Guest Howard
GuestForum Replies Created
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Andy Kaufman – Elvis Presley Impression on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show 1977
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Jagger, jacket off, jacket on! They may be miming, but no one was as cool as Mick Jagger singing in 1964, with a baby faced Keith Richards delivering the lead guitar solo. And yes, I could well imagine Mona and Lisa doing their thing with this number from the bad boys of the British Invasion.
The Rolling Stones – “Heart Of Stone” (1964)
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Welcome to the Club Tony. It’s always nice to hear from new members. You’ll enjoy being a member of this excellent club, which has so much to offer.
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Thanks for sharing Jacki. I understand where you are coming from. I’m trying to get out of the habit of keeping musicians hours. Not so good when you’re not a musician.
It’s 4.30 pm, Thursday here in Aussie land at the moment, so a long way to go for me before bedtime!
George was crucial to the whole Beatles phenomenon as was Ringo. However, I’m one of those people who thinks Paul was their best musician. His live shows today are brilliant.
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The Lemon Pipers – Green Tambourine
“Green Tambourine” is a song about busking, written and composed by Paul Leka (who also produced it) and Shelley Pinz. It was the biggest hit by the 1960s Ohio-based rock group The Lemon Pipers, as well as the title track of their debut album, Green Tambourine. The song was one of the first bubblegum pop chart-toppers and became a gold record.
Mona and Lisa know what it’s like to busk, having done so in both California and Australia and no doubt other places, like Dublin and Liverpool.
I can well imagine Mona having fun with a tambourine and percussion on this song, along with Lisa having a go at the electric sitar, with Papa Rudi assisting on keyboards and tape loops!
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Was Paul McCartney a better guitar player than George Harrison?
This is one person’s opinion.
Lou Carlozo Lou Carlozo, Investment Contributor at U.S. News and World Report (2014-present) Updated Apr 18
“By far, by far, by far, Paul McCartney was the better lead guitar player, and there’s a lot of evidence to support this.
The original instrumentation of The Beatles from their Silver Beetles/Johnny & The Moondogs/Hamburg-era incarnations was always three guitar players: John, George and Paul. When they booked gigs, often without the benefit of the drummer (the Beatles blew up drummers more often than Spinal Tap), they’d tell club owners reluctant to book them, “The rhythm’s in the guitars!”
Once Stu Sutcliff (a terrible player but a close pal of John’s) exited the group, Paul was the natural choice to move over to bass because he had the most musical skill all around—and George certainly didn’t want to take over. The compromise was simple: the second best lead guitarist in the group assumed that role in exchange for the best lead guitarist on bass. Along with Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones and John Entwistle of the Who, McCartney redefined what a bass player in rock music could be—a first-class melody man with bass-drum power in his pick. John Lennon, even in his time of life where he hated just about everything Paul stood for, conceded, “Paul is one of the most innovative bass players ever.”
George’s style was certainly interesting, but hardly innovative and mostly reflected influences typical of the time: Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, Scotty Moore and ’50s instrumental rock, including “Raunchy,” which landed him a spot in the group. But soon, his limitations as a guitar player became apparent. As he was unable to play the complex solo triplet on “A Hard Day’s Night,” engineer Norman Smith had to pitch the tape to half speed and have the riff doubled by a piano. In later live versions recorded at the BBC, that solo snippet is dubbed in from the album. At the time, George certainly deserved credit for popularizing the Rickenbacker 12-string guitar, but it was not an instrument he sought out so much as gifted to him by Francis Hall of Rickenbacker. Actually, it was offered to John first—John decided George might be better suited to play it.
From about that time on, Beatles fans saw hints that Paul might indeed have better lead guitar skills. On George’s “Think for Yourself,” Paul’s fuzz bass dominates the song as a fairly nasty-sounding subsonic lead guitar. The lead work on “Another Girl,” from “Help!” is likewise Paul at the helm, demonstrating an ability to negotiate the fretboard in ways George did not or could not.
But it’s “Taxman” where McCartney busts out of the gate. Engineer Geoff Emerick relates how Harrison—not out of perfectionism but limitation—simply couldn’t nail down a solo to match his acidic commentary on the British tax system. McCartney’s work is stunning: A D-key raga utilizing the open D string against fretted notes, and movement up and down the neck, with rapid note decorations that made it stand out.
Don’t get me wrong—George was a good and solid lead guitarist. But playing the instrument slowly and somewhat conventionally, he wasn’t near Paul’s equal. The “Good Morning, Good Morning” solo (a Fender Esquire through a Selmer amp) is Paul’s handiwork. Is there anything even close to it on “Sgt. Pepper”? He also played the lead guitar on the opening “Sgt. Pepper” cut as well, complete with flick-of-the-wrist riffing (not at all a characteristic of George’s playing—thanks to Quora community member Dan Rosenberg for helping me nail this detail).
Paul’s virtuoso performances on guitar also include “Blackbird,” and in his solo career with Wings, it’s hard to imagine George doing the angular, leather-and-dagger solo Paul does to close out “Helen Wheels.” I know as a lead guitar player, I spent quite a long time trying to learn it—it’s not as easy as it sounds.
George did of course innovate once he learned slide guitar, and just because he’s slow didn’t mean he was sleepy. “Something,” “Drive My Car,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Octopus’s Garden” and the beautiful, chiming C major to A descent on “You Never Give Me Your Money” all argue for respecting him as a player (that last specimen, by the way, a neat reworking of the guitar Harrison added to Eric Clapton’s “Badge”).
But Paul? He could rock the drums, piano, bass and guitar in a way that presaged him being a one-man band towards the end of The Beatles and the years after. Yes, as a lead guitarist he had his mawkish moments, especially on “McCartney” … then again, what could top his melody-line work on “Maybe I’m Amazed”?
I can’t help thinking there are many others out there like me who in our love of The Beatles craft, studied McCartney much closer than Harrison. In my pantheon of Top 10 guitarists who influenced my style, he’s definitely up there. The solos of George Harrison are certainly effective, catchy even. But they are what they are. Many of McCartney’s solos, by contrast, shimmer with occluded layers I’m still trying to unearth.“
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I’m with you on this point Angelo. Much prefer cruising on my push bike these days and have plans to upgrade to an electric push bike soon.
Now that is one awesome set up for viewing the MonaLisa Twins in action. What a sound system! I just returned home from a month away and waiting for me, along with much other mail and my MLT Xmas albums, was my new Bluetooth headphones I’ve been waiting six months for. Awesome controls at the tap of the right earcup for volume, play/pause, previous/next and also answering the phone and last number redial.
Just perfect for listening to the new MLT Xmas album or their downloads when on the move.
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Yes Jacki. I think, in your own inimitable way, you have managed to encapsulate what we all feel with this delightful album!
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“I’m going to be inclined to agree with Jung and accept his rationale”.
Of course you do Jacki. You Canadians stick together. For pedants like me, ‘Classical’ refers to:
“The term “classical music” did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to distinctly canonize the period from Johann Sebastian Bach to Ludwig van Beethoven as a golden age. The earliest reference to “classical music” recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1829.”
We all know that Jung can see ‘classical’ music in everything, and especially the Beatles’ music which he perceives as a reinvention, or continuation of classical music. Nothing wrong with that though.
I think we can agree on one thing though Jacki. “it’s a beautiful discovery that I’m happy that Team MLT provided for to embrace and appreciate it thereof…”!
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You’ve lost me here Jung. “Walking in the Air” isn’t a classical song.
“’Walking in the Air’ is a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film of Raymond Briggs’ 1978 children’s book The Snowman. The song forms the centrepiece of The Snowman, which has become a seasonal favourite on British and Finnish television. The story relates the fleeting adventures of a young boy and a snowman who has come to life. In the second part of the story, the boy and the snowman fly to the North Pole. “Walking in the Air” is the theme for the journey. They attend a party of snowmen, at which the boy seems to be the only human until they meet Father Christmas with his reindeer, and the boy is given a scarf with a snowman pattern. In the film, the song was performed by St Paul’s Cathedral choirboy Peter Auty, and reissued in 1985 (on Stiff Records) and 1987.”
The reason it is so obscure for so many of the MLTs many ‘senior’ fans is because it is more relevant to much younger people. I suspect Mona and Lisa as infants may have seen the book and movie.
As far as classical interpretations go, this doesn’t make what was essentially written as a Christmas song, for a Christmas movie, a classical song.
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Well I think I’ve covered all my favourite Hollies songs, apart from several. How about this one from 1969, tailor made for Mona’s acoustic guitar and her unique drumming style and Lisa’s Gretsch lead. Now who on lead vocals, or would this be shared?
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Thanks for sharing that lost concert from the archives Jung. Unfortunately Brian was handicapped by having his father, Murray, as band manager until he sacked him during a recording session in 1964. Now if he had a manager like Brian Epstein (who fired Pete Best), instead of his father, maybe he too could have picked up a better drummer. He would have done well to shift brother Carl to lead vocals, sack cousin Mike, and bring in someone like Glen Campbell on lead guitar. Who knows, Brian and Glen just may have formed a formidable song writing collaboration.
Carl or Brian on lead vocals, Glen on lead guitar or bass, Al on rhythm or lead and Brian on bass with a decent drummer could have progressed the Beach Boys beyond a ‘Surf music’ band as Brian wanted. Alternatively, Bruce Johnston on bass/vocals in place of Campbell.
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Couldn’t agree more Jung, and Brian’s new Beach Boys may just have become more successful than both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. What an awesome band that would have been. Brian on bass, Mona on drums, Lisa on guitar and Papa Rudi on keyboards. Just think of the harmonising potential, with four excellent singers/musicians in the one band!
Brian was always handicapped by inferior musicians and one giant ego.
“Brian Wilson doesn’t like Mike Love at all”.
I’m with Brian here! Poor Brian has been carrying Mike Love for over fifty years now!
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Correct Jacki. However, the issue for me hasn’t been while taking the photo but rather after uploading a correctly rotated photo from my photo data base. Sometimes during the upload the orientation is reversed.
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Hi Stephen. I managed to read the note by magnifying the photo and reading it sideways (clever me)! I have the same issue with the rotation problem too. Sometimes I’ve been able to remedy it by experimenting, but it is frustrating.
I did put the issue into the Support & Suggestions thread several weeks ago under the Topic ‘Photo Uploads’ but I guess it would be fairly low on Rudolf‘s priorities this time of the year. A copy of my request follows:
“Hi Team MLT. Often when I upload a photo in portrait to the forum, it comes across in landscape. Is there any way I can edit it back to portrait?
Cheers,
Howard”
