Hello, I'm new to this newsgroup, but *not* new to the Beatles.

Tiny bits of context:

Favorite Beatle: John
Favorite song: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away

Hope this place still sees some (inter)action!

--
Oldernow
gemlog | gemini://tilde.club/~oldernow | gemini://bbs.geminispace.org/u/oldernow
email | xyz001@nym.hush.com

oldernow wrote:

> Hello, I'm new to this newsgroup, but not new to the Beatles.
>
> Tiny bits of context:
>
> Favorite Beatle: John

Of course. Mine too.

> Favorite song: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away

"In my Life"

On 2023-12-18, Blueshirt <blueshirt@indigo.news> wrote:

>> Favorite song: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
>
> "In my Life"

Definitely a strong contender on this end.

I'm also wondering whether others here bother with
alt.music.beatles. I wasn't sure whether to crosspost
my first post here there as well.

--
Oldernow
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email | xyz001@nym.hush.com

oldernow wrote:

> On 2023-12-18, Blueshirt <blueshirt@indigo.news> wrote:
>
> >> Favorite song: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
> >
> > "In my Life"
>
> Definitely a strong contender on this end.
>
> I'm also wondering whether others here bother with
> alt.music.beatles. I wasn't sure whether to crosspost
> my first post here there as well.

Nah, the alt. group gets very little traffic... and of that very little,
most of it is spam!!!

On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 11:32:54 AM UTC-8, Blueshirt wrote:
> oldernow wrote:
>
> > Hello, I'm new to this newsgroup, but not new to the Beatles.
> >
> > Tiny bits of context:
> >
> > Favorite Beatle: John
> Of course. Mine too.
> > Favorite song: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
> "In my Life"

It's complicated, because the pre- and post-LSD John Lennons were two very different people -- as far as personality, songwriting, etc.

The pre-LSD Lennon might have been my favorite Beatle, but it really is a tough call. Plus, a lot of the best songs were true Lennon-McCartney collaboations, with the duo "writing eyeball-to-eyeball," as Lennon put it.

On 2023-12-18, Blueshirt <blueshirt@indigo.news> wrote:

> Nah, the alt. group gets very little traffic... and of that very little,
> most of it is spam!!!

I appreciate that heads up!

--
Oldernow
gemlog | gemini://tilde.club/~oldernow | gemini://bbs.geminispace.org/u/oldernow
email | xyz001@nym.hush.com

On 2023-12-18, Norbert K <norbertkosky69@gmail.com> wrote:

> It's complicated, because the pre- and post-LSD John Lennons
> were two very different people -- as far as personality,
> songwriting, etc.
>
> The pre-LSD Lennon might have been my favorite Beatle, but it
> really is a tough call. Plus, a lot of the best songs were
> true Lennon-McCartney collaboations, with the duo "writing
> eyeball-to-eyeball," as Lennon put it.

No doubt about all that.

But I'm fine with the pre/post acid John. I'm way older
now than when one of my aunts "learned me the Beatles" in
what was probably 1964-ish, and have certainly been a very
different person and many points along the way. And some
of the differences certainly had degrees chemical influence
behind them.

--
Oldernow
gemlog | gemini://tilde.club/~oldernow | gemini://bbs.geminispace.org/u/oldernow
email | xyz001@nym.hush.com

On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 12:14:41 PM UTC-8, oldernow wrote:
> On 2023-12-18, Norbert K <norbert...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > It's complicated, because the pre- and post-LSD John Lennons
> > were two very different people -- as far as personality,
> > songwriting, etc.
> >
> > The pre-LSD Lennon might have been my favorite Beatle, but it
> > really is a tough call. Plus, a lot of the best songs were
> > true Lennon-McCartney collaboations, with the duo "writing
> > eyeball-to-eyeball," as Lennon put it.
> No doubt about all that.
>
> But I'm fine with the pre/post acid John. I'm way older
> now than when one of my aunts "learned me the Beatles" in
> what was probably 1964-ish, and have certainly been a very
> different person and many points along the way. And some
> of the differences certainly had degrees chemical influence
> behind them.
> --
> Oldernow
> gemlog | gemini://tilde.club/~oldernow | gemini://bbs.geminispace.org/u/oldernow
> email | xyz...@nym.hush.com

I did my share of all that stuff, too. However, as his best friend Pete Shotton phrased it, John Lennon turned his life into a "continuous acid trip" -- only to end up surrounding himself with predatory nuts.

Can you imagine the John Lennon who once labored alongside Paul McCartney at the piano in search of *just that right chord* dribbling a two-chord piece of drivel like "Give Peace a Chance"?

oldernow wrote:
>
> Hello, I'm new to this newsgroup, but *not* new to the Beatles.

> Tiny bits of context:

> Favorite Beatle: John
> Favorite song: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away

> Hope this place still sees some (inter)action!

Great to see posts are still being made here in spite of the flood of spam on the Google Groups version of the newsgroup.

Highly recommend Nova BBS for reading and posting:

https://www.novabbs.com/arts/thread.php?group=rec.music.beatles

And yes, John was my favorite Beatle, although all four are high on my list.

W.Dockery wrote:

> oldernow wrote:
>
> > Hope this place still sees some (inter)action!
>
> Great to see posts are still being made here in spite of the flood
> of spam on the Google Groups version of the newsgroup.

Looks like that isn't going to be the case very soon... ;-)

Blueshirt wrote:

> W.Dockery wrote:

>> oldernow wrote:
>>
>> > Hope this place still sees some (inter)action!
>>
>> Great to see posts are still being made here in spite of the flood
>> of spam on the Google Groups version of the newsgroup.

> Looks like that isn't going to be the case very soon... ;-)

Try Nova BBS, nearly spam free:

https://www.novabbs.com/arts/thread.php?group=rec.music.beatles

General-Zod wrote:

> Blueshirt wrote:
>
> > W.Dockery wrote:
> > >
> > > Great to see posts are still being made here in spite of the
> > > flood of spam on the Google Groups version of the newsgroup.
>
> > Looks like that isn't going to be the case very soon... ;-)
>
> Try Nova BBS, nearly spam free:
>
> https://www.novabbs.com/arts/thread.php?group=rec.music.beatles

I don't need to, I've always used a newsreader and a proper news
service, I wouldn't have touched Google Groups with a barge-pole!

I won't be lamenting the loss of all the spam either...

On 2023-12-20, Norbert K <norbertkosky69@gmail.com> wrote:

> However, as his best friend Pete Shotton phrased it, John
> Lennon turned his life into a "continuous acid trip" --
> only to end up surrounding himself with predatory nuts.

It can happen to the best of us here on Planet Predatory Nuts.

> Can you imagine the John Lennon who once labored alongside
> Paul McCartney at the piano in search of *just that right
> chord* dribbling a two-chord piece of drivel like "Give Peace
> a Chance"?

Clearly not his finest work. And yet even in his alongside
McCartney days did he manage to output "Run For Your Life",
which he openly despised. I think one of the things I loved
most about him was his willingness to take artistic chances.

--
Oldernow
gemlog | gemini://tilde.club/~oldernow | gemini://bbs.geminispace.org/u/oldernow
email | xyz001@nym.hush.com

On Tuesday, December 26, 2023 at 12:19:01 PM UTC-8, oldernow wrote:
> On 2023-12-20, Norbert K <norbert...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > However, as his best friend Pete Shotton phrased it, John
> > Lennon turned his life into a "continuous acid trip" --
> > only to end up surrounding himself with predatory nuts.
> It can happen to the best of us here on Planet Predatory Nuts.
> > Can you imagine the John Lennon who once labored alongside
> > Paul McCartney at the piano in search of *just that right
> > chord* dribbling a two-chord piece of drivel like "Give Peace
> > a Chance"?
> Clearly not his finest work. And yet even in his alongside
> McCartney days did he manage to output "Run For Your Life",
> which he openly despised. I think one of the things I loved
> most about him was his willingness to take artistic chances.
> --
> Oldernow
> gemlog | gemini://tilde.club/~oldernow | gemini://bbs.geminispace.org/u/oldernow
> email | xyz...@nym.hush.com

Yeah, but you don't really think that "Run For Your Life" is on par with "Give Peace a Chance," do you? There's much to like about the former song. Even if you don't like RFYL, the bulk of John's work from that time is among his best. By the time of GPAC, he was a spent (or a drug- and Yoko-addled) force.

John bashed "Run For Your Life" in the Playboy interview, which was really a publicity campaign aimed at promoting Yoko, so I'm not sure he really believed the song to be bad. It was in this interview that John claimed McCartney subconsciously sabotaged his (John's) songs, and that a couple of his dreary, musically vacant songs were on par with his best Beatles songs -- in other words, he was spewing falsehoods and absurdities.

Yet, during interviews and his guest-DJ stint in 1974, John's pride in his Beatles work returned. Why? Because he was aay from Yoko.

If John had not fried his mind on acid, I believe, he would not have touched Yoko (or Alex Mardas, or Allen Klein) with a ten-foot pole. And his creative work would have stayed on track.

On Tuesday, December 26, 2023 at 12:19:01 PM UTC-8, oldernow wrote:
> On 2023-12-20, Norbert K <norbert...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > However, as his best friend Pete Shotton phrased it, John
> > Lennon turned his life into a "continuous acid trip" --
> > only to end up surrounding himself with predatory nuts.
> It can happen to the best of us here on Planet Predatory Nuts.
> > Can you imagine the John Lennon who once labored alongside
> > Paul McCartney at the piano in search of *just that right
> > chord* dribbling a two-chord piece of drivel like "Give Peace
> > a Chance"?
> Clearly not his finest work. And yet even in his alongside
> McCartney days did he manage to output "Run For Your Life",
> which he openly despised. I think one of the things I loved
> most about him was his willingness to take artistic chances.
> --
> Oldernow
> gemlog | gemini://tilde.club/~oldernow | gemini://bbs.geminispace.org/u/oldernow
> email | xyz...@nym.hush.com

I just listened to "Run For Your Life" and "Give Peace a Chance" side by side. I felt that I was listening to two different songwriters -- one of them (RFYL) a focused songwriter; the other (GPAC) a drug-fried, incompetent street musician.

I urge others to try this experiment and post their comments.

On 2023-12-26 20:18:57 +0000, oldernow said:

> On 2023-12-20, Norbert K <norbertkosky69@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> However, as his best friend Pete Shotton phrased it, John
>> Lennon turned his life into a "continuous acid trip" --
>> only to end up surrounding himself with predatory nuts.
>
> It can happen to the best of us here on Planet Predatory Nuts.
>
>> Can you imagine the John Lennon who once labored alongside
>> Paul McCartney at the piano in search of *just that right
>> chord* dribbling a two-chord piece of drivel like "Give Peace
>> a Chance"?
>
> Clearly not his finest work. And yet even in his alongside
> McCartney days did he manage to output "Run For Your Life",
> which he openly despised. I think one of the things I loved
> most about him was his willingness to take artistic chances.

John was a big Elvis fan, "I'd rather see you dead little girl than to
be with another man" was lifted directly from "Baby, Let's Play House."

On Sunday, January 14, 2024 at 7:36:22 PM UTC-8, super70s wrote:
> On 2023-12-26 20:18:57 +0000, oldernow said:
>
> > On 2023-12-20, Norbert K <norbert...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> However, as his best friend Pete Shotton phrased it, John
> >> Lennon turned his life into a "continuous acid trip" --
> >> only to end up surrounding himself with predatory nuts.
> >
> > It can happen to the best of us here on Planet Predatory Nuts.
> >
> >> Can you imagine the John Lennon who once labored alongside
> >> Paul McCartney at the piano in search of *just that right
> >> chord* dribbling a two-chord piece of drivel like "Give Peace
> >> a Chance"?
> >
> > Clearly not his finest work. And yet even in his alongside
> > McCartney days did he manage to output "Run For Your Life",
> > which he openly despised. I think one of the things I loved
> > most about him was his willingness to take artistic chances.
> John was a big Elvis fan, "I'd rather see you dead little girl than to
> be with another man" was lifted directly from "Baby, Let's Play House."

Good call, I'm not an Elvis fan and was unaware of that.

The electric guitar part in "Run For Your Life" also seems to echo the guitar in the Elvis song.

I think RFYL exceeds its inspiration; there's more going on. John's voice was still strong at this point, and the vocal harmony in the chorus is effective. It's not a bad song at all, even if it's not up there with "Nowhere Man" or "Norwegian Wood."

On 2024-01-13, Norbert K <norbertkosky69@gmail.com> wrote:
> Yeah, but you don't really think that "Run For Your Life" is
> on par with "Give Peace a Chance," do you? There's much to like
> about the former song. Even if you don't like RFYL, the bulk of
> John's work from that time is among his best. By the time of GPAC,
> he was a spent (or a drug- and Yoko-addled) force.

I don't think they're equally good. But then I also don't expect
all of a music artist's work to be on equal footing, or improving
over time - especially with respect to my tastes. I don't think it
means anything in particular if/when one song doesn't seem as good
as another, e.g. that the artist lost or is losing their prowess.

I've written and recorded songs, and definitely prefer some to
others, but I don't take that inequity to mean something about my
skills. There are influences other than creative and/or performance
talent that go into winding up with a finished song, e.g. mood,
"the times", whether or not some asshole drove three inches off
my back bumper on the way home from work, whether or not a pretty
girl seemed to show interest in me while buying a Slim Jim at the
convenient store, etc., etc.

I mean, I realize fans what to analyze such, and I'm not faulting
you for doing so. I'm just expressing how I think/feel about it.

--
Oldernow
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email | xyz001@nym.hush.com

oldernow wrote:

> On 2024-01-13, Norbert K <norbertkosky69@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Yeah, but you don't really think that "Run For Your Life" is
> > on par with "Give Peace a Chance," do you? There's much to like
> > about the former song. Even if you don't like RFYL, the bulk of
> > John's work from that time is among his best. By the time of
> > GPAC, he was a spent (or a drug- and Yoko-addled) force.
>
> I don't think they're equally good. But then I also don't expect
> all of a music artist's work to be on equal footing, or improving
> over time - especially with respect to my tastes. I don't think it
> means anything in particular if/when one song doesn't seem as good
> as another, e.g. that the artist lost or is losing their prowess.

With a band like The Beatles - that spanned so many years and
different styles - it would be impractical to expect every song to be
equal. Clearly they all wrote songs that were great and they all
wrote songs that were not so great... plus they all wrote songs that
sat somewhere in between. So nobody should expect every Beatles song
to be equally good.

On 2024-01-26, Blueshirt <blueshirt@indigo.news> wrote:

> With a band like The Beatles - that spanned so many years and
> different styles - it would be impractical to expect every song to be
> equal. Clearly they all wrote songs that were great and they all
> wrote songs that were not so great... plus they all wrote songs that
> sat somewhere in between. So nobody should expect every Beatles song
> to be equally good.

Indeed, the notion of "good" with respect to any category is useless
if/when all items therein are equal.

--
Oldernow
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email | xyz001@nym.hush.com

On Friday, January 26, 2024 at 7:14:07 AM UTC-8, Blueshirt wrote:
> oldernow wrote:
>
> > On 2024-01-13, Norbert K <norbert...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Yeah, but you don't really think that "Run For Your Life" is
> > > on par with "Give Peace a Chance," do you? There's much to like
> > > about the former song. Even if you don't like RFYL, the bulk of
> > > John's work from that time is among his best. By the time of
> > > GPAC, he was a spent (or a drug- and Yoko-addled) force.
> >
> > I don't think they're equally good. But then I also don't expect
> > all of a music artist's work to be on equal footing, or improving
> > over time - especially with respect to my tastes. I don't think it
> > means anything in particular if/when one song doesn't seem as good
> > as another, e.g. that the artist lost or is losing their prowess.
> With a band like The Beatles - that spanned so many years and
> different styles - it would be impractical to expect every song to be
> equal. Clearly they all wrote songs that were great and they all
> wrote songs that were not so great... plus they all wrote songs that
> sat somewhere in between. So nobody should expect every Beatles song
> to be equally good.

It would be absurd to expect all of their songs to be equally good. My point about "Give Peace A Chance" is that it is strikingly *bad* compared to just about all of John's earlier stuff, including "Run For Your Lfe."