For part 50 of my youtube countdown, we dissect the many ways in which life is a bitch.  For instance, I was laid off my job yesterday.  Yes, loyal readers, I am now but one of the unemployed masses, set to be scrambling for an unemployment check, desperately sending out resumes, left wondering what it all means as I eat a bowl of corn flakes for dinner.  Luckily, the Beatles, who never had too many employment problems, nonetheless made a beautiful anthem to the “aimless young man set adrift” demographic in the guise of “You Never Give Me Your Money.”  This song, from Abbey Road, set off the famous song cycle that typifies side 2 of the legendary record.  The video I present is nothing fancy, just a cool compilation of Beatle clips set to the tune.  The video is a little dratty, but the song is top notch of course.  I think these are Paul McCartney’s most unpretentious lyrics, and a reflection of the amazing musical craftsmanship he was capable of in this era.  I’m putting this up for me, and everyone else seeking a new job, and a better life.  Enjoy.

For part 38 of my youtube countdown, I have another fantastic George Harrison duet.  This time its with Paul.  No not McCartney, but SIMON!  This version of George and Paul tackle George’s incomprehensible 1969 stunner, “Here Comes the Sun.”  The occasion was Saturday Night Live and the results were breathtaking.  George hits all his acoustic marks with perfection, and Paul Simon’s voice just melts perfectly into George’s harmony.  The freaky thing about the video is how Paul Simon keeps looking at George like he wants to take him to bed, or more likely, create a new group called “Simon and Harrison.”  But George wasn’t about to be stuck with another Paul telling him what type of guitar solo to play on “Still Crazy After All These Years.”  So, instead, like with most of rock and roll history, we just have singular moments, and here’s a good one, enjoy.

UPDATE 10.20.13- YouTube/Google disabled embedding this video but you can click here to watch the performance! (Willie)

WELCOME to part 31 of my youtube countdown!  Today, I have a special Beatle-tastic history lesson, featuring clips of two insanely great Beatle rockers, Hey Bulldog, and Lady Madonna.  First, let present the sad story of Hey Bulldog, John Lennon’s lost masterpiece of rock.  Hey Bulldog is one of John’s most ferocious, manic rockers.  It’s a hard driving, piano riffed, distortion pedaled, philosophical nonsense song.  It has John barking one of his best late era vocal performances.  My knees buckle every time he launches into the “You can taaaallk to meee, YOU CAN TALK TO ME, if you’re lonely you can talllk to me,” refrain.  It is in my top 5 Beatle songs ever.  Now, why is the story of this amazing song so sad?  Because the Beatle myth makers, whoever they may be, did their best to sweep it under the rug of Beatle glory!  First of all, it was a song featured on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, the least essential of the original Beatle albums.  If you’re not familiar, the Yellow Submarine album, was the album for the legendary cartoon, but featured previously released material, and the film score on side 2, making a bit of a throwaway…(though in actuality, it isn’t, and you should own it.)  Anyway, the second reason this song got the shaft was because a film team came into Abbey Road studios to film the Beatles record the song, and then, in their infinite wisdom, took the footage, and cut it up to go along with their then 1968 single Lady Madonna!  This was just so annoying.  Here you have a document of the Beatles recording and performing a late era Beatle song, an extremely rare thing I might add, AND as a full unit no less, and you fuck it up by pasting another song on top and turning them into lip-syncers.  It was a travesty until someone at Apple finally found the original footage and put it back together, thus restoring the glory of Hey Bulldog’s production.  So, for your enjoyment, I present both Hey Bulldog and Lady Madonna, for you to see just how often the people in charge of marketing the Beatles got it wrong.  I mean, you all should know how Capital just butchered all their singles and records until 1967, turning every one record into two, to sell more.  Anyway, that’s a whole other can of worms.  Here you go, enjoy the music!