Match 25, Solo LP Tourney, Rnd 1, RnR 2 vs. MC1 1

[joeyself]

ROCK `n' ROLL, Side 2 vs. MCCARTNEY, Side 1

1."Slippin' and Slidin'" – 2:16
2."Peggy Sue" – 2:06
3."Medley: Bring It On Home to Me/Send Me Some Lovin'" – 3:41
4."Bony Moronie" – 3:47
5."Ya Ya" – 2:17
6."Just Because" - 4:25

MCCARTNEY, Side 1

1."The Lovely Linda" – 0:42
2."That Would Be Something" – 2:37
3."Valentine Day" – 1:40
4."Every Night" – 2:30
5."Hot as Sun/Glasses" – 2:06
6."Junk" – 1:54
7."Man We Was Lonely" – 2:57

JcS

[Joseph McCabe]

Oh me, oh my ... how sad so many of Lennon's and McCartney's solo works are.

So the mighty John Lennon, who loved rock n roll from the early fifties on, and who contributed so much himself, in both bulk and quality, interprets some classic songs of others. And what do we get? Something so removed from the spirit of rock n roll, we cringe. At least I do. A sad record, with Side 2 being the poorer of the two. Oh me, oh my.

And Macca ... what can I say? His first record totally by himself consists mostly of musical doodlings, lazy ideas, self indulgence. It shows how poor this side is when folk mention Every Night as being one of the good songs! Trouble being that it IS!! Oh me, oh my.

Nothing worth my vote here. Throw both these sides out.

McCabe

[Deleted]

MCCARTNEY, Side 1

I like more songs on McCartney side 1 than i do on Rock n Roll side 2
so that's how i've voted..

Neither of them are great albums though......

[vectisfabber]

I'm not voting on this one. A side of inconsequential meandering doodles (excepting the sublime Junk) versus a side of missed-the-point rock standards from the ultimate rock and roller. Some choice.

[Joe Karlosi]

This is a very difficult choice, because both of these sides are so underwhelming. I don't know how so many can praise the McCARTNEY album to such heights when just looking at the track listing here for Side 1... there's just so much half-baked and loose-ended doodlings here, especially those instrumentals. Not that I do not enjoy them for what they are, mind you -- but they are unworthy of Paul, coming straight after his Beatles stuff.

Then we have Lennon's ROCK AND ROLL album, which I've never been wild about myself. However, on Side 2 here, I do think there are some enjoyable tracks -- I would not agree with McCabe and others about the "non-rock feeling" when we're talking about SLIPPIN' n SLIDIN' or BONEY MARONIE, at least... I think those are two solid rockers, and John does them very well here. And actually, PEGGY SUE is fairly faithful in arrangement to Buddy Holly's original.

I'd say I feel dead equally indifferent about both these sides here. On the one hand, Paul has an edge because they're originals, while John's album consists of all covers. But is this enough reason to give McCARTNEY the nod? I'm not so sure, because the more I keep studying the tracks listing of these sides over and over, the more I think Lennon's album has more stuff I'd want to listen to. Or maybe not?? I don't know.

I'd go with John's ROCK N ROLL side -- by the slightest of hairs.

[joeyself]

I meant to mention: Those of you that listen to these sides before voting can go ahead and play the entire MCCARTNEY album, as Side 2 is up in the next match.

JcS

[coachbk]

I voted for MCCARTNEY. When viewed as Paul's first solo project, it stands light years ahead of the John & Yoko avant garde stuff, George's WONDERWALL and especially ELECTRONIC SOUND and Ringo's forays into "standards" and C&W.
Even viewed as a proper album it is OK. "Every Night" is a great track. "Junk" is a nice acoustic number. I like "Man We Was Lonely" and the instrumental "Hot As Sun". "Lovely Linda" is the perfect length. "That Would Be Something" could use the same brevity (or more lyrics). Only "Valentine's Day" is poor.
John was musically "lost" when he did this cover album and it shows.

[mikev]

ROCK `n' ROLL, Side 2

1."Slippin' and Slidin'" 7.5 (nice vocal performance video)
2."Peggy Sue" – 8
3."Medley: Bring It On Home to Me/Send Me Some Lovin'" 7
4."Bony Moronie" 7
5."Ya Ya" 7
6."Just Because" 8 (I like the drunk version better....)

MCCARTNEY, Side 1

1."The Lovely Linda" 5
2."That Would Be Something" 7 pleasant throw away
3."Valentine Day" 6
4."Every Night" 9
5."Hot as Sun/Glasses" – 9 (I think this is a great instrumental, plus was a theme song to Popeye in the early 70s)
6."Junk" 8.5 (I might be overrating this a bit
7."Man We Was Lonely" 7 pleasant throw away

I'm throwing away the point system on this because, well Paul has so many throw-aways mixed with solid songs. I give the edge to McCartney for originality only.

[John S. Damm]

This is a very hard choice for me as I think both album Sides are exciting as I will explain.

Starting with McCartney-1, yes it is not Paul as he was on Revolver(at his most sophisticated musically) or as he was on Abbey Road(which is a good thing despite CW) but Paul recognized the trap he would place himself in if he tried to come out and compete with The Beatles or even himself as Beatle Paul. He would have lost even worse than he in fact did with the critics in the early 1970's with this first solo release.

No, Paul went away to find himself, learn how to really record with no aid from his band-mates and make some confessional, some soothing music to address his pain from the obviously pending implosion of his beloved Beatles.

Paul needed this album to get some bad thoughts out of his head. What resulted is a wonderfully trippy little album that, when taken as a whole, is a very nice listen. Songs like "Man We Was Lonely" and "Every Night"(and "Maybe I'm Amazed" from Side 2) are about as literal as Paul ever gets.

"That Would Be Something" is hippie Paul standing in the pouring rain but happy and finally free. "Junk" is beautiful, very whimsical and yes, it had a history. The instrumentals of Side 1 add to the general moodiness of this album and, when played in its entirety, are very effective.

One cannot cherry pick songs from McCartney or play it on "Random" play as that destroys the ambiance, kind of like SPLHCB but in a rather opposite way.

With forty years' hindsight, Paul did exactly what he needed to do in the shadows and then wake of The Beatles' break-up by releasing McCartney just as it was. I will pull out Paul's best defense of McCartney and say that this album was good enough for Neil Young so it should have been good enough for us fans and the critics. It is an anchor to The JSD Postulate.


Now to John Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll. If we are talking any version(vinyl record, 8-track, cassette, c.d.) other than the 2004 remixed and remastered compact disc, then I agree with McCabe and my choice here is easy. If we are talking the 2004 remixed and remastered compact disc then this album Side 2 comes alive and the magic John intended is revealed for the first time ever. Ignore the 2010 remastered only c.d. too as that has the original mix.

1."Slippin' and Slidin'": What an amazing start, this rocks hard.
2."Peggy Sue": This is my favorite on the whole album for the very reason our friend JoeK wrote, John sticks close to the original yet one hears and, more importantly, feels the pure love John had for Buddy Holly as John sings his heart out. Bravo John!
3."Medley: Bring It On Home to Me/Send Me Some Lovin'": A vocal tour de force by Lennon. If one doesn't want to sing along with this one, or try at least, then one is missing a fundamental joy. Well done Johnny!
4."Bony Moronie": Great dirty guitar sound and John again rocks on this funky song. Not my favorite song on this album song-wise but not because of John's lack of effort; John loved this song as a kid and it shows.
5."Ya Ya": Just plain fun rock and roll! It is allowed.
6."Just Because": As John is on record of saying, it was Phil Spector's idea to do this song but another very strong vocal performance from John. Nice ending to the regular album(although the 2004 version has dandy bonus material not relevant to this tourney).

I vote for ROCK `n' ROLL, Side 2 only to be consistent with my writing that McCartney is at its finest, and in proper context, when taken as a whole!

[JCV]

MCCARTNEY, Side 1

JCV

[stavros]

Below average fodder from John & Paul. Paul had exhausted most of his songs in the works on Let it Be and then Abbey Road and he really should have been content with releasing "Maybe I'm Amazed" as a single in 1970. "Every Night" and "Junk" are passable album tracks but the rest is just poor. As for John he should have release "Stand by Me" from Rock 'n Roll and let the rest accumulate themselves as bootlegs. I've voted for McCartney but it is unlikely to survive the next round.

[acebackwords]

Spector really ruined that Rocknroll album. It wreaks of misery and sluggishness, like it was made on the downside of a drinking binge instead of at the peak of the creamy high.

ALways liked that first solo album by Macca. Something fresh and innocent about it.

[John S. Damm]

Nov 30, 2010 17:33:38 GMT -5 acebackwords said:

Spector really ruined that Rocknroll album. It wreaks of misery and sluggishness, like it was made on the downside of a drinking binge instead of at the peak of the creamy high.

ALways liked that first solo album by Macca. Something fresh and innocent about it.

I think at least half of it was produced by John after he got the tapes back. Some of the songs clearly bear the heavyhand of Phil but I thought that one half or more of the songs were salvaged and produced just by John.

I'll have to check that.

ace, if you could get your hands on the 2004 remixed and remastered version, it comes to life very nicely.

[joeyself]

Three of the songs were produced by Spector: "You Can't Catch Me," "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Bony Moronie."

JcS

[acebackwords]

Dec 7, 2010 16:00:49 GMT -5 joeyself said:

Three of the songs were produced by Spector: "You Can't Catch Me," "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Bony Moronie."

JcS

My understanding was that Lennon was able to salvage about half of the Spector tracks and that he dashed off the other tracks during the Walls & Bridges sessions, but I defer to your numbers.

Too bad about that album, it was such a great idea. At the time Lennon was tired of being a serious artist, tired of the burden of being brilliant, and just wanted to rocknroll for awhile. So he gave Spector "total control" of the sessions -- a fatal mistake with an insane control freak like Spector. John told Spector he just wanted to be the singer and wanted Spector to treat him just like he had treated his girl singers back in his hay day. (Maybe John should have checked with Ronnie Spector about the abuse she was meted out before he made this agreement with old Phil) Oh well, the best laid plans of mice and men . . .

P.S. Thanks for the tip, John. I'd love to get my hands on the remixed, remastered version. Glad to hear they salvaged something from the project.

[joeyself]

I got my info quickly today from Wikipedia, but I've found it to be a good source for things of this nature. More details--which do not contradict what I said earlier--are here: www.jpgr.co.uk/pcs7169.html

JcS