Teasing the Korean

I wish I could report that the following clip is a parody, but apparently it's real: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gundu1yLjWY...feature=popular

Anyone interested in the Cavern period should pick up the BBC sessions. Some sessions pre-date the first album, and they run as late as 1965 or so, but there is a lot of good early stuff that eclipses the early albums in terms of rawness and energy.

Agree 100%. Lots of interesting stuff started going on pop/rock between, roughly, mid-65 and mid-67 (before and after those dates too). Because rock was relatively new at that time, all of the better artists had to draw from inspiration outside of rock music. Regardless, the jump between "Please Please Me" and "Revolver" is pretty amazing, as is the jump between the "Surfin' Safari" album and "Pet Sounds."

The weirdest thing about the Decca audition is that George is practically the lead vocalist. Paul sings some leads in this bad faux-Elvis voice. John, who was the main guy in the early days, comes off like he's someone's drunken younger brother who they allowed to sing a couple of songs. The choice of tunes is bizarre (Sheik of Araby). There are only three Lennon-McCartney tunes, all pretty amateurish, even by 1962 standards. The drummer is not so hot either.

Wait'll you hear the Decca audition. Not sure I follow. I'm saying that the one-year leap between the Decca audition and their first album rivals the four-year leap between their first album and Revolver. The Decca audition is unbelievably bad for so many reasons, it's no wonder they were not signed.

Wait'll you hear the Decca audition.

I would just sit on the terrace, drink, and listen to Scott Walker.

Bob Crewe - Barbarella OST - Dynovoice (stereo) Original copy, an upgrade from my previous copy. "The Black Queen's Beads" has to be one of the most perfect 3 minutes of delirious decadence ever recorded.

Muhal Richard Abrams - Lifea Blinec (Novus) Funded by Barry Manilow. Happy Birthday!

I know the name but am unfamiliar with his music. Can you recommend any good orchestral pieces by him?

I have tickets to see him on this tour, looking forward. Hope he makes a quick recovery!

Chuck, is your CD with the the 1955 version stereo or mono?

You bastard, you kept me up entirely too late last night by posting this link. I watched every Beach Boys-related video I could find on Youtube before falling asleep at the keyboard.

Thanks Chuck. I have the '55 version in mono on LP and love it, but I never heard the stereo version (apparently, RCA classical sessions from the early stereo era were recorded by a separate engineer with separate equipment), so I can't speak about that stereo version. I find it interesting that decades later RCA would have issued an experimental stereo recording from 1955 if a superior stereo version from 1962 was available.

Charles Munch recorded this twice - once in 1955 for a mono RCA Red Seal LP (with artwork by Andy Warhol) and then again in stereo in 1962 for RCA Living Stereo. Apparently, the CD version that is currently available is an early stereo recording from the 1955 session, which had never been on LP (and maybe not even reel tape). Googling this topic, it seems that many people prefer the 1962 recording, both from a sonic and performance standpoint. Does anyone have any detail on this? Is this summary accurate, and if so, does anyone know the background on the choice of the earlier session?

Oh, that explains it.

Supposedly, Lennon played the (excellent) solo on "You Can't Do That." Rumor has it that he didn't like George's solo on the A side, "Can't Buy Me Love," so he figured he'd play the solo on the B-side. Can anyone confirm this? It certainly sounds like John playing.

Were the solos recreated, or just the arrangements? Assuming the latter, I think there is place in jazz for presenting newly recorded classic arrangements. They are not a replacement for the real deal, but certainly present an alternate way of experiencing the music, especially if the originals were lo-fi. IMHO. Now, if they were playing transcribed solos, that's another story.

A gorgeous, longer Chopin piano piece is "Barcarolle." You can certainly find recordings of this, but it doesn't pop up as often as the preludes, nocturnes or polonaises on most collections.

Just as Bach represented, in many ways, the sound of the 60s, Chopin was sort of the sound of the 70s. Think of how many 70s European erotic films have faux-Chopin scores.

Assuming you're right - and you very well may be: Isn't it amazing how times have changed? Here was a guy who was considered the absolute greatest among male pop singers - the center of a generation's musical universe - and he's rapidly becoming a footnote in musical history. Strange.

Ravel's three-movement "Sonatine" is approachable for piano players with a certain level of skill, but most of his other stuff is very challenging from a technical standpoint.

Count me in. Back when I attempted to play classical piano, Chopin was my favorite. You may like Debussy's and Ravel's piano music if you like Chopin, especially if you have an interest in both "classical" and jazz. Ravel's is among the most difficult piano music to play, as an aside.

I should add that in the 90s there was a great compilation of his film stuff, "Jerry van Rooyen at 250 MPH" on the Crippled Dick label.