[Bud Jackson]

Tom,

Yes, Grease was a real landmark of a movie. They just don’t seem to make them as good as this anymore! I felt so bad about Olivia Newton-John’s passing a year ago in August 2022. Good thing for recordings & movies for ALL of the stars we’ve lost over the years!

Thankfully we have Mona & Lisa now! They have so many great years ahead of them! It’s so nice to be able to witness the record of their success from the very beginning! — Bud J.

[Bud Jackson]

Jung,

I like this a lot too! Thanks for including this, among the many other contributions that MLT members have posted here! I had an arrangement of this for Middle School Band that we played in the ’90’s & early 2000’s. Besides doing typical Band & Orchestra arrangements, I liked to pick music from popular movies, TV shows, Pop, Rock, Classical, Latin & Jazz hits. My students loved the variety, & we performed them at school concerts, & out of town trips, such as to Canada! I had medleys of the Beatles, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, the Grease soundtrack, “A Merry Mozart Christmas,” and many others. And if you’re part of an Orchestra or Band these days, you’ll be playing a variety of Music like this, so this was good training for my students! — Bud

[Bud Jackson]

Chris,

Alright, I just watched the rant about the Stones article on the top 250 Guitarists. Hilarious! It seems that the writer of that article isn’t so knowledgeable about Guitar Greats! I’ve seen George Benson live myself. The guy is incredible, & he’s still around! I don’t know every guitar player that Rick mentioned, but from what I’ve seen of his videos, he KNOWS what he’s talking about!

I wonder if they even mentioned Russell Malone. Another great player who can play any kind of music.

Thanks! — Bud

[Bud Jackson]

Chris,

I meant to watch the Stones rant, but I’ve just been too busy lately. But I will get to it. Rolling Stone is a great paper, but nobody can be right about everything. Also, without Blues, Jazz, R & B & the like, there would be no Rock! Most Americans I think don’t know much about these Music forms that preceded Rock. To me, I like all of it! And as Duke Ellington said — “There’s only two kinds of Music; good & bad!”

— Bud

[Bud Jackson]

Thanks Jung,

See what I mean? it’s hard to keep up with all the posts & comments! I didn’t see this ’til just now!
I’ll write that down & give it a try. I get busy often, (like everyone else I suppose,) and it’s hard to comment on everything that I’d like to! I’ve enjoyed ALL of Mona & Lisa’s Friday videos!

Take care! — Bud

[Bud Jackson]

Chris,

I like Beato’s videos. He’s so knowledgeable, & he can demonstrate everything too! I’m thinking of signing up for his lessons. And yeah, Jaco was a monster player! I looked up “greatest jazz bassists of all time.” Google listed 9, & I’ve seen 5 of them live! Charles Mingus, Ron Carter, Marcus Miller, Ray Brown & Stanley Clarke. (I’ve been to a lot of concerts over the years!)

Thanks for posting that!

— Bud

[Bud Jackson]

Hi Jung, et al,

I’ve heard of Nicky H. but wasn’t aware of all he’s done. He sounds very accomplished! I also enjoyed the different “California Girl” by the Chilliwack Band. I’ve never heard of them until now, but they did great on those high vocal parts! I love all those Native American names in the West, & around the country, such as Chilliwack! And hey, California ain’t the ONLY place on the West Coast! Wash, Ore, & even B.C. & Alaska are all West Coast too! (Then you have a very different kind of West Coast in the UK, Sweden, Spain, France, etc.)

I’m sure I’ve been thru Chilliwack, & I remember going thru the town of Hope, in a traveling band I was in during the mid-80’s. The Canadian Rockies are gorgeous, & the British Columbia Province is so big, you could probably fit all of California, Oregon & Washington into it, & still have room left over!

I had my first hiking adventure earlier, in Manning Provincial Park. But it seems that most people who go to B.C. stick to Vancouver on the mainland, & Victoria on Vancouver Island, named after British Captain George Vancouver, who did lot of exploring in the 18th Century.

My middle school orchestra LOVED playing up in Vancouver & Victoria! And riding on the super ferry was lots of fun! Thanks everyone for your interesting Musical submissions. It brought back lots of memories! — Bud

[Bud Jackson]

Hi Tim,

I agree w/all your choices from “The White Album.” I just didn’t list them all! There’s enough to keep the MLT’s busy for years! But I do appreciate the diversity of covers they do, & that their Originals are surprisingly great! You don’t expect a “cover group” to be able to write their own material too, so “good on them!”

Back to Billy, I was aware of him years ago, but didn’t really know much about his music. I DID see him Live w/Ringo, I think in 1995, and that All-Stars group was a great Band! But I really noticed Preston in Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” Special on the Beatles. I started looking for him on YouTube, & I love that “Nothin’ from Nothin'” that he did. I even started teaching it to students in my Sub Jobs for Music classes last year!

Paul McC. is a pretty darn good pianist, but Billy took it to a different funky level! I’m adding this video of Billy Preston’s vocal on “MY Sweet Lord” from the Tribute to George H. Paul, Ringo, Eric C, Dhani Harrison & many others are on this video, along w/ a large choir. Cheers! — Bud

Billy Preston – My Sweet Lord (Live) – YouTube

[Bud Jackson]

Tim,

All of these Beatle’s songs are great, no doubt. Also, we can’t overlook the keyboard parts that Billy Preston improvised in this song, and others on “Let It Be,” which were — “Don’t Let Me Down,” “Get Back,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy,) and “Something.” He didn’t get credit on the last two, & probably many people aren’t aware of his role here. George H. had invited him to the recording session, but the Beatles had met Billy in 1962, when he was only 16, and in Little Richard’s Band. Brian Epstein had put together a show in Liverpool with the Beatles and Richard’s Band. (I don’t know if anyone else was on the bill.)

As far as favorite Beatles songs; wow! There’s so many! I think of every album as a whole suite of songs. I can play them over in my head, & each one runs into the next, in order. All of the songs mentioned in this forum are also favorites of mine, but I’d like to add these. It’s not just their greatest hits that are so wonderful. I really enjoy the ones that you don’t hear on the radio, such as those from the double “White Album.” These songs also deserve mention: “Sexy Sadie,” “Dear Prudence,” “Cry Baby Cry,” While My Guitar Gently Weeps;” (I also LOVE the MLT version of that!) “Rocky Raccoon,” and many others!

Who else would come up with unusual & interesting songs such as this?

Cry baby cry – The Beatles (LYRICS/LETRA) [Original] – YouTube

This has been a great discussion so far everyone, and THANKS JUNG! — Bud

[Bud Jackson]

Tim,

Right you are, I can’t agree more! Ringo’s drumming was perfect for the Beatles, & he was a great contribution to the Band! If you put the “World’s Greatest Drummer” in with the Beatles, such as Buddy Rich, it wouldn’t have fit the group! Nothing against Buddy; I’ve seen him live & he was fantastic, but the Beatles were so special not just because of the songwriting, but because of the combination of those four specific people!

And I love seeing Ringo live now! His All-Star band is a lot of fun, because each person gets to play their specialty numbers, which brings such variety to their gigs. People have a great time at Ringo’s concerts! Here’s a video of “Photograph” that was done at the same concert my wife & I were at this past June, at Ste. Michelle Winery near Seattle. I hope you enjoy this!

Ringo Starr “Photograph” Woodinville, WA 6/4/2023 – YouTube

youtube.com

Ringo Starr "Photograph" Woodinville, WA 6/4/2023

Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band at Chateau Ste Michelle winery in Woodinville, Washington June 4, 2023. Recorded during his 15th All Starr Band Tour.

[Bud Jackson]

Hi Jung,

I just spent about 2 hours typing a reply to you. Then during proofreading I clicked once and my whole response disappeared. When I finally found it, & finished looking at it, after I posted it all this extra stuff appeared, such as font/face/OOO, etc. I don’t know how to delete these extra things in my post. Do you have any ideas? I don’t have time to redo the whole thing!

— Bud

[Bud Jackson]

Hello again Jung & everyone!

Thanks for your reply Jung! I really like “Watching the Wheels” too, and everything on John’s last album, “Double Fantasy,” with Yoko. That whole era brings back a flood of memories. “I’m Losing You” really gets to me, especially after John’s tragic death about 3 weeks after his album release! It hit the world hard, I think just as much as Kennedy’s death did in ’63.

I had been living in NYC in the ’70’s, & a work friend of mine told me that he lived across the street from John Lennon! I used to walk by the Dakota Apartments from time to time, but never saw him. I didn’t want to “bother” him, but later I read that he would walk freely around the city, in Central Park, & visit local coffee shops. I wish I would have tried harder to see him! I only lived 6 blocks away, in a hotel on 76th Street & Broadway! I went to the park many times & did a lot of walking.

I was taking trumpet lessons from a well-known teacher, who had been playing Jazz in town since the 1930’s. On one of my visits back to New York in 1979, some friends of mine heard about a party on the Upper West Side of NY, near where John & Yoko lived. They said that John was going to drop by this party, so I went! A bunch of us were dancing to ’60’s Beatle’s songs at the party & having a great time! But then John didn’t show up. Maybe it was a ploy to get more people to come to the party! But it was a fun “what if” anyway!

<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>I would walk by the Dakota Apts. sometimes at night in different years, & up on the top floor where John lived, there were strobe lights flashing. I always wondered what the Lennons were doing up there? I should have hung around more. He used to sign </font>autographs &<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> was nice to his fans!</font>

<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>I was in NYC again in September of 1980 taking lessons, & I sat in with Roy Eldridge’s band. (He was a very influential Jazz trumpeter.) </font>Of course,<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> I walked by the Dakota a few times. I had a fairly big collection of Beatle’s </font>albums<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>, & solo albums. Back in Seattle, I bought the new album of John’s, “Double Fantasy,” & just loved it! Later, when I heard the TV news flash that John had been shot, I was in disbelief! I </font>went<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> to the </font>Seattle<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> Center Memorial Gathering for John, & there were people with guitars, and everyone was singing Beatle’s songs! It was a very fitting tribute. But what a senseless </font>tragedy<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>! (I keep welling up as I’m writing this!)</font>

<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>I decided to transcribe “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and “I Am the Walrus,” but arrange the songs for Big Band, </font>(which<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> is what large jazz groups are called.) It took me a month, while working and attending </font>college<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> band classes. I sang the songs while the band accompanied me. We played them at several concerts, including at a Youth Detention Center, where teenagers who’d gotten into trouble were sent. This one boy came up to me afterwards to thank me & said, “now I know what those Strawberry Fields were all about!” </font>

<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>I ended up teaching Music in public schools for 30 years, & rehearsing hundreds of kids to perform in concerts & on field trips out of town & out of state. I’m not trying to brag at all, I’m just glad I’ve been able to do some positive things for young people while doing what I enjoy doing myself! (I’ll be in a concert this Sunday during the MLT </font>Livestream.)

Also, I’ve been to Liverpool 3 times, have done the Beatle Tours, & I’ve seen Paul 4 times & Ringo 3 times! (I wish I could have seen John & George!) But I consider myself lucky!

Now today, a big reason for supporting the MLT’s is because they’re talented, creative young people who are carrying on a Great Music Tradition! And I really relate to that! So, Thank you for the Music!

— Bud Jackson

[Bud Jackson]

Hi Tim, Jung & everyone who’s posted here,

I love all of your favorite Beatle’s songs too! I used to sing them in the car, and a few on stage too! The Beatles were a big part of the ’60’s Music Scene, but as the years pass, I doubt that their popularity & importance will diminish. I believe that their Music transcends time & has a positive message for generations to come. The MLT’s don’t try to copy the Beatle’s exact sound, but offer an up-to-date perspective on the Music, while making it their own! And these ladies continue the tradition & positive message! They also inspire us to listen, sing along & enjoy the music in our own personal way. We can all spread the LOVE!

The Beatles showed how to make a better World through Love. Now, how can each one of us help to bring our broken World back to a place of Peace, Love, Understanding, Tolerance & Appreciation of our Differences, with Equality & Fairness to all as top priorities?

Also, as sad as the Beatle’s breakup was, some pretty incredible Music came out of all 4 members. Here are two excellent examples:

WOMAN. (Ultimate Mix, 2020) – John Lennon (official music video HD) – YouTube

Paul & Linda McCartney – Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey [High Quality] – YouTube

Have a great day everyone! — Bud Jackson

[Bud Jackson]

Hi Jung,

I have a question. Somewhere on this site is a place where you can look up all of your personal comments & other peoples’ replies, just to you, (or me, or whoever.) I haven’t been able to find that since I first saw it.

Any clues? — Bud

[Bud Jackson]

Johhnnypee,

That was very amusing! And I love their voices too! I have a 5th Dimension Greatest Hits CD, & everything on it is wonderful, & so nice to listen to! Thanks for that clip!

I have a question for you; how did you get that interesting name of yours?

— Bud