Mean Mister Mustard/Polythene Pam underrated and could have been....

These two little pieces of "crap" (according to John) are overshadowed by the great mini songs by Paul on side 2 of Abbey Road, but I love them.
I love the melodies of both and the humor.
I like the connection of Pam being Mister Mustard's sister.
I wish John had expanded on them more both lyrically and musically.

 

not underrated by me....

the one i hate is maxwell silver hammer.. when i hear it i want someone to hammer me to death.

 

Maxwell should have been a mini song.
Not an insult but it would have worked as one.

 

John was right- garbage. Maxwell too but at least you can skip it without messing up the otherwise perfect medley.

 

A medley of "Mean Mister Mustard"/"Madman"/"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" could have worked. It's a shame "Watching Rainbows" wasn't developed further: not sure if John would have kept the Dylanesque vocal delivery.

 

Heart in my throat when I listen to that side of Abbey Road.
It always seems to break my heart after Johns Death.

 

I think they're decent novelty tracks.

 

Polythene Pam only became the sister of Mean Mr Mustard when John decided the two bits could go together.

 

During the LIB sessions they seemed to combine Mean Mr Mustard with Madman. Interesting that both Mean Mr Mustard & Polythene Pam were among the May 1968 demos, never booted earlier but on Anthology 3.

 

hmmm I like this idea, someone needs to get the lab and create the new medley!

 

Mean Mr. Mustard has a nice melody and could have turned into a good full song if Lennon had decided to develop it furthur. I don't like Polythene Pam though. With a fine opening guitar riff and an OK guitar solo it works as a link towards She Came In Through The Bahtroom Window, but certainly not on its own.

 

I've always wished that the Beatles would have expanded Polythene Pam to a full song. Always loved the song.The opening riff, lyrics, melody and the backing vocals...especially the backing vocals

 

I love Pam. It would have made a great full length song. BUT, if I was to pick which song to extend to full length it would be Golden Slumbers.

 

When I first got Abbey Road, these were my two favourite songs! They're still near the top for me. How dull would things be if every song was a worthy statement track like 'Maybe I'm Amazed' or 'All Things Must Pass' Yawn!

 

Correct. The sister's original name was Shirley, but then changed to Pam for the Abbey Road medley.

 

Polythene Pam is imo, a much better 'Throwback' track than 'Get Back', which is rather mannered in comparison. Lennon really recreates that rough and ready Cavern vibe on PP. I too wish it had been full length.

 

Abbey Road side two is just fine the way it is. At least for me since the day it was released. Side one too.

 

My issue is with 'She Came in Through the Bathroom Window'. It has the foundation of a really great song but then the chorus kicks in. The part i really hate is the "Sunday's on the phone to monday, tuesday's on the the phone to me.....o yeah".

It's such a soulful song with a really great country/western feel with the pedal steel guitar and just the general vibe of the song. But then they (Paul) tacks on this really goofy chorus and adds an even more goofy "O yeah" at the end.

 

That's my favorite part of the song...O yeah.

 

Next...Her Majesty...underrated masterpiece?

 

Yes, but what if they'd left "Her Majesty" between the two?

 

Love them both ... just the way they are, no changes. Pam has great energy.

 

Lennon wanted no part of Paul's "mini-oprah". He just throw in some scrap parts.

His songs on side 1 blows away everthing on side 2.

 

Pam, Mustard, Slumbers, Her Majesty (and really everything on side 2 other than Carry That Weight and The End) are far more complete songs than I Want You, they just stretched I Want You out via a huge number of repeats.

 

False. John and Paul worked very much together on getting the Side 2 medley into shape. It was like the old days (1963-64), eyeball to eyeball. For whatever reason, John in later years "revised" his story, and downplayed the medley, but the medley was a joint collaboration that John was excited about when Paul and him wrote it.

John in an interview with NME from June 1969: "Paul and I are now working on a kind of song montage that we might do as one piece on one side. We've got about two weeks to finish the whole thing, so we're really working at it."