Holland, The Beach Boys, 1973

“He just sat in his camper and wrote all that shit.”
    - John Steinbeck’s son on Travels with Charley

Sitting in the Netherlands, the Beach Boys wrote touching tributes to California. "Sail On, Sailor" is so beautiful and evocative and sad. So’s "Steamboat." "California Saga (California)" is a favorite of mine. I hear human-ness and deep caring, something unusual in the rock of that time. The mainstream critics don't like this album very much -- “a shitload of drivel” says Mark Coleman in the Rolling Stone Album Guide.

The Beatles (White Album), The Beatles, 1968

I am ready for another revisionism. This time I will like this album, but selectively. When it came out, I listened pretty uncritically. But I did think it was dark, disturbed, and disturbing, with plenty of violence (“Bungalow Bill”, “Rocky Raccoon”, “Happiness is a Warm Gun”).

Later, in the punk era, I was revulsed. No Elvis, Beatles, or Rolling Stones. (Or in a more charitable mood- “I was in love with the Beatles.”)

 Now - I will amuse myself by creating a one-record version with the songs I think worth keeping.

 Worth keeping, and would have made a pretty kick-ass Beatles album:
   Back in the USSR (Paul)
   Dear Prudence (John)
   Glass Onion (John)
   While My Guitar Gently Weeps (George)
   Blackbird (Paul)
   I Will (Paul)
   Julia (John)
   Mother Nature’s Son (Paul)
   Sexy Sadie (John)
   Helter Skelter (Paul)
   Long, Long, Long (George)
   Revolution 1 (John)
   Cry Baby Cry (John)
   Good Night (John, w/ Ringo on vocals)

Throw away: (In today’s terms, “White Album Deluxe Edition”):
   Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da (Paul)
   Wild Honey Pie (Paul)
   The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill (John)
   Happiness Is a Warm Gun (John)
   Martha My Dear (Paul)
   I’m So Tired (John)
   Piggies (George)
   Rocky Raccoon (Paul)
   Don’t Pass Me By (Ringo)
   Why Don’t We Do It In the Road? (Paul)
   Birthday (Paul)
   Yer Blues (John)
   Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey (John)
   Honey Pie (Paul)
   Savoy Truffle (George)
   Revolution 9 (John)

"Hey Jude"/"Revolution", The Beatles, 1968

"Revolution"

Dr. O’Boogie’s amazing guitar, which wouldn’t have been out of place at an 80’s punk gig. The lyrics’ message, however reasonable, was not what people wanted to hear in 1968.

“Hey Jude”

Didn’t like it then, do now. Partly it’s because now I know it’s about Julian Lennon (and by Paul, not John). Also the sentiments of maturity. The extended repeats of the chorus are audacious and beautiful.

It’s interesting that both songs counsel against extremes of emotion, one in politics and the other in, well, emotions.

Their Satanic Majesties Request, The Rolling Stones, 1967

How wonderful this album is. I had forgotten. Conventional wisdom at the time was that this wasn't a good album. How wrong that was. The Stones cross their normal blues-rock with psychedelia a bit uneasily, but the uneasiness makes for some great music.

On this re-listen, utter love. Loved it in the 70s, love it now. Why are the Stones punished for experimenting (with different instruments, orchestration, looser song structures) when others are rewarded? Unfair! Songwriting, playing and production (the Stones themselves) are great. Brian Jones still around to leaven Jagger and Richards' seriousness.

John Wesley Harding, Bob Dylan, 1967

I know the reputation of this album is that it’s one of Dylan’s high points. Maybe it's over-familiar to me because in the 70's I listened to it a lot. But it seems blah and boring to me. It just doesn't have the emotional commitment of Nashville Skyline or Self Portrait, both of which I still listen to. JWH seems flat. Best song on JWH - "As I Went Out One Morning." Finally Dylan seems awake.