Friday, September 22, 2006

The Song Stuck in My Head When I Woke Up This Morning

I had a dream that I was playing piano. I was also part of the music, which took the form of something like mercury. This was the song - a great, underrated Beatles tune.




The Beatles ~ Hey Bulldog

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was great -- what album was that on?

A long, long time ago I had a dream in which I was jamming with the Beatles.

Jeff said...

That was on Yellow Submarine, right?

Hey Bulldog... great song. Thanks for posting that. It was always good when the Beatles decided to get back to playing basic rock n' roll, because they were very, very good at it. For my money, John Lennon was still the best rock n' roll vocalist ever. He's my favorite, at least.

cowboyangel said...

Yes, "Hey Bulldog" is only available on Yellow Submarine, either the original soundtrack from 1969 or the new songtrack released a few years ago. It’s also the only source for George’s sly and wonderful psychedelic paean, "It’s All Too Much," which was left off Sgt. Pepper, his darkly humorous song about fame, "Only a Northern Song," and Paul’s fun throw-away "All Together Now." (Unless, of course, you have a friend who includes some of these songs in a Beatles mix for you.)

"Hey Bulldog" comes from an odd little session in Feb 1968 that fell between the final work on Magical Mystery Tour in October 1967 and their first attempts at The White Album in June 1968. Marking the transition from psychedelia to a harder rock sound, the Feb 1968 sessions also produced Paul’s bluesy single "Lady Madonna," John’s first attempt at "Across the Universe," and George’s unheralded "The Inner Light," which basically featured passages from the Tao Te Ching backed by Indian musicians. (In Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald, who treats George's work with little respect, manages to say "'The Inner Light' is spirited and charming—one of its author’s most attractive pieces.") Originally called "Hey Bullfrog," the song was only half-finished when John and the lads headed into the studio on 11 Feb 1968. They were supposed to be doing shoots for the promotional film of "Lady Madonna," but they started working on John’s new idea, and basically finished composing the song in the studio and recording it in one afternoon (compared to the 100+ takes for some of their work in that time period.) A few days later, the band and their wives took off on a spiritual pilgrimage to Rishikesh, India to meditate and study with the Maharishi. The trip turned out to be a disaster and marked the end of their psychedelic period.

More information that you wanted to know! I think I may need to do some blogging on the Beatles.

Jeff,

A couple of years ago I finally got the first two Beatles CDs. It had been years since I had heard a lot of the material, and the major revelation or re-discovery for me was just how great John was as a singer. I mean, I always liked him as a vocalist, but having listened to some amazing singers between the first time I heard this stuff and my re-exposure, I was like, "Damn, John really sounds good." I was pleasantly surprised by his aching tenderness in pieces like "Anna" or "Baby, It’s You," and love his edgy, almost out-of-control passion in songs like "Money," and "Twist and Shout."

Liam,

That’s really weird. I also had a dream in which you were jamming with the Beatles. Only then you started bringing this chick around and the band broke up! :-)

crystal said...

Cowboy, what kind of file is this? My computer can't make it work.

cowboyangel said...

Sorry, Crystal. It's YouTube - I don't really know how it works. Are you usually able to watch video or hear music in your computer? Maybe it's a temporary problem? Thanks for letting me know.

crystal said...

I can hear most music files ... having trouble with videos, though. Either my os is too old or just messed up. You've inspired me to post a couple of songs on my blog too - thanks :-)

Jeff said...

Crystal,

I think you need Adobe Flash Player 9.