I feel like he would have liked Depeche Mode and loved The Jesus and Mary Chain, he would have definitely loved grunge and industrial music. I feel like he would at least appreciate shoegaze as well. What do you all think?
Edit: am I the only one that loves Not a Second Time? Probably my favorite song from this album but no one really talks about it
Or is there any other song you see as their last?
For me, it’s “The End.”
Back in high school, Roy Jr spent nights and weekends in the studio with the Traveling Wilburys.
Those friendships still remain in what Dhani calls ”The Traveling Chilburys”.
Have you seen this movie? I know I'm probably comparing apples and oranges (even though the biopics haven't come out yet), but I bring this movie into the picture because people are complaining a lot about the four boys' casting choice, their looks, their clothes, accents, historical events accuracy, etc. And yet, in this movie the actors don't look like them, it's a fictional event on how things turned/would've turned out. But this is a movie that I liked a lot when I saw it, and I think most people do.
Just a thought I had.
I've been listening to The Beatles for years, and the more I return to George Harrison's “It's All Too Much”, the more convinced I become that it's one of the finest things they ever recorded. Not simply an underrated George song or an overlooked curiosity from Yellow Submarine, but a genuinely magnificent piece of psychedelic rock that deserves to sit alongside “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “A Day in the Life”.
What gets me every time is just how gloriously excessive the whole thing sounds. That opening blast of distorted guitar feedback could almost belong to a shoegaze record from the late eighties, before the Hammond organ comes swirling in, Ringo starts battering away at the drums and the whole thing takes off into six minutes of beautifully controlled chaos. There's something wonderfully contradictory about George singing so serenely about love and spiritual enlightenment while the band makes an almighty racket behind him.
Recorded in 1967, shortly after Sgt. Pepper, it captures The Beatles at that extraordinary point when they seemed to have stopped worrying about what a pop record ought to sound like. The production is enormous, the guitars are filthy, the brass is practically bursting out of the speakers and the whole arrangement feels as though it could collapse under its own weight at any moment. Yet beneath all that noise is a cracking melody and an infectious sense of joy.
And Ringo deserves a special mention because I honestly think this is among his finest performances. His drumming gives the track its momentum, with those wonderful rolling fills and crashing accents holding everything together while the music threatens to disappear into the stratosphere. McCartney's bass is equally impressive, giving the song a muscular foundation that makes the whole psychedelic extravaganza properly rock.
The background to the song is fascinating too. Harrison later explained that it came from the insights he'd experienced through LSD, which he subsequently found echoed in meditation. You can hear that sense of overwhelming wonder throughout the record. Rather than the slightly self-conscious mysticism that occasionally crept into late-sixties rock, this feels like someone genuinely trying to communicate how extraordinary it is simply to be alive.
Interestingly, George wasn't entirely pleased with the finished article, later complaining about the “damn trumpets” that had been overdubbed onto it. Personally, I think they're brilliant. That gloriously overblown brass gives the song an almost celebratory madness, as though a Salvation Army band has stumbled into a psychedelic freak-out and decided to join in.
Music journalist Peter Doggett has recognised the track as a high point of British acid rock, while Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone included it among his five greatest psychedelic freak-outs. Steve Hillage also recorded a terrific version, and the song has attracted covers from the likes of Journey, The Grateful Dead and The House of Love. Clearly, quite a few musicians have heard something special in it.
Looking through discussions on r/beatles, I'm struck by how many people make the same observation: this record sounds remarkably modern. Some hear early heavy rock, others hear shoegaze or the sort of psychedelic noise that King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard would happily make today. There's also plenty of appreciation for Ringo's drumming, alongside the perennial debate about whether the song would be far more celebrated had it appeared on Sgt. Pepper or Magical Mystery Tour.
I think that last point is particularly interesting because its placement on Yellow Submarine probably did it no favours. Released in January 1969, long after the original sessions, the soundtrack has always been treated as something of a minor Beatles album, especially with George Martin's orchestral score occupying an entire side. Yet “It's All Too Much”, “Hey Bulldog” and “Only a Northern Song” contain some of the most adventurous music they ever made. It's remarkable how easily brilliant records can get lost simply because of the album they happen to appear on.
What I love most, though, is that for all its experimental ambition, “It's All Too Much” is such an uplifting listen. It's noisy, repetitive, sprawling and completely over the top, but that's precisely why it works. The repetition becomes hypnotic, the feedback becomes strangely beautiful and by the time the brass and backing vocals are piling up towards the end, it feels like the entire record is about to burst with excitement. Even the little lyrical nod to The Merseys' “Sorrow” is a lovely touch, bringing a bit of familiar Merseybeat into George's cosmic universe.
For me, this is George Harrison at his most adventurous, and arguably The Beatles at their most uninhibited. It might not have the compositional sophistication of “A Day in the Life” or the emotional depth of “Something”, but as a piece of sheer psychedelic exhilaration, I'm not sure they ever bettered it.
Six minutes of feedback, love, spiritual wonder and glorious noise. It's a masterpiece hiding in plain sight, and every time I play it, I wonder why it isn't mentioned more often when people discuss the band's greatest achievements.
So, am I getting carried away, or does anyone else think “It's All Too Much” belongs right up there with the very best Beatles records? And would it have a completely different reputation if it had appeared on Sgt. Pepper rather than Yellow Submarine?
Tuesday, October 10, 1980 ~ arriving at The Hit Factory in New York City
I was watching Anthology earlier in the month and the level of restoration they did to the Shea stadium film truly astounded me that it's left me absolutely dumbfounded that apple haven't released a full concert film of it, I need to stress not just them actually in the stadium but the anthology flashes showed brilliant clean up of them arriving, preparing, the ques, the helicopters and it made me realise there's genuinely a full Documentary here, HOW has this not been fast-tracked as a Peter Jackson edited MAL joint!? it's so long overdue!
there's easily bound to be hours of footage we haven't seen before too
what are the chances we'll get a 4K release for Disney+ Anytime soon?
I'd LOVE to see something like this GET BACK'd in the Imax
im not familiar with drawing real people portraits, and after i listened to Revolver I figured out that maybe the best way to improve is to draw them in my style. what do u guys think?
… With a picture of himself and Paul. I find this very touching, especially as so many fans are so focused on the short period of bad blood after the breakup and seem to want that do be the full story. He has a great picture of himself with his best friend on display as he creates.
I wanted to post an update since we had the amazing FabFest festival this weekend. My outfit won first place in its category! We had so much fun heading up the first ever costume contest this year, too.
Friday night was the concert. My sister and I were George and Pattie and were in stage for the coolest 60s fashion show. Unfortunately I can’t post a video here! Saturday was the daytime festival (free!), and I was Yoko, my sister was John, her husband was George, and my husband was Paul. We got some silly pics of Yoko eyeing Paul and John getting jealous 😹
I also got to meet two really cool Redditors at the festival thanks to my last post. Thanks for all your support!
What do you think George meant by John not being there for him?
Would he be exploring new musical ideas? Would his relationship with Julian and Cynthia improve greater? And would he have been open to a Beatles reunion?
I feel like in general, the 80’s would have been a new era for John. He was slowly letting his guard down with Paul and Julian and was getting back to music (Heck, he wrote a song called Just Like Starting Over). What would this new decade have looked like for him?
Drawings I started some months ago in the calculator from a friend
Kawaii Ringo