The Residents = The Beatles?! Well not likely but...
Daniel Swinney
by Daniel Swinney
(Note: Take this all with a grain of salt. I'm just compiling this for my
own
amusement, and hopefully yours too. I'm not saying that it's NOT true, but
I'm
certainly not saying that it IS. Also, I imagine that if the Residents were
indeed formed by the Beatles, that they no longer are. I'm 99% sure that the
Residents' lineup has changed a lot over the years, possible with no
remaining
members remaining. Also, I doubt Paul McCartney would have been involved. He
did his whole Wings thing, and I understand that he and John Lennon weren't
exactly on the best terms at the time. I imagine it would have to be Lennon
[the wildest experimentalist of the group] and George Harrison [who I've
heard
was the joker of the band]. Maybe even Yoko Ono, since she was pretty wild
herself, and she and Lennon were so inseparable. And I imagine if they
wanted
Ringo Starr there, he was probably tagging along too. I could definitely see
a Lennon/Harrison/Ono/Starr grouping creating the early Residents catalog.
Anyway, enjoy.)
Meet the Residents: Both the cover and album art are a parody of Meet the
Beatles.
On the inside, the Residents are listed as John Crawfish, Paul McCrawfish,
George
Crawfish, and Ringo Starfish.
While most Beatles fans were outraged with this parody, the Beatles
themselves
were recorded as finding it hilarious. The Residents seemed to find humor in
the
outrage as well, as subsequent Residents flyers bore the sarcastic tag line,
"WHY
DO THE RESIDENTS HATE THE BEATLES?"
John Lennon died during the preparation for the Mole Show tour. The next
tour the
Residents played debuted the skull mask replacing one of their eyeball
masks.
The Beatles Play the Residents and the Residents Play the Beatles: Well, the
title
says it all. The "Beatles Play the Residents" part is especially intriguing.
The Residents' Performance for the 5th anniversary of Rather Ripped Records
was
entitled 'Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! Can't You See That It's True; What the Beatles
Did to
Me, "I Love Lucy" Did to You.'
The band's first demo tape, entitled "The Warner Brothers album" consisted
of 39
songs. This recording is so rare, that only one track from it has surfaced,
at
least to the knowledge of www.residents.com. That track is a cover of
"Strawberry Fields."
Homer Flynn, of the Cryptic Corporation, in 1998 was interviewed by Ram
Samudrala,
and the Beatles were among his list of influences on the Residents' music.
The Residents' first CD-Rom, Freak Show, was published by The Voyager
Company. The
same company also published the first ever full length feature film CD-Rom,
The
Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night"
From Lynn Ginsburg's article, "Tales and Tunes of the Residents" --
One of the surprises of these world-wide tours was the discovery that
The Residents
were immensely popular abroad. They found themselves filling stadiums
throughout
Europe and Japan, eagerly pursued by paparazzi seeking to reveal the
"real" story
behind the mysterious Residents. Not for the first time in their career,
they could
identify with their established anti-selves, the Beatles.
www.residents.com's server hosts the official FAQ of Paul McCartney's
Internet Mailing List.
Several of the Residents' videos were produced by a guy called -Starr-
Sutherland.
The early Residents experiments first leaked out in 1969. The Beatles broke
up in 1970, and
in much of their later work, they had delved into the experimental sound
collage techniques
that the Residents would implement so often. There are several moments on
_Magical Mystery
Tour_ that sound as though they could have been lifted from Duckstab or
Fingerprince, most
noteably in "I am the Walrus," though "Blue Jay Way" is another excellent
example. "Flying,"
from the same album, was the first track covered on "The Residents Play the
Beatles and the
Beatles Play the Residents." It was supposedly picked because it's the only
Beatles song
that credits all four members as authors. The cover art to MMT also shows
the four Beatles
in costumes and masks, very stylistically similar to the various costumes
that the Residents
wore before settling into their eyeball image.
Speaking of experimental work during this time period, John Lennon released
3 albums with his
wife Yoko Ono over a one year stretch, each of them arguably as strange as
anything the
Residents ever released.
The Beatles also established themselves as loving to play pranks on and
create mysteries for
their audience. Notorious examples are the entire "Paul is dead" backmasking
phenomenon, and
the subsequent laying of "clues" that suggested that Paul had indeed died
and been replaced
by a lookalike. Examples cited by theorists at the time were various
subtleties on cover
art, and the line from Glass Onion, "The Walrus is Paul," in reference to
the aforementioned
"I Am the Walrus." In some cultures, the walrus is a symbol of death.
_Abbey Road_ featured a song entitled "Sun King," likely a tribute to Sun
Ra, also listed as
a major influence on the Residents. The Residents have also covered material
by Ra.
The Residents are allegedly (everything about the Residents is "allegedly")
from Louisiana and
currently residing "outside of San Francisco" (How far outside?). How, then,
did it come to be
that the England-dwelling Phillip "Snakefinger" Lithman was their biggest
collaborator from
their debut as a performing act to Lithman's untimely death? (Side note...
The fact that the
last ever Snakefinger single, "There's No Justice in Life" was released the
day that Lithman
died just smacks of the same irony that perpetrated the whole "Paul is Dead"
conspiracy.)
Tom
> title
> says it all. The "Beatles Play the Residents" part is especially intriguing.
>
I don't believe in Beatles
Please everybody if we haven't done what we should have done we tried.
Tell Me Why
Close your eyes
In The Town
This Happened once
I'm a
Mr. Moonlight
Goo Goo G'joob
yeah yeah yeah
instrumental parts from A Day in The Life, I Am The Walrus, Love You To
Some studio talk, and lots of stuff I couldn't make out in one listen.
Naz Nomad
Flynn (two of the original 4 Residents, along with John Kennedy and Jay
Clem, both of whom have left the fold) are the Residents, and they are from
Louisiana. Homer is from a little town called Rayville, which is in the
northeast corner of Louisiana, west of Vicksburg, Mississippi on Interstate
20. I know this because a good friend of mine met Homer's father, who
stills lives in Rayville. They all met in college in the late 60's at
Centenary College in Shreveport, LA, which is in the northwest corner of the
state, east of Dallas on I-20. They moved to San Francisco to make movies,
and the music thing was sort of a side thing, since they were intending on
doing the soundtracks for their movies, as well.
Daniel Swinney <dan...@amalgamusic.com> wrote in message
news:3b3b8410$1...@news.utk.edu...
Gilbert Neal
"Naz Nomad" <dp1...@nospam.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:OFn47.5600$23.6...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
> The Residents are/were DEFINITELY not the Beatles. Hardy Fox and Homer
> Flynn (two of the original 4 Residents, along with John Kennedy and Jay
> Clem, both of whom have left the fold) are the Residents,
Is this why nothing they did after 1983 or so has been any good in relation
to their old stuff? IMHO.
and they are from
> Louisiana. Homer is from a little town called Rayville, which is in the
> northeast corner of Louisiana, west of Vicksburg, Mississippi on
Interstate
> 20. I know this because a good friend of mine met Homer's father, who
> stills lives in Rayville. They all met in college in the late 60's at
> Centenary College in Shreveport, LA, which is in the northwest corner of
the
> state, east of Dallas on I-20. They moved to San Francisco to make
movies,
> and the music thing was sort of a side thing, since they were intending on
> doing the soundtracks for their movies, as well.
>
> Daniel Swinney <dan...@amalgamusic.com> wrote in message
Oh, Tim. You are wise. How is it that you know so much about the secretive
Residents?
TELL ME NOW!!!!
AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs
<c22d8067.0106...@posting.google.com>, Blac...@email.msn.com
stated:
The track is called "Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life," right? What is
this "The Beatles Play the Residents..." stuff? :o)
I remember the first time I heard that -- on the PA system waiting for the show
to begin (the show was a campus performance by an old prog rock "band"). The
construction of that collage is very dreamlike -- it really created a nice,
nightmarish atmosphere in the place, very much of the feeling of Revolution #9.
The Residents were savvy marketers back then.
interstate5
AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs
>_Abbey Road_ featured a song entitled "Sun King," likely a tribute to Sun
>Ra
Likely a tribute to Sun Ra? LOL.
interstate5
Tom
> >
> >> The Beatles Play the Residents and the Residents Play the Beatles: Well, the
> >> title
> >> says it all. The "Beatles Play the Residents" part is especially intriguing.
> >>
> >Tell Me What You See
> >I don't believe in Beatles
> >
> >Please everybody if we haven't done what we should have done we tried.
> >
> >Tell Me Why
> >Close your eyes
> >In The Town
> >This Happened once
> >I'm a
> >Mr. Moonlight
> >Goo Goo G'joob
> >yeah yeah yeah
> >
> >instrumental parts from A Day in The Life, I Am The Walrus, Love You To
> >
> >Some studio talk, and lots of stuff I couldn't make out in one listen.
>
>
>
> The track is called "Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life," right? What is
> this "The Beatles Play the Residents..." stuff? :o)
>
was called "The Beatles Play the Residents-The Residents Play the
Beatles." The Frank Johnsons Favorites compilation uses that name for
the single, though the Best of Ralph comp just says "'Beyond the
Valley of a Day in the Life' from the single for the same name."
Dr. Rev. Chuck, M.D., P.A.
>
> The Residents are/were DEFINITELY not the Beatles. Hardy Fox and Homer
> Flynn (two of the original 4 Residents, along with John Kennedy and Jay
> Clem, both of whom have left the fold) are the Residents, and they are from
> Louisiana. Homer is from a little town called Rayville, which is in the
> northeast corner of Louisiana, west of Vicksburg, Mississippi on Interstate
> 20. I know this because a good friend of mine met Homer's father, who
> stills lives in Rayville. They all met in college in the late 60's at
> Centenary College in Shreveport, LA, which is in the northwest corner of the
> state, east of Dallas on I-20. They moved to San Francisco to make movies,
> and the music thing was sort of a side thing, since they were intending on
> doing the soundtracks for their movies, as well.
Didn't they take the name "The Residents" from Uncle Martin's favorite band
from the old "My Favorite Martian" show?
Matthew Smith
>Didn't they take the name "The Residents" from Uncle Martin's favorite band
>from the old "My Favorite Martian" show?
The story goes that the name was put on the envelope of a rejected
demo tape for Warner Brothers. The band had not selected a name, so
the tape was returned to "Residents" care of the address they
provided.
I loved My Favourite Martian growing up, but I've not seen it in
years and years. Was the band in the show really named The Residents?
-Chris "hey wow... haven't posted in this group for... 5 years" Combs
Chris Combs
>Didn't they take the name "The Residents" from Uncle Martin's favorite band
>from the old "My Favorite Martian" show?
The story goes that the name was put on the envelope of a rejected
Dr. Rev. Chuck, M.D., P.A.
>
> "Dr. Rev. Chuck, M.D., P.A." <cdub@_REMOVETHIS_erols.com> doth spoke:
>
> >Didn't they take the name "The Residents" from Uncle Martin's favorite band
> >from the old "My Favorite Martian" show?
>
> The story goes that the name was put on the envelope of a rejected
> demo tape for Warner Brothers. The band had not selected a name, so
> the tape was returned to "Residents" care of the address they
> provided.
>
> I loved My Favourite Martian growing up, but I've not seen it in
> years and years. Was the band in the show really named The Residents?
Uncle Martin had a radio which could receive a certain Martian pop
station, which played an unlistenable piece of cacaphony by an outfit
called... The Residents.
Or so High Times magazine said.
Moore's Code
WELL! No wonder!!
Anybody know more about that episode?
>>listening to great 50s Chet Atkins twofers== my dad plays bass on em!
Ray Walston
john kennedy sent this from dallas alice:
http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/cdrsmclub/residents.html
http stands for 'High Times/Trouser Press'
It Won't Be Long,
Bixby Purina
(My Favorite Marshall Tucker Band)
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Alex Van Starrex
Must be time to dig out my old "Third Reich 'n' Roll" LP. I'll never hear
"The Twist" the same way ever again.
--
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--
Dr. Rev. Chuck, M.D., P.A. wrote in message
<3B555322.370E@_REMOVETHIS_erols.com>...
Dr. Rev. Chuck, M.D., P.A.
>
> High Times? Well THERE'S a reliable source of collective memories!
>
> Must be time to dig out my old "Third Reich 'n' Roll" LP. I'll never hear
> "The Twist" the same way ever again.
Ah, but don't you wish the story WAS true?