cktimes.ca Archives for Classic Vinyl


Classic Vinyl

With John Gardiner

On the greatest rock \'n\' roll band in history and learning a little music

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

I didn't check back in the archives, and my memory's not so good anymore, but I'm almost sure I've done a Beatles' Classic Vinyl before, so bear with me – because I'm going to do another one. I mean, I just can't resist doing one considering what's going on in my life. The band I play in, North of Forty, is currently tackling a project you might be interested in.

Back in 1967, when I was a somewhat pimply teenager and I was just really getting into the band thing, an album came out that blew my socks off, and, actually, there were a lot of sockless people around, especially musicians – because that album was and remains one of the best in rock 'n' roll history. Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band revolutionized music in my mind and is one powerful piece of music.

So, anyway, back in 1967, when I was in the bands, and a great new album came out, we generally rushed to get a copy and learn a tune or two off it. (And, actually, I was remembering last week with another oldtimer, Mike Goldhawk from Ridgetown, that we didn't have stereos in those days – we had those old record players – and try picking a bass part off one of those things.) Anyway, we drove to Toronto to get Sergeant Pepper after hearing a couple of cuts on CHUM FM and we dove in to try to learn a couple of pieces.

The best we ever did was a sort-of version of Lucy in the Sky – and even it wasn't that good. We tried With a Little Help From My Friends, but couldn't quite manage it – we struggled with the title tune, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but just couldn't quite figure it out. And we really wanted to play this stuff – we worked hard at it – but it just didn't happen.

Anyway, fast forward to today when I'm still playing away and I'm in a band here in Wallaceburg and we're sort of a classic rock outfit. Now, the songs on Sergeant Pepper remain dear to my heart, even after all these years, so I've brought them up to my guitar player Bill Morrow on various occasions. Now Bill loves a lot of the old music too, although he's a few years younger than I am, so it doesn't take too much coaxing to get him to consider some of the songs of my youth.

Well, a couple of years ago, we learned Lucy in the Sky and I was thrilled – and we did it okay, too – better than in the old days. Then, maybe a year ago, Bill heard A Little Help From My Friends on his car radio and thought it sounded like a good tune to do. So, we learned it. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Anyway, about a month ago, Bill heard another Beatles' song on the radio when he was driving – it was the tune Getting Better. When he mentioned it, I knew I knew the song but it was clouded in the mists of time – I couldn't quite remember which Beatles' album it was on. Lo and behold, it's from Sergeant Pepper. And, it's the 4th song on the first side, and it happens that Little Help From My Friends in the 2nd song and Lucy in the Sky is the 3rd song. Wow! We were about to learn three Sergeant Pepper tunes that ran in order on the album. That set my mind to ticking.

So, I says to Bill, "How about taking a crack at Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the song? We could open a set with the first four songs from the album in order. Wow!" He told me to tape it for him. And.....we're learning it. I couldn't have dreamed about doing this back in the '60's, so I'm pretty darned excited to get the chance to do it now. And huge thanks to Bill and vocalist Greg Ryan and drummer Danny Trembley for helping me make it happen. Wow! Good things do come to those who wait – but 35 years!

So, back to the point of this column – which is to rave about classic vinyl recordings and to keep the music alive. Now, I know the Beatles don't need my help to stay alive, but if you've not sat down and seriously listened to any Beatles for a while – and I don't mean on your car radio or on muzak somewhere, do yourself a favour and make it happen. My favourites are Magical Mystery Tour, Sergeant Pepper and the White Album, which is not actually called the White Album, but is really called The Beatles, but everybody calls it the White Album. This is some of the greatest rock music ever written. And watch out for your socks when you're listening to it.

And one thing I'll say after learning these four Beatles' songs is that I am continually amazed at what those guys, specifically Lennon and McCartney, could do with three or four chords. It's amazing how simple the songs really are. The combinations of chords and the changes are a little tricky, but generally speaking, the number of chords used is tiny – sometimes just three of the darned things. These guys prove that simple is best.

Anyway, I will try desparately to keep this column up in the future. And thansk for reading along and checking back to see if it's been updated. More later......



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm

He welcomes comments on his work.