You Know You're Right

We can agree that all musicians probably leave behind a veritable trove of unpublished, unpolished recordings. It's in the nature of being a recording artist to try, and eventually scrap, failed attempts at new music. As such, rarely will an artists' work receive a posthumous release, unless said artist is someone whose legacy demands it, or whose legacy includes a crazy bitch-wife trying to make a buck.

The two examples of gigantic posthumous recordings I can best remember were both created as ways to sell larger boxsets or compilations. Those are the Beatles' "Free as a Bird" from the 1995 Anthology release which included the late John Lennon's vocals, and later Nirvana's "You Know Your'e Right" from their 2002 self-titled Best of compilation which included lyrics sung and written by Kurt Cobain.

Of the two, I have to admit I like the Nirvana song much better. But both songs have their own wikipedia pages revealing the story behind how the recordings came to be, and both are worth looking over.

Free as a Bird
You Know You're Right

Digital Beatles?

It appears the Beatles back catalogue is being sold digitally online via the US-based retailer Bluebeat. This is big news because the Beatles have never before made their catalogue available online, not even through iTunes. It remains unclear as to whether or not EMI or Apple Corps have given Bluebeat permission. For now, individual songs are .25 a piece.

Source--NME.com

Update: Yes, it is illegal, and EMI will be suing. However, there is this little bit in the article I just linked:

The entire catalog of stereo Beatles albums will soon be legitimately available in digital, albeit physical, form. Apple Corp. and EMI announced the pre-order availability of 30,000 16GB Apple-shaped USB drives containing 14 albums in lossless 24-bit FLAC (better than CD quality) and 320 Kbps MP3 formats, 13 short documentary films about the albums, album art, “rare photos” and expanded liner notes, all accessible directly or through a Flash player that automatically loads on Macs and PCs.

It’s quite a statement — especially the 24-bit depth of the lossless files, which allows more gradations between volume levels than standard 16-bit (CD-quality) audio files. The only catch — they cost $280. EMI and Apple Corp. plan to release the drives on December 8.

A Rift Between the Beatles

Today's as good a day as any to remember the "Beatles in India" scene from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story . Regardless of how you felt amount the movie, you'll agree this was a...memorable scene.

And yes, that is Jack Black doing an awful Paul McCartney. You also have Paul Rudd as John Lennon, Jason Schwarzman as Ringo, and Justin Long (from the mac ads) as George Harrison.

See it HERE.

Beatles Rock Band Review

Beatles Rock Band is a beautiful game that gives a brief glimpse into the band's career. In it, you choose an instrument and difficulty on which you'll play the instrument before being taken via photo collage to various venues the Beatles played throughout their career. It starts in Britain's storied Cavern and ends, of course, on the rooftop of Apple Records. There are 9 levels, but 3 of them are just various Abbey Road sessions so songs played on these levels are usually spiced up with some trippy visuals like THIS. Or maybe the Beatles used to play in open meadows a lot. Either way, it looks so fantastic that even Ringo's virtual avatar appears to be somewhat handsome. Aside from that, here are a few other things I like:

1. In between songs and on loading screens, Harmonix has placed rare audio clips of the Beatles in studio before and after takes along with other relevant audio clips such as Ed Sullivan's introduction of the band onto his show in 1964.

2. Scoring well on individual songs awards you hi-def photographs, video, and rare music clips that can be explored at any time. For example, one of the earliest prizes is an edited version of the band's fan club Christmas record from 1963.

3. Unlike other Rock Band versions, this game allows for multiple vocalists: one lead and the rest harmonizing. I haven't used this feature yet, but I assume it's challenging and a welcome addition. It certainly adds an element of authenticity to your career as a Beatle.

4. The game seems to cater to parties and players new to music video games. It's quite simple to join in for a song and then drop out whenever you like. Also, choosing Easy Mode automatically puts you in "no-fail" mode, meaning no matter how awful you are the Cavern goers won't boo you off stage.

5. It makes you appreciate the proficiency of the musicians. I knew George was an excellent guitarist, but I think all these years I've been underrating Paul's bass skill and Ringo's creativity on the drums.

(Speaking of which, it's true playing a plastic guitar is no substitute for the real thing, but playing the plastic drums, I hear, is very close to what it's like to play the real thing.)

I realize it's just a game, but here are some things I would change if I could:

1. The UI is boring and simple.

2. The game should tell you who is credited with writing each song and who sings which parts. The way it is now the lead singer is the lead singer regardless of whether or not the song uses more than one lead (Eight Days a Week, for example).

3. I would add a "hardcore" version of the game that forces you to choose one of the band members and then perform that person's duties for each of the songs. For example, you'd choose Paul and have to play the bass on most songs and switch between lead and backup vocals as you go. It would require 4 players and 4 mics, but I'm okay with that. I'm just saying it should be an option.

4. Lastly, I really have to question the song selection. It really seems like the makers of the game tried so hard to include George and Ringo in the singing duties that the 45 songs in the game's song selection are disproportionate to the Beatles' career. For example, the game seems to intentionally leave out Strawberry Fields Forever just so it can keep Ringo's cover of "Boys." As another example, 8 of the 45 songs are sung by George. I understand keeping songs like Taxman, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and Something, but in the first installment of this game did they need to include I Me Mine and Within You/Without You? But at least George wrote those songs. This game also includes 5 Ringo songs! I say they should have drawn the line with Yellow Submarine and Octopus' Garden since he actually wrote it. I might add Act Naturally, but again, personal preference.

As a result of the song selection, some songs are not as fun to sing. I realize this is personal preference too and probably a result of having less knowledge of some of these, but here are the songs I can't stand to have to try and sing: Birthday, Dig a Pony, Hey Bulldog, I Me Mine, Within You Without You, Tomorrow Never Knows, I Wanna Be Your Man, Boys, The End.

On the plus side, most of the songs are fun to sing and play along to. After all, it's the Beatles. Here are some personal favorites: Good Morning Good Morning, Taxman, Paperback Writer, Here Comes the Sun, And Your Bird Can Sing.

Having played with several people, I can say that the best part of the game is that everyone's experience and tastes are just as diverse as the Beatles' catalog, so there's something for everyone.

Beatles Rock Band: Easter Eggs

Well I've made my 45 song iTunes playlist so I can practice singing, and I am this close to making every post on this blog about the new Beatles Rock Band game until it comes out next Wednesday. And yes, I'm taking at least one day off of work to play it all day. But don't worry, I'll spare you the more boring, technical details about the game should I follow through on this threat.

Today, a contributor to McSweeney's wrote this funny piece called The Beatles Rock Band: Easter Eggs. "Easter Eggs," by the way, are like hidden secrets inside a video game that require codes or certain button pressing combinations to unlock. Here's an example from the writing so you can see what I mean, and to get you interested.

If you press the B button just before "Ticket to Ride," the band will admit that they were high for seventy percent of the filming of Help!

Who Wrote/Sang It?

When I listen to the Beatles I can't always tell who is singing. That is to say I think my Beatles chops are developed enough to tell the differences, but I'm never confident enough to know for sure. I'm not even positive when it's Ringo singing. Similarly, when I hear a song that is particularly good I assume John wrote it; A particularly ill-fitting or strange song was most likely written by George. You get the point.

Anyway, I don't need to guess anymore, with this helpful wikipedia page.

I was shocked to find that George wrote a lot--if not most--of my least favorite Beatles songs.

The Offspring Vs. The Beatles

I have long felt that the 1999 single Why Don't You Get a Job? by punk rock stalwarts The Offspring sounded like a rip off of The Beatles Ob-la-di Ob-la-da.

I'm just glad to see that others agree with me, but I'll let you decide:

	The Offspring - Why Don't You Get A Job
	Found at skreemr.com

	The Beatles - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
	Found at skreemr.com

Fun fact: Many people believe the Offspring's frontman Dexter Holland to be a doctor of molecular biology. Not true, Dexter has only his masters'. He was, however, the valedictorian of his high school class. Not bad for a punk rocker.

The Grey Album

When Jay-Z released an a-cappella version of his Black Album specifically for the purpose of remixes it set off a free-for-all of amateur mixes and mashups. The best mashup of all was also the one that caught the most attention of EMI and their copyright lawyers. This came as no surprise, of course, since the album in question pitted Jay-Z with none other than the Beatles and samples from their white album. The album's creator, Danger Mouse, came out of the project relatively unscathed by the legal system and with much more notoriety than he had previously. Now he's a famous producer and part of the Gnarls Barkley duo.

The mix itself is well worth a listen, even if you can't stand rap. One of the reasons Jay-Z's work is so widely used in mashups with rock music is his widespread appeal with white audience and his lyrics that tend to transcend the rap genre if only because they don't alienate anyone.

Here's a track that doesn't prove my point about the lyrics but does include a backing guitar track from Helter Skelter:

	Danger Mouse (Jay-Z & Beatles) - 99 Problems
	Found at skreemr.com

And here's the best track, since it samples primarily from "Piggies."

	DJ Dangermouse - Change Clothes
	Found at skreemr.com

Grey Album - Wikipedia (check out the professional review scores)

Here Comes the Son

More news about the Beatles video game previously discussed here at the Cube. Turns out it was George Harrison's son, Dhani, who helped broker the deal with Apple that is making the game possible. From an article at billboard.com:

Harrison is also looking forward to another release this year -- "The Beatles: Rock Band" interactive game that's due out Sept. 9 and marks the Fab Four's first entry into the digital music distribution realm. He's been intimately involved in the project and promises it will feature "stuff that has never been heard, never been released," though he's not at liberty to reveal specifics.

"I took the project to Apple and sort of convinced everybody to have a presentation," says Harrison, who was used as a model for some of the game's characters. "My job description is...being enthusiastic. We've been working on it for the past two years. This is the first one that is going to be totally, historically accurate. It's been a real headache, but it's been the most enjoyable work I've done in my life."

In other news, Dhani Harrison looks exactly like George did when he was in his late twenties. The entire article is worth reading if you're interested in what else Dhani is doing these days. Check it out HERE.

Got My Mind Set on You: George Harrison

Hardly anyone ever says that George was their favorite Beatle, a fact which is easy enough to understand given John and Paul's prevalance and Ringo's Ringoness. But what if you were only assessing their post-Beatles careers. Wouldn't George at least have a fighting chance? He was a guy who, aside from the sitar phase, could always just rock. Plus, as we learned last week he had an impressive circle of friends. And of course, there was always While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

As a kid I always loved the video for a song called Got My Mind Set On You from Harrison's "Cloud Nine" album. I had no idea that the guy singing it was a former Beatle, and it didn't matter because the song rocked. The video was pretty funny for it's time (1987), though the "effects" are pretty lame. Check out the 2:00 mark when "George" inexplicably gets up to dance, and then the 2:14 mark when poor editing can't help but reveal that the real George hasn't moved a damn inch. Click on the picture above to see the video.

Across the Universe

Rounding out the Beatles-themed posts is this week's entry in Stereogum's hunt for the worst movie of all time. It's Across the Universe, the musical based (loosely) on songs by the Beatles. Whether you've seen the film or not and whether or not you like it, I think it's worth it to read this hilarious review.

Stereogum's Hunt for the Worst Movie of All Time

Rock Band: Beatles Edition

My early prediction for best selling video game during the 2009 Holidays? The as of yet untitled Beatles video game which will be modeled after the best selling Harmonix series Rock Band. While many of the specific details are still unclear, it's being reported that players will be able to sing/drum/play guitar and bass as each member of the band throughout their career beginning with songs from Please Please Me and ending with songs from Abbey Road. Instruments from the Rock Band and Guitar Hero series' will be compatible with the game but there will likely be (unnecessary) Beatles-themed peripherals sold with larger game bundles when the game is released in late fall '09. For now the biggest question is which tracks will be included. It's been reported that the game will be comprised of 45 Beatles tracks, which is a fact that lends itself to the prediction of sequels. Surely there are more than 45 Beatles songs worth adding to these popular rhythm based video games, no? As long as it includes Helter Skelter I'll be first in line.

MTV--Beatles Come Together for New Game

Apple Vs. Apple Corps.

Continuing the McCartney/Beatles theme, did you ever notice that you can't "legally" download (can't say buy, since you don't technically own those purchases) Beatles albums online through any of the online mp3 retailers? While it may not seem like such a big deal given the ubiquity of ways to download or rip all of these tracks for free, it seems the mp3 market would represent a sizable chunk of revenue to those people who would stand to make some money from the Beatles' catalog being available online. So who are those people? Where does Michael Jackson fit in? There are a lot of parties involved, and it's not just Yoko being evil. Read about the drama, here.

Contrary to the belief of some, I think both Paul and Ringo would actually prefer to have their Beatles work available to legally download. Both have their solo work available through iTunes, and there's even a Wings track (Band on the Run) that was licensed to Activision for the most recent Guitar Hero title, "World Tour." So there goes any notion that the two surviving Beatles are just unwilling to join the digital age.

Hey iTunes, Don't Make it Bad -- CNN Money

Does Michael Jackson own the Beatles Music Library? -- The Straight Dope

The Fireman

The Fireman - Electric Arguments

You'd think with the celebrity status of someone like Paul McCartney it would be more difficult to produce music without attracting the attention of every music writer on the planet. And yet, Sir Paul himself has apparently been collaborating on ambient/club/synth music with someone called Youth since 1993. They call themselves The Fireman. From allmusic.com:

What would seem to be one of the oddest examples of electronica crossover was the Fireman, an ambient project concerning producer and occasional Orb-collaborator Youth plus the dean of British rock, Sir Paul McCartney. In truth however, McCartney had been involved in London's electronic and avant/garde music scene during the mid-'60s — he even prepared the tape loops and effects for the Beatles' famed "Tomorrow Never Knows," probably the most famous use of musique concrète in history.

Here's one of the tracks I can recommend to people with ears. It's "hard" and supposedly about Heather Mills.

	Paul McCartney (The Fireman) - Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight
	Found at skreemr.com

Memory Almost Full

Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full

Sir Paul is not my favorite Beatle, but every time a modern rock/pop artist is interviewed in a magazine and the question is posed "What artist from the past would you most like to work with" or "who is your biggest influence?" I secretly want the answer to be "Paul McCartney" every time, regardless of how little I've enjoyed some of his work. That's because every musician, pop or otherwise, can stand to learn a lesson in songwriting from him. This may not apply to his lyric writing necessarily, but he's a legend, a legend who had nine number one singles and seven number one albums AFTER the Beatles.

It's hard for someone to have been in the greatest band the world has ever known and not come off as pretentious sometimes, and Paul is certainly not an exception. On Memory is Almost Full, though, you never get that pretentiousness or that mailed-in, "hey I'm getting old" schtick that is sometimes popular amongst legends late in their career. The album instead feels like a genuine look back and reflection on McCartney's accomplishments and defeats. It's poppy enough to keep even the most casual fan listening throughout, but it's molded as art-pop rather than a collection of broader, more radio-friendly singles. More than anything else each track grabs hold of your attention and demands that you listen to the words of this legend who's been around the block. He's got something to say and there are lessons to be learned in his wisdom, regardless of your relationship with his past work. Having gotten to listen to this again at my own leisure rather than against the hum of a treadmill, I have to give it a B+. It's worth anyone's listen.

Let not the following track's appearance in iTunes commercials and Starbucks locations worldwide affect your judgement on the album as a whole:

	Paul McCartney - Dance Tonight
	Found at skreemr.com