[Melv01]

Not wanting to confuse the issue further, but someone else who has been given the title of "fifth Beatle" is Neil Aspinall (the band's road manager, then head of Apple Corps.) who died recently.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melv01 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not wanting to confuse the issue further, but someone else who has been given the title of "fifth Beatle" is Neil Aspinall (the band's road manager, then head of Apple Corps.) who died recently.

This does not confuse this issue! Check the link in my OP for a discussion of his worthiness for this disntinction.

His involvement in the Beatles's career was from the beginning...and I think he oversaw the recent release of of Let It Be...Naked, which was an attempt to remix the original release in a way that was more Beatles, less Spector. Reviews were mixed, but it did offer some nuggets of beauty, not least of all, a previously unreleased take of GH's guitar solo on the title track.

Thank you, Melv01.

 

[wavoman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBenway /img/forum/go_quote.gif They were of their time...

Great observation, somewhat poignant and a little sad for us old timers.

Of course the music still works -- witness LOVE, the show and album.

My favorite Beatles moment, better than seeing them live at Shea (which I did), was two years later. I had Sgt Pep LHCB album and played it over and over on my parent's built-in "hi fi" (by Nutone, the door bell company!). My Grandfather visited, and I said I like the Beatles, and he said "they are just so much noise". I replied "OK, I'll put something else I like on the record player", and played She's Leaving Home. "Ah, that's very nice", he said, "that's music". I never told him.

Can you share your moment with us, DrBenway? I know you have one!

 

[zotjen]

Everyone knows Billy Shears became the fifth Beatle after Paul died.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Of course the music still works -- witness LOVE, the show and album.

I haven't heard the surround mix, and I'm not sure if I would like it; I'm pretty much a two-channel purist. But I'm sure the LOVE mixes don't do much harm. Work of that quality is evergreen, and almost imprevious to damage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif My favorite Beatles moment, better than seeing them live at Shea (which I did)

I would give my left arm to have had that experience. I was born in '60, so I was a bit young at the time, but I clearly remember the media frenzy that surrounded their arrival at Kennedy airport. My parents are pretty open-minded musically, but I recall them looking in amazement at the reaction that the band was getting everywhere they went.


Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman;4235569Can you share [I your moment with us, DrBenway? I know you have one![/i]

I was in elementary school when the "Paul is dead" hoax (It was a hoax, right...?) went down. When I got to the school bus stop one morning, a couple of the older girls from the neighborhood were crying like they had just lost their best friend, and they were huddled around one of the album covers (Abbey Road?) examining it for clues.

Several years later, I got my first sound system, which included an AR manual turntable. It was a very simple design, and you could make it run in reverse by simply hitting the switch and spinning the platter backwards. I had been obsessed with the rumors of backward masking, and I played "Revolution 9" backwards. My hair stood on end when I clearly heard "...turn me on, dead man, turn me on dead man..." I was absolutely stunned.

I later got into the classic argument with a friend about the fade on "Strawberry Fields Forever." I was sure I heard "I buried Paul." My eternally skeptical friend (future lawyer, naturally) insisted it was "Cranberry sauce," pronounced very slowly. We never did agree on that one.

Maybe this all sounds a bit trivial, since obviously the music was the point, and those brilliant recordings sound as good as ever all these decades later. But the mystery and intrigue that surrounded them was incredibly appealing to me. It was like being drawn into an alternate universe.

 

[wavoman]

Wow, I forgot about the whole backward thing ... what great memories.

AR manual turntable. OK, now I have to guess your system. Hmmm ... Dyanaco amp and KLH speakers ... no, AR4speakers. Shure cartridge. Maybe the Heathkit Receiver, or a Scott. Ortofon and Grado were making cartridges back then too. Koss Pro Headphones, or Superex?

Did you buy them at Harvey's ? Or Sam Goody's?

C'mon, tell us what you listened to the Beatles albumns on. Did you search out the British imports?

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, I forgot about the whole backward thing ... what great memories. C'mon, tell us what you listened to the Beatles albumns on.

Oh GEEEZ, dude, you're giving me the creeps! Yep on the Dynaco, this one which my father built from a kit. What would I give to have that amp back now...?

The speakers were homebrew, built by a crazy audiophile friend of my father's...two-ways as I recall, with homemade cabinets that weighed a ton.


Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Shure cartridge

Yep again. I don't remember which model it was when I inherited the AR from my Dad, but I do remember installing a Shure V15; that might have actually been later. At some point I also had a Stanton, which I thought was a bit hot on the high end...I induced my poor mother to drive me all the way out to Long Island, to their factory, and an elderly gentlemen, one of their engineers, offered to bench test it for me. "Yeah," he said, "this one tests a little sibilant on the high end," and he proceeded to give me -- free of charge - -a replacement stylus that benched a little cooler. Can you imagine that happening today? I cannot remember the last time I thought about that experience!


Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Heathkit

Wow, Heathkit! Another name out of my past! My Dad was always building stuff, but none of the Heathkit stuff ever found its way into my room.


Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Koss headphones

I had to go digging around on the Koss site to remember this, but
when I left for college in '78, I would have been using the Koss Pro/4AA, or a closely related design.


Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did you buy them at Harvey's ? Or Sam Goody's?

There was a Harvey's in White Plains, NY. They used to roll their eyes when they saw me coming, because they knew that I was just a kid, and I would demand to hear equipment I couldn't possibly afford to buy. But when I went during slow moments, some of the salesmen would take pity on me and let me play with the equpment.

I was mostly a Tech-Hifi kid (remember that chain? Bought lots of stuff there!!) Their prices were a little more realistic for me at that time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did you search out the British imports?

I left this point for last, because it's really not equipment related, and it's a source of soul-searching for any American Beatle fan. Fact is, I grew up on the American mixes: (Meet the Beatles, The Beatles Second Album, Something New.) Yep, vocals on one side, instruments on the other. Which inspired the Ramones, which is another thread entirely...

 

[wavoman]

Great pic of Dynaco! I also have a Hafler pre-amp -- we all followed him when he left Dynaco (which I think he founded, not sure). And thanks for reminding me of Tech Hi Fi, and of Stanton. Had a Stanton, and an Ortofon, in my Dual, at various times. Still have a mint Shure V15 Type III in the box -- never got around to installing it. Do you remember the theft of thousands of Dynaco speakers from JFK Airport? They were easy to get "used" (really "hot") in Philly. Still have 'em.

Back to the Beatles. I went to London in 1969 and got three of the British albums -- really wow! different.

You have motivated me to tear up the basement and find them.

I was out of the audio hobby for lots of years ... many many thanks to Head-Fi'ers and Jude for getting me back in. This is a lot of fun!

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great pic of Dynaco! I also have a Hafler pre-amp -- we all followed him when he left Dynaco (which I think he founded, not sure).

Wow, Hafler. Haven't heard that name in a while. My cousin built a Hafler pre from a kit, and I think he went to a cliniic at a local hifi shop where a technician benched it for him and confirmed that it was up to spec. The rest of his system was a Macintosh tube power amp (don't ask me which model), a Thorens table, Nak cassette deck, and Dalquist DQ10s with an Audiopro powered sub. He was very into Jamaican stuff at the time, and that was my intro to ska. This was probably around 1980.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you remember the theft of thousands of Dynaco speakers from JFK Airport? They were easy to get "used" (really "hot") in Philly. Still have 'em.

Never heard that. Sorry I missed the "special availability."


Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Back to the Beatles. I went to London in 1969 and got three of the British albums -- really wow! different. You have motivated me to tear up the basement and find them.

Resist the temptation to list them on Ebay. I just heard of an early serial number copy of the White Album going for an absolutely insane price. If I were you, I would burn them to CD and then put them someplace safe. Play them maybe once a year on your birthday.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was out of the audio hobby for lots of years ... many many thanks to Head-Fi'ers and Jude for getting me back in. This is a lot of fun!

I can't resist quoting Michael Corlione from GFIII:

Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in. ...

 

[tufnelto11]

.

 

[GravityEyelids]

Definately George Martin. Sgt. Pepper wouldn't be possible w/o the freedom he gave the Beatles. How dare Yoko be put as a choice! She wished she was, but just kinda hung off them, like so:

PM _ JL _ GH _ RS _ GM
|
|
Yoko

 

[roebeet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBenway /img/forum/go_quote.gif Y'know, I was waiting for someone to bring that. When I roughed out the list that I posted, I had the nagging feeling that I had left someone out. Great call. Not my choice, but an obvious option. Thanks for putting his name in play.

Brian Epstein gets my vote, too. Lennon thought that, after his death, it marked the beginning of the end of the group, and McCartney mentioned once that Brian was the fifth Beatle, if anyone was. (Wkipedia references on both)

George Martin is a close second, in my book.

 

[DavidMahler]

Brian Epstein was the most important person in the Beatles' life......he's the one who introduced them to George Martin and managed their business. Beatlemania was a result of Epstein's incredible work.

George Martin probably had a greater handle in how their music sounded. I'm not sure how Clapton or Shankar made it to the list since I've never heard them referred to as a fifth Beatle. The Beatles Roadie Neil Aspinal should also be mentioned as a possible 5th Beatle. Geoff Emerick is also important.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMahler /img/forum/go_quote.gif Brian Epstein was the most important person in the Beatles' life......he's the one who introduced them to George Martin and managed their business. Beatlemania was a result of Epstein's incredible work. George Martin probably had a greater handle in how their music sounded.

Epstein orchestrated Beatlemania; he was a marketing genius. But I agree with you that George Martin was more important in the studio.


Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMahler /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not sure how Clapton or Shankar made it to the list since I've never heard them referred to as a fifth Beatle.

Clapton for his leads on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Octopus's Garden," and possibly others. "While My Guitar..." in particular is George Harrison's signature as a Beatle (in my opinion). Clapton had an enduring friendship with Harrison, who returned the favor by playing the lead on The Cream's "Badge."

Shankar was another close friend of George Harrision's. He greatly advanced Harrison's understanding of Indian classical music, the sound of which resonates loudly in some of their music. I don't know if Shankar played on any Beatles sessions, but I'm betting that he did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMahler /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Beatles Roadie Neil Aspinal should also be mentioned as a possible 5th Beatle. Geoff Emerick is also important.

Agreed. It's pretty amazing how many people had key roles in the rise of the Beatles. Hardly just four guys with amps.

 

[monolith]

The fifth Beatle was obviously Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.