Teasing the Korean

I think they were way ahead of people like the Stones and their blues based peers. They recorded the proto-techno "Tomorrow Never Knows" April of 1966 and look what was in pop music afterwards. You really want to appreciate how far ahead of their time the Beatles were in Pop Music? Play some of the other stuff that was being released in, say, late 1966. When you've heard Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" (Billboard #2 June 25, 1966), The Happenings' "See You In September" (#4 Sept. 10 1966), Johnny Rivers' "Poor Side of Town" (#3 Nov. 5, 1966), The New Vaudeville Band's "Winchester Cathedral" (#1 Dec. 3 1966), and countless others a few times, and then you listen to, say, "Strawberry Fields Forever" (recorded in late '66, released February 13, 1967), you realize you're dealing with a group in another talent-dimension altogether. If you would leave Frank Sinatra out from your example, you would present a more convincing case.

Still not as good as the Hollyridge Strings' version! Not to mention the BUD SHANK album on World Pacific!

I don't listen to the Beatles; only jazz and easy listening covers of them.

Maxwell's Silver Hammer has an elaborate rhyme scheme worthy of Cole Porter or Noel Coward. Far from their worst ever. What have you done lately?

These guys have all bought into the rhetoric of a bunch of lonely male masturbators living in their parents' basements.

Gary McFarland vastly improved every Beatles tune he covered. I have no use for the original versions.

Sorry, but it IS revisionism, based on respective numbers of copies sold at the time, the Beatles' agreement with Capitol, and the fact that these were mere collections of songs - not movements of symphonies. The Beatles signed off on the US releases, and often supplied songs specifically for these albums. Additionally, George Martin frequently supplied distinctive mixes specifically for the US. Artistic control cannot be assigned retroactively, in that you can't erase history. In the words of critic John Mendelsohn, teen pop acts were treated like begrudged guests by their own labels. Way more people worldwide at that time heard the American releases than the British. The American versions are just as "real" as the UK versions. Glue/Switch. That's all I have to report.

Mandigo - The Primeval Rhythm of Life - EMI/Columbia (UK) BADASS contortionist funk exotica!

Of course - just like San Francisco isn't the "Real America." Sorry, but I don't buy into the revisionist Beatles catalog history that has been propagated by EMI and the corporate entity known as the Beatles.

Two world music divas in such a short time.

Just picked up some Guido Crepax books. What else could I possibly listen to except: Piero Umiliani - To-Day's Sound (Easy Tempo reissue). The opening cut is the theme from "Babayaga" with the Guido Crepax images.

Any chance it somehow got sandwiched into the Jimmy Smith section? I've done boneheaded things like that before, especially in the "Jones" section.

Sorry, I was just trying to embarrass Verve into reissuing them...

Yes, I was serious about Abbey Road being one of the best, if not the best swan song I've ever heard. As far as Rubber Soul and Revolver go, they are both great albums. But your statement about these being the Beatles' best is quite subjective, wouldn't you say? Of course. That said, The White Album is my favorite Beatles album; but Rubber Soul, Yesterday and Today and Revolver are the ones that have left the real indelible mark on me. These three albums were like a summation of everything that was great about them from the beginning, and a precursor of what was to come, minus the self-indulgence. I will also say that at this point in my life I never listen to the Beatles. I prefer their music covered by aging jazz and EZ artists who were trying to get hip to the now sound. Ramsey Lewis's "Mother Nature's Son" album is a real fave.

Herschel Burke Gilbert - Burke's Law - Liberty (mono promo)

How is this? I've never been able to find a copy.

Just picked up "The Distant Galaxy" by Don Sebesky. Great remastering!

Never thought I'd see Quincy Jones' Slender Thread reissued on CD! Thanks, Verve, for making this available!

Incidentally, Les Baxter's funk stuff is worth checking out. I'll be happy to hip you to this stuff if you don't already know about it.

Really excited about the Kenyon Hopkins Mr. Buddwing/Yellow Canary twofer. It's about time!

Not interested in Sun Ra's funk tunes. Funny you bring this up. What I'm really excited about lately is his EXOTICA period, when his compositions and arrangements were influenced by those of THE GREAT LES BAXTER. I recently put together a compilation which I titled "Sunratica" focusing on this music. Here are the contents: Overtones of China China Gates Circe (excerpt) Watusa Brazilian Sun Looking Outward El Viktor Dimensions In Time Adventure-Equation Planet Earth The Beginning Space Mates (excerpt) Ankh New Day Paradise Ancient Aiethopia The Nile Africa

Les Baxter set list........... from Tamboo!..... 1) Simba 2) Oasis of Dakhla 3) Mozambique 4) Batumba 5) Cuchibamba 6) Tehran 7) Pantan from The Sacred Idol..... 8) Procession of the princes 9) The High Priest of the Aztecs 10) The Feathered Serpent of the Aztecs 11) Pyramid of the Sun 12) Aqueducts Robert Drasnin set list..... 1) Chant of the Moon 2) Samballero 3) Moorean Moonbeams 4) Mirage 5) Siren Song 6) Desiree 7) East of Xanadu 8) Habanera in Blue 9) Orinoco 10) Polynesian Bolero

Rubber Soul and Revolver are their two best albums. One is pre-Revolver, and the other is, well, Revolver.

Are you serious?

His lame-ass, flaccid stereo mixes are surely not part of that reason, unfortunately. The Beatles need to be heard in MONO!