More Beatles Top Ten + McGoohan Instead Of Movie + L.A. Clientele

Happy Late Night, my Darling,

I hope you had a nice day. All is currently quiet here in Pearl's kitchen, she and The Kobedogger having recently turned in for the night. No hikes today, this being a Hair Salon Thursday, but I will most likely do one tomorrow. The heat is cranking up here, upper 80s today, tomorrow is gonna be near 100. In other words, prime hiking weather!

Man, I love the heat.

I saw your post, via your friend and collaborator Katie, about building a West Coast/Los Angeles clientele. I recommend anything with Los Angeles in the description, of course. :):)

I tried to watch a movie tonight : "Tokyo Drifter" by a Japanese director named Seijun Susuki. He made a lot of hip, gangster type movies in the 60s. I saw a couple that were pretty good, but this was not one of them. I only made it through about a half hour, then I turned it off (something I rarely do with a movie) and watched an episode of "Danger Man" instead. You can't go wrong with Patrick McGoohan.

After thinking hard about it over the past few days, I have three more Beatles songs to add to my personal Top Ten. They are : "I Saw Her Standing There", a Paul song, with that macho vocal line he sang when he was just 21. Paul was always able to "throw" his voice, like a mimic, to adapt it for different styles. Listen to "Lady Madonna" for a perfect example; he sounds like a different person on that song. But on "Standing", he nails everything that was great about early Beatles, that hard rock swagger and melodicism that put them head and shoulders above every other band.

My other songs are "Hello Goodbye", also by Paul, with one of the greatest melodic lines in the history of pop music, I think. If I hear that song, I have to sing along, and then it will be stuck in my head all day. And finally, "Strawberry Fields Forever", a John song. John wrote a lot of the really far-out, advanced "psychedelic" type tunes, like "I Am The Walrus", "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite", "Tomorrow Never Knows", "She Said She Said", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and a bunch of others. But my favorite is "Strawberry Fields", quite simply one of the greatest songs of all time, and a forerunner of progressive music. John was a musical genius, and I think it is somewhat of a shame that he is mainly represented as a political icon nowdays, instead of an incredible songwriter and musician.

So anyway, here's my still unfinished Beatles Top Ten, as it stands now:

1) Penny Lane (written by Paul) (will always be my favorite Beatle song, as previously noted)

all other songs in no particular order, but the next three are ironclad:

2) "Ticket To Ride" (John)

3) "Hard Day's Night" (John)

4) "Help" (John)

in the early days, John was a pop craftsman, writing note perfect songs with a combination of rock n roll energy and smooth, original vocal harmonies. These three songs are masterpieces.

5) "All My Loving" (Paul). I will always think of this one as the perfect Beatlemania song. As soon as it starts playing, all those girls start screaming, and then that's what you hear in your mind for the rest of the song : pure Beatlemania, a phenomenon that will never be duplicated.

6) "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (Paul). This is when The Beatles first went Metal. When they needed to really rock hard, Paul was the man for the job (see "Helter Skelter").

and then the three I've added today...

7) "Strawberry Fields Forever" (John)

8) "I Saw Her Standing There" (Paul)

9) "Hello Goodbye" (Paul)

so that's 9 out of the Top Ten. Five Paul songs, four John. One song to go, and it will have to be pondered. Should I include a George song, simply out of a sense of obligation? After all, "Something" is considered, by many, to be the greatest love song ever written. Or how about "Here Comes The Sun"? George did not write near as many as John or Paul, or have as many songs accepted by those guys (and they ran the show), but when he did write one, it was usually an all time classic.

But I can't pick a George song simply because of obligation. This is supposed to be my personal favorites, and it's hard enough to pick ten out of around two hundred, where almost every song is great in the first place. But the first nine are up, which leaves one to go. Check back in about a week.......   :)

That's all for tonight, Sweet Baby! I recommend an L.A. clientele, with me as a client....   :):)

Keep strumming those Beatle songs, too.

See you in the morning. I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)