drspecial

In my several decades of life, I've made a few observations. Certain patterns in our English-speaking bretheren have emerged. Below are three untruths that I can now recognize immediately.

1. "I'll be brief."
   Any speech or public announcement that begins with this sentence is guaranteed to be long.
2. "I'm not racist, but..."
   You can't help yourself, can you?
   Variation: "I don't mean to be mean, but..."
3. "I'll call you back."
   Well, this is a particular person I have in mind. Many people will call you back. But this guy says, "I'll call you back" to put off deciding what to do that day, when deep down, he knows he won't. Otherwise we would have made real plans. Too nice to say "no".

Sleep Talkin' Man

Many Beatles fans see "Two of Us" as an attempt by Paul to warm John up again to their waning friendship. It's a pretty song, and some historians will tell you it's actually about Paul and Linda on a little escape to the country. I believe it was therapeutic for Paul, a break from all the crap going on at Apple. But it works well, with J&P singing their sweet harmonies, playing matching acoustic guitars. A nice attempt by Paul to warm up some of that ice coursing through John's veins.

Obviously, "The Ballad of John & Yoko" is also about John and his new wife. The interesting thing is that that Beatles song is really just the two of them. John plays all the guitars, and Paul plays everything else (bass, drums, piano). So it's another duet by J&P, again about one of the friends and his wife. It's just an interesting parallel, and they were recorded around the same time. I wonder if it was a conscious exchange (but unspoken, I'm sure, silly Brits), some appeasement amidst all their bickering. The engineer said watching the two of them record "The Ballad of John & Yoko" was striking, cuz they worked so well together in the studio. All that legal fighting and BS went away once they started playing. They didn't have George or Ringo to shit on, either.

Just a little symmetry I noticed. Cheers!

A song for the change of seasons.

WHEN THE SAND IS DRY
And the sun is high
Time blows by

When the tide is low
And footprints stay
Wind slows down

Everything you need is where you are
Just park your car and go
It's all the same you still remain

• From The Billy Dechand Band's 2001 release, "World Famous In Chapel Hill".
• Musicians: Billy Dechand, Vito di Bona, Mike Yanoski.

OK, I got my cue: an actual request of my opinion on the remastered Beatles.

All I can say is I haven't heard them. But I am disappointed by what they are not. A number of their albums deserve not just remastering, but remixing. To be clear, remastering is taking the original master, which was the actual tape to which they mixed down their album. So that mix was the best it could sound, using state of the art equipment -- from the 1960s. In contrast, remixing is taking the original multi-tracks, and remixing them to a new master.

I have no doubt that the new remastered CDs sound much better. There are even hopes for my favorite, the White Album. The White Album has been on my dream list of remixes for years. Great songs, shitty mix. CNN explicitly mentioned "Dear Prudence" as being a White Album track that sounds much improved. There was plenty of room for sonic improvement on that one, and I'm relieved to hear that it happened.

But no matter how much you hear them talk about how great the technology is that went into the remastering, remember that that could all be applied to the process of remixing. Each of those high-tech tools for extracting and enhancing could be applied to each individual track, then used to make a sparking, beefy mix. We know it can be done. We first heard it on the Anthology series. they took the alternate takes, original multi-tracks, and suddenly the Beatles goofing around, playing wrong notes was heard like you were hanging out with them. Then they remixed Yellow Submarine, and that was mind-blowingly superior. "Eleanor Rigby" became some sort of 3D experience, just using my two stereo speakers. Then they did it again with Let It Be... Naked. So it's not impossible. They've already done it themselves.

So until I get to hear the White Album and Revolver remixed properly, I will not be satisfied. After so many decades, it's about time we get to hear whatever Ringo might be playing on the upbeat number, "Got To Get You Into My Life". I've heard them mentioned as a... kit of drums? Drum kittle?