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DNA. These songs are in all of our DNA. I love the Rubber Soul / Revolver time period. It was like something was rumbling. We knew change was coming and The Beatles lit the flares.
Here’s a quick selection of my 5 favourite songs from Rubber Soul and Revolver. Please note, I could change my mind an hour from now.
NOWHERE MAN
The vocal intro freezes you in time. The guitar solo sounds like space travel. John sings like a young man who realizes he’s getting smarter.
PERFORMANCES
Jim Gaffigan (Saturday): Jim Gaffigan hits the Massey Hall stage this weekend in what’s sure to be a very funny evening. You may know Gaffigan from his appearances on late night shows with David Letterman and Conan O’Brien but my personal fave was his guest appearance as the loveable, if odd, best friend to Murray on Flight of the Conchords (recall his initial introduction to Murray’s “newly added friends” Bret and Jermaine over barbeque). Check out the embedded video above for some of Gaffigan’s more classic stand-up, this time on the topic of camping from his perspective (he notes that he is “what you would call indoorsy”).
Spencer Wells, Deep Ancestory: Inside The Genographic Project (Monday): The third presentation in this year’s new National Geographic Live series, Spencer Wells is a Population Geneticist who is currently taking it upon himself to create a “detailed, genetically-based map of human migration.” Seriously impressive stuff, right? (Makes your victory dance about the accomplishment of finally cleaning the attic this weekend seem a bit lacklustre, doesn’t it?). You can read all about the project here and learn about how you can participate by doing a cheek swab to “reveal your deep ancestry” here.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzHLeDBKprA
NEW ANNOUNCES
Video Games Live will be stopping into Massey Hall in May for their third appearance there. The concert melds live renditions of the music from video games along side perfectly synchronized video clips – video games and franchises to be live include childhood faves like Mario, Zelda, and Sonic, arcade classics like Frogger and Space Invaders, and more recent hits like Rainbow Six and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The Globe and Mail recently reviewed Video Games Live’s DVD release “Video Games Live: Level 2” very favourably indeed. Even PBS thinks it’s totally awesome.
And just last night we announced that John Mellencamp will be performing not one, but two nights at Massey Hall. Tickets for the second performance on February 10 go on sale to our FriendsFirst members Wednesday and to the public on Friday. Happy Tuesday!
PERFORMANCES
“The Seasons Project,” Venice Baroque Orchestra & Robert McDuffie (Tonight, Tuesday): For an introduction to what this evening holds check out this podcast by Soundboard guest contributor Rick Phillips. Last year, Philip Glass’ The American Four Seasons, a co-commissioned project of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, premiered at Roy Thomson Hall. Now the piece returns to our stage, this time matched against its inspiration, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, and performed by the Venice Baroque Orchestra.
CBC Song Quest (Tonight, Tuesday): Cool beans! If you didn’t get a chance to hear the full versions of the songs on CBC Radio 2’s Drive on Friday afternoon, you can now hear samples of all of the final tracks from this year’s Great Canadian Song Quest including from Hannah Georgas (who performs as special guest with Royal Wood this November). Sound bytes not enough? I should hope not. This evening at Glenn Gould Studio, you can witness all thirteen artists who participated in this now annual project, perform their newly created odes to Canadian roads.
Black Crowes (Wednesday): Black Crowes hit the stage at Massey Hall on Wednesday of this week with a full acoustic set followed by a full electric set. This is the band’s last tour for quite some time; Rolling Stone uses the term “indefinite hiatus” describing what’s next for the band after this tour and exclaims “… the Crowes are leaving at a peak. See them while you can.”
Classic Albums Live: The Beatles, The White Album (Friday): If you didn’t read Classic Albums Live founder Craig Martin’s post on why The White Album is the Beatles’ best, then you should. Classic Albums Live has perfected the art of perfection – recreating albums (classic ones, naturally), note for note, cut for cut. On Friday night, they take over Massey Hall with live renditions of your white album favourites including “Blackbird,” “Helter Skelter,” and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” (which you may recall I recently declared was a must-have on my Road Trip Mix-tape.)
In related news, the first London home in which John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived together received an CONTINUE READING >
One night, I laid out the four individual pictures of the lads that came with the ‘White Album.’ The four shots are so beautiful. And telling. A perfect visual match to the album. There’s something about the way they look at you in those shots. As if to say “You’re going to know this album and these pictures for the rest of your life.”
This is a unified album. There has been much talk and documentation to the contrary, but this is the sound of 4 young men coming into their own. Together. Asserting themselves. Clashing and collaborating. All in search of a great recording.
It’s not even called the ‘White Album.’ That’s just a name fans gave it. It’s official title is ‘The Beatles.’ But it’s the ‘White Album.’ Their best selling album. Their best album. Period.
Supposedly it was a miserable record for them to make. I’ve read about this. What freaked me out the most was that they didn’t have big lavish spreads of food and drink set out for them. They never did. They would argue over packages of chips or ‘crisps.’ Nip out for lunch. Come back and record. There was a work ethic in effect.
I always thought the rock star sense of entitlement spoiled the music. The Beatles never once fell victim to this. Even at times of great disagreement they would forge on, crafting songs and lending their support to each other. I can’t imagine that ever happening in this day and age. These days a minor disagreement turns into a break up and the next thing you know – everyone is calling their publicists. But not the Beatles. It all went into the music. They were beginning to get a true sense of how good they really were. The ‘White Album’ is the sound of them deconstructing their legacy and then putting it back together. Brilliant.
Beatles fans the world over, from the seriously committed to novice appreciators, are rejoicing after some recent releases of stellar new Beatles products. The entire Beatles collection has been remastered and reissued (both as a box set and in individual discs), not to mention that Beatles Rock Band has also been released. (Yes, that’s right-everyone’s favourite musical video game is now all Beatles, all the time.)
The remasters are actually long overdue: the last time the main Beatles catalogue was released on CD was in 1987, using the audio technology of that time. Just think, if you’ve only ever heard Beatles songs on plastic (as opposed to vinyl), you haven’t yet experienced them the way they were meant to be heard. Enter the box set. Actually, enter your choice of two box sets: there is a mono version (for audiophiles everywhere) as well as a stereo edition (for everyone else). Pitchfork has great reviews of the box sets, and the CBC also has a nice summary of every Beatles album to help you if you’re trying to weigh your shopping options. CONTINUE READING >
Ornette Coleman comes to Massey Hall September 24.
Thursday and Saturday of this week will be hopping at both Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall, with what promise to be epic performances. Between those and a special announcement yesterday, it is one exciting week here at the Halls.
Thursday, September 24 at Massey Hall sees the second instalment in the Jazz @ Massey Hall series: Ornette Coleman is coming to town. In 2007 Coleman received both a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and rightly so—the man changed the landscape of jazz fifty years ago and hasn’t stopped since. A December 2007 Rolling Stone article explains just wherein his innovation lies: “Coleman’s great affront to the jazz establishment was to base his improvisations not on the chords of a song but on the melody, and then not on the actual notes of the melody but on what the melody makes you feel.” (The piece is not available online, but can be found in the December 13, 2007 issue, on page 72.) Coleman’s unique free jazz will certainly make for one educational and entertaining evening. CONTINUE READING >
With a sea of fans bursting with excitement, Abbey Road was effectively shut down earlier this month as thousands came out to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of The Beatles’s Abbey Road: it was August 8, 1969 that John, Paul, Ringo, and George strode across Abbey Road in North London and into music history. The iconic image captured on that fateful day became the cover of the eponymous album, the last ever recorded by The Beatles (although Let it Be was the last to be released).
In seven or eight photos and under a quarter of an hour, the late photographer Iain Macmillan captured the band strolling across the zebra crossing outside the studio where they had just finished preliminary work on what would be their last recording. While the photo shoot lasted mere minutes, Abbey Road remains one of music’s best known album covers. It has been endlessly parodied, imitated, and studied. Many have speculated about its meaning, and some have even concluded that it revealed Paul McCartney’s secret death.
We will be marking the album’s fortieth anniversary this September as Classic Albums Live performs Abbey Road live at Massey Hall. The night promises to be a celebration not only of The Beatles but also of a moment it musical history. And, in the meantime, Abbey Road studios has a webcam permanently trained on the crossing, so that you can see passersby, tourists, and music-lovers of all ages doing their best impression of the Fab Four.
FREE Noon Hour Choir & Organ Concert
February 23 2012
Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra w/ Wynton Marsalis
February 23 2012
Pavlo
February 24 2012
Whitehorse
February 24 2012
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