Wednesday, March 01, 2023

Songs I'd Forgotten I Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "The Golden Age of Electric Keyboards" Edition

From 1965, please enjoy the great but semi-obscure Beatles track "Tell Me What You See."

BTW, that's one of the rare Fab four numbers that we Yanks heard earlier than our former colonial masters -- it came out here (on the only-in-America Beatles VI) in June, while in England it didn't arrive (on the Help soundtrack) until August. As to why it's so generally overlooked is beyond me; it strikes me as sublimely Buddy Holly-ish, and that recurring piano solo is to die for.

I should add that said solo is performed (by Paul) on a Hohner Pianet; you can find pictures and more info about that remarkable instrument at Wiki OVER HERE.

9 comments:

Allan Rosenberg said...

There were a lot of great but obscure keyboard sounds used back in the sixties. Heck, Del Shannon's "Runaway" may have the creepiest, coolest keyboard solo ever.

Matthew Fisher created the most majestic!

By the time of "Help" The Beatles were exploring the use of the studio as creative instrument to a high degree. Instead of just George Martin, maybe the recording studio was equally the 'fifth" Beatle.

I bet someone steals this thought and creates three more Beatle books on the subject without crediting "Power Pop" the bastards!

What!?

Captain Al

dorethyroad@aol.com said...

As an Ed,Sullivan kid who first heard the Beatles, owning every album was
mandatory. It wasn't until later that we found that the UK albums were different from the US releases.
The Help album sucked ( I saw the movie in '65) as the orchestra sections sucked and as Johnny Rotten said we were cheated. This was not an unnoticed song unfortunately we had to discover it later -
rob

Alby said...

Steve: Alby here. My email is albydm@aol.com

I don't know if you saw what I posted at Eschaton, but I knew Gerry Devine back in the mid-'70s. He was in a band called Stone's Throw with my college housemate. We all also appeared together in a parody concert of the rock acts of the day called All You Can Eat. Gerry's impersonations of Bruce Springsteen and John Denver brought down the house.

pete said...

I have sung that song at your house.

JB said...

I think there were a number of early Beatles tunes that were overlooked. One of my favorites is What You're Doing. There is an outtake on the YouTubes (I believe take 11) which is fantastic. John's harmony is killer.

ChrisE said...

Another underrated song, also from the middle-period: "Every Little Thing." Not the most profound lyric, I'll grant, but John's lead vocal and that brief but stirring guitar solo - so good. Like "Tell Me What You See", it was on BEATLES VI.

DrBobA said...

Farfisa?

dorethyroad@aol.com said...

Chris, love that song - Everly Brothers kind of. What gets me are the shared vocals of the title - they ring like a 12 string. Listening I think I understand why Paul gave it to John to sing.
Rob

dorethyroad@aol.com said...

One more thing - Lennon has perhaps one of the Greatest Voices,(stylings) in music's history. Akin to a Rick Danko,
Richard Manuel- All three vocal a pathos,Joy and immediate recocogniyion that draw you as a listener in
Rob