Category / The Beatles

by hutchwp

The Beatles – The 1996 album that could have been

I previously wrote about what might have happened in 1971 if The Beatles had squeezed one more album out. It’s an interesting topic that many fans of the band have pondered over the years.

With the recent release of ‘Now & Then’, a song dubbed as the final Beatles song, I started to think about the Anthology era of the band and whether things could have taken a different path. What if the trio decided that including some reworked John Lennon songs in an LP warranted enough of a representation to not tarnish his (or the band’s) legacy? Could they really have put out a full album? What other songs would have made the cut?

In this alternative reality, nothing changes up to the point they start working on the Anthology series, with Jeff Lynne joining the group as a full member to complete the sessions. With a backdrop of Britpop, will the Fab Three And A Bit hold their own and avoid tarnishing their legacy?

I’ve included all the “new” Beatles songs from the era, then filled the album with prominent collaborations from the time between the trio. I have made some omissions, mainly ditching collaborations from Ringo’s album ‘Vertical Man’, preferring to keep the album under 50 minutes in length.

1. The Song We Were Singing

Paul opened his Flaming Pie album with this beautifully reminiscent song. In the liner notes, he noted: “I was remembering the sixties, sitting around late at night, dossing, smoking pipes, drinking wine… jawing, talking about the cosmic solution… It’s that time in your life when you’ve got a chance to do all that.”

It’s reflective and a perfect opener for a Fab Four reunion album.

2. Free As A Bird

The first single from the Anthology project obviously has to be included here. It was criticised on its original release but it’s perhaps the truest collaboration of all the songs on this album. The soaring line “Whatever happened to the life that we once knew?” sung by Paul is the perfect partner for John’s slightly fragile verse lyric.

If you want to hear the best mix, you’ll need to pick up the deluxe re-release of 1, which came out in 2015. This mix, which accompanies the video, cleans up Lennon’s vocals and thus makes for a much easier listen.

3. Young Boy

Recorded by Paul McCartney and Steve Miller in the immediate aftermath of the completion of the song ‘Real Love’, there’s an excitement and urgency to ‘Young Boy’. It reflects McCartney’s ability to tap into his youthful innocence and create a fun pop-rock song in a way few mature musicians can. A belter of a tune.

4. Any Road

No Beatles record would be complete without a George Harrison track and this one, the lead single from his posthumous album Brainwashed, sits nicely amongst the other songs. George had been working on this song from its inception in 1988 and throughout the 1990s, so it’s perfectly reasonable to think he’d have brought it to the table if there was a Beatles album being created.

5. Calico Skies

A simple and beautiful song that features just Paul on vocals and guitar, supplemented by a subtle orchestration from George Martin.

6. Really Love You

‘The day after Ringo and Paul recorded Beautiful Night, the pair returned to the studio and began a jam session, Paul plucking his Hofner violin bass, Ringo beating the drums and Jeff Lynne playing guitar.’ – Flaming Pie liner notes.

This has the same feel as the ‘Looking For You’, featured later in the album. It isn’t particularly inspiring, with a generic drum beat paired with a groovy bass line and some underbaked guitar licks from Lynne. But, it’s playfully fun and easy on the ears. It may not have made the cut if the trio were given more time to develop their ideas into an album.

7. Real Love

Arguably the only John Lennon song here that stands up to the best of his solo output. The first time you hear Lennon singing “I need to be alone” over the delicate minor chord will send shivers down your spine, no matter what version of the song you hear. Simply stunning.

8. What In The World

Ringo collaborated with both Paul and George on his album Vertical Man, released in 1998. Upon hearing a playback of ‘What In The World’, McCartney remarked “Whoo Rich! Sounds kinda Beatle-ish!” There are other songs on that album that feature George and Paul, which probably never would have happened if the Anthology sessions hadn’t existed, but this is the standout.

9. Looking For You

This was a b-side for Paul McCartney’s single Young Boy. Featuring pounding drums from Ringo and an off-beat guitar riff from Jeff Lynne, this track has a blues rock feel that is a bit of a departure for the band. It’s missing any input from George Harrison and thus falls a little flat, not really going anywhere in its 4 minutes and 42 seconds of meandering around, never really going beyond what we hear in the first 20 seconds.

10. Beautiful Night

“A wonderful sight for lovers of love to behold.”Paul McCartney’s saccharine lyric combines with a power pop chord progression to create a true highlight of this reunion album. The big guns are all here: Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne and George Martin feature on the original recording, with Linda McCartney also involved. This is absolutely sumptuous.

11. Now & Then

The version released in 2023 was recorded with a 45 year gap between its first and last contributions, which tells the story of its unique path to coming into fruition. “Now and then I miss you” is a perfect line for Paul and John to sing to each other from across the life-death divide, and certainly resonates with fans around the world who rejoiced at this final Beatles track.

12. Grow Old With Me

The John Lennon demo for this was recorded in 1980 and orchestrated for the posthumous album Milk & Honey, released in 1984. If you want to imagine what the reunion version would have sounded like, you might have to do some mental gymnastics and merge two versions together.

The orchestrated version with Lennon’s vocals – the most superior version being released on his Gimme Some Truth compilation in 2020 – is a stunning take on a beautiful song.

Ringo Starr also recorded a version of the song for his album What’s My Name in 2019, which featured vocals and bass from Paul McCartney. This is a lovely interpretation that is probably a fairer reflection of what The Beatles would have done with the track. I’m sure the AI technology available now could merge the two versions, but who am I to say what someone should do with their free time?

Conclusion

Well, there you have it. A fan’s best guess at what might have happened if they’d opted to pull an album together. It’s a product of its time and of circumstance, lacking in coherence and with a few songs that wouldn’t stand up to the best of the band in their prime. It wouldn’t have tarnished their legacy, but probably would have been a misstep – hence why it never saw the light of day.

by hutchwp

Glastonbury 2017 Day Four: Thundercat, Corbyn, Foo Fighters, The National

A cracking headline slot and a politically-empowering speech from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn defined Saturday at Glastonbury Festival 2017.

The order of the day was love, which is apparently all you really need. The Bootleg Beatles opened the Pyramid with a Sgt. Peppers-era set that featured a the likes of ‘A Little Help From My Friends’, ‘Penny Lane’, ‘I Am The Walrus’ and ‘A Day in the Life’, though I was personally disappointed they didn’t add the extra twenty verses recently written by Peter Serafinowicz.

I was able to dash across the site to catch the entire Whitney set, which was an uplifting surprise despite the weather. The fresh-faced American band, led by drummer/vocalist Julien Ehrlich, wooed the crowd with their hazy Americana tunes and sarcastic banter. It’s rare for me to get so entranced by a band after just 45 minutes of listening but I’m keen to hear more now.

The Thundercat set on the West Holts Stage was a showcase of musicianship masterclasses, though it was married with a penchant for memorable and soulful delivery by frontman Stephen Bruner.

One defining moment of the day came from an empowering speech from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. He spoke for around ten minutes to a packed crowd in the Pyramid and it felt like everyone in attendance took a step to the left, no matter where they started from. Admittedly, he was inevitably going to be popular here, but he’s quickly becoming the voice of a generation that seemed for so long to have nobody fighting their corner. The next five years will be the most interesting politically Britain has seen for decades.

From the stirring to the boring, The Kaiser Chiefs blandly went through he motions of their set to an indifferent crowd clearly waiting for Liam Gallagher to appear. This kind of band brings out the worst in middle-aged people clearly harbouring dormant lad culture personas inside their older bodies. Out come the Kangol hats, Oasis t-shirts and angry alter-egos and, some eight pints later, everyone can have a fight. Wonderful. Liam put in a solid performance, mind you, with a mixture of tracks from his upcoming ‘As You Were’ album and Oasis hits (up to and including 1997 but no later).

The National underlined the 10+ recommendations I’ve had from friends who clearly have better music taste than me. They were brilliant and had the crowds singing along. I’ve no idea how they’ve slipped through the net thus far but they’ll be unslipping very shortly.

The absolute hands-down 100% best set of the day came from Foo Fighters. They performed for well over two hours, providing hit after hit from their eight studio albums and their upcoming ninth album Concrete and Gold, due for release later this year. Starting with ‘Times Like These’, which was sweetly dedicated to Florence Welch, they blasted through a set that included ‘This Is A Call’, ‘All My Life’, new single ‘Run’, ‘My Hero’ and ended on fan favourite ‘Everlong’. The crowd didn’t want them to stop, so just carried on the chanting from ‘Best of You’ as they dispersed. Special mention to Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl for duetting on ‘Under Pressure’, doing their best impressions of David Bowie and Freddie Mercury. A classic moment.

If only I could get those songs out of my head I’d be able to sleep better!

by hutchwp

The Beatles – The 1971 album that could have been

The Beatles remain one of the most celebrated and influential bands of all time, with one of the most prolific outputs the music world has ever seen. This didn’t slow down in the immediate aftermath of the break-up of the band in 1969, with the final studio album and accompanying film Let It Be not seeing the light of day until May 1970. Fans of the Fab Four were also able to enjoy their stars individually as they released a flurry of solo material they had perhaps been saving up for release in the knowledge their days in the band were over.

There were a few experimental items that make the second half of The White Album feel positively mainstream (see John Lennon’s Unfinished Music Vol. 1 and 2, George Harrison’s Wonderwall Music and Paul McCartney’s The Family Way soundtrack, amongst others), but their first forays into mainstream music didn’t take too long to surface.

What if they’d not fallen out for another year and managed to squeeze out a final album? What songs that made it onto these first solo efforts would have sounded great alongside each other?

I’ve tried to create a balanced tracklisting that ruthlessly selects twelve songs from their creative output of 1970 and early 1971 and gives priority to McCartney, who was writing most of the material by the end. Abbey Road was essentially all of them working apart from each other, so the tracklisting below isn’t far off what could have been.

The result is The Beatles at their most conflicting and hateful best, the rift between Paul and the other members plain to see. However, if they’d managed to squeeze this out and gone through the cathartic experience of working on the songs together, we might have seen a whole different ending to the story.

SIDE A

1. Maybe I’m Amazed (Paul McCCartney, 1970)

A standout track from McCartney’s debut album and perhaps one of the finest love songs ever written, it is nonetheless underrated due to the fact the studio version was never issued as a single.

2. My Sweet Lord (George Harrison, 1970)

This is a bit of a no brainer. It’s the highlight of George’s first album proper and it’s hard to think of a better way to follow the opening track. Despite the obvious religious connotations, I doubt John and Paul would have been able to resist the temptation to include such a high-quality song on the next Beatles album. Indeed, Ringo Starr and John Lennon both reportedly appeared on the international smash single.

3. Cold Turkey (John Lennon, 1969)

This is a song that John presented to the band in 1969 for inclusion on Abbey Road, but it was ultimately decided that it didn’t fit and put out as a solo single. If they were still together and John wasn’t thinking about a solo album, then this would have been a prime candidate for inclusion. To increase the connection to The Beatles, Lennon’s version features Ringo Starr on drums.

4. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) (John Lennon, 1970)

A song as anthemic as this would be a clear candidate for inclusion. Indeed, the version Lennon released in 1970 – prior to the release of the final Beatles album Let It Be – featured George Harrison on electric guitar and Phil Spector on production duties, so if it had been part of a Beatles release it’s unlikely it would have sounded much different.

The John Lennon double-header of Dig A Pony and Across The Universe had served Let It Be well and the same thinking works here for a riotious kick-start to the album.

5. Every Night (Paul McCartney, 1970)

This song was included on McCartney’s debut album but had been thrown around during the final Beatles recording sessions. It’s the first hint on this album that we hear McCartney’s anger seeping into his lyrics. It would have undoubtedly sounded a lot different had all four been working on it.

6. Too Many People (Paul McCartney, 1971)

A hate-filled Paul wrote this song as a dig at John and Yoko. In a 1984 edition of Playboy, he said, “He’d been doing a lot of preaching, and it got up my nose a little bit. In one song, I wrote, ‘Too many people preaching practices’. I think is the line. I mean, that was a little dig at John and Yoko.” It kicked off Paul’s debut-proper ‘Ram’ but works better as a closer to the first side.

SIDE B

1. How Do You Sleep? (John Lennon, 1971)

John’s in the studio, probably by this point no longer talking to Paul, and he’s just listened to the final take for Side A closer ‘Too Many People’. In a fit of rage he calls up George and pretty quickly they bash out the song that opens Side B, setting the tone for the fans who are about to hear the falling apart of their favourite band.

2. What Is Life? (George Harrison, 1970)

“Tell me, what is my life without your love?”

Many could dismiss this as schmulzy pop but the killer riff and memorable hook is enough to warrant a place on the next Beatles long player. It’s a soulful rock masterpiece, and a track that had been in Harrison’s back pocket during the Abbey Road session.

3. Junk (Paul McCartney, 1970)
Any speak of what might have come to pass on their next album has to feature both ‘Junk’ and ‘Teddy Boy’, songs Paul had rehearsed with The Beatles in January 1969. Here Paul is hinting about moving on to his next project, getting rid of the old and bringing in the new. It’s also a wild reduction in pace to lead into the final section of the album.

4. Teddy Boy (Paul McCartney, 1970)

A composite version of several takes of this track featured on Anthology 3 after being recorded in the 1969 Savile Row sessions for Let It Be, and is an indication of what else The Beatles had left in them. A no-brainer for inclusion here.

5. Mother (John Lennon, 1970)

One of Lennon’s most powerful songs was written in response to some therapy sessions he had been having to deal with the underlying grief of the loss of his mother to a car accident as a child. The version included on Plastic Ono Band featured Ringo on drums and shows a different side to Lennon than is on show on his two tracks on Side A.

6. All Things Must Pass (George Harrison, 1970)

This track is a beautiful and honest song that would have served The Beatles well as a final farewell on their last album.

As George sings “None of life’s strings can last, so I must be on my way”, the feeling is pretty strong that the troubled songwriter was already done with the band when he presented this track to them during the sessions that became Let It Be. It was rejected by Lennon and McCartney, but eventually appeared on George’s debut album (with Ringo and Eric Clapton amongst the backing band), and was also a hit for Billy Preston.

And there you have it, an alternate take on the end of The Beatles and their desire to break away, but managing to hold it together for one last release.

What do you think of the track listing? Did I miss anything out that has made you supremely angry? Let me know in the comments.