Ballad of J & Yoko-Old Brown Shoe- Abbey Road or Let it be

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by johnny moondog 909, Aug 9, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. johnny moondog 909

    johnny moondog 909 Beatles-Lennon & Classic rock fan Thread Starter

    I think sonically these non LP songs fit on Abbey Road hands down.

    However the Let it be tracklist is much more in need of pumping up, especially, adding another Lennon song.

    Historically it could go either way, recorded between the 2 albums. Leaving them alone on past masters is a waste, but even as hypothetical bonus tracks, where do they fit ?
     
  2. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY, USA
    I think they might fit Let It Be, not as heavily produced as most stuff on Abbey Road.
     
  3. bluesbro

    bluesbro Forum Hall of Shame

    Location:
    DC
    They fit in that raggedy assed Let it Be mode
     
    Zeki, kronning, JoeF. and 14 others like this.
  4. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    I agree, these would fit better on Let It Be, at least "Old Brown Shoe", even though there's already two George songs on LIB and another probably wouldn't have been allowed.
     
  5. Dr. Robert

    Dr. Robert Forum Reconstructor

    Location:
    Curitiba, Brazil
    Past Masters... :D
     
  6. Autotune Sucks

    Autotune Sucks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Little Rock, AR
    I personally think that "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" barely qualifies as a Beatles song since it features only John and Paul. Not to mention that it is one of the weakest things John ever threw together, especially under the Beatles name. It doesn't belong on an album, period.

    "Old Brown Shoe", on the other hand, is a terrific George rocker that deserves to be more well-known. I say give him three songs like they did on Revolver and let it replace "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" on Abbey Road.
     
  7. gonz

    gonz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michiana
  8. mmars982

    mmars982 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Ballad wouldn't really fit on either, but Old Brown Show would have fit nicely on Let It Be IMO.
     
  9. TimB

    TimB Pop, Rock and Blues for me!

    Location:
    Colorado
    Really? It fits on Hey Jude!
     
  10. Shaddam IV

    Shaddam IV Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ca
    It's just like you said, "Let It Be" needs them, AR doesn't.
     
  11. willy

    willy hooga hagga hooga

    I think 'The Ballad of John and Yoko would have fitted nicely either before or after 'Oh Darling'.
     
  12. Rfreeman

    Rfreeman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lawrenceville, NJ
    Brown Shoe was rehearsed in the Let It Be sessions so I would place it there.

    Ballad of J&Y is antithetical to the LIB concept of playing live as a band together, lacking George and Ringo.
     
  13. Sonically and chronologically (neither was completed until after Let It Be sessions concluded), they fit better on Abbey Road - though "Old Brown Shoe" was far enough along both compositionally and demo-wise that with a little more work it could have easily been completed for Let It Be. But in the final analysis, they work best just as released - as a single.
     
  14. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    Although I like "BOJ&Y", it's so ramshackle I think it would fit in quite well on LIB
     
  15. Mister Charlie

    Mister Charlie "Music Is The Doctor Of My Soul " - Doobie Bros.

    Location:
    Aromas, CA USA
    Let It Be seems to be the consensus and I concur.
     
    dee and Crimson Witch like this.
  16. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni

    Location:
    USA
    Let It Be needs all the help it can get. Hell, throw Lady Madonna and Hey Jude on there too.
     
  17. California Couple

    California Couple dislike us on facebook

    Location:
    Newport Beach
    Drop Maxwell and Octopus - replace with Brown and Ballad.
     
    Crimson Witch, Rickchick and gonz like this.
  18. beatleroadie

    beatleroadie Forum Resident

    Great question. As the single that charted most immediately before Abbey Road arrived, it could be argued that it's from the Abbey Road era. Also it was recorded AFTER the basic backing for AR song "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" was tracked and after "Something" was rehearsed and attempted, too.

    Sonically, to my ears anyway, this single sounds like it's recorded and sung more like the studio versions of "Get Back" and "Don't Let Me Down."

    If LET IT BE and ABBEY ROAD get deluxe Anniversary sets, which set will "Ballad of John & Yoko" and "Old Brown Shoe" go on as bonus tracks?

    If not in the Abbey Road box, then that leaves "Come and Get It" as the only possible bonus title in that box set, but hey that's possible.

    I have a feeling they'll be included in the Abbey Road box though. The topical travelogue nature of the a-side certainly speaks to John's life in the spring/summer of '69 doing peace campaigns with Yoko.

    The fact that the Let it Be LP was delayed to coincide with the film to the summer of 1970 I think means a single released more than a year earlier and NOT from the Let it Be sessions at all would not be included with a Let it Be box set. Plus, because LIB was cut live in most cases it has lots of other outtakes to choose from whereas Abbey Road's cutting room is more scant.

    Verdict: Let ABBEY ROAD have "Ballad of John and Yoko" and "Old Brown Shoe"—plus "Come and Get It"—as three solid bonus tracks, one from each writer.

    Then, give LET IT BE:
    "Don't Let Me Down"
    John's "Everybody Had a Hard Year" demo
    The alternate versions of "Across the Universe" from '68
    The "wildlife" version of "Across the Universe" from '69
    "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)"
    + any worthwhile covers or other songs they tried during the Apple "Get Back" sessions that didn't make the finished soundtrack.
     
    Last edited: Aug 9, 2018
  19. johnny moondog 909

    johnny moondog 909 Beatles-Lennon & Classic rock fan Thread Starter

    I think they both fit AR interspersed on side one. Almost making a cool double.
     
  20. Haristar

    Haristar Apollo C. Vermouth

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    "Abbey Road", just because they sound closer to it.
     
    fmfxray373 and Crimson Witch like this.
  21. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    If that’s the standard for “a Beatles song”, the Beatles’ canon just got a whole lot smaller.
     
    johnnybrum, andybeau, dee and 5 others like this.
  22. beatleroadie

    beatleroadie Forum Resident

    What do you mean by "cool double"...
     
  23. johnny moondog 909

    johnny moondog 909 Beatles-Lennon & Classic rock fan Thread Starter

    Well I mean this. Adding BOJ&Yoko & Brown Shoe make it 19 songs & around 54 minutes total.

    Almost enough to have disc 1 & disc 2. Instead of side 1 & 2. One being the rock N Roll part & 2 being primarily the medley part.

    But at 19 tracks & 54 minutes, it's close but no cigar, you'd need 2-3 more tracks. If Cold Turkey had George as well as Ringo, but it doesn't, & Come & Get It is just Paul alone. So as it stands a 54 minute single album. Although flipping sides Midway through the medley would be difficult also.
     
    Crimson Witch and beatleroadie like this.
  24. beatleroadie

    beatleroadie Forum Resident

    John really wanted to put out "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" and "What's the New Mary Jane" as a POB single in the fall of '69...Imagine if he'd lobbied to include those two on Abbey Road ha! That would have maybe pushed Abbey Road to 2LP status, because both of those are lengthy tracks they had in the can in the summer of '69.

    The final vocals overdubs for "You Know My Name" were done by John and Paul together in the Abbey Road era.
     
    dee and Crimson Witch like this.
  25. johnny moondog 909

    johnny moondog 909 Beatles-Lennon & Classic rock fan Thread Starter

    But they don't in any way sound Abbey Roadish.

    There is the Ain't She Sweet Outtake, which does sound Abbey Roadish, if they could do a new edited mix, fixing Lennon's vocal drop outs, the bands backing track is very Abbey Road sounding, although a bit raw, it could use an overdub or two, maybe fly in some moog & edit in protools.
     
    Crimson Witch and beatleroadie like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine