Tune of the Day

@slaw, my main attraction to Mary Gauthier is in her honesty, vulnerability, and all-around pathos. I mentioned the turnaround (also called tag ending) she employed in "After You’re Gone" just as evidence of her also having a good understanding of classic Pop song construction and songwriting technique (to create and achieve a desired emotional response in the listener). Brian Wilson she is not (he’s about the most sophisticated in those terms of all the Rock ’n’ Roll songwriters), but then he doesn’t have her abilities either (lyrically, of course, but also as a singer).

I’m a much bigger fan of Lennon & McCartney together than either alone. They really were an excellent team, and the music of each imo greatly benefitted from the influence of the other. That’s one reason I liked them less and less in their final couple of years, after they had stopped writing together (post-Rubber Soul). But I really like the first couple McCartney solo albums, and none of Lennon’s. They also became less and less a good band, as a performing combo. They were a young Rock ’n’ Roll band (my God, George Harrison was 20 years old at the time of Meet The Beatles!) who became a Pop group. By the time of their last few years, I had moved on (I liked other writers more, and other bands---as a group of musicians---as well). I have no use for Magical Mystery Tour (true, not a real album. I have the UK double 7" EP version), Get Back/Hey Jude is just awful, and though going out on Abbey Road was an improvement, for some reason I just don’t like it. Most others seem to like it, so it’s not them (The Beatles), it’s me!