Monday, November 27, 2017

50 years ago: The Beatles released Magical Mystery Tour

Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles

Released: November 27, 1967

Peak: 18 US, 31 UK, -- CN, 48 AU

Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, -- UK, 10.0 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: classic psychedelic rock

Tracks:

Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. You can check out the Beatles’ complete singles discography here.

  1. Magical Mystery Tour [2:51] (12/13/67, 2 UK - EP)
  2. The Fool on the Hill [3:00] (12/13/67, 2 UK - EP)
  3. Flying (Harrison/Lennon/McCartney/Starr) [2:16] (12/13/67, 2 UK - EP)
  4. Blue Jay Way (Harrison) [3:56] (12/13/67, 2 UK - EP)
  5. Your Mother Should Know [2:29] (12/13/67, 2 UK - EP)
  6. I Am the Walrus [4:37] (11/29/67, B-side of “Hello, Goodbye,” 56 US, 2 UK - EP))
  7. Hello, Goodbye [3:31] (11/29/67, 1 US, 1 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, gold single)
  8. Strawberry Fields Forever [4:10] (2/23/67, B-side of “Penny Lane,” 8 US, 1 CN, 2 UK)
  9. Penny Lane [3:03] (2/23/67, 1 US, 2 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, gold single)
  10. Baby You’re a Rich Man [3:03] (7/12/67, B-side of “All You Need Is Love,” gold single)
  11. All You Need Is Love [3:48] (7/12/67, 1 US, 1 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, gold single)

Songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney unless noted otherwise.

Total Running Time: 36:35

The Players:

  • John Lennon (vocals, guitar)
  • Paul McCartney (vocals, bass)
  • George Harrison (guitar, vocals)
  • Ringo Starr (drums, vocals)

Rating:

4.389 out of 5.00 (average of 27 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

In the U.K., a double EP (the first six songs on this collection) was released as the soundtrack for the Beatles’ “ill-fated British television special” AMG Magical Mystery Tour. Paul McCartney envisioned a film that combined LSD proponent Ken Kesey’s “idea of a psychedelic bus ride with McCartney’s memories of Liverpudlians holidaying on coach tours.” WK The EP reached #2 in Britain, peaking behind the Beatles’ “Hello Goodbye.”

The new recordings were in the same vein as the studio experimentation and psychedelic sound of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, released that same year. However, the sessions for Magical Mystery Tour were characterized as “aimless and undisciplined” sup>WK and George Martin, the band’s producer, distanced himself from the Beatles at the time, considering the recording process “disorganized chaos.” WK

“The psychedelic sound is very much in the vein of Sgt. Pepper [released earlier that year] and even spacier in parts (especially the sound collages of ‘I Am the Walrus’). Unlike Sgt. Pepper, there’s no vague overall conceptual/thematic unity to the material, which has made Magical Mystery Tour suffer slightly in comparison.” AMG

“Magical Mystery Tour”

The title song for the soundtrack was used in a similar fashion as the title cut had been for Sgt. Pepper’s: “to welcome the audience to the event.” WK

“The Fool on the Hill”

McCartney wrote the melody for piano ballad The Fool on the Hill during the sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s, but didn’t finish the lyrics until September. The song has been interpreted as being about a solitary figure left adrift from his unwillingness to engage in society. WK

“Flying”

“Flying,” an instrumental, was significant as the first Beatles’ song to be credited to all four members. Originally called “Aerial Tour Instrumental,” it appeared in the film over cloud footage and outtakes from the movie Dr. Strangelove. WK

“Blue Jay Way”

George Harrison’s “Blue Jay Way” was named after a street in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. The song has been described as Harrison’s “farewell to psychedelia” because he sought an alternative to hallucinogenic drugs through Transcendental Meditation.

“Your Mother Should Know”

McCartney’s “Your Mother Should Know” was crafted in a music hall style, similar to what had been done with “When I’m Sixty-Four” from Sgt. Pepper’s.

“I Am the Walrus”

This was John Lennon’s main contribution to the film. The song was inspired by his LSD experiences, the writings of Lewis Carroll, and a nursery rhyme from his school days. A fan wrote Lennon a letter saying his high school English teacher was doing scholarly interpretations of the Beatles’ song lyrics so Lennon deliberately set out to write a song “that would confound analysis from scholars and music journalists.” WK That didn’t stop them from analyzing the song, which has been describe as the “ultimate anti-institutional rant – a damn-you-England tirade that blasts education, art, culture, law, order, class, religion, and even sense itself.” WK

Rounding Out the Album

“I Am the Walrus” was also used as the B-side for Hello, Goodbye, the single released at the same time as Magical Mystery Tour. In America, that song, plus the Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever and All You Need Is Love / Baby, You’re a Rich Man singles were added with the EP to make for a full-length album. These were “huge, glorious, and innovative singles.” AMG

The album charted as an import in the UK in 1976, but wasn’t officially available until the 1987 CD and the full-length American album was put out as the official worldwide release.

Notes: The UK chart info is for the import album.

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First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 9/4/2021.

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Sunday, November 26, 2017

The Top Albums by Some of the Top Classic Rock Acts

Here are various classic rock acts and their top albums. Lists are determined by rankings in Dave’s Music Database, which compiles sales data, chart info, and appearances on best-of lists to generate its figures. Click on an act below to go directly to its list.
The Beatles: Top 10
David Bowie: Top 10
Eric Clapton: Top 10

This list was originally posted on the Dave’s Music Database Facebook page on 3/2/2010. It has since been updated.

Led Zeppelin: Top 10
Pink Floyd: Top 10
Lou Reed/Velvet Underground: Top 10
The Rolling Stones: Top 10
Bruce Springsteen: Top 10
The Who: Top 10
Neil Young: Top 10

This list was originally posted on the Dave’s Music Database Facebook page on 2/19/2010. It has since been updated.

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Monday, November 13, 2017

Brandi Carlile “The Joke” released

The Joke

Brandi Carlile

Writer(s): Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth (see lyrics here)

Released: November 13, 2017

First Charted: December 9, 2017

Peak: 4 AA, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.)

Sales (in millions): --

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 15.5 video, 37.23 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile was born in 1981 in Ravensdale, Washington. She released her self-titled debut in 2005. Her music has been described as folk rock, alternative country, and Americana. She arguably reached her peak with her sixth album, 2018’s By the Way, I Forgive You. So far, it has been her highest charting album, reaching #5 on Billboard. It was also nominated for a Grammy for Album of the Year and its lead single, “The Joke,” garnered nominations for Song and Record of the Year. It won for Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance.

It grew out of a discussion with producer Dave Cobb. He said she hadn’t had another vocal moment like her song “The Story.” Cobb also played Elvis Presley’s “Amerian Trilogy,” raving about how “it affects you; the way it’s big in the chords, just pulling every single emotion out of you.” AS Cobb said, “I played her one of the greatest songs of all time, and then she wrote one of the greatest written since that one.” AS He told her, “That’s the best song you’ve ever written.” AS

Carlile said, “Who tells you to rewrite a song that you wrote a decade ago?” AS However, she accepted the challenge. She woke up one morning with the idea for the song and rushed to the studio. She wrote the song in about a half hour and recorded it with her cellist, Josh. She wrote it for the marginalized people of society “as a comment on the sociopolitical climate following the 2016 U.S. presidential election.” SF She said, “I thought about our sneering president and the way he laughed at people who were suffering.” AS She explained, “The song is just for people that feel under-represented, unloved, or illegal.” AS

American Songwriter’s Jaco Uitti called “The Joke” “one of the most beautiful tracks written this millennium.” AS The A.V. Club called it “a beacon of hope for those discouraged by today’s political climate.” WK

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First posted 9/22/2022.

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Friday, November 10, 2017

Taylor Swift released Reputation

Originally posted March 7, 2019.

Reputation

Taylor Swift

Released: November 10, 2017

Peak: #14 US, #11 UK, #13 CN, #12 AU

Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.1 UK, 4.5 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: pop

Tracks: (Click for codes to singles charts.)

  1. Ready for It? (9/3/17, 4 US, 26 AC, 10 A40, 7 UK, 7 CN, 3 AU, worldwide sales: 2.5 million)
  2. End Game (with Ed Sheeran & Future, 11/14/17, 18 US, 14 A40, 49 UK, 11 CN, 36 AU)
  3. I Did Something Bad
  4. Don’t Blame Me
  5. Delicate (3/12/18, 12 US, 110 AC, 14 A40, 45 UK, 20 CN, 28 AU, worldwide sales: 1.44 million)
  6. Look What You Made Me Do (8/24/17, 13 US, 19 AC, 7 A40, 12 UK, 13 CN, 12 AU, worldwide sales: 5.6 million)
  7. So It Goes
  8. Gorgeous (11/11/17, 13 US, 15 UK, 9 CN, 9 AU, worldwide sales: 0.77 million)
  9. Getaway Car
  10. King of My Heart
  11. Dancing with Our Hands Tied
  12. Dress
  13. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
  14. Call It What You Want (11/25/17, 27 US)
  15. New Year’s Day (11/27/17, 33 CW)

Review:

For her sixth album, Taylor Swift turned to producers Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, and Shellback – all of whom she’d worked with on 1989 album. While that album completed Swift’s transition to pop stardom, this album is arguably her “first self-consciously ‘adult’ record,” AMG “preoccupied with sex, betrayal, and the scars they leave behind.” AMG Previous albums focused on “the singer/songwriter who grew up in public” AMG as “ a babe in the woods” AMG while this one deals with themes such as “handling fame and media coverage of celebrities.” WK

Sonically, Reputation has been described as “brash, weaponized pop” (Neil McCormick, The Daily Telegraph) WK and “another shift, this time into electronic pop” (Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune). WK Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield said this album “builds on the synth-pop of 1989.” WK Reputation “achieves a steely, nocturnal sound,” AMG “dwelling on drum loops and synthesizers.” AMG

This sound is established from the opening song, Ready for It?, which has been described as and “electronic-inspired…industrial pop song with elements of tropical house, dubstep, and trap music.” WK Swift said the song is “about finding your own partner in crime” WK and that it “introduces a metaphor you may hear more of throughout…this kind of Crime and Punishment metaphor.” WK

Look What You Made Me Do, the lead single, treads similar electro-pop territory, interpolating “I’m Too Sexy” by the British dance-pop group Right Said Fred. The song started as a poem “about realizing that you couldn’t trust certain people, but realizing you appreciate the people you can trust.” WK The song hit #1 in at least 15 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom and amassed more than a billion views on YouTube.

Delicate, another single, was about “what happens when you meet somebody that you really want in your life and then you start worrying about what they’ve heard before they met you.” WK Swift wanted to use the vocoder on the song to create “an emotional and vulnerable sound for the track.” WK

Nearly “every song on Reputation has a cool, gleaming patina that’s designed to put an alluring distance between Swift and the listener.” AMG The exception is “the delicate closer New Year’s Day,” AMG a song which “explores the flip side of the romanticism of a New Year’s Eve kiss.” WK It is about the person who “sticks around the next day to give you Adil and clean up the house.” WK

There is some “awkwardness that’s distracting upon first listen but less so on revisits” AMG and “what’s left is a coming of age album anchored by some strong Swift songs” AMG which “carry Swift’s trademark blend of vulnerability, melody, and confidence.” AMG “They are deeply felt and complex, signs that all of the heavy-handed persona plays of reputation were a necessary exercise for her to mature as a singer/songwriter.” AMG

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Today in Music (1967): The Moody Blues charted with “Nights in White Satin”

Nights in White Satin

The Moody Blues

Writer(s): Justin Hayward (see lyrics here)

Released: November 10, 1967

First Charted: February 10, 1968

Peak: 2 US, 11 CB, 11 GR, 12 HR, 37 AC, 1 CL, 9 UK, 11 CN, 8 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 108.3 video, 211.55 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Things looked bleak for the Moody Blues in 1966 when Justin Hayward and John Lodge arrived. TB The group’s “Go Now” went to #1 in the UK in 1964 and they’d had nothing hit the top 20 since. They were “back to playing gigs for small change.” TB In an effort to showcase its new “enhanced stereo sound technology,” SF the group’s record label, Deram, approached the group about recording a modern version of Dvorak’s “New World Symphony.” BBC Instead, the band sold the label on a suite of newly-composed songs woven together by orchestral links TB and thematically focused on the passing of a day. BBC

Although the Moodies were among the first rock bands to integrate classical, KX the so-called London Festival Orchestra, with which they supposedly recorded, never existed. It was simply the banner under which the musicians behind the Days of Future Passed album gathered. SF As the album’s centerpiece, “Nights in White Satin” “was an early example of progressive – or art – rock.” DJ Hayward got the idea for this “yearning love song” BBC after receiving a gift of white satin sheets. SF As he told the Daily Express in 2008, “It was a series of random thoughts and was quite autobiographical. It was a very emotional time as I was at the end of one big love affair and the start of another. A lot of that came out in the song.” SF

The song “was drenched in what would be come the Moodys’ signature sound – the synthetic strings of the Mellotron.” BBC The song peaked at a modest #19 in December of 1967, BBC but after songs like “Hey Jude” and “Layla” broke radio’s four-minute-singles barrier, the song became a hit in the United States. SF It then re-charted in the U.K., this time hitting #9, and in 1979 went top 20 in the U.K. for a third time, this time peaking at #14.

Resources:

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First posted 11/10/2011; updated 9/17/2023.

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