Beatles

Certain Songs #31: The Beatles – “Paperback Writer”

November 28, 2014 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1966.

Conventional rock & roll wisdom states that the greatest 45 ever made was “Strawberry Field Fields Forever / Penny Lane,” but I say that isn’t even the greatest 45 that The Beatles ever made. This is.

In 1966, The Beatles were fucking insane. “Paperback Writer,” written and recorded around the same time as Revolver, combines the tough guitar riffs that The Rolling Stones & The Who were sporting with the multi-arranged harmonies that the Beach Boys and the Byrds were showcasing.

Oh, and it also happens to be the song that inspired the title of the greatest (and funniest) book ever written about The Beatles, Mark Shipper’s 1978 faux-history “Paperback Writer.”

Seriously, out of all of the parodies of story of the Beatles over the years, this is the best (though, admittedly, it lacks Eric Idle’s and Neil Innes’ songwriting chops), full of wonderful invented history (the song they wrote with Dylan!) silly running gags, and positing that they would get back together within a decade after they broke up. The chapter on the Beatles reunion is particularly poignant in light of subsequent events.

Good luck trying to find it, though: it’s been out of print forever, existing as at most a footnote when it comes to the massive volume of books written on the band.

Anyways, “Paperback Writer” is my favorite kind of Beatles song: big riffs, amazing bass and/or drum parts, awesome harmonies, and lyrics that tell some kind of story (though, given that they’re Paul’s lyrics, kind of a silly story).

Official Video for “Paperback Writer”

My Certain Songs Playlist on Spotify

Every “Certain Song” Ever

17 Musical Moments to Die For

August 27, 2009 by Jim Connelly

It has been four months since I’ve done one of these, a far cry from my original plan of doing one a month, and I can’t promise when the next one will be, or even if there will be a next one.

So, really quickly, the ground rules. These aren’t about artists, or albums, or even songs, but rather, moments: that piece of a song that draws you into it; that piece of a song that you wait to happen again; that piece of a song that is running in your head when you can’t sleep; that piece of a song that you find yourself humming at inopportune times.

That piece of a song that you can’t live without.

This is the ninth in a series: The first one had 25; the second one had 24; the third one had 23; the fourth one had 22; the fifth one had 21; and the sixth had 20; the seventh had 19 and the eighth had 18.

Nothin’ From Nothin’ Leaves Nothin’

August 19, 2006 by Kassia Krozser

A long time ago in a galaxy far away, we had a little something called “AM Radio”. On AM Radio, they played something called “singles”. These singles were sometimes just that — individual songs recorded by artists. Sometimes these singles came from a flat piece of grooved vinyl called an “album”.

This being the the olden days (think approximately the time that the wonders of electricity were fully explored), sometimes you’d hear a single on the radio and you’d go to the store and buy it. The single generally had two songs, on on the A side and one on the B side. Some people took the whole power of the purchasing dollar thing further and bought entire albums.

A Download a Day Keeps the Lawyers Away

March 29, 2006 by Jim Connelly

Apple Computers and Apple Corp are returning to court today, as The Beatles (or as the MSNBC headline currently has it, “The Beattles”) are accusing Apple Computer of trademark infringement. Again.

Like everything else on the planet, this is centered around iTunes and the iPod, as they represent Apple Comp’s movement into the music space, which Apple Corp says violates the agreement they brokered last time they were in court, 15 years ago.

To Apple Corp, Apple Comp going into music infringes on the value of the Apple record label, which to me, brings up an interesting side point: in the day and age of downloading, what is the value of a record label to a consumer?