Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles

kenindfw · Post by **kenindfw** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:10 am

I got a book yesterday (only available in the UK -it took 4 weeks to make it to Texas) called Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles by Dominic Pedler.

It's a book that looks at the Beatles music and what techniques they used to create the great music that we still love today.

I thought some here might be interested in it. I've read on another forum it is quite good. I can't comment on it yet since I have only read the introduction. It's a big book - over 700 pages. Look for it on the Amazon UK site or musicroom.com if you are interested.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 7:22 am

Speaking of 'songwriting secrets of the Beatles'....Albert Hoffman, the inventor of L.S.D., celebrates his 100th birthday today.

(Don't know if Mr. Pedler mentions that particular 'technique' in his book...)

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:33 pm

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 7:37 am

Dane: Source of inspiration, huh?.. and why do you think it's a secret?..

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 12:24 pm

I dunno.... no doubt that acid played a large part in their later stuff, but the fact of the matter is that John and Paul were the best pop song writers in the world way before they even heard of LSD.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:47 am

I'd never argue with that Kent...but after they 'heard of' it, they got even better.

('IMHO', of course...)

beefandbones · Post by **beefandbones** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 10:44 am

...for a while, anyway. Then they relaxed the ol' songwriting standards and suddently we've all got 'Bip Bop' and 'New York City' on our turntables!

But, to be fair, that has less to do with drugs and more to do with laziness. Thank goodness they were both so naturally gifted!

Que pasa New York?

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:39 pm

Que pasa New York?... after living there for the first 25 years of my life, I say that New York is a nice place to visit but a sucky place to live.

('IMHO', of course...)

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:06 pm

Yeah, you paid your dues livin' there that long, Kent....but look where you're livin' now! Not many places nicer on this planet, I'm thinking. Congrats...

"Picture yourself...on a beach in Hawaii..."

winston · Post by **winston** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:32 pm

"With palm olive trees and unbroken skies"

Sorry, could not resist the tempo set by Dane.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 7:42 am

"Suddenly someone is there at your elbow
A waiter with several Mai Tai's..."

admin · Post by **admin** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:06 am

Dane wrote

"they got even better"

Perhaps a matter of debate. Their concentration appeared to be less and a number of their new compositions, less than sterling. To me they became less focused and less consistent. This finding is confounded by time, however, and cannot be blamed on drugs. Can it?

For your consideration.
Wild Honey Pie
Don't Pass Me By
Piggies
Long Long Long
Revolution #9
All Together Now
It's All Too Much
Yellow Submarine
I Me Mine
For You Blue
Dig It
Maggie Mae

winston · Post by **winston** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:13 am

Peter,

None of the songs listed by you have ever made it to my MP3 player. So I suppose that in some small way that is indicative of my rejection of that material.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 9:32 am

Peter: your point is quite astute. I don't think anyone could argue against a drop in consistency...however, I'd point out first that all the Sgt. Pepper material has to be included in the 'post-acid' era, and that is some deathless stuff from start to finish.

Now on to your list:

1) Wild Honey Pie: Goofy for sure...and yet, there's a startling quality to the piano treatment, and the chromatic descending of the chord structure that sets up each new 'verse' is perversely wonderful...'acid' in the house.

2) Don't Pass Me By: Ridiculous C&W on a par with 'Act Naturally'...I'm going out on a limb here and guessing: too much beer.

3) Piggies: Can't say enough about this one! Stellar in my book...what happens when a guy like GH wakes up from meditation and begins to notice "what goes on around"...pure unadulterated transcendent enlightenment.

4) Long Long Long: lovely and poignant...lots of cups of tea behind this one...no, I mean real tea, like the Earl Grey kind.

5) Revolution #9: okay, ya got me here...but I refuse to dismiss this one the way many do. This is the first 'non-musical' recording I ever committed to memory: I memorized it, it mesmerized me....Lucy was in the Sky that day, for sure.

6) All Together Now: same category as DPMB (see above)...too much beer...and football...

The rest of the list is truly forgettable if not forgivable...with the exception of Yellow Submarine, a silly little song that I remember the junior high school girls singing on the bus ride home everyday for months. I'm gonna say.....Hemp.

As to the rest of the White Album and beyond, it's clear to me that the boys had become 'Experienced' (in the J. Hendrix sense)...these tunes could not have been written and recorded by musicians who hadn't discovered a new way of hearing and thinking.

All of it certainly blew my mind...and just for the record, I didn't smoke my first joint until 1974, but I knew something was up long before then...

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 9:49 am

...Helter Skelter!!!!!
Still, one of my all-time favorites, "I've just seen a face", was written before the D thing started, if i'm not mistaken... not that i'm a fighter-against-drugs, just to mention the "opposite"...