Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Rank + File

And the song of the day... "Taxman" by The Beatles. Arrrgghh...  



This year was supposed to be easy, but damn it... I still got hung up on my dual state filings (New York resident working in Massachusetts). Ugh. 


Anyway, back to the Beatles... they were absolutely the first group I ever loved. It was right after John Lennon had been shot... I was only ten years old, and discovered the band through the non-stop radio tributes. It really shaped my tastes in music, I think... I listened to them so incessantly. This song, written by George Harrison, really demonstrates the band's wry sense of humor (I also enjoyed his song "Savoy Truffle" off The White Album).


This is an interesting video--it looks like the person has uploaded many different takes and demos from the band's inspired catalogue. Listen a little further into the clip and you'll hear a lovely "strings only" version of "Eleanor Rigby" (one of the first Beatles songs I learned to play on guitar). These tracks are all from Revolver (1966), which really is the bridge from their earlier, straightforward work to more psychedelic and experimental music--of course, it gets listed as one of the best albums of all time. I remember listening to it around age ten or so, and feeling slightly nervous... like there must have been something very odd indeed happening during the recording... it made me want to listen all the more.


The more the years go by, I think George might have been the coolest Beatle--soft-spoken, into eastern culture and mysticism, and wrote "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun" (the latter is in the running for wedding song... if I have my way).    I keep meaning to check out Martin Scorsese's 2011 film George Harrison: Living in the Material World--if his Bob Dylan documentary was any indication, this one ought to be good too. 


"Let me tell you how it will be,
there's one for you, nineteen for me..."


Timely as ever. Nothing taxing about the Beatles, though.


Related Link:


www.thebeatles.com


www.youtube.com/user/TheBeatleMirko

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