Under The Influence: Elliott Smith

At what age did you realise you wanted to become a musician?
Probably five, as soon as I heard The White Album. It was pretty much my inspiration, that and AC/DC.

Elliott Smith: NME (2000)

My friends and I were just starting to teach ourselves guitar in 1980. I was 11 and really into Beatles songs like Julia and Sexy Sadie— cool, kaleidoscopic chord changes. I was totally immersed in trying to figure it all out, and it was slowly happening when some madman gunned down the guide. At first, kids at school acted like it was a hoax. It didn’t seem real at the time, and to be honest, I rarely think of John Lennon as dead. There’s too much life in his music to think of him as gone. For some reason when I think of him now, I usually picture him the way he looked and sounded during the 'hairy and scary' phase, around the time of Abbey Road. Definitely on his own trip. It’s neat when you’re a kid to see people who aren’t scared to change.

My folks were Beatles fans and supposedly played Sgt. Pepper’s for me before I was born. In junior high I thought that A Day in the Life was probably my favourite song ever. Of course, now I have many, many favourite songs, but a lot of them are still Lennon songs. For example:

I’m Only Sleeping

Most songs that bring up wanting to be left alone in some way or another don’t do it as gracefully as this one. It’s cool to express and defend your own interior space without getting all hostile about it; this song makes it seem easy. I also like the way it feels as if it’s pulling itself along with its own momentum instead of being pushed forward heavily with the kick drum.

Tomorrow Never Knows

The first line kinda says it all, really. Again, it’s like he’s describing a solid internal state you can maintain without doing battle with the outside world. Sometimes the most amazing thing to me about Lennon is that he kept a positive identity despite such a cracked upbringing and crazy fame.

Cold Turkey and Jealous Guy

Being this honest can be risky, which, of course, is an excellent idea. It’ll either be sappy or brave. Or both. He chanced it and won. Other people have to write this way all the time. Lennon had access to all floors. Didn’t he also write:

I Am the Walrus

It’s dark, complicated, funny, and popular; it rocks; and it contains the phrase “goo goo g’joob.” Lyrics all over the place. I like songs like this because they activate my imagination. Coherence is fine and all, but it’s not the measure of interesting lyrics. Sonically, this song seems to be coming from a person who just busted out of incarceration somewhere.

Across the Universe

This song is fluid and musical in a way that, to me, overarches all the cultural and political commentary that surrounds his life. A really cool song can sometimes make a dream and reality trade places, maybe for the better.

Elliott Smith: SPIN (Jan 2001)

Five Beatles Cover Version by Elliott Smith

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Even Better Than The Real Thing? - Miley Cyrus & Flaming Lips

Here's a remarkably epic rendering of Lennon's psychedelic classic

Flaming Lips have rerecorded Sgt Pepper in it's entirety on With A Little Help From My Fwends which will be released in November 2014. Singer Wayne Coyne talked about the project here.

More Flaming Beatles covers below

Link love to Dr Rock (www.twitter.com/@TheBeatlesMusic)

10:31 Glass Onion (pt.1)

John Lennon was a man of many contradictions. On the one hand he hated people over analysing, and reading hidden meanings into, his songs. From intellectuals enraptured by his aeolian cadences, though 'Paul is Dead' stupidity, to the Manson Family's lethal interpretations. But on the other hand , for all his protestations, he was just as guilty as his audience - convincing himself that Hey Jude was REALLY about his love affair with Yoko rather than a song of comfort for his own abandoned son.

Arguably his attempts to ridicule and infuriate the obsessives DaVinci-coding their way through lyrics sheets only added more fuel to the fire. In Glass Onion, if you look closely, you can clearly see, not the Freemason's all seeing eye, but the Lennon's raised middle finger as he references five other Beatles songs - including one which references a song which references another song. Deep man!

1) Glass Onion - Strawberry Fields Forever

I told you about Strawberry Fields you know the place where nothing is real

Let me take you down 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields Nothing is real


2) Glass Onion - I Am The Walrus

I told you about the walrus and me/here's another clue for you all/the walrus is Paul

I am the egg-man, they are the egg-men, I am the walrus, goo goo a' joob


3) Glass Onion - Lady Madonna - I Am The Walrus – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Lady Madonna trying to make ends meet

Lady Madonna, children at your feet/Wonder how you manage to make ends meet?


Lady Madonna - I Am The Walrus

Monday's child has learned to tie his bootlace/See how they run

See how they run like pigs from a gun


I Am The Walrus – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

See how they fly like Lucy in the sky

With your head in the clouds and you're gone/Lucy in the sky with diamonds


4) Glass Onion - Fool On The Hill

I told you about the fool on the hill

But the fool on the hill sees the sun going down


5) Glass Onion - Fixing A Hole

Fixing a hole in the ocean/Tryin' to make a dovetail joint

I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in/And stops my mind from wandering

   The song is another example of Lennon's trippy lyrical style aka 'stream of consciousness, free-association, psychedelic, nonsense literature, surrealism'. It's something that is often attributed to LSD use but was evident in his prose and poetry even from childhood. I think drugs receive far too much credit for inspiring the Beatles songwriting (something I plan to write about in more detail) - anyone who grew up on The Goon Show, Stanley Unwin & Lewis Carroll wouldn't need much chemical encouragement to bring the weird.

Like Happiness Is A Warm Gun most of the weird phrases are simply real life details made startlingly poetic. The bent back tulips were an unusual flower arrangements in a posh London restaurant called Parke's, a perfect place for 'seeing how the other half lives', a dovetail joint is something in carpentry (and a cheeky drug reference) and the Cast Iron Shore was a real place in Liverpool.

Next time we'll look at what Glass Onion does well from a songwriting point of view.

        

10:26 Piggies (pt. 2) - Doing It For The Kids

We noted last time that Piggies is an Orwellian flavoured faux-baroque song. And yet the (small) kids love it. BSA reader Justice speaks for many when she writes “I always loved the sound of this song. It's also one of the first Beatles tunes I remember hearing as a kid - back then, I sat wondering who on earth would seriously write a song about 'piggies'. Then of course came the day, several years later, when I listened to it again, and the social commentary 'lightbulb' finally came on. I had to chuckle at myself”. What makes such a dark song so child friendly?

Lyrically George selects a childish vocabulary - not pigs but piggies. There's a sense not only of the absurd – pigs wearing shirts and having wives! - and a sense of naughtiness – smacking bums (they need a damn good whacking) and these pigs eat bacon! - cannibalism may be a dark subject, but kids feel clever getting the joke.

Repetition plays a part, not just in the lyrics (“piggies” occurs 7 times in 3 verses) but in the melody too. The cell of

C Db Eb C (have you seen the)

is repeated a scale tone lower

Bb C Db C (little piggies)

then repeated a scale tone lower again with one extra note

Ab Bb C Ab Eb (crawling in the dirt)

And then the whole sequence is repeated with only the final note altered. This predictability renders the melody singsongish and nursery rhymey.

This blend of clear melodic patterns, simple vocabulary and a bit of 'naughtiness' is what has made the Beatles kid-friendly for decades. At their best, something like I Am The Walrus (which 10 yr old guitarists beg me to teach them) has a 2 note melody (I am he as you are he), jokes like “Boy, you been a naughty girl” and rudeness (you let your knicker down)*. Even the weak All Together Now has something risqué (can I take my friend to bed?) buried in the simple skipping song. The genius is that in every song there is something for the adults too. And the 5 yr old hooked on Yellow Submarine has every chance of growing into an adult mesmerised by Tomorrow Never Knows.

So here's a thought – try writing for kids**. Use repetition, clear melodic patterns, simple vocabulary and grammar with some ridiculous concepts or or words. And don't forget to add something naughty!

*And pigs again! (See how they smile like pigs in a sty).
** And in a beautiful twist of fate, this will be Ticket To Write 64!

Under The Influence: Jim Carrey

The Beatles r the greatest antidepressant every created. Right now, I'm listening to Rubber Soul and bathing in serotonin. They r love! {8^• 

 Jim Carrey - Twitter

 

“Hey, look, the Monkees. They were a huge influence on the Beatles.” 

Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey): Dumb and Dumber (1994)

10:4 Julia (pt. 3) Melody

Last time we saw that Julia is a seething mass of non-diatonic chords. So it's surprising to see that, apart from the key change in the bridge, there is only one out of key note in the melody - the Bb that occurs on the Calls ME section of the verse. This song is a good example of ticket 14 - 'write an key melody over out of key chords' – which gives you the interest of unusual chord progressions while avoiding the complexity of an atonal melody.

So although we have an F# in the melody it never occurs at the same time as the F natural within the chord progression (as part of the Gm7 and G9 chords). It's the same for the C# and C, D# and D and B and Bb. The only point where the harmony alters the melody is the aforementioned Bb which is supported by the Bb within the Gm7 chord.

That same point in the song also contains a nice instance of contrary motion (ticket 12). The chords drop from G9 to Gm7 (B falling to Bb, and A falling to the already present F) but the melody rises from A to Bb.This combination of an out of key note, contrary motion, and interruption the 3 note rhythm makes this reoccurring phrase (calls me/touch me) really stand out.

The melody through out really has a sense of ebbing and flowing, perfect for a song with so much water imagery (we'll look at that in a future post).


Take Me To The Bridge


When we get to the bridge we have a true key change (like the bridge of I Want To Hold Your Hand or the chorus of Penny Lane) rather than remaining in the same key but using one or two out of key chords (like With A Little Help From My Friends). Here we head from D major to C#m minor and then C# phrygian.

The three scales involved in the song are as follows

D major – D E F# G A B C# D C#
minor – C# D# E F# G# A B C# C#
phrygian - C# D E F# G# A B C#

Bizarrely, the chord that establishes the C# phrygian tonality is D major. Why aren't we back in D major at this point? Because the melody is repeatedly using a G# note.

In fact the melody in the shimmering, glimmering part of the bridge has a distinctly japanese flavour, a subtle touch, appropriate for a love song to Yoko Ono. If we take D as the root note and select only the notes that actually appear in those 4 bars we get

D F# G# A B
R 3    #4  5  6

which is a lydian pentatonic scale but not the lydian pentatonic

Write Like Lennon

Creating a melody from chord tones is one of the simplest way to write. Just choose each melody note from the chord that supports it. So over a D major you could sing a D (the root), an F# (the third), or an A (the fifth). Extend the chord to a D9 and you could also pick the C (b7th) or E (9th). Many of Paul McCartney's melodies seem to function somewhat independently from the chord progression but John Lennon seemed to write from the chords, creating tension either by using chord movement to against monotonal melodies (the verses of I Am The Walrus and Help!) or by deliberate clashes between melody and harmony such as the repeated E sung over a Bm in Help's chorus or the I just had to laugh line in A Day In The Life where, instead of singing over a G chord as in the previous lines, Lennon introduces and F major chord which scrapes against the B natural in the melody to wonderful effect.

What has this got to do with Julia?

Lennon's melody as we've already seen is almost entirely chord tones. And yet it has none of the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star banality because his focus once again is on the chord progression rather than the melody. Once you have a chord progression this oddly compelling, almost any melody you can construct will be interesting.

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Can't get enough Beatles-style songs about mysterious women? Check out Sadie's Sister, my collaboration with Stuart Kidd – free to download here.

Under The Influence: Gene Simmons (Kiss)

I’m a child of The Beatles. They created this sort of hybrid white version of American music. They could do it all - Little Richard, country, pop, soul, psychedelia. They had no rules. That had a major effect on me.

Gene Simmons.com

Seeing them on TV, on the Ed Sullivan Show … was like a combination of religion and music and I don't know what else. The clocked stopped for me; everything stopped. It was like in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, when the apes went up to the monolith and touched it: a quantum leap forward. All of a sudden I understood what my fate was, what I had to do.

Guitar World (Jan 1996)

There is no way I’d be doing what I do now if it wasn’t for the Beatles … It blew me away that these four boys [from] the middle of nowhere could make that music.

CBS News.com

It's been said many times before, but I'll say it again: Kiss wanted to be the American Beatles. All those other British bands – the Stones, the Small Faces, The Kinks – were all fantastic obviously, but The Beatles were the motherlode. Two guitars, a bass and a drum. They made it all look so simple. And it was – for them. The rest of us have just been playing catch-up ever since.

Classic Rock magazine

The Beatles were a big slice of our lives, and [Across The Universe] is one of the most hauntingly lilting songs I’ve ever heard. I don’t know what it means to this day, but I don’t care. The song works as word imagery. Lennon sings this half-tone movement back and forth repeatedly; it’s like the two-note theme from Jaws. Lennon did that in a lot in his songs, including I Am The Walrus. It’s very unusual, but effective.

Lava Magazine

Under The Influence: Ozzy Osbourne

John Lennon was my God ... Lennon knew how to be aggressive with a great melody, and I find that's something that's lacking in a lot of current music: it's just aggression; where's the f***** melody? Lennon could deliver the heaviest message with a terrific melody. And at the same time he'd paint this abstract, Salvador Dali picture in your head.


They did every form of music and made it their own. I owe my career to the Beatles. I wanted that excitement – they gave me a reason to carry on with my life...They had as much impact as World War II, but in a positive way. I remember feeling so good about buying [Strawberry Fields Forever]. It somehow made me feel good about myself. My confidence went up. The Beatles gave me hope.


Everybody knows what an incredible Beatles fan I am by now! But they influenced everybody, one way or another... If I ever get some terminal disease, just give me my medication, put on any Beatles album and just let me die like a f***** Viking. That's my last request.

Ozzy Osbourne selected I Am The Walrus, Strawberry Fields Forever & The Long And Winding Road for his ultimate mix tape in Guitar World, Dec 1998.

She Said She Said (10 Beatles Songs Featuring Female Vocalists)

(this post has been updated Nov 15, 2011)

I would never have female voices on a Beatles record 

– Paul McCartney (Many Years From Now p.575)

...apart from Marianne Faithful, all our wives, 2 fans, 1 girlfriend, 2 choirs and an orchestra...

More than any other song The Long And Winding Road epitomises the whole clash of vision, and lack of reality that killed the Let It Be album. Before we take a closer look, let's dispel one of the arguments Paul had for why he hated the recording. He claimed that female vocals were somehow anathema to the Beatles sound. However there are nine other songs where he was quite happy to include the ladies...

1) 14 voice female choir - The Long And Winding Road

This is the one that provoked Paul's odd comment, glacial operatic oohs and ahhs. lady style mushiness to the power of 14.

2) Linda McCartney - Let It Be

The lovely Linda join Paul and George for overdubbed oohs on a song inspired by a dream about Paul's mother.

3) 14 voice female choir (Spector version) Lizzie Bravo & Gayleen Pease (Wildlife version)  - Across The Universe 

The same set up as The Long And Winding Road didn't annoy Paul as much, presumably because Across The Universe was an old Lennon 'b side' rather than a new McCartney ballad. On the original version Lizzie & Gayleen became probably the most famous Beatles fans (after Charles Manson) after they were plucked from their vigil at the Abbey Road gates to contribute some childishly squeaky vocals to the chorus (which Spector wisely deleted). 

4) Yoko Ono & Maureen Starkey - The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill

Not only do a wife and future wife contribute BVs, but Yoko sings one line of lead vocals “Not when he looks so fierce”. Lennon follows this with “...his Mummy butted in”. Feel free to discuss any irony in the statement “his Mummy butted in” in the comments section.

5) Pattie Harrison & Yoko Ono - Birthday

Another wife duet on McCartney's written in the studio rocker.

6) Members of Session Orchestra - Hey Jude

The 36 classical musicians booked for this session famously became the knights who sing “Na” after the Beatles doubled their rates in exchange for backing vocals on the longest fade out in history.

7) The Mike Sammes Singers – Goodnight

The middle of the road vocal group add some gooey love mush to Lennon's song for Julian. This time Phil Spector has an alibi, being 3000 miles away from Abbey Road at the time. I accuse George Martin in the studio with the lead piping.

8) The Mike Sammes Singers - I Am The Walrus

George Martin employs one of the UK top vocal groups. Lennon gets them to sing “Everybody's got one” and “Umpah Umpah, stick it up your jumper”

9) Marianne Faithful, Pattie Harrison & Jane Asher - All You Need Is Love

Joining everyone and his brother in the studio for the live TV broadcast before 400 million viewers. Keith Moon played hi hat.

10) Marianne Faithful & Pattie Harrison - Yellow Submarine

The first sighting of women in the Beatles Boys club. This means that the most recorded woman on the Beatles songs is – Pattie Harrison!

Next time I'll try to unpack why everyone hates The Long And Winding Road.

Back By Popular Request

After the fantastic response from y'all to the last Fab Faux video I posted, here's Will Lee and the crew attempting another 'impossible' Beatles cover - I Am The Walrus

The Fab Faux pay the Abbey Road medley - live!