Welcome to the second half of our coverage of The Beatles (also known as The White Album).
Any of you listeners out there who asked for even longer shows, this one is for YOU! For anyone who didn’t want the show to get any more bloated than it is, WE’RE SORRY! But there is just SO MUCH to talk about! To switch it up a bit, Dave and Ian are joined by friend and local Vancouver music legend David M. of No Fun who is probably an even bigger Beatles nerd than Dave and has the advantage of having lived through and remember the Sixties.
It’s a big, big album so we divided it in half – almost as though it originally came out as two records – and we divided up the singles that came out before The White Album as well so we also talk about the brilliant Hey Jude/Revolution single. The Beatles is a huge and complicated album and the history around it is equally interesting. The album was so big in every way that it almost stopped The Beatles career. Let’s take a look at it, shall we?
By the way, Dave checked his record collection and David M. was right: the Mary Hopkin single “Goodbye” b/w “Sparrow” was a double A-sided single and has the green apple on both sides. Glad we cleared that up!
If you’re interested in checking out David M. or No Fun, you can check out David here at his YouTube channel and someone was kind/larcenous enough to post two of No Fun’s early EPs as mentioned by David during the show. You can check them out here and here as well as their later single “Don’t Leave Me Hanging”.
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I’m an idiot: the Bill Lloyd song is “Doctor Robert’s Second OPINION”, not “prescription”. Also, another possibility for replacing “Revolution 9” with something not so musique concrete, it now occurs to me, would have been “Hey Jude” (or “Hey Jude 1” perhaps), which would have been a) really commercial of the Beatles, and b) a correction of the only-one-song-by-Paul-on-Side-Four situation. It would have been just as wrong as the other possibilities.
Thanks for the mention. After David M. talked about his Beatles/Sex Pistols link i remembered that Steve and Paul had talked on the show as well. It was supposed to be during a show but when Paul phoned in another band was playing live. So they recorded a call later. The recording goes a bit wonky about 5 minutes in when they were playing it back and they cut to a song but fix it and the main meat of the interview with lots of Beatles questions is from 7 minutes onwards. In the earlier part it is mainly football/soccer chat and Steve asking Paul if he can remember the last song he wrote with John.
https://app.box.com/s/wxujpviypkzykgjbcddn
When they repeated the interview in Dec 2007 they edited it differently , so here is that version for you to compare.
https://app.box.com/s/ewyuy4b0ab4jgi72t5wt
I love your podcast but PLEASE on”t ever let that guy near your microphones again. What was his name …..David? His band was named ‘No Fun’? It should’ve been called ‘No Interest’ because nobody cares about what songs he had on which albums and what they meant. Why would he think anyone would be interested in that? Was he drunk? It’s no wonder the podcast lasted for two hours when that bore was rambling on about himself. You two did very well to maintain your manners when he talked over you and didn’t listen to what you were saying. What an arrogant douche! I teach anger management courses and I found myself wanting to yell “Shut UPP!!” at my ipod. I can not have been the only one.
Okay, let’s make a promise…no more idiot guests, okay?
Glad you enjoy the show, but if you want to be insulting take it somewhere else. David and I are fans of David M. and No Fun and we’re not fans of rudeness.
Cheers,
Ian
Hi guys,
Loved the show, keep up the good work. I totally disagree with the previous poster. I thought David M’s contributions to the podcast were fantastic.
You guys have a lot of facts and present a really fun podcast. But by bringing in David M. you added the contributions of someone who was actually there when the album came out. When The Beatles came out, I was 1. So my context listening to it, is way after the fact. His comments in the podcast added an extra level on context that I really enjoyed and provided me with greater understanding of the album.
I look forward the the discussions on the rest of the albums. But I’m really looking forward to when you are finished the Beatles albums and move on to Ringo’s solo albums…
Thanks, Ken. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, obviously, even if they’re wrong! 🙂
Having David on the show not only gave us a different opinion, but the opinion of someone who lived through that era and someone who has written and produced their own music – including a very good double album with thirty-three songs on it.
I really valued his input and thought he added to the show, but what do I know?
Everyone’s entitled to their opinions and we’re open to thoughts, reviews and feedback (positive and negative) but when those turn into personal insults those folks can get lost.
Whenever David M. is a guest on your show, I know I’m going to have a good time listening.
I very rarely leave comments for a podcast, but I felt compelled to thank you for this great series on The Beatles. I really look forward to each one and I think you’ve quickly become the most interesting ‘cast focused on The Beatles on the internet. I think you both work quite well together and, strictly speaking for myself, I enjoyed David M’s contributions immensely. I’d like to hear the three of you together again for your look at ABBEY ROAD. I am hoping that you guys will continue the podcast to include a look at the three ANTHOLOGY releases, as well as the two BBC releases. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on the recent iTunes BOOTLEG release as well. Too, there are several early solo records by the boys (such as RINGO, RAM, PLASTIC ONO BAND, IMAGINE, MCCARTNEY and ALL THINGS MUST PASS) that I would love to hear you guys examine. Thanks for doing what you’re doing. You’ve made a lot of folks a little bit happier.
Hi guys,
I was listening to your Let it Be show yesterday, and Ian referenced the Beatles white album as sounding like a collection of individual projects and not an album by a band.
So I thought it’d be fun to play the producer and turn The Beatles from a double album collection of eclectic songs into a one record Beatles album more consistent with what they’ve done in the past. An album that sounds more like a band. I used the general framework you guys outlined in past shows: 14 songs. Each side start with a rocker. Last song on side 1 makes you want to flip the album. One drummer number. 2 George songs. Album ends with a freak out.
So here’s my White Album:
Side 1
Back in the USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Obla di Obla da
Bungalow Bill
While my Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Side 2
Birthday
Blackbird
Piggies
Don’t Pass Me By
I Will
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Helter Skelter
I’d love to hear your guys opinion on this and how you would have done this differently.
thanks
Ken
Now, will you please go back and redo all of the albums with David M.
Also, M.’s “indisputable” list of the top ten double albums of all time left out No Fun’s own “Snivel.” So modest!
Great podcast ! Very interesting comments from “the third man”.
I’m a latecomer to your podcast, moving on to this after llistening to the Tintin series. I have to say that I couldn’t disagree more with the comment of your listener above. For me, this was the best edition of the series so far, and that is because of the contributions of David M. Absolutely fascinating to hear the observations of a musician and fan of the band who clearly knows his stuff. I wish you’d had him on the show every week!