This is the third Random Weekend to feature The Beatles in this young year. Perhaps the Random iTunes Fairy heard my pledge to feature more Beatles songs and took on the mantle herself.
Today’s track, from 1967’s Magical Mystery Tour, is a fine example of just how great the band’s output is no matter how deep into their catalog you go. ‘Your Mother Should Know’ is a dancehall ditty written by Paul McCartney in a style his parents enjoyed.
I recently wrote that I’d like to feature more Beatles music this year, and I guess the Random iTunes Fairy was listening. Today she’s offering up the opening track of the band’s classic 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
While Pepper is an iconic release and one of The Beatles’ top-selling albums, it sits pretty low on my personal list. Of course, this being The Beatles, that means the album still features several all-time classic songs, including ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,’ ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ and ‘A Day in the Life.’
Is there a band in music history with a better batting average than The Beatles? The Fab Four recorded under 200 songs (excluding covers) during their eight year career and you’d be hard-pressed to find 20 worth skipping on an extended playlist.
1968 B-side ‘The Inner Light,’ penned by George Harrison, might be among the throwaways, but its A-side, ‘Lady Madonna,’ certainly isn’t. This straightforward rocker was a return to the band’s roots after the Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour detours into psychedelia.
Disney stripped me of my ability to post clips from Peter Jackson’s Beatles documentary Get Back, but today I’ll list a few of the moments I was prepared to feature.
– Paul coming up with ‘Get Back’
This is the most talked-about moment in the series, because it so casually captures the birth of a classic song. Paul, George and Ringo are killing time waiting for John to arrive. Paul starts noodling away on his guitar until he stumbles onto the riff that would become the backbone of ‘Get Back.’
Initially, I planned to spend this week featuring clips from Get Back, Peter Jackson’s fascinating eight-hour documentary on The Beatles’ Let It Be sessions, available to stream on Disney Plus.
But Disney has apparently scrubbed the web of excerpts from the series, unfortunate for people like me who want to use them to celebrate the work.
