by admin on January 15, 2010
Christmas (and birthday) shopping for a Beatles fan has never been easier than it is now with the release of three new very cool Beatles products on 9/9/9 (these three new products will be the first three Christmas gift ideas listed. ) In all this article features seven great gift ideas for any Beatles fan among your family & friends.
#1) The Beatles in Stereo Box Set – This is probably the most obvious choice as it’s a comprehensive collection of every Beatles song released from 1962 through 1970 in newly remastered sound (these CDs sound far superior to the old Beatles CDs) and with really great packaging (much better than the old CDs. )
#2) The Beatles in Mono Box Set – This is the best choice for the really serious Beatles fan who wants to hear The Beatles music as it was originally intended to be heard. Also, since these box sets are being made in limited quantities – it’s a great gift idea for anyone who considers themselves a “collector. ” Who knows how many copies of these will be made? In my view this box set is just as essential as the stereo box set and to my ears many of these mono mixes actually do sound better than the stereo mixes (and they often sound quite different which makes them essential for a completest. )
#3) The Beatles Rock Band Video Game – Completing the first three gift ideas of new products released in 2009. Of course this game requires a video game console of some kind (either a Wii, PS3, or an XBox 360) but don’t think that this game is only for those who love games. I actually think many older Beatles fans who have never got into playing video games before will love playing this game. Also, it’s a really great way to improve your drumming and your singing!
#4) The Beatles Anthology DVD Set – Many Beatles fans already own these of course, but if you notice that they don’t then this would make an excellent gift! Every fan should own The Anthology. It’s a 10 hour documentary for God’s sake! It’s brilliant!
#5) The Beatles Anthology CDs – There were three sets of Anthologies released in the mid 1990s and they are all really great gift ideas (obviously you may want to snoop around and see if they already own them. )
#6) Love – The Love CD was released a couple of years ago and it’s really a very interesting “mash-up” of The Beatles music. It really sounds fantastic and gives a new perspective on their songs. This hasn’t really sold in huge quantities so I think there’s a good shot that the fan in your family may not already own it!
#7) The Capital Box Sets – Not too long ago there were two Capital box sets released which contain the band’s first 8 American LPs on CD for the first time. After those first 8 American LPs, the same LPs were released in the UK & and in the US but for for the first couple of years there were totally different albums released in America and many older American fans still remember those albums and would probably love to have them on CD!
The Beatles Remastered Box Sets are the most highly recommended gifts by Mike Jensy. Both The Beatles In Stereo and The Beatles In Mono box sets are essential to most Beatles fans!
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by admin on January 12, 2010
I haven’t read every book on The Beatles but being the big Beatles fan that I am, I have read many of them. I’ve read books that are primarily about their biography and books that are primarily about their music. I’ve read books on The Beatles that are really great and I’ve read some that are not so great. In this article I focus on the good ones that I do recommend reading.
Revolution In The Head – This is a book that I love a “love/hate” relationship with. I strongly disagree with many of the opinions shared in this book but I still find it to be a really good read. One that makes me want to listen to The Beatles songs again to hear things from this author’s perspective. It takes a close look at each of the songs The Beatles recorded during the 1960s (originals and covers. ) Although it contains many opinions, it also contains a lot of facts that make it a good resource.
The Beatles As Musicians – This is actually a two book set that is sold separately. One edition covers all of the music The Beatles recorded from their beginnings up through 1965’s Rubber Soul and the other edition covers their music from 1966’s Revolver through the break up of the band in 1970. This books is really aimed at students of The Beatles music. It largely bypasses the biographical stuff (which is fine, because so many other books cover that stuff) and instead focuses in great detail on the musical construction of their songs. This book is probably over the head of many readers because of it’s focus on music theory. But for those really interested in the musicianship and songwriting of the band, there is no better resource.
Lennon Revealed – This is a “revealing” biography of John Lennon (hence the name!) I have read a few books on Lennon and I think this is the best of them. It does a good job of making you feel like you’re getting to know the real John Lennon rather than just the “icon. ”
Many Years From Now – Tells The Beatles story from Paul McCartney’s perspective. Includes many direct quotes from Paul. This is an extremely informative book.
Here, There, & Everywhere: My Life Recording The Beatles – This book was written by Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick and it tells The Beatles story from his very interesting perspective. I don’t think any other book had me feeling like I was really there for the recording of their albums as much as this one. It includes some interesting technical details on how the music was recorded. I very highly recommend this book!
The Beatles Anthology – The “official Beatles story. ” I think this is an obvious “must have” for any Beatles fan. It’s the perfect companion to the Anthology documentary film (which is available on DVD of course. )
The Beatles Complete Scores – The music (including guitar & drum tabs) for every song the band officially released during their active career (ie: no Anthology songs are included. )
Joshua J. Jacks believes that all of these Books On The Beatles are available for the Global Kindle. The Kindle With Global Wireless makes the Kindle EBook reading device available to the rest of the world (outside of the US) for the first time.
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by admin on January 9, 2010
I’m sure you’ve already heard a lot about The Beatles 2009 remasters. They’ve got a huge amount of of hype considering that they are essentially re-releases of music that most people who are buying them already own.
As someone who grew to love The Beatles music from their 1980s CDs I think that their great song writing and their great performances are far more important than variations in sound quality from one format to another but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t excited about the 2009 remasters. After all, I had heard plenty about how the ’80s discs were not of the highest quality since digital mastering was in it’s infancy at the time and audio engineers of the time just didn’t have the same advanced tools and knowledge that they do today.
But hearing the original mono mixes for the first time was even more exciting than hearing those remasters for the first time. Until the new Beatles in Mono box set was released I had never heard some of the greatest Beatles albums the way they were originally intended to be heard. It can be difficult to understand today since we are so far removed from it, but at the time mono was the standard way to listen to music. Stereo was mostly the domain of hi-end “audiophiles” who, for the most part, had little interest in popular music (although The Beatles both directly and indirectly have changed that since then. )
It was (and still is) a really wonderful listening experience to hear Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band how the band and George Martin first mixed it (and how the majority of Beatles fans originally heard it) in the ’60s. There are easily noticeable differences in these mono versions when compared to the stereo versions that I had previously been used to. It’s not so much that they’re better (because I often prefer the stereo mixes) but that they sound different. I love being able to hear those differences.
Along with the box sets (stereo and mono) there’s also an all digital version of The Beatles in Stereo which is known as The Beatles USB. This is actually the very first release of the legendary band’s music in the mp3 format but there’s actually something more exciting than just the inclusion of their entire catalog in remastered stereo in high quality mp3s (although that is cool, isn’t it?) What is that more exciting thing? That the USB flash drive also includes 44. 1kHz/24bit FLAC files.
These 24bit FLAC files are actually of higher quality than 16bit CD files which means that The Beatles USB actually contains the highest quality version of The Beatles remasters available (until, of course, the remastered catalog gets released in 96kHz/24bit or even 192kHz/24bit on DVD and/or blu-ray in the future. )
Of course these remasters haven’t been only been made available for listening, they’ve also been made available for playing with The Beatles Rock Band. And if you’re someone who automatically think you’re not interested in video games, I beg of you to keep an open mind. This is a really fun game. I am not someone who plays video games normally, but I absolutely love The Beatles Rock Band. It’s fantastic.
The Beatles Stereo & Mono Remasters are both essential to any Beatles fans collection. The Beatles Remasters have been long anticipated and by all accounts The Beatles Remasters exceeded all expectations.
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by admin on December 10, 2009
One of the big events in fingerstyle guitar playing many years ago was the publication of a music book called “Beatles For Classical Guitar”. This was the world’s first attempt to mix the simplicity of the Beatles’ tunes with the complexity of classical guitar technique.
One of the first things that fingerpicking guitar players who were not trained in classical guitar playing noticed was that the fingerings to some of the tunes were much more difficult to execute than they had been used to. But no pain, no gain. The trickier arrangements indicated how much more musical richness had been found in these more complicated arrangements of familiar songs.
Some guitar players thought that a book of classical guitar arrangements of the work of The Beatles was just a gimmick. They expected that a minimal amount of work went into these arrangements just to produce popular music for the “egghead market”. In fact the songs are all substantial arrangements that many classical guitarists find extremely satisfying to play.
People who loved the Beatles’ music found that the songs had not been rendered unrecognizable in the process of arranging them for fingerpicking. The songs were arranged for guitar players who could read standard musical notation and they were not the kind of arrangements that could be played right through on sight the first time you saw them. The pieces asked you to pay some attention and make some effort. Once you get the feel of the way the songs have been interpreted you can let your familiarity with the songs guide you as you play.
Some guitar players are going to feel cheated by the fact that there are not tabs but the pieces are a bit too complicated to be translated into tab effectively. Guitarists who are used to playing using sheet music will be gratified that the music is not made more complicated by the addition of a tab line.
Here is the list of songs:
Across The UniverseAsk Me WhyCome TogetherCry Baby CryDay TripperFor No OneFrom Me To YouHello, GoodbyeHere Comes The SunI Don’t Want To Spoil The PartyI WillI’ll Follow The SunI’m A LoserI’m Happy Just To Dance With YouI’m Only SleepingI’m So TiredIn My LifeThe Long And Winding RoadMaxwell’s Silver HammerNo ReplyNowhere ManP. S. I Love YouPenny LaneSomethingThings We Said TodayThis Boy (Ringo’s Theme)Two Of UsWhile My Guitar Gently WeepsYesterdayYou’re Going To Lose That Girl
You might be surprised by the inclusion of some of the tunes in a collection of guitar solos. So go ahead and try them out.
Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.
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by admin on November 19, 2009
In the 1960’s The Beatles a group from Liverpool, England invaded the USA known as the British Invasion. The group included Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Star; they would become the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music. Selling over a billion records internationally The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums and EPs that made it to number one on the charts.
In 1957 John Lennon and Paul McCartney met in grammar School, at the time John Lennon had a group called the Quarrymen in which he later included Paul McCartney. A few days later young guitarist George Harrison was also include into the band. The Quarrymen went through a progression of names, including “Johnny and the Moondogs” and “Long John and The Beatles”. Sutcliffe suggested the name “The Beetles” as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets. Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia Lennon, suggested that Lennon came up with the name The Beatles at a “brainstorming session over a beer-soaked table in the Renshaw Hall bar.
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked The Beatles number one on its list of 100 Greatest Artist of All Time. According to Rolling Stone Magazine The Beatles helped shape the 1960’s and their influence on pop culture is still evident today.
Today all of The Beatles music has been digitally re-mastered and with today’s technology you can easily find any of their music at any online MP3 store. With the many albums and songs created by the Beatles the search for music is endless and memorable.
“Click here” to download all your favorite MP3 music and movies.
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by admin on November 4, 2009
I love all eras of the Beatles' career, but my favorite Beatles album is white and that may be why my favorite discs of the series The Beatles Anthology is a disc of Anthology 3. Many songs on one disc Anthology 3 are from the White Album. This article takes a track by track to watch all 27 tracks on disc one. 1. "A Beginning" – This orchestral piece composed by Beatles producer George Martin was originally designed as an introduction to the singing Ringo (Ringo and written) "Do not Pass Me By" on the White Album. I'm not a big fan of this track, but it works quite well as an introduction to Anthology 3. 2. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" – This is a very early version demo of one of my favorite songs on the White Album. It's fascinating for me to hear such a lightweight version of the basic beginning of this song. It's interesting to me as a way to watch the creative process of John Lennon. 3. "Helter Skelter" – A very different version of the familiar about The White Album. Very slowly, like a Dead March. Somehow I think it is even more intense than the final version. Although I do not think they made the right choice by going with the faster version. 4. Mean Mr. Mustard "- A very cool demo homemade by John Lennon. As a simple song, anyway this is pretty close to the final version. Note "sister Shelley. 5. Polythene Pam "- Another demo house. I like to hear these early versions of these simple songs. 6. "Glass Onion" – Includes some weird gibberish of John Lennon. 7. "Junk" – This song was never released as a Beatles song. It will be released as Paul McCartney put on his first solo album in 1970. I like this version of this song a lot. It has a simple beauty. 8. "Piggies" – Pork Chops! 9. "Honey Pie" – The Beatles make music on the music-hall style. 10. Do not Pass Me By "- Definitely not one of the best moments of the Beatles, but it's pretty nice. Even the Beatles songs not so great there is usually some cool pieces hidden in there. I like the drumming on it. 11. "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" – This was a strange noise from the version most people are familiar with the White Album. It is difficult to specify precisely what explains this strange noise. I still see the ring "missing" and "foot" backing vocals. 12. "Good night" – another time not so great. Sorry Ringo! Although I think this one is more the fault of John Lennon (he wrote.) This is one of the few Beatles songs that never really grew on me. 13. "Cry Baby Cry" – Excellent. Not as good as the version on the White Album, but still very good and there are some bass sounds neat on this one we did not hear the final version. 14. "Blackbird" – Great song of course. 15. "Sexy Sadie" – I like this version much. It may be on par with the version of the White Album. 16. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" – is one of the strengths of Anthology 3. Although I definitely prefer the heavier version of The White Album that I love about this is getting to hear such a different vision of this song. 17. "Hey Jude" – Cool version. I like that nanana "does not always work as the official version. 18. "Not guilty" – This song was not released on a Beatles album. In fact, it has not been released at all until George Harrison put him on the self titled album in 1979. I dig the guitar sounds great on the outro. 19. "Mother Nature's Son" – Nice. 20. "Glass Onion" – Cool version of a great song. 21. "Rocky Raccoon" – I always liked the other version of this song amusing. Lyrics bungled do everything much better. 22. "What's The New Mary Jane" – This song is absolutely ridiculous and that's why I love him. It was never officially released until Anthology 3. 23. "Step Inside Love / Los Paranoia" – "Step Inside Love" is a song McCartney wrote for another singer (Cilla Black). It's very groovy to hear Paul McCartney sing this song and I always had kicked out of the stupidity that is "Los Paranoias. 24. "I'm So Tired" – Another of my favorites on The White Album (I have many favorites.) 25. "I Will" – Yeah, here is another. 26. "Why Do not We Do It In The Road" – I love hearing McCartney go crazy with the vocals. This may be the best example of him going all over the place vocally. 27. "Julia" – A beautiful song and a great way to close one side of disc closes on a single disc of The White Album.
Marvin J. Markus recommends reading more about The Beatles music on the blog daily music trivia. It also recommends that you purchase online your acoustic guitar.
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by admin on November 1, 2009
Many Beatles fans are unaware of the impact Anglo-folk singer and guitarist Donovan (Donovan Philips Leitch) had on the Beatles and their music in 1968.
Donovan was a friend of the Beatles, and when the group traveled to Rishikesh in India to study transcendental meditation in February 1968, Donovan has arrived. There were several other westerners present at the Rishikesh camp too, including Mike Love of the Beach Boys.
Several of the songs that appear later in 1968 the Beatles album entitled The Beatles – also known as The White Album because of its white cover – emerged during the group's stay in India.
One reason is the fact that Donovan was there. Between classes mediation, he taught John, Paul George and the special finger-picking guitar style can be traced on many of the songs on the White Album.
Take Paul McCartney's Blackbird, for example. It was written in India, and is an excellent example of how Donovan guitar technique has been applied by the Beatles. Listen how elegantly Paul chooses the strings and how the guitar model supports voice brilliantly.
Acoustic guitars were probably not hear quite as sophisticated as that on previous recordings of the Beatles, perhaps a few exceptions, like Paul's I've Just Seen A Face of 1965 and a daughter of John Lennon from 1966. The Beatles had often used the acoustic to play rhythm guitar – which of course worked perfectly – but Donovan's finger-picking style added another dimension to their music.
Another song of Paul, Mother Nature's Son, also took the form of India. Here also the influence of Donovan is obvious. The lyrics, meanwhile, is said to have been influenced by a lecture given by the meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a central figure in the camp.
Paul was obviously not the only Beatle who was inspired by the technique of guitar Donovan. Just listen to the songs Julia and Dear Prudence, both written by John Lennon. Dear Prudence is actually a specific incident which occurred in Camp Rishikesh meditation. The song is really Prudence Farrow, the sister of actress Mia Farrow, who also stayed at Rishikesh. Prudence, however, preferred to meditate in solitude in her chalet. In the end Lennon and George Harrison had to convince her to leave and join the others: Dear Prudence, will not you come out and play?
Other songs written or inspired by his stay in India were Lennon, The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill and Sexy Sadie, more McCartney's Why Do not We Do It In The Road and Wild Honey Pie.
Sexy Sadie was originally called after Maharishi Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the guru meditation. After having stayed in India for some time, Lennon lost trust in Maharishi, apparently because of a rumor that the guru had made sexual advances to a female member of the course. The continuing story of Bungalow Bill was about college graduate named Richard Cooke III who visited the Rishikesh community because her mother Nancy was staying there. They are in fact the tiger hunt, as the song suggests.
Paul McCartney later said he had the idea of Why Do not We Do It In The Road? India, where he had seen two monkeys copulating in the street. Wild Honey Pie was a sing along that also emerged in Rishikesh.
The first Beatle to leave India was Ringo, who returned to London in early March. McCartney soon followed, while Lennon and Harrison left in April.
You can read all the Beatles songs posted on my website: http://www. thebeatlesonline. com
Andreas Walstad is a journalist and author of http://www. thebeatlesonline. com
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by admin on October 2, 2009
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Disc 1:- Two of Us
- Dig a Pony
- Across the Universe
- I Me Mine
- Dig It
- Let It Be
- Maggie Mae
- I`ve Got a Feeling
- One After 909
- Long and Winding Road
- For You Blue
- Get Back
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Here are the first four albums released by the "Fab Four" on Capitol records, remastered in both Mono and Stereo. Unlike the 198
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