I like Flying To My Home, but I wouldn't swap either Distractions or We Got Married for it, personally. I must admit I've never had any love for Flying To My Home.
Not Distractions, but I think We Got Married is pretty lightweight. In fact, I prefer the earlier version if I had to pick. Ron
Yea...but still not as bad as those vocals at the beginning of "Don't Be Careless Love" on the album proper. Come to think of it, they are similar.
When I first heard the demo for "Tommy's Coming Home" almost 20 years ago, I remember being baffled that it hadn't been officially released over the course of 5 different EC & PM albums-- how did this terrific song fail to find a place on FITD or Spike or Mighty Like A Rose or Off The Ground or All This Useless Beauty?? It's fascinating to realize that the 1988 attempt for FITD was seemingly the end of the road for such a fantastic song. I was fully prepared to be outraged that they had left a GREAT track off the album, but the 1988 version-- while not terrible, to my ears-- is definitely several notches below what I was expecting/hoping for. Meanwhile, "Twenty Fine Fingers" had always taken a back seat in my estimation, out of the two unreleased demo songs, I felt like it was clearly the inferior one! And the 88 "band demo" of this one is fantastic, great fun! It could have easily fit on FITD, and would have been 2nd only to "My Brave Face" in my order of preference among the McCartney/Costello songs that made the cut. I still am quite surprised that Costello never recorded his own version of it for one of his albums, but then again, it may be that he felt that his demo with Paul couldn't be topped. (I wonder if he even tried-- maybe somewhere in the Costello vault, there is an attempt or two, I can think of at least 3 albums where he might have considered it...)
Are you suggesting country music is so broad as to be undefinable, like rock? I disagree. There's broad stylistic variance in country, but there's also things that are fairly consistent about it. If you agree with the assertion that "Rainclouds" and "Mama's Little Girl" are "countryish" then my question would be: what is it about them that suggests country music to you? They don't have a country beat, they don't have typical country instrumentation, they aren't sung in a country-influenced style, and they don't have lyrics that address typical country themes. In what way are they countryish?
I like it because it sort of rocks a little, and there's pretty much no rock-n-roll on the FITD album. I'd most definitely swap it for either of my two favorite whipping boys, "Motor of Love" and "How Many People."
They both have the whiny vocal inflection, but "Don'y Be Careless Love" is more annoying, and not as good of a song.
Having to download stuff on a set well north of $100 really sucks. By comparison: the recent UK set advertised 16 discs but was actually 18 discs (2 bonus discs) and the discs included all of the hi-res to boot (not a d/l in site) for $98 shipped and the Beach Boys Pet Sounds includes 4 discs and 1 hi-res for around $60. For those that don't mind or like d/ls, that's fine. I'm just expressing my opinion on my expectations for an expensive box set. FWIW, I will buy the set - I'm just waiting for a good price.
I haven't heard the 1988 version yet but after hearing the original demo, I can't really imagine it as anything but a duo performance with the both of them. The song seems designed to be sung in harmony, and maybe once it didn't make the Flowers album they just never found another appropriate context to do it together. (Though I would have said the same about some of the other songs and lo and behold they did them separately.) Speaking of which, I always found it curious that Elvis invited Paul to play bass on "Veronica" but didn't get him to sing on it -- when the song is almost completely sung in two part harmony.
Has Paul's website offered exclusive downloads not available in the deluxe edition? If so how many? Thanks
No kidding! I named my sons after the 'other' three Beatles (my name is Richard). When my best friend got married I quoted a Beatles lyric at the wedding toast. More recently, I purchased a limited edition mono cartridge (in white, of course) to play the Mono Box with. It's a sickness, I tell you! #NothingIsBeatleProof
Just listened to the remastered album (Disc I). Very pleased, with some subtle sounds that I never caught before. However, as others have mentioned, the album really should have ended with "That Day Is Done". Still, even though I'm not thrilled with all of the first 10 songs on the album, I find it to be a solid listening experience. The top-notch tunes are quite excellent, and the weaker ones (among the first 10 songs) are okay and don't ruin things for me. Definitely a thumbs-up. BUT then we get songs 11, 12, and 13: namely, How Many People, Motor Of Love, and Ou Est Le Soleil. And suddenly I don't know what happened or what album I am listening to anymore? I don't even realize that it's Paul McCartney. Such a strange way to end the album, leaving me with the lasting impression that the album is not as good as it would have been (if it ended at "That Day Is Done").
