The Beatles 1 and 1+

Apologies for the digression (?), but in my opinion EDAW's lyrics are quite weak and out of step with the less simplistic, more mature lyrics that they'd begun writing. Also, the music is singsongy. John and Paul had the ability (if only on the strength of their voices) to redeem most any material, but this is their weakest "No. 1" from this time period. My 2 cents.

 

Ah, sarcasm. Let me try. Glad we could help.

 

Yes, I don't really disagree with you.
It isn't as much of a "serious" song and not one of their strongest by any means. I still like it though. For me, it is a happy song and puts me in a good mood.

 

Always loved 8DAW from the first time I heard in on 1962-1966.

 

Eight Days a Week might be considered similar to Hello Goodbye: a simple idea, made into a fun and light song. They sounded great on the radio.

 

Was it even played on the radio in 1964 in the UK ? Did they do a live BBC version of Eight Days A Week ?? this is interesting but if it was considered such a great song why was it not an 'official' single, it only made Album and EP outside of the USA ??

 

According to these sleeve notes, yes:

 

Beatles singles were generally issued to coincide with school holidays in the UK (Easter; Summer; Christmas), more than three a year (apart from 1963 when PPM was issued in January) would have been greedy. Album tracks were certainly heard on the radio, but not as often as the singles (A & B-sides)

 

A member on QuadrophonicQuad pointed out something even stranger; for some of the mixes where there is discrete material in the rear channels, it also appears in the front stereo channels as well. Utterly baffling.

I mean, I'm happy with 3.1 but not as happy as I would be with a Love-esque 5.1.

 

To my surprise, I seem to prefer the plain ol' stereo at 24/96. 5.1 seems to sacrifice presence and detail for a barely-there ambience, which is a shame, but 50 tracks of stereo hi-res Beatles is not a huge disappointment (given I used a Best Buy gift card). -E

 

This is by the bye, but today I scored a long sought-after copy of Dan Ar Bras' 1979 release, "The Earth's Lament. The opening track is The Beatles' 'Rain' written, it seems, by Paul McCartney-John Lennon.

 

For me the weakest like in the albums is The Ballad of John and Yoko. It seems like a step back in terms of their progress at a time when they were continuing to develop new sounds.

I agree that Eight Days a Week doesn't fit with the album it's on. But there are some "tricks" that redeem it. If I were to reprogram the album id put it before I Feel Fine, which would throw the continuity off

 

8 days a week is much better. HG is a lyrical wasteland. Worst Beatles single ever.

 

Not as bad as Love Me Do. Neither one is bad in an absolute sense. That said, how Hello Goodbye got the A-side over I am the Walrus is beyond me. Well, not really - commercial considerations triumphed no doubt - but you know what I mean. Come to think of it, both sides got lots of radio play, so...amazing times.

 

Those who malign Hello Goodbye for its lyrics are missing the point. It's like knocking a Dylan song for its unoriginal melody. Look, there's a reason HG was such a massive hit, particularly in the UK. Hookwise it's just insane. There's an original musical hook or phrase just about every couple seconds. From one angle it's accessibly sophomoric yet from another you could write a thesis about it. That's the genius.

 

Well, that could be why McCartney got most of the A-sides after they quit touring and he blossomed as a musical composer.

 

Yeah, that's certainly the weakest song overall. I've never really considered it a "Beatles" song, though it's a notch higher in that regard than "Maggie Mae", I'll give it that.

 

Yes, that one's all about the sound, and the sound of the band at that time was great, a sound I'm especially fond of, and one that would never be heard from them again.

 

Here's an article on the new "1" releases I did for my local newspaper:

http://news-sentinel.com/entertainm...es--1--offer-a-mix-of-audio-and-video-options

 

I must be doing something wrong. Currently, I am listening to the 1 CD from the 1+ CD/2 Blu-Ray set, and I am enjoying it.

 

Me too!

 

Truly excellent. Well done, and thanks for taking the time to write it and then share it with us.

 

Question for the many here who are steeped in Beatles historical minutiae — in Mark Lewisohn's Complete Beatles Chronicle, the entry for Tuesday 23 November states, in part:

Does anyone know which versions were on what specific date, e.g. which "We Can Work It Out" was shown on December 9, the "Shea Stadium jackets" version, the "sunflower" version, or the other one?

 

" weakest number one," is a very telling comment, in itself. Though you offer some good insight about the song. Of course the Beatles, EMI & Geo. Martin, never issued this as a single at all. Capitol did.

 

It's a good CD, though I need more time to "learn" the new mixes. At the same time, I am reminded that I never bought the 2011 remaster of 1 with the original mixes. I only have the lousy 2000 CD. Now I need to get the 2011 CD.