Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
When analyzing each of the Beatles independently, their lives, and their careers, I often always associate each of the members with each other. I find comfort in coming back to their time as the Beatles. I rarely step out of the Beatles discography and engage with the solo art of each of the four. If you are an avid music listener, this is where you can place your condemnation upon me. Because, I must admit, I have missed out on a lot of music by these four. All four Beatles had taken solo careers and were highly successful. Although I knew this to be true, I still could not bring myself to actually listen. I have no doubt heard some of the famous songs written by one of the four, but never chose to immerse myself in their entire discography.
It was only very recently that I had heard a song by Paul McCartney in his solo career that I had never heard that made me want to scour the internet and find as much as I could about these four men and the masterpieces they put together outside of their time with the Beatles. Stylistically, I assumed a lot of their music would end up being similar to the songs they released while together. Going back to my original thought, that song was “Live and Let Die” by Paul and his band Wings, made to be the theme in the James Bond film of the same name. I had heard the song at 5:00 am over spring break on the radio, waiting in the car for my Amtrak to arrive and take me back to the University of Richmond. And afterward, instead of playing the next song, there was a bit of a discussion by the radio DJ about the song. Usually, I am not a fan of these, which is why I typically just connect my Spotify account and play accordingly, but, I am glad I listened. In it, the DJ said that McCartney needed only 15 minutes to come up with the main structure of the song. That absolutely blew me away. If McCartney can create one of the most iconic movie songs in the history of cinematic production in just fifteen minutes, then I could only imagine how many other songs he had the potential to release.
McCartney was fun and I had my short fix on his music with Wings, but I really wanted to then see the works of George Harrison, whose music constantly became underappreciated and one-upped by Paul and John during their tenure with the Beatles. I knew he must have had a lot of pent up music that he wanted to have released with the Beatles that was passed up on. This music surely had to be released during his solo career.
And, if I am being completely honest, although I believed this, I never actually listened to any of his albums. The only non-Beatles engagement I had with him was “Got My Mind Set On You” from his album Cloud Nine, and the songs that were released by The Traveling Wilburys. The Traveling Wilburys are a fascinating story, and probably worthy to have their own post another day. So, I decided randomly that I would pick an album that was earlier in his solo career. The winner was All Things Must Pass, George’s first album after the breakup of the Beatles.
All Things Must Pass, released in 1970, was unapologetically George. As mentioned earlier, a lot of George’s music was not really put into Beatles works and the other members were not 100% sold on his abilities as a writer. His role was ultimately to play the guitar and act as backup vocals. Years of beautiful work were ultimately kept to himself, as he was not going to release these songs alone while in the studio with the Beatles. I for one actually like George’s songs the most. And so, his style and his writing were way more pleasing to my ears than the other songs of the quartet.
The album is a long one, so I will recommend to be ready. It has a run time of 106 minutes long (1 hour and 46 minutes), and features six sides that were later transformed into two discs. One of the more interesting artists that joined forces with George on the album was Eric Clapton. The relationship between the two has generated some extremely powerful and good music. One of my favorite Beatles songs, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” features Eric Clapton’s guitar prominently, creating an elegant sound that creates a weeping noise.
All in all, I do not want to spoil much of the beauty that comes through in this album, and I would advise having a listen. If you want a physical CD copy, come to the Parsons Music Library on the third floor of the Modlin Center (second floor of Booker Hall) and check it out today.
George Harrison photographed at Friar Park, 1970 – poster insert for original release of All Things Must Pass
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
La Boheme Original 1896 poster by Adolfo Hohenstein
I was never an opera guy. It is not that I did not like opera. I just did not know about opera. I was never in a situation where opera came to the forefront of my mind. In other words, I was not exposed to opera. It was a distant thing to me; ladies singing on balconies with horned helmets and weird facial expressions to sing the difficult pieces tasked to them was my only frame of reference. When in a car with friends on a Friday night, nobody was putting on Verdi, Wagner, or Rossini. The store playlist of my high school job certainly was not playing the greatest opera arias known to man. Even the mainstream celebrities of today that people idolize so fiercely weren’t opera singers (although some deservedly should be).
And so, you cannot blame me that I grew up and more strongly resonated with the music of the day and the ones of my parents. Opera just does not show up in everyday life; in a way, you must go looking for it. Actually, for me to say I never engaged with opera is a bit of stretch. There are pieces that my dad has listened to or showed me. Most of the orchestral concerts I have been to have played a piece or two from a world renowned opera. Some movies contain them in their scores. And finally, some movies use these operas as their source material and are loosely based on them.
Despite that all being true, I cannot call myself an opera fan. I can’t because of how limited my exposure has been to the craft. Compared to the amounts I know of all other genres (minus country), I barely scraped the surface of operatic music. My knowledge was equivalent to knowing the ABCs, but only up until C. In the words of some of my peers, I was considered “a casual.”
But as with all things addictive, it only takes a taste for you to get hooked and interested. I only needed one person to expose me to this new world. I only needed one person to be able to convince me of its beauty. I only needed one person to show me how much this meant to them, as so that same joy could spread over me. And while some things addictive are not necessarily good for you, I am proud to say that mine is a much healthier alternative. And surprisingly, it only took a forced general education requirement where I am obligated to sit in a classroom for two and a half hours a week for fifteen straight weeks to introduce me to this world. I think that is a fair deal.
Anyways, I do not think that my professor really expected anyone to enjoy opera at the ages of 18-22. The music is so different from mainstream music and the norms of music today that it was not an outrageous guess for him to say we may find this a bit boring and uninteresting. That did not stop him though from hoping that it could resonate with us and perhaps make us find a new appreciation for it. Ultimately, I do think that about 70-80% of the class remained disinterested and will never watch an opera ever again (which is fine, at least you gave it a spin), but I am beyond surprised with how quickly I ended up enjoying and looking forward to class. I like to consider myself a man of music; I may not study music, or play music, or read music, or anything like that. However, I am a listener that does not have a narrow taste. I am familiar with music from all ages, across the world, and will give anything a listen at least once.
I personally have this rule that I will never listen to a piece for the first time needing convincing. I have a few friends like that where they need something to happen to convince themselves that the music is good. Or better yet, they already have a baseline standard of what is good music and judge the song based on how well it conforms to their already pre-existing baseline. I CANNOT STAND THAT. For me, I treat every piece individually and try to find the good in every piece. And so, most times, you are not ever going to hear from me that a song is bad. And I think in an even better vein, it has allowed me to appreciate all types of music and being able to know that although it is different, it still has redeeming and exceptional qualities that make the work good in its own right. Call it mature, or call it awesome or whatever, but I think that alone has been the biggest contributor to my interest in the course.
I knew the course would cover opera. I also knew that I was not very familiar with opera. I also knew that generally, younger audiences do not typically appreciate nor listen to opera. Finally, I knew that whatever my opinion of opera might be, I would have to at least give it a chance for fifteen weeks and do everything in my power to keep an open mind and take the course with excitement. And that was what put me in a different boat than the other 70-80% of my classmates.
I think the next logical point of attack for me to discuss would surround which opera we engaged with. This is the most important part. Just like most interactions, the first impression is the most important. And as a professor, that is a big task. You need to show us (your students) some of the most popular and captivating operas so that we are drawn to it. You need to try and wow us (even though I am easily wowed). You also need to not show us the best possible piece of the trade, or else your students may be set up for disappointment if they think all opera will be as good as this one. Personally, I think my professor did well. Looking at a totally definitive and set-in stone ranking by only one classical music website with no possibility of differing opinions allowed (no sarcasm found here), the opera chosen to be our gateway opera was ranked #2 all-time. That is comforting. If this ranking list was somehow ever able to be proven true, I could be reassured that I could lay my eyes on one piece that is considered better than the one I watched in my lifetime. And better yet, just because we watched #2, that does not mean that all the rest below are bad. It just means that in the eyes of that beholder, they are not as good, which could still mean these are excellent and grandiose spectacles of art.
The opera we watched was La Bohème. Speaking truthfully, the music, the set design, the acting, and the singing was flawless. The way opera singers can sing with such fullness and strength was just shocking. It felt as though iron lungs were placed in their bodies during set changes so that they would never run out of breath. I was amazed. In fact, I was so into it, I had to look up the spark notes of the plot while we just finished Act II because I did not want to wait a week and a half before we would finish it up. I also read a little about Giacomo Puccini, who wrote the opera and the score. I read about the history of the performances of La Bohème. I read about Luciano Pavarotti, one of the men most synonymous with the main protagonist. I read about other operas written during the time of La Bohème’s release. I looked up the most famous opera arias and listened to a handful of them to engage with the material better. I even went to the library and took out the sheet music for the opera and just flipped through it to see the complexity of the music for about a half an hour.
There was just something to it that touched the right chord. I guess I was just dying to find new music and try something new that I had come across opera at the exact right moment. Being so different, so grandiose, and so epic in comparison to the synthetic music of today just showed me how much more talent and how much more complex music was at the time. Music was not just something that sounded good. It was meant to envelop you, draw you in emotionally, play with your feelings, and take you on a journey. It was storytelling in the form of instruments and voice.
I could go on and on about the intricacy of the plot and what I think each part means and symbolizes, but I feel as though I would spoil too much. I want whoever is reading this to watch it for themselves and take it in the same way I did. What I will comment on is my favorite piece, and the characters themselves.
The best piece of the opera in my opinion is “Che Gelinda Manina.” It is part of the first act in which Rodolpho, the main character, tells Mimi that her hands are cold, as well as a glimpse into who he is. I think I like it so much, because as a male who had done theater in high school, I understand just how hard it is to sing in general. Then, expanding my range to hit high and low notes was almost impossible because I was never trained. It was all breathy and from the back of my mouth/throat which is the exact way one will get laryngitis. And so, it is safe to say that I was not a very good singer, but did my best for it to come out alright. Taking that one step further, if I had to sing opera, it would have probably gone a little like this: the first couple notes are alright. I begin to run out of breath. The notes are getting higher. I find myself getting red in the face. My voice cracks. The song is ruined. The crowd boos. Career ended.
And so, I have personal experience that I can resort to that demonstrates how difficult opera singing is. Even better, to be good at opera is almost impossible (for me). The voice control, the range, the strength, and the projection is just something I cannot do. It is also noteworthy to point out that my voice is not very suitable. I am still waiting for that burly man voice to kick in if it ever does. Regardless, it is just a piece of art and it is one of the most sentimental and touching moments of the entire show.
It was so good and resonated with me so much, I checked out the score for the song. Seeing it was too complicated for me to probably play, I humbly put the book back into its place and remembered that my piano skills are equivalent to a fourth grade beginner.
As for the characters, there are only six main figures. There are two love plots: Mimi and Rodolpho and Musetta and Marcello. Rodolpho and Marcello are very good friends, find themselves in the same situation in life, and are almost inseparable, but the differences between the two’s love lives are extremely evident. The love that Mimi and Rodolpho share is pure, eternal, and perfect. This heavily differs from Marcello’s, which is fueled by arguments, envy, and distrust. The other two characters are Schaunard and Colline, who are the remaining two men that live in Paris with Rodolpho and Marcello.
Ultimately, I would have to say Rodolpho is my favorite character. I think Puccini purposely makes the viewer choose either Rodolpho or Mimi, as the entire plot is mainly focused on the love dynamic of the two. And, given that I am a male, I feel a stronger connection to Rodolpho’s characteristics, his plight, his insecurities, and his problems. It is also easier for me to place myself in his shoes and experience his pain firsthand even though I am only just a viewer. There is something about him that I like so much. Maybe it is his purity and selflessness. Maybe I just like that he made the ultimate sacrifice to see someone he loves so happy. Maybe it is his ability to remain happy even though there is no money to his name. I am not sure. Maybe it is a combination of all three.
Regardless, I never expected that I would be able to dive so deep into opera in just a few class periods. Learning about this new (ironic) style of music has given me a whole new world to explore and has broken up the monotony of the everyday listens that are a part of my life. I hope that me showing a little bit about the joy this opera and opera in general has brought me has convinced you to listen to me. I know it may be hard to believe me, but trust me on this one.
You do not even have to go far to pick it up. If you are a University of Richmond student, faculty, staff, or friend of the library, you too could immerse yourself with the widecollection of all sorts of resources on La Bohème. Stop by soon, and maybe we can chat about it if I am at the front desk!
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Danny (class of 2023) and features music he discovered recently.
Music of March
This playlist consists of all songs I have discovered in March of 2023.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Danny (class of 2023) and is called “I Must Be Dreaming.”
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Danny (class of 2023) and features music that makes him feel good.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
When analyzing the classic and most famous Broadway shows, similar answers typically arise. Many instantly associate New York Broadway with flashing lights, lines of dancers, or extremely costly sets that attempt to engage the audience in unthinkable ways. Many of my friends who are relatively new to the Broadway scene associate the industry with Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, and The Lion King. These are some of the longest running Broadway shows to exist, with most taking their inspiration from childhood storylines and characters. Wicked, takes a spin of The Wizard of Oz and creates a masterpiece with some of the most iconic songs in Broadway history. The Lion King takes a classic Disney movie and brings it to life on a grand scale, supplemented with music by the legendary Elton John and Tim Rice. Phantom of the Opera, a stage adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1909 novel of the same name (and a book that I started but never finished) brings the entire theater to life, with a collapsing chandelier over the audience, an extremely costly set design, and one of the musicals that contains some of the greatest vocal control and range I have ever heard. There is a reason why it is the longest running show on Broadway, despite its recent announcement that the show is closing in 2023. Finally, Les Misérables, my favorite of all time and a book that I made over 1,500 pages in but have not finished, is a masterpiece. See one of my prior works to see exactly how and why I love the musical. But as it did to me, it captivated Broadway fans and has become one of the shows most synonymous with Broadway. If someone who has extreme reach and can pull up strings – bring it back. Thanks. Please. And thank you again.
However, mixed in with the Broadway giants, the past decade and change has brought to Broadway some of the most underrated and beautiful masterpieces Broadway has ever seen. Although COVID, lack of demand, rising rental costs, and ultimately a stream of bad luck, shows such as Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, Next to Normal, Beetlejuice, Be More Chill, Dogfight, Heathers, Something Rotten, The Prom, and She Loves Me have been cut short and their greatness is impossible to compare with shows that have survived for 30+ years.
One of those shows, whose Broadway run should have been much longer in my opinion is Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Before I get into why the musical is my feature for this post, I want to touch upon how I found out about the piece.
I’ve touched in some of my other posts that I was in a musical my senior year and knew nothing about anything. I could not read sheet music (as I forgot after I quit saxophone before middle school), was stiff as a board in my dancing, did not know tap, could not sing, and could not tell you the difference between tenor and bass. Yet somehow, I got a speaking role and had a two-line solo in 42nd Street about traveling shoes and newspapers. Despite that, as I was trying to impress a girl and become immersed in the experience, I had to learn all about Broadway culture. It seems like a dumb reason, but once I got involved into it, I was immersed for real. And so, I went through every single musical I could, listening to them, learning the lyrics, watching clips on YouTube and actually getting to go to one in New York my freshman year for the first time ever. And somewhere, in between, as I was a huge Waitress fan and Jessie Mueller was the original cast performer for the role of Jenna, I checked out some of her other work. Lo and behold, she also played the titular character of Carole King in the musical Beautiful.
I watched a bootleg of the musical (as it was closed after I found it) and was instantly hooked. The music within the musical is all modern and sped up adaptations of some of the most classic songs that Carole King produced and wrote during her hay day. And hearing those songs that I grew up with, but in a newer and crisper way was something that I enjoyed incredibly. With that, today’s focus is on Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
To begin, Beautiful opened on Broadway on January 12th, 2014, and made it just short of six years, taking its final bow on October 27th, 2019. The musical performed over 2,400 times and was critically acclaimed, taking home two Tony awards in 2014: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, and Best Sound Design. The musical relives the career and life of Carole King, a songwriter from New York City who started songwriting in 1958. From 1958-2000, King had 118 songs appear on the Billboard 100. It explores her personal life with her first husband Gerry Goffin, who she met while at Queens College (where both of my cousins go) and became writing partners with, her career, and the success of her music. Despite rising to commercial success with Goffin, their marriage was eventually doomed, as Goffin had admitted he was having an affair, had a daughter with his mistress (in real-life, not the production), and was a substance abuser. All these factors contributed to their downfall as a couple and decision to divorce. Despite this, King also had solo success once her career took off. She became one of the most prolific songwriters of her time.
Beautiful played at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, sharing the privilege with past musical productions such as Anything Goes, Mrs. Doubtfire, Bye Bye Birdie, Cabaret, and Daddy Long Legs (which received an off-Broadway revival recently). After its close, Beautiful cemented itself as the 28th most performed show in history, just 100 performances shy of The Producers and about 40 more than Annie.
Some of my favorite songs are “1650 Broadway Medley,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”, “Take Good Care of My Baby,” and “One Fine Day.” “1650 Broadway Medley” is a masterpiece that sheds light to the talent and musical masterpieces (by artists other than King) that stemmed from the Brill Building, a music studio located in Manhattan, New York where Carole King began her career. “Some Kind of Wonderful,” opens with Carole and Gerry singing the song together, and then transforming it in the later half to show how their song was then picked up by the Drifters, who shot the song to success. The version in the musical is a lot more modern and quicker compared to the version performed by the Drifters. However, some of the string melodies are still present in the song. The buildup in between King and Goffin’s version to the Drifters’ is an awesome transition. “Will You Still Love me Tomorrow” takes a similar approach in the musical. The first time it is performed in the musical is Carole singing the song by herself, presumably in the early stages of writing it. However, two songs later, the same song is sung and performed in a grand manner, in the style of doo-wop by The Shirelles. Once again, the musical version is sped up and the quality is a bit crisper. However, despite that, the same base and notes to the original version are still present in the piece. The strings in my opinion really hold the song together, as I am a sucker for strings. It adds more depth and volume to the piece, ultimately supplementing the voices of the Shirelles very well.
As for “Take Good Care of My Baby,” the song is very simplistic, and quite frankly too quick. The song, written by Carole and Gerry was performed by Bobby Vee in 1961. This is also interesting, as the Bobby Vee version is not a duet. The producers of the show decided to make the song a duet between Carole and Gerry, something that I liked throughout the show as the songs made popular by the artists who sang them did not dominate the show. Most of the songs have Carole herself performing them. Finally, “One Fine Day,” made famous by The Chiffons and drawing inspiration from doo-wop is one of the best songs on the album. Once again, the song is sped up and is modernized, which is a nice touch on the classic piece. The background vocals complete the song and add immense depth. This was the first song that I heard off the entire album and was one of the main reasons that I got hooked to the piece.
All in all, those main songs do not aim to take away from the beauty of the other pieces. I simply just could not highlight the beauty of them all and chose to focus on a select few. Despite hearing most of these pieces from being the son of a musician who played at weddings with my grandpa and played all the biggest hits at the time starting from age 11, I never knew the history behind each of these songs. And the fact that they were all written by Carole King was new to me. I will always regret not being able to see the show in person, but at least I have the music to keep the show alive forever.
Finally, the show was able to spread its beauty without having a complicated set. The set itself really is just a compartmentalized wood wall in the back and a relatively empty main stage. There are no witches flying around, or falling chandeliers, or superhero battles attached to safety harnesses, or a mechanical King Kong, or a full circus like Moulin Rouge, or a giant plant puppet that grows as the production continues. It is basic, beautiful, and supplements the music that is being performed.
I personally think that those musicals that focus on the music and do not try to go too over the top are severely overlooked. Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton are very similar. Both do not have extremely over-the-top sets, and in the case of Dear Evan Hansen, there is barely any set at all. There is a huge LED screen that lights up and has graphics going across it, as well as very basic sets such as a bed or a couch. I mean, Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton obviously have resonated better and more widely than Beautiful has, so maybe it is not the best comparison, but all really focus on the story and the music, using the set only when necessary.
In conclusion, if you have not already checked out Beautiful, I highly suggest you come to Parsons Music Library and find the CD. Give it a listen, and I guarantee you will love it.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Danny (class of 2023) and features a selection of favorite tunes for the holiday season.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
The question that typically comes up every time and again – a question that I find disrespectful to everyone but one, and yet worthy of the highest praise for that one in question – is one that is hotly debated. I have seen friendships one word away from disaster over the lunch table regarding this one question. I have witnessed other’s whole argument lose its pull as soon as someone had a worthy counterargument. I have seen people argue over the topic on Twitter and Instagram as if their opinion was slated in fact. I have seen people get so emotionally invested in this question that their face begins to get red, their eyes stand on the verge of tears, and every single vein in their body is one more second away from exploding. That question – the one I hate – is who is the best musical group ever?
Where does this question even get its basis from? Are we saying some genres are better than others?
Are we saying we can compare every single artist together despite no two artists being the same – with different vocals, different instruments, different cultures, different pacing, different everything? I get humans have the natural inclination to tier and rank – competition drives the world. But honestly, to me, this is an unanswerable and impossible question. Yea, we may be able to rank albums off charting positions and sales numbers. And then logically, we can say the artist that has the most cumulative sales across their whole discography is the best. That is a LOGICAL WAY to determine it. It still blows for literally every other artist other than number one – BUT – that one artist lives enshrined as the best for forever. And yet, despite me not liking that way to derive who is the “best”, it is logical. But, also, on top of the fact that humans have the natural inclination to tier and rank, humans are not the most intelligent. And instead of deciding who is the best logically, we let emotions, opinions, and our own experiences decide for us! As if it is not obvious enough, that is a one-way ticket to disaster. It brings up some pretty interesting debate, however but humans are also stubborn, and we can only imagine that nothing will ever be accomplished.
For those reasons, and just the idea that music should be appreciated for the piece of art it is and its individuality, not ranked against others because Jeff likes drums more than strings, I think that question is pretty lame.
However, I am going to explain a little bit about one album from one group that typically scores high on America’s meaningless “tier list.” Even better, I so happen to love this band, although they are not one of my everyday listens. But, since they have some of the most gripping and innovative music of the 1960s, I thought it would be a worthy choice to write about. And, even funnier, it leads into an interesting contradiction to say that I agree with the world in this case. I do not know if that now pigeonholes me into the broader term of being “basic,” but in this case, I will put aside that argument and agree with the world.
This leads me to this point: If I were to rank all bands, and put my differences aside with that impossible question, I would put the Beatles up at the very top – maybe not one, but top twenty. More specifically, if we were to rank albums, Abbey Road would be even higher.
To begin, Abbey Road is the 11th studio album of the Beatles, their second to last studio album and 11th in just over six years. The group itself is composed of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, although Ringo was not one of the original members of the band (he replaced Pete Best in 1962). Together, the Beatles shot to worldwide prominence outside of their home country of the UK and more specifically their hometown of Liverpool. Their rise to American prominence began in the early 60s as many British bands were beginning to come to America in what was known as the “British Invasion.” If were to use the LOGICAL approach, the Beatles would be the most popular band of all time, selling 183,000,000 albums throughout their history. The album itself was a bit of a distance from some of the previous albums – they almost reverted back to their beginnings. The album did not contain many psychedelic hits as the majority of their later albums did. However, despite this, the band recorded the album at their breaking point; this was the last album that was released when they were all together, as John Lennon had made his exit from the brand prior to commercial release.
The album, in my opinion, demonstrates complete duality. Although the music is praised for being one of their best, with hit after hit, the band’s health, and the health of each of the members were deteriorating behind the scenes. The members were all annoyed with each other and George Martin played saving grace, trying to get the project to the world and to completion, whilst attempting to reduce the trouble brewing between the members. The wear and tear of fame, constant studio work, and trying to deal with it all took a toll on the Beatles by 1969, which caused a lot of the issues. They had faced adversity, as the band would experiment with cocaine, LSD, and marijuana in the mid to late 60s, followed by a crippling heroin addiction by three of the members. Behind the scenes, the Beatles were at their lowest and were struggling in their personal lives. It is still amazing that despite all the negatives, they somehow put their troubles, their conflicts, and their egos aside and created one of the most iconic songs of all time.
Some of my personal favorites off the album, are “Something,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “Oh Darling”, and “Because.” A large portion of the songs that I like most (in this case “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun”) were written by George Harrison. You could almost immediately tell when Harrison was the writer, with a distinct sound. In the case of Abbey Road, his songs were more melodic and slower, a slight diversion from the rock-infused roots that rose the band to prominence. They make for some of the most beautiful songs in their entire discography, but slightly behind my all-time favorite song from them – “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” In my opinion, that song, with Eric Clapton playing the guitar in the background is the greatest Beatles song. The slower and melodic piece, with the guitar sounding almost as if it really was crying is nothing short of a masterpiece. And so, I consider myself biased in response to my favorites – George’s style and influence was something that resonates with me. That is yet another reason why I dislike ranking. Because in this case, my opinions, and biases seep through heavily.
Finally, as for the most influential and iconic portion of the piece, the Abbey Road album cover has become one the most definitive images of the band. Although an album cover that was very simplistic in nature, the image holds a variety of meaning and captures the Beatles’ spirit and careers all in one image. The image itself features all four Beatles walking along a crosswalk on Abbey Road, which is a street in London where EMI studios, the recording studio of the Beatles was housed. From left to right, there is George Harrison, in a jean shirt, jeans, white boots, long hair and a beard. This encompasses their later years, in which most of the members began to grow their hair out amidst the war years and counter-culture movement. To his right is Paul McCartney in a blueish-grey suit, a cigarette in hand, and a shorter hairstyle that is reminiscent from their pre-fame days. Afterward is Ringo Starr, dressed in a black suit. Finally, John Lennon finishes the image, with his long hair and all white appearance. Although not traditionally associated with the image, John being last in line wearing all white to me symbolizes heaven and the idea that the band is nearing their end. They are looking to the light and waiting for their come to end. The final piece of the album cover that many do not know is that the photographer only took six images of them. The Beatles walked down back and forth along the street three times. This cover image was the fifth image taken, and they were walking away from the studio. If we were to blow up the image, EMI would be on the left. This also foreshadows their immediate exit, as them walking away from EMI hints at their careers together ending.
Image 3 (of 6) from the Abbey Road album cover shoot. Photo: Iain MacMillan
The everlasting impact of the band and this album is one that will live on forever in the minds and hearts of all music lovers. It is so popular to this date, that in 2019, 246,000 vinyl copies were sold. This comes over fifty years after its initial release. And so, to close, despite saying in the beginning of this piece that I hate rankings and considering a band to be the “best,” if I ever had the chance to make my opinion fact and that that becomes the standard everyone will have to adhere by – I would place Abbey Road in the top 15 albums of all time.
If you are so inclined to relisten to this masterpiece, or grace your ears for the first time, you can check out a copy of Abbey Road at Parsons Music Library today.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
Waitress: The Musical holds a very strong place in my heart and might have the strongest memories and feelings attached to it than any other album could do in my life. And it all started pretty recently.
My senior year of high school, I gave up playing club soccer for the spring. I had played soccer year-round my whole life and wanted to take a break from club sports. I finished my senior season with the high school team as captain and thought that would be a fitting end to the journey. So, I did track and field in the spring to spruce it up and try and build on my winter times (which I had done for 4 years). Since the practices did not eat up nearly as much time as soccer, I still felt I needed something to do.
And so, through a few of my friends who were involved, I somehow got myself roped into joining a school musical (42nd Street). It was more intimidating than anything I had ever done, given I had never tapped, danced, sang, nor acted in my life. It was so out of my comfort zone and I felt worlds apart from anyone else. Given that I try to immerse and be the best that I can at anything I do, naturally, I tried to get myself adjusted to the world of arts.
I basically went to Playbill and found every contemporary musical that was currently playing on Broadway and listened to every single album. Some albums were played more than just once, as I continually listened to them until the lyrics were etched into my brain. Even if I was not totally invested in Broadway like my friends, I at least wanted to know everything about the culture and what I was getting myself into just as I do with any job or sport.
And through it, I heard Waitress. And I listened to it over and over and over and over and over. It became my second most-listened-to album in 2019 on Spotify and three of the songs were in my top 5. The lyrics and the songs were just ultimately too good and did not sound like a traditional Broadway musical songs. When I was younger, I felt a lot of Broadway was dance-heavy numbers, with raging horns and jazz beats, lights, eccentric acting (I did not like stage acting, I felt it was too jittery or not as deep as a film), and crazy costumes. And yet, Waitress was kind of the complete opposite. It took music from Sara Bareilles, a mainstream artist that was consistently played on the radio and turned it into a story. I was hooked. I obviously realized there were tons of other musicals like this, but it was the first one that really opened my eyes to another side of theatre.
To make a long story short, it became a habit to listen to the music, and I got pretty good at a couple of the songs on piano. The year I started listening, all of a sudden, an announcement was made that the show was closing January 5th, 2020. I was lowkey upset because I wanted to go so bad to the show, but I would never want to drop the pricey amount to go watch it live.
And then, like the grace of God’s warm light, I was bestowed with three tickets to watch the show. It was gifted as a birthday present. Me and two others got to watch the show two weeks before close, a week before Christmas, and made a whole day trip. We took a bus to NYC at noon, walked around the city for a couple hours, ice skated in Central Park, went out to eat at a nice restaurant, saw the tree at Rockefeller Center at night, and then saw the show at night. The show was even better in person and I got to watch it with people I loved.
Ultimately, after that moment, I knew that album had other sentimental value that could never be replaced. However, a couple of months afterward, I had not actually listened to the album again. Things happened that almost ruined the musical for me and the memories I had attached to it, but I put a positive twist on it and tried to forget some of the negatives.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Danny (class of 2023) and is entitled “Midnight Delight”.
Midnight Delight
(the title depends heavily on if you enjoy letting your feelings out before a good sleep)
