There was a great book written a few years back "I read the news today oh boy" about Tara Browne, written as a labour of love by the author who like a lot of people hear that line in A Day In The Life but never thought much more about it.
It's a great threading together of Browne's life, the declining but colourful fortunes of the Guinness family, Tara's brother's influence and legacy in the setting up Claddagh records as a means of cataloging & reviving traditional Irish music, Tara's experiences and influences in swinging London, and of course connections with The Beatles & Stones both in London and, as mentioned in your review, their visits to Luggala.
Another winner, George. Love the british track listing more although us front cover easily better. Their best with brian, including the overrated beggars. So many classic tunes!
You did good in including the US cover which is much better than the UK purple one. But otherwise I prefer the UK release, Paint It Black, great at it is, instead of Mother's Little Helper? A little crime: it's even worse in Between The Buttons where they added the singles to an otherwise perfect tracklist without a single .. single in it. But Going Home at the end is genius.
Great analysis of Lady Jane (here the commmon interpretation was that it was about Mary.. Jane. And Lady Anne was just another drug, amphetamins. Ah, kids, right?). I Am Waiting is a real highlight of course, and the Lindsey version reminded me of that.
I love What To Do myself. As a 14yo when I first heard it (around '82), I was so identified with that eternal boredom. In general, it's one of those teenage angst albums, I used to listen to this one and Quadrophenia, great company for a taciturn kid.
It's a solid yet a bit unasumming collection of songs. They live in their own introvert world. How far from future Jagger right? It didn't sound like much anything else, they were really trying to make it non-Beatle. The lyrics were probably sharper at this point. I agree that the production not so much, but maybe intentionally (like The Who: Pete once said he wanted them to sound "metallic" to be different) how can you improve over 5th Beatle George?
"Could You Walk On The Water?" could have been a better title for something that included We Love You, Dandelion, maybe Child Of The Moon. Maybe a cover of that similarly named CCR song! It's intriguing for sure.
I've always found Between the Buttons far superior to Aftermath. Both are collections of "little songs about people" (as John once sneered about Paul's compositions); but where Aftermath's sound is brittle Button's is full and punchy. And of course by they laid down tracks for Buttons the Stones had found another fascination in addition to 'les femmes'.
Yes, the production overall is far more elaborate on Buttons, but it's a matter of experience. Couldn't really say if the songs, by themselves, are better. We'll just have to wait until the next review.
There was a great book written a few years back "I read the news today oh boy" about Tara Browne, written as a labour of love by the author who like a lot of people hear that line in A Day In The Life but never thought much more about it.
It's a great threading together of Browne's life, the declining but colourful fortunes of the Guinness family, Tara's brother's influence and legacy in the setting up Claddagh records as a means of cataloging & reviving traditional Irish music, Tara's experiences and influences in swinging London, and of course connections with The Beatles & Stones both in London and, as mentioned in your review, their visits to Luggala.
https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/paul-howard/i-read-the-news-today-oh-boy/9781509800049
Another winner, George. Love the british track listing more although us front cover easily better. Their best with brian, including the overrated beggars. So many classic tunes!
Great review. Your thoughts on Satanic will be very welcome.
You did good in including the US cover which is much better than the UK purple one. But otherwise I prefer the UK release, Paint It Black, great at it is, instead of Mother's Little Helper? A little crime: it's even worse in Between The Buttons where they added the singles to an otherwise perfect tracklist without a single .. single in it. But Going Home at the end is genius.
Great analysis of Lady Jane (here the commmon interpretation was that it was about Mary.. Jane. And Lady Anne was just another drug, amphetamins. Ah, kids, right?). I Am Waiting is a real highlight of course, and the Lindsey version reminded me of that.
I love What To Do myself. As a 14yo when I first heard it (around '82), I was so identified with that eternal boredom. In general, it's one of those teenage angst albums, I used to listen to this one and Quadrophenia, great company for a taciturn kid.
It's a solid yet a bit unasumming collection of songs. They live in their own introvert world. How far from future Jagger right? It didn't sound like much anything else, they were really trying to make it non-Beatle. The lyrics were probably sharper at this point. I agree that the production not so much, but maybe intentionally (like The Who: Pete once said he wanted them to sound "metallic" to be different) how can you improve over 5th Beatle George?
"Could You Walk On The Water?" could have been a better title for something that included We Love You, Dandelion, maybe Child Of The Moon. Maybe a cover of that similarly named CCR song! It's intriguing for sure.
Quite superb, thank you George.
I've always found Between the Buttons far superior to Aftermath. Both are collections of "little songs about people" (as John once sneered about Paul's compositions); but where Aftermath's sound is brittle Button's is full and punchy. And of course by they laid down tracks for Buttons the Stones had found another fascination in addition to 'les femmes'.
Yes, the production overall is far more elaborate on Buttons, but it's a matter of experience. Couldn't really say if the songs, by themselves, are better. We'll just have to wait until the next review.