Madam Adam conjures forth a debut album thick with stadium-worthy anthems recalling the brightest spots of the Seattle grunge movement, the sexual bombast of ’70s AM radio rock and the exuberance of four people who live, breathe and devour music.
Influenced by the writing style of Bob Dylan, “It’s just basically John doing Dylan” as Paul McCartney said, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” was recorded and released on the Beatles’ 1965 album Help. The song was also the first Beatles’ song that featured an outside musician sitting in with the band, in this case it was John Scott on Tenor and Alto Flutes. The lyrics of the song have been linked to the band’s manager Brian Epstein, who was a closeted homosexual and homosexuality was a criminal offense in Britain at the time.
Arobas Music has recently released the latest edition of their famous guitar tablature scoring software, Guitar Pro 6, and it’s better than ever. Guitar Pro 6 comes with all the features of the previously released versions, but also has many new features and options, that I can’t wait to dig in.
When I was asked to review the Taylor GS8e, aka Grand Symphony, I jumped at the opportunity. I knew the first song that I was going to play on this beauty would need to be fitting for the moment; the song that came rushing to my head was “Norwegian Wood” by the Beatles, a great acoustic song for a memorable occasion.
Written and released on the 1965 album Help, “Yesterday” is not only one of the Beatles’ most loved hits, it is also cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the song with the most cover versions ever recorded with over 1600 recorded versions in existence. BMI has also stated that the song had been performed more than 7 million times in the 20th century alone. Though the song was never released as a single, and therefore could not achieve number one status, it was names as the Number 1 song of the 20th century by a recent BBC 2 poll.
Written by George Harrison, featuring a guitar solo by Blues-Rock legend Eric Clapton, and released on their highly-successful 1968 album The Beatles, otherwise known as the White Album, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” has been mentioned in many lists of the greatest rock songs of all time as well as in the Top 10 Beatles songs ever written. Harrison found inspiration from the I-Ching when writing the song, as he described realizing that everything in Eastern philosophy is based on the concept that things are related to each other, rather than the Western philosophy that things are just coincidental.
The first Beatles song written by George Harrison to appear on the A-side of a single, “Something” would also appear on the band’s highly successful 1969 album Abbey Road. The song was also the only George Harrison written single to top the charts while he was still a member of the Beatles. As well as receiving critical acclaim from critics and fans alike, and topping the American charts, the song was also praised by both John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the band’s principal songwriters, as one of the best songs that Harrison had ever written as well as one of the best songs that the band had ever produced.
Mostly written by Paul McCartney, except the middle eight bars which were written by John Lennon, “Michelle” is one of the Beatles’ most-loved ballads. The song is rare in that some of the lyrics are written in French, and after winning the Grammy for “Song of the Year” in 1966, it has become one of the Beatles’ biggest hits in France. Originally inspired by Chet Atkins’ song “Trambone,” “Michelle” was a departure musically for the Beatles as they leaned in a country, finger-picking style for the song’s guitar part. Because of this, the song stands out as unique both lyrically and musically in the Beatles catalogue.
One band that many veteran metal heads feel should have hit the big time was New York’s The Rods. Comprised of members David “Rock” Feinstein (guitar/lead vocals), Garry Bordonaro (bass/vocals), and Carl Canedy (drums/vocals), The Rods would go on to open arena shows for such renowned groups as Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, the Scorpions, Rainbow and during the mid ’80s, even had a then-unknown Metallica opening a headlining tour for them.
Recorded in 1963, as the A-side along with “I Saw Her Standing There,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was the first single to be made by the band using a four-track tape machine. The song was the first chart-topping single for the Beatles, and the song that is often credited with fully launching the British Invasion of American, that had been slowly gaining momentum up until this time. After a million copies of the single were preordered even before the single was released, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” is still the biggest selling single of the Beatles’ long and successful career.
