Beatles song no 2: Blue Jay Way

[pcqgod]

I'd rate it as a pretty bad song that is entertaining because of its badness.

[Bungo the Mungo]

Just listened again.

The detractors here are insane. Such a great track. The cello in particular is amazing. Who had the idea to have it imitate wha would normally be a sitar part? George Martin must have had a field day!

And no Coan, nobody here could play anything like the drums on this.

Be warned! Beatles juice really can rot the mind.

[C]

Yes G - very robust

There is some similarity with this track - don't you think?









.

[soundchaser]

Nice psychedelic embellishments notwithstanding, it's a piss poor song, probably written by Harrison when he was too stoned to know any better.

I'm totally shocked to see how capable I am of writing such complete and utter bollocks. Last year, I bought the Magical Mystery Tour special edition and I have been loving every single minute of it, especially the psychedelic gem that is Blue Jay Way, with it's wonderfully atmosphehice slurry cellos. So when this thread was bumped, I thought I'd have a read through and was completely floored to read my own nonsence. Recant, soundchaser, recant .

[Goat Boy]

Nice sounds but a very boring song that goes on way too long. One of the few examples where the influence of drugs on their music is not a positive one.

[Quaco]

Nice psychedelic embellishments notwithstanding, it's a piss poor song, probably written by Harrison when he was too stoned to know any better.

I'm totally shocked to see how capable I am of writing such complete and utter bollocks.

I'm not.

[Charlie O.]

Seeing as I somehow didn't actually offer an opinion during this thread's first go-round, I'll offer it now: it's ace.

This old thread is fun, too.



_

[Sneelock]

side one of MMT would not be complete without it.
an important part of one of my favorite sides.

[Quaco]

This interview with Brian Kehew (Recording the Beatles), from only last week, touches on "Blue Jay Way":

Songfacts: In your examination of the Beatles, what did you decide was the greatest feat of engineering or production on one of their songs?

Brian: Good call. I think it's "Blue Jay Way," which is not a famous or legendary Beatles song, but it has the most Beatle-ism tricks and styles in it. It has phasing, flanging, it has varied speed recording, it has tape echo. They put things through Leslies, they compressed and EQed things. It's really fascinating, and it has more stuff going on with it that's more detached from traditional classical recording or a Miles Davis record. It's more Beatles-y in that way. All the tricks that The Beatles had developed with compressing instruments and with EQing things in very strange ways are present on "Blue Jay Way."

My favorite part of it, which is really a fascinating concept, they took the track, specifically with the vocals, and then mixed it. That mix was played backwards and recorded back into the record on the multi-track, but they played it through a Leslie speaker that's spinning in the room. So occasionally during the song you hear some backwards Leslied tracks, especially vocals, swirling in and out. It's the actual song playing backwards against itself through a Leslie and then fading up and down, which is a really creative and very strange idea. I've never heard of anyone else doing something like that.

Songfacts: If you think of the most outrageous Beatle productions, you might think of something like "Rain" or "Revolution."

Brian: Well, if you listen to it closely as it develops into something, it actually becomes more of a "Strawberry Fields Forever," which is pretty much a production. "Blue Jay Way" has these cellos at the end. If you listen closely, they're doing a repeat echo. This is another Beatles thing: to add cellos and strings to a rock song in that kind of way. But the cellos are going, and there's echoes switching on and off at the tape machine. Not just a normal echo, like Elvis would have, but a repeating echo that's almost running away into feedback, then they switch it off and then they switch it on again. It's just really bizarre, but beautiful how they went deep into that.

Most people, including George Harrison, would probably not say it's the best-written Beatles song. That's the number one reason it's probably not more famous, but it was written about a house not far from where I am right now, up in the hills of Hollywood. It is a cool song, but not a great song. You wouldn't cover it and play it on acoustic guitar, for example. It's just not that strong writing.

The whole interview is enlightening, definitely worth a read.

http://www.songfacts.com/blog/writing/b ... remasters/

[Moleskin]

It is a fucking great song.

[The Modernist]

Some crazy comments on this thread. I hope you've all BCB reconsidered.

[naughty boy]

Oh, honestly, fuck off. Seriously. I'm fed up of all this bullshit. The song is garbage.

[The Modernist]

Oh, honestly, fuck off. Seriously. I'm fed up of all this bullshit. The song is garbage.

Says the Beefheart fan.
No one would claim it as a particularly good song, but it's a hell of a trip..just align yourself to those incredible sounds. It's the kind of record you have to give yourself to.

[naughty boy]

Oh, honestly, fuck off. Seriously. I'm fed up of all this bullshit. The song is garbage.

Says the Beefheart fan.

Three responses in over 12 hours.

You're laughing, but we're fucked, I tell you.

[Charlie O.]

We're fucked because people don't have much to add to what they said four years ago? Or because they aren't responding to your obvious shit-stirring? What?

[toomanyhatz]

He's got you, he does!

On the bright side, I think the BCB 130's going pretty gosh-durned well.

[naughty boy]

:lol:

He's got you, he does!

He misunderstood me.

I was referring to the Beefheart thread I started earlier today, which hasn't had a whole lot of response.

And I wasn't 'shitstirring' so much as being facetious.

[mentalist (slight return)]

This is average Beatles in my incredibly humble opinion.

[naughty boy]

This is average Beatles in my incredibly humble opinion.

BURN HIM AT THE STAKE!!

[toomanyhatz]

:lol:

He's got you, he does!

He misunderstood me.

I was referring to the Beefheart thread I started earlier today, which hasn't had a whole lot of response.

And I wasn't 'shitstirring' so much as being facetious.

I misunderstood then too, sorry. Not that it would've been too far out of character...I say that, of course, from a very pro-shit-stirring standpoint.

I'll definitely contribute to the Beefheart thread too, just waiting till I can give it the deserved concentration.