The title may be a bit generous, but as far as Beatlegs go, this is a fine one. Make dust over to the fine folks over at Big O Zine for one of their famous ROIOs. And they usually only leave their audio links live for a short time, so make it quick-like.
With the mountains of praise heaped upon the fab four, is it actually possible for one of their greatest innovations to go largely unnoticed? Amazingly, yes. Linking off-the-cuff performances with studio dialog, in-jokes and count-ins to emulate the effect of the album being produced in one live-in-studio setting, the Beatles' Get Back album was intended to strip the band of studio sheen it had accumulated over the past few years, and return it to its bare-bones, Cavern Club glory. But alas, the Beatles split, the Get Back concept gathered dust and Phil Spector poured over the remaining studio tapes to produce Let It Be - an odd and oddly fitting epitaph. Thanks to the passing of time and the ingenuity of the vast Beatles bootleg empire, these original Glyn Johns Get Back mixes have slowly been unearthed to illustrate how great the band's swan song could have truly been. For years I've been privy to the most widely bootlegged of the bunch, Johns' infamous 3rd mix (included on The Beatles As Nature Intended, which was posted ages ago here at the Heat Warps), however the recently discovered 4th and "final" mix trumps them all. The edits are tighter, the mix is more refined, and the flow and feel are honed to perfection here to create a document that mirrors the tone of the accompanying Let It Be film, as well as an album that breaks the myth and pulls the curtain nearly as effectively as the last hurrah of Abbey Road.
These files come courtesy of the magnificent Beatles page, The Source. They've got an overwhelming array of aural delights, information and literature, but a relatively small server to store it all on, so be gentle with their bandwidth and do the ol' Right Click + Save As.
Alright, so this Daily Dub isn't really a dub at all. More of a remix with dub-like effects, but a damn good remix however you slice it. In fact, considering most Beatles "re-imaginings" fall flat on their face, this Leftside Wobble mashup of Tomorrow Never Knows and Sgt. Pepper (reprise) is a triumph...though I could do without those extraneous synth squiggles. Nothing's perfect, I suppose. Thanks to the always incredible, Feel My Bicep for this one.
After giving John all the attention with last month's Complete Lost Lennon Tapes series, I figured it was time to turn our attention to Beatle Paul and one of the wildly underrated gems in his vast catalogue, 1973's Red Rose Speedway. For years I'd ignored this LP whenever I saw it in the shops, most likely due to it's garish cover. Once I got wind that it contained a few unused tracks from 1971's magnificent Ram, one of my all-time favorites, I had to get my hands on it. Officially his second LP with Wings, Red Rose Speedway bridges the sound of the low-fi records McCartney made at the the start of his solo career with the grandiose, lavishly produced ones he would start knocking out with 74's Band on the Run. Of course that also means Red Rose Speedway marks the beginning of Paul's schmaltzy period, but thankfully this record only carries the weight of a couple such tunes - the worst of which, "My Love" sounds eerily similar to Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", so really, it could be worse. The high points here, the ones that keep drawing me back to this record, are absolutely incredible. The trippy "Loup" (First Indian on the Moon)" could fit in easily on Pink Floyd's Meddle, "When the Night" is a slow burn that ends just as it starts to boil, while "Get On the Right Thing" and "Little Lamb Dragonfly" are excellent leftovers from the Ram sessions. With the addition of a few singles and B-sides from the era tacked onto the end of this remastered edition, you really can't go wrong. But don't take my word for it, have a listen yourself.
Mind Games - 1973 Mind Games marked the beginning of John Lennon's "lost weekend" period, and the evidence is all over this album. Having written the bulk of the material here immediately following his separation from Yoko, this is his first major step away from the political slant he had taken since the start of his solo career, and the album's tone is understandably mournful and apologietic throughout. That's not to say Mind Games is a downer. Much like Harry Nilsson's Pussycats LP he'd produce in 1974, Mind Games is a scattershot collection of tunes tend to come off as hastily written and recorded upon first listen, but reveal intense depth and an all encompassing tone of mayhem once they get under your skin. There are better John Lennon albums out there, but in case you've overlooked Mind Games, go ahead and give it a second chance. It's well worth it. The title track, "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)" and "You Are Here" are a few of my favorites. Please enjoy.
With the mountains of praise heaped upon the fab four, is it actually possible for one of their greatest innovations to go largely unnoticed? Amazingly, yes. Linking off-the-cuff performances with studio dialog, in-jokes and count-ins to emulate the effect of the album being produced in one live-in-studio setting, the Beatles' Get Back album was intended to strip the band of studio sheen it had accumulated over the past few years, and return it to its bare-bones, Cavern Club glory. But alas, the Beatles split, the Get Back concept gathered dust and Phil Spector poured over the remaining studio tapes to produce Let It Be - an odd and oddly fitting epitaph. Thanks to the passing of time and the ingenuity of the vast Beatles bootleg empire, these original Glyn Johns Get Back mixes have slowly been unearthed to illustrate how great the band's swan song could have truly been. For years I've been privy to the most widely bootlegged of the bunch, Johns' infamous 3rd mix (included on The Beatles As Nature Intended, which was posted ages ago here at the Heat Warps), however the recently discovered 4th and "final" mix trumps them all. The edits are tighter, the mix is more refined, and the flow and feel are honed to perfection here to create a document that mirrors the tone of the accompanying Let It Be film, as well as an album that breaks the myth and pulls the curtain nearly as effectively as the last hurrah of Abbey Road.
After giving John all the attention with last month's Complete Lost Lennon Tapes series, I figured it was time to turn our attention to Beatle Paul and one of the wildly underrated gems in his vast catalogue, 1973's Red Rose Speedway. For years I'd ignored this LP whenever I saw it in the shops, most likely due to it's garish cover. Once I got wind that it contained a few unused tracks from 1971's magnificent Ram, one of my all-time favorites, I had to get my hands on it. Officially his second LP with Wings, Red Rose Speedway bridges the sound of the low-fi records McCartney made at the the start of his solo career with the grandiose, lavishly produced ones he would start knocking out with 74's Band on the Run. Of course that also means Red Rose Speedway marks the beginning of Paul's schmaltzy period, but thankfully this record only carries the weight of a couple such tunes - the worst of which, "My Love" sounds eerily similar to Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", so really, it could be worse. The high points here, the ones that keep drawing me back to this record, are absolutely incredible. The trippy "Loup" (First Indian on the Moon)" could fit in easily on Pink Floyd's Meddle, "When the Night" is a slow burn that ends just as it starts to boil, while "Get On the Right Thing" and "Little Lamb Dragonfly" are excellent leftovers from the Ram sessions. With the addition of a few singles and B-sides from the era tacked onto the end of this remastered edition, you really can't go wrong. But don't take my word for it, have a listen yourself.
Mind Games marked the beginning of John Lennon's "lost weekend" period, and the evidence is all over this album. Having written the bulk of the material here immediately following his separation from Yoko, this is his first major step away from the political slant he had taken since the start of his solo career, and the album's tone is understandably mournful and apologietic throughout. That's not to say Mind Games is a downer. Much like Harry Nilsson's Pussycats LP he'd produce in 1974, Mind Games is a scattershot collection of tunes tend to come off as hastily written and recorded upon first listen, but reveal intense depth and an all encompassing tone of mayhem once they get under your skin. There are better John Lennon albums out there, but in case you've overlooked Mind Games, go ahead and give it a second chance. It's well worth it. The title track, "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)" and "You Are Here" are a few of my favorites. Please enjoy. 