Comments on: DVD Review: Composing The Beatles Songbook

By: lynnelaine

lynnelaine — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:40:23 +0000

ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow Never Knows was John Lennon’s song. Read, read, read!!! Do not put any creedence into this documentary. John accidentally ran the tape backwards while he was working on a song at home. Please do not misunderstand that Paul was a brilliant and talented man. But why these people left John looking like an unproductive, drugged-out empty vessel is beyond me. They were all taking drugs not just John. The documentary leaves out the trip to India. Leaves out the making of Abbey Road. John was not an angst-ridden person his whole life. This documentary makes it look like he just wanted nothing to do with the Beatles from Rubber Soul, Revolver forward. And to quote John as saying, “Those are Paul’s albums”…hogwash.

Smoking pot was being done by all. LSD came later but they all experimented, some more than others, sure. George declined because he didn’t like it. John saw through the Maharishi and left India. Yoko does have alot to do with the break up but not all. Linda Eastman was in the studio almost as much as Yoko was. Nobody cared if she were present during recording sessions.

I am rambling because I am furious. I love the Beatles so much and they all must be represented as they are or were.

By: lynnelaine

lynnelaine — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:36:44 +0000

ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow Never Knows was John Lennon’s song. Read, read, read!!! Do not put any creedence into this documentary. John accidentally ran the tape backwards while he was working on a song at home. PLease do not misunderstand that Paul was a brilliant and talented man. But why these people left John looking like an unproductive, drugged-out empty vessel is beyond me. They were all taking drugs not just John. The documentary leaves out the trip to India. Leaves out the making of Abbey Road. John was not an angst-ridden person his whole life. This documentary make it look like he just wanted nothing to do with the Beatles from Rubber Soul, Revolver forwarded. And to quote John as saying, “Those are Paul’s albums”…hogwash.

Smoking pot was being done by all. LSD came later but they all experimented, some more than others, sure. George declined because he didn’t like it. John saw throught the Maharishi and left India. Yoko does have alot to do with the break up but not all. Linda Eastman was in the studio almost as much as Yoko was. Nobody cared if she were present during recording sessions.

I am rambling beccause I am furious. I love the Beatles so much and they all must be represented as they are or were.

By: Maccalennonite

Maccalennonite — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 08:32:47 +0000

Give the guy a break. Everyone knows Lennon wrote Tomorro Never Knows: he wrote his words to a droning melody over a straight C chord - but the drums (suggested by Paul) and the amazing bass (played by Paul)are THE groove to the song, the mesmerizing funky beat we know. With Paul taking over production of the rhythm section and creating the tape loops (not to mention his backwards guitar solo in the song) I think it’s fair to say that the SOUND of the record we’ve come to know on the Revolver lp is that of Paul and Paul alone. John wrote the song and sang amazingly on it but trusted his pal Paul to produce the hell out of it - giving Lennon fans fuel for thinking it was John who was experimental when it was mostly Paul. Granted, Paul never would have done this type of production on his own numbers, so John gets the nod for dreaming up a one chord song. Without McCartney’s production the song would be much less memorable. Remember, Revolution 9 was two years after Carnival of Light!

By: Brian K.

Brian K. — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 21:17:19 +0000

I have to forgive the writer’s ignorance about the song, because he watched the documentary “Composing the Beatles Songbook 1966-1970″, in which we learn that “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Day in the Life” (and in fact everything they did starting with Rubber Soul) are really Paul’s songs! The documentary is absurdly biased against John and towards Paul. It’s a wealth of misinformation.

By: Ammar

Ammar — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:54:04 +0000

words by John
melody is one line repeated in one chord
tape loops by Paul
unusual drum at that time by Ringo

By: Hogfire

Hogfire — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:30:37 +0000

The song wouldn’t be discussed like it is without those loops. The composition goes to Lennon, but the arrangement was heavily influenced by McCartney, and it’s the arrangement of that song that makes it what it is, and why it’s talked about.

By: Dave72

Dave72 — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:24:59 +0000

“Tomorrow Never Knows” is a John Lennon song, through and through. Macca’s tape loops weren’t part of the composition; it’s Lennon’s words AND music. All the tape loops did is make the song sound stranger. I’ve read that Lennon often complained that McCartney oftentimes got too experimental on his, (Lennon’s) tracks. Those who write about the music oughta read more about what others have previously written about the music. Oh, and it’s a good idea if they actually LISTEN to the music as well.

By: Wellend Dowd

Wellend Dowd — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:16:31 +0000

I have to admit that I was not, and am not a Simon Barrett fan, but I am a fan of the Beatles. This article is clearly a precurser to Mr. Barrett winning the Pulitzer. (sarcasm)

By: Yoko Broke Up The Beatles

Yoko Broke Up The Beatles — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:32:28 +0000

Yet another piece of crap from MVD, a DVD house that only releases videos of talking heads talking about bands. No REAL documentaries, just crap.

By: Hogfire

Hogfire — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:43:39 +0000

McCartney II had some good quirky stuff on it, and it was inspirational to Lennon. Apparently got him going again with his (in my opinion)overrated but still good Double Fantasy album.

And we should refer to McCartney as “The Fireman” and his continued interest in experimental type stuff. Perhap McCartney’s influence on Tomorrow Never Knows was more profound that most realize.

Nice that author above spent the time to update his comments.

By: levy8450

levy8450 — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:11:48 +0000

Not much to be added to the insights of the other Beatles fans.

But I will ask the author, if you still feel that McCartney wrote most of the music on TNK, then please provide some evidence.

We Beatles fans know our stuff, so like any historian presenting a paper to peers, you need to provide convincing evidence - or else you’ll deserve the name calling you’ve endured here.

By: withnail

withnail — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:17:43 +0000

what a knob this reviewer is…ha ha! ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ by McCartney?! How did this lavatory attendent get moved up to the editorial department!

By: gfrea

gfrea — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:53:58 +0000

Tomorrow Never Knows is a song of the Beatles

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:13:53 +0000

How is Tomorrow Never Knows a preview of Wings’ output? Show me one thing that Paul/Linda did that compares to Tomorrow Never Knows. Ummm……….I’m waiting. Yeah, I didn’t think so. What a doofus.

By: Roy

Roy — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:18:47 +0000

Analysing Lennon McCartney music? How wrong has he got it! George Martin said about the start of recording Revolver, that he was expecting a repeat of the Help, Hard Days Night type LP. Only to realise how much their songwriting had developed, when John started the first session with Tomorrow Never Knows. He actually suggested that this song broke new ground in writing and recording techniques.

By: beatlebest

beatlebest — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:53:45 +0000

Such a show of ignorance is laughable. It’s ok to allow a non-Beatles fan to review a DVD but he should at least do some research and get some basic facts right. He merely subscribes to the myth that Paul wrote rock ballads and John heavy rock. Nonsense of course as is the ridiculous claim that Paul wrote TNK. John was the main author with a little help from his friend. Don’t give up your day job, Simon

By: The Boz

The Boz — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:13:51 +0000

In The Beatles the priniple song writer would sing lead, except in, (Do you want to know a secret where George sang the lead and John was the principle writer. Tomorrow Never Knows was written by John, however Paul made most of the tape loops that really lift the song to a new dimension. George Martin and Geoff Emerick the producer and chief sound engineer also out John’s lead vocal through a Leslie speaker so it would sound like he was singing in the mountains with the Dalhi Lama. Just learn from your mistakes man, don’t worry.

By: Darren Meshach

Darren Meshach — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 06:26:07 +0000

“High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news” — TMN *must* be a McCartney song!

By: Hogfire

Hogfire — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:13:05 +0000

My guess is the the writer of the article misquoted the song he was referring to. Obviously Tomorrow Never Knows is primarily Lennon’s. I think Simon Barrett accidently wrote down the wrong song. There are a few great McCartney songs on that album that he might have been referring to.

By: cosine

cosine — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 03:00:57 +0000

Never was and is not a Beatles fan, yet Simon professes expertise. Just like hordes of air-headed wannabes in recent decades trying opinions that turn out unresearched Beatle information, he should go to the school of Beatle learning. Or better still, don’t write about the Beatles. They really have no or little knowledge of Beatle phenomena that started in very early ‘60s and that their original and subsequent fans have encyclopedic memory and literary collection of the music and lives of the Beatles. Imagine that almost 4 decades ago this group stopped making music, yet still making news, their music still being analysed, used in outer space, lines of lyrics quoted eloquently (name any musician whose words are quoted in buildings like an airport?) and as shown recently in Quebec city, people who were not even born when they broke up singing ‘Hey Jude’ along with Paul. Simon, your reviewing is schoolboy and pure shallow journalism.

By: TrickTOlly

TrickTOlly — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:34:32 +0000

Simon’s statement; “McCartney being the creator … ballads, stories … while John Lennon was … into the rebellious nature of the … genre.” is the popular misconception that is held by 6 out of ten morons. It is not very accurate. Simon can learn something by reading what Dodger Rodger and Helter Skelter say.

By: MaccaDK

MaccaDK — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:28:36 +0000

Wow… and who exactly made you a reviewer of Beatles material? Is this some sort of experiment to see how many people would correct you?

To state that “Tomorrow Never Knows” is “clearly” a McCartney song, when any true Beatles fan knows it’s clearly a Lennon song, is CLEARLY a big joke (and yes, I knew right off the bat - as do many other people - that it was issued in 1966 on Revolver - btw, that’s a Beatles LP title). And this song has nothing to do with being a precursor to any Wings material.

Are you living in some sort of parallel reverse universe?

If this is a put on, I say “hello candid camera!”. If not, I say good luck with your reviewer job; you’re gonna need plenty of it if you can make such a blatant mistake.

By: MjCartney

MjCartney — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:03:00 +0000

I think most people would agree that Tomorrow Never Knows did forge new ground, but I really don’t see how it has compares to the Wings material. Even ignoring the fact that it is a Lennon composition, I don’t understand how you make that correlation. You’re picking up on something that I don’t think many others would see, and I’d be very interested to hear more about the relationship you perceive there.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:01:31 +0000

So, did the DVD leave him with this assumption?

By: Helter Skelter

Helter Skelter — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 23:51:09 +0000

Tomorrow Never Knows was written by John. Who is this inept author? And while it is a John song, not Paul as the author purports, Paul created the tape loops to the song which helps to make this a brilliant, innovative song.

By: Dodger Rodger

Dodger Rodger — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 23:49:32 +0000

Simon Barrett should not be reviewing The Beatles. He obviously knows nothing about them. And worse, he assumes most other people know nothing about them and is condescending about a field he knows nothing about. This guy should never ever write another word about The Beatles. Ever. Do us all a favor. Please.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 23:07:20 +0000

ALL Beatle compositions written by John and/or Paul were credited Lennon/McCartney, no matter who the principal writer was.

We should perhaps cut you a little slack, since you are admittedly not a fan, but any Beatle person will tell you this is John’s song.

By: Hodger

Hodger — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 23:05:12 +0000

Clearly your lack of Beatle love/ lore shines quite clear-

don’t quit yer day job

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:11:27 +0000

This is clearly and definitely a Lennon song.

“clearly this is McCartney giving us a preview of his hugely successful collaboration with his wife of many years Linda, and their band Wings”

Check your facts……..

By: Simon Barrett

Simon Barrett — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:54:37 +0000

ummmmmm the writing credit is Lennon/McCartney

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:31:08 +0000

Ummmm. Tomorrow Never Knows was written by Lennon.