangladesh.” Of all the great performances that magical Sunday night, this was perhaps the greatest. It reminded us why George Harrison had organized the concert in the first place:
My friend came to me,
With sadness in his eyes,
He told me that he wanted help,
Before his country died.
Although I couldn’t feel the pain,
I knew I’d have to try,
Now I’m asking all of you,
To help us save some lives.
After the final show of their 1966 American tour at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, the Beatles announced that they would no longer perform live. One of the reasons they cited was that they could not reproduce their increasingly complex recorded music in a live setting. The new studio technology they were employing was either unavailable for concert performance, or unreliable. This meant that some of The Beatles greatest work from the middle and later parts of their career was never played before a live audience.
THE FAB FAUX
State Theatre, New Brunswick, New Jersey, November 12, 2005
I am an expert on the music of the Beatles. There, I’ve said it. The thing is, I don’t think this makes me particularly special. Nearly everyone my age is an expert on their music. After all, we’ve been listening to it for more than 40 years, and if recent sales figures are any indication, time has done nothing to diminish our collective appetite. Moreover, younger generations have been discovering the Beatles, which means that eventually almost everyone will be an expert on this music.
The Fab Faux know all of this very well. They are experts too, but they’ve taken it a step farther. This group is comprised of five men who are among New York City’s best and busiest musicians, and they’re using their considerable talents to recreate the music of the Beatles before concert audiences. No, they don’t put on wigs and costumes from the 1960s, because they know that when it comes to the Beatles, it’s about the music. So they’ve done their homework. As bassist Will Lee (The Late Show with David Letterman) said, they’re fortunate that so much has been written about the Beatles, because that makes it relatively easy to find out exactly how they created each of their songs.
Sometimes it’s a matter of finding the right combination of instruments and voices. Other times, keyboard textures that weren’t available to the Beatles function as horn and string sections. Mostly, though, it’s about loving the music, because if you are going to play Beatles music in front of an audience of experts, you had better get it right.
I had a chance to be in one of those audiences last November, and I wasn’t disappointed – not even as an expert. While the band did very credible versions of some early Beatles classics like “A Hard Day’s Night,” “And I Love Her,” “Paperback Writer,” and “Help,” many Beatles tribute bands do those. But the Fab Faux do them better. Where this group really shines is when it takes on the more challenging later material. The Fab Faux performed two of my personal favorites, “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “I Am the Walrus,” in outstanding recreations, along with the closing number, “A Day in the Life,” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
With so many great songs to choose from, it must be hard for the Fauxers to decide what to play at any given show. They are said to be able to perform more than 250 Beatles songs. Sometimes the concert is given over to a theme, such as The White Album in its entirety. At the show I attended the Fab Faux chose to highlight material from the entire Beatles canon.
If you never got to see the Beatles perform live, but still revere their music as I do, this is a show you should see. You can peruse the band’s schedule and learn more about it at www.thefabfaux.com.
Ken Shane is a performing songwriter and journalist. His CD, South Ridgeway Avenue, was released in 2003. His writing has appeared in several magazines, and he is currently collaborating on a novel inspired by his songs.
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