Update!

My hard drive was unreclaimable. I sent it off to two different places, offered up $2000 and got not a thing. This is a major anti-wind in my sails, as you may imagine.

In the meantime I got a gig playing in the orchestra pit for the musical “Tommy” at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco for a 4 week run from the end of October to the beginning of November–should be a good time, come check it out!

The macbook gets returned to me (and it better damned well be tricked out after this ridiculousness, Apple…) by September and then I’ll decide if this project is going to live on and in what format. I would love to continue doing this, so let’s see what happens.

Best,
Jack

The Worst News. Ever.

My computer died, taking my ability to record as well as ALL OF MY MUSIC FILES.

It’s going to cost me 1200-2500 to get my data back.

Website on hold until I get some serious fundraising done, because I don’t have that kinda scratch at the moment. Sigh.

Hopefully be back soon.

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite

Very. Strange.

This is my first foray into the genuinely strange tracks the Beatles delved into about 75% through their careers. Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite is a track that likely exists completely in some LSD based world, along with the bulk of Sgt Peppers and has the instrumentation and lyrics to match.

Because

I’ll just skip straight to the “hardest part” section: everything. This song is insanely difficult. The harpsichord part is very strange, it wasn’t written for guitar so the guitar part is awkward, and the vocals are absurd. I tried a NUMBER of takes and this was the best I came up with. The bottom part spreads out widely and involves holding notes right at the break in my voice (from chest to head), the middle part constantly jumps above and below that break: too high to go all chest voice and too low to go all chest and then the high part… is absolutely ridiculous. High B for a guy? Castrati maybe but not me, friends.

The Ballad of John and Yoko

I will withhold my thoughts on Yoko (loathe her) but this is a catchy number. The guitar part is silly but it’s minimal nature is sweet. The simple piano, bass and acoustic guitar come together to make a song that shows off John’s songwriting skill and simple vocal talent. It’s not that he sings particularly “well” here, it’s that his vocal identity is perfect: it carries the song.

Bad Boy

This is a quirky track. First of all, like the Ballad of John and Yoko, it was only released on a 7″ in the US (although this track appeared on Beatles VI in the UK whereas Ballad of John and Yoko didn’t appear on any full length records). It’s also a cover of Larry Williams cover (as is Dizzy Miss Lizzy). This one has John epitomizing rock and roll singing at the time and really captures something great about the Beatles: even early on they rocked.

Back in the USSR

Ah, a real rock song here.

There’s so much to say about this one, about it’s historical significance against the Beach Boys (note that bridge section), the iconic nature of the song as the opener to the White Album and the rocking guitar parts.

The song was great to play through, strapping on the guitar and plugging in, belting out Paul’s silly voiced part, and having live drums again (thanks Danny!)

Baby You’re a Rich Man

What can be said about this one? This is the first really strange song I’ve had to play thus far. Before this I could pull out an acoustic guitar and play through, but for this one I needed my roommate’s violin and some insanely heavy effects for the lead part (which I thought was a chopped up organ sound but is notated as altered violin…) and effects for the vocals too. The guitar and bass are cool but rather easy.

Baby’s In Black

Baby’s In Black is a lament written for mop-top stylist and former Beatles/Quarrymen bassist Stu Sutcliffe’s girlfriend who was torn up about his death. It appears on Beatles for Sale and the real quirks here are twofold: John and Paul shared the writing and singing duties and the song is in 6/8. 6/8 is the time of sea-shanties and has a mix of being counted like it’s in two but actually being constructed like “ONE two three – ONE two three.”

Baby It’s You

Sha La La La indeed.

I thought I really dug “Ask Me Why” but this is even better. In this one John has great tone and the single guitar takes us back to that early 60’s rock so nicely. Originally this was a somewhat cheesy Burt Bacharach song, but the lads really take it somewhere new.

I had a great time playing this one, and it was a breeze (outside of those harmonies, but they’re coming quite a bit easier now). This one was good enough and quick enough that I played through the two verses instead of just the first minute.