THE FIRE
Mark & Des talk arts.
This may have very little
to do with The Beatles.
Or a lot.
It depends.
Whatever we fancy yabbering on about.
How James Ray inadvertently saved The Beatles
By Mark Hooper
It’s unlikely that many of you even recognise the name of James Ray, despite him being one of The Beatles’ favourite artists. I can guarantee you know at least one of his songs, however. Some of you may even own a copy. Paul McCartney has spoken of how Ray’s 1961 album was on constant repetition when the band were first touring the States.
If I tell you that the album’s title track was the first recorded version of the Rudy Clark-written song ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You’, the penny may start to drop. George Harrison may not have released his cover of that song until 25 years after its first release as a single in 1962, but it proved an inspired choice – reaching No1 in the US and proving one of his biggest post-Beatles hits. (It was also, incidentally, the last solo number one single in the US by any of the former Beatles.)
Harrison recalled buying Earl’s album in 1963 while visiting his sister Louis in Illinois, a year before The Beatles’ first landed in the US for their tour in February 1964. But, as McCartney told Rick Rubin in the documentary3, 2, 1, it wasn’t even the band’s favourite – at least not Lennon or McCartney’s. That honour fell to ‘If You Gotta Make A Fool of Somebody’, which reached number 10 on the US Billboard R&B chart in 1962, and which they included in their early repertoire. McCartney remembers buying the single in one of Brian Epstein’s NEMS (North End Music Stores) shops the year of its release, and how its distinctive, waltzing, shuffle beat had a particular influence on him. Lennon too was a fan – he had the single in the jukebox in his home, which survived him.
World Music?
By Mark Hooper
Most discussions on The Beatles and ‘World Music’ begin and end with how they helped to introduce Eastern – specifically Indian – music into the mainstream of Western popular culture.
This is largely credited to George – whose interest, received opinion has it, was more tolerated than encouraged by the rest of the band, including George Martin. But, while he may have been the instigator, it’s clear the rest also embraced Eastern philosophy to varying degrees. Musically, John’s songs show the most obvious influences – from incorporating George’s sitar playing in Norwegian Wood (the first use of the instrument on a Western ‘rock’ album), via Across the Universe, The Rishi Kesh Song (later rewritten as Jealous Guy), and his interpretation of the Tibetan Book Of The Dead for Tomorrow Never Knows.
Down the Cole Hole
By Des Burkinshaw
The oldest trope in the book – no new music is good music.
We can easily bring The Beatles into that debate. Sixty-plus years on from Love Me Do and their place in the wider musical canon is assured. From an academic point of view, and even divorced from their original context, that reputation is still increasing.
Back in 1964, when they took America by storm, they were not so welcome. Bing Crosby once famously said, “I think popular music in this country is one of the few things in the 20th century that has made great strides in reverse.”
Everybody’s got to learn sometime about Stackridge and the Korgis
By Des Burkinshaw
The acclaimed business guru, Robert Craven, famously compares The Beatles and Stackridge as a way of demonstrating how a great business idea can still fail. The Beatles and Stackridge had lots of things in common: great regional band, sparkling songs, multiple songwriters, no definite leader, flawless performances. George Martin arranged and produced their best work.
Despite all that, well, you may not even have heard of Stackridge. Which would be a shame, because they were one of the best bands of the 70s. If this blog achieves nothing else, I hope it drives you to stream some of their music.
