The Beatles Plus 50 It was fifty years ago today…

Everyone contributes to the last side, which is only right. We hear Paul at his most experimental, John at his most playful, Ringo at his most sentimental, George at his most poignant.

Track Listing:

I Live for You (George)
Imagine, if you will, an alternate universe where George was so flush with great songs in 1970 that he shelved this gorgeously aching number and it was not released until 2001. It may not be as hard as you think.

Hot as Sun/Glasses (Paul)
“‘Hot as Sun’: A song written in about 1958 or 9 or maybe earlier, when it was one of those songs that you play now and then. The middle was added in Morgan Studio, where the track was recorded recently. ‘Glasses’: Wineglasses played at random and overdubbed on top of each other — the end is a section of a song called Suicide — not yet completed.” —Paul McCartney

Sentimental Journey (Ringo)
“Sentimental Journey” was written in 1944 by Les Brown, who performed it with his Band of Renown, but was prevented from recording it at the time by a musicians’ strike. In addition to Ringo, it has been covered by Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Conway Twitty, and Amy Winehouse. Ringo’s version makes good use of some early Vocoder-type gizmo.

Remember (John)
“The original studio version was over eight minutes long, but was edited for release. It featured an organ overdub, had more double-tracked vocals, and a Jew’s harp was also used for keeping the rhythm, although this was left out of the album mix. Lennon cut the eight-minute recording and added the sound of an explosion, a reference to Guy Fawkes’ 1605 attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London. John: ‘In England it’s the day they blew up the Houses of Parliament. We celebrate it by having bonfires every November the fifth. It was just an ad lib. It was about the third take, and it begins to sound like Frankie Laine – when you’re singing ‘remember, remember the fifth of November.’ And I just broke and it went on for about another seven or eight minutes. I was just ad libbing and goofing about. But then I cut it there and it just exploded ’cause it was a good joke.’” —The Beatles Bible

Kreen-Akrore (Paul)
“There was a film on TV about the Kreen-Akrore Indians living in the Brazilian jungle, their lives, and how the white man is trying to change their way of life to his, so the next day, after lunch, I did some drumming. The idea behind it was to get the feeling of their hunt. So later piano, guitar and organ were added to the first section…. The end of the first section has Linda and I doing animal noises (speeded up) and an arrow sound (done live with bow and arrow — the bow broke), then animals stampeding across a guitar case…. We built a fire in the studio but didn’t use it (but used the sound of the twigs breaking). —Paul McCartney

All Things Must Pass (George)
“Like his friend Eric Clapton, George Harrison was inspired by Music from Big Pink, the seminal debut album from the Band, the former backing group for Bob Dylan. Released in July 1968, Music from Big Pink was partly responsible for Harrison’s return to the guitar, his first instrument, after he had spent two years attempting to master the more complex Indian sitar. Harrison duly shared his enthusiasm with the British music press, declaring Big Pink ‘the new sound to come from America,’ drummer Levon Helm later recalled, thus helping to establish the Band internationally. In appreciation, Robbie Robertson, the Band’s guitarist, extended an invitation to Harrison to stop by in Woodstock, New York, when the opportunity arose. Late in 1968, after producing sessions in Los Angeles for a solo album by Apple Records signing Jackie Lomax, Harrison spent Thanksgiving and much of December in upstate New York, where he renewed his friendship with a now semi-retired Dylan and took part in informal jam sessions with the Band. According to Helm, they discussed making a possible ‘fireside jam’ album with Clapton and an Apple Films ‘rock western’ called Zachariah, but neither project progressed beyond the planning stage. The bucolic surroundings proved fruitful for Harrison as a songwriter, producing his first collaboration with Dylan, ‘I’d Have You Anytime,’ and leading him to write ‘All Things Must Pass.’ He later described the latter song as a ‘Robbie Robertson–Band type of tune,’ and said that he always imagined it being sung by Helm.” —Wikipedia

Instant Karma (Slight Return) (John)
And that’s the name of that tune.