Their Logo

     Not too many people talk about the logo for 'The Beatles'.  It is actually quite good and legible.

     There is more than meets the eye here.

     First of all, the 'B' is over-sized, extending upward.

     The 'T' is over-sized, but extends downward.

     "So what?" you might say.

     Well, the visual of the logo describes the music as being upbeat and downbeat at the same time, and provides a visual contrast in opposite directions, while the text moves the eye from left to right.  It is actually quite brilliant how they did it.

     The logo is deceptively simple, but somebody had to know what they were doing when they created this logo, for it is memorable, describes the band, and has lasted for all of these years.

     I'll have to find out who designed the logo.

     As you may know, they were originally called 'The Silver Beatles' or 'The Silver Beetles', I can't remember the original spelling, but at some point the second 'E' was replaced with an 'A' as John mentioned in his book, "In His Own Write", which I would kill to get a copy of.  Anyway, they wanted the word 'Beat' in the name to show that their music had a beat, and was hip like literary beatniks, man.  They wanted to show that they were part of the 'Beat' scene, man.  Dig it?

     Anyway, why 'Beatles' in the first place?  Well, they wanted a name that was like an insect, like 'Buddy Holly & The Crickets' and I ain't kidding.  They loved Buddy Holly.

     The only other band off the top of my head to mention insects is 'Adam & The Ants' but Adam went a little crazy.  That is another story.

     So, 'The Beatles' had a very good, excellently simple logo that was memorable.  There is a lesson in marketing for you.  It worked out really well for them.
     ( The problem I have with marketing, and why it fails all the time is besides the marketing, you have to have good content.  The Beatles had good content which sealed the deal. )

     Uh...questions, anyone, about the logo?    

     The logo ended up on Ringo's bass drum which showed up really well when on television.  Instant advertising.  Yet another brilliant move.

     I don't recall 'The Rolling Stones' ever having their logo on Charlie Watts' bass drum, though their 'big lips and teeth with tongue sticking out' logo worked out really well for them.  Instantly recognizable.

"I Am The Walrus"

The Beatles - I Am The Walrus 1967

"I Am the Walrus" is a 1967 song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon/McCartney. Lennon claimed he wrote the first two lines on separate acid trips. The song was in The Beatles' 1967 television film and album Magical Mystery Tour, and was the B-side to the #1 hit "Hello, Goodbye".

In the original (1967) stereo release, at around two minutes through the song, the mix changes from true stereo to "fake stereo". This came about because the radio broadcast had been added 'live', off-air, into the mono mix-down and so was unavailable for inclusion in the stereo mix; hence, fake stereo from the mono mix was created for this portion of the song.

The mono version opens with a four-beat chord while the stereo mix features six beats on the initial chord. The four-beat-only-intro is also included on an alternate stereo mix (overseen by George Martin) for the most recent home video version of Magical Mystery Tour, especially the US Magical Mystery Tour LP. The US mono single mix includes an extra bar of music before the words "yellow matter custard"; an early, overdub-free mix of the song released on The Beatles Anthology 2 reveals John singing the lyrics "Yellow mat -" too early—this was edited out. A hybrid version prepared for the 1980 US Rarities LP combines the six-beat opening with the extra bar of music that precedes the words "yellow matter custard" (from the aforementioned US mono single mix).

In 2003, the first-ever completely true stereo mix of the song (albeit with the introduction covered by narration voice-over), including the formerly "fake stereo" second half, was included on The Beatles Anthology release to DVD (a change from the VHS edition); and in 2006, the first-ever stereo mix of the complete song (from beginning to end) was issued on The Beatles' album Love. The true stereo mix had been made possible when a separate recording of the same King Lear radio performance used in the original mix was located. * John Lennon -- lead vocals, electric piano, mellotron * Paul McCartney -- bass, tambourine, backing vocals * George Harrison -- electric guitar, backing vocals * Ringo Starr -- drums * Orchestrated, directed and produced by George Martin. * Session musicians: strings, brass and woodwinds. * Mike Sammes singers -- background vocals. * Engineered by Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. * Mixed by Geoff Emerick and John Lennon.

In other news, I have added the lyrics to this song so you can sing along, or perhaps learn the song! This is how I learned my first Beatles song! Enjoy :)

Album: Magical Mystery Tour

I am He

As you are He

As you are Me

And we are all together.

See how they run

Like pigs from a gun

See how they fly

I'm crying.

Sitting on a cornflake,

Waiting for the van to come.

Corporation T-shirts,

Stupid Bloody Tuesday.

Man, you've been a naughty boy,

You let your face grow long.

I am The Eggman.  ( woo! )

They are The Eggmen ( woo! )

I am The Walrus!

Goo Goo Ga Joob.

Mister City Policeman sitting,

Pretty Little Policemen in a row.

See how they fly like Lucy in The Sky,

See how they run!

I'm crying!

I'm cry

I'm crying

I'm cry!

Yellow matter custard

Dripping down a dead dog's eye.

Crabalocker Fishwife,

Pornographic Priestess,

Boy, you've been a naughty girl

And you let your knickers down.

I am The Eggman. ( woo! )

They are The Eggmen ( woo! )

I am The Walrus!

Goo goo ga joob!

Sitting in an English Garden

Waiting for The Sun.

If the sun don't come

You get a tan from standing

In the English Rain.

I am The Eggman.

They are The Eggmen.

I am The Walrus!

Goo goo gajoob

Ga goo goo gajoob

Expert Texpert Choking Smokers,

Don't You Think The Joker Laughs At You?

See how they smile,

Like pigs in a sty,

See how they snide!

I'm crying!

Semolina Pilchard,

Climbing Up The Eiffel Tower

Elementary Penguin Singing Hare Krishna

Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.

I am The Eggman.  ( woo! )

They are The Eggmen.  ( woo! )

I am The Walrus!

Goo goo gajoob

Ga goo goo gajoob

Goo goo gajoob

Ga goo goo gajoob

Ga goo

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The song is based off of 'Alice in Wonderland' and John got a little confused about the role of The Walrus from the story, but it doesn't matter.  It's a great song.

Here is the definitive video for the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap6kSV_U45o
( At the time of this writing, this video had 2059 likes, and 43 likes.  I would like to meet those 43 people and ask them what their reasoning was.  I know there are those who dislike every video they see just because they are annoying litter buggers. )

I stole the text for the blog entry from some guy who stole it from somebody else, but I had to type out all the lyrics, so they would be easy to read.  People who make videos of songs with lyrics aren't always too good with organizing the words.  However, today is the first day I've been able to read every single word of this song.  Many of the words I could never figure out just by listening to the song.  For years, I never knew John mentions Edgar Allan Poe in this song, who is one of my favorite authors.  Imagine that!

Anyway, why did I start with this song?  Why not?  It was there, and it would be ridiculous to study the Beatles' songs in order.  That would be really boring.

I made this blog entry because the information was good, and I wanted people to be able to read and learn about it.  I learned some new things in the process, so I am glad it all worked out.

A discussion of the video would take even longer, and I don't have time right now, but maybe I'll add some thoughts later when my head is clear.  That could take a day or two, especially after listening to this song four times in a row.

There is no such word as 'texpert'.  When rhymed with 'expert', it is mocking that word much in the same way people say 'lollipop mollipop', or any number of combinations.  John Lennon is famous for mocking many things, including cops, cripples, and people in authority.

Musically, this a very good song, with many layers of sounds.  There is a good syntax with the musical progression of chords counter-balanced by the nonsense of the lyrics, which actually do make sense, and have a point to them if you read them over and over again.

In any case, I think the song and the video pass the audition.

     I am listening to this band practice next door, and it is really loud.  I can barely hear myself think right now.
     They are currently playing their version of 'Taking Care of Business'. 
     Earlier, they ruined a RUSH song for me.
    
     Why in hell would I want to hear bad cover versions of songs when I can see the real thing on youtube?  It beats me.

      If this band were half as good as The Beatles, it would be better listening for me.

      That is how you tell if your band is any good, when you compare it to the best.

      The singer for this band next door is atrocious.  I don't know why they don't find somebody else.  Maybe he is their friend.
       Even if the band gets real good, which I can never imagine happening, they would have to drop the lead singer, and find somebody else.  He isn't even a fourth as good as Roger Daltry of The Who.

       Anyway, my thoughts are on John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

       These four men still have influence in the media, even though two of them are dead.

       Recently, Ringo said something insulting about the city of Liverpool.  A while back somebody had some hedges in the shape of the busts of The Beatles.  So incensed somebody was about Ringo's comments, that he cut the shrubbery head of Ringo off the topiary bush.  Haha.
       Hilarious, isn't it?

       Liverpool ignored The Beatles for years until they realized that they could make money off of tourists, so Ringo probably had good cause to say whatever he did.

     Wow, Blogger let me create a Beatles blog.  I was having trouble at first with the domain name, but it looks like it is working now.  Cool.

     Basically, I was watching some old Beatles videos this morning, and the idea to create a blog about The Fab Four came to me.

     "Uh oh....that is going to be a lot of work...what am I getting myself into?"

     Everything about The Beatles has already been written.  Their career is well-documented.

     What can I add?  I don't know at this point, except to go by what I feel.  It is my only guide.

      I would like to write about them, however, and post cool pictures of them.  I would also like to post videos of them here, so that this blog can be a nice Beatles Place to come to.

      The reason why I resisted starting a blog about them is that there is a lot of ugly, dark stuff about them that is unpleasant to go into again.  Ugh....some of those early 70's John Lennon interviews are painful to listen to, for example.

      I'm a trooper, though, so I'll deal with it.

      I would write more right now, but I have to deal with a band practice next door, and it is hideous.