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Y2/D254 - Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate...
Got up in time to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade this morning. Mother called in the middle of it - but at least she waited until after all of the Broadway musical performances. The only good one was SIX and well Annie.
The rest, I don't remember - well outside of the fact that I kept wondering if the Moulin Rouge songstress was freezing - although I know they have heat lamps. Also, I was impressed that with few exceptions, everyone in the crowd watching the parade was wearing masks, and most of the folks in marking bands that were not blowing on an instrument, wore them too.
I made my traditional meal of rock cornish game hen (only make it once year), green beans, and instead of wild rice, which I can no longer digest, baked sweet potato. And gluten-free pumpkin pie courtesy of The Maine Pie Company for desert. I seasoned the hen with olive oil, marjoram, rosemary, sage, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. It turned out well - but it may have been a little over-done - I waited until the temperature gauge reached 180 as directed. (Last year it had been underdone, so I was erring on the side of caution.)
Also managed to do laundry today - I picked 1pm to do it, which worked out well - since everyone was busy eating or going to someone else's house to eat. The trick to doing laundry in a 77 unit apartment complex is to pick times when no one wants to do it. Everyone wants to do it in the morning, people hate doing it in the afternoon and evening, particularly on Thanksgiving.
As promised in previous posts, I watched Peter Jackson's Beatles Documentary "Get Back" on Disney Plus while cooking my meal and eating it. It's excellent.
Apparently the Beatles, who got together back in 1957 as teenagers, stopped touring around 1964/65 due to the political push-back they were getting from the press, various political groups, the government and fans. (The Beatles are extremely liberal). They got tired of the crap. So went full on recording studio - which allowed them to experiment more with albums and recordings. Also fix recordings, and record separately but edit stuff together after the fact. As a result, the Beatles seldom saw each other when they were recording their albums, and were able to do albums as a band without much interaction - since each the tracks could later be laid and edited together. Sometime in 1967 or 1968, they did a live television performance as a group and a had a blast, so came up with the brilliant idea of doing a television special, with a documentary of their recording sessions, a live televised concert, and an album released. At the beginning of 1969, they booked a studio space (Twickerham Studios - which was unheated and not comfortable) which could be leased to them for about three to four weeks, and scheduled the live performance around the end of < January or thereabouts. They started January 1. They had the equivalent of three weeks prior to their dress rehearsal to write 17 new songs for the "Get Back" album and the live performance. They barely had four written by the third day, and they were still very rough. And got a camera crew to film their sessions.
Long story short? The television special was cancelled. The footage of those recording sessions never released until now. And the only outcome was the album Get Back and the famous "rooftop concert". The unseen sessions have long been speculated as providing information on why the Beatles broke up as a band, and possibly are behind their break up. The sessions were released to Peter Jackson, who with the remaining Beatles cooperation has put together a documentary with that footage. The result is being a fly on the wall during the Beatles recording sessions for that album, and concert.
It's excellent - it you are a music process nerd. (Which I am.) It doesn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, which is that Paul pretty much did all the work and ran the show, with John kind of lending a hand, and George and Ringo passively moping in the background. The truth of the matter is that both George and Ringo were mercilessly outgunned in the talent department by John and Paul. It's kind of obvious in the recording sessions. John and Paul write all the songs, and instrumentations. They have an uncanny ear for how melodies work. George tries to collaborate and participate - but they shut him down. Ringo doesn't appear to care any longer, and is just floating on by. He says very little and just plays along. He's so subdued, one can't help but wonder if he's just stoned. At one point Linda Eastman (McCartney's wife) mentions how calming an influence Ringo is to be around.
I kind of realized half-way through - why the band fell apart. They'd begun to get on each other's nerves, and were no longer comfortable with each other. Paul's the only one who seems to care. John, well, he's seldom at the sessions. Most of the time it's Paul doing it by himself, with George & Ringo, or his wife. John always arrives late with Yoko, and seems to leave early. But he and Paul do riff off each other well, and it's clear John collaborates well with Paul, when he cares. George, none of them take seriously. George creates a song that actually reminds me of a Monkey's tune, Me Mi Mine, which the everyone but Ringo kind of shuts down. At one point George tries to lend a chord to Get Back, and is told its too sweet or corny and doesn't work by Paul. Paul also is kind of fed being the boss - and doesn't want to be the boss. He even apologizes to George for annoying him while trying to help him, and George says - you aren't annoying me any more. (I got the feeling that they were hyper aware of being filmed. Most of their conversations are muffled. And Paul states at one point that he can't do this while being films - while John just states, "ignore Candid Camera". I can see why they didn't release the footage until now.)
At any rate, towards the end of the first episode of this three part documentary, George calmly tells John, Paul and Ringo that he's leaving the band.
George: So, I've decided to leave the band.
Beatles: Wait, what? When?
George: Oh, now.
Beatles: Now?? As in this moment...
George: Yep, right now. I'll see you at the clubs. By now.
Beatles: ....
Camera Crew: Cut tape.
According to George's diary - he wrote : "I decided to leave the Beatles today, I told them I'd see them at the clubs and came home."
The Beatles come back from lunch. And they've not processed it. And have no clue what to do next.
Michael (one of the producers of the documentary): So George just up and left the band?
John: Yup.
Michael: What do you plan to do about the concert - are we cancelling it?
John: Well, if he doesn't come back tomorrow, we'll get Eric Clapton.
Michael: Has anyone else ever tried to leave the band?
John: Well, Ringo...
John's rather matter of fact about it. They do have a violent jam session, and he does state that he can't believe they are going as if nothing happened. (I have a feeling the cursing and shouting was off-screen.)
Later..the music producers and documentary producers discussing what happened.
Michael: From what I saw, George was kind of in a box...while Paul and John called all the shots.
Neil: They tend to do most of the collaborating, Paul and John do
Michael: It was like George vs. John and Paul and whatever they wanted happened...after several days of that, I'd be pissed too.
Martin: Well, it's not like they are collaborating that much at the moment, or have been...kind of drifting apart
Neil: They are doing it enough to appear on the label.
John: So cats and kittens, what are we going to do, what's the plan?
Michael: We're not sure yet
John: Figure out how to split up all of George's instruments?
Michael: You know, when I was an actor I did this play with Orson Wells called Chimes at Midnight..
John (getting up to go): Orson Wells..
Michael: Yeah, and one day he just left the stage.
John: Said I'll see you at the clubs..
Michael: Came back an hour later though..
On Sunday the Beatles, Linda and Yoko meet at Ringo's house to try and convince George to return to the band. The meeting does not go well.
That's how part one ends. LOL! It makes sense though - I've listened to all the Beatles albums, and to George's songs...and well, let's just say George isn't the memorable talent. Also he's very passive aggressive. John and Paul are not passive aggressive, but George and Ringo are - and as a result neither get much say in the collaborations. They kind of float in the background.
***
Outside of that - haven't done much. I need to exercise more, somehow. Maybe I'll take a lengthy walk tomorrow? Or do yoga? I'm enjoying twitter - I can be snarky on twitter - it kind of lends itself towards snark in a way other platforms don't. I piss people off on the other platforms.
Me: I've just watched a little dark brown mouse run in and out of my storage closet. It's kind of cute.
Mother: Awww. You have a pet.
Me: I really need to put out the TomCat mouse traps. But I'm procrastinating. I don't like killing things - even if they are cute little brown mice. (And yes, I know it's a mouse. I know this because I see rats at the subways and they are lighter brown, long bodies and longer tails.)
Just saw it run under my armchair now.
***
Anyhow, hope you had a good Thursday.
Oh things I'm grateful for:
* No one I personally know has died of COVID. (I've had a lot of people at work die of it - but I don't personally know them at least. I know people who got very sick with COVID this year, and had family members who died of it, but that's it. Also lots of cousins got it. Why is it that we always have cousins who get these things. It's as if cousins exist solely to get weird ailments or be in disasters.)
* Parents are still alive and okay. Safe. Not miserable.
* Mother is healing and can drive now.
* Brother and his family, and extended family are all well, alive and safe
* Niece got into London School of Economics, made it to London, and is enjoying herself. She also got a boyfriend prior to going.
* I still have a job. I got a raise. My apartment is okay. My boiler is temporarily fixed. I have heat and hot water.
* I am not ill. No side-effects from the flu shot.
* god-willing, I'll see my mother and father for Xmas.
* Biden is still president
* We have COVID Vaccines and most people are smart enough to get them.
* We have Vaccine Mandates
* People are wearing masks in NYC
So, lots to be Thankful for this year.
Random Photo of the Night...
The rest, I don't remember - well outside of the fact that I kept wondering if the Moulin Rouge songstress was freezing - although I know they have heat lamps. Also, I was impressed that with few exceptions, everyone in the crowd watching the parade was wearing masks, and most of the folks in marking bands that were not blowing on an instrument, wore them too.
I made my traditional meal of rock cornish game hen (only make it once year), green beans, and instead of wild rice, which I can no longer digest, baked sweet potato. And gluten-free pumpkin pie courtesy of The Maine Pie Company for desert. I seasoned the hen with olive oil, marjoram, rosemary, sage, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. It turned out well - but it may have been a little over-done - I waited until the temperature gauge reached 180 as directed. (Last year it had been underdone, so I was erring on the side of caution.)
Also managed to do laundry today - I picked 1pm to do it, which worked out well - since everyone was busy eating or going to someone else's house to eat. The trick to doing laundry in a 77 unit apartment complex is to pick times when no one wants to do it. Everyone wants to do it in the morning, people hate doing it in the afternoon and evening, particularly on Thanksgiving.
As promised in previous posts, I watched Peter Jackson's Beatles Documentary "Get Back" on Disney Plus while cooking my meal and eating it. It's excellent.
Apparently the Beatles, who got together back in 1957 as teenagers, stopped touring around 1964/65 due to the political push-back they were getting from the press, various political groups, the government and fans. (The Beatles are extremely liberal). They got tired of the crap. So went full on recording studio - which allowed them to experiment more with albums and recordings. Also fix recordings, and record separately but edit stuff together after the fact. As a result, the Beatles seldom saw each other when they were recording their albums, and were able to do albums as a band without much interaction - since each the tracks could later be laid and edited together. Sometime in 1967 or 1968, they did a live television performance as a group and a had a blast, so came up with the brilliant idea of doing a television special, with a documentary of their recording sessions, a live televised concert, and an album released. At the beginning of 1969, they booked a studio space (Twickerham Studios - which was unheated and not comfortable) which could be leased to them for about three to four weeks, and scheduled the live performance around the end of < January or thereabouts. They started January 1. They had the equivalent of three weeks prior to their dress rehearsal to write 17 new songs for the "Get Back" album and the live performance. They barely had four written by the third day, and they were still very rough. And got a camera crew to film their sessions.
Long story short? The television special was cancelled. The footage of those recording sessions never released until now. And the only outcome was the album Get Back and the famous "rooftop concert". The unseen sessions have long been speculated as providing information on why the Beatles broke up as a band, and possibly are behind their break up. The sessions were released to Peter Jackson, who with the remaining Beatles cooperation has put together a documentary with that footage. The result is being a fly on the wall during the Beatles recording sessions for that album, and concert.
It's excellent - it you are a music process nerd. (Which I am.) It doesn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, which is that Paul pretty much did all the work and ran the show, with John kind of lending a hand, and George and Ringo passively moping in the background. The truth of the matter is that both George and Ringo were mercilessly outgunned in the talent department by John and Paul. It's kind of obvious in the recording sessions. John and Paul write all the songs, and instrumentations. They have an uncanny ear for how melodies work. George tries to collaborate and participate - but they shut him down. Ringo doesn't appear to care any longer, and is just floating on by. He says very little and just plays along. He's so subdued, one can't help but wonder if he's just stoned. At one point Linda Eastman (McCartney's wife) mentions how calming an influence Ringo is to be around.
I kind of realized half-way through - why the band fell apart. They'd begun to get on each other's nerves, and were no longer comfortable with each other. Paul's the only one who seems to care. John, well, he's seldom at the sessions. Most of the time it's Paul doing it by himself, with George & Ringo, or his wife. John always arrives late with Yoko, and seems to leave early. But he and Paul do riff off each other well, and it's clear John collaborates well with Paul, when he cares. George, none of them take seriously. George creates a song that actually reminds me of a Monkey's tune, Me Mi Mine, which the everyone but Ringo kind of shuts down. At one point George tries to lend a chord to Get Back, and is told its too sweet or corny and doesn't work by Paul. Paul also is kind of fed being the boss - and doesn't want to be the boss. He even apologizes to George for annoying him while trying to help him, and George says - you aren't annoying me any more. (I got the feeling that they were hyper aware of being filmed. Most of their conversations are muffled. And Paul states at one point that he can't do this while being films - while John just states, "ignore Candid Camera". I can see why they didn't release the footage until now.)
At any rate, towards the end of the first episode of this three part documentary, George calmly tells John, Paul and Ringo that he's leaving the band.
George: So, I've decided to leave the band.
Beatles: Wait, what? When?
George: Oh, now.
Beatles: Now?? As in this moment...
George: Yep, right now. I'll see you at the clubs. By now.
Beatles: ....
Camera Crew: Cut tape.
According to George's diary - he wrote : "I decided to leave the Beatles today, I told them I'd see them at the clubs and came home."
The Beatles come back from lunch. And they've not processed it. And have no clue what to do next.
Michael (one of the producers of the documentary): So George just up and left the band?
John: Yup.
Michael: What do you plan to do about the concert - are we cancelling it?
John: Well, if he doesn't come back tomorrow, we'll get Eric Clapton.
Michael: Has anyone else ever tried to leave the band?
John: Well, Ringo...
John's rather matter of fact about it. They do have a violent jam session, and he does state that he can't believe they are going as if nothing happened. (I have a feeling the cursing and shouting was off-screen.)
Later..the music producers and documentary producers discussing what happened.
Michael: From what I saw, George was kind of in a box...while Paul and John called all the shots.
Neil: They tend to do most of the collaborating, Paul and John do
Michael: It was like George vs. John and Paul and whatever they wanted happened...after several days of that, I'd be pissed too.
Martin: Well, it's not like they are collaborating that much at the moment, or have been...kind of drifting apart
Neil: They are doing it enough to appear on the label.
John: So cats and kittens, what are we going to do, what's the plan?
Michael: We're not sure yet
John: Figure out how to split up all of George's instruments?
Michael: You know, when I was an actor I did this play with Orson Wells called Chimes at Midnight..
John (getting up to go): Orson Wells..
Michael: Yeah, and one day he just left the stage.
John: Said I'll see you at the clubs..
Michael: Came back an hour later though..
On Sunday the Beatles, Linda and Yoko meet at Ringo's house to try and convince George to return to the band. The meeting does not go well.
That's how part one ends. LOL! It makes sense though - I've listened to all the Beatles albums, and to George's songs...and well, let's just say George isn't the memorable talent. Also he's very passive aggressive. John and Paul are not passive aggressive, but George and Ringo are - and as a result neither get much say in the collaborations. They kind of float in the background.
***
Outside of that - haven't done much. I need to exercise more, somehow. Maybe I'll take a lengthy walk tomorrow? Or do yoga? I'm enjoying twitter - I can be snarky on twitter - it kind of lends itself towards snark in a way other platforms don't. I piss people off on the other platforms.
Me: I've just watched a little dark brown mouse run in and out of my storage closet. It's kind of cute.
Mother: Awww. You have a pet.
Me: I really need to put out the TomCat mouse traps. But I'm procrastinating. I don't like killing things - even if they are cute little brown mice. (And yes, I know it's a mouse. I know this because I see rats at the subways and they are lighter brown, long bodies and longer tails.)
Just saw it run under my armchair now.
***
Anyhow, hope you had a good Thursday.
Oh things I'm grateful for:
* No one I personally know has died of COVID. (I've had a lot of people at work die of it - but I don't personally know them at least. I know people who got very sick with COVID this year, and had family members who died of it, but that's it. Also lots of cousins got it. Why is it that we always have cousins who get these things. It's as if cousins exist solely to get weird ailments or be in disasters.)
* Parents are still alive and okay. Safe. Not miserable.
* Mother is healing and can drive now.
* Brother and his family, and extended family are all well, alive and safe
* Niece got into London School of Economics, made it to London, and is enjoying herself. She also got a boyfriend prior to going.
* I still have a job. I got a raise. My apartment is okay. My boiler is temporarily fixed. I have heat and hot water.
* I am not ill. No side-effects from the flu shot.
* god-willing, I'll see my mother and father for Xmas.
* Biden is still president
* We have COVID Vaccines and most people are smart enough to get them.
* We have Vaccine Mandates
* People are wearing masks in NYC
So, lots to be Thankful for this year.
Random Photo of the Night...
no subject
They loved performing in front of an audience, and really wanted to go back to playing their stuff at clubs like they did in the 1950s before they were famous. But there's no going back, and it's impossible. You can't put it back in the box.
It's why George keeps mentioning doing something spontaneous and Paul wants a pop up or guerilla idea - and really perks up with the idea of the impromptu rooftop concert. The whole reason they did all of this - was they enjoyed performing in front of folks, but they didn't want to go through all the crap to get there. Nor did they want to play old stuff.
What distinguishes them from other bands is their desire to keep changing their music, and not play just the same stuff, and that's because they focused on recording not touring.
"Me and George played our best on John and Paul's records." And that clearly was the case. Because even if Paul and John aren't always working together, the partnership there is clear, how they really rely on one another in a professional sense and how the writing goes well together even if most songs come from one or the other.
It had a great deal to do with Paul's brilliant arrangements. Which he took over doing from Brian Epstein. In the flowerpot conversation - John mentions how Paul doing all the arrangements kind of left the others with mixed feelings and insecurity, they became afraid of doing their own. Paul is brilliant at arrangements - I saw a separate doc where he explains what he does...and then I talked to a colleague who does arrangements - and he explained how you can change the pitch of the voice, the sound of the musical instruments, everything can be tweaked and made better in the arrangement and sound editing stage. And Paul McCartney was doing THAT. The others weren't really, sometimes they did, but not often - and that was their frustration - they felt he was changing their songs to make them sound how he wanted them to sound. But he didn't intend to do that - they just weren't as skilled at arranging.
no subject
That's a thought about Paul, yes. I thought the other was also from around that time in Episode 2, which is when he keeps talking about having to have a plan for the day, to accomplish something, not being aimless. It was really a lesson in the McCartney philosophy. I find it no surprise he stepped in when Brian left, because even if they all saw John as the leader, John's drive wasn't gone exactly but it was banked. He had gotten most everything he wanted. So he had to find new mountains to climb, which Yoko was leading him towards, but Paul's goals were still the same. He could be wealthy, have a family, professional respect, etc. but when it came down to it he just wanted to make music every day.
One of the things I found fascinating is how they can sit down and just hammer out a tune in minutes, off the cuff, like he does with Ringo at the piano.
no subject
Yep watching Paul was fascinating - the man reminds me of Prince, who said you could literally make a song about anything. Paul does the same thing. And he collaborates with others well for the most part - when they aren't intimidated by that ability. He's not as much of a control freak as some think - since he could do bands, while folks like Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash tended to be more solo acts. And I honestly think all Paul wanted to do was create and perform music all the time, when John, George and Ringo wanted to do other things.