Stuff

We know there are people out there who hate the fact that we call them the Fab Four even years after they had moved on from that phase of their careers. But we have a reason. The one thing John, Paul, George and Ringo enjoyed more than anything else was playing together. They were true friends, enjoyed each other’s companies and it wasn’t just work.

So, after the failure of Let It Be/Get Back they wanted to go out on a high with a true band album, just like the old days. George Martin and no Yoko

There were issues: John wanted his songs on one side and Paul’s on the other – didn’t happen. Paul got even more bossy and demanding and songs like Maxwell’s Silver Hammer became a chore. There were bits of songs that no-one really wanted to flesh out. And Harrison was writing some of the best songs of his life, though we can’t bear Something.

By side two there is a scramble of ideas trying to find space. So there’s a ‘medley’, starting with You Never Give Me Your Money. The tracks run together… except they don’t. After She Came In Through The Bathroom Window it all stops, then starts again. That’s not a medley.

In the end, sorry The End, there’s a display of band unity: Ringo gets a solo, then the guitar solo is shared by the other three together. We enjoy playing together, it says, we’re a band, this is fun.

The album is named after the road. The recording studios had the name changed many years later, to cash in on the record’s success (which continues).

The last album for The Beatles. Going out on a high.

We have written about the movie before and won’t re-hash that. Besides, it’s the album we are reviewing here.

For the film, The Beatles produced a complete collection of songs and the film makers chose the ones they liked that fit best. This is side one of the album. The rejects are side two.

It’s the first Beatles’ album to be all self-composed. No covers here. It’s also the last until Rubber Soul.

There’s something about the production on this album that sets it apart. It sounds more dense, clearer (if that’s not a contradiction), like more time has been spent on it.

And the cover pushes it even further up the list.

The soundtrack album for the second film, plus some songs not used. Plus, a couple of covers as fillers, otherwise it would have been barely 28 minutes in total. The USA took a different approach and included some of George Martin’s orchestral stuff, just as they did for Yellow Submarine, as a filler.

The songs on side one are great. Ticket To Ride was a single. The title song is dense and only I Need You is letting the side down a little.

Side two contains Yesterday. It also has a couple of good songs that might have made the film, but didn’t.

You can sense the slight lack of enthusiasm about the music and the film, and it’s a fine album but not great.

We do enjoy the film, for what it is.