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Author Topic: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story  (Read 80998 times)

J.J. Blair

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #30 on: March 02, 2005, 08:49:31 PM »

Dude, are you kidding?  I hope my hair is as good as his when I'm half his age!

BTW, I only know Asylum Choir II.  "Welcome to Hollywood" was a single, no?  I don't know about the toilet paper.  Do tell.  
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Level

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #31 on: March 02, 2005, 08:58:30 PM »

Bobs sideburns are the key!

They are!!!!!!!
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David Kulka

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #32 on: March 02, 2005, 09:00:04 PM »

The Beatles were heavily influenced by the American R&B sound and they had a bit of a reputation for being jokesters, so I still think one of them was behind this.  Terry, you rightly point out this this would have been an expensive and dangerous prank, but to me this points to them even more, because they could have afforded to set it up, and they personally may have had the least to lose if the disk wound up being bootlegged, or got radio airplay.

In the go-go 60's the Beatles must have had trusted friends who travelled between England and the U.S. and would agree to such a stunt, perhaps as an untraceable gift or tribute to the people who contributed to their sound?

An inside job, with the help of an employee (or owner!) who had a key, but never said a word, seems unlikely.  A private investigator who had break in skills but could be relied upon could be hired to plant the disk, keep an eye on things, and then retrieve it.  Think of the Great Train Robbery, D.B. Cooper, Watergate...  Seemingly impossible things happen that none of us could ever anticipate or explain...There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy...

Terry, let me turn this around and ask, how do you think it happened?  Do you have any gut feeling, or theory?

Oh, and one more question, do you think the vocals on your mystery recording are the same takes as those on the commercial release?

(By the way, I have a small and slightly funny Ringo session story of my own, but it doesn't belong here, so I'll save it for one of Terry's other threads!)
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Bob Olhsson

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #33 on: March 02, 2005, 09:37:22 PM »

wwittman wrote on Wed, 02 March 2005 14:15

Hey Bob,
Why did Motown buy a synthesizer after Sgt. Pepper?...

I'm pretty sure we bought it before Sgt. Pepper came out. The acetate told us that things were changing fast and obviously we had no idea of the Moog's stability issues.

I just asked Mike McLean what he remembers. He thinks someone may have given it to Brian Holland at a convention. I've also been trying to pin down exactly when Tom Nixon left Motown for Stax because there might be some connection there. Mike remembered the acetate as sounding exactly like what eventually came out on the LP as do I. Then we talked for 90 minutes about Bob Moog and his wife!

Greg Dixon

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #34 on: March 02, 2005, 10:02:01 PM »

Bob Olhsson wrote on Thu, 03 March 2005 13:37

wwittman wrote on Wed, 02 March 2005 14:15

Hey Bob,
Why did Motown buy a synthesizer after Sgt. Pepper?...

I'm pretty sure we bought it before Sgt. Pepper came out. The acetate told us that things were changing fast and obviously we had no idea of the Moog's stability issues.

I just asked Mike McLean what he remembers. He thinks someone may have given it to Brian Holland at a convention. I've also been trying to pin down exactly when Tom Nixon left Motown for Stax because there might be some connection there. Mike remembered the acetate as sounding exactly like what eventually came out on the LP as do I. Then we talked for 90 minutes about Bob Moog and his wife!



This theory doesn't fit, as Terry said it had only been recorded a few days earlier.

It sounds like a Beatles prank to me. There is a 'Making of Sgt. Pepper's documentary, when Paul talks about how the press were accusing them of drying up, as it had taken them so long to record the album. He says that they knew it was great and were going 'just wait until they hear this'. So, I can imagine that they'd be wanting to show off what they'd done, to people they respected and knew could be trusted.
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Bob Olhsson

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #35 on: March 02, 2005, 11:52:05 PM »

The Moog fascinated us but wasn't practical at that stage in its development. "Reflections" just used a signal generator with some echo on it.  (Prior to Lexicon, "reverb" was normally referred to as "echo.")

Here's a bit of a time line according to Lewisohn:

"A Day in the Life" was completed February 23rd, 1967

"Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds" was recorded Feb 28 through March 2nd.

The album was released in the UK June 1 and in the US June 2.


The version Terry heard was apparently not the final while the one we had was the final or at least had the strings and the piano decay at the end. I'm also sure I heard it more than two months before it was released, it seemed like an eternity at the time.

Brendan Thompson

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #36 on: March 03, 2005, 04:25:58 AM »

Level wrote on Thu, 03 March 2005 12:58

Bobs sideburns are the key!

They are!!!!!!!


And it all starts to make sense...

Bob's sideburns transported the Acetate from Abbey Road and placed it right where Terry would find it... and then removed it from the premises once he had made a copy...

Very Happy
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Brendan Thompson

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #37 on: March 03, 2005, 04:29:57 AM »

Going by Bob's post, perhaps then, Terry's copy WAS an old "reference", from BEFORE the song was completed - that gives PLENTY of time between then and the recording of Lucy for the record to have somehow drifted it's way across.... by today's standards anyway - could it have been posted over?
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Brian Kehew

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #38 on: March 03, 2005, 07:59:48 AM »

Dang. This thread has my name all over it (literally and figuratively!) From the Beatles to Shirleigh Moog! We named our band - the Moog Cookbook - after her paperback work of the late 1960's.

Back to topics -

1) I hear the Jefferson Airplave (and maybe the Dead) got ahold of some acetates before the Pepper release - mono. Maybe a connection there.

2) [i}"but apparently the company is pronounced like 'droog'. This is according to Brian Kehew, and everybody at the Moog booth at NAMM pronouced it that way, too." [/i]

Well - Bob says it's "Vogue", the company is called that too (always has been, except in England) and everyone at the booth does say Mogue correctly, except me. But I only say it "isn't" because Shirleigh told me it USED to be Moooog and they changed it. So I side with the ingorant and the genius, not in the middle...



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bblackwood

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #39 on: March 03, 2005, 08:06:32 AM »

Terry, are you sure John had nothing to do with it?
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compasspnt

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #40 on: March 03, 2005, 01:50:51 PM »

bblackwood wrote on Thu, 03 March 2005 08:06

Terry, are you sure John had nothing to do with it?


John claimed at the time, and at a later date, to have had no knowledge of the what, whom, and why...

He would certainly have no reason not to tell me otherwise.
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compasspnt

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #41 on: March 03, 2005, 02:04:16 PM »

Brian Kehew wrote on Thu, 03 March 2005 07:59

Dang. This thread has my name all over it (literally and figuratively!) From the Beatles to Shirleigh Moog!


I  hereby humbly dedicate the topic to you Brian!

[quote...I hear the Jefferson Airplave (and maybe the Dead) got ahold of some acetates before the Pepper release - mono. Maybe a connection there... [/quote]

Could be a connection; but San Fran was almost as far away as London from where I was...farther, in cultural terms!

Quote:



Well - Bob says it's "Vogue", the company is called that too (always has been, except in England) and everyone at the booth does say Mogue correctly, except me. But I only say it "isn't" because Shirleigh told me it USED to be Moooog and they changed it. So I side with the ingorant and the genius, not in the middle...




Have you never heard of "The Golden Mean?"  (Only kidding...again!) I now have decided that it rhymes with "mug."  That should dissatisfy everyone...

(By the way, I hope everyone realises that my sense of humour is sometimes hard to discern...I was of course only joking in an earlier post when I appeared to malign anyone pronouncing the word "wrongly."  Naturally, everyone is free to pronounce anything any way they please!  That post has now been edited.)

Best regards,

Terry
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J.J. Blair

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #42 on: March 03, 2005, 02:51:11 PM »

Brian, I could swear I heard somebody at the booth say "Mooog".  I think you rubbed off on them.  (Wait.  That doesn't quite sound right...)


Well, I am just going back to saying Moog the Canadian way, like Andy Moog.  (vogue)  You've fucked me up the last 5 years ever since you told me it's called "Moooog"!  Damn your eyes!
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They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

"The Internet enables pompous blowhards to interact with other pompous blowhards in a big circle jerk of pomposity." - Bill Maher

"The negative aspects of this business, not only will continue to prevail, but will continue to accelerate in madness. Conditions aren't going to get better, because the economics of rock and roll are getting closer and closer to the economics of Big Business America." - Bill Graham

Brendan Thompson

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #43 on: March 03, 2005, 03:04:41 PM »

J.J. wrote on Fri, 04 March 2005 06:51

Brian, I could swear I heard somebody at the booth say "Mooog".  I think you rubbed off on them.  (Wait.  That doesn't quite sound right...)


...And he'll do it again if they don't obey! Laughing
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drumsound

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Re: The Bizarre Beatle Mystery Story
« Reply #44 on: March 04, 2005, 12:07:31 AM »

Terry,

This story alone is worth the price of my internet connection for the month!

Thanks for sharing.
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