So the is a memory from only a few days ago. For Mother's Day I got my wife a bunch of goodies from the kids and I (she said it was too much but Ididn't think so). There was chocolate, candy, a homemade trinket form the kids and various other things; including the White Album
by the Beatles. Ever since we started doing karaoke, my wife would since Dear Prudence (story behind the song) and I had never hear that song before. Her older brothers liked the Beatles so she heard it a lot as a kid. So when I was gathering gifts for Mother's Day, I thought it would be nice for her to have it so she could listen to it in the car (or on my ipod). We cranked up that song in the house while I was making a nice breakfast and right there a memory was born. We had a great day. We went to the Milwaukee Art musuem which my wife and I had never been to (very cool by the way). Later we then went out to lunch/dinner. I was a real nice day for mom.Dear Prudence is a song that showcased their Indian influence (along with other songs of course) and I think that is what really attracted me to the song. I have always enjoyed that sitar sound (al la Ravi Shankar). There are other songs that feature that sound that I like as well including Dream Theaters Home, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, In the Light (I know that is keyboards, but still), Heart Full of Soul, Paint It Black, My Little Man (Ozzy) and many others I can't think of right now. Maybe I will do a post about this fascination.
So do you have a memory from this song? Please let me know.
In addition to the Indian influence I also hear a Pet Sounds era Beach Boys vibe on the vocal harmonies and on the overall production.
ReplyDeleteI know that Brian Wilson had a tremendous amount of respect for the Beach Boys. And I believe Pet Sounds was his answer to the Beatles Rubber Soul album. The Pet Sounds album is actually held in even higher regard in England than it is here in the US so I wouldn't be surprised if the Beatles were in turn influenced by Wilson. There was a bit of musical osmosis between the 2 bands in that 1966-1968 timeframe. The difference was that the Beatles imho had more songwriting talent evenly distributed between John, Paul, & George whereas most of the Beach Boys songwriting and musical talent was with Brian Wilson (and as we'd later learn with his solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue, Dennis as well-- but in 66-68 Dennis was largely a non-factor in the Beach Boys. He didn't blossom/come into his own until the 70s).
Given that mutual respect there's a part of me that wonders what a Brian Wilson produced Beatles album would have sounded like.
Perplexio, wow, I never knew any of that. Most of the music I listen too is from the 70's on. Its not that I don't know older songs (my dad was in 50-60's bands for years) but I never heard anything but the popular songs. It is a rare thing that a band can have 3 writing partners that are that good. I am only now realizing what an impact The Beatles had. Better late than never I guess.
ReplyDeleteThe Beatles were much better songwriters than the Beach Boys but Brian Wilson was a much better arranger (especially when it came to vocal harmonies) than the Beatles were. I really think that the Beatles vocal harmonies were largely inspired by the Beach Boys especially on their earlier material. The best way to hear the 2 bands influence on each other-- listen to Rubber Soul, The Beach Boys Pet Sounds, and the Beatles White Album back to back to back.
ReplyDeleteBrett-- do you perchance have an email address I could drop a note to you on. There's a link or two I'd like to share with you in a somewhat more private venue? I can understand if you'd rather not post your email address on here so if you're interested you can get my email address from my blogspot profile.
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