@@9thfloorchaos Was just about to say, this brief dorky era ( look the dude's wear they're bouffant hair that's popular now, 😳) but the music is so corny mostly Look at how they all play guitar like copy cats. Some things never change
The Beatles were all over those charts before they got to the USA. January 1964 - to have John Lennon reviewing hits is an incredible historical document.
@@fede018 George is probably the most unfiltered of the four with Ringo second. Paul was the most diplomatic and therefore arguably the most filtered, at least when it came to talking about individuals. He was far less filtered when making generalizations or talking about himself. He could be very unguarded and make rather controversial statements. John was usually more circumspect in his comments, so while he may seem unfiltered because of his irreverence and wit, he actually put more thought into what he was saying than Paul usually did. So I might actually rank John as most filtered. But Paul the least open or forthcoming.
Yet another brilliantly produced video. Lennon mentions vocal double-tracking, noticing James Burton's guitar solos, the quality of songs artists are given to record... a lot of the perspective that kept him successful, apart from his musical talent. And he does it all frankly, without trashing the other artists. These are such great glimpses into the mindsets of these performers.
These were fair and honest assessments. I remember The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. I'd already been a fan. America was deluged with hit after hit from The Beatles. That was a truly great time for music.
What I’m still impressed with is that John was 24 years old. He and Paul were much older than their years. Many seem to be surprised here by John’s diplomatic approach but every interview with him I’ve watched, he was thoughtful and mature.
Interesting of John to praise Paul Jones’ harmonica playing, as Jones is widely considered one of the best harp players of the 60s and is currently the president of the National Harmonica League in the UK.
"5-4-3-2-1" peaked at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart, which was obviously helped by its weekly exposure as the theme tune for the pop music television programme "Ready Steady Go!"
Thank you for the Beatles upload! I asked for another one yesterday and I am pleased it happened! The Beatles, more than any other artist that did these discussions, gave the best responses as they were always innovating at a rate more than any other group so i find it curious to think of what they thought of groups that stuck to the norm. It makes my day when I see John, Paul or George review the singles of the month + I hope for more in the near future! 😊
The Beatles, one way or another, had 9 top singles & albums on the chart that week! That's amazing: -I want to hold your hand. -She loves you. -I wanna be your man. -Twist and shout. -I'm in love. -The Beatles' hits EP. -The Beatles No. 1 EP. -All my loving. -I'll Keep you satisfied.
Wow. Rough time for anyone on the charts that wasn't The Beatles. I counted 4 Beatles records in top 20. Lennon sounds pretty savvy here (good taste)...but we knew that already. 😻✌
Honestly, with a few exceptions a decent group of singles, though I do generally agree with John. He's right in noting if Helen Shapiro had released a few more Beat style singles, she may have added a little more time to her career. Most likely, her choices in material were dictated by her producer, though. I love that he got a track from old mates Gerry and the Pacemakers. Before the fame, there were nights when the two bands would jump in on each other's stage shows and often party together after separate gigs. Very cool, too, John's recognition of the great Georgie Fame, who deserved a better showing in the charts. Thanks for this Lennon treat, YP!
Cheers, Fab Gear! Georgie Fame was a pretty big deal in Britain back then but he seems to be pretty much forgotten these days. That "Do the Dog" track was also on his "R&B At the Flamingo" album. I love that record, sounds raw and full of energy.
John was so young here. I wonder if he had any idea of the legend he would become. Great review and by Lennon standards quite polite 😂 I've always enjoyed Manfred Manns' music. Loving your outro as always, YP 💯💖
In the Top 50 singles for Jan 1964, @06:27 is No. 34 At The Palace by Wilfred Brambell, who would later that year appear in "Hard Day's Night" as Paul's grandfather.
I think John was quite fair and surprisingly thoughtful and insightful here. The only thing he got wrong was deciding that 5-4-3-2-1 by Manfred Mann was not going to be a hit. It was a #5 smasharoony thanks to Ready Steady Go. I love it. It's got one of the best harmonica sounds in all of sixties pop thanks to Paul Jones and his dedication to authentic blues. But is it all about The Charge of the Light Brigade or is it all about The Trojan Wars? Don't know. It's all Greek to me and all the better for it.
Lennon’s assessments very nicely done without overtly critiquing. Most of these songs I’m not familiar with-never had any of those records so it would have been interesting to hear what he had to say about songs I had bought during that timeframe. Looks like many of these were on the English charts. Us kids weren’t buying Ray Charles for example although we obviously knew who he was & grew up to like his hits. And Ricky Nelson was before I started buying records in 1963 but I was never big on his music. I favored Lennon’s songs over McCartney’s so if I knew these songs, I would probably agree with him. I did agree with what he said about a ballad dragging as even his slower laments as in No Reply had a great step to that song. It’s a gem. It’s all subjective though.
This series of videos gives fascinating perspectives of those on the beat scene turning reviewer. John is well up to standard and very fair and insightful.
A fair and honest assessment from John. Interesting to see The Beatles so prominent in the Charts when they hadn’t yet played The Ed Sullivan Show. I only wish John could have been here to see the subsequent generations of youngsters getting into The Beatles’ music. Another excellent Blind Date YP, thank you.
@@kamandi1362 …..I realise that. I just think it makes the band’s (considerable) chart presence all the more impressive. Once The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, everything really took off with “Beatlemania” which was quickly followed by music from all of the The British Invasion bands. Incidentally, I’m not American but I grew up with The Beatles and all the rest of the fabulous music. We didn’t even have television where I lived.
I'm kinda embarrassed to admit that this was the first I'd ever hear of Helen Shapiro. I just listened to some of her music on YT and was amazed at how wonderful a voice she has. That rich, earthy, alto(?) is probably my favorite female voice and I'm going to go deeper and try to find out if she recorded any jazz standards. Thanks again YP for introducing me to an singer who I was not aware of!
Lennon and McCartney wrote Misery especially for Helen Shapiro but her producer considered it unsuitable so it went to Kenny Lynch who became the first artist to cover a L-M song.
In early 1963 The Beatles were one of the support acts on a tour headlined by Helen Shapiro, for a while she was a huge star. She was only 14 or 15 years old when she became famous.
@@Schteve59 interesting to know that about “Misery”. I had always thought that Peter Asher’s single of “World Without Love” was the first of a Beatle song that was covered.
This was a good episode. The calm before the storm in America and in the UK it was in its transitional period. Neat to see Louie Louie and Surfin' Bird in the top ten in America. I would like to see a chart that has the top three songs from the same week but over the course of the 1960s to really see how music shifted. Like the third week of August.
Interesting that he mentioned Bobby Vee twice. Vee's early 60s material is very enjoyable. His songs had great production and engaging use of strings and double-tracking. Vee also had a good ear as far as the songs he decided to cover.
Love how the first song in the charts during that time, "5 4 3 2 1", is also the theme song of Ready Steady Go . I wasn't alive during those days but it never fails to make me feel nostalgic for some reason.
What I find fascinating (aside from Lennon’s Blind Date) is the juxtaposition of Melody Maker’s chart at that time, with that of the U.S. Cashbox chart. What a wild difference in popular music pre-British invasion. …and the U.S. music-buying public’s affinity for goofy light novelty-type songs. I suppose historically, it was a dark time here…perhaps that was the reason. …and we were totally primed for what was coming next.
Those first three or four years of the 60s were an odd time for the US charts. A lot of novelty songs, as you mention, but also terrific, unclassifiable things like "Sally, Go 'Round the Roses." How do you classify Barbara Lewis? A terrific talent, Motown - like, but not exactly Motown. All sorts of interesting things like "The End of the World," "Scotch 'n' Soda," "A House is Not A Home," and, of course, early Motown. Carole King's songs for a lot of people. "Watermelon Man." As I say, an interesting period, and underrated.
@@bobtaylor170 Wow! Holy cow! Yes, indeed!! Just listened to "Sally, Go 'Round the Roses" (what an ambience!) and then Barbara Lewis' "Hello Stranger", an absolute classic. Thanks!
@@dwodo21 , yeah, it's never made sense to me that rock critics wrote of the early 60s as a wasteland, a dead zone. I liked a lot of people from that period: Dion, Bobby Vee, Mary Wells. It was odd and eclectic. I mean, come on, recordings like "Big John." But there was a lot of great stuff, also.
4:48 I'd never heard of Lorne Gibson, so I looked up his obituary. Seems that from the time he heard Hank Williams on a jukebox, he was determined to do country music, but faced some barriers being from the UK. Paul, being more interested in the genre, might have liked this record better; the Beatles and the Lorne Gibson Trio did end up sitting in on each other's sessions at one point. PS: Yes, he took the name Lorne partly because of Bonanza and Gibson after the Guitar brand.
I feel less alone not being a fan of Georgia On My Mind now 😎 Charles was born to shake his tail feather She Loves You by Peter Sellers is a hell of a fun (as well as Can’t buy me love and a Hard day’s night)
Pretty much agree with everything John Lennon said. Wasn't overly critical and his reasons for liking or disliking something were actually very fair. Liked the Marty Wilde tune, but didn't think it would be a hit, didn't like the Ray Charles tune but essentially said it just wasn't his thing. If anyone could actually say what would and wouldn't be a hit in 1964, it would've been John Lennon.
Love love love. I love ''She loves you''. For me, it is a wonderful song. I used to listen to it in my childhood, rediscovered it in my teens, and still love it today. It's funny to hear John slyly understate his own work when he say ''this isn't for my record collection''(1:13). He was like that, and I love it! I love his wacky personality. I love his way of being, ultra sincere, almost insulting. Thanks, Yesterday's Papers.😀😀😀
It's interesting that the Dave Clark 5 "Glad All Over" kept "I Want To Hold Your Hand" out of the number one spot for at least a week. It's no wonder that Tottenham quintet was considered the the most viable threat to the Beatles popularity at that time. Didn't last long though did it?
One of the (many!) great things about these videos is the fascinating run through of the charts at the end. I think the Americans had the better ‘Top Ten’ that week, just for having the legendary Louie Louie by the Kingsmen at #1 & the equally mad/superb Surfin’ Bird by The Trashmen at #7!
Looking at the charts, it's too bad we didn't get to find out in his reviews if John had heard about the bird. I'd heard that everybody heard about the bird.
John & Paul such genius songwriters. I think when you're young ( Jam nod there) you write your best tunes. But for John & Paul that was the case all through the 60's and 70's. When you've reached the ceiling and broken through- outer space is all that's left..
Every channel that features vinyl has the same record turning animation where somehow there is a lamp in the room circling around the record player at 33 1/3 RPM. In the real world the reflection from the light would stay in the same place only the grooves and label would move.
Well Jonh Lennon , just simply one of the great musical minds . Still music is one's own business .,So what ever gets you through the night ,everything has it right .
Marty Wilde was decent & passed along his talent to his daughter Kim who had an up & down career with more ups then downs. Singing about East California .. on Kids In America.
Yeah, I remember when I first heard "Kids in America" when I was living in LA. We all laughed at the line about "East California", a term no one else had ever used.
Re: Millicent Martin's In The Summer Of His Years. I recall my mum telling me about the TW3 episode this was first featured on at the time of Kennedy's assassination and she said everyone was wearing black in the studio. I'm also thinking the Lee in the composing credits is Dave Lee of I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again fame.
The B-side of Marty Wilde's single is one of his best IMO, it shows that Lennon was correct when he said Marty could do beat material well, shame it wasn't the A-side, it could've been a hit.
Would have loved to hear his takes on Needles and Pins, I Only Want to Be With You, and the Hippy Hippy Shake!! He was right about the lack of hits that month tho lol
Really in the eye of the cyclone, here we have a song about Kennedy, and soon will come the time to watch the Ed Sullivan Show... Amazing time capsule...
Apparently Georgie Fame is still performing, I wish John Lennon had time to review more chart-toppers, his opinions are inevitably interesting and drawn from experience.
I have to say I like 'I'm the One' best of these, maybe the Bruisers next (which I've never heard before)? On the chart, Dusty's 'I Only Want to Be With You' might be my favourite song ever, and 'Baby I Love You' by the Ronettes isn't far off. Cliff Richard strikes gold with 'Don't Talk to Him' too. 'Glad All Over' and 'She Loves You' are best of the rest, but I have a soft-ish spot for 'You Were Made for Me'
For some reason John Lennon is very much like Keith Richards in that any song that features James Burton was a song that he liked. Both Ricky Nelson and later on, Elvis Presley used a lot of James Burton on their records
John Lennon descubriendo a The Pirates, (? Pero les dió like, ahora entiendo por qué The Hollies y The Kinks estaban en un universo/dimensión paralela a The Beatles :D
@@YesterdaysPapers oh, so much better a player than wilko Johnson, who got the acclaim, but at least gave mick his props. You can see the live 77, 78 stuff how sharp, frenetic and energetic ..and influential..his gtr style was. Really special.
Be interesting to know if he reviewed any singles later in the 60's, say '67 onwards. I know he was very fond of 'Whiter Shade of Pale' by Procol Harum and 'Wonderboy' by the Kinks. He was spot on here with his verdicts,...nothing really good stood out, though I was surprised with his criticism of Ray Charles, it wasn't a nasty criticism but Ray's voice is always a standout.
At around 1:45 ish, where did you find that footage of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. Big Pirates fan here, but I didnt think any footage of them survived before the reform in the 70’s. Thank you!!
That footage was featured on a Wilko Johnson documentary called "The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson". If you dig Johnny Kidd, check out this mini-documentary I made about Johnny Kidd a few months ago: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-st7xQnDWkn0.html
Aww. He didn’t like “For You” by Rick Nelson? 😢 That was the first single I ever bought. My record collection was populated by lots of Beatles songs shortly thereafter. I also disagree about Ray Charles, but that’s another story.
What’s the original tune behind the organ based ‘cover’ that plays this video out, please..? I have it stuck in my head right now. and can’t quite put my finger on. what it is..! Thank you!
I was surprised that I hadn't heard of most of these groups as I consider myself pretty clued up on 60s music, but obviously not to the extent I thought. I was a bit disappointed on his opinion of 5-4-3-2-1 by The Manfreds. I'm sorry but I happen to like that one. He says he likes the harmonica at least. It was throwaway and catchy, but rather memorable. I think I first heard it on my uncle's Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder donkey's years ago!
Watching this again and it is pretty heartbreaking to hear John discuss tribute records about JFK knowing he would himself be the tribute of several tribute records/songs himself
Do I get a prize for recognizing the outro organ music as The Honeycomb's Have I the Right? I'll have a Cadbury's Crunchie bar please. Not sure why I feel like one. Great lift music!
Surprised how much focus John Lennon has on whether or not the song is a potential hit. Very hit focused. Yeah, I know. Beatles had a lot of hits. Maybe it was later in life, that John opened his mind a little.
Love how McCartney later said he thought of Ray Charles ballads while working on ‘the Long and Winding Road’, and here John is saying how much he hates plodding Ray Charles ballads…
@@spurv So true! ‘Mother’, ‘Jealous Guy’, ‘Imagine’ and plenty of other Lennon songs have that piano-ballad quality, so who knows….I ‘imagine’ he did enjoy doing a simple piano ballad, as long as HE had written it haha. Beyond that, I always wondered if the old McCartney-Lennon competitiveness was triggered after ‘Let It Be’ (the song) was such a huge success…did Lennon write his OWN ‘simple-yet-moving-showstopper-piano-song-about-the-hard-times’ in response? ‘Let It Be’ vs. ‘Imagine’…Probably not, but it’s a thought.
