Ringo is so underrated. Without him, you don't have the Beatles. Other drummers had more flash. Keith Moon may have literally blown stuff up. John Bonham may have raged on the thin line between control and mania. But Ringo made magic.
Your point is so true; sometimes/oftentimes the effect of a drummer is less “listen to My drumming” and more the effect it has on everyone else’s playing. Ringo’s genius is his musical generosity to the band’s sound. I might say that, comparatively, it’s almost egoless (imagine what it must have been like with the other three) except for the fact that no one sounded like ringo.
(If this comment had an audience I will lose it now). The yes album “tales from…” was the first with Alan white. I actually like a lot about that album but bill bruford (the previous drummer) would have changed Chris squire’s playing and the entire album would have been better for it. We could probably use AI to demonstrate what that might have sounded like. Which is tempting but fucked up.
Also "she said so", staccato, as a sort of punctuation. (I am sure there is a proper term for this in musicology.) Terminating, for instance: "... buys her diamond rings you know" and opening into the sweet "She's in love with me and I feel fine."
For those of us who grew up with the Beatles and love the music, it is wonderful to have these analyses that tell us why.
The tonality of that first note is caused by a hard object, perhaps a fingernail, just barely touching a strongly vibrating wound string. It isn't just feedback. I believed this my whole life until just now, by watching a guy on YouTube replicate it perfectly with a Gibson acoustic and an AC30. Damn.
Loving the book, incidentally. Hearing everything with fresh ears and diving into the weeds of their recording lore.
I FEEL FINE is one of the more infectiously joyful Beatles songs, which really captured the euphoria of the counterculture generation coming into adulthood. Every Beatles invention was a little burst of energy for those paying attention.
Thanks for the Brian Eno quote. Question for you, Ian: Do you suppose we can frame AI as an artistic "medium" in the sense that Eno is using? If so, should we expect to see new art forms coming out of it—instead of increasing amounts of derivative slop?
Thanks for this - what a lovely tribute to so many great songs and musicians ... and in particular to I Feel Fine, one of my all time faves in the Fab Four's crowded field.
Ringo is so underrated. Without him, you don't have the Beatles. Other drummers had more flash. Keith Moon may have literally blown stuff up. John Bonham may have raged on the thin line between control and mania. But Ringo made magic.
Your point is so true; sometimes/oftentimes the effect of a drummer is less “listen to My drumming” and more the effect it has on everyone else’s playing. Ringo’s genius is his musical generosity to the band’s sound. I might say that, comparatively, it’s almost egoless (imagine what it must have been like with the other three) except for the fact that no one sounded like ringo.
(If this comment had an audience I will lose it now). The yes album “tales from…” was the first with Alan white. I actually like a lot about that album but bill bruford (the previous drummer) would have changed Chris squire’s playing and the entire album would have been better for it. We could probably use AI to demonstrate what that might have sounded like. Which is tempting but fucked up.
Always in the service of the group and the song. The most Zen of the Beatles.
Also "she said so", staccato, as a sort of punctuation. (I am sure there is a proper term for this in musicology.) Terminating, for instance: "... buys her diamond rings you know" and opening into the sweet "She's in love with me and I feel fine."
For those of us who grew up with the Beatles and love the music, it is wonderful to have these analyses that tell us why.
Great point. And it made me think how ‘you know’ is a comma, one the Beatles used all the time in conversation.
Manteca 1947, wow. Never heard of it except I now see I had heard it everywhere. St Vincent’s Rattlesnake another.
The law of nature of disguised repetition strikes again. In a song, and between songs decades apart.
Love this piece Ian, like discovering the secrets of our solar system in an old chair you’ve sat in so many times.
Wonderful. Love too how it became the Jurgen Klopp song at Anfield.
The tonality of that first note is caused by a hard object, perhaps a fingernail, just barely touching a strongly vibrating wound string. It isn't just feedback. I believed this my whole life until just now, by watching a guy on YouTube replicate it perfectly with a Gibson acoustic and an AC30. Damn.
Loving the book, incidentally. Hearing everything with fresh ears and diving into the weeds of their recording lore.
I FEEL FINE is one of the more infectiously joyful Beatles songs, which really captured the euphoria of the counterculture generation coming into adulthood. Every Beatles invention was a little burst of energy for those paying attention.
Thanks for the Brian Eno quote. Question for you, Ian: Do you suppose we can frame AI as an artistic "medium" in the sense that Eno is using? If so, should we expect to see new art forms coming out of it—instead of increasing amounts of derivative slop?
Thanks for this - what a lovely tribute to so many great songs and musicians ... and in particular to I Feel Fine, one of my all time faves in the Fab Four's crowded field.
One of the Fabs' songs which stopped me in my tracks on first hearing it way back in 1982. Really good examination of a key Beatles track