It was 40 years ago today

[tvhurts]

Hey

Anyone in the UK watch this TV programme on Sat night?
For anyone who didn't, the concept (see what I did there ) was for modern bands to record songs from the Sgt Peppers album using the same gear and engineers from the original sessions.

It was pretty cool as far as nostalgia goes and definately worth a view.

But, as you may or may not expect, a lot of the "talent" struggled in the absence of digital editing, instead faced with going straight to tape.

Kaiser Cheifs were just plain awful at the beginning. They said how they were used to recording 4-5 takes and then letting the engineers comp the best takes together in ProTools. They had to have a two hour band meeting to pull themselves together - "We don't want to be shit!"

The Magic Numbers sang She's Leaving Home. In the rehearsal the vocals were clearly out of tune, then when you here the finished product everything sounds so polished, makes you wonder if it got the digital make over after all.

The one artist that stood out for me was Bryan Adams. He didn't feature all that much in the programme, perhaps because he was just spot on, clearly a true "talent". The majority of the show concentrated on the other bands doing take after take...

Obviously video material can be edited so much it shows bias, but there definately was a strong message that the bands these days ain't in the same league and basic skills like singing in tune seem to be a forgotten art.

Shame.

I enjoyed it nonetheless.

tv

[musical5]

Sounds very enlightening. Too bad we dont get it here in the U.S.

[tvhurts]

yeah, it was pretty cool. Shame the BBC don't have the same feature as Channel 4 where you can download any of the previous week's programmes for free!!

Hopefully it may appear on You Tube in the not too distant...

[muziekschuur]

what type of mixingconsole was that?

[tvhurts]

a REDD 51 I believe....

[mikeeusa]

I often record straight to midi and then release.
I don't like to edit stuff, it no fun.

[emrr]

Cool. It'll be on youtube in no time. I think the BBC has stated they won't issue takedown notices.

[AlexLakis]

Originally Posted by tvhurts

Kaiser Cheifs were just plain awful at the beginning. They said how they were used to recording 4-5 takes and then letting the engineers comp the best takes together in ProTools. They had to have a two hour band meeting to pull themselves together - "We don't want to be shit!"

Okay, how is that un-admirable? Like The Beatles never had a two hour band meeting, or comp'd takes? I wouldn't wanna be shit either! I don't know who the Kaiser Cheifs (chiefs?) are, tho, maybe they're all ******bags?

P.S. on The Magic Numbers, they probably meant everything was done exactly the way it was done 40 years ago AFTER they ported it into Pro Tools and auto-tuned/beat detective'd it first. Slight caveat omission, purely unintentional.

Anyways, this tribute stuff is usually just a ploy for crappy modern bands to get exposure riding on the success of a band that was actually good. Did anybody hear that Smashing Pumpkins tribute album that came out a year ago or so? Jesus.

[Geoff_T]

I remember buying that album the day it was released by Parlophone.... and I still have it.

Very ground breaking!

[Mystr Tiger]

Originally Posted by Geoff_T

I remember buying that album the day it was released by Parlophone.... and I still have it.

Very ground breaking!

Sgt. Pepper is what got me interested in recording. I listened to it 2-3 times a day all summer long. I bought the mono version first, and the stereo version later. Yes, very ground breaking indeed!

[Nu-tra]

I don't like the kaiser chiefs. I think thier new album is awful... Interesting program though I would love to see it.

V

[Jack P]

Strangely the programme said all the gear was owned by Mark Knofler ????

Money for nothing money...

[SnakeCained]

Hey Geoff did you get it in Mono?

Yeah Bryan Adams nailed it.

Magic Numbers were poor.

The Fray were quite interesting but a bit serious.

It would have been nice for Mr Emerick to tell a few more old stories

and would have been great if they had done all the tracks!

[Tony Montana]

I watched the programme and thought it was highly illuminating.

The Beatles' performance and creativity on Sgt Pepper was mindblowing. Most of the bands doing the tribute covers were anything but mindblowing. It may be a cliche, but I finally understand the phrase 'they don't make 'em like they used to'

And I'm 25 years old, so can't be accused of being stuck in the past. Most modern bands are just mediocre.

[warmer]

Razorlight didn't come across too well I thought, and the drummer doing the singing because that how it was done in the original or maybe because someone didn't turn up or want to be apart of it? be interesting to find out.

[papiel]

Yeah Brian Adams was great.
I also liked Travis. They seemed modest and played "Lovely Rita" rather nicely.
Am i wrong or all the final tracks had ADT on vocals?

[recall]

I thought it was a waste of time tbh. There was hardly any focus on the techniques used in the control room, nothing on how Emerick "got" his sounds, it was far more focused on pretty average bands. But then I suppose I am looking at it from a GS point of view.

[bing81]

I don't believe there was PT involved .. all direct to 4 track, even with original assitant Richard Lush present. Great program, and the older I get, the more I realise what an incredible BAND the Beatles were. Throw in all those songs and ... well, you have it. I thought Stereophonics did well on Sgt Pepper outro, especially as they had to learn it in the studio. I also liked Magic Numbers, though Beatles it wasn't, at least it had personality.

Some of the comments here are correct in terms of the younger bands involved, who strugged with the material and parts. Can only imagine what would happen with the situation reversed .. Beatles do Kaiser Chiefs, Magic Numbers, Travis etc. etc. Bring it on!

Also interesting if anyone watched the Culture Show earlier in the night, with Paul McCartney playing solo a few of his new songs live, accompanied by a mandolin. Nothing earth shattering, but his incredible feel and timing both instrumentally and vocally remain undimmed.

B

[Messiah]

I agree with most of the sentiments of the performances involved, but I thought the Magic Numbers performance of She's Leaving Home was the highlight.

I thought Bryan Adams was good, but made it more about Bryan Adams than re-creating Sgt Pepper, which was the point...


The program showed Kaiser Chiefs for the awful mediocre dross they are... God they're bad...

The Fray surprised me, better than I thought they'd be and I liked the guitarist (with the SG), he nailed the guitar parts in Fixing a Hole.


Travis were ok, but a bit unremarkable, too nice for me and my cynical bstardo ways. They did the outro well though (Lovely Rita)...

Razorlight sucked, they should have got The White Stripes to do it, and got Meg to sing!


Did anyone else watch with very green eyes (jealousy!)? I would love to have done that... 4 Track, Redd, Geoff Emerick, Studio 2... it has doubled my hatred of the Kaiser Chiefs and their blandness!!

[neilio]

Originally Posted by tvhurts

Hey

Anyone in the UK watch this TV programme on Sat night?
For anyone who didn't, the concept (see what I did there ) was for modern bands to record songs from the Sgt Peppers album using the same gear and engineers from the original sessions.

It was pretty cool as far as nostalgia goes and definately worth a view.

But, as you may or may not expect, a lot of the "talent" struggled in the absence of digital editing, instead faced with going straight to tape.

Kaiser Cheifs were just plain awful at the beginning. They said how they were used to recording 4-5 takes and then letting the engineers comp the best takes together in ProTools. They had to have a two hour band meeting to pull themselves together - "We don't want to be shit!"

The Magic Numbers sang She's Leaving Home. In the rehearsal the vocals were clearly out of tune, then when you here the finished product everything sounds so polished, makes you wonder if it got the digital make over after all.

The one artist that stood out for me was Bryan Adams. He didn't feature all that much in the programme, perhaps because he was just spot on, clearly a true "talent". The majority of the show concentrated on the other bands doing take after take...

Obviously video material can be edited so much it shows bias, but there definately was a strong message that the bands these days ain't in the same league and basic skills like singing in tune seem to be a forgotten art.

Shame.

I enjoyed it nonetheless.

tv

i am huge beatles guy(whos not), that said,im not sure the beatles themselves couldve pulled those songs off live either, didnt they swear off live touring at about the same time....the thing about sgt. peppers was that it was like the first studio-only album right? although phish has been known to whole beatles albums live that are supposed to be great but i hate phish, so.....

[George Necola]

I think the beatles are the most overrated crap ever happend..

now kill me guysstikestike

... I don't like them..


really

[philado]

Here the link to the BBC website where you can watch the performances and view photos:

BBC - Radio 2 - 60s Season

[mr jkn]

41 years since "Pet Sounds" was released! They missed the anniversary on that one! ...always been more of a beach boy than beatle.

[FFTT]

I bought Sgt. Peppers the week it was released in Germany and proceeded to wear grooves in the album using it to learn how to play bass.

I literally memorized every note of McCartney's parts on both sides of the album
and that took some doing at the age of 14.

This coming July 2, 2007,
I will have owned my '66 Hofner Beatle Bass for 40 years.

Purchased for me as a birthday gift at Musik Wittstadt, Wurzburg for 400DM
Back then that was $99.00USD

The coolest thing about the Hofner was that I could play it unplugged for hours on end without bothering me mum or the neighbors.

[Mystr Tiger]

Originally Posted by George Necola

I think the beatles are the most overrated crap ever happend..

now kill me guysstikestike

... I don't like them..


really

Certainly not a capital crime to dislike the Beatles. Just wonder though, did you really intend to say they are "the most overrated crap ever"? Yeah, I see your words - could not be more clear - but, just seems a little exaggerated, that's all. I mean, I might actually agree with you that they are overrated. And, I can certainly respect your opinion that they do not appeal to your aesthetic tastes. But, crap? And, most ever? Have you seen the anthology DVD? The DVD has lots of live performances and on it where you can see them execute their vocal harmonies with studio precision. They were extremely talented. With all respect, I suggest you give them another look. If you happen to reach the same conclusion that they are crap, then so be it. I just can't imagine that they are the "most crap ever". I think there are too many other groups that would beat them for that title no matter how much you dislike them. No matter what, I still respect your opinion regardless of how extreme it might be - I probably have a few myself - it's all good.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by Jack P

Strangely the programme said all the gear was owned by Mark Knofler ????

Money for nothing money...

Probably filmed at British Grove then - Mark Knopfler's studio in chiswick... did it look anything like this? - MPG event 2005 comparison with analoge and digital recording

[Robie]

Crap you say?....um....nope.....to each his own..but...I know crap and that ain't it....nope.......

[dlmorley]

Originally Posted by psycho_monkey

Probably filmed at British Grove then - Mark Knopfler's studio in chiswick... did it look anything like this? - MPG event 2005 comparison with analoge and digital recording

I think it was done at abbey road..
I didn't watch all of it, but yes, Brian Adams was excellent (maybe he should just play other peoples songs ) the Kaiser Chiefs sucked, but no big surprise there...
Will watch it when I have some time.

And Yes McCartney was good on the culture show. He really does have great talent as a player. As someone said, his timing is spot on.

[tvhurts]

i am huge beatles guy(whos not), that said,im not sure the beatles themselves couldve pulled those songs off live either, didnt they swear off live touring at about the same time....the thing about sgt. peppers was that it was like the first studio-only album right? although phish has been known to whole beatles albums live that are supposed to be great but i hate phish, so.....

I always thought they stopped touring because they couldn't hear themselves on stage because the audience was too loud.

That may be a myth, and certainly the layering could have something to do with it, just what I read somewhere sometime (so it must be true!!)

[ColourSurround]

That's the story I heard too. The fans were so loud that Lennon just kind of ****ed off with the idea of trying to sing loud enough to compete with them and began singing nursery rhymes to see if anyone would notice. No one did, except the band, and that kind of ruined the vibe for them all I guess. A few months later that was that.

Anyway, I do love the Beatles, I'm definitely not as hardcore as about 50% of the population out there but it was their arrangements and the musical execution that blew my mind about them. As a whole though, I'd take Rubber Soul and Revolver over Sgt. Peppers any day. That record never grew on me as much as those did.