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Finally, it’s “Beef Jerky” time:
For those of you keeping score at home, “Beef Jerky” is the 10th of the 12 tracks on Walls and Bridges, which means we may actually wrap this thread up before the 50th anniversary of the release of Wings’ Venus and Mars (5/30/1975). Not that I’ll probably have much to say about that — looking over the track listing, the only title I recognize is “Listen to What the Man Said,” a song I loathe with a passion. But I’d prefer to skip it on purpose rather than just yada-yada over it like I did with Ringo’s Goodnight Vienna, a very good record unfortunately released in November 1974. (Anything I might have written about GV is just another casualty of MAGA, along with my cracked molar and the United States of America.)
Anyway: “Beef Jerky” is a fun little number, not meant to be thought about too much. The only lyrics are the title, which, says Wikipedia, “comes from the dried meat strips that Lennon and then-girlfriend May Pang used to eat in the recording studio.” Said John, “I like this one because I don’t sing, and I can stand listening to it without hearing me voice all the time.”
But there are several musical references at play. The similarity to George’s song “Savoy Truffle” is hard to miss. There’s also a guitar riff lifted directly from “Let Me Roll It,” which was generally considered to have been written by Paul in a consciously Lennonesque style (he denied it), and was partly inspired by George’s “I’d Have You Anytime.” It’s all very incestuous and makes you wonder how many coded messages are being sent back and forth between the various Beatles on their records.
There’s also a bit of the Bar-Kays’ “Soul Finger” in there:
While we’re on the subject, you can hear a rather more aggressive, guitar-forward version of “Beef Jerky” here:
And that’s probably enough listening material for one day. We’ll be back with “Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down and Out),” which is a real piece of work.
Without any real specifics, I thought I had fond memories of Venus & Mars but went back to listen. Agreed, nothing spectacular, just clearly Paul having fun, which I’m fine with, but think I’m good for now.