I’ve never seen Give My Regards to Broad Street, but from what I’ve read, its pretty awful.  Apparently, it was Paul McCartney’s ego run amok, thinking he could replicate the success of “A Hard Day’s Night” with another movie about a “day in the life” of…Paul McCartney.  The movie was a huge waste of money, and critics hated it, however its soundtrack, which contained many redone Beatle songs, and Ringo, was #1 in the UK.  Anyway, the musical clips are pretty interesting, and today I’m gonna post his in studio performance of Eleanor Rigby.  Originally from Revolver, Eleanor Rigby was one of Paul’s undisputed masterpieces.  I personally think its one of the greatest pop songs ever written in E minor.  The work though, doesn’t entirely belong to Paul.  George wrote the “all the lonely people, where do they all come from” part, and John claims to have come up with half the lyrics which Paul insists isn’t true.  Ringo wrote the line “writing the words of a sermon that no one will here,” and old John Lennon pal Pete Shotton had Paul change Father McCartney to Father McKenzie.  It’s a great Beatle song, and its great to see it performed in any format, so its presence in Paul’s stupid movie is still incredibly interesting and worth seeing. Give it a spin.

“Play With Fire,” a 1965 B-Side by the Stones, was credited to Nanker Phelge, a pseudonym the Stones used when they attributed the songwriting to all the members.  Still, its mainly the work of Jagger and Richards, with Phil Spector on bass oddly enough.  In fact, Mick and Keith are the only Stones to appear on the track. It was recorded on a late January night in 1965 Los Angeles; what a scene that must have been.  This song is pure attitude.  Richards came up with the perfect guitar line to match Jagger’s ferociously deadly delivery.  It’s one of my favorite Stones songs ever, and the video below captures the Victorian hellishness of the song’s power.  The Rolling Stones were truly a one of a kind phenomenon coming along at the ground zero for rock and roll phenomenons.  This song is proof of their unique singularity in music history.  Enjoy.

It’s part 96 of my youtube countdown, and we are getting so close to the end!  This time I have Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sounds of Silence,” from the album of the same name.  When I was crafting the title of this entry, I noticed that the original version of the song was not titled, “The Sound of Silence,” as I had thought, but was pluralized.  Both the plural and singular version of the song are correct however as later releases were known as the “The Sound of Silence.”  Paul Simon originally wrote this haunting folk ballad write after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, but the song was not an immediate hit.  When the song started to become a hit in the mid 60s, Simon and Garfunkel were no longer working together, but the success of the tune, reworked by producers to give it a more pop sound, reunited the boys and launched them into the mainstream of cultural significance.  The live performance I found here reflects the original version of the song with its minimalist beatnik production.  In it, the guys are so young and dorky, Garfunkel gives a real proto-hippie moralizing speech, and of course they flawlessly play the song, achieving that perfection they always shot for.  Check it out!

In part 28 of my youtube countdown, I present a 40 something Paul McCartney playing his Beatle classic, For No One, from the Revolver album.  There are so many things I love about this performance.  First of all, he’s playing one of his most gorgeous piano ballads on acoustic guitar, and its brilliant.  I love how he musically clears his throat in the first 5 seconds when he starts singing.  There is something very real and charming about that.  I love how he starts his French Horn solo, announces it midway through, and jibbers his way through it.  And lastly, I love every other second of this.  He sings the song absolutely beautifully, providing wonderful little melodic twists not found in the original, and he sings the song with total soul.  This is just one his greatest breakup songs.  A universal anthem for guys who find themselves in the moment when they realize their girlfriends don’t love them anymore.  I’m sure the song has other layered meanings for girls, but for me, I take it quite literally. Ladies, feel free to let me know how you interpret this song. Enjoy.