It's a Clean Machine

Over the past week I finally managed to organize my home office, setting up a nice place for Sarah and I to focus on our various creative projects. One of the most daunting tasks was filing away all the various master tapes and discs for video projects I have worked on... a little background music helped.

I decided to stream Paul McCartney's latest album, New. The Beatles have always been an inspiration for me, but their solo projects are usually no match for the brilliance of their fab foursome days. This time out, Sir Paul has a surprisingly fresh offering... check out his latest single, "Queenie Eye," which has been getting a lot of airplay on WEXT: 

Pretty impressive, I'd say, for a guy who has been at it for over 50 years! Naturally, he was helped by several talented producers, including Mark Ronson (whose Version is one of my favorite albums). I have come to realize that a good music producer makes all the difference... I would go so far to say that the Beatles might not have been as good without the help of George Martin (Let It Be, their only studio album not produced by Martin, was marred by too much of Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" overdubbing, in my opinion).

J Walking outside the famed Abbey Road Studios, London.
April 1997. Photo ©Jeremy Clowe

Another treat for fans is the recent release of On Air— Live at the BBC, Volume 2, which features 63 previously unreleased tracks from the Beatles' 1963-1964 BBC Radio broadcasts. I've had a quick listen on iTunes, and it sounds even better than its 1994 predecessor (Live at the BBC). There are plenty of covers, including Motown and Chuck Berry, and some energetic performances of early Beatles songs I have always loved ("MIsery," "You Can't Do That"). Still sounding fresh, and a reminder of the elements that first made me a fan at the age of ten.

As I continue organizing our place, I'm finding other reminders of my Beatles love, including a box full of photos from my first trip to Great Britain back in the late 90s (reproduced here on this blog entry). It was a dream for this Anglophile, and of course I had to make a pilgrimage to London's Abbey Road to recreate the famous "walk" pictured on the band's 1969 album of the same name (with thanks to my patient aunt for photos). I even poked my head inside of Abbey Road Studio to inquire about what was happening...  

London calling... c. April 1997. ©Jeremy Clowe.

Apparently there is no shortage of Beatles-related projects in the pipeline, including a "top secret" project from the BBC, and a movie based on author Lars Saabye Christiansen's bestselling 1984 novel, Beatles. The film sounds especially promising, as it has the rare opportunity to use the group's original recordings, and will be scored by A-ha's Magne Furuholmen. A-ha have noted on many occasions how influenced they were by the Beatles, and knowing my love for both groups I'm particularly excited! During a recent live Q&A on Facebook, I asked Magne if there was any chance he and the other members of A-ha would reform to provide a Beatles cover version or two for the film: it "would be a dream (and worked so well on '#9 Dream!')". His reply: "a dream within a dream... don't go all 'Inception' on my ass here!"

Jermyn (pronounced "Jeremy")
Street, London, April 97.
Photo by MB. ©Jeremy Clowe.

Well, this dreamy state of vacation is starting to wear off... I better sign off and try to get some more things done, while I have the time (yeah, yeah, yeah).

Related Links:

www.thebeatles.com

www.paulmccartney.com

"Magne to score 'Beatles' movie," A-ha-live.com, April 22, 2013

"'Kon-Tiki' Directors Score Original Beatles Songs For Upcoming Film," Deadline.com, March 20, 2013

"Beatles' 'Live at the BBC' Unlikely to Expand, But 'Top Secret' Project in The Works," Billboard, November 12, 2013