A Conversation for 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Peer Review: A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 1

Bluebottle

Entry: 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album - A87869605
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

This entry is dedicated to SashaQ.smiley - ta

It's also my 30th entry currently in Peer Review. Of the 58 entries in Peer Review at time of writing, 30 – which is over half - have been written by me. I believe that must be a record!smiley - wow
Almost certainly not a good one, but a record nonetheless... smiley - winkeye

<BB<


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 2

SashaQ - happysad

Yay! Very good to see this in Peer Review smiley - biggrin Thank you smiley - ok

I look forward to reading it later smiley - book


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 3

Gnomon - time to move on

This was one of my favourite albums as a teenager.

I'm confused about "Yesterday". You say it was never released as a single in the UK. You don't list it in italics, so it was previously released on an album (before Oldies but Goldies). But you don't say what album it is was on.


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 4

Bluebottle

If an entry's going to be a record, it might as well be an entry about a recordsmiley - winkeye

I've tweaked the 'Yesterday' section to explain that it was added onto the end of 'Help!'.

It's a good little album with some outstanding songs on, even if the Beatles themselves didn't like feeling they didn't have control over their recorded material.

<BB<


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 5

Gnomon - time to move on

Some tweaks:

It looks odd that you say they had a five-year contract with EMI and then signed a nine-year contract with EMI. Since EMI is common to both, it makes the reader think they've missed something here.

I would say "They renegotiated the terms of their contract with EMI and extended it by another nine years."

"by Bob Whitaker while they were on their 1966 tour of Japan, who was the Beatles' official photographer "

-- this looks as if Japan was the Beatles' official photographer; having an entire nation as your photographer would be a good publicity stunt! Reword it as:

by Bob Whitaker while they were on their 1966 tour of Japan. Whitaker was the Beatles' official photographer

"He not only photographed many of their tours and arranged studio sessions, one of his photographs gained notoriety"

-- the grammar of this is wrong. You should have:

He not only [did he do something] but [he did something else].

Instead you have:

He not only [did he do something] [something else happened].

I suggest you split this sentence and combine the start of it with the previous sentence so we have:

"Whitaker was the Beatles' official photographer between August 1964 and November 1966; he photographed many of their tours and arranged studio sessions. One of his photographs gained notoriety when..."

This cover photograph was replaced --> That cover photograph was replaced

I wonder is this too much detail about the Butcher cover? That was a different album.

to buy the same songs twice --> to buy the same song twice

following on 'I Want To Hold Your Hand''s success

-- the punctuation of this makes it confusing. Reword it as:

following on the success of 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'

throws darts at the Beatles — a wonderful example of the Beatles not taking themselves too seriously. -->
throws darts at the Beatles — a wonderful example of the group not taking themselves too seriously.

John described it as 'just a rock'n'roll song' criticising those not fully committed to taking drugs who were, in his words, 'weekend hippies'.

- This is not clear. Do you mean that John was criticising the weekend hippies or the song was criticising the hippies?

If it is John criticising the hippies, then put a comma after 'just a rock'n'roll song'.
If it is a rock'n'roll song that it is criticising the hippies, change it to:

John described it as 'just a rock'n'roll song' that is criticising those not fully committed to taking drugs. These were, in his words, 'weekend hippies'.

an lonely old woman --> a lonely old woman

The Eleanor Rigby sections tells the story of how Paul claims he came up with the name Eleanor Rigby, the quotes Paul telling the same story. You don't need to say all this twice.

The section in Paul's quote about Father McCartney doesn't make much sense unless you say that the name ended up as Father McKenzie.

second top-selling record --> second-best-selling record

smiley - oksmiley - booksmiley - galaxy


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 6

SashaQ - happysad

Excellent Entry - really interesting to know the history behind the LP.

I'd like to see explicit mention of the Paul McCartney Death Clues in the Cover section (as the LP was in my hallway for some time waiting for its journey to you, I often contemplated the car heading towards "Paul"'s head...!)

"The song in Bold had not been released in the UK at all"

This reads a bit oddly, given that you have already said something about Bad Boy, and it is the only song with this characteristic - perhaps just put Bad Boy in Italics and delete the sentence.

"'Bad Boy' was not released in the UK until its appearance on A Collection Of British Oldies," - Beatles Oldies?

'Eleanor Rigby' - was that a hit before it was included on the album?

smiley - oksmiley - musicalnote


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 7

Gnomon - time to move on

Is it worth mentioning that Eleanor Rigby was the only Beatles song on which they did not play any instruments? Instead it was accompanied by an 8-piece string group.

I've heard that George Martin arranged this, but I don't know whether this means he wrote the music for the string group or just that he organised the group.


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 8

Bluebottle

Changes made as suggested.

I've tweaked the butcher cover bit to make it shorter, and also emphasise that that is what Whitaker is best known for to make it seem more relevant.

I've also reworded the 'Eleanor Rigby' section to include both of your excellent suggestionssmiley - ok

I wrote a new section on the album and the era* and I've even added a little bit about the 'Death Clues'.

Let me know what you think.

<BB<

*Yes, I know that Manila is in the Philippines, but I like the alliteration. And no, 'Philippines' isn't a euphemism.


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 9

Bluebottle

I had hoped to have a conclusion, possibly titled 'A Collection of Beatles Platinums?' in which I would show how many of the singles on the albums were Silver Records, Gold Records or double or triple Platinum. Unfortunately Gold Records etc weren't introduced in the UK until 1973smiley - blue

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A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 10

MMF - Keeper of Mustelids, with added P.M.A., is now in a relationship.

Good entry.

A few points:

She Loves You.
smiley - mod In the US it replaced 'I Eant To Hold Your Hand’.
smiley - biro In the US it replaced 'I Want To Hold Your Hand’.

>> 'She Loves You' was written in their room in Newcastle's Turks Hotel on 26 June, 1963.<<

Who’s room?

Can’t Buy Me Love
>>in fact it was the first ever single to have over a million copies sold in advance of release.<<

Then, I Want To Hold Your Hand

>>was the first song to sell over a million copies in Britain before release,<<

So which was the first?

smiley - ok

MMF

smiley - musicalnote


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 11

Bluebottle

Hello MMF – long time no see!

I've changed 'I Want to Eat Your Hand'

I've looked into the 'She Loves You' and I don't think we can tell whose hotel room it was. I suspect they shared rooms – this was early in their career and they were the tour's support act for Roy Orbison, not the stars. A room each would have been a bit extravagant for an act who at the time had only released one album and three singles (a number 17, a number two and one number one).

I've also tried to get a definitive answer as to which of the two songs were first. Everyone is agreed that 'Can't Buy Me Love' definitely had over a million copies sold in advance, but it seems to depend on how you define 'in advance' as to whether 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' did too.

<BB<


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 12

SashaQ - happysad

Sorry I didn't re-read this sooner to see what tweaks you had made.

The section about the Conspiracy Theory is excellent smiley - ok - nice link to the Lyrics War as well smiley - biggrin

Can I double check the Paul quote - was he sweating in the corner, or wearing a turtleneck sweater?

Ooo - synchronicity. Today I read the Entry about Bernard Herrmann for the first time, as he is included in the h2g2 Calendar, and I see he is mentioned here! smiley - wow You could add the link A590096 There's also a link for Fahrenheit 451 A83646589

Excellent - I really enjoyed reading this again smiley - biggrin


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 13

Bluebottle

Thanks for the read-through, I've changed it to a sweater (whether or not he was sweating in the sweater I'll leave to your imagination).

Glad to see how those excellent links show the interconnectedness of all things smiley - winkeye

<BB<


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 14

SashaQ - happysad

I re-read this today and enjoyed it again.

Just one more tiny question...

"There were Beatles burnings " - were effigies burned?

smiley - ok


A87869605 - 'A Collection of Beatles Oldies' - the Album

Post 15

Bluebottle

Yes, the Ku Klux Klan organised lots of Beatles burnings across the Southern States that included records, effigies and general other Beatles merchandise (all of which would probably be worth quite a bit now), nailing Beatles records to crosses etc. And there were also Beatles effigies burned in Costa Rica too.

Not that the Ku Klux Klan liked the Beatles anyway, as in both 1964 and 1965 the Beatles had refused to perform in segregated venues.

<BB<


Congratulations - Your Entry has been Recommended for the Edited Guide!

Post 16

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Post 17

Gnomon - time to move on

smiley - applause


Congratulations - Your Entry has been Recommended for the Edited Guide!

Post 18

Bluebottle

smiley - wowYay!

I always knew there wasn't enough entries about the Beatles in the Guide.

<BB<


Congratulations - Your Entry has been Recommended for the Edited Guide!

Post 19

SashaQ - happysad

smiley - biggrinsmiley - bubbly


Congratulations - Your Entry has been Recommended for the Edited Guide!

Post 20

bobstafford

smiley - applausesmiley - cheers


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