Tuesday, August 24, 2021

My Sweet He's So Fine


 

If you are a fan of "Surrealistic Pillow," Jefferson Airplane's 1967 tour de force, then surely you must know the difference between the stereo and mono. Briefly, the stereo sounds like what Capitol did to the American Beatles LPs and the mono sounds clean, dry and meaty, like the UK Beatles LPs. 

But that's not why I'm here.

I've listened to "Surrealistic Pillow" a few times a year for what seems like a lifetime, and only yesterday, while sorting through a box of recently acquired 45s, and finding a copy of "My Best Friend," did I realize the similarities between Skip Spence's song and The Beatles' "For You Blue." It seems George was listening to the Airplane when he wasn't listening to The Chiffons.

This may be old news to all of you, but I was knocked for a loop, not so much by the similar melodies, but by how I hadn't noticed this before after hearing the song hundreds of times. While it's not as blatant as the "My Sweet Lord" via "He's So Fine" predicament, it's still pretty close.

And that's what I've got for a slow Tuesday! Gotta ease back into the week after yesterday's excitement.


2 comments:

Todd said...

Know how you feel. Heard the Osmond's "Crazy Horses" for the first time in years (45+?) and it came to me that, as I listened to the verses, "THIS is what I imagine Metallica sounds like."
Now what do you do with THAT bouncing around in your head?

Thanks for the postings Sal. One thing to look forward to!

Mr. Baez said...

I never heard the similarities between the two songs until you pointed it out. Wow. I keep a "Surrealistic Pillow" cassette in my car (yup, still have a ancient player in my ancient Volvo)and listen to it all the time. I love that album. "She Has Funny Cars" has always been one of my favorite album openers. Thanks, Sal. And thanks for your continued advocacy of the vaccine.