Re: Perry Farrell Talks New Mystery Project, Kurt Cobain Mee
Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 4:36 am
We shouldn't be confusing music taste with objective influence, I think. Bandit doesn't like the Beatles, and that's a matter of taste. I do like them quite a bit, and there are some people who adore absolutely everything they did, including their shittiest songs. There's loads of levels there.
And another thing altogether is their influence, their significance for popular music in general. Let me go through a small list just for Sgt. Pepper's:
* Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Introduces the 'storyline' for the album, in what is the first widely recognized 'conceptual' record (this was, obviously, taken to new heights by several other bands in later years.) Let's not forget that up to this point in history, LPs were essentially a collection of songs and it was not expected for the songs to have any connection between each other.
* With a Little Help from My Friends: The seamless transition between these two songs was also a novelty, an interesting effect that would become widely used in the coming years, especially in conceptual albums. I'm not sure if drug references were a novelty then, but this song has them.
* Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds: This song has a 'signature' Lennon distorted voice (which was a recording novelty) and Harrison introduces the tambura to Western pop music. Of course, the dream-like quality of this song has been also hugely influential.
* Getting Better: Once again we see the tambura; in this song, the drum pattern is very unconventional and we must remember that this is a *pop* song; so when you get out of the norm, I think it's noteworthy. The bass line is also quite striking and influential. I think this song also has congas, which like the tambura are introduced in a context that's nothing like their native musical environments.
* Fixing a Hole: This is an odd one. Not sure what I can say about this song. Drug references?
* She's Leaving Home: Again, we have here a pop song that's nothing like a pop song. There are only strings and sort of choral voices, and it's not done in jest. This is one of those songs that as a musician or aspiring musician make you go "oh, so you can do that."
* Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite: This song plays with recording techniques, speeding up tapes, inverting tapes, chopping them up and pasting them back together, etc. It also goes along with the 'theme' of the album.
* Within You Without You: This song introduces popular music to a wide arrangement of instruments from India, which interact with a Western string section. The lyrics attempt to be deep and profoundly philosophical, which -again- is a novelty for pop music. There are odd signatures and odd keys, and the only Beatle to feature in any shape or form here is Harrison.
* When I'm Sixty-Four: This song features a more old-time jazz feel to it, with clarinets and a drummer that I'm 99% sure isn't Ringo (regardless of what the credits say).
* Lovely Rita: Can't say a lot about this one.
* Good Morning Good Morning: Odd time signature and -most importantly- double bass drum. In a pop song, and a horrible one at that. They also pull off a nice trick by 'transforming' a cock's noise into a guitar lick in the transition to the next song.
* Sgt. Pepper's (Reprise): I'm not sure if these 'reprise' versions were normal back then, but I'm assuming they weren't. Here, the band announces that the album is ending and sort of bring the theme to a close, with a tune that's familiar.
* A Day in the Life: A multi-section pop epic, which include a couple of special effects (novelty as well) and a final crescendo with a big-ass orchestra. And after the song, they created a small track that (since this was a vinyl LP) would loop infinitely as the needle reached the inner track.
They experimented with so, so many things, and they managed to create hits out of them. They influenced virtually every musician that came after them, and even those who were contemporary. In all of this, their producer was essential, obviously. He made sure they released good products and not just a mismatch of shit. At least not until #9, which doesn't count.
And another thing altogether is their influence, their significance for popular music in general. Let me go through a small list just for Sgt. Pepper's:
* Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Introduces the 'storyline' for the album, in what is the first widely recognized 'conceptual' record (this was, obviously, taken to new heights by several other bands in later years.) Let's not forget that up to this point in history, LPs were essentially a collection of songs and it was not expected for the songs to have any connection between each other.
* With a Little Help from My Friends: The seamless transition between these two songs was also a novelty, an interesting effect that would become widely used in the coming years, especially in conceptual albums. I'm not sure if drug references were a novelty then, but this song has them.
* Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds: This song has a 'signature' Lennon distorted voice (which was a recording novelty) and Harrison introduces the tambura to Western pop music. Of course, the dream-like quality of this song has been also hugely influential.
* Getting Better: Once again we see the tambura; in this song, the drum pattern is very unconventional and we must remember that this is a *pop* song; so when you get out of the norm, I think it's noteworthy. The bass line is also quite striking and influential. I think this song also has congas, which like the tambura are introduced in a context that's nothing like their native musical environments.
* Fixing a Hole: This is an odd one. Not sure what I can say about this song. Drug references?
* She's Leaving Home: Again, we have here a pop song that's nothing like a pop song. There are only strings and sort of choral voices, and it's not done in jest. This is one of those songs that as a musician or aspiring musician make you go "oh, so you can do that."
* Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite: This song plays with recording techniques, speeding up tapes, inverting tapes, chopping them up and pasting them back together, etc. It also goes along with the 'theme' of the album.
* Within You Without You: This song introduces popular music to a wide arrangement of instruments from India, which interact with a Western string section. The lyrics attempt to be deep and profoundly philosophical, which -again- is a novelty for pop music. There are odd signatures and odd keys, and the only Beatle to feature in any shape or form here is Harrison.
* When I'm Sixty-Four: This song features a more old-time jazz feel to it, with clarinets and a drummer that I'm 99% sure isn't Ringo (regardless of what the credits say).
* Lovely Rita: Can't say a lot about this one.
* Good Morning Good Morning: Odd time signature and -most importantly- double bass drum. In a pop song, and a horrible one at that. They also pull off a nice trick by 'transforming' a cock's noise into a guitar lick in the transition to the next song.
* Sgt. Pepper's (Reprise): I'm not sure if these 'reprise' versions were normal back then, but I'm assuming they weren't. Here, the band announces that the album is ending and sort of bring the theme to a close, with a tune that's familiar.
* A Day in the Life: A multi-section pop epic, which include a couple of special effects (novelty as well) and a final crescendo with a big-ass orchestra. And after the song, they created a small track that (since this was a vinyl LP) would loop infinitely as the needle reached the inner track.
They experimented with so, so many things, and they managed to create hits out of them. They influenced virtually every musician that came after them, and even those who were contemporary. In all of this, their producer was essential, obviously. He made sure they released good products and not just a mismatch of shit. At least not until #9, which doesn't count.