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The B side just might be better than the A side...


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Side A:

 

[video=youtube;5WP2exZurfc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WP2exZurfc

 

Side B:

 

[video=youtube;9Y-0nWVdBH4]

 

IMO, both are incredible... but the B Side just might be the best of the two. Brian never thought he could beat "Be My Baby" - I beg to differ. :cop::D

 

Can you think of any singles where the B side, in your opinion, eclipsed the A side? If so, let's hear 'em! :)

 

 

Here's another one that's open for debate:

 

A Side:

 

[video=youtube;eDdI7GhZSQA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDdI7GhZSQA

 

B Side:

 

[video=youtube;KrkwgTBrW78]

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IMO, both are incredible... but the B Side just might be the best of the two. Brian never thought he could beat "Be My Baby" - I beg to differ.

 

 

I think part of what makes Brian so great is the fact that he does have those reverential attitudes toward his contemporaries doing great work. Be My Baby is clearly such a huge inspiration for Wilson. And it's 2 dimensional with regards to harmony. Brian was 3D in the harmony department. But... part of what makes Brain great... is his joy of that simple 2D emotion of guys like Spector. Then Brian would come along and go deep harmony, (I don't mean vocal harmony but chord theory) and the combo of innocence and deep experience created... total godlike magic.

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GREAT shots Richard! Is that Skunk Baxter playing guitar?

 

Thanks very much. Very good recognition. That is Skunk. He sat in on about 3-4 songs, and, of course, I had to get a few shots of him also. The show was great and there were probably only about 200-300 people there, meaning I could walk right up to the front for the pix. I was close enough for some of the shots that I actually could have pulled Brian off the stool he was using if I had wanted to (but I didn't want to). Then again, he could have kicked me in the face if I were too much of a bother. I used no flash (they had good lighting) so I figured I wouldn't get kicked too hard. :) I wish I had a contact site to have Brian take a look at some of the pix. Who knows, maybe he wants one (or two).

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What is this "A side and B side" that you speak of?

 

:lol:

 

Well, just in case someone comes along and honestly doesn't know (and this stuff is getting old enough that there are quite possibly such people out there), I'll give you the basics:

 

Back in the old days, there were these things called "records" -- this was back in the dark ages, before computers and MP3 players and streaming audio services like Spotify came along. The only way to distribute recorded music back then was via the "radio" (kind of like a old school one-way wifi setup for broadcasting music and sports), or on magnetic tape or vinyl discs. Discs came in three formats, LP or long playing "albums" were a collection of songs on 10" discs than played at 33.3 RPM, an EP or Extended Play single used the standard single's 7" disc size, but played at 33.3 RPM instead of the normal two song (one song on each side of the 7" disc) single's faster 45 RPM playback speed, and because of the speed difference, they could hold two songs per side, for a total of four songs per EP disc.

 

And to think I used to tease my mother about being born in the dark ages, before there was television. Fate has a way of catching up with us. ;)

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Lady Madonna/The Inner Light
:)

 

I gotta go with The Inn... what am I SAYING? :D I have to give the nod to Lady Madonna. :)

 

Okay, sticking with the Beatles theme, how about Let It Be / You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)... ;) or better yet, how about Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever?

 

The A Side:

 

[video=youtube;_H6PdlJshCo]

 

 

and the B Side:

 

[video=youtube;HTXyoPVOUso]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTXyoPVOUso

 

Or is that the other way around? ;) Both were top ten songs in the USA, with Penny Lane reaching #1 on Billboard, and Strawberry Fields Forever hitting #8. As good as Penny Lane is, Strawberry Fields is so powerful, so incredible in the story of its arrangement and recording process that to me, it almost has to get the nod... but it's soooo close. :lol::facepalm:

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I doubt this will surprise Lee Flier, but I was a BIG fan of Sweet. :lol: Great call! :thu:

 

A Side:

 

[video=youtube;hmbEuRzlhIs]

 

B Side (actually, I THINK Man From Mecca was the B Side of Little Willy, but let's go with this one...):

 

[video=youtube;4a3lY4EEaSw]

 

 

Action is possibly the better, more mature song, but I can see why the A&R folks (or the band, or whomever it was that ultimately decided) picked Little Willy as a single - if pop music is all about the catchy, sing along hook, it doesn't get much catchier than the chorus of Little Willy.

 

 

 

 

While I expect some haters are gonna hate, I have to admit that this is actually one of my favorite recordings from the 70s:

 

[video=youtube;oc1sgCT7X2c]

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