zed wrote:
But I agree with you... the whole albums are works of art, and I'd actually prefer to go see a Tribute band performing a whole album, rather than a selection of favorites.
No doubt-- there are "fans" and then there are "FANS". You and I are hopelessly in the latter category. I'm a whole album person myself and could sit through 2-3 sets of a tribute concert if it meant I'd get to hear all of Rubber Soul, Revolver, Pepper, and Abbey Road among other things.
I tend to find myself in the frame of mind to focus on one era at a time with them. Here's how I'd divide their creative period:
#1: Please, Please Me, With The Beatles, Hard Day's Night
#2: Beatles For Sale, Help!
#3. Rubber Soul, Revolver
#4: Pepper, Mystery Tour, Submarine
#5: White Album, Let It Be, Abbey Road
Each category feels so different, and Submarine is almost in a category of its own, but it bears more resemblance to Mystery Tour than the White Album (I think).
zed wrote:
Speaking of song lists, Mr Frodo... Have you by any chance compiled a list of essential Beatles songs which use the AC30? I want to put together an iTunes playlist of such songs so that I can practise along with my new VOX amPlug. I could figure out a suitable selection myself, but if you already have done the grunt work, or can list off some key songs from the top of your head, I would appreciate getting those. Thanks.
I've done nothing definitive-- still trying to get my hands on the Recording Sessions book. But I'd suspect that the bulk of their recordings up to and including Help! were largely AC30. I've seen photos of various Gibsons during the Cavern days, and then there were Selmer and Fender amps sneaking into Rubber Soul and beyond. I'd also read a few tidbits of Abbey Road having to build a bass amp for Paul from scratch during the Please, Please Me sessions
The Beatles Gear website focuses only on Vox, Fender, and Ampeg-- but there were others in use. What might be helpful is to check out the site:
http://www.beatlesgear.com/index2.html
It seems that there are some dates included with various amp models, and those dates can be cross-compared to various appearances or album releases. Without the Recording Sessions book it's a little tricky to get much more accurate than that.
Vox had a monopoly on their live concerts from '64-'66, but we know for sure that by the time of Rubber Soul they'd started using other gear in the studio-- mixing and matching?
e-loo wrote:I note that FAB FOUR is included in EastWest's holiday sale:
Here we are almost a year after the announcement. In some ways I wish I'd waited since it's taken all this time for PLAY to *start* to mature. But, this thread has been priceless and I'm glad I got into it when I did. The sale is great for newbs because FabFour seems to be working fairly well now with some DP quirks finally hammered out. It still has some minor issues with advanced MIDI control to sort out, but for the most part it's finally at the B+/A- phase and holding strong.
I'm keeping my eyes peeled for the expansion library!!
