JeffHorneWeb Blog - Beatles

Peppered, Part 2

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:48:00 -0500

After a fun day at work, I decided to sit down at home and take in a film. Netflix was nice enough to supply the evening's entertainment, Cheap Trick's Sgt. Pepper Live. Cheap Trick has always been somewhat Beatlie. They have not hidden this, in fact they actually backed up John Lennon on early versions of Double Fantasy songs.

For this performance recorded at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, as part of a benefit for the Michael Milken Prostate Cancer Foundation Charity Concert & Auction, the band has augmented their sound with a collection of backing musicians including the New York Philharmonic, Joan Osborne and Ian Ball from Gomez. Rick Nielsen sports a great custom Hamer guitar with Beatles in Sgt. Pepper unis. Robin Zander is in great voice and tackles the majority of the material quite well. Tom Petersson and Bun E. Carlos provide their usual solid foundation. Petersson, especially, shines throughout doing the yeoman's job on Paulie's incredible bass work.

The guests get their shots mid-album to take over on lead vocals. Ian Ball sings Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite and When I'm Sixty-Four, Rob Laufer, who has portrayed George in Beatlemania, naturally takes a very strong Within You and Without You. Finally, Joan Osborne sings Lovely Rita, an odd but satisfying choice. The DVD was released in August and was also released as a CD. In addition they played a week of shows in Las Vegas in September.

When I listen to tribute albums or cover versions, I many times fine myself wanting to stop and listen to the original version. This performance is solid enough that it kept my interest without my mind wandering and my feet scattering to grab the original.

On the other hand, Lillie could not even tolerate anyone other than John and Paul singing the album and she ran out of the room despite our urgings to give it a chance. Being 10 years old will do that to you.

Peppered

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:32:00 -0500

Today is a big New Release Day. The debut album by Them Crooked Vutures was released and the DVD release of JJ Abrams Star Trek were the big news. The news that made the most waves at Castle Horne is the release of the complete Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for The Beatles: Rock Band.

We download Abbey Road when it became available and have played the heck out of it. Now we have Pepper and while it's not my favorite Beatles album, it does include one of my favorite Beatles songs, A Day In The Life. I can't wait to Wake up and fall out of bed.

Next month, my second favorite Beatles album, Rubber Soul, will be available. After that, we'll see what is to come.

Beatles To The Punch

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:59:00 -0500

In case there has not been enough mention of The Beatles on this blog, I will add another mention today. The Beatles: Rock Band has sold over 500,000 copies. Even though there are 45 songs in the game, most are under three minutes long.

To the rescue comes Downloadable Content (DLC). The first DLC up for Beatles:Rock Band... Abbey Road. The game already includes five songs from Abbey Road, Come Together, Octopus's Garden, I Want You (She's So Heavy), Here Comes the Sun and The End. As of today, the rest of the album is available.

XBox 360 and PS3 users can drop one fee and pick up the rest of the album. Wii owners must buy it track by track. Judging by the just released trailer, it will fit in nicely.

The Horntles Have Left The Building

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:23:00 -0500

It was another rockin' night of The Beatles:Rock Band in the Cavern. Tom is still boycotting but I think it's just because it keeps him off the Wii. He was told that things will change when Guitar Hero: Van Halen arrives. He can't wait.

Here are photos of the jam session.

The Horntles

Beatle Jeff

Beatle Mary

Beatle Lillie

It Was 40 Years Ago Today

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:38:00 -0500

October 12, 1969... A day that lives in Beatles infamy. It was this day that Russ Gibb, a DJ on Detroit's WKNR-FM took a phone call that would shake the world and continues to do so, for some people, to this day.

It was the day the world learned that Paul Was Dead.

The clues were rampant. Backward audio and photographic evidence were all some people needed.

More background on the story here.

In case anyone still believes Paul is truly dead, he answered that question in an interview with Chris Farley on SNL. Sadly, Farley is indeed dead.

Chris Farley - Interview Paul Mc Cartney (SNL) - MyVideo

Beatles Rock Band DLC Not A Sure Thing

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:46:00 -0500

Numerous reports today reveal that beyond the initial three Beatles albums that are scheduled for release as Downloadable Content (DLC) for The Beatles: Rock Band, any other releases are not a certainty. The three albums already announced are Abbey Road on October 20th, Sgt Pepper in November and Rubber Soul in December. Pricing will be $1.99 per song. The bonus is if you buy Abbey Road as a complete album, you will be able to play the big medley from side two as one complete song.

At Microsoft's X09 press event in Toronto, Harmonix PR rep John Drake was asked about additional albums for the game and how long until all Beatles album would be available. The answer he gave was not the answer anyone expected.

Every time we do one song, it's not like Rock Band where we wait for the masters to come in and just author them... its like, send people to Abbey Road, use the original tape, separate them out... it costs thousands of dollars. We're waiting to see how things sell. We're waiting to see how the albums do. If they sell well, we'll have a lot more content.

That being said, I think everyone expects the Beatles DLC will be huge. All You Need is Love is the fastest selling piece of Rock Band DLC ever and it's only available for the XBOX 360.

I know I bought a 16GB SD card for the Wii in advance of the first three albums. I'd hate for that to be in vain.

Rock Band Again

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:23:00 -0500

We spent the night playing The Beatles: Rock Band. I found out singing Something like Elvis did instead of George will not get you extra points and may get you yelled at.

I blew my voice out on Helter Skelter. After that trying to sing Paul's part on I've Got A Feeling was next to impossible. It ended in failure the first time. The second time required that I go down an octave during the "All that I was looking for was somebody who looked like you" parts.

I felt like telling Paul, "I'll play it how you want me to or I won't play it if it makes you happy. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it".

We made it through the game and rather than being happy and feeling like we accomplished something big, we were all sad. Thankfully, there are other instruments to play. Then there's the downloadable content coming next month. Can't wait.

Who Rules The Charts?

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:45:00 -0500

According to this week's Billboard charts, The Beatles have 15 of the 20 top selling Catalog Albums on this week's Billboard Chart. The rest are Michael Jackson (4) and MercyMe (1). Albums that are not current or new releases are not eligible for the Hot 200 album chart. Only the Stereo and Mono box sets are eligible for the Hot 200 chart.

The Stereo Box Set is currently number 15 while the Mono Box Set is number 40.

And MJ's estate is doing well.

Billboard Catalog Chart

Beatles, Jay-Z Dominate Billboard Charts

Beatles Hangover

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:54:00 -0500

So like most Beatles fans who spent yesterday basking in the brightness and clarity of the remasters and blew out their voices on The Beatles: Rock Band, I am now going through a bit of a Beatles hangover.

I spent today further analyzing the remasters I picked up via headphone and still discovered more elements that I'm sure weren't there before. I laughed yesterday as Mrs. Wonderful and I listened to Revolver and I commented that I felt sorry for all the Beatles tribute bands who would now have to relearn parts of the songs based on the new revelations. The new backing vocals that I'm hearing on I'm Down, the piano that follows the bass on She's A Woman and the wah-wah accents of the guitar chops on Taxman. There are many other moments and likely more once I delve into the CDs that I have yet to pick up.

Fortunately, there is the full band play of Rock Band that we have yet t o discover. But first up, the NFL kicks off. It will be a busy weekend.

Number 9, Number 9, Number 9

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:57:00 -0500

I have now completed a successful shopping excursion and am ready to delve into Beatles Day head on. In addition to The Beatles: Rock Band, I picked up some CDs and was able to get some free-bees in the process.

Here's the deal. I went to Target and could not find the CDs. The usual type of young (maybe 19 yo) employee pointed me to the games when I asked for the Beatles CDs. He did not know anything about the music. Fortunately, an employee who was closer to being my contemporary pointed me to the shelves of Beatles CDs that were off an end cap in the DVD section. Oh well, at least they had them. Target gives a $5 gift card for every two Beatles CDs you buy. The single discs are $11.98, the cheapest around. I picked up Abbey Road, Revolver, Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper. I had a $10 gift card from a recent prescription promotion. That brought the price down to $40 (tax brought it up to $50).

I then went to Best Buy and used a Reward Zone $20 voucher on the White Album and Past Masters, both two-CD sets. Best Buy was out of the box sets but did have the single album "mini-crates" that were $24. Came with a shirt, the CD and a plastic crate. Cool but no thanks. So I took my voucher to the checkout and paid $10 for both discs as Past Masters was marked down to $12.99. I then went back to Target and picked up Beatles for Sale for $3.50 with my two gift cards.

So in all, I got the nine CDs of remastered Beatles, seven albums, for about $55. Not a bad day.

Now on to Rock Band with my new, used extra microphone so the wonderful lady of the house and I can harmonize to the band we love.

Rock Me Baby

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:12:00 -0500

In a little over twelve hours, I will have The Beatles: Rock Band. I am more excited by this than I am the remastered CDs. I'm still steamed at the underwhelming value for the dollar of the remasters.

No, I'm excited about The Beatles: Rock Band and here's why. I will be singing with the Beatles. Sure I've sung along with the albums for my entire life but this time it's very different. This time when I plug in my microphone and sing along with the game, the Beatles instruments will be playing the songs. So I will be singing with the Beatles.

That has me jazzed.

Youngsters

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:45:00 -0500

The most wonderful woman in the world and I have been enjoying the Beatle programming on VH1 Classic tonight. I had to tell my son that they are a Sacred Cow and that he is not allowed to sigh or comment during the wall to wall Beatles coverage which will likely continue through 09/09/09.

I then had to explain what a being a Sacred Cow means.

Now I'm the one sighing.

Beatlemania, Again

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 18:39:00 -0500

With Tuesday's or 09/09/09's (get it, number 9, number 9 number 9) release of the Beatles entire recorded works in remastered (but not remixed) stereo and separate (argh!!!!) mono box sets and single CD stereo releases, along with The Beatles: Rock Band video game, several media brain trusts are calling this Beatlemania Redux. They say this is when a whole new generation of Beatle fans will be indoctrinated to Beatle Fandom.

I personally think I'd rather wait to see how it plays out before making such pronouncements. Yes, the Stereo and Mono Box Sets are all but sold out of their first pressings at online retailers and reports that brick and mortar stores have seen their shipments both box sets number in the 3 - 5 range but I will still wait to see what really happens.

The initial reports had the mono box set limited to 10,000 sets in the US (!?!?). That really is undershooting demand as that is not a lot of boxes for the entire country, especially with the hype of it being the way the Beatles themselves preferred their music.

I do think that the amount of money spent on the Beatles on that day will be huge. I'm just not so sure it will be anyone other than us old fogies buying Beatles music all over again.

So as I said, we'll see what happens on Tuesday. I have my Rock Band on pre-order and will pick up Rubber Soul, Revolver, the White Album and Abbey Road after work.

Here's what some well know Chicago Beatlemaniacs have to say about the remasters from the Chicago Tribune.

All Together Now

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:18:00 -0500

The CGI Beatles help normal, every day folks cross Abbey Road and play video games in this exciting new commercial for The Beatles: Rock Band. I hope a few of them decide to pick up real instruments, as well.

Beatles ReMasters

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:43:00 -0500

With news today that Robert Zemekis is in talks to remake Yellow Submarine, I turn my attention to the upcoming Beatles remastered CDs. The sound difference is supposed to be huge but I’ve only heard it in compressed format on the Beatles website so I’ll have to take their word for it.

The only difference between the box set and the individual CDs is the short documentaries on the CDs are collected into a DVD and they all fit into the big black box.

I’m ticked off that the mono versions are in a separate box set. With these things running at 30 minutes per, up until Pepper which is still under 40 min, there is no reason they can’t put stereo and mono on the same CD like the Capitol Albums. Only the White Album and Past Masters would have to double up the number of discs because of their running times.

So if you get the Stereo ($180 Amazon) and Mono ($240 Amazon) box sets they will set you back over $420, ~~$350~~ (I calculated with the wrong price for the mono box when I originally wrote this, yikes). And let’s see, I’ve purchased many of them more than once on vinyl, the 1987 CDs, the Capitol CDs and now they want me to buy the remasters in stereo and mono separately? No thanks. I’ll pick up Rubber Soul, Revolver, Abbey Road and maybe the White album. Then I’ll maybe wait for the inevitable triple or quadruple dip where the stereo and monos will be packaged together.

The individual CDs look to be going for $12.99 for single and $16.99 for the doubles. We’ll see what they are in brick and mortar shops come September 9th.