George Harrison, Feb; 25, 1943--Nov; 29, 2001
Major Bowes
all (including Frank) with his music. 58 is far too young...
lapup
> The passing of a great musician, who had an effect on us
> all (including Frank) with his music. 58 is far too young...
I read that Sinatra lavished praise on Harrison's "Something" (or was
it Here Comes the Sun/) Did he really call it one of the best? I'm a
little surprised what an emotional effect his passing has had on many
people, since he's not been in the public eye and never had a very
high profile. My father was talking about it tonight, and he's no
former hippie. It must be the lasting resonance of the music. I'd say
a lot of Beatles songs stand up with the great standards. Also some
Motown and Brill building stuff from the '60's
Ben Varkentine
>it Here Comes the Sun/) Did he really call it one of the best?
Apparently, he did...but he also used to credit it to Lennon and McCartney.
I'm a
>little surprised what an emotional effect his passing has had on many
>people, since he's not been in the public eye and never had a very
>high profile.
What surprises me is not that some people are very upset, but that I've seen
more than one person write things like "The Beatles era is now officially
over," or "The dream is over." I mean, I would have thought that happened when
Lennon was killed if not when the band broke up.
Harrison seemed to be a good guy (insofar as you can tell from interviews), and
was a talented songwriter, performer and guitarist.
Ben Varkentine
"The Internet is a quintessential Gen X-Baby Boomer collaboration: Let's fill
our existence with even more minutiae that we can never stop talking about and
act like it's going to improve our undernourished lives."-Joe Queenan
mark
Ben Varkentine <benva...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20011201140934...@mb-mg.aol.com...
> >I read that Sinatra lavished praise on Harrison's "Something" (or was
> >it Here Comes the Sun/) Did he really call it one of the best?
>
> Apparently, he did...but he also used to credit it to Lennon and
McCartney.
>
some occasions-he certainly credits it to George on the tapes I have.
Harrison was imo a great musician and writer-but here in the UK many ill
informed journalists have referred to the 'fact' that Something was the only
Beatles song recorded by Frank-he did a fine version of Yesterday.
mark
lapup <l...@chiasmus.zzn.com> wrote in message
news:ea6ad04b.01113...@posting.google.com...
The Beatles-great writers in fact I'd say their best songs are by far
superior to the old 'standards' A lot of the accepted classics have fine
melodies yet need a great singer(Sinatra) to turn them into great
songs-wheras the rock era heralded writers who wrote more personally-to me
writers such as L&M, Dylan, Harrison, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Paul
Simon etc are certainly lyrically (and musically in some cases) far better
than the 'professional' pre-rock writers.
Part of Sinatra's genius was his ability to take songs with some pretty
corny lyrics and turn them into musical poetry, having said that the older
standards tend to me more melodically rich which certainly suited Frank.
Major Bowes
'professional' pre-rock writers.
You state this as fact, instead of saying that this is only
your opinion...What you need to do is become familiar
with the works of the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, Johnny
Mercer, Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart, Oscar
Hammerstein II, Jummy Van Heusen, Hoagy
Charmichael, Sammy Cahn, and osme of the others.
Lay off rock for a while, it'll do you a world of good,
I'm tellin' ya...
John Larrabee
>your opinion...What you need to do is become familiar
>with the works of the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, Johnny
>Mercer, Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart, Oscar
>Hammerstein II, Jummy Van Heusen, Hoagy
>Charmichael, Sammy Cahn, and osme of the others.
> Lay off rock for a while, it'll do you a world of good,
>I'm tellin' ya...
Hear, hear. I grew up with rock and still have some fondness for my old
favorites (especially the Beatles), but I listen mostly to jazz and other
pre-rock music these days. Once you immerse yourself in the world of the truly
great songwriters (all those mentioned above), rock lyrics, even the "best" by
such people as James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Lennon & McCartney,
Paul Simon, et al, start sounding like so much weepy self-confession told via a
lot of forced rhymes. I have respect for all of them, but they've yet to turn
out a "self-confessional" album as moving or as profound as "In the Wee Small
Hours."
John Larrabee
Co-founder: Laurel & Hardy Central
http://members.aol.com/lhcentral
(To respond via e-mail, remove "nixspam")
"Exit, pursued by a bear"
John Larrabee
>informed journalists have referred to the 'fact' that Something was the only
>Beatles song recorded by Frank-he did a fine version of Yesterday.
"For No One." The Beatles song Frank should have covered. One of McCartney's
best lyrics, tailor-made for Frank.
mark
John Larrabee <car...@aol.comnixspam> wrote in message
news:20011203003820...@mb-mm.aol.com...
> > You state this as fact, instead of saying that this is only
> >your opinion...What you need to do is become familiar
> >with the works of the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, Johnny
> >Mercer, Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart, Oscar
> >Hammerstein II, Jummy Van Heusen, Hoagy
> >Charmichael, Sammy Cahn, and osme of the others.
> > Lay off rock for a while, it'll do you a world of good,
> >I'm tellin' ya...
>
> Hear, hear. I grew up with rock and still have some fondness for my old
> favorites (especially the Beatles), but I listen mostly to jazz and other
> pre-rock music these days. Once you immerse yourself in the world of the
truly
> great songwriters (all those mentioned above), rock lyrics, even the
"best" by
> such people as James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Lennon &
McCartney,
> Paul Simon, et al, start sounding like so much weepy self-confession told
via a
> lot of forced rhymes. I have respect for all of them, but they've yet to
turn
> out a "self-confessional" album as moving or as profound as "In the Wee
Small
> Hours."
>
>
in fact if I had to give my top albums Only The Lonely, Songs for Swingin'
Lovers,No One Cares would be in there, as would FAS & ACJ.
However I still feel Sinatra himself brought a great deal of depth and
profundity to the music(along with Nelson Riddle's haunting arrangement)
The trouble I have lyrically with some of the 'classic' writers is that the
technical process of finding perfect rhyme schemes and structures restricts
the song.
I listen to Sinatra, Ella, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennet and many other similar
performers, the material they sing will last forever imo, however I firmly
believe the greatest lyric writer of the pop era is Bob Dylan-here's a
couple of examples:
All my powers of expression and thoughts so sublime
Could never do you justice in reason or rhyme
Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear,
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer.
The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
Ben Varkentine
>McCartney's
>best lyrics, tailor-made for Frank.
Hmm. I can see that, maybe in a very-slowed down version, something along the
lines of "A Long Night."
Major Bowes
>pop era is Bob Dylan-here's a couple of examples:
Of the pop era, or do you mean the Rock n' roll/Rock
era? (in that he may be...)
The "Pop" era, (era of the "popular" song, since around
the the mid-thirties on to the present time) since the time
when the writing and recording of popular (sales-wise)
songs, became an industry.
Recording equipment and record making has been
around before 1900, But it took decades to develop it
into an industry with it's own composers and performers.
As "pop" composers, a Cole Porter, or a Johnny Mercer
had exactly the same things to work with as a Bob Dylan,
did, years later In essence, they wrote songs, recorded
them, in order to have the public buy them (nothing much
has changed in that regard)...
So the "pop" era takes into account a lot of yardage. In
he whole history of popular tunes, Dylan is not really the
best (in my opinion). My problem with him is; as great as
he was/is, there are so many of his best compositions that
just don't make any practical sense.(like abstract art)
There are some of his songs, where I really can't make
head nor tail of the lyrics...(or maybe it's just me)...
Though, I don't mean to demean Dylan, as a lyricist, he
certainly is one of the greatest ever. The proof of that is in
how many other artists have recorded his compositions,
('nuff said...)
If you take a contemporary, and friend of Dylan's, the
late George Harrison, and compared the two, lyrically.
Just about all of Harrison's tunes, I've had no trouble
understanding, which, to me, would rate him a notch
higher, as a lyricist, in my book...
mark
I respect your opinions, don't agree but I see where you're coming from!
Was it in Friedlands book where he mentioned a rumour that Frank was
planning to make an album produced by Harrison?
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