Mix Tape Friday: Ladies and Gentlemen, The Beatles!

Tomorrow night marks the 44th anniversary of The Beatles’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (click the link to hear that introduction) — probably one of the five most important pop-culture moments of my life. I was one of the 73 million who watched that show. I’ve blogged before about what The Beatles mean to me, so I’ll spare you that repeated tale.

But I never quit talking about The Beatles, not really. Favorite Boy and I were talking over the weekend about how The Beatles affected our lives, our love of music. As he said (much more eloquently than I did):

I still remember seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan when I was five and thinking, “Wow, this is different.” Those early songs taught me what rock and roll was supposed to sound like. They were the songs heard on small transistor radios under the sheets after I was supposed to be asleep. These were the songs that made me wish I had a girl that I could love eight days a week.

I started to mix a tape of Beatles tunes, but two things stopped that idea: (1) I couldn’t narrow down to 44 of their songs I like best (I’m obsessive, you know); (2) most of you who love The Beatles probably own the same extensive collection. So I went with my tried-and-true: a covers tape. The fun thing about a Beatles mix tape is everyone covers them — rock and R&B artists, punk boys and indie girls, easy-listeners and new wavers, country greats and psychedelic grands. I limited the tape to 44 songs — one for each year since that pivotal Sullivan moment — ending with my favorite Beatles B-side.

Twist and shout, kids.

Elton John feat. John Lennon :: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Stevie Wonder :: We Can Work It Out

Mike Mills & The Backbeat Band :: Roadrunner

Ted Leo :: I’m Looking Through You

Oasis :: I Am the Walrus

Aerosmith :: Come Together

Ike & Tina Turner :: Get Back

Earth Wind & Fire :: Got to Get You into My Life

Joe Cocker :: She Came in Through the Bathroom Window

U2 :: Helter Skelter

Stereophonics :: Don’t Let Me Down

Al Green :: I Want to Hold Your Hand

Greg Dulli & The Backbeat Band :: Twist and Shout

The Donnas :: Drive My Car

Little Richard :: I Saw Her Standing There

The Jam :: And Your Bird Can Sing

Sonic Youth :: Within You Without You

Eddie Vedder :: You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away

David Bowie :: Penny Lane

Elvis Presley :: Hey Jude

Frank Sinatra:: Something

Robyn Hitchcock :: She Said She Said

Elvis Costello + Paul McCartney :: One After 909

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 :: Day Tripper

The Fiery Furnaces :: Norwegian Wood

The Feelies :: Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)

Foo Fighters :: Blackbird

13th Floor Elevators :: The Word

Ray Charles :: Eleanor Rigby

Nellie McKay :: If I Needed Someone

Gregg Allman :: Rain

Johnny Cash :: In My Life

Billy Bragg :: She’s Leaving Home

Elliott Smith :: I Me Mine

Joe Jackson :: For No One

Paul Westerberg :: Nowhere Man

Nina Simone :: Here Comes the Sun

The Breeders :: Happiness Is a Warm Gun

Hüsker Dü :: Ticket to Ride

Echo & The Bunnymen :: All You Need Is Love

XTC :: Strawberry Fields Forever

The Ventures :: I Feel Fine

Yo La Tengo :: Paperback Writer

The Beatles :: You Know My Name (Look up the Number)

Interesting set of covers, huh? A few of the tracks on here are cheesy — but not the ones you’d expect. Yeah, Elvis Presley’s is very Vegas, but it makes me laugh. Nina Simone’s “Here Comes the Sun” is splendid, and I love Sergio Mendes’ “Day Tripper.” Johnny Cash brings a different, more heartbreaking feel to “In My Life.” I’ve always been a bit disappointed with Little Richard’s “I Saw Her Standing There” since you can hear his influence on Paul in the original, but it’s still pretty good. Mr. Charles nails “Eleanor Rigby”; I think I prefer his version.

Of course, there are many terrible Beatles covers out there — and this is one of my favorite groaners:

Bill Cosby :: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club

The Backbeat Band may be the greatest supergroup few have heard: R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Nirvana’s Dave Grohl, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers’ Greg Dulli, Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner, and Gumball’s Don Fleming. They grouped for the (quite fun) Backbeat soundtrack. I included my two favorite songs from the album: Mike Mills’ “Roadrunner” (his vocals and bass playing kick a**!) and the Greg Dulli-led “Twist and Shout” (a fun, true-to-tune cover).

Speaking of Greg Dulli, does anyone want to see him and Mark Lanegan with me in March? I cannot miss Mr. Dulli, I have decided. Check the navbar for details.

Be sure to listen to “You Know My Name (Look up the Number).” It was the B-side to the “Let It Be” single. Whenever I listen to it, I wonder if that’s the last good time Paul and John had together. Wonderfully weird song.

I want to know some of your favorite Beatles covers; there are so many fun ones to choose from. Discuss in the comment box.

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It Was Forty Years Ago Today

But I covered that story 365 days ago.

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UPDATE: Check out Thunderbird’s tribute.

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Oh, this is my 300th post.

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The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Today marks the debut of a new weekly feature: the soundtrack of my life. Every Tuesday I’ll feature one of my favorite albums. I am, however, kicking off today because Sgt. Pepper’s was released 39 years ago today (in the U.S. on June 2).

Years ago, back when the magazine was still relevant, Rolling Stone polled musicians on their seminal album, the one that changed how they listened to and loved music. (Peter Buck named the Stones’ Exile on Main Street, if I remember correctly.) When I read the question, I knew my answer without having to think — and, believe it or not, it’s not an R.E.M. disc. The album that changed my life is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It has yet to leave my top-five list. I went through four vinyl copies. It was the first album I bought on 8-track, on cassette, and on CD. The day I downloaded MP3-ripping software, it was the first album I ripped.

I’m listening to Sgt. Pepper’s as I write this column. I’m not going to get into the music-nerd stuff. We all know how innovative it is, how groundbreaking, what a design masterpiece the cover is; Wikipedia has done a good job of covering that. I thought about doing a track-by-track review of the album, but that takes away from what the album is: a symphony, at least to me. Each song is good on its own, but they work so much better as one collective piece, from the rustle of the crowd and the orchestra warming up to that final piano chord. So, I’m going to focus on what the album means to me.

I was eight years old when Sgt. Pepper’s was released. I spent nearly every day that summer at Renae’s, listening to the album over and over as we played parchesi and whatever else two girls do during the summer. It’s trippy. Funny. Catchy. The lyrics are full of wonderful, visual stories. It was just damn groovy, in the year of grooviness.

Listening to Sgt. Pepper’s takes me back to the magic of that summer. We were kids, with our lives ahead of us. We didn’t have responsibilities, other than having fun. And that’s what that summer was like across the world. The hippies (man, I loved hippies), the psychedelic era — for a brief moment, the Summer of Love was real. The album brings back that feeling of hope and joy and excitement and silliness. If I’m in a grumpy mood, listening to any of those songs pick me up. We never got tired of listening to it that summer, and I have yet to grow tired of it. I don’t think I’ve gone more than a month without listening to the entire album since that summer 39 years ago.

It just struck me how unusual it is that two eight-year-old girls were obsessed with this album — especially today, when kids listen to manufactured pop, such as Hillary Duff and 'N Sync. Sure, we had The Partridge Family (loved them!) and the 1920 Fruitgum Company, but psychedelic rock was also accessible. I don’t want to go on a diatribe about the evils of corporate record companies, but it is sad that you have to work at and research to find new sounds, new bands, new genres.

Anyway, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is brilliant. It’s a great memory from my childhood, and it’s still my most personal album. Pull it out and listen to the entire album this week.

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