Wednesday 9 September 2009

The Abbey Road Medley 40 years on

In a moment of weakness I purchased the stereo box set on my way home from work. Having watched England win 5 - 1, thought I'd better dip in and see what all the fuss is about.

So I started with the 'Long Medley' as a taster. Kicking off with "You Never Give Me Your Money" it is clear from Ringo's first drumbeat that someone has sprinkled gold dust on the track. The drum sound is fantastic, bass too. The overwhelming feeling is one of warmth - that staple requirement for all Scoundrels recordings.

"Sun King" reminds me that in 1969 Fleetwood Mac outsold The Beatles, and this is the Fabs little tribute. "Mean Mr Mustard" brought back memories of a ten bob note (up his nose). In 1969 I could get hammered and still have change out of 10s (50p!).

I still love Lennon's "great" before the guitar solo in "Polythene Pam". It's good to hear that they've left in the poor edit at the end when Lennon starts to sing "You should ..." as Macca strikes up with "She Came In .....".

One of my favourite moments has always been the start of "Golden Slumbers" - "Once there was a way .....". This sounds totally fresh as if PMcC is right there in front of you. I still find "smiles awake you when you rise" to be one of the spookiest bits of singing ever, particularly in the context of a lullaby. You can just see the guys behind the desk going "naa".

"Carry That Weight" they surely did/do - for once a prophesy that came true.

The guitar jam and drum solo are just magic. Ringo's drumming never sounded better. The piano feed into "The End" always sounded out of tune to me. It still does.

Well, it's the thumbs up from Da for this one.

2 comments:

  1. Read "Revolution In The Head" for the reason why the piano is out of tune (you're right of course, it is and it always was).

    Then just read "Revolution In The Head" because it's brilliant.

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  2. I read RITH when it was first released and it is a cracking read. I was just remembering my first 'out of tune' listen all those vinyl years ago.

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