Cover Versions, Hard-to-find

Special K

Craig McAllister

JC over at the Vinyl Villain has, like many of us in the blogosphere recently, been the target of the DMCA. Quite rightly I suppose, the DMCA have the authority to remove music files and shut your blog down if you are clearly flouting copyright laws by sharing copyrighted material. This very blog nearly shut down over Christmas due to the severity of attention I was receiving, but thankfully this attention has subsided over the past few months. JC on the other hand is being targetted fairly frequently these days. On one occassion, a track by Paul Haig was removed without him knowing, despite the fact that the track in question was owned by the artist himself and not the record company as the DMCA thought. A couple of quick emails back and forwards to Paul Haig’s management later and JC was able to re-post the track. You can read more about it here. In Mr Haig’s honour, JC has asked the blogging community to stand as one in solidarity, with a cheeky Ferguson-McGregor two-fingered salute to any nit-picking internet fascists who may be lurking. Aye! You can count me in! Here at Plain Or Pan?,  Monday 6th April 2009 is officially Paul Haig Day.

postcard-records-sleeve

My own contribution to the cause is a track by Paul’s first band, Josef K. Signed to Postcard Records, they were like Orange Juice’s runny-nosed wee brother. They sounded like the type of band who would come home after the first day at school with both knees out of their new trousers and no leather left on the toes of their Clarks Commandos. Their itchy, scratchy and claustrophobic cheese wire thin guitar lines and elastic band basslines meant they were the epitome of post punk. A thousand and one fringe (meaning both haircut and success) guitar bands owe them a huge debt, whether they realise it or not.

josef-k-postcard-brochure

A couple of years ago, Domino Records released ‘Entymology‘, a compilation of the band’s Postcard and Belgian label Les Disques Du Crepuscules releases. This was my first introduction to Josef K. If you’ve never heard them before, read on. Mr Kapranos, you can shuffle off quietly to your rehearsal room again.

josef-k-disques-300

Sorry For Laughing was the band’s 4th single. Released 28 years ago (!!!) this month it failed to chart anywhere, yet to me it sounds like the definitive Josef K record. Slightly shambolic and out of tune, yet heartfelt and soulful. There’s a nice tambourine jangling about in the background. The Wedding Present were clearly taking notes on how to play those brillo pad scrubbed barre chords too. Hear it here.

josef-k-lyrics

lyrics as they appeared in a Postcard Records leaflet

Sorry For Laughing has been covered quite a few times, most notably by 80s Germanic stylistas Propaganda. Their version is the 80s – glacial synths, machine-like Teutonic vocals, bangs! Crashes! Zang tum tum! I’ve mentioned French covers artists Nouvelle Vague elsewhere before. Their version is lovely, sounding like The Cardigans duetting with Nico on happy pills. Glasgow’s own 1990s have done a version too, but their go at it remains elusive for now. Enjoy the tracks and remember to support the artists who made them etc etc blah blah blah…..

josef-k

Special K

 

Most downloaded tracks, Sampled

Full Of Eastern Promise

Craig McAllister

A month or so ago I told you I’d been listening non-stop to the Amorphous Androgynous compiled ‘A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding In Your Mind Volume 1 – Cosmic Space Music’. You can listen to some tracks and read about it here. Mind duly exploded, I went online and like thousands of you do, I bought some music from iTunes. I’ve always had my own unwritten rule that if the music was physically available, I’d always buy it. Who wants a digital file? Not me, I thought, until Oasis (yes, you read correctly) decided to release the 22 and a half minute Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble mix of current single ‘Falling Down‘ . I had to hear it ASAP and coupled with the only physically-available commercial release being on 2 sides of solid 33rpm 12″ vinyl and a severe lack of decent record shops anywhere near where I live, I opted for the easy option.


falling-down


I once had a letter published in Uncut, where I put the boot into Oasis calling them a ‘brand, not  a band’. I was quite pleased with myself when I wrote that line and even more pleased when they published the letter in the December issue of that year under the headline ‘The Last Noel’. I can’t remember when Oasis were last any good, but never has a band fallen so spectacularly from grace and ended up sounding like a dog’s dinner. They used to be terrific. There. Said it. No shame in that. I saw them live a couple of times between the first and second albums and they were sen-say-sheee-on-alllll. Suddenly, between second and third albums, they stopped being good, and at an alarming rate, their musical quality continues to drop.  ‘Falling Down’ is no different. It’s another Noel-led clunker with lots of fannying about with capos on the second fret, minor chords and open strings…

Em                         G6
the summer sun that blows my mind
Cmaj7                Asus2
Is falling down on all that I’ve ever known
Em             G6
Time to kiss the world goodbye
Cmaj7              Asus2
Falling down on all that I’ve ever known
Cmaj7   Dsus2
Is all that I’ve ever known. etc etc etc….

Yep, just like Wonderwall. But not as good. (No Liam on lead vocals, that’s why). It goes nowhere fast. Actually, not that fast. It takes about 10 minutes to go nowhere. Tedious on a grand scale. I don’t even think Liam and his Sex Beatles sneer could save it. Thankfully, Amorphous Androgynous have.


psychedelic-falling-down


It’s got sitars, flutes, mellotrons and the whole psychedlic shebang going on. Noel’s vocals are looped, sampled and buried deep beneath a drumbeat that sounds like ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ clattering down four flights of stairs. There’s a fuzz bass solo that John Entwistle would’ve been suing over were he still alive. There’s a female backing singer that comes in sounding like Natasha Atlas being stung by a wasp. Or is that the fuzz bass again?  At one point a child speaks the lyrics as the whole thing blisses out like some sort of post-hallicinogenic comedown. Strangely, Chris Martin seems to be playing some sort of half-arsed piano at the same time and the track goes off into a whole new territory. I’d imagine this would be side 2 of the vinyl. The whole thing now sounds like The Orb or an Andrew Weatherall remix of some early ’90s guitar band. Yes. It’s that good. You don’t even mind the violin solo, cos those whoosing effects in the background remind you of the intro music the Stone Roses used at Glasgow Green. Natasha Atlas makes a re-appearance and her and Noel duet for a bit. The whole thing begins to pick up again. By the time the electric guitars and drums have crashed back into it and the whole track has lifted off into outer space you realise 15 or so minutes have passed, and there’s still another 7 to go! I won’t spoil it anymore, but do yourself a favour and download this now!


noel-gallagher


Noel Gallagher falling down.


Songwriters get their inspiration in the strangest of places.

demo, entire show, Hard-to-find, studio outtakes

Come down from the mountain, you have been gone too long…

Craig McAllister

…Spring is upon us, follow my only song. The clocks change this weekend, and the opening line from the Fleet Foxes ‘Ragged Wood’ has been ringing in my head since yesterday, when I logged onto The La’s forums to discover that Lee Mavers, my generation’s Syd Barrett, Arthur Lee and Howard Hughes rolled into one (Eccentric behaviour? Check. Reclusive lifestyle? Check. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? Check) has come out of hibernation for a one-off (or maybe more) guest spot on Pete Doherty’s tour.

mavers-doherty-1

He’s alive! And playing guitar! Picture copied from Las.org

Believe me, this has sent ripples of excitement towards anyone who still faithfully checks out what the La’s have been up to since 1990. For any uninitiated amongst you, here’s a quick summary…

tumbleweed

Yep. Ignoring the ironic attempt at humour, or the eagerly anticpiated yet ultimately unfulfilling 2005 ‘comeback”; Maver’s toothache problems meant he couldnae sing very well. Drummer problems of Spinal Tap proportions meant that Lee’s gardener (he has a gardener?!?) played the smallest drum kit imagineable whilst standing up, The La’s have been pretty much gone, dead and split up. So yeah, ripples of excitement have splashed their way across the ether towards anyone still holding a 20 year old torch in anticipation of the mythical second album. Even a new song would be nice. Or a new chord. Or a new anything. Until then, we’ll have to make do with this…

The internet is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?

They did ‘Son Of A Gun’ as well, which is easy enough to find on yer YouTube. I don’t want to clog this page up with videos when what I really wanted to give you was this……………….the Holy Grail of La’s recordings. Whispered in hushed tones from every corner of the Merseyssippi and beyond, rumoured to be an urban myth, a recording that wasn’t actually in existence, until 2005 when me, myself and I stupidly opened my metaphorical big mouth with one typed line on the La’s website. “The Kitchen tapes? I’ve got them.” Cue mass pandemonium. “No you don’t.” “Yes I do.” And my ego got the better of me. I won’t say how I got a hold of the original tape, but I feel I betrayed that person’s trust in a way. Sorry Mr L, if you’re reading. I know you browse here on occassion. As soon as I had copied the tape for one person it had spread like the River Irvine bursting its banks across the Low Green. It was everywhere. Every bloody file sharing site and half-arsed second rate blog posted it. And took the credit for it.  Anyone could hear the session. I was pissed off. You had to earn your La’s stripes first. You couldn’t just turn up to the party as a newcomer in 2005 and just be given it. But that’s what happened. The emails never stopped coming. “‘Eh a’right fella/la/mate etc. Eh, about dem Kitchen tapes. Any chance of eh, y’know. I’ll send you me addy and a stamp.” I still get the emails to this day, even though if they looked hard enough, any dim wit could find it on most file sharing sites. All my fault. I let it out the bag and I hate myself for it. But you might as well get it from me as poke about on those dodgy file sharing sites full of adverts for swingers in your area.

mavers

But the Kitchen Session itself. What is it? If you’ve never heard of it before now, here’s the facts. Sometime in 1989, the La’s were staying at a cottage in Devon, ostensibly to write songs for their second album. The cottage was owned by Andy MacDonald, label boss of Go! Discs. In preparation for him visiting, the band recorded themselves in the kitchen (good acoustics apparently) doing a half hour or so session on video camera. MacDonald later took the tape back to London where an audio copy of it made it’s way into my lucky bastard hands. The songs are almost complete but not quite. Apart from ‘I Am The Key’ none of the songs had ever been heard before. The session is a masterclass in songwriting. Mavers is clearly in charge, shouting instructions and changes to the assembled band – John Power (bass), Chris Sharrock (bongos, percussion, banging noises, now in Oasis) and Barry Sutton (guitar). “The song’s just started…….Bongos man! Nah, You should come in second….2, 3, 4!”  “ZZ Top! chaka-boom, chaka boom!“

He sings guitar riffs where they would appear in a studio recording. He scats, riffs and sings in that high falsetto that sounds so magical on The Hit Single the band are known for. Where the lyrics are incomplete, he makes up the words to fit the melody. He even sends himself up, him and Power singing Bryan Adams’ ‘Run To You’ at one point when they realise where they got the bassline from. But the songs. The songs! Pure gold! ‘Our Time’ features one of the best lines in any songs, ever.

“But the reasons unravel through the seasons I travel.”

Good, eh? I must’ve played my 17 year old tape about 300 times. As soon as I had the technology I converted it to a digital file, but for maximum effect I still like playing that old tape. It’s just about the best piece of music I own. Well. Apart from (insert obvious choice here) and so and so, but you know what I mean. The tape has reached such mythological status that it even has it’s own Wikipedia page (!) In fact, it’s so good only last week Mavers declared it “fucking rubbish“. Yes. It is that good. There is an inferior quality version in circulation which includes a daft R’n’B tune at the end. But if you want the original hi-fi/lo-fi master tape to wav file, the full unedited 34 minute Kitchen Session is here. I hope you enjoy every minute of it as much as I have. I’ve listened to it twice as I’ve written this article and it still knocks my socks off.

The official unofficial tracklisting is:

  • When Will I See You Again
  • Our Time
  • Robberman
  • She Came Down In The Morning
  • Was It Something I Said
  • It’s Not Impossible
  • Tears In The Rain
  • I Am The Key
  • band talking

    • A plea. My recording is taken straight from the video tape and converted to audio. If anyone out there has the video, well, I’m your best pal. Drop me a line. I can send you me addy and a stamp if you like, la.

    *If you like The La’s, and in particular studio outtakes, demos and the likes, you might want to click here. I put the music back up recently for a polite reader from Sweden.

    Hard-to-find, Sampled

    Collective Collected

    Craig McAllister

    I’m not a fan of posting new releases. There’s a million other blogs that do just that, and do it far better than I can. I actually don’t know enough useless information about new artists to make anything I write about them remotely interesting, so tonight I feel like I’m swimming a wee bit out of my depth. However, once in a blue moon a new track comes along that blows me away. Tonight that blue moon is shining once again.

    animal-collective

    I’ve been aware of Animal Collective ever since my pal Quinny mentioned them a couple of years ago. I’ve even got myself a real bought and paid for ginuwine CD copy of their latest album, ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion‘. More shame me, but I never paid much attention to Quinny’s goings on about them, or even the new album. I wish I had. Their new single, ‘My Girls’ has been getting tons of airplay on BBC6 Music. Why didn’t I notice that track that one time I played the album, I thought.  It’s like the Flaming Lips trying to play New Order, I thought. It’s got handclaps and bleepy noises and everything on it, I thought. It’s one thumping bassline away from You Got The Look by The Source featuring Candi Staton, I thought. It’s ripe for remixing, I thought. Pity then, I thought, that the Animal Collective are generally not for the remix game. Strange, given that their sound relies heavily on old keyboards, samples, loops and found sounds. Thank goodness for t’internet.

    animalcollectivemygirls

    From seemingly out of nowhere I found about half a dozen remixes of ‘My Girls.’ I’m not sure how official they are. It could be that some wee guy made them all up in his bedroom with his laptop. Bits of some them sound as if they were. Others sound fantastic. See what you think…

    The original version is here.

    The Hatchmatik Disco Bootleg is here.

    The Gigamesh Proper House Remix is here.

    The Mexicans With Guns Remix is here.

    The Dave Wrangler Remix is here.

    The Swine Forkbeard Remix is here.

    The Skinny Friedman DJ Edit is here.

    Phew. I’m off to reacquaint myself with the album. It looks like this…

    animalcollective

    I’ll tell you what it sounds like later.

    Maybe I didn’t waste that tenner after all.

    Hard-to-find

    That’s why I’m queasy like Sunday morning

    Craig McAllister

    And Sunday afternoon. And probably most of Monday too. Hangovers. Phhhhhhh. Not had one for a while. This one’s a cracker. I had it all planned that I would put up a couple of rip-roaring posts today, but that’s just not happening.  Got that constant sicky feeling and my head feels like, eh…..eh…..I dunno. Tch. You know what it feels like. Well. You think you do, but this one’s 10 times worse. This hangover is a killer.

    hangover

    I’d love to be under the covers with Tom Waits or Nick Drake on in the background. But with Plain Or Pan juniors 1 and 2 and a Mum who expects the Best Mother’s Day Ever, this idea is an absolute non-starter. Instead, the next best thing – Here‘s Tom Waits doing ‘Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet’, his collaboration with Gavin Bryars from 1993. It starts with a sample of a tramp singing the title over and over and ends with Tom Waits growling the same line on top of the saddest string section imaginable. If they were brave enough, Disney could score a film using this track. It’s melancholic, soulful and the perfect soundtrack to the hell that is my heid right now. Like it? Try this version from a Denver radio station broadcast in October 1999. Just Waits and a piano. Taken from a bootleg called ‘You’ll Like This One’. Aptly named.

    tom-waits

    Just in case you’re in danger of slashing your wrists and ending it all forever after putting yourself through those 2 tracks of downbeat maudlin melancholia, here‘s a raucous wee track to put you out your misery.

    johnny-shane

    The Grand Poobah, the King of the Hangover himself, Shane MacGowan‘s limited release from 1994, ‘That Woman’s Got Me Drinking’, featuring none other than Captain Jack Sparrow himself on guitar. Johnny Depp, in case you were wondering. Sounds like The Pogues doing Motorhead. Now there’s an excellent concept.

    Business as normal from tomorrow folks. Stay with me!

    tennents-lager-lovelies

    That woman’s got me drinking

    Hard-to-find

    I’m still here…

    Craig McAllister

    …but real work is presently curtailing any activity. New stuff up some.

    teacher

    In the meantime, did you ever get the fantastic Plain Or Pan compilation album from  a couple of months ago? CD1 here. CD2 here. Includes artwork!

    Cover Versions, Hard-to-find

    Baby I’m Yours Double-Whammy

    Craig McAllister

    Watching the telly last night (with one eye on the pages of Mojo) I was paying loose attention to the Arctic Monkeys Live At The Apollo that Channel 4 were showing. Had it been exciting I’d have no doubt put Mojo aside, but jeez, on this evidence the Arctic Monkeys make the Grateful Dead look like The Ramones. My ears picked up quite a bit at the end when, over the closing credits, they played this, a lovely version of Barbara Lewis‘s ‘Baby I’m Yours’ (written by Van ‘Do The Hustle!’ McCoy, fact fans).

    arctic-monkeys

    Now. The Arctic Monkeys have somewhat passed me by. Had I been 18, I’d have probably seen them live 30 times by now. I’d have followed them half-way round the country and slept on floorways and in doorways if there was half a chance I’d get a ticket for that night’s gig. But then, I did all that for the Stone Roses and being married with children and approaching 40, it’s no’ really for me anymore. Plus. The name. It’s not very good. I don’t want to like a band called the Arctic Monkeys. It’s all wrong. Had they been called The somethings, The anythings, The blah blah blah‘s, I’d have been paying more attention. I’m sure it’s put other folk off. If you’re reading, Mr Monkey, you might want to consider a name change. Increase your demographic. Although I’m sure you’re perfectly happy with what you have. Keep it for the kids. Grown ups cannae wear skinny jeans anyway, unless you’re Franz Ferdinand. Did you know they were pushing 40 as well? Incredibly 3 of them still have size 29 waists (I think I read that in the Sunday Post). I haven’t been in size 29 Levis since I was 19. Thank god for King Tubby on the bass. At least he brings the average waist size of Franz Ferdiand back up to something approaching normality for men of their age. Anyway, where was I?

    arctic-covers

    Oh aye. The Arctic Monkeys. Yep. Passed me by a wee bit. I have the debut album but not the singles. Not that much of a fan. Had I been buying the singles, I’d have known that ‘Baby I’m Yours’ was out in 2006, as the 3rd track on the ‘Leave Before The Lights Go Out’ single. I’d have known it’s widely available on a bootleg called ‘Covers Mixtape’. I’d also have known that it was a duet of sorts with the singer from a now defunct Liverpudlian band called The 747s. I’d have known that wee Alex had a penchant for all things soulful, orchestral and 60s long before those Last Shadow Puppets bought their first Scott Walker album. So credit where it’s due. Not content with banging out generic guitar based indie rock with interesting lyrics, he’s broadened his horizons. And ‘Baby I’m Yours’ can now be regarded as the prototype for his grand vision. It’d make a great first dance at your wedding. As I mentioned in the Fleet Foxes post below, why didn’t anyone tell me about this before now?

    barbara-lewis

    Contrast and compare. Here‘s Barbara Lewis‘s original million-selling version. Look about online and you’ll find countless country versions, a disco version by Suzanne Stevens and a faithful re-recording for the Mermaids soundtrack by Cher. None of them a patch on the Arctic Monkeys, and that’s the truth. I’m now off to download that ‘Covers Mixtape’ I mentioned.

    Cover Versions, demo, Dylanish

    Outfoxed

    Craig McAllister

    In blogging terms, this post is chip paper. Yesterday’s news. Actually, make that last weeks news. You no doubt know already, but main Fleet Fox Robin Pecknold has gone and recorded some stuff under the alias of A White Antelope. What can be found so far online is pretty good – finger-picked, layered in harmony and as poofy sounding as you could possibly need. I like it. How come no-one told me about this before now?

    white-antelope

    Here‘s his/their cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’. Last time I saw Dylan play this he went for the marching military funeral band approach to the arrangement. A far cry from his early 60s live versions when Joan Baez would often rudely interrupt with her strangled attempts at harmony, or his mid 70s Rolling Thunder versions with the clipped guitar and pedal steel accompaniment. White Antelope has listened to the original recording and replicated it well. Better even. But then, if you’ve been keeping up to date with what’s hot and what’s not in the world of music, you knew that already.

    Cover Versions, Double Nugget, Dylanish, Gone but not forgotten, Hard-to-find

    Like A Rolling Stone quadruple-whammy

    Craig McAllister

    Probably Bob Dylan‘s most famous song, Like A Rolling Stone shows no sign of gathering moss just yet. He’s still playing it live to this day, and unusually for 21st Century Bob, it sounds fairly similar to the original 1965 version released on Highway 61 Revisited. Dylan loves playing around with songs, changing them, playing them in different keys and in diferent tempos (LARS was originally in 3/4 waltz time). If you get him on a good night, he might have told the band that the key has changed before they start playing it. On a great night (Barrowlands 2004) he might even conduct the lucky few in the room in a bit of a singsong. “We musta played that song a thousand times and ain’t nobody ever kept up with us.” For Bob to say anything to his audience, never mind a dish out praise as flattering as that, is rare indeed. Given that Bob likes to change his songs so much, I’m sure The Old Zim would like, even dig, the versions below.

    jimihendrixmontereykl3

    How does it feel? Burny, of course

    I say ‘dig’ because, as you no doubt know, in between changing the sound of the rock guitar forever and before disappearing somewhere down flare city, Jimi Hendrix was Dylan fan numero uno back in the 60s. His version is from the Monterey Music Festival in 1967. It’s long, bluesy and uh, kinda groovy. Yeah, dig brother (You get the idea). Jimi set fire to his guitar at the end of this show. Everyone thinks he did this all the time on stage, but he didn’t. Monterey was one of those rare occassions.

    mick-ronson

    Another guitar hero who had a bash at LARS was Mick Ronson. Redolent with full-on Ziggy Les Paul power chords and rather shitty sounding drums, this version is remarkable in that it features David Bowie on vocals. It wouldn’t sound out of place on ‘Pin Ups’ (my 2nd favourite Bowie album, just behind Hunky Dory). Choc-full of spectacular guitar sounds, it twangs, squeals and screeches it’s way from beginning to end in just over 4 minutes.

    creation_pic

    The Creation were a pslightly psych garage rock band from England. But you probably knew that too. They famously described their music as ‘red with purple flashes’ and for most of the time this was true. Obviously, Alan McGee was a fan. Obviously. ‘Making Tyme’, ‘How Does It Feel?’ ‘Painter Man’ (aye, later done by Boney M) are all fantastic speed/acid fuelled foot-to-the-floor romps throught the tale-end of the 60s. Shame, then, that their version of LARS is so tame. Given that Bob was something of a Holy Grail for many of these musicians, it’s possible that The Creation were just paying too much respect to the tune. I don’t know, but listening to it doesn’t really conjure up the red and purple flashes I’d like.

    soupgreens

    Oh smile, ffs

    The same cannot be said for The Soup Greens. Recorded in just one take, this is garage band rock at it’s finest. The Soup Greens have the distinction of making LARS sound like Louie Louie or Wild Thing, and given that that’s pretty much the only songs they knew before recording this (there are only 8 known Soup Greens recordings in existence), it makes perfect sense. There’s echo, twang, Farfisa organ and that nagging insistant beat that Julian Cope clearly heard and ripped off before passing it off as an original recording. Back in the mid 80s, Cope was indeed flying in the face of fashion, but World Shut Your Mouth would not have been possible without this record, that much is clear. Even with the vinyl snaps, crackles and pops, it. Is. A. Belter.

    Bonus Track. You know that song Groovin’? “Groovin’ waah-waah-wah (harmonica riff) on a Sunday afternoon waah-wah-wah” It was by The Rascals. Before they became The Rascals, they were the Young Rascals. If you watch The Beatles at At Shea Stadium closely (google it – it’s downloadable!) you’ll spot a ‘The Young Rascals Are Coming’ banner. That’s them. They do a fairly good West Coast version of LARS. You can hear it here. Cheerio!

    Gone but not forgotten, Hard-to-find, studio outtakes

    Take your knickers off and let’s go!

    Craig McAllister

    Hmmmmm…it appears that the internet police have been at it again. Both versions of Revolution take 20 have been were mysteriously deleted from my file sharing account. If you’ve visited specifically for them, read on…

    It’s amazing to think that, 41 years after initially being recorded, a new mix of The Beatles ‘Revolution‘ has made it’s way out of the box marked ‘Masters’ and onto the internet. Not just any old new mix, oh no! The mix getting every Beatles bore’s knickers in a twist is the fabled Revolution Take 20, all uninterrupted 10min 46 seconds of it. Shooby-doo-wop, ah-wow!

    beatles-68

    The history books point to this take being recorded on the 4th June 1968 and apparently had John Lennon singing the whole of the backing vocals whilst lying on his back. The Master Tape box was labelled ‘Revolution – Mama Papa’. Sadly (for me) it doesn’t feature Michelle Phillips on guest vocals, or even Papa John banging away on a tambourine somewhere in the background. The ‘Mama Papa’ refers to the backing vocals Lennon sings in the second half of the song (starting around the 5min 40s mark). Listen out, too, for the amusing studio chatter at the start and a wee bit of Yoko Ono at the end.

    lewisohn2

    Lennon recording his vocals. Taken from the excellent Mark Lewisohn Beatles Sessions trainspotters delight book.

    Sonically, Take 20 lies somewhere between the laid-back Beach Boys-y acoustic version of Revolution 1 on side 3 of the White Album and Revolution 9’s looped tapes and weird noises. There’s some harmonica buried deep in the mix, some nonsensical Lennon mumbles, what sounds like George Harrison’s guitar doing an impression of an air raid siren and all manner of weird things going on. It goes without saying, of course, but any discerning fan of The Beatles needs this take. I’m certain it’s spreading across the interent like a happy virus even as I type, but you can get it here (high quality mp3 file) or here (higher quality flac file). Whatchawaitin’ for?

    beatles-white1

     Bonus Track! At the start of September ’68, Paul McCartney got pissed off with Pete Townshend for suggesting that The Who were the only band still capable of rocking out any more. By the 13th of September The Beatles had recorded this, the 21st take of Helter Skelter. Blisters on their fingers indeed!