The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Friday August 21, 2015
50 years ago today the Beatles made their only appearance in Minnesota at Met Stadium. There's a nice piece about it in today's Pioneer Press that interested me as a fan of the Beatles, the '60s, and the Twins. Check it out.
For their set the boys played plenty of hits - “Help!,” “A Hard Day's Night,” “Ticket to Ride,” and others – but they also dug out a few lesser known songs. Below I feature three of my favorites.
The videos are, when I could find them, the original mixes from the American albums*. The songs are each linked in their title to live versions from a week earlier at Shea Stadium (where they played the same setlist with the addition of "Twist and Shout"). I highly recommend listening to the intensity of the Shea versions.
Dizzy Miss Lizzy
originally released on the 1965 LP Beatles VI
Most songs the Beatles cover are required listening ("Twist and Shout," "Please Mr. Postman," "Roll Over, Beethoven," so many others). They were essential to the charm of their first few albums. By late 1964, though, beginning with the batch of songs from Beatles for Sale, critical acclaim for their interpretations of other songwriter's material goes down.
This is a fallacy, as their last cover, "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," shows. Lennon rips through the Larry Williams track as fiercely as he did "Twist and Shout." Dig these rhythm and blues.
Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
originally released on the 1964 LP Beatles '65
This is a fallacy, as their last cover, "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," shows. Lennon rips through the Larry Williams track as fiercely as he did "Twist and Shout." Dig these rhythm and blues.
Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
originally released on the 1964 LP Beatles '65
Another often overlooked cover in the Beatles catalog, "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" updates the rockabilly of Carl Perkins with vigor. Whether covering soul, Motown, rhythm and blues, or rockabilly, the Beatles were always fresh when interpreting the music they loved. The guitar solos are pure George, showing that Perkins was his biggest guitar influence.
Baby's in Black
originally released on the 1964 LP Beatles '65
Baby's in Black
originally released on the 1964 LP Beatles '65
Response to "Baby's in Black" is mixed among Beatles fans. Some think it's a throwaway, filler from an era (post-Hard Day's Night) when they were running out of ideas. Others feel that its dark waltz feel and tight, out-of-the-box harmonies (where John and Paul sound like one voice throughout) make it a unique treasure. As you may have guessed, I am in the latter group. There's no Beatle song that sounds anything like "Baby's in Black." Uniqueness doesn't always mean greatness, but the lilting quality of the song is endearing.
I'm surprised the band played it live, as the waltz time and harmonies had to be difficult to execute over all the crowd noise.
*Some may wonder why I'm referencing the "butchered" American versions instead of the standard British releases. Well, this is an article about a concert in America, and the fans in the crowd would have known them from those records. Also, despite being money grabs without any consent from the Beatles (they hated them, actually, hence the "butcher cover"), their mixes are interesting, it's fun to have the hits on the records, and some of the collections are as good or better than their British counterparts (Meet the Beatles!, The Beatles Second Album, and Rubber Soul come to mind).
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
I'm surprised the band played it live, as the waltz time and harmonies had to be difficult to execute over all the crowd noise.
*Some may wonder why I'm referencing the "butchered" American versions instead of the standard British releases. Well, this is an article about a concert in America, and the fans in the crowd would have known them from those records. Also, despite being money grabs without any consent from the Beatles (they hated them, actually, hence the "butcher cover"), their mixes are interesting, it's fun to have the hits on the records, and some of the collections are as good or better than their British counterparts (Meet the Beatles!, The Beatles Second Album, and Rubber Soul come to mind).
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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