Come and Get It:
The Best of Apple Records

In 1968, The Beatles formed Apple Corps. Ltd., a new home for the records, and of the amazing and strange records of their contemporaries.

Recently released is Come And Get It: The Best of Apple Records a record that can only be described as mis-titled. This is definitely not the best of Apple, as it doesn’t feature The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” or Lennon’s “Mother.” Instead it could more aptly be titled “Assorted Single, and such.”

Though The Beatles, as a cohesive unit, do not grace the record, they are still in sight. The album features Lennon/McCartney compositions such as “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight”¹, “Thingumybob”², Lennon’s “Give Peace A Chance”³, “God Save Us”⁴, and more George Harrison songs than you can shake a stick at.

The Beatles don’t sit back comfortably only in the role of songwriter. The legendary band also often produce, or perform with their labelmates. The genres are never a pre-defined thing, going from Francophone hillbilly⁵ to shmaltz⁶, soul⁷, gospel⁸ and much more.

It’s pretty easy to list all the brilliant on this record, “Those Were The Days,” “Carolina In My Mind,” “Maybe Tomorrow,” “Sour Milk Sea,” “New Day,” “Come And Get It,” “Try Some, Buy Some,” “Ain’t That Cute,” “Govinda,” “Saturday Night Special,” and “Day After Day.”

There’s also a lot that can be described best as… interesting. The Lennon/McCartney⁹ composition “Thingumybob” would not sound out of place as the backing music for a Looney Tunes cartoon. There’s Brute Force’s comedy song “King of Fuh,” who apparently was “called the Fuh King;” Lennon must have chosen this one.

The only thing bad on the record is Hot Chocolate Band’s reggae cover of “Give Peace A Chance.”

While a lot of this appears on other newly remastered Apple discs, it does feature a lot of material only previously available on singles.

Grit
by KUMONgA

While this might only be a three-song demo, I feel I must give it some space on this here blog. KUMONgA is a new band featuring Dan Walters, who used to be in The Brown Hornets, a pretty damn good band. While The Brown Hornets were a lot more punk, KUMONgA is a bit more focused on soul rock; to the point where the opening track has definite Rolling Stones vibes, specifically “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” The other two tracks continue on this theme, creating a rather cohesive and easily digestible three songs. I’m not sure if the title Grit is a reference to their dirty soul sound, or if it’s to display an affection towards the Liberal Party of Canada.

Looking forward to potential live KUMONgA shenanigans.

1. Performed by Trash
2. Performed by The Black Dyke Mills Band
3. Performed by Hot Chocolate Band
4. Performed by Bill Elliot & The Elastic Oz Band, listeners will hear Lennon count in.
5. The Sundown Playboys
6. Mary Hopkin’s “Those Were The Days”
7. Jackie Lomax
8. Billy Preston
9. Really Paul.

Now it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Backbeat, but if I recall, the band went on to be rather big, maybe it’s time for a sequel studying that part of their career.

This film did just that. The film starts in 1964, when John Lennon meets his father for the first time in 17 years. While Nowhere Boy examined Lennon’s relationship with his mother, Lennon Naked is about his relationship with his father.

The film follows some key events in the life of Lennon’s up until 1971 when Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono leave the UK for the United States.

Christopher Eccelston (Doctor Who, Gone in 60 Seconds, Heroes) plays the famous Lennon, and it’s slightly awkward having a man who’s face is so well known to me, playing a man who’s face is so well known to me. They intercut archival footage of Lennon, The Beatles, and Yoko Ono through the film, and surprisingly use Beatles and Lennon recordings as the soundtrack.

While Lennon’s relationship with Alfred Lennon, his father, is the main crux of the story, there’s a lot of stuff which doesn’t really relate to the relationship of the Lennons. The main problem with the film is that John Lennon is an adult by the time the film starts, and while he carries a lot of resentment and hatred towards his father, who left him as a child, he’s still an adult. An adult dealing with the betrayal of his parents doesn’t come near the interest of a child. That’s where Nowhere Boy succeeded, and Lennon Naked failed. However, there is a great way to succeed with this same story, and unfortunately, the film makers did the same thing John Lennon did… ignored Julian Lennon. While John was dealing with the hurt caused by his father, he was doing the same thing to his son Julian.

I think the filmmaker was trying to show the parallels, but they failed at it.

If you’re a Beatles/Lennon fan, watch it. Otherwise, meh.

Nowhere Boy instead focuses on Lennon and his broken home. Raised by his Uncle George and Aunt Mimi. Mimi is strict, while George is fun loving. George dies an untimely death, and this affects Lennon and puts him into the rage we see later in Backbeat. Lennon also reconnects with his mother Julia and learns more about the disappearance of his father Alf¹. Lennon is enamoured with his mother, and the image of Elvis Presley, who together inspire him to become a rock and roller.

Lennon starts The Quarrymen, an skiffle group, with his friends from school. Eventually he meets a younger boy named Paul McCartney, who impresses him with his performance of “20 Flight Rock,” and eventually in a brief scene we see George Harrison join the band. Thus most of the cast of Backbeat is together by the end of the film.

One of my favourite points in the film is an interchange between Paul, John, and Julia after they find out McCartney’s mother died.

Julia to Paul: So awful, your mother being taken away from you.
John: She had cancer, what’s your excuse?

The film overall is really about Lennon’s unhealthy relationship with his mother. The two are more like friends at best and lovers at worst than a mother-son relationship.

Overall it’s not a bad film, and adds some damn good backstory for Backbeat, and might even be better than Backbeat itself. Now it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Backbeat, but if I recall, the band went on to be rather big, maybe it’s time for a sequel studying that part of their career.

1. Who names a character after an alien-muppet from an ’80s sitcom?

but it’s not as much fun as their previous ones.

I like that chicken guy’s in both.

Now that we’re done with that, how about some You Say Party, We Say Die?

Or, how about The Beatles?

Books I read (2/10 – 20%):
Heaven Is Small by Emily Schultz | Originally published 2009

Films I saw (19/52 – 36.5%):
Whip It | Originally released 2009
24 Hours On Craigslist | Originally released 2005
The Princess And The Frog | Originally released 2009
The Secret of Kells | Originally released 2009
An Education |  Originally released 2009
Invictus | Originally released 2009
The Blind Side | Originally released 2009
The Hurt Locker | Originally released 2009

Albums I bought (22/52 – 42.3%):
Next Year In Zion by Herman Düne (vinyl) | Originally released 2008
Realism by The Magnetic Fields (CD + vinyl)
The Beatles Stereo Box Set | Originally released 2009

• Please Please Me by The Beatles | Originally released 1963
• With The Beatles by The Beatles | Originally released 1963
• A Hard Day’s Night by The Beatles | Originally released 1964
• Beatles For Sale by The Beatles | Originally released 1964
• Help! by The Beatles | Originally released 1965
• Rubber Soul by The Beatles | Originally released 1965
• Revolver by The Beatles | Originally released 1966
• Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles | Originally released 1967
• Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles | Originally released 1968
• The Beatles by The Beatles | Originally released 1968
• Yellow Submarine by The Beatles | Originally released 1969
• Let It Be by The Beatles | Originally released 1970
• Abbey Road by The Beatles | Originally released 1969
• Past Masters by The Beatles | Originally released 1988

Shows I attended (7/52 – 13.5%):
The Magnetic Fields (w/ Laura Barrett) @ Queen Elizabeth II Theatre; February 8, 2010
The Hidden Cameras, Owen Pallett, Thomas, Kids On TV, The Barcelona Pavilion, Mean Red Spiders, Neck a.k.a. Christiana, Boars @ The Garrison; February 14, 2010