Oh Paul, I love him. HIs comment is hilarious. It is admittedly one of two lesser tracks on Abbey Road (no points for guessing the other) but I'll forgive him everything for Side Two.
I genuinely like "Till There Was You." It's a great Paul vocal, and much better than "A Taste of Honey" on the album before it. THAT song makes my skin crawl.
Maxwells is the first song I knowingly heard from The Beatles. It was in my school library on a reel to reel machine and headphones, listening with a friend. The librarian asked us several times to not sing along so loudly. We were 8 or 9, a bit younger than George’s claim of 14.
I had a child-friendly record player when I was about 5 years old (1978) and used to play my parent's records which included most of the Beatles albums. Abbey Road was a favorite and I always liked Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Octopus's Garden. Those songs are very much like children's music even though MSH describes murder.
I think a lot of the Beatles music, which I was exposed to basically from birth, is appealing to children - especially starting around Rubber Soul. Many of the songs could be children's story songs. Drive My Car, Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Yellow Submarine, every song on Sgt. Pepper, most of Magical Mystery Tour and the White Album too.
I still like those songs as an adult but it's hard to say whether that's biased by my own nostalgia. I think the rest of the Beatle's dislike for some of Paul's work is misguided. It provided the variety and whimsey those albums needed, at least in my opinion!
Like I heard someone once say, and I couldn't agree more. If Maxwell's Silver Hammer was written by Harry Nilsson or Warren Zevon it would be revered, not reviled.
I was probably 12 when I first heard Maxwell's, and I loved it then. These days, not so much. On the other hand, I first learned Octopus's Garden in elementary school, and I still like that one. Not every song has to be about the artist baring his soul to the world. Sal, I agree with you about A Taste of Honey (and I have no time for Mr. Moonlight either). Till There was You used to be a guilty pleasure before I stopped caring whether other people thought I was cool.
Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill Don't Pass Me By Good Night Misery Octopus Garden Only A Northern Song Run For Your Life Wild Honey Pie Why Don't We Do it In The Road
Hard to defend any of those mangy, fly-bitten beasts, indeed - although I do like Misery and Octopus Garden.
And yeah, Run For Your Life is so bad, it adversely affected my overall opinion of Rubber Soul. Of course, RS is an undisputed masterpiece and one of my favorite LPs. That's not my comment. I'm just saying that it ends so badly, it makes me wonder what they were thinking.
Which is why I'd usually pick Revolver over Rubber Soul - best ending to a record ... ever ?
I agree with a lot of the songs on your list. But I kind of like Misery. It's not great art, but it's a great leap forward from Love Me Do, which was just vastly inferior musically and lyrically to what was coming out of the Brill Building and Hitsville in 1962. What's amazing to me, still, is how much better they got as songwriters and how quickly. Incidentally, I was listening to Sirius XM Underground Garage this morning driving to work and was surprised to hear Run For Your Life. Not sure what was going through their minds...
31 comments:
What -- no comment from Yoko? 😎
Fortunately they broke up before he came with Mary Had A Little Lamb…
R
**spit take** Hahahahahahaha
Didn't they START with "Mary Had A Little Lamb"?
Oh Paul, I love him. HIs comment is hilarious. It is admittedly one of two lesser tracks on Abbey Road (no points for guessing the other) but I'll forgive him everything for Side Two.
"Abbey Road" had so many well-this-is-different songs from the Beatles, i can indulge Maxwell
An unusual post from one of Paul's great defenders. You've turned me around on (much of) Paul's music, and now this. 😜
I don't hate "Maxwell's Silver Hammer." I can't say the same for "Ob La Di Ob La Da."
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is one of my least favorite Beatles songs. Make my skin crawl. “Till There Was You” anyone?
Captain Al
Paul does have his twee moments. The only Beatle that could ever be compared to Donovan in that regard (and yes, I like some Donovan).
Wonder what Charles Manson's take on this song was?
rs
I genuinely like "Till There Was You." It's a great Paul vocal, and much better than "A Taste of Honey" on the album before it. THAT song makes my skin crawl.
For some, our first introduction to “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” was this - thank you, Paul :)
https://youtu.be/F__uGshlbOo?si=686CK0rKSXX4N08T
What did they say about "Octopus's Garden"? Or does it get a pass because it's not Paul's?
Maxwells is the first song I knowingly heard from The Beatles. It was in my school library on a reel to reel machine and headphones, listening with a friend. The librarian asked us several times to not sing along so loudly. We were 8 or 9, a bit younger than George’s claim of 14.
- Paul in DK
The Beatles. A band of 4. Who were all correct on this matter.
I had a child-friendly record player when I was about 5 years old (1978) and used to play my parent's records which included most of the Beatles albums. Abbey Road was a favorite and I always liked Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Octopus's Garden. Those songs are very much like children's music even though MSH describes murder.
I think a lot of the Beatles music, which I was exposed to basically from birth, is appealing to children - especially starting around Rubber Soul. Many of the songs could be children's story songs. Drive My Car, Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Yellow Submarine, every song on Sgt. Pepper, most of Magical Mystery Tour and the White Album too.
I still like those songs as an adult but it's hard to say whether that's biased by my own nostalgia. I think the rest of the Beatle's dislike for some of Paul's work is misguided. It provided the variety and whimsey those albums needed, at least in my opinion!
Poor Paul - he just wanted a hit. ;)
Like I heard someone once say, and I couldn't agree more. If Maxwell's Silver Hammer was written by Harry Nilsson or Warren Zevon it would be revered, not reviled.
"Ob La Di" is a much hipper song than people realize. https://powerpop.blogspot.com/2008/08/that-summer-race-was-much-bigger-story.html
I was probably 12 when I first heard Maxwell's, and I loved it then. These days, not so much. On the other hand, I first learned Octopus's Garden in elementary school, and I still like that one. Not every song has to be about the artist baring his soul to the world. Sal, I agree with you about A Taste of Honey (and I have no time for Mr. Moonlight either). Till There was You used to be a guilty pleasure before I stopped caring whether other people thought I was cool.
I genuinely like "A Taste of Honey” It's a great Paul vocal, and much better than "Love Me Do" on the single before it. THAT song makes my skin crawl.
In 1970, when I was 13, I thought it was funny, and loved it. I still give Paul a pass.
Well, they're all "not wrong."
I mean, if the Beatles wrote somewhere between 213 to 235 songs, Maxwell's is definitely #212 or #234.
Not sure if there's a worse song in their catalog, but I'm hold'n' out a spot in case there is.
All worse than "Maxwell's Silver Hammer":
Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
Don't Pass Me By
Good Night
Misery
Octopus Garden
Only A Northern Song
Run For Your Life
Wild Honey Pie
Why Don't We Do it In The Road
Hard to defend any of those mangy, fly-bitten beasts, indeed - although I do like Misery and Octopus Garden.
And yeah, Run For Your Life is so bad, it adversely affected my overall opinion of Rubber Soul. Of course, RS is an undisputed masterpiece and one of my favorite LPs. That's not my comment. I'm just saying that it ends so badly, it makes me wonder what they were thinking.
Which is why I'd usually pick Revolver over Rubber Soul - best ending to a record ... ever ?
And let me add this. I would listen to those ten songs more than a lot of other crap. That's how good they were.
True,, Bungalow Bill doesn't get a fraction of the grief Maxwell's Sliver Hammer does.. Imagine if Bungalow Bill was a Paul song?
I agree with a lot of the songs on your list. But I kind of like Misery. It's not great art, but it's a great leap forward from Love Me Do, which was just vastly inferior musically and lyrically to what was coming out of the Brill Building and Hitsville in 1962. What's amazing to me, still, is how much better they got as songwriters and how quickly.
Incidentally, I was listening to Sirius XM Underground Garage this morning driving to work and was surprised to hear Run For Your Life. Not sure what was going through their minds...
Oh Darling is not so hot either.
Captain Al
You kidding? One of the single greatest vocals of all time.
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