THE ULTIMATE BEATLES GIFT

The ultimate gift for a serious Beatles fan would be an all-in-one contraption (by this I mean computer program) that would allow users (read "purchasers") to remix Beatles tracks any way they'd like using available multitracks. I've pondered various versions of this idea in the past but what really got my juices flowing was something I practically tripped over online on a Beatles forum (Doug Sulpy's excellent 910).

What I saw in one of the posts was that someone had leaked a number of multitracks for a few Nirvana (an overrated group if ever there were one) songs. Big deal, right? Well, this led to another post where someone referenced the availability of a few Black Sabbath multitracks (now there's a real band) that although possibly not the real thing had been stripped from a game called Rock Band. I'd heard of Guitar Hero (my nephew has it: it's fun, but no Beatles songs are on it) but Rock Band was new to me.

I followed a few more online threads to find out that Rock Band is essentially made up of songs and their respective multitracks, the majority of which are all legitimate individual tracks. The mother of all the threads led me to a website where someone had cracked the ROCK BAND codes and extracted the multitracks for posting. I was overwhelmend by the number of songs but one in particular attracted my attention: the Stones' "Gimme Shelter." I immediately downloaded it but then realized I had no way to play it! "Ka-rap!" thought I, until I did another search and found out that all I had to do was download Audacity (a free program) and simply drop the "Gimmen Shelter" file into it, which I did.

H-O-L-Y M-A-C-A-R-O-N-I

For the next 45 minutes I listened to 8 or 9 different instrumental/voice tracks that composed "Gimme Shelter" and was floored. Overjoyed. Enraptured. I don't know what else to say.

Which brings me back to the Ultimate Beatles Gift. If one were to have all available multitracks for Beatles songs (starting with "I Want To Hold Your Hand," since that was their first 4-trackk recording if I recall correctly) one could mix the music any preferred way (artistic intent be damned!). You like more bass? Then increase it in the mix! You want it sans vocals? Then mute 'em! It could be that easy.

Sure, the whole thing would probably only interest rabid fans (i.e. those reading this post) but it sure could be profitable for Apple. How so Jeremy? Well...I'd avise Apple to hire someone to create its own hack-proof Audacity-like software so that the only person who could use the program would be those who purchase it. [I know there's no such thing as hack-proof, but they don't need to know that!]

Can you imagine mixing your own version of your favorite songs?

I can. And some day we will!

As always...comments always welcome.

Jeremy Boob

LET IT BE - The EP?

So let's imagine that what was released as the LET IT BE album - after sitting on the shelf for over a year with occasional work here and there - was released as a double EP instead, a la the MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR songtrack (I love that term, by the way) some time in late April or early May of 1969, with sequencing as follows:

Disc One, Side 1:

- Get Back (as released on the single)
- Two Of Us (probably the same take as released on LET IT BE)

Disc One, Side 2:

- Don't Let Me Down (as released on the single)

Disc Two, Side 1:

- Let It Be (one of the 1/31 takes)
- For You Blue (lots of good versions of this one to choose from, believe it or not!)

Disc Two, Side 2:

- The Long And Winding Road (Anthology version)

"Hold on there!" you're probably saying. "You're missing quite a few songs." Am I?

Following the sequencing of the LP as released in May '70 (don't get me started on LET IT BE...NAKED) I've omitted "Dig A Pony," "Across The Universe," "I Me Mine," "Dig It," "Maggie Mae," "I've Got A Feeling" and "One After 909" and here's my logic:

"Dig A Pony" as released was a rooftop performance, which I'm saving for a later release. [Huh? Stay with me: I'll explain later.]

"Across The Universe" never has belonged and never will belong on any LET IT BE release. The only reason it was included on the album was due to Lennon's brief run-through of it in the film.

"I Me Mine" wasn't recorded until nearly a year after the original sessions wrapped, and only three of the Beatles are on it! Another from the "it's in the film we'd better put it on the album" school of thinking and completely out of line with the concept of the four Beatles performing all the songs as a single unit.

"Dig It" is garbage. Amateurish at best, the only thing that can be said in its defense is that at least it's shorter on the LP than it is in the movie.

"Maggie Mae" is a throwaway. So I'm throwing it away.

"I've Got A Feeling" and "One After 909" are from the rooftop concert (see above).

So what does that leave us with? I'm thinking a pretty solid - albeit Paul heavy/John light - double EP with some good songs that hold true to the "back to basics" concept the Beatles eventually held on to as the sessions progressed. The Beatles worked hard to get to where these songs were releasable (any one who's heard the session tapes knows that) and the double EP would have been the perfect stop-gap between the White Album's looseness and ABBEY ROAD's polish.

Now for those rooftop songs...I'd include all of them on a more complete soundtrack to the film LET IT BE (which I would have edited in a completely different way and called GET BACK). The film and soundtrack would have been released towards the end of '69 to (1) cap off a winning year for the Beatles, (2) end the 60's on a high note and (3) show that the Beatles were still essential to the music scene (which they really weren't, but that's for another post).

ABBEY ROAD would have been pushed to an early spring release and would be the final jewel in their career. ["The Ballad Of John And Yoko" would have been a Plastic Ono Band single, with Paul playing under a pseudonym].

As always, comments are welcome.

Jeremy Boob