nick manho

by Glenn Cripes


Clang!!!!!!!

'It's been a hard day's night.....'

Did you ever notice the cowbell during the chorus of A Hard Day's Night? Or really listen to the acoustic guitar in I Should Have Known Better? How did John and Paul come up with those harmonies on If I Fell? Has anybody written a better song than Any Time at All? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm listening to this record I've heard all my life, and still my mind boggles--how did they do that stuff?

What other band does everyone know the names of every member of? What other act never put out a bad album. The answer is f***ing nobody that's who!!!. The Cripes Classic LP of the week is A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles. This was their 3rd album and their first to be comprised solely of self penned songs. Some say it was their best album, and I'd be hard pressed to argue.

For you foreign guys.

OK, not every song is a classic. The two 'cry' songs, Tell Me Why, and I'll Cry Instead sound like John and Paul sitting down and saying, 'Let's bung up a song and put the swimming pool over here'. Same goes for You Can't Do That. Having said that, I recently heard this Bruce Springsteen show where he covered Tell Me Why and it was the absolute highlight of the show. Beatles filler is anyone else's best efforts.

Can't Buy Me Love I'm sick of as well. Many oldies stations in the US seem to think that The Beatles recorded only 3 songs and CBML is in endless rotation. Another thing that bugs me is all the people who consider the 'running around in the field' portion of 'A Hard Day's Night' the highpoint of the movie. If anything, that scene was the template for all the 'whacky' pop videos that came after....and that's not a good thing.

It is my considered opinion that you're all a bunch of sissies.

I grew up hearing these songs sequenced differently. The US Beatles albums were different than the British records. The reason I bring this up is the last song I'll Be Back is such a knockout as a 'last song'. It strikes a somber tone and at the same time it's like 'stay tuned for the next episode'. Those guys were always up to something.

I guess I should feel lucky to have had The Beatles in my lifetime, but I'm actually a little pissed off because compared to them, everything else sucks butt. I imagine it's like having your wife die. You find the absolute perfect woman....smart, attractive, funny, knows what you like, and bang, she's gone. Then all you're left with to choose from are women who are inferior in every way, so you are faced with a choice of solitude or lowering your standards. Since the Beatles broke up, I've been lowering my standards.