Wednesday 27 May 2015

The Beatles wanted to record "Revolver" in Memphis, Tennessee

Impressive news reached us today. At an auction (organized by Recordmecca) a letter written by George Harrison was sold for 18.000 euro.

The interesting part is the end of the letter (written in 1966 by George at Kinfauns): there he reveals that The Beatles had been seriously considering recording "Revolver" at Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee with Jim Stewart.

Imagine how that would have sounded!

Tuesday 26 May 2015

The story behind I'm So Tired

On Flemish Radio 1, during the Monschau programme they were looking for songs that criticise smoking. Surprisingly, they only managed to find one.

But looking closer at "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles, I noticed the following sentence:

" I'm so tired, I'm feeling so upset
Although I'm so tired, I'll have another cigarette
And curse Sir Walter Raleigh
He was such a stupid git"

Now Sir Walter Raleigh is the guy who is credited with introducing tobacco to Britain from America in the 16th century, and thus for indirectly getting John Lennon hooked on cigarettes.

And a "git" is an insult, so clearly Lennon seems angry :)

Thursday 14 May 2015

Hey Jude is number 5 in a Flemish radio poll

Radio 2, a Flemish radio station that caters to a mainstream audience, published a reader's poll with the "best songs from the 1960's".

The Beatles feature twice, once with Hey Jude at nr. 5 and a second time with "Yesterday" at number 34. Joe Cocker also scores with his version of "With a little help...".

Top 10

1. "Eloise" - Barry Ryan
2. "Eenzaam zonder jou" - Will Tura
3. "(I can't get no) satisfaction" - The Rolling Stones
4. "Suspicious minds" - Elvis Presley
5. "Hey Jude" - The Beatles
6. "Seven horses in the sky" - The Pebbles
7. "Suzanne" - Leonard Cohen
8. "With a little help from my friends" - Joe Cocker
9. "Daydream" - The Wallace Collection
10. "Bad moon rising" - Creedence Clearwater Revival

34. "Yesterday" - The Beatles