Beatlemania Invades the Analytical Engine
Last Tuesday I flew out to Columbus, Ohio for the Origins International Game Expo, the second-largest American game trade show and one of two "must attend" conventions I've been to every year for the last eleven (the other being Gen Con Indy). Visiting Columbus reminded me of summers back home in Minnesota, except about three times muggier (that's a lot of muggy) and with about a million fewer mosquitoes. So I took the good with the bad, and reminded myself how nice it is to live in Seattle in early July.
Paizo's booth looks like a huge Erector set, and is essentially a giant brain teaser. A heavy, giant brain teaser. Made of steel. So as you can probably imagine, it takes two people with limited mechanical ability oh, let's say six hours to set it up. The only saving grace besides good company was my killer combination of a 2,600-song iPod Photo and the OnStage dock/speaker system, which I just happened to have in my bag from the trip earlier in the day.
I thought the other folks putting together their booths might enjoy some music, but I wanted to be sure to choose something that just about everyone would think was cool. I turned, of course, to the only place I could turn in such a time of crisis: The Beatles.
I only recently started listening to the Beatles within the last 6 months, since my move to Ballard. I'll have to save the lame justification for this base lapse of sense and good taste for another post, but it has something to do with a lifetime tradition of going out of my way to avoid things that almost everyone in the world agrees is awesome. I have incredible interest in and knowledge of peripheral culture, but a fairly retarded experience in mainstream cultural subjects. In any event, I come to the Beatles as a 30-year-old man, a bit embarrassed but pleased as hell that he finally got on one of the greatest bandwagons of all time.
During the booth set-up, I finally decided that I have a favorite Beatles album, a trait that, like the ability to grow a decent beard, has come somthing like 15 years too late. In any event, here it is: Magical Mystery Tour. Revolver is a close second.
My current favorite Beatles songs:
Elanor Rigby
She Said She Said
Norweigan Wood
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
I am the Walrus
Strawberry Fields Forever
Penny Lane
Please feel free to make suggestions. I'm new at this.
10 Comments:
The Beatles are truly something amazing. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend Ready, Steady, Go: The Smashing Rise and Giddy Fall of Swinging London by Shawn Levy, of which the Beatles play a significant role. One amusing series of tidbits concerns the Rolling Stones always playing catch-up to the Beatles; at a party for the Stones' second album, McCartney showed up with a test pressing of a new song, completely derailing the party.
The Beatles are unique in another way, too: they all went on to successful solo careers after the break-up, making music that was often just as good as they did together. The big difference, though, is that the Beatles reinvented rock...and then reinvented it AGAIN. I listened to them when I was young, but didn't really come to appreciate them until my late 20s...and I remain impressed by them to this day.
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Erik,
Consider picking up Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and the White Album. My fave, from Sgt.'s, is "A day in the life," which I'm entirely certain you will dig. There is naught but winners on those albums.
And also, just in case you also missed another great British band in your efforts to avoid popular music, make absolutely certain that you pick up some Rolling Stones tunes for your iPod. IMO, "Sympathy for the Devil," and "Paint it Black," are contenders (along with the aforementioned, "A day in the life") for the best rock songs ever.
Gimme Shelter and You Can't Always Get What You Want are in heavy shuffle rotation presently. Paint it Black is another favorite from my pre-iPod days that has yet to make it onto the new machine.
It's only a matter of time.
I've got the White Album, but I do need to track down Sgt. Pepper's. Thanks for the tip.
'The White Album' is one of those albums you just have to make the time to listen to through now and again. Having listened to the Beatles since I was born (my mother adored them), that's 40 years of Beatle listening. When you can sing 'Meet The Beatles' from beginning to end in the shower, then you know you've arrived.
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You need to check out Rubber Soul. For some reason, the songs on that album are the ones that "keep calling me back again."
I was about 24 when I first listened to the Beatles. . . I got all the way through college, making an effort NOT to listen to them. They were too popular, I think that I always has this "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," mop-top impression of their music, so I never cared about trying them out.
No one's mentioned Abbey Road yet. . . In my opinion, the Beatles got better and better with each album, and this was their last work together (Allthough Let it Be was released later, it was recorded prior).
Abbey Road is amazing (and has my favorite song, "Here Comes the Sun"). It's as experiemental as the White Album, but has the benefit of superior production. It's not as well executed as Sgt. Pepper's (which took over 700+ hours of studio time), but's it's still a wonderful listen.
I was just listening to Abbey Road this morning and thought of this post again.
I think it's the best of the Beatles albums. I Want You is spectacular.
It really is three albums. Pull out all the silly songs and listen to them together, then pull out all the serious songs and listen to them together (Come Together fits in either category) then listen to the whole shebang in context.
PS
I can't say I am a huge Beatles fan, I remember getting into them in grade school (Around the time of Purple Rain). I think you can recognize musical genius and still not "dig" an artist's music though.
Erik I noticed you said you had an iPod, anyone who enjoys the freedom of digital music should check into Replay Music and other software of its ilk. Nothing is cooler than recording streamed music and having the artist-album information automatically encoded.
It's the shiz-nit.
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