Since nobody has tackled this yet, I'll offer up one... shame all the other ones seemed a bit easier to me, but ill give it a whirl (without looking things up no less! although I will listen to a song if I think its the answer)

hrmm hard to place the lyrics out of context and without music..

3) is easy, thats the Walrus
5) is screaming out The Night before to me. But It's not in the song.. I'll get back to this.
1) You know I was wondering why this seemed so strage and out of context... its a tricky little one, its more of the ending of a lyric.. as in: I do all the pleasing with you its so hard to reason with youuuuuuu, oh yeah.. Please Please Me.
2) For some reason I keep thinking of John when I read this lyric. I'll come back to this one also.
4) At first I was sure this was from She's Leaving Home, but I kept having doubts about it, and now listening to it, I confirm those doubts. Well it sounds like this comes from a sad song, with a man in it. After listening to a bunch of different songs, I come to a song about a woman, which is why it was a little hard to come by. Those socks belong to the feet of father Mackenzie from Eleanor Rigby.
2) (revisted) Well I decided to tackle this one before 5), since I have a good idea where this is from. All it took was listening to a few tracks that have John written all over them, and sure enough this is from the Ballad of John and Yoko. But I think the lyric is "won't" not "don't" although it sounds like "don't" but it makes more sense with "won't"... who knows
now to solve the last one that eluded me...
5) Another sad song's lyric. Hrmm I guess the brute force method will have to do. (Listen to a bunch of songs at random, and apply this lyric with the rythym of that song).. Ah! I've got it. This is from I don't wan't to spoil the party! But the lyric is written incorrectly, no wonder it was so hard :P It's actually "There's nothing for me here, so I will disappear" :)

so to recap:

1) Please Please Me
2) The Ballad of John and Yoko
3) I Am The Walrus
4) Eleanor Rigby
5) I Don't Want to Spoil the Party

whew! that was hard, and now I'm late for class :)

If you caught me writing the lyrics incorrectly, then it looks like you just took ME to class. All correct, by the way. Nicely done.

Who's voice did George have in mind when he wrote "Something".

Not sure if this is ironic or not, but anyways...


What does "Norwegian Wood" refer to? What was the song about?

I don't understand the question. Voice? Do you mean, "about whom was the song written," or "whom did George envision singing it?"

It was written about first wife Patti. If your question is the latter, I don't know. Frank Sinatra?

No irony (or even sarcasm); real respect.

Norwegian Wood was about one of John's flings with another woman. What intrigues me more than anything about this song is that all of The Beatles had thousands of these flings and one-night stands all over the place. Thier hotel rooms after the concerts were sex marathons everywhere they went. So what made this one so special as to deserve its own song?

Sorry about the sloppy wording. "Whom did Geore envision singing it?" Was what I meant. It was Ray Charles. Not that he intended to give the song to Ray, but he said that when he wrote the song he could hear in his head Ray Charles singing it. He denied that it was actually about Patti at all, but just a song for Ray.

Well, I blew it on both parts. I've never heard that before, so thanks for the info.

Here are some Beatles song title anagrams. What songs are these?

1) thin adult door anyhow

2) able worn Elysium

3) dyke seat aweigh

4) snow hunk volt either abed

5) diet rite tock

Fun Thread! Who sings the, "She loves you, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!" towards the end of "All You Need Is Love"?

heheheheh

not to discourage you or anything...it's a good question - and highly debated - read this thread for more info!

EDIT: this post has more information in it...

Oh man, sorry about that quadro2000. A long time member here gave me just today the link to this thread and I should have gone back and read all of it and not just the last page of the thread.
I was somewhere else and we debated this for weeks and I agree with your answer you linked me to. Much harder question than appears at first blush!

No biggie (and sorry if I came off like a dick). Glad to have you here! Yeah, it's amazing - when you think back, you gotta wonder if they ever realized their music - even their adlibs - would be subject to such intense scrutiny!

1) I Want To Hold Your Hand
2) Yellow Submarine.
3) Eight Days a week.
4) I Should Have Known Better
5) Ticket to Ride.

whew that took me about 45 minutes! :-p

Heres some Beatles song titles anagrams of my own:
****************
WARNING: Offensive language follows. Please ignore this post if you do not enjoy offensive language!
****************

1) "Sweet Mary whine ugly piglet"
2) "Womanishly shitty nude dick"
3) "Hello Wolf in lust"
4) "Im a ratty clumsy ogre"
5) (this one is a bit tricky, bonus points if you get it) "Eh Im boring kid madman"

Hope nobody was offended by that, just some mindless hilarity in beatles song titles :)

1) While My Guitar Gently Weeps

2) Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

3) I'll Follow the Sun

4) Magical Mystery Tour

5) Stumped. Need a clue.

What is it the Beatles are saying at the end of "I am the Walrus"? I am told "Everybody smoke pot"...sounds pretty close. Sorry if you have already answered this...thread has gotten quite long! Any other subliminal message answers regarding the Beatles would be great!

warrrreagl: for number 5, the title you are trying to unscramble is not in English :)


tralls: I always just thought it was repeating: "Everybody ha ha!"

Ahh, that clue gave it away. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand

As for the "I Am the Walrus" fadeout question, I haven't the slightest idea. I know that ever since the song first came out, my brain interpreted the lyrics as "oo-pah oo-pah everybody oo-pah." Although this makes no sense and is most certainly NOT the correct lyrics, it's what I still sing inside my head whenever that song comes on.

I have actually heard this. My wife has a copy of it she got from an import store some time ago.

For those of you not in the know, it is a German version of "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

The third Beatles album released by Capitol Records in the U.S. called "Something New" had this version on it. I used to listen to it over and over, completely fascinated.

I have to admit I was hooked on that song for a while... dunno why though, seeing as how I don't speak German. I just think it's cool how they translated the song into German. I know many people have translated their songs into other languages, but were the Beatles the first pop number to do so? Anybody know?

It gets murky, there. European pop acts were constantly translating pop songs back and forth. I assume you meant "English-speaking pop act," but I think even Tony Sheridan had a few singles translated into German way back then.

I do remember the utter scorn and teasing heaped on The Beatles when "Michelle" was first released (with the opening line sung in both English and French). And I've never really liked "Michelle" as much as everybody else, for some reason.

George Harrison wrote two number hit singles that he "gave" to other artists before he recorded them. Name them, and the artist that benefitted from his inability to recognize the hit quality of the tune he tossed to another.

I think I can only do one of these, but I'm going to guess that he gave "Something" to Joe Cocker....?

Correct on the first one. Cocker recorded "Something" before the Beatles did.

The second is a bit harder.

yup that's what I was referring to. Ah, interesting...

Side thought: There is actually a class on the Beatles being offered at my college, I've been dying to get in, but they haven't offered it for a few terms now... Hopefully they will have it again before I graduate.

I'll help you through it!

Uh...maybe he gave "My Sweet Lord" to the Chiffons? :D

"The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp" to Frank Sinatra?

"For You Blue" to Blue Oyster Cult?

"Here Comes the Sun" to Ozzie Osborne?

"Long, Long, Long" to Jimi Hendrix (inside sexual joke there)?

"Old Brown Shoe" to Jeff Goldblum?

"Piggies" to Ted Nugent?

"What is Life?" to Ted Nugent?

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" to Yngwie Malmsteen?

"Beware of Darkness" to Ray Charles?

"I Dig Love" to Kurt Cobain?

"Isn't It a Pity?" to Kurt Cobain?

"Wah-wah" to Anita Bryant?

Kurt Cobain covered "I Dig Love" before George Harrison recorded it??

None have gotten it yet, but Warren has given some great answers.

The second one was a solo hit for George, not a Beatles song.

Cute.

He actually BOUGHT "He's So Fine" in the end so the litigation would end.

I'm not sure of the protocol here, so I don't know if I'm supposed to give the answer yet. I will, and if that's the wrong thing to do, someone can kindly correct me.

"My Sweet Lord" was the song, Quadro got it in jest. Billy Preston recorded it before Harrison did so during the ALL THINGS MUST PASS sessions.

Ehh, obviously you're smarter than the rest of us, so I think it's okay that you gave the answer. :) I had no clue that Billy Preston recorded it first...great factoid!

Here's another, then: There were many songs dedicated to John Lennon after his death. Can you name one that was dedicated to him before he died (and I don't mean "The Ballad Of John And Yoko").

Beatlefan,

If I don't know it, I'll usually a) admit it, or b) stall with misdirection.

What time is it?

A guess here: Silly Long Songs?

No. And I mean it was actually dedicated to John, not just in his style or supposedly referring to John (like "Let Me Roll It" was stylistically, and "Too Many People" was by way of reference).

I don't know the answer - but can you explain the stylistic relation of Let Me Roll It to John? I've never heard that before.

I don't know either, but I'll guess Stephen Stills' "Johnny's Garden."

I've read it a few places, and found this one on-line via Google:

http://www.bandontherun.com/content/letmerollit.html

Let Me Roll It (4.47)

It has been suggested that this song is Paul doing an imitation of the production style of his former songwriting partner John Lennon, the so-called 'bathroom tile' echo especially evident on Lennon's 1970 Plastic Ono Band. Paul has said that he can't see the resemblance:

PAUL: I still don't think it sounds like him, but that's your opinion. I can dig it if it sounds that way to you (McCartney, qtd. in Gambaccini, 83).

He appears to soften this position somewhat in Club Sandwich, his fan newsletter:

PAUL: My use of tape echo did sound more like John than me ... But tape echo was not John's territory exclusively! And you have to remember that, despite the myth, there was a lot of commonality between us in the way that we thought and the way that we worked (McCartney, qtd. in Rosen, 173).

Hmmm, I've never heard that one, so I can't confirm or deny; it's not the one I had in mind. The one I refer to was a Top 40 single (at least in the US).

Edited 'cause I'm an idiot. Explained in the following post.

I thought Elton John did "Johhny's Garden" and if so, he did that after John died.

He did. It was called "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)."

I edited my previous post because I mistakenly mentioned "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" as an Elton song when it was really a John song.

Good story though: Elton sang backing vocals on this song and was convinced it was going to be a hit. John thought otherwise, so they made a bet: If it became a hit, John had to show up on stage with Elton to sing it. (And John hadn't been on stage in a number of years). It went to #1, and in 1974, John showed up, battling apparent stage fright, to sing the song. They also did "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and "I Saw Her Standing There." I believe it was John's last public appearance on stage?

The Stephen Stills song "Johnny's Garden" was on "Manassas" from 1972. But it WAS the Elton John song that made me think of the Stephen Stills song, and that's what led me to pulling a guess from way out of my butt like that.

Oops. Shouldn't have mentioned "Elton John" and "out of my butt" in the same sentence.

Good story. Wasn't Yoko hiding backstage also, and it led to their reconcilliation?

I won't post it here now, but the answer is found below if anyone wants to go see it.

http://www.iamthebeatles.com/article1037.html

heres a little one to keep the thread going:

Who was the famous radio DJ that died recently who was known for starting and ending his show with Beatles blocks?

Eewwww, No! Throw in a George Michael reference and I'll begin to worry about you. :lol:

John Peel?

The amazing Scott Muni of WABC, WNEW and WAXQ fame. He will be missed.

I believe Lennon visited his show at one point and played DJ, even reading advertisements on the air.

How have I missed the latest few posts in this thread? Oh well.

hehe good job... He will be missed indeed

Six months is too long without Beatles stumpers....

Ok, to get the ball (re)rolling...

"Lady Madonna" mentions each day of the week but one. Which day is missing?

Sabado!

Ah, this feels good again.

This may have been asked before but so much time has passed...

What are the shortest and longest Beatle songs?

Man, it sure is tempting to look this up first, but here are my guesses.

Shortest - "Her Majesty" - Abbey Road
Longest - "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" - Abbey Road

I just looked it up, and I missed one of them.....

For shortest/longest I guess we would have to define what a "song" is . . . there are shorter little musical snippets than Her Majesty, like that little classical guitar run just before Bungalow Bill on the White Album. And for longest I would have guessed Revolution 9, although maybe that doesn't qualify as a song. Other than that I would have said it's a tossup between Hey Jude and I Want You (She's So Heavy).

Here's a question for musicians: how many songs can you list in which a diminished chord is used, and who wrote them?

Man, I can't even name the songs that I wrote containing diminished chords without looking it up first. I'll get back to you.

/me reaching for my Beatle books....

Also, I need a clarification. Are we talking about dimished triads, fully dimished seventh chords, AND half-dimished seventh chords (sometimes referred to as minor-seventh flat-5)?

**CHEATER ALERT**
I looked these up, as I admitted I would do.


First of all, there were no fully diminished seventh chords that I could find in any Beatles songs.

However, there were several diminished triads out there, as listed by composer:
Blue Jay Way - C dim (George)
I Want to Tell You - B dim (George)
If I Fell - F dim (John)
Because - D dim (John)
Michelle - D dim and B dim (Paul)
P.S. I Love You - C# dim (Paul)
You Won't See Me - D dim (Paul)
You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) - G# dim (all Beatles)

Then, there were a couple of Paul's songs with half-diminished seventh chords (minor seventh with flat 5):
Carry That Weight - Bmin7(b5)
You Never Give Me Your Money - Bmin7(b5)


If anyone asks about augmented chords, somebody else will have to look up that one....

Well I was thinking of either a full diminished chord or a diminished triad, not a half-diminished (or minor 7 b5) chord.

When I asked the question the only songs I had in mind were George songs, Old Brown Shoe, I Want To Tell You, and Blue Jay Way. (My memory may be off with Old Brown Shoe.) It seems to me, off the top of my head, that George seemed to use diminished chords more than the others, at least early on. His songs usually seemed to have a darker more minor quality, and a diminished chord is three minor intervals piled on top of each other.

Damn good call, raveneye! I missed Old Brown Shoe. The line in the bridge that goes "Who knows baby, you may comfort me," is under F# dim up until the G Major on the word "me."

Damn good call.

If the simpsons one from the 1st page hasnt been answered yet..

they were in ned flander's house

I don't think it was answered (not by me, anyway). Thanks.

We can't let this thread die guys!
In Rock and Roll History we've been studying about these guys for hours, so I know a few tid-bits now.

1) What made the recording style/way used in SGT.Peppers so groundbreaking?

2) What instrument is used at the beginning of Strawberry Fields Forever, and why is it so different?

3) What Beatles Cd version is probably the most expensive/rare one to find these days, and why?

I'll take a guess at numbers 2 and 3; I know a lot about SGT. PEPPER and the recording of it, but not sure what you're looking for there.

2. The Mellotron. It's different because it can only be played one note at a time.

3. I'd say the Japanese issue of ABBEY ROAD, which came out a couple of years before the catalog in its entirety came out. But it may be some issue of THE WHITE ALBUM, since it would be doubly expensive to start with?

i'll take a stab at 1 and 3. iiim probably wrong, but eh.

1] the songs together tell a story. and it was the first of their albums to mix classic intrumentation and electronic effects.

3] and i know that the original cover of sgt.pepper's had gandhi and leo gorcey. but the record label had them removed. im not sure if its true, but apparently theres a few copies of the record where they just put a sticker on top that didnt have gandhi and leo gorcey in it.

The wind carries questions of Beatles to my long-decayed ears and the resurrection begins anew. The bones creak as the dead rise again. Slowly. My putrified inner organs begin re-forming and re-aligning, and I am born again to speak to another generation about.....BEATLES

Sgt. Pepper. How can anyone accurately document all the monumental changes brought into the recording industry by this one album?

1) The first true concept album from beginning to end. Previously, music bands simply recorded singles and these singles were later pressed into albums. After Sgt. Pepper, EVERYBODY began to sit down in the studio and record albums instead of singles. Monumental shift in philosophy.

2) Fantastic cover art, where the art outside is equal in importance to the music inside. The cover art was conceptualized and created by Peter Blake as the Beatles are made to represent another band giving a concert in the park. Peter Blake asked each Beatle to supply a list of people (living or dead) they would want to be at this fictitious concert. John's list included Ghandi, Jesus, and Hitler (all of them either painted out or not used). George's list was all gurus. Since some of the people were still living, EMI Records had to get written permission to use their likenesses. Actor Leo Gorcey demanded a fee and was removed (moron!). Actress Mae West initially refused outright (she didn't want to be associated with a lonely hearts club), but the Beatles wrote her a nice letter and she changed her mind. Also, this was one of the first albums to include printed lyrics and a gatefold sleeve.

3) Unparalleled studio techniques. Nearly everything was distorted, limited, heavily compressed, and/or excessively equalized. Some of the innovations include microphones stuck down into the bells of brass instruments, microphones attached to headphones and then placed around the body of a violin, vocals sent through the revolving Leslie amp in a Hammond B-3 organ, chopped and spliced tape loops (the first example of musique concrete in popular music), a 15Khz tone put at the end to annoy the dog, and nonsense chatter in a lock-groove at the end of the album.

4) Undeniable drug influence.

5) Facial hair. Paul was the first to grow his mustache in the Fall of '66 as an attempt to hide the scar on his top lip after his moped accident. The other Beatles followed suit so as to help him blend.

6) Psychedelic clothes.

7) Creative effort. The Beatles' first album, "Please Please Me" was recorded and mixed down in less than 10 hours. "Sgt. Pepper" took over 700 clock hours to complete. By the way, the original order of songs for Side A was supposed to be 1 - 2 - 7 - 5 - 3 - 4 - 6, and programmable CD players allow us to hear it the way the Beatles really intended.

It was indeed the Mellotron, and you could have ruled the world in 1967 with a 4-track recorder and a Mellotron. Oh yeah, they did that, didn't they? Nice answer, AVoiceOfReason.

I don't understand the question. Nothing released by the Beatles on CD only and not vinyl is of any value yet, to my knowledge. The most valuable Beatles album is "Introducing the Beatles" - VeeJay - U.S. first album, released before the contract with Capitol Records was ironed out. I have it. What I don't have is the Butcher Baby album.....

I'm reviving this motherfucker. Go to the OP so you'll know what you're supposed to do, and then ask your questions, puny mortals.

BUMP, y'all.

What is the connection between The Beatles and Wolfsburg, Germany.

What is She Came In Through The Bathroom Window about?

Which song was on the B side of the single Get Back?

Which is the song where none of the Beatles played an instrument?

Bonus question: What was the inspiration for this song?

This happens every time. Somebody will finally ask a question, and I won't see it for three days.

No clue.

"She Came in Through the Bathroom Wndow" was about a girl who broke into Paul's home.

"Don't Let Me Down"

"Eleanor Rigby"

This just came out last year - it was either a nurse or a patient at a Liverpool hospital that Paul found in an old log/journal. I can't remember exactly which.

You call yourself a Beatles trivia master and that's the best you can do? :confused:

So, I guess I get bragging rights for stumping you?

Brag away, because you stumped me. According to the rules, I can't look up the answer - it has to be off the top of my head. And you got me.

PROVIDING...you know the answer yourself and share it.

The Volkswagen Beetle parked next to the zebra crossing belonged to one of the people living in the apartment across from the recording studio. After the album Abbey Road came out, the number plate was stolen repeatedly from the car. In 1986, the car was sold at an auction for $23,000 and is currently on display at the Volkswagen museum in Wolfsburg, Germany.

:)

That is amazing to know. Thanks! Do you know anything about the guy across the street next to the black car? He just died recently...

that VW was parked with two wheels up on the sidewalk. I did that once, and got a ticket.

Which track is credited to Lennon/McCartney, even though Paul McCartney did not actively participate in the track's creation, but Yoko Ono did?

(Hope this hasn't already been asked. I scanned through the thread and saw some similar posts related to authorship disputes, but not specifically mentioning this particular track.)

It has not been asked, and is a good one. Before the breakup, it would have to be Revolution 9. During the breakup, everything John did with Plastic Ono Band is still credited to Lennon/McCartney - which means that Paul still collects a nice big, fat paycheck for Imagine.

Interesting. Thanks for making the "before / after" distinction.

Yes, you're absolutely right: Revolution 9 is the track I was thinking of. It was composed by John, George, Ringo, and...Yoko.

I dunno if this has been asked, but eh.

What was the synth that was used during the recording of Abbey Road and why was it so remarkable at the time?

And a throwaway:

Why was "Let It Be" re-released a few years ago and who "remastered" it?

Pogue, it was a Moog.

It was one of those old, old monophonic Moog synthesizers. Although the synth had been around awhile, Robert Moog was the first person to add a keyboard to the hookup in 1967, and it was pretty insightful for The Beatles to start fooling around with one that soon. They used it on Sun King, and I think the chord progression for that song is backwards Beethoven (I forget which Beethoven, though).

The Let It Be re-release was Let It Be...Naked, and it was a remastering of the tracks without Phil Spector's wall-of-sound effects that are all over the original.

Which Beatles track includes a recorded belch, and do you know whose? (I don't know the latter...). This particular track was not originally on an album.

You got me on this one, buddy. I've never heard about this. Unless it's Piggies with all the pig sound effects?

The track You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) was the B side of the Let It Be single.

A distinct belch can be heard among the raucous collection of sounds that conclude the track.

the first band signed to Apple Records?

I'm going to go have to look this up, but I think there was another band signed before Badfinger, although this band would never record with Apple. Somebody you've never heard of and would forget instantly.

That may have been th silliest track they have, but it was one of my favourites. I think I first heard it on my copy of Beatles Rarities.

I first heard it on the single. It was sliced down to about 4 minutes on the single, but it was still silly and infectious. At the time it came out, we were all digging through every syllable of Beatle lyrics looking for clues to various things, and this song was brutal for those of us trying to find a deeper meaning in it all.

Has anybody conquered Beatles Rockband yet?

I wish!

If I ever get my hands on that game, I promise you I'll channel Ringo Starr right there in the living room.