The Beatles Comedy

”Rabbi Winkler wrote: The Zohar says “There is no wisdom as wholesome as that wisdom that comes out of silliness. Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness.”

What they did best was nuttyness, a distinction without a difference perhaps. I have seen Yellow Submarine (in the theater at the time of its release so I don’t remember all that much!). I remember an early “music video” in which The Beatles are playing leapfrog over a well-dressed gentleman leaning over something on the sidewalk. It has no particular meaning but it’s amusing as is their capering on an anonymous beach in striped vintage bathing dress. These had nothing whatsoever to do with the songs. But you watch it and you enjoy their enjoyment of what they are doing.

I have to suppose that outside of The Beatles’ natural style of wisecracking, the style of physical comedy demonstrated in the clips and movies may have been more the idea of Sir George Martin then anyone else. Martin was the head of the Parlophone record label who offered The Beatles a recording contract after they had been turned down by just about everyone else. Although he was a trained musician (piano, oboe), he went to work for EMI record company, where he recorded such comedians as Peter Sellers and Spike Mulligan. Sellers as well as a very broad assortment of music from light pop to symphonic. I know he did a good bit of intellectual comedy but also indulged in what I call “romps”; a special way of handling mostly physical comedy without much attention to plot, continuity or, indeed, story at all.

The Beatles at that time were barely older then schoolboys and you can see in A Hard Days Night comedy recalling a kid grabbing someone’s hat and playing keep-away. Adolescent boy fun is funny, so long as it’s not your cap! Added in was as lovely a Keystone Cops sequence as anyone’s ever seen and Ringo’s threnody on the canal is way beyond criticism. Was Ringo consciously playing the Little Tramp? He says he was so hung over that morning that merely walking took all his time so I can suppose it was simply one of those miracles

]Not that The Beatles film depends on either physical comedy or on adolescent boy fun, the writing in some places in A Hard Days Night is delicious. John’s conversation with the plump lady in the hall wherein the “him” John does or doesn’t look like is left undefined is surely a triumph of underwriting – so terribly hard to do! However, it took the eye of an artist (or a really good cameraman) to see the possibilities of 4 skinny young men in black clothes romping in a mowed field. Is it funny? Not exactly; but it makes you feel good and feel good about the actors.

It’s very amusing to read the slightly offended surprise of the movie critics reviews. (Both in the original release and the more recent re-release to theaters.) While some of the sources say that the script was carefully written to be easy for inexperienced non-actors, Ringo’s “hiding behind a smokescreen of bourgeois clichés” isn’t my idea of an easy line! I have seen the I Am the Walrus cut in Magic Mystery Tour and it lacks the spontaneity and fun which are not entirely absent from the rest of the piece. It seems to me that there was too much self-consciousness and an attempt to get some sort of message across. I do find the lyrics of Walrus over studied and artificial. I feel sure that Ringo is right in that by broadcasting it in black and white the BBC ensured it’s critical disaster. On the other hand, the particular magic that made The Beatles is beginning to fail because the group is beginning to fail to be a group. Even in Sgt. Pepper you can see that there’s a bit of a hitch in their interpersonal harmony. It comes back here and there but many of the clips show three bored session musicians trying to get the ‘great one’ through one last take.

The Beatles comedy at its best a combination of innocent fun and sophisticated badinage that transport the viewer to the world of everyone’s dreams, one which never existed. I find reviews that name it as archtypical of its time and yet it survives to this time and people without my memories enjoy it now.

Some idle questions

Did George Martin get paid a fee for playing on a Beatles recording session?
Why did Yoko kick John out for his “lost weekend”?
Who was the older man dancing right behind Ringo in the Peppermint Lounge footage? I almost can recognize him.

P.S. This is NOT a quiz and I do NOT know the answers!

Highly Miscellaneous

 I’m not in the mood to edit or to produce something all harmonious and put together today so here are some snippets of OPINION culled from my notes.

I’ve seen a number of discussions about what songs John had on his jukebox. Ever think what might be on Paul’s? Or more practically, what isn’t? I’d guess everything from madrigals to cloud chamber bowls and grand opera to Spike Jones and then some.

 “Arguing with a fanatic [is] about as profitable as arguing with a drunk and far more dangerous.” Sun wolf in The Ladies of Mardigan by Barbara Hambly Oops, that isn’t a Beatles snippet!

Of all the heinous things John did to Julian, I really think the most evil was to appropriate the song Paul wrote for Julian (Hey Jude) and say it was about John and Yoko despite Paul telling John who it was for. John’s self-absorption has reached far more then merely toxic levels at this point.

There are a lot of open questions about John’s childhood: Did Julia really have tea almost every day with Mimi? If so, how could John not have seen her regularly? Did Mimi take John away from Julia or did Julia happily hand him over? Did Mimi really want John or was she really most interested in getting even with Julia? Did Mimi love John at all? Did Mimi emotionally if not physically abuse John?

It was George Martin and the Beatles themselves who made the least out of the group’s success at least while they were still together. Martin was still on a rather skimpy salary. Brian, Dick James, EMI and all the merchandisers made the most though nobody knows what Brian did with his. After 1970, Paul clearly did far better then the others do both to the fact that he really paid attention and because his in-laws were both skilled and honest – and because his records sold a lot better.

Bad rock + lousy reception = Awful noise – oops, that was the Grammy’s last night.

Philip Norman in Shout talks about Paul marrying Linda Eastman as being “social climbing” although Linda was daughter of a poor immigrant who won a scholarship. On the other hand, Yoko, whom John married, was genuine aristocracy; a schoolmate of the future Emperor of Japan.

The words to All You Need Is Love are so breathlessly inane it’s tempting to consider them an act of genius. It’s sad and sobering to realize that they unfortunately led to Give Peace a Chance and many more completely mindless anthems through the intervening years. You know, nobody goes on and on about what Hoagie Carmical was feeling when he wrote Stardust of what tragedy in Harold Arlen’s life sparked the lyrics of Stormy Weather and I don’t even think anyone much cares what was Dylan’s inspiration for Blowin’ in the Wind.

Beatle “Managers”

Nigel Whalley

Allen Wiliams

Bob Woller

Mo Best

Sam Leach

Bill Harry

Pete Best

Brian Epstein

Peter Brown, Tony Barrow, Alistair Taylor, Neil Aspinal and

Paul McCartney

Scary thought: Paul probably was “hyperactive” as a child and John definitely had ADD and emotional problems. If they were kids today they’d be fed drugs and made normal.

The Beatles: A Rockumentary: A review. A lot of worn sound bites organized in a vaguely chronological manner. Pointless if you’ve seen Anthology and not worth more then $2 including postage.

 

 

The Beatles as Musicians

The Beatles were not showy players. It was a time of singers, not of guitarists or drummers. Only in jazz was the quality of instrumentalists highlighted. While in live performance most rock and roll bands would include instrumental breaks it was more to give the rest of the band and the vocalist a chance to rest then to highlight the playing. The age of the guitar hero waited for Hendricks and Clapton. At the time, only George was actually recognized for his musicianship (frequently among the top ten “jazz guitarists” in the listings) and while as time has gone by both Paul and Ringo’s high reputation with fellow bassists and drummers has become generally known and appreciated. John is, understandably, still seen as the weakest player. In some ways he was but he did perform some notable guitar leads and the high quality of his work as rhythm guitarist seems never to have been adequately acknowledged.

George’s goal seems to have been perfection in the actual playing which he quite frequently achieved. It’s downplayed, indeed barely mentioned, that he was not quick to find licks for a new song and the others, including George Martin, worked with him pretty often. His later conflicts with Paul (which did have a deeper source) evidenced in him resenting any suggestions Paul might make in this regard. Paul obviously didn’t understand why George had become so hostile (exchange in Anthology during Get Back sessions) though from what Paul said you can certainly suppose he was attempting to be diplomatic. Creativity simply doesn’t come easily, or at all, to some people; creativity at the level of John and Paul is extremely rare and sets a standard impossible for others. It certainly isn’t a personal fault to lack somehow the brain connections that support creativity and in fact most humans, including me, do lack it.

Ringo is one off the most modest drummers in a world in which so many are wild extroverts – who are drummers because they want to make the most noise. Ringo saw his job in terms of what he song needed and some of his best work is so soft as to be almost inaudible (Day in The Life). I’m most impressed with the odd, sort of broken beat he uses particularly in a couple of John’s stranger compositions. I strongly suspect he could have come up with something appropriate for Yesterday if it had been necessary.

Paul, of course, took rock and roll bass from the instrument more or less played by the leader’s best friend or the fat wannabe rocker to an important role in the music generally. Taking inspiration from jazz bassists such as Keeter Betts and the piano bass lines of earlier rock and rollers (Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard) he both supported the rhythm and provided a contrast to the lead guitar that has since influenced all sorts of popular music.

Another point showing the level of the Beatles musicianship is the fact that they all played many instruments in addition to their primary. Although Ringo and George were very focused on their primary instrument, they both played piano and other instruments. Paul was the most versatile but all possessed the talent and interest to experiment with many others. The Abbey Road Studios certainly was an advantage there with many instruments available for experimentation. The Beatles level of musicianship may not have been the most important ingredient in their mystique but certainly it would have been difficult to support that mystique without skilled players.