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Double Album

Double album

A double album is an audio album of sufficient length that two units of the medium in which it is sold (especially records and compact discs) are necessary to contain the entirety of it. Recording artists often think of double albums as a single piece artistically; however, there are exceptions such as Pink Floyd's Ummagumma, one live album and one studio record packaged together, and OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, consisting of one practical solo album by each member of the hip-hop duo. Particularly in the compact disc era, artists sometimes will release albums with bonus discs, featuring studio out-takes, alternate mixes, or other material that would not typically be suitable album material but which would be of interest to fans (e.g., The Beatles' Let It Be... Naked, which featured a bonus disc of studio chatter and jamming entitled Fly on the Wall). The first ever double album was Dave Brubeck's At Carnegie Hall. The first rock double album, and first studio double album, ever released is believed to have been Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde in 1966, although at the same time Dylan was recording the album, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were at work on the double album Freak Out!, released two months after Blonde On Blonde. Since then, the double album format has been more often used for live albums for which material is often plentiful. The triple album contains three units of the medium; the first one of note in the rock era was George Harrison's All Things Must Pass. Packages with more units than that are generally called boxed sets. In the late 1980s, the compact disc, which can carry more music than a typical vinyl long play record, became the most common format on which to sell music. Albums which were originally packaged as double records are often sold on a single compact disc, such as The Who's Tommy and The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street (though not in all cases, such as the Beatles' White Album). Also, albums of the compact disc era are often longer than ones of previous decades and are sometimes packaged on two records if vinyl copies are produced. In general, an album is usually referred to as a double album when it sprawls across two units of the prominent format of its time period.

See also


- List of double albums
- :Category:Double albums
- :Category:Triple albums Category:Albums

Audio

Audio can mean:
- Sound that can be heard.
- Vibrations made by electronics or other signals of frequencies audible to humans (about 20–20,000 Hz).
- Broadcasting or reception of sound.
- high-fidelity sound reproduction.
- Sound recording and reproduction in general.
- "I hear" in Latin. Audio is also the debut album of the Blue Man Group. Audible can also refer to:
- Audible.com, an online audiobook store.
- In American football, "calling an audible" refers to a tactic where the quarterback decides to change the play at the line of scrimmage before the snap by calling additional signals. This is usually done if the quarterback notices changes in the opposing team's defensive setup on the field. Category:Sound

Album (Music)

An album is a collection of related audio tracks, released together commercially in an audio format to the public. The term "record album" originated from the fact that 78 RPM gramophone or phonograph disc records were kept together in a book resembling a photo album. Later, "album" came to refer to a single long-playing 33⅓ RPM 12-inch record of songs or music, since one disc contained as much music as an old-style album of records. The standard industry format for popular music was an album of 12 songs, originally the number related to payment of composer royalties. Now that the vinyl record is archaic, the term "album" is applied to any collection sound recording, including CD, MiniDisc, and cassette. Even a set of tracks released at the same time for distribution on an online music download site is sometimes referred to as an album. Due to the large capacity of new media, the matter of how long an album should be is open to debate. One author suggested at least eight tracks, but there are albums of fewer tracks. According to the rules of the British Charts, a recording counts as an album if either it has at least four tracks or lasts more than 20 minutes. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as EPs, an abbreviation of extended play. The term "mini-album" may also be used. Returning to the older meaning of the term, there are now albums of compact discs: collections of CDs in a single package. If such a collection is packaged in a box, it is known as a box set.

See also


- Concept album
- Double album
- List of albums
- Single
- ja:アルバム

Compact disc

A compact disc (or CD) is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. It is the standard playback format for commercial audio recordings today. A standard compact disc, often known as an "audio CD" to differentiate it from later variants, stores audio data in a format compliant with the red book standard. An audio CD consists of several stereo tracks stored using 16-bit PCM coding at a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. Standard compact discs have a diameter of 120 mm, though 80-mm versions exist in circular and "business-card" forms. The 120-mm discs can hold 74 minutes of audio, and versions holding 80 or even 90 minutes have been introduced. The 80-mm discs are used as "CD-singles" or novelty "business-card CDs". They hold about 20 minutes of audio. Compact disc technology was later adapted for use as a data storage device, known as a CD-ROM.

History

In the early 1970s, using video Laserdisc technology, Philips' researchers started experiments with "audio-only" optical discs, initially with wideband frequency modulation FM and later digitized PCM audio signals. At the end of the 70s, Philips, Sony, and other companies presented prototypes of digital audio discs. In 1979 Philips and Sony decided to join forces, setting up a joint taskforce of engineers whose mission was to design the new digital audio disc. Prominent members of the taskforce were Kees Immink and Toshitada Doi. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the taskforce produced the "Red Book", the Compact Disc standard. Philips contributed the general manufacturing process, based on the video Laserdisc technology. Philips also contributed the Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation, EFM, which offers both a large playing time and a high resilience against disc handling damage such as scratches and fingerprints; while Sony contributed the error-correction method, CIRC. The [http://www.exp-math.uni-essen.de/~immink/pdf/cdstory.pdf Compact Disc Story], told by a former member of the taskforce, gives background information on the many technical decisions made, including the choice of the sampling frequency, playing time, and disc diameter. According to Philips, the Compact Disc was thus "invented collectively by a large group of people working as a team."[http://www.research.philips.com/newscenter/dossier/optrec/index.html] The Compact Disc reached the market in late 1982 in Asia and early the following year in other markets. This event is often seen as the "Big Bang" of the digital audio revolution. The new audio disc was enthusiastically received and its handling quality received particular praise. From its origins as a music format, Compact Disc has grown to encompass other applications. Two years later, in 1985, the CD-ROM (read-only memory) was introduced. With this it was now possible to disseminate massive amounts of computer data instead of digital sound. A user-recordable CD for data storage, CD-R, was introduced in the early 1990s, and it became the de facto standard for exchange and archiving of computer data and music. The CD and its later extensions have been extremely successful: in 2004 the annual worldwide sales of CD-Audio, CD-ROM, and CD-R reached about 30 billion discs.

Physical details

Compact discs are made from a 1.2 mm thick disc of polycarbonate plastic coated with a much thinner layer of Super Purity Aluminium (or rarely, gold, used for its data longevity, such as in some limited-edition audiophile CDs) layer which is protected by a film of lacquer. The lacquer can be printed with a label. Common printing methods for compact discs are silkscreening and offset printing. CDs are available in two sizes. By far the most common is 120 mm in diameter, with a 74-minute audio capacity and a 650-MB data (See storage capacity; this form factor has also erroneously been called "CD5" since it is about five inches across). Such a standard disc weighs 15 grams. They are also available as 80-mm discs, a format which is mainly used for audio CD singles in some regions (e.g. Japan), much like the old vinyl single. Each such "miniCD" or "Maxi CD" can hold 21 minutes of music, or 180 MB of data (this form factor has also been called "CD3", since it is about three inches across). Other unique shapes and smaller form factors have also been sold or given away as promotional items. Examples include Business Card CDs in the shape of a rectangular card and CDs shaped like the map of a country etc. There is 15-mm hole in the centre of the disc, usually used by some form of clamp or clip device within the player to hold it in place and allow it to be rotated by a motor. The information on a standard CD is encoded as a spiral track of pits moulded into the top of the polycarbonate layer (The areas between pits are known as lands). Each pit is approximately 125 nm deep by 500 nm wide, and varies from 850 nm to 3.5 μm long. The spacing between the tracks is 1.6 μm. To grasp the scale of the pits and land of a CD, if the disc is enlarged to the size of a stadium, a pit would be approximately the size of a grain of sand. The spiral begins at the center of the disc and proceeds outwards to the edge, which allows the different size formats available. A CD is read by focusing a 780 nm wavelength semiconductor laser through the bottom of the polycarbonate layer. The difference in height between pits and lands is one quarter of the wavelength of the laser light, leading to a half-wavelength phase difference between the light reflected from a pit and from its surrounding land. The destructive interference thus reduces the intensity of the reflected light compared to when the laser is focused on just a land. By measuring this intensity with a photodiode, one is able to read the data from the disc. The pits and lands themselves do not represent the zeroes and ones of binary data. Instead a change from pit to land or land to pit indicates a one, while no change indicates a zero. This in turn is decoded by reversing the Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation used in mastering the disc, finally revealing the raw data stored on the disc. Pits are much closer to the label side of a disc, so that defects and dirt on the clear side can be out of focus during playback. Consequently, discs are much easier to ruin by scratching their label side, whereas clear-side scratches can be repaired by refilling them with plastic of similar index of refraction.

Audio format

The format of the audio disc, known as the "Red Book"/Sony standard, was laid out by Sony and Philips in 1981. Philips is responsible for the licensing program of the intellectual property pertinent to the Compact Disc including the "Compact Disc Digital Audio" logo that appears on the disc. In broad terms the format is a two-channel (four-channel sound is an allowed option within the Red Book format, but has never been implemented) stereo 16-bit PCM encoding at a 44.1 kHz sampling rate. Reed-Solomon error correction allows the CD to be scratched to a certain degree and still be played back. The sampling rate of 44.1 kHz is inherited from a method of converting digital audio into an analog video signal for storage on video tape, which was the most affordable way to store it at the time the CD specification was being developed. A device that turns an analog audio signal into PCM audio, which in turn is changed into an analog video signal is called a PCM adaptor. This technology could store six samples (three samples per each stereo channel) in a single horizontal line. A standard NTSC video signal has 245 usable lines per field, and 59.94 fields/s, which works out at 44,056 samples/s. Similarly PAL has 294 lines and 50 fields, which gives 44,100 samples/s. This system could either store 14-bit samples with some error correction, or 16-bit samples with almost no error correction. There was a long debate over whether to use 14 or 16 bit samples and/or 44,056 or 44,100 samples/s when the Sony/Philips task force designed the compact disc; 16 bits and 44.1 kilo-samples/s prevailed. The Sony PCM-1610 and PCM-1630 are well known examples of PCM adaptors used in conjunction with the Sony U-matic VCR.

Storage capacity

The main parameters of the CD (taken from the September 1983 issue of the compact disc specification) are as follows:
- Scanning velocity: 1.2–1.4 m/s (constant linear velocity) - Equivalent to about 500 rpm at the inside of the disc, or about 200 rpm at the outside edge.
- Track pitch: 1.6 μm.
- Disc diameter 120 mm.
- Disc thickness: 1.2 mm.
- Inner radius program area: 25 mm.
- Outer radius program area: 58 mm. The program area is 86.05 cm², so that the length of the recordable spiral is 86.05/1.6 = 5.38 km. With a scanning speed of 1.2 m/s, the playing time is 74 minutes, or around 650 MB of data on a CD-ROM. If the disc diameter were 115 mm, the maximum playing time would have been 68 minutes, i.e., six minutes less. A disc with data appearing slightly more densely is allowable. Using a linear velocity of 1.2 m/s and a track pitch of 1.5 micrometre leads to a playing time of 80 minutes, or a capacity of 700 MB. This is the limit for most conventional audio CDs today. Another technique to increase the capacity of a disc is store data in the lead out groove that is normally used to indicate the end of a disk, and an extra minute or two of recording is often possible. However, these discs can cause problems in playback when the end of the disc is reached. The 74-minute playing time of a CD, being more than that of most long-playing vinyl albums, was often used to the format's advantage during the early years when CDs and LPs vied for commerical sales. CDs would often be released with one or more bonus tracks, enticing consumers to buy the CD for the extra material. However, attempts to combine double LPs onto one CD occasionally resulted in an opposing situation in which the CD would actually offer fewer tracks than the LP equivalent.

Data structure

The smallest entity in the CD audio format is called a frame. A frame can accommodate six complete 16-bit stereo samples, i.e. 2×2×6 = 24 bytes. Data in a CD-ROM are organized in both frames and sectors. A CD-ROM sector contains 98 frames, and holds 98×24 = 2352 bytes. The CD-ROM is in essence a data disc, which cannot rely on error concealment, and it requires therefore a higher reliability of the retrieved data. In order to achieve improved error correction and detection, a CD-ROM has a third layer of Reed-Solomon error correction. Note that the CIRC error correction system used in the CD audio format has two interleaved layers. A Mode-1 CD-ROM, which has the full third layer error correction capability, contains a net 2048 bytes of the available 2352 per sector. In a Mode-2 CD-ROM, which is mostly used for video files, there are 2336 user-available bytes per sector. The net byte rate of a Mode-1 CD-ROM is 44.1k×2048/(6×98) = 153.6 kbyte/s. The playing time is 74 minutes, or 4440 seconds, so that the net capacity of a Mode-1 CD-ROM is 682 Mbyte.

Subcode

Besides digital audio, a CD contains digital data called "subcode", which is multiplexed with the digital audio. The data in a CD are arranged in frames. A frame comprises 33 bytes, of which 24 are audio bytes (six full stereo samples), eight error correction, CIRC-generated, bytes plus one subcode byte. The eight bits of a subcode byte are available for control and display. The eight bits are used as eight different subcoding channels, and given letters designating their usage: P, Q, …, W. Thus each channel has a bit rate of 7.35 (=44.1/6) kbit/s. In each sector there are 2352 bytes (24×98) of audio content data and 96 bytes of subchannel data. The 96 bytes of subchannel information in each sector contain four packets of 24 bytes apiece: 1 byte for command, 1 byte for instruction, 2 bytes for parityQ, 16 bytes for data, and 4 bytes parityP. Each of the 96 subchannel data bytes can be thought of as being divided into eight bits. Each of these bits corresponds to a separate stream of information. These streams are called "channels", and are labeled starting with the letter P, like so: Channel P is a simple pause/music flag, which can be used for low-cost search systems. Quite a few players ignore it in favor of the Q Channel. Channel Q is used for control purposes of more sophisticated players. It contains positioning information, the Media Catalog Number (MCN), and International Standard Recording Code (ISRC). The ISRC is used by the media industry, and contains information about the country of origin, the year of publication, owner of the rights, as well as a serial number, and some additional tags: ;Data: This track contains Data (rather than audio). Can be used for muting in audio CD players. ;Copy Flag: Used by the Serial Copy Management System to indicate permission to digitally copy the track. ;Four Channel Audio: The track uses four channel audio. This is very rarely used on Compact Discs. ;Pre-Emphasis: The audio track was recorded with pre-emphasis. Used very rarely on Compact Discs. Channels R…W are unused by Red-Book compliant CDs, and have been used for extensions to the standard.

CD-Text

CD-Text is an extension of the Red Book standard for audio CDs. It allows for storage of additional information (e.g. album name, song name, and artist) on a standards-compliant audio CD. The information is stored in the lead-in area of the CD (there is roughly five kilobytes space there), or in the Subchannels R to W on the disc, which are not used on Red-Book compliant CDs. About 31 megabytes of information can be stored there. The text is stored in a format usable by the Interactive Text Transmission System (ITTS). ITTS is also used by Digital Audio Broadcasting or the MiniDisc. Note that other extensions such as CD+G also use those subchannels to store graphics in.

The AAD, ADD, DDD code for audio CDs

Many CDs, especially classical music, but also many popular recordings (especially on early CDs), come with a three letter code printed on the back, where "A" stands for analog and "D" stands for digital. The first letter represents how the album was recorded, the second how it was mixed, and the third how it was transferred (inevitably a D, as the CD is a digital medium). As a result, almost all early CDs are "AAD" (analog recording and mixing, digital transfer to CD). Often this code was accompanied by a short description such as "Full Digital Recording" for DDD and "Digitally Mixed Analog Recording" for ADD. Although experimental recordings exist from the 1960s, digital recording of classical and jazz music began to be made commercially in the early 1970s, pioneered by Japanese companies such as Denon; the first 16-bit PCM recording in the United States was made by Thomas Stockham at the Santa Fe Opera in 1976 on a Soundstream recorder. In most such cases, there was no mixing stage involved; a stereo digital recording was made and used unaltered as the master tape for subsequent commercial release. These, and other subsequent unmixed digital recordings are still described as DDD, as the technology involved is purely digital. (Likewise, unmixed analog recordings are usually described as ADD, to denote a single generation of analog recording). The first digitally recorded (DDD) popular music album was Bop Till You Drop by Ry Cooder, recorded in late 1978; it was unmixed, being recorded straight to a two-track 3M digital recorder in the studio. Many other top recording artists, such as Stevie Wonder, were early adherents of digital recording; Wonder adopted the technology in early 1979 for Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants and all subsequent recordings. Others, such as former Beatles producer George Martin, felt that the multitrack digital recording technology of the early 1980s had not reached the sophistication of analog systems; however, he used digital mixing to eliminate the distortion and noise that an analog master tape would introduce (thus ADD). An early example of an analog recording that was digitally mixed is Tusk by Fleetwood Mac, from 1979. By the time the compact disc was introduced worldwide, digital recording and mixing was becoming commonplace among recording artists and producers known for their interest in fidelity. Two examples from 1982 are Signals by Rush, and The Nightfly by Donald Fagen. A few examples of DAD recordings exist, mostly of works that were originally recorded digitally but later remixed by artists who preferred to work with analog technology. A notable example is Herb Alpert's Rise album from 1979. When it started making LPs and cassettes, the originally CD-only label Ryko extended this system to the other media, so that a digital recording on an LP would be DDA, and so forth.

CD-ROM

For its first few years of existence, the compact disc was purely an audio format. However, in 1985 Yellow Book CD-ROM standard was established by Sony and Philips, which defined a non-volatile optical data storage medium using the same physical format as audio compact discs, readable by a computer with a CD-ROM drive.

Recordability

Injection moulding is used to mass produce compact discs. A "stamper" is made from the original media (audio tape, data disc, etc.) by writing to a glass disc (referred to as a glass master) coated with a photosensitive dye with a laser. This dye is then etched, leaving the data track. It is then plated to make a positive version of the CD. Polycarbonate is liquified and injected into the mold cavity where the stamper transfers the pattern of pits and lands to the polycarbonate disc. The disc is then metallized with aluminum and lacquer coated. Recordable compact discs are injection molded with a "blank" data spiral. A photosensitive dye is then applied, and then the discs are metallized and lacquer coated. The write laser of the CD recorder changes the characteristics of the dye to allow the read laser of a standard CD player to see the data as it would an injection molded compact disc. CD-R recordings are permanent. The resulting discs can be read by most CD-ROM drives and played in most audio CD players. CD-RW is a re-recordable medium that uses a metallic alloy instead of a dye. The write laser in this case is used to heat and alter the chemical properties of the alloy and hence change its reflectivity. A CD-RW does not have as great a difference in the reflectivity of lands and bumps as a pressed CD or a CD-R, and so many CD audio players cannot read CD-RW discs, although the majority of standalone DVD players can.

Copy protection

The Red Book audio specification does not include any copy protection mechanism. Ripping is the process by which the contents of an audio disc is copied out verbatim to a duplicate disc or re-encoded into some other format, such as MP3. An error-correcting code is included with Red Book audio to deal with small scratches or defects on the disc media. Where error correction fails on larger defects, audio CD players are expected to apply interpolation algorithms to conceal the loss of audio data. Starting in early 2002, attempts were made by record companies to market "copy-protected" compact discs. Some of these deliberately introduced error patterns into audio tracks severe enough to defeat the error-correcting code (and hence defeat most CD-ROM drives attempting to copy the tracks as data), but not so disruptive as to prevent interpolation from working (hence allowing the same tracks to be played in audio mode without overly affecting fidelity). Another copy protection method places a data track (usually containing bonus software for computer users) at the end of the disc and gives it an invalid size in the disc's table of contents. This is intended to prevent the data track from being ripped, but can be defeated by ignoring the table of contents and reading the disc sector by sector. Philips has stated that such discs are not permitted to bear the trademarked Compact Disc Digital Audio logo because they violate the Red Book specification. It also seems likely that Philips' new models of CD recorders will be designed to be able to record from these "protected" discs. However, there has been great public outcry over copy-protected discs because many see it as a threat to fair use. Other systems developed are Macrovision CDS-200 and Mediamax CD-3. In any case, even if a disc cannot be directly ripped, it can still be played in audio mode, and the audio thence captured. Any loss of sound quality caused by this method is generally considered negligible. This is commonly referred to as the analog hole.

Non-standard CD behaviors

Some commercially released audio discs have a "secret" bonus track. These may be an extension of the last audio track or a separate track hidden from the disc's table of contents. Either way, the hidden portion is heard when the disc is played to the end. Other discs hide the extra material at the beginning of the disc. On most discs, the location of the first track listed in the table of contents immediately follows the table of contents itself. In this case, the hidden track is an unlisted track sandwiched between the two. To hear the hidden track, the listener must usually "rewind" the player past the beginning of the first listed track. Not all players allow this.

Name

Notwithstanding the variability of general usage between "disk" and "disc" [http://www.bartleby.com/61/16/C0521600.html], the customary spelling is "compact disc", rather than "compact disk". This may be in large degree due to its status as a Philips trademark under that spelling.

References


- Kees Immink, The Compact Disc Story, AES Journal, pp. 458-465, May 1998 [http://www.exp-math.uni-essen.de/~immink/pdf/cdstory.pdf].
- Kenneth C. Pohlmann (1992). The Compact Disc Handbook. Middleton, Wisconsin: A-R Editions. ISBN 895793008.

See also


- SACD
- DVD-Audio
- CD-ROM
- CD-R
- CD-RW
- CD Text
- Rainbow Books
  - Red Book (audio CD standard)
  - Yellow Book (CD-ROM standards)
- CD+G
- ECD
- Video CD
- SVCD
- Jewel case
- CD Wallet
- CD Organizer
- Digipak
- miniCD
- Optical disc
  - DVD Category:CD Category:120 mm discs Category:Audio storage Category:Video storage als:Compact Disc ja:コンパクトディスク nb:CD simple:Compact disc th:ซีดี

Ummagumma

Ummagumma is a progressive rock album by Pink Floyd.

Background

Ummagumma is a double album. One disc was recorded live at Mothers Club, Birmingham, on April 27, 1969 and the following week at Manchester College of Commerce, on May 2; the other included four solo segments, one by each member of the band, recorded in the studio. The album was released in the UK on October 25, 1969 and then in the USA on November 10. The album would reach #5 on the UK album charts and #74 on the US album charts, marking the first time the band reached the top 100 in the US. The album was certified Gold in the US in February, 1974 and Platinum in March, 1994. In 1987, the album was re-released on a two CD set. A digitally re-mastered two CD set was released in 1994 in the UK and 1995 in the US. Neither CD release includes the picture of Waters' first wife, which had appeared on the inner-gatefold sleeve of the original vinyl issue. 1995 The cover of the album varies between the British (and Canadian) and American releases. The British version has the album Gigi leaning against the wall immediately above the 'Pink Floyd' letters. On the original American album version, however, this was airbrushed to a plain white sleeve, apparently due to copyright concerns (though the Gigi cover appears in US CD version's booklet). Inside the cover is a picture of David Gilmour in front of the Elfin Oak. The rear cover (or cover of the Live Album) shows the band's equipment laid out on a runway at Biggin Hill Airfield.

Personnel


- David Gilmour - guitar, vocals, all instruments and vocals on The Narrow Way (guitars, vocals, keyboards, drums and bass guitar)
- Roger Waters - bass guitar, guitar on "Grantchester Meadows" and vocals, all tape effects on Several Species…
- Richard Wright - keyboards, vocals, all instruments on Sysyphus (keyboards, drums, guitar and voices)
- Nick Mason - drums, percussion, all instruments on Grand Viziers…, except flute with
- Lindy Mason (then Mason's wife) - Flute (uncredited)

Track listing

Live disc

Side 1

#"Astronomy Domine" - 8:29 #"Careful with That Axe, Eugene" - 8:50

Side 2

#"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" - 9:12 #"A Saucerful of Secrets" - 12:48

Studio disc

Side 1

#"Sysyphus: Part 1" (Wright) - 1:03 (4:29) #"Sysyphus: Part 2" (Wright) - 3:30 (1:49) #"Sysyphus: Part 3" (Wright) - 1:49 (3:07) #"Sysyphus: Part 4" (Wright) - 6:59 (3:38) #"Grantchester Meadows" (Waters) - 7:26 #"Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" (Waters) - 4:59

Side 2

#"The Narrow Way Part 1" (Gilmour) - 3:27 #"The Narrow Way Part 2" (Gilmour) - 2:53 #"The Narrow Way Part 3" (Gilmour) - 5:57 #"The Grand Vizier's Garden Party: Part 1 (Entrance)" (Mason) - 1:00 #"The Grand Vizier's Garden Party: Part 2 (Entertainment)" (Mason) - 7:06 #"The Grand Vizier's Garden Party: Part 3 (Exit)" (Mason) - 0:38 On the original vinyl release, "The Narrow Way" and "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" were single tracks. On the remastered re-release, Part 1 of "Sysyphus" was split into two tracks and labelled "Part 1" and "Part 2". Part 2 on vinyl became "Part 3" on CD, while "Part 4" of the re-release consists of Parts 3 and 4 ("Part 4" beginning with the large orchestral thud). Original track times are listed in brackets above. The band had also recorded a live version of "Interstellar Overdrive" (from Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which was intended to be placed on the album. The track was dropped at the last minute, but numerous bootlegs were given to friends of the band, including John Peel.

Quotes

"What was your inspiration for The Narrow Way (on Ummagumma) your first major Floyd composition?" :"Well, we'd decided to make the damn album, and each of us to do a piece of music on our own... it was just desperation really, trying to think of something to do, to write by myself. I'd never written anything before, I just went into a studio and started waffling about, tacking bits and pieces together. I haven't heard it in years. I've no idea what it's like." - David Gilmour - Sounds "Guitar Heroes" Magazine, May 1983

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

External links


- [http://www.pinkfloyd-co.net/disco/umma/umma_trivia.html Album lyrics, trivia and more] Category:Pink Floyd albums Category:1969 albums Category:Double albums Category:Music from Birmingham, England

Live album

A live album is a musical recording containing recorded concert performances. Live albums have existed since the early 1960s when the album began to be seen as an artistic entity unto itself and not simply a collection of songs. Most successful recording artists release at least one live album at some point during their career. Most live albums are seen as expendable parts of an artists’ catalogue, often failing to sell as well as studio albums. However, a few artists are known for live albums that are considered better than their studio albums, including KISS, James Brown, Allman Brothers Band, and The Grateful Dead. It is interesting to note that many artists have recorded albums "live" in the sense that they played the songs as a full band in one take, but for various reasons did not release them as live albums. For example, The Beatles Let It Be was recorded "live in the studio," and R.E.M.'s New Adventures in Hi-Fi is largely taken from concert performances and sound checks, although neither was released or marketed as a live album. Notable live albums include:
- The Allman Brothers Band − At Fillmore East (1971)
- Bad Religion − Tested (1997)
- BB King − Live at the Regal (1964)
- Black Oak Arkansas - Raunch 'N' Roll (1973)
- Black Sabbath − Past Lives (2002)
- Blue Oyster Cult - A Long Day's Night (2002)
- Blue Oyster Cult - Extraterrestrial Live (1982)
- Blue Oyster Cult - On Your Feet Or On Your Knees (1975)
- Blue Oyster Cult - Some Enchanted Evening (1978)
- The Blues Project - Live At The Cafe Au Go Go
- Bob Dylan − The Royal Albert Hall Concert (1998)
- Bob Marley & the Wailers − Live! (1975)
- Canned Heat - Live In Europe (1971)
- Cheap Trick − At Budokan (1978)
- Climax Blues Band - FM/Live
- Cream - Wheels of Fire (live at the Fillmore)
- Deep Purple - Live In Japan (1972)
- Diana Ross & the Supremes − Farewell (1970)
- Dire Straits - Alchemy (1983)
- The Doors - Absolutely Live
- The Doors - Alive She Cried (1983)
- Grand Funk Railroad - Live Album (1970)
- The Grateful Dead − Live/Dead (1969)
- The Grateful Dead − Europe '72 (1972)
- Humble Pie - Rockin' The Fillmore
- Iggy & The Stooges - Metallic K.O. (1976)
- James Brown − Live at the Apollo (1963)
- James Brown − Sex Machine (1970)
- Jackson Browne − Running on Empty (1978)
- Jean-Luc Ponty - Jean-Luc Ponty: Live (1979)
- Jefferson Airplane - Bless Its Pointed Little Head
- Jimi Hendrix − Band of Gypsys (1970)
- Johnny Cash − At Folsom Prison (1968)
- Johnny Cash − At San Quentin (1969)
- Johnny Winter And - Live
- KISS − Alive! (1975)
- Led Zeppelin - How the West Was Won (2003)
- Nirvana − Unplugged in New York (1994)
- Nirvana − From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah (1996)
- The Meatmen - We're The Meatmen. . . And You Still Suck!!! (1988)
- Peter Frampton − Frampton Comes Alive! (1976)
- Phish − A Live One (1995)
- Ramones − It's Alive (1979)
- The Rolling Stones − Get Yer Ya-Yas Out (1970)
- Roy Buchanon - Live Stock (1975)
- Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour '74 (1974)
- Roxy Music - Viva! Roxy Music (1976)
- Social Distortion − Live at the Roxy (1998)
- Steppenwolf - Live (1970)
- Talking Heads - The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads (1981)
- Talking Heads − Stop Making Sense (1984)
- The Temptations − Temptations Live! (1967)
- Ten Years After - Recorded Live (1973?)
- Theatre Of Hate - Retribution Over The Westworld (1996)
- The Who − Live at Leeds (1970)
- UFO − Strangers in the Night (1979)
- Category:Albums

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is a double album by the hip hop group OutKast, released on September 23 2003 on Arista Records. The release includes a solo album from each of the group's two members. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won the 2004 Grammy for Album of the Year. Speakerboxxx has Big Boi performing tracks more representative of the older OutKast style, while The Love Below, the solo project of André 3000, is performed in a more funk-based style which has earned him some comparisons to Prince.

Overview

Big Boi recorded Speakerboxxx in approximately a month; while André spent two years on The Love Below, and completed the album two weeks before the album's due date. His effort is substantially longer than his colleague's album, clocking for almost 78 minutes, compared to 56 minutes of Big Boi. Featured guests on Speakerboxxx include Sleepy Brown, Jazze Pha, Jay-Z, Killer Mike, Goodie Mob, and Ludacris. Guests on The Love Below include Rosario Dawson, Norah Jones, Kelis, and Farnsworth Bentley.

Critical success

The album was released on September 23 2003 on Arista Records. In December 2004, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was certified diamond, with ten million units (or five million sets--double albums count as two units) shipped. MC Hammer's Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em and The Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death are the only other hip-hop albums ever certified diamond. The album also achieved critical success; it was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll. In Australia, "Hey Ya!" was voted #2 on the 2003 Triple J Hottest 100, the biggest alternative music poll of its type in the country.

Chart success

The album reached the top of the Billboard 200 in 2003 and was a best-selling album around the world. "Hey Ya!" went to number one the Billboard Hot 100 in Canada and Australia and has charted in 28 countries around the world. "The Way You Move" also topped the US charts in 2004 and has charted in 17 countries around the world. "The Way You Move" knocked "Hey Ya!" off the top of the charts in the US, the first time a band has had one song replace another of its songs since 40 years ago, when The Beatles did it in 1964 at the height of Beatlemania (coincidentally, the music video for "Hey Ya!" parodies 1960s music performances such as The Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show). The third single released from the album was "Roses". The fourth and fifth singles released were "Prototype" and "Ghetto Musick" respectively.

Track Listing

Speakerboxxx

#"Intro" - 1:29 #"Ghetto Musick" - 3:56 #"Unhappy" - 3:19 #"Bowtie" - 3:56 #"The Way You Move" - 3:54 #"The Rooster" - 3:57 #"Bust" - 3:08 #"War" - 2:43 #"Church" - 3:27 #"Bamboo" (interlude) - 2:09 #"Tomb of the Boom" - 4:46 #"E-Mac" (interlude) - 0:24 #"Knowing" - 3:32 #"Flip Flop Rock" - 4:35 #"Interlude" - 1:15 #"Reset" - 4:35 #"D-Boi" (interlude) - 0:40 #"Last Call" - 3:57 #"Bowtie" (postlude) - 0:34

The Love Below

#"The Love Below" - 1:27 #"Love Hater" - 2:49 #"God" (interlude) - 2:20 #"Happy Valentine's Day" - 5:23 #"Spread" - 3:51 #"Where Are My Panties?" - 1:54 #"Prototype" - 5:26 #"She Lives in My Lap" - 4:27 #"Hey Ya!" - 3:55 #"Roses" - 6:09 #"Good Day Good Sir" (interlude) - 1:24 #"Behold a Lady" - 4:37 #"Pink & Blue" - 5:04 #"Love in War" - 3:25 #"She's Alive" - 4:06 #"Dracula's Wedding" - 2:32 #"The Letter" (interlude) (does not appear on edited CD or Explicit LP versions) - :21 #"My Favorite Things" - 5:14 #"Take Off Your Cool" - 2:38 #"Vibrate" - 6:33 (edited CD, Explicit LP), 6:38 (explicit CD, Edited LP) #"A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)" - 5:11

External links


- [http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/outkast/speakerboxxxthelovebelow/ Review listing at Metacritic] Category: OutKast albums Category: 2003 albums Category: Double albums Category:Concept albums

The Beatles

The Beatles were a British pop and rock group from Liverpool, England. The group shattered many sales records and charted more than 50 top 40 hit singles, including 20 #1 hits in the USA alone, becoming arguably the most famous musical act of the 20th century. EMI Records estimates that the band has sold over a billion records worldwide[http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwr5/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=50910]. The band's songs covered many genres, from ballads to reggae, and from psychedelic music to blues to heavy metal, and opened the door for many new musical styles. The Beatles influence extended beyond music into the social and cultural revolutions of the '60s. Dubbed "The Fab Four", The Beatles were John Lennon (1940 - 1980), (James) Paul McCartney (born 1942), George Harrison (1943 - 2001), and Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey in 1940). Lennon and McCartney were the principal songwriters, with Harrison making a significant contribution, particularly in the band's later years. After giving the group their first break as a recording outfit, George Martin went on to produce all of The Beatles' seminal recordings; in this role, his influence in their musical development was of critical importance. The Beatles created a sensation in late 1963 in the UK (the phenomenon was dubbed "Beatlemania" by the British press), notable for the hordes of screaming and swooning young women the group inspired. Beatlemania came to North America in early 1964, and the band's popularity extended across much of the world. Like many of the so-called "British Invasion" bands, they started by covering songs by American rock 'n' roll and R&B pioneers. They admired both white artists such as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Carl Perkins, and black musicians such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Ray Charles. Their own compositions in their early days emulated the musical styles of their heroes. After a while their own innate musical ideas started to emerge and their music developed its own distinctive hallmarks. Within the space of five years, their music evolved from the simple exuberance of their early hits (such as "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand") to artistically ambitious suites of songs (such as the albums Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road). By writing their own songs, exploring the possibilities of the recording studio, and striving for unprecedented quality in every recording they released, The Beatles had far-reaching effects on popular music. The Beatles starred in two feature films. They were subjected to unprecedented press scrutiny which included criticism of their later role as symbols of 1960s youth counterculture. The group disbanded in 1970. Thirty-five years later, in 2005, the American entertainment industry magazine Variety named them the most iconic entertainers of the 20th century.

History

20th century", "Help!", "In My Life", "Strawberry Fields Forever", and "Across the Universe".]] Main article: History of the Beatles John Lennon formed a group, The Quarrymen, in March 1957. On July 6 that year, John met Paul McCartney while playing at the Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete, and the two were soon playing music together, with Colin Hanton on drums, and Len Garry on "Tea-Chest" bass. In February of 1958 the young guitarist George Harrison joined the group, which played under a variety of names, including, "The Blackjacks". Recordings of John, Paul and George from that year still exist. During this period, members constantly joined, and left the line up. John, Paul and George were the only, constant members. Hanton left in 1959. The first regular gigs for the group were at a club created by Mona Best in the basement of her family's home, a large Victorian House with a vast complex of cellars at 8 Haymans Green in the West Derby area of Liverpool. Mona had noticed the number of young friends visiting her son, Pete, at the house and decided to turn part of the cellar into a private club. A more ambitious plan - a club for young people with live groups - developed. It was one of the first cellar clubs in Liverpool to present rock 'n' roll groups exclusively, as opposed to the strict policy of jazz for venues such as the Cavern and the Cat A Coombs. The Casbah Coffee Club opened in August 1959, and the resident group was the Quarrymen - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ken Brown, who would soon be cast off. The Quarrymen went through a progression of names: Johnny and The Moondogs, The Silver Beetles, eventually arriving at The Beatles. The Beatles, dreamed up by John Lennon who said,"a man in a flaming pie appeared and said you shall be Beetles with an a". In 1960 their manager, Allan Williams, arranged for them to perform in clubs on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Germany. In August 1960, McCartney invited Pete Best to become the group's drummer. In Hamburg (particularly at the infamous Kaiserkeller club) they honed their skills as performers and broadened their reputation. Stuart Sutcliffe was part of the group in 1960-61 and influenced their appearance and sense of style. While in Hamburg, The Beatles were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert. Kaempfert signed the group to its own Polydor contract at the first session in June 1961. On October 23 Polydor published the song "My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)", which made it into the German charts (#5, according to a Paul McCartney interview). They were deported from Germany on one occasion in 1960, when their work permits had expired, and it was discovered that George was under age. Upon their return from Hamburg the group was enthusiastically promoted by Sam Leach, who presented them over the next year and a half on various stages in Liverpool 49 times, including the famed “Operation Big Beat in 1961”, at which 3000 people paid to see The Beatles perform along with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes, Gerry and the Pacemakers and others at the Tower Ballroom, New Brighton. Brian Epstein, manager of the record department at NEMS, his family's furniture store, took over as the group's manager in 1962 and intensified The Beatles' quest for a British recording contract. After one last session for Polydor in May 1962, Epstein and Kaempfert jointly agreed to cancel the group's contract with the German label. On June 6th, and having been rejected by almost every other record company in the UK, he brought the quartet to London's Abbey Road studios, having secured the interest of George Martin, principal producer with EMI's Parlophone label, then noted for its production of novelty records. After considerable thought he decided to grant The Beatles their first UK recording contract. Pete Best was fired in favour of Ringo Starr. It was rumoured that this was because Pete was the best looking member of the group, and was receiving too much attention from the female following. The reason given at the time was that, whilst he looked the part, his drumming was poor. This did not convince his army of fans back home in Liverpool. The new line-up recorded their first broadcast interview on the hospital station Radio Clatterbridge. The Beatles' first sessions in September 1962 produced a minor UK hit, "Love Me Do", which likely charted in part because Epstein had ordered a large quantity of the singles from EMI for his family's stores, a relatively common practise among pop artist managements in the UK in that era. ("Love Me Do" subsequently reached the top of the US singles chart in May 1964.) This was swiftly followed by the recording of their second single Please Please Me. Three months later they recorded their first album (also titled Please Please Me), a mix of original songs by Lennon and McCartney along with some covers. The band's first televised performance was on a programme called People and Places broadcast live from Manchester by Granada Television on 17 October 1962 and presented by Bill Grundy (who John 'dubbed' "Big Grunty" in his first book of poetry and prose, "In His Own Write"). Beatlemania reached a new crescendo in Britain on 13 October 1963 with a televised appearance at the London Palladium. Although the band experienced great popularity in the record charts in Britain from early 1963 onwards, Parlophone's American counterpart, Capitol Records (which was owned by EMI), refused to issue the singles "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me" and "From Me To You" in the United States, partly because no British act had ever had a sustained impact on American audiences beyond one-off hits. VeeJay Records, a small Chicago label, is said by some to have been pressured into issuing these singles as part of a deal for the rights to another performer's masters. Art Roberts, music director of Chicago powerhouse radio station WLS, placed "Please Please Me" into rotation in late February 1963, making it possibly the first time a Beatles' record was heard on American radio. KRLA in Los Angeles played "From Me To You" and other US stations played Beatles records sporadically but to no real effect. In August 1963 the Philadelphia-based Swan label (partly owned by Dick Clark) tried again with The Beatles' "She Loves You", which again failed to receive airplay. A testing of the song on his TV show American Bandstand resulted in laughter and scorn from American teenagers when they saw the group's unusual haircuts. Meanwhile, it is said that British airline stewardesses and others were bringing single copies of Beatles records into major US cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to share with friends. Following Brian Epstein's success in early November in persuading Ed Sullivan to commit to presenting The Beatles on three editions of his show in February (even though the group had no American record label at the time of Sullivan's committment), Epstein parlayed this guaranteed exposure into a record deal with Capitol Records. He by-passed Dave Dexter, the A&R executive who had rejected the group four times by now, and dealt directly with Capitol president Alan Livingstone, who was impressed by what Epstein had lined up. He committed to a mid-January release for "I Want To Hold Your Hand", with the expectation that by the date of The Beatles' first appearance on Sullivan (scheduled for February 9) the disc might have reached the Hot Hundred and thus be boosted higher up the charts by the consecutive TV appearances. There was obviously no expectation that a completely unknown foreign artist could climb to the number one position just three weeks after the scheduled mid-January release. However a series of unplanned events converged and triggered Capitol Records into moving the release date up by three weeks and rush-releasing the record on December 26. The disc was an immediate success on radio, especially with school children who, because they were on Christmas break, heard the record more frequently in daytime than they would otherwise have done. The record sold one million copies in just 10 days, and by January 16 Cashbox Magazine had certified The Beatles record #1 (in the edition with the cover-date January 23). The airing of a 5-minute film report about Beatlemania in the UK on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite on Tuesday, December 10th, 1963, is now understood to have been the trigger that led to a Washington DC radio station extensively playing a specially imported copy of the single, which in turn led to Capitol's decision to to rush-release the disc. The record being number one for three weeks prior to The Beatles' arrival in America is what led to the hysterical fan reaction at JFK Airport on February 7, 1964. This also contributed to the public fascination with The Beatles, as manifested by the record-breaking 73 million viewers - approximately 40% of the US population at the time - who tuned in to the first Sullivan appearance on February 9. This remains one of the largest viewing audiences ever in the US. The Beatlemania that had gripped the United States since late December was immeasurably boosted with the three consecutive national television appearances by the group on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February, 16 February and 23 February, 1964. The pop-music band became a worldwide phenomenon, with worshipful fans and angry denunciations by cultural observers and established performers such as Frank Sinatra, sometimes on grounds of the music (which was thought crude and unmusical) or their appearance (their hair was considered 'scandalously long'). Many commentators have theorized that after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a depressed America was on the lookout for a way out of gloom and despair. So in effect, The Beatles were in the right place at the right time (with a unique combination of talent, stage presence and exuberant optimism) to provide an enthusiastic jolt to a grieving nation. This theory applies to a media keen to have a fresh positive story to counter-balance the sadness of the post-assassination period - and to a public that sought a balm for the national wound. During the week of April 4, 1964, they held the top five places on the Billboard Hot 100, a feat that has never been repeated. In mid-1964 the band undertook their first world tour, which included Australia and New Zealand. Just before the tour began, Ringo was briefly hospitalised with a severe attack of pharyngitis, so drummer Jimmy Nicol was drafted in for several concerts on the Australian leg. When they arrived in Adelaide, The Beatles were greeted by what is reputed to be the largest crowd of their touring career, when over 300,000 people -- about one-third of the entire population of the city at that time -- turned out to see them. In 1965 they were instated as Members of the Order of the British Empire, sparking some conservative MBE recipients to return their awards in protest. August 15 of that year, The Beatles performed at the first stadium concert in modern rock, playing at Shea Stadium to a crowd of 56,000. Lennon, Harrison, and Starr began experimenting with LSD later that year. Lennon and Harrison were given their first dose unknowingly at a dinner party when their host (a dentist) 'spiked' their drinks, while Starr took his first trip at a party with Peter Fonda and members of The Byrds). McCartney followed suit in November 1966. In July 1966 an out-of-context comment caused a backlash against The Beatles from religious and social conservatives, when in a serious interview Lennon offered his opinion that Christianity was dying and that the group was "more popular than Jesus." Many religious groups, including the Holy See, voiced strong objections, and Beatles' records were banned and burned in cities and towns across America and around the world. These events, along with threats from racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, eventually forced Lennon to apologise for his remarks several times, including at a Chicago press conference. Lennon tried to point out that he was merely commenting on the Beatlemania phenomenon, not trying to literally equate the group to Jesus, saying about his own comment that "It was wrong, or it was taken wrong." Ku Klux Klan The Beatles performed their last concert before paying fans in Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 29 August, 1966. From this time until the group dissolved in early 1970, The Beatles concentrated on making some of the most remarkable recorded popular music of the 20th century. The group's compositions and musical experiments raised their artistic reputations while they retained their tremendous popularity. However, The Beatles' financial situation took a turn for the worse when their manager Brian Epstein died in 1967 at the age of thirty-two, and the band's affairs began to unravel. That same year, The Beatles became the first band ever globally broadcast on television, in front of over 200 million people worldwide. Their final live performance was on the rooftop of the Apple offices in London in January 1969 during the difficult "Get Back" sessions (later used as a basis for the Let It Be album). Largely due to McCartney's efforts, they recorded their final album, Abbey Road. The band officially broke up in April 1970, and one month later Let It Be followed as their last commercial album release. Any hopes of a reunion were dashed when Lennon was murdered by a deranged fan on December 8th 1980. However, a virtual reunion occurred in 1995 with the release of two original Lennon recordings which had the additional contributions of the remaining Beatles mixed in to create two hit singles, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love". Three volumes (six CDs in total) of unreleased material and studio out-takes were also released, as well as a documentary and television miniseries, in a project known as The Beatles Anthology.

Studio style evolution

The Beatles Anthology, frequently praised for his exceptional melodic gifts, penned the most frequently recorded song in history, the ballad "Yesterday". Some of his other notable compositions for the group include "Eleanor Rigby", "Hey Jude", and "Let It Be".]] Many observers have noted that understanding the success of The Beatles and their music begins and ends with an appreciation for the diverse ways in which they (especially Lennon and McCartney) blended their voices as instruments. The role of producer George Martin is often cited as a crucial element in the success of The Beatles. He used his experience to bring out the potential in the group, recognizing and nurturing their creativity rather than imposing his views. His earlier production experience ranged through acts such as Jimmy Shand to comedy recording with members of The Goons, that is said to have prepared him for the open-minded, sometimes experimental studio approach the group developed as they became more experienced. Martin's work on solo projects with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan of the Goons impressed The Beatles, who were fans. He later said he was initially attracted to the group because they were "very charming people." In 1966, at the height of their fame and bolstered by the two films A Hard Day's Night and Help!, the band stopped touring. Performing for thousands of screaming fans who typically made so much noise the music could not be heard had led to disillusionment and they decided to concentrate on making records. Their demands to create new sounds with every recording, personal experiments with psychedelic drugs and the studio techniques of recording engineer Geoff Emerick influenced the albums Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), still frequently regarded as two of the best albums ever made. Along with studio tricks such as sound processing, unconventional microphone placements and vari-speed recording The Beatles used instruments considered unconventional for pop music at the time, including bowed string and brass elements, Indian instruments such as the sitar and the swarmandel, tape loops and early electronic instruments. The group gradually took greater charge of their own productions and McCartney's growing dominance in this role, especially after the death of Epstein, played a part in the eventual split of the group. Their unprecedented fame caused its own stresses and the band was already on the verge of splitting up when The Beatles ("The White Album") was released in late 1968. Some songs were recorded by the band members as individual projects with other invited musicians and Starr took a two-week holiday (sometimes reported as a temporary break-up) midway through the sessions. McCartney finished some of the drum tracks on the album, including "Back in the USSR", after Starr had angrily stormed out of the studio. By 1970 the band had split and each Beatle went on to solo careers.

In film

1970 The Beatles had a limited but largely successful film career, beginning with A Hard Day's Night (1964), a loosely scripted comic farce, sometimes compared to the Marx Brothers in style. It focused on Beatlemania and their hectic touring lifestyle, and was directed in a quasi-documentary style in black-and-white by an up-and-coming Richard Lester, who was known for having directed a television version of the successful BBC radio series The Goon Show as well as the offbeat short film The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film - written, produced by and starring one of The Goons - Peter Sellers. In 1965 came Help!, a Technicolor extravaganza, also directed by Lester, shot in exotic locations (such as Salisbury Plain, with Stonehenge visible in the background; the Bahamas; and Salzburg and the Tyrol region of the Austrian Alps) in the style of a James Bond spoof along with even more Marx Brothers-style zaniness. For example, the film is dedicated "to Elias Howe, who in 1846 invented the sewing machine". Both of their first two films contained frequent show-stoppers when The Beatles would gather and sing their songs, which often (aside from the title tracks) had nothing whatsoever to do with the plot of the movie, defying the conventional approach of musical films. In 1966, Lennon "went solo", as a supporting character in a film called How I Won the War, again directed by Lester, a satire of World War II movies. (Lester described the film as "not an anti-war film but an anti-war-film film.") The dry, ironic "British humour" of this film may have been a bit over the heads of the American audience in those pre-Monty Python times, as it was not nearly as well received as the American-made Korean War satire MASH would be a few years later. Magical Mystery Tour was essentially Paul McCartney's idea, outlined as he returned from a trip the U.S. in the late spring of 1967, loosely inspired by press coverage McCartney had read about Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters' LSD-fueled American bus odyssey. McCartney envisaged taking this idea and blending it with the peculiarly English working class tradition of charabanc mystery tours. The film was critically slammed when it aired on the BBC's premier television network, BBC-1, the day after Christmas, Boxing Day – a day primarily for traditional cosy family entertainment. The film appeared radically avant-garde by those standards, and instead of showcasing the lovable moptops The Beatles had been up till recently, it showed them as part of the hippie counter-culture of 1967 that was at odds with the British establishment of the era. Compounding this culture clash was the fact that BBC-1 at that time still only transmitted programs in black & white, while Tour was in colour, and the colour was integral to appreciation of the film. The film was repeated a few days later on the BBC's secondary channel (BBC-2) in colour, receiving more appreciation, but the initial media reaction is what is most remembered. With the passage of time (and the fact that so many mainstream films subsequently incorporated many of the film's unusual filming and editing motifs) it is now considered a cult classic. The animated Yellow Submarine followed in 1968, but had little direct input from The Beatles, save for a live-action epilogue and the contribution of four new songs (including one holdover from the Sgt. Pepper sessions, "Only A Northern Song"). Nonetheless it was acclaimed for its boldly innovative graphic style and clever humour, along with the soundtrack. The Beatles are said to have been pleased with the result and attended its highly publicised London premiere. Let It Be was an ill-fated documentary of the band shot over a four-week period in January 1969. The documentary – which was originally intended to be simply a chronicle of the evolution of an album and the band's possible return to live performance – instead captured the prevailing tensions between the band members. In this respect it unwittingly became a document of the beginning of their break-up. The band initially shelved the film and album both, instead recording and issuing Abbey Road, but with so much money spent on the project, it was decided to finish and release the film and album (the latter with considerable post-production by Phil Spector) in the spring of 1970. When the film finally appeared, it was after the break-up had been announced, and it was viewed by disappointed fans through the prism of that recent news. In many respects the "warts and all" approach of the film showing disagreements and tension was more reality than devout fans wanted to see.

Influences and music

1970" and "Something". He is also known for introducing some exotic elements into the group's sound, including Indian instruments such as the sitar.]] As youths, the members of The Beatles were enthusiastic followers of British rock-and-rollers, notably Cliff Richard and The Shadows, whose stage presence and female following were often cited by the band as one of their inspirations to begin performing publicly. In their early days as performers, the band took some cues from local Liverpool favourites Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, who Ringo played with prior to joining The Beatles. Many of the band's influences were American in origin, including Chuck Berry. They recorded covers of "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Rock And Roll Music" early on and also performed many other Berry classics in their live repertoire. Chuck Berry's influence is also heard (in altered form) on later recordings such as "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" (1968) and "Come Together" (1969). After "Come Together" was released, music publisher Morris Levy sued John Lennon for copyright infringement of his song "You Can't Catch Me", ultimately resulting in the recording of his solo album Rock'n'Roll. George Harrison had a fondness for American rockabilly music, particularly that of Eddie Cochran and Carl Perkins. The band's early stage show featured several Perkins tunes; some of these (notably "Honey Don't" featuring an early Ringo vocal) would eventually make it to vinyl. Moreover, Harrison's guitar work remained highly influenced by rockabilly styles throughout the band's tenure. The Beatles' distinctive vocal harmonies were also influenced by those of early Motown artists in America; early Beatles staples included faithful versions of Barrett Strong's Motown recording of "Money (That's What I Want)" and The Marvelettes' hit "Please Mr. Postman". While many of these American influences drew from the blues music form, The Beatles, unlike their contemporaries the Rolling Stones, were seldom directly influenced by the blues. Drawing inspiration from an eclectic variety of sources, their home idiom was closer to pop music (during their early fame they were sometimes referred to as a mod band, a label they seem to have resisted). At the height of Beatlemania, John Lennon declared "Before Elvis, there was nothing." In comments recorded for the Anthology TV series all four band members spoke of him in glowing terms, with George Harrison (showing his knack for religious allusions) saying "Seeing Elvis was like seeing the messiah arrive." They also recorded a number of Presley covers at Abbey Road studios, and although these were not released officially until after the group split, bootleg copies have existed since the late 1960s. It has been argued Presley's musical influence on The Beatles may have been indirect, with opinion somewhat split; although few deny there was an influence, the extent of it has been the subject of debate among fans and music historians. The Beatles were also fond of Little Richard and some of their songs (especially in the early repertoire) featured falsetto calls similar to his, notably on their version of his song "Long Tall Sally". In 1962 he socialised with The Beatles around Hamburg and they performed together at the Star Club. "Long Tall Sally" became a permanent fixture in The Beatles' concert performances, and McCartney's singing on their recorded version is widely regarded as among his best rock and roll vocal performances. Apart from the up-beat, optimistic rock and roll sound of Little Richard and others, McCartney's influences include ragtime and music hall, owing much to his father's musical interests. Their impact is apparent in songs like "When I'm Sixty-Four" (composed during The Quarrymen period), "Honey Pie", and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". Of their early single, "From Me to You", McCartney said, "It could be done as an old ragtime tune... especially the middle-eight. And so we're not writing the tunes in any particular idiom." His songwriting was also influenced in part by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, who was in turn spurred on by The Beatles' work. Wilson acknowledged that the American version of Rubber Soul challenged him to make Pet Sounds, an album which then inspired McCartney's vision of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song "Back in the USSR" was based on a suggestion by Mike Love to McCartney and contains overt allusions to the Beach Boys' "California Girls". The song "Here, There and Everywhere" is said to have been written the evening that Lennon and McCartney first listened to Pet Sounds. The Everly Brothers were another influence. Lennon and McCartney consciously copied Don and Phil Everly's distinctive two-part harmonies. Their vocals on two 1962 recordings, "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me" were inspired by the Everlys' powerful vocal innovation on "Cathy's Clown" (1960), the first recording to ever reach number one simultaneously in the USA and in England. "Two of Us", the opening track on Let It Be is overtly composed in the Everly style and McCartney acknowledges this in the recording with a spoken "Take it Phil." The song-writing of Gerry Goffin and Carole King was yet another influence. Some say that one of The Beatles' many achievements was to marry the relative sophistication of Goffin and King's songs (which used major-seventh chords, for example) with the straightforwardness of Buddy Holly, Berry and the early rock-and-roll performers. Lennon and McCartney's goal when they first began writing together was to become "the next Goffin and King." John Lennon's early style has clear relationships to Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison ("Misery" from 1963 and "Please Please Me" from 1963). "That'll Be the Day" was the first song Lennon learned to play and sing accurately and the first song the proto-Beatles ever put to vinyl. McCartney admitted, "At least the first forty songs we wrote were Buddy Holly influenced." Lennon said that Holly "made it okay to wear glasses. I WAS Buddy Holly." The naming of The Beatles (originally the Silver Beetles) was of course, Lennon's way of paying tribute to Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets. The Beatles covered Holly's "Words of Love" on their album Beatles for Sale. After hearing the work of Bob Dylan Lennon was heavily influenced by folk music ("You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" from 1965). Lennon is said to have been stunned by Dylan's song Subterranean Homesick Blues, and made to wonder at how he could ever outdo it. Lennon also played the major role in steering The Beatles towards psychedelia ("Tomorrow Never Knows" from 1966, and "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "I Am the Walrus" from 1967) and then renewed his interest in earlier, "good old rock and roll" forms towards the close of The Beatles' career ("Don't Let Me Down" from 1969). Paul McCartney is perhaps best known as the group's romantic balladeer. Beginning with "Yesterday" (1965), he pioneered a modern form of art song, exemplified by "Eleanor Rigby" (1966), "Here, There and Everywhere" (1966) and "She's Leaving Home" (1967). Meanwhile McCartney kept his affection for the driving R&B of Little Richard in a series of songs Lennon dubbed "potboilers", from "I Saw Her Standing There" (1963) to "Lady Madonna" (1968). "Helter Skelter" (1968), arguably an early heavy metal song, is also a McCartney composition. heavy metal" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand".]] George Harrison derived his early guitar style from 1950s rockabilly figures such as Carl Perkins, Scotty Moore (who worked with Elvis Presley) and Duane Eddy. "All My Loving" (1963) and "She's a Woman" (1964) are prime examples of Harrison's early rockabilly guitar work. In 1965 Harrison broke new ground in the West by recording on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" playing an Indian sitar. His long collaboration with Sri Ravi Shankar, a famous Hindustani Musician, influenced several of his compositions, some of which were based on Hindustani forms – most notably "Love You To" (1966), "Within You Without You" (1967) and "The Inner Light" (1968). Indian music and culture also influenced Lennon and McCartney, with the use of swirling tape loops, droning bass lines and mantra-like vocals on "Tomorrow Never Knows" (1966) and "Dear Prudence" (1968). Harrison retained Western musical forms in his later compositions, emerging as a significant pop composer in his own right, although occasionally reprising major themes indicating his relationship with Hindustani music and the Hindu god Krishna. His later guitar style, while not displaying the virtuosity of Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton, was distinctive with its use of clear melodic lines and subtle fills as in "Something" (1969) and "Let It Be" (1970), contrasting with the increasingly distorted riffs and rapid-fire guitar solo work of his contemporaries. Ringo Starr rarely wrote songs but he is often noted for his gentle comic baritone on "Yellow Submarine" (1966) and "Octopus's Garden" (1969) along with his steady drumming and everyman image. Given his own performance on Buck Owens' "Act Naturally", Starr was likely responsible for the group's occasional interest in surprisingly authentic country sounds in songs such as "What Goes On" (1965) and "Don't Pass Me By" (1968). Later Beatles material shifted away from dance music and the pace of the songs is often more moderate, with interest tending to come from melody and harmonic texture rather than the rhythm ("Penny Lane" from 1967 is an example). Throughout their career The Beatles' songs were rarely riff (or ostinato)-driven; "Day Tripper" (1965) and "Hey Bulldog" (1969, recorded 1968) are among the notable exceptions. The decision to stop touring in 1966 caused an abrupt change in direction. Reportedly stung by criticism of "Paperback Writer", The Beatles poured their creative energies into the recording studio, making a determined attempt to produce material they could be proud of. They had already shown a clear trend towards progressively greater complexity in technique and style but this accelerated noticeably in Revolver. The subject matter of the post-touring songs was no longer you, I, love, boy meets girl and so on, taking them far from the days in 1963 and similarities with bands such as The Hollies. All manner of subjects were introduced, from home repair and circuses to nonsense songs and others defying description. The extreme complexity of Sgt. Pepper's reached its height on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album, parts of which (for example "It's All Too Much" and "Only a Northern Song") were left over from 1967 and were apparently used because The Beatles themselves weren't much interested in the animated film as a project and weren't inclined to exert themselves by producing much new material for it. 1967 After the Revolver/Sgt. Pepper's phase, came a double LP known at the time as The White Album (though recently often called The Beatles album), partly written in India. It involved some simpler subjects (for example "Birthday"), and some of the songs (for example "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" and "Wild Honey Pie") were far less complex than their material of just a year or two before. In 1969 the band became less united during sessions for the abortive Get Back project (which eventually emerged in 1970, much altered, as Let It Be). This had been intended as a return to more basic songs and an avoidance of thorough editing or otherwise "artificial" influences on the final output. Ironically Let It Be was heavily overdubbed and edited by producer Phil Spector in his wall of sound technique. With Get Back behind them, George Martin was asked to produce the last album The Beatles recorded, Abbey Road, representing a mature attempt to integrate what they knew and use recording studio techniques to improve the songs rather than experiment to see what happened. It represented a final effort, as McCartney once put it, to "leave 'em laughing." Beatles music is still performed in public by tribute bands such as the Bootleg Beatles, and in shows like Beatlemania!. The Beatles were also the inspiration for the spoof documentary The Rutles (1978) created by Neil Innes and Eric Idle that featured affectionate musical pastiches of Beatles songs written by Innes. For many, the group's musical appeal lay in the interaction of Lennon and McCartney's voices and musical styles. It is sometimes said they not only supplied missing bits and pieces for each other's songs, but shared a competitive edge that brought out the best in them both. George's lead guitar and vocals along with Ringo's understated and faithful drumming contributed their own chemistry. Finally, The Beatles' stage presence and charm as a group kindled their live shows, as well as relationships with key people in their careers. After the group dissolved some critics cited their solo releases as a demonstration of how important this group collaboration had been: together they sparked each other to reach heights rarely attained on the later solo releases.

Band members


- John Lennon: vocals, rhythm guitar – occasionally harmonica, keyboards, bass guitar and other instruments (1960–1970).
- Paul McCartney: vocals, bass guitar – occasionally guitar, keyboards, spoons, drums, flugelhorn and other instruments (1960–1970).
- George Harrison: vocals, lead guitar – occasionally sitar, tambura, bass guitar, keyboards and other instruments (1960–1970).
- Ringo Starr: drums – occasionally vocals, bongos, keyboards and other instruments (1962–1970).

Early members


- Stuart Sutcliffe: bass, vocals (1960–1961).
- Pete Best: drums (1960–1962).

Song catalogue

In 1963 The Beatles gave their song publishing rights to Northern Songs, a company created by Brian Epstein and music publisher Dick James. Northern Songs went public in 1965 with Lennon and McCartney each holding 15% of the company's shares while Dick James and the company's chairman, Charles Silver held a controlling 37.5%. In 1969, following a failed attempt by Lennon and McCartney to buy back the company, James and Silver sold Northern Songs to British TV company Associated TeleVision (ATV), in which Lennon and McCartney received stock. In 1985 ATV's music catalogue was sold to Michael Jackson for a reported $47 million (beating McCartney's bid), including the publishing rights to over 200 Beatles songs. A decade later Jackson and Sony merged their music publishing businesses. Since 1995 Jackson and Sony/ATV Music Publishing have jointly owned most of The Beatles' songs. Sony later reported that Jackson had used his share of their co-owned Beatles' catalogue as collateral for a loan from the