John Lennon's "She Said, She Said" Home Demos

Posted in John Lennon, The Beatles, Youtube Favs on January 15th, 2012 by Willie

I’ve discussed the subject of “She Said, She Said” before when discussing the Black Keys’ excellent cover version of the classic psychedelic Beatle rocker.  Right now, I have something a little tastier, John Lennon’s acoustic home demos of the song.  Through a magical few minutes, the clip below cuts together all of John’s early takes for what would become a soaring electric guitar masterpiece.  The thing I love most about this clip is the way John twists his gorgeous folk rock melody, fine tuning it to perfection. Its remarkable because all versions of this song sound brilliant and inspired.  The recording is like a beautiful mirror of John’s creative process.  He sounds at times dreamy, whimsical, unsure, confident, and druggy, a fine mix of emotions that led to the song’s ultimate nature.  Even the starts and stops are fascinating, giving you insight into how the guy needed to wind himself up properly to create something so good…

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The Black Keys, She Said She Said

Posted in The Beatles, The Black Keys, Youtube Favs on November 28th, 2011 by Willie

The Black Keys are guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney.  Together they have forged a highly successful blues rock revivalist band that are the darlings of the upper tiers of the indie rock world.  I’ve always like them, but have not extensively combed through their catalog.  Perhaps I’ve finally found a reason to.  The reason comes in the form of their cover of the Beatles “She Said, She Said,” from their debut album The Big Come Up.  The original Beatles song, from Revolver, is about one of John’s most infamous LSD trips.  In 1966, he was tripping in LA with the rest of the Beatles, the Byrds, and Peter Fonda.  Fonda, tweaking out, began to obsessively tell a story about how he nearly died as a boy, and couldn’t stop saying, “I know what its like to be dead.”  John, understandably freaked out by Fonda’s dark ramblings, promptly wrote a song, and changed Fonda into a girl to fit the Beatle songwriting mold.  Though, by 1966, the Beatle mold now included feedback, acid drenched distorted guitars, and glorious swirling psychedelic harmonies.  The song was a progressive leap forward for the Beatles, and for rock and roll as a whole.  36 years later, the Black Keys took that song, a song that was still in mid leap mind you, and gave it a real throwback treatment, turning it into a hip 60s blues club rocker.  I love the Black Keys version, as it gives the song a grungy and gritty makeover and reveals the essence of the song’s fantastic pop melody.  Because it is so fantastic, I’m giving you two versions, the unofficial music video, and a cool live performance.  Check em out.

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