Apocrypha Now!

[rich]

weird
harrison used a rickenbacker in a hard days night
could've sworn McGuinn and co. saw that first

*Description*
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT was the first Beatles album of all-original material, and
the first to feature George Harrison playing his Rickenbacker electric
12-string guitar (on the opening chord of "A Hard Day's Night", for
instance). The distinctive sound of the 12-string inspired countless
guitarists including Roger McGuinn and David Crosby of the Byrds.
The film from which these songs hail remains a classic combination of happy
1960s naivete and nascent hipster wit. Many of the most important rock bands
to emerge in the latter half of the '60s came into being because of A HARD
DAY'S NIGHT's irresistible vibrancy. The tunes flow like the finest red
wine,as the title track leads to the glorious harmonica of "I Should Have
Known Better" and the powerfully poignant "If I Fell".

rich

On 1/19/07, robinlandseadel at comcast.net <robinlandseadel at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> "My question is, which came first, Roger McGuinn's
> be-Rickenbackered Byrds sound or The Beatles'
> "If I Needed Someone"?  Something to look up..."
>
> No need for me to look that one up, Dave. There's a
> lovely little Documentary that came out 20 years ago
> entitled "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today" concerning
> Sgt Pepper and the cultural context from which that album
> emereged. George Harrison states that "If I Needed
> Someone" was a knowing nod in the direction of the
> Byrds, McGuinn's approach to the 12-string Rickenbacker,
> having been derived from Roger's folk background. was a
> sound no one had heard, or even considered, before the Byrds,
>
> Alas, "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today" is not now available
> as a DVD. Might have a bit to do with having Abbie Hoffman,
> Timothy Leary, San Francisco Diggers, Dutch Anarchists
> and a Fug taking center stage in the latter half of the film.
>
> Roger's insertion of a little bit of Bach into a failed single
> might seem like no great matter, but a year later Brian
> Wilson came up with "God Only Knows", claiming to
> be the first to insert knowingly religious themes into
> the top 40. But Roger attempted to do so before Brian,
> and continued to insert those sorts of themes into the
> Group's singles for some time afterwards, what with
> "Jesus is Just Alright" and "I Am A Pilgrim", among
> other less sucessful attempts.
>
> The lyrics to "She Don't Care About Time", written
> by the ultra-paranoid Gene Clark, strike me as
> rather Pynchonian, in particular the phrase
> "my white walled room out on the end of time".
>
> Hallways and staircases everyday to climb
> To go up to my white walled room out on the end of time
> Where I can be with my love for she is all that is mine
> And she'll always be there, my love don't care about time
>
> I laugh with her, cry with her, hold her close she is mine
> The way she tells me of her love and never is she trying
> She don't have to be assured of many good things to find
> And she'll always be there, my love don't care about time
>
> Her eyes are dark and deep with love, her hair hangs long and fine
> She walks with ease and all she sees is never wrong or right
> And with her arms around me tight I see her all in my mind
> And she'll always be there my love don't care about time
>
>
>
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