"Let Em' In"

I've added mccartney's "Let 'Em In" to my ex-Beatle medley, and replaced huge sections of lyric, making it socially relevant. I like to think this is how the song might have turned out had paul and john still been writing together in the 70s...

Single mommies, dirty commies

The non-binary, the Tea Party

The convicts and the kissin' cousins

Open the door, let 'em in

The refugees and the hemp trees

The pacifists and the homeless

The veterans and the Vatican

Open the door, let 'em in

The KKK, the WNBA
Pedophiles, crocodiles

CEOs, jews and muslims

Open the door, let 'em in

sir paul's mop

Sigh.
Oh, paul.
What in holy hell happened to your hair??
I say this, mind you, in a world of comb-overs, weaves, implants, straightening, bottle blondes, reddish-brown asians, and whatever life form has taken residence on the donald's head.
A few years back, your hair suddenly appeared a deeper shade of brown than even when you were a twentysomething moptop.
Please, paul, we beg you...tell us it ain't so.
I know, i know, it's nobody's business but your own. Even if you wore seaweed tresses, it's YOUR head and anybody who don't like it can sod off.
Freedom of expression! Respect for one's elders!
Except...
If ever the personal were political, this is it. Have you truly thought about the message you're sending? I know you understand how horribly ageist this society is. Old people are marginalized, demeaned, or made invisible. It's there in most any magazine or movie...OLD IS UGLY. Some kind of "sickness" to be resisted and fought, tooth and nail, until that pathetic day when we finally croak and rid the world of something nobody was comfortable seeing anyway.
Not only that, but you're catering to the fear of death, and fear is something this world very much needs LESS.
And i know...you've been "hitting the bottle" for a long time. Decades, one should think. But it's just so bald-facedly obvious now. It's gone on far too long to be just something some dim-witted female had you do, which you went along with because you wanted to get in her pants and who among us hasn't been there? I wore combat boots and plaid shirts for a few months when i was fourteen. It happens. Maybe you got in the habit, and had no idea how to stop once it occurred to you to do so.
But i know you believe in the notion that age is not to be avoided, but revered. And what about embracing yourself for who you are? Or the idea that older people might have a little wisdom to share...and even if they don't, they should still be venerated, because they've SURVIVED, and most young people have no idea how hard that actually is?
Understand, i'm not one of the haters. I've never once slagged you for what you're not. You're not lennon? No, and he's not YOU. I'm the only macca fan i know who has never even dumped on PRESS TO PLAY. It's one of your better works, and anyone who says otherwise can sit on it. "However Absurd", "Only Love Remains"...are you kidding? Achingly, brilliantly beautiful. "Angry", though a great tune, may be the most myopic, self-righteous thing you ever wrote..but i digress.
The point is, do you remember the album cover? The black and white of you and linda? Do you remember your hair? It was black and whitening, a metaphoric parallel of the photo itself. You looked beautiful, and seemed proud of it. THIS IS WHO WE ARE, the photo gently shouted, and it's fucking gorgeous. If you'll forgive just one more comparison to that lad from Menlove, am i the first person on the planet to realize that the PRESS cover was your TWO VIRGINS? More subtle, but just as politically powerful.
And now, it's hard to look at you. You've become some pathetic pitchman for every plastic "surgeon" or $100 wrinkle cream. You've become something to be explained and pitied. But unlike kenny rogers, it's not too late. Shave it off. Today. Now.
Go back to being a person the world needs.
I love you paul.

Harry Pussies

PUSSY CATS
-by Harry Nilsson
(produced by John Lennon)
1974
A product of the "lost weekend", when chums Harry and John went on a year-long L.A. bender, this is a fascinating, often brilliant, and criminally-overlooked album for any Nilsson fan, Lennon completist, or rock lover. Many dismiss it as the end of Harry's three-octave range - the rupturing of his vocal chords is in full evidence (a condition perhaps partially caused by substance abuse, which he hid from John [um, the vocal damage, not the substance abuse]). Some of the vocals are downright whispery and cracky, which they tried (and sometimes succeeded) to use to their advantage. But what the album lacks in soaring vocals, it more than makes up in songwriting and production. The original title was allegedly HARRY PUSSIES, but unsurprisingly the record company rejected what would have been one of the greatest album titles ever. Lennon stayed true to his role as producer, giving only one brief vocal cameo, but the chemistry is wonderful, with appearances by Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, and a host of other usual suspects.
(1) Many Rivers to Cross
The Jimmy Cliff song that was the lead single and arguably the most brilliant track - you may never want to stop listening to it.
(2) Subterranean Homesick Blues
A Dylan number that might not stand well on its own, but in the context of the album is spot-on.
(3) Don't Forget Me
A sweet, poignant song about love lost, with occasional injections of gallows perspective (see the alimony and cancer lines). Brilliantly covered on Neil Diamond's DREAMS.
(4) All My Life
Okay, maybe this is the most brilliant track - an upbeat, irreverent look at a life well-wasted.
(5) Old Forgotten Soldier
A blues hall self-lamentation of a soldier put out to pasture.
(6) Save the Last Dance for Me
The Drifters gem, delivered with sweeping sweetness and sincerity.
(7) Mucho Mungo/Mt. Elga
The Lennon/Nilsson tune that originally appeared on WALLS AND BRIDGES. A semi-obligatory toss-off.
(8) Loop De Loop
A Ted Vann cheeser that loiters around "so bad it's good". Maybe it's just bad, but within the context of the album you can't hate it. Well, i can't anyway. British mums sang it to their babies. Aww.
(9) Black Sails
The most bizarre entry, with funereal nautical imagery and a Carly Simon reference.
(10) Rock Around the Clock
The Bill Haley classic rompingly rendered.
(11)* Down By the Sea
A bouncy head-swayer, superior to the more polished version that would appear on DUIT ON MON DEI.
(12)* The Flying Saucer Song
Loosey-goosey goodness, MUCH superior to the DUIT version.
(13)* Turn Out the Light
A fun kids bedtime tune (also better than the DUIT version).
(14)* Save the Last Dance for Me
A demo, before Harry lost his range. Tantalizing...you'll spend hours trying to decide which version you like better.

*25th Anniversay bonus tracks

Double Fantasy Stripped

I just listened to DOUBLE FANTASY STRIPPED DOWN, by John & Yoko, a 2010 re-release that takes away a lot of the production of the original album. As John might have cheekily said, it's a religious fucking experience. The sound washes over you, leaving you starry-eyed. Original producer Jack Douglas worked with Yoko on this. Back in 80', Jack was dismissed for the production of MILK & HONEY, even though he oversaw the recording (one can only hope that he gets to work on a re-release of that one, too). Most notably gone on STRIPPED are the double-tracked lead vocals, because John was insecure about his voice. The album is more acoustic, but the changes can be unpredictable. They didn't just pare away the originals, they often started from different takes entirely. Harmonies and instrumentations disappear, sometimes leaving you singing the missing sound. Altogether different harmonies and instrumentations appear. Surprisingly, Yoko's tracks are even more altered than John's, particularly "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him" and "Hard Times are Over", which now play essentially as duets between the two, a beautiful way to end the album.
It's bizarre, the relationship one has with Yoko's songs. It's always been easy to dismiss them entirely...indeed, my baby brothers didn't even know until they were adults that Yoko had songs on the album, so deft was i at lifting and replacing the needle perfectly. Yet i had played her songs enough so that i knew them intimately...and as the years went by, i began to grow a certain affection for them. Never has that been so true as during this first listen of STRIPPED DOWN. I'm not saying i'll never again skip her tracks, but...as a conceptual whole, the album stands, something i'd never granted before. How much was John propping her up, musically? Did he co-write her songs? I don't know. To what extent was the album an honest portrayal of their lives? It's fascinating to read an insider's portrayal, like that of John's assistant Fred Seaman, to ponder what may have been missing from the lyrics. Was John preparing to leave her for good? A question that fortunately doesn't need to be answered, to love the album for what it is. A grownup Beatle and wife, making an album about grownup life. I'm honestly not sure which version will end up being my preferred, over time. STRIPPED DOWN is that good.

yoko's lost verse

(A demo tape was recently found in a box of junk at a yard sale in Piscataway, New Jersey. The demo is an early recording of "Give Me Something", by Yoko Ono. It contained this fourth verse, which got cut from the released version.)

The pasta's limp
The salad's limp
The broccoli's limp
Your blimp is limp
Give me something that's not limp
Come on!
Come on!
(come on!!!)
Give me something that's not limp
Come on!
Come on!
(come on!!!)
Give me something that's not limp
Come on!
Come on!
(come on!!!)
Give me!
Give me!

lennon

"Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground"
-john lennon

As much as he wanted to run from his Beatle past, John never wanted to become marginalized, so there's little doubt his lack of chart success frustrated him heavily, and perhaps made it easier for him to walk away from the music world the last five years of his life. His six non-album singles had some winners: "Instant Karma!", "Cold Turkey", "Give Peace a Chance", plus "Happy Xmas", perhaps the most subversive song ever written. He had no time for religion or materialism, so he entered the yuletide genre with his biggest mind game, causing the world to sing and hear "war is over" every year. Cover versions just keep coming and coming. "Serve Yourself", on either of the big box sets, is also a peach. His albums?
PLASTIC ONO BAND
An intensely personal album arising from his foray into primal scream therapy. The minimalism is starkly anti-Beatle, and the standout tracks ("Mother", "Working Class Hero", "God") are stellar. "Isolation" is great too, and "I Found Out" is lennon the scathing social critic at his lyrical best. The rest? Forgettable.
IMAGINE
The title track is perhaps the most towering artistic achievement of the 20th century, an indelible synthesis of unforgettable melody married to a revolutionary's grand vision. The lyrical seed springs from a yoko poem, so whatever else you might feel about her, it's doubtful he would have written this song had they not met. "Jealous Guy", "How Do You Sleep?", and "How?" are an artist at peak form. "Crippled Inside" is a lyrical gem. The rest is good.
SOME TIME IN NEW YORK CITY
Enjoying this one requires lowered expectations. John moved to NYC, met a rocking band (Elephant's Memory), and decided to write and record an album in two weeks, focusing on contemporary, specific social causes. In the midst of forgettable songs, "Woman is the Nigger of the World" stands out like a beacon in the sky. SOME TIME also marks yoko's debut as a musical partner - writing and singing her own songs. Her music is simplistic...whether we would be more (or less) accepting of it were she not married to john, is a fascinating question. Perhaps both? But naysayers don't get the final word...on the LIVE JAM bonus disc, recorded with zappa and the Mothers of Invention, the most breathtaking track is her "Don't Worry Kyoko". It's one of the more terrifying, mesmerizing recordings you'll ever hear.
MIND GAMES
A marriage is crumbling, and the album that results is a pedestrian mess. Yoko's music is gone, but that's no help. John dismissed the title track as uninspired craftsmanship, and he's right (though it is a fascinating glimpse into a universe where thoughts are more powerful than physical revolution). "One Day (At a Time)" and "Bring on the Lucie (Freda People)" brighten the proceedings, but...
WALLS AND BRIDGES
Largely ignored because its predecessors were dismal and it has no song that ranks with lennon's greatest, it's his strongest top-to-bottom solo effort. Created during his year and a half away from yoko, it's easy to imagine what his music might have been without her...and perhaps too easy to love may pang, his lover during this time, all the more. There's little doubt he was more himself with may. That's a complicated proposition though...john was probably attracted to yoko BECAUSE she changed him. And that's not all bad - in person, he was probably much more a controlling bastard than anyone would want in a lover or friend. Perhaps he wanted yoko because she was the only woman who was as much a controlling bastard as he. The most shameful yoko artistic act i know of is injecting herself into the video for "#9 Dream", when it was may who sang the "john" line...but she may have honestly thought the song had been written with her in mind. The best tracks are "Scared", and "Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)", written for may.
ROCK 'N' ROLL
An album of covers, a love note to the 50s american music that john grew up on. A lovely party album. The highlights are "Stand By Me", "Bony Moronie", and "You Can't Catch Me" (in which he plays up the similarities to "Come Together", the copyright lawsuit concerning which was the reason this album arose in the first place).
DOUBLE FANTASY
The first album i ever bought. I became so adept at skipping the needle past the yoko tracks, that my brother was gobsmacked decades later when he discovered yoko's songs. Yet the passage of time has made me almost like her stuff. And on john's end? Even with only half an album, his tracks are so monumentally fantastic, that this one ranks on my 75 greatest albums of all time. If i were to mention one song, i'd have to mention all.
MILK AND HONEY
Produced posthumously, after he had recorded the basic tracks. How different would it be had he finished it himself? Plus the double whammy of having to follow up an astonishing predecessor? The deck is stacked, in the wrong direction. Yet any john collection would be woefully incomplete without "Nobody Told Me", "Stepping Out", and "Grow Old With Me". The other songs aren't far behind.

peace songs

One of Paul McCartney's better songs has slipped under the radar for many years, "Peace In the Neighborhood". A cut from OFF THE GROUND, it had never impressed me overmuch until i heard the live version on PAUL IS LIVE. I can't discern anything specifically different, but it feels like they went on the road and figured out a way to play it that far outshone the studio track. It's bouncy and joyous, one of those recordings that compels you to bounce around with happiness.
The other gem i've discovered is almost a spiritual doppelganger to the first: "Peace is Just a Word", off the Eurythmics' album PEACE. Annie and Dave had been doing their own projects for ten years, when they reunited in 1999 for this largely-ignored album (and not without reason - the rest of the album is unimpressive). This stunningly moving and powerful song wasn't a single. It's one of the few songs i know, of which i am virtually incapable of not crying upon hearing it. The lyrics take you to a place of utter hopelessness with the human condition:
Stop the world
Turn out the sun
I'm so tired of it turning round
Stop the world
Call it a day
Leave it all behind
Leave it that way
Peace is just a word
Is just a word
If humanity couldn't cry over our own condition like this, or strive for joy as movingly as Paul's song, we'd be fully lost, instead of just mostly.

"God"

-by john lennon

God is a concept
By which we measure our pain
I'll say it again
God is a concept
By which we measure our pain
I don't believe in magic
I don't believe in I-ching
I don't believe in Bible
I don't believe in tarot
I don't believe in Hitler
I don't believe in Jesus
I don't believe in Kennedy
I don't believe in Buddha
I don't believe in mantra
I don't believe in Gita
I don't believe in yoga
I don't believe in kings
I don't believe in Elvis
I don't believe in Zimmerman
I don't believe in Beatles
I just believe in me
Yoko and me
And that's reality
The dream is over
What can I say?
The dream is over
Yesterday
I was the Dreamweaver
But now I'm reborn
I was the Walrus
But now I'm John
And so dear friends
You'll just have to carry on
The dream is over

This towering song rips away...everything, really. "Imagine" was already embedded in my spirit when i heard this, and it almost doesn't seem fair that one artist could write two songs that would be so immeasurably impactful on one person (to say nothing of millions). Is it only towering because of how we felt about "john lennon"? To hear john discard the Beatles, without hesitation or remorse, is just searing. Yet he tucks that message into an infinitely larger context, perhaps the only way he could have made it credible. If you were to look at the lyrics before you heard it, you might think there's no way it's a good song. It resembles a tedious laundry list. And then you hear it, and musically it's almost disturbingly sparse...but then in an instant you understand the howling torment john probably endured during the "bigger than jesus" storm...how he bit his tongue and backed away from his words, when his better angels were telling him to shove his truth right down the idiotic gullet of the beast that "Beatles" had become. In the hypnotic "I don't believe" section, the percussive piano starts to feel like the keys are being thumped directly on your heart, and you're holding your breath, because you never imagined you'd hear a song as honest as this.

imagine bein' green

It has been said that songs are the poetry of our times. With the advent of radio, recorded music became available to the mass of humanity like never before. Poetry still lives, but the words which resonate most in the collective conscious are lyrics. While this is faintly troublesome at times ("gotta blame it on somethin', blame it on the rain..."), poetry itself is by no means dead. Sometimes it's even alive and well in a song. For myself, two songs stand above all others. When i heard "Bein' Green" as a child, i felt for the first time that i might not be alone in the world...

It's not easy bein' green
Having to spend each day
The color of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer
Bein' red or yellow or gold
Or something much more colorful like that
It's not easy bein' green
It seems you blend in
With so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over
'Cause you're not standing out
Like flashy sparkles on the water
Or stars in the sky
But green's the color of spring
And green can be cool and friendly like
And green can be big like a mountain
Or important like a river or tall like a tree
When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why
But, why wonder, why wonder?
I'm green and it'll do fine
It's beautiful and I think it's what I want to be

And "Imagine", which i heard as a teen, still perhaps comes closer to being an anthem of my life than anything, including my own words.

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Thank you jim, joe, and john. No other songs have ever nestled into my spirit so securely.

"The Space Within US"

2006
I picked up this concert film of paul mccartney's 2005 tour, chiefly because "I've Got a Feeling" is on the set list. I've always been amazed that more people don't mention this track when they talk about their favorite Beatle songs. It's extra special because it's one of the few songs in which john and paul swap off lead vocals. The concert exceeds expectations and "I've Got a Feeling" is stellar, with the lennon vocals capably handled by drummer wix wickens. Each song is sandwiched between interview and documentary clips, a format which usually annoys, but somehow works here. Paul is in wonderful form, and the interviews are sincere and interesting. Thinking about "I've Got a Feeling", i revisited a fantasy, a mccartney/julian lennon tour. I've hesitated to embrace this idea, not wanting to be a necrophiliac, but it could be a singular experience. Ringo could jump on, adding his songs and steady beat. Paul and julian would perform their own songs, and come together on any tunes which feature john/paul lead vocals, plus any that had particularly striking harmonies. It could be called the Hey Jude Tour. I've always felt that julian's work has been neglected. If the lads wanted to extend the family vibe, zak or james or dhani could join the party. In the spirit of healing, we could invite sean to be the opener (though that's perhaps hoping for too much). But paul and jule together...doesn't that sound like a concert you'd always remember?

george's greatest

GEORGE HARRISON'S GREATEST SONGS
1) All Things Must Pass
2) Let It Down (2001 demo version)
3) Free as a Bird
4) Someplace Else
5) Handle with Care
6) Isn't It a Pity
7) End of the Line
8) All Those Years Ago
9) When We Was Fab
10) While My Guitar Gently Weeps
11) Blow Away
12) Here Comes the Sun
13) Here Comes the Moon
14) Any Road
15) Something
16) Crackerbox Palace
17) I Me Mine
18) Soft-Hearted Hana
19) Pure Smokey
20) Within You Without You
21) Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)
22) Taxman
23) Cockamie Business
24) What Is Life
25) P2 Vatican Blues (Last Saturday Night)
GEORGE'S ALBUMS (RANKED)
1) ALL THINGS MUST PASS
His years of constipation burst forth in this 3-disc album. Even under the weight of phil spector's overproduction, the songs just roll you away. With the title song, it was the "quiet one" who turned the passing of the Beatles into an artistic expression of universal beauty and breadth.
2) TRAVELING WILBURYS VOLUME 1
I include Wilbury albums, because george was the driving force.
3) BRAINWASHED
His final album, a scintillating gem from start to finish, it reveals something (like warren zevon's last album) about the power of motivation in brilliance, as george had to know it would be his last.
4) GEORGE HARRISON
The mark of a great album is one in which you look forward to the lesser-known songs as much as the singles.
5) THE BEST OF DARK HORSE
Absent the hits from his early solo career (perhaps becase he didn't want to enrich his old record label), this is nonetheless one of the most satisfying hit collections around. The three new songs are a delight, one and all.
6) CONCERT FOR GEORGE
A benefit organized by clapton, and almost indescribably wonderful. The indian music is fantastic, and the lineup of george's friends performing his music is almost perfect. Particularly wonderful are ringo's "Photograph", billy preston's "Isn't It a Pity", paul's "All Things Must Pass", joe brown's "I'll See You in My Dreams", and paul and eric doing a ukelele version of "Something" (the best recording of that song ever).
7) THE CONCERT FOR BANGLA DESH
Synergy is real. Head and shoulders above most benefit albums.
8) THIRTY-THREE & 1/3
There are forgettable tracks, but wonderful songs fall like ripe fruit.
9) TRAVELING WILBURYS VOLUME 3
The brilliance rolls along...
10) LIVE IN JAPAN
The only tour in which a number of george solo songs were ever performed, this is a joyous event, supported by clapton and his band.
11) CLOUD NINE
Well-deserving of its status as one of george's best, and home to his most unappreciated song, "Someplace Else".
12) GONE TROPPO
His happiest album. If this is what living in the tropics does for everyone, we should all pack our bags. "Mystical One", a tribute to clapton, is a particular delight.
?) GEORGE FEST
A tribute concert overseen (and performed in) by son dhani, a more loose and light-hearted collection than CONCERT...though perhaps a bit too faithful in the song arrangements. Brian wilson, weird al, ann wilson, conan o'brien, norah jones, the black ryder, black rebel motorcycle club, and other young turks...
13) THE BEST OF GEORGE HARRISON
The only new studio track is the lovely "Bangla Desh". A fine collection of Beatle tracks and early solo work, one must subtract points for inclusion of the abysmal "You". Now that i think about it, george may be unique in the music business, where fans are usually subjected to endless hit collections with unending song overlap, plus that one new song which requires us to go out and buy the damn things. George released two hit collections, with no overlap between them. Eternal thanks, george.
14) LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD
A well-crafted album of good songs and two very good ones, the title track and "Give Me Love".
15) DARK HORSE
The first five songs are forgettable, "Ding Dong" is an annoyance of monumental proportions, and the final three songs are a delight.
16) SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND
A burp of an album, redeemed only by "Life Itself", and "All Those Years Ago", written in the wake of john's murder.
17) EXTRA TEXTURE
His most listless and uninspired work, rescued from the rubbish tip only by "Tired of Midnight Blue". "Ooh Baby" is interesting, a primitive version of what would become "Pure Smokey".

Mr. Wheat!

Two nights ago, i was the precise age john lennon was when he was killed - forty years, eight weeks, three days, twenty-three hours, and fifty minutes. I went to the Dakota, his Central Park home, and stood by the gate where he was murdered. When the clock hit 10:49, i closed my eyes, spread my arms, and counted to sixty.
I wasn't waiting for something mystical. I wasn't expecting to be transformed, or gunned down. I wasn't expecting the ghosts of john and stu to walk by, or meet some person i was fated to meet. There was no particular reason i did this, other than the depth to which john's music has touched me. Not only "Imagine", the single most resonant musical statement i've ever known, but "God", "Woman Is the Nigger of the World", and "Watching the Wheels" are on the short list of songs that have touched my life most deeply.
Certainly, it was a moment to reflect on mortality, and how none of us are ever guaranteed more than the next few seconds. It's fair to say that at least a couple of readers here will die a sudden, unexpected death. One of us might not even make it to the end of this article. What will you do on your last day? Punch the clock? Make a glorious ass of yourself?
I had invited a fellow lennon fan along, then another friend, but i ended up experiencing this observance alone. Appropriate, i guess. After a few minutes, i got on my bike and headed home, where i listened to the following set:
-Imagine (bruce hornsby)
-Imagine
-Woman Is the Nigger of the World
-Happy Christmas/Give Peace a Chance
-Norwegian Wood
-All You Need is Love
-I've Got a Feeling
-The Ballad of John and Yoko
-Free As a Bird
-Watching the Wheels
-Woman
-God
-Life Begins at 40
-Grow Old With Me
-Empty Garden (elton john)
-Imagine (Blues Traveler)
I recommend to any who observe a similar lennon moment, include a watching of the SNL broadcast of buckwheat's death, which addressed the philosophical question of how long to wait before making fun of brutal slaughter. I like to think john would have laughed. As for me, i'm just living on borrowed time. I'm here today, and i feel fine.
Everyone still alive? Okay, we may get another tomorrow. Shall we share, take responsibility, and love all?
I'm not the only one.

george and john and...

What do John Lennon and George Harrison have in common?
Beyond the obvious, dimnut.
The greatest solo albums they released were their first and their last (no, i don't mean VIRGINS or WONDERWALL, nutbush). I don't think there is anything profound or mystical in this. The circumstances of their final albums were different, as George probably knew he was working on his last. Yet it's a curiosity worth mentioning, these wonderful bookends, John's PLASTIC ONO BAND and DOUBLE FANTASY, and George's ALL THINGS MUST PASS and BRAINWASHED. It's possible that casual fans don't know George's last album. Alternately buoyant and serene, irreverent and devout, it's wonderful and amazing from start to finish. How it got largely overlooked, even by Beatle fans, is a cause for head-shaking.
Paul, of course, won't follow this pattern, even if his final album is as good as BAND ON THE RUN. And Ringo, well Ringo is of course Ringo. It's been argued that nothing the Beatles did solo lived up to their output as a unit. This may be true, but that observation is also a loaded one, dripping with self-fulfilling prophecy and measuring something against a previous accomplishment when it ought be measured only against itself. I loved Paul's stuff first, because it was more prominent on the radio when i grew up. And then i heard "Imagine", and knew that John was not only my favorite Beatle, but also my favorite musician, period. Paul has been abused because he's not John. This is an attitude worthy of a moron, and it's time to put it to rest. Quantitatively and qualitatively, he's arguably the greatest songwriter of the twentieth century, in the company of only Cole Porter and Paul Simon. As for Ringo, bless him, i defy anyone to listen to the PHOTOGRAPH anthology, and tell me he didn't hold up his end of the legacy. It took a longer time for me to come around to George's music, because of the god stuff. But when i finally lifted that rock...well, i refuse to pick a favorite solo Beatle. There are some absolute wonderments of his you probably don't know. Like the demo version of "Let it Down" on the ALL THINGS 2001 reissue. Freed from Spector's overproduction, this song is all that one voice and one guitar could be. The CONCERT FOR GEORGE tribute album...i could write a whole blog on what Clapton, McCartney, and the others created that night. The songs "Here Comes the Moon", "Soft-hearted Hana", and above all the achingly beautiful "Someplace Else". And of course everything George did with the Wilburys. I wonder, had John lived, would he have created a similar band with Elton, Nillson, Bowie, Ringo, and maybe a wild card like Roger Waters?
The lads seem to be shuffling off this mortal coil at regular intervals. If this continues, we'll have one of them until 2040.
No wagering, please.