Take a slightly above average song, throw in some harmonic touches that would make The Beach Boys jealous and tie it all together with a sound like no other — and that is one way to create a memorable classic. — Recording Notes Think for Yourself was written by George Harrison. The lyrics are a departure from the sunny-love lyrics that were more typical of the times. Harrison himself had described the song as targeting something or somebody, although he would claimed to not remember the target of his wrath. Still, I see…

It has often been assumed that the Grimm Brothers recorded their tales with a lofty moral in mind. However, The Idiot Son doesn’t appear to hide any deeper meaning. At best it is a form of 18th century low comedy. Never more than half as clever as any Three Stooges short, one has to wonder if perhaps it inspired the Farrelly Brothers film, Dumb and Dumber. — Disclaimer: In re-imagining Grimm Brother’s tales into Gnarly-Tree English we hope to scrub the tales of bigotry, freshen up the telling and perhaps restore some of the removed sex. We’ll see how well this works.

A would-be bluesy classic that evolved into the classic upbeat tune of 1964. — Recording Notes Can’t Buy Me Love was written primarily by Paul McCartney in Paris, January 1964. There is still some discussion as to how much John Lennon contributed this song, however Lennon himself had described Can’t Buy Me Love as a Paul song. Recording took place in Pathé Marconi Studios…

In a generally unpleasant village one unpleasant individual just might be slightly less unpleasant than them all. — Intro: In translating Grimm Brother’s tales into Gnarly-Tree English we hope to scrub the tales of bigotry, freshen up the telling and perhaps restore some of the removed sex. We’ll see how well this works. The first tale features an unlikely hero who, by most measures, should be despised. …

A classic throwaway or the perfect encapsulation of a place in time? — Recording Notes Little Child might seem like a simple song but it too almost 20 takes to satisfy The Beatles. For that reason the recording Little Child-ReMaster took place over several weeks, spanning from September to October 1963. (Click on the link to hear the remastered version.) Little Child was…

The 2nd Amendment has always been open to interpretation. It was designed that way. — The Gotcha Offense Do you support the constitution? This might sound good as an opening line for a grade-school debate class but it’s hardly adequate for addressing the creative liberties taken by the Supreme Court with the current interpretation of the 2nd amendment. In The Year 1788 In 1788 representatives of the colonies came together to form…

The new-car smell may be gone but the shiny flesh-colored computer still maintains its firm grasp as my workhorse machine. Now that I’m no longer blinded by the brilliance of its newness perhaps I can look back over the change a little more critically. — No Hard Feelings I didn’t ditch Windows; it ditched me — sort of. It was that sometimes frustrating cycle of continuous updates that likely outpaced my old, faithful, and reasonably priced gap-PC.

A diamond in the rough or an unrealized masterpiece? — Recording Notes By most accounts I’ll Get You was recorded on July 1st 1963. Given that EMI had no idea that the guitar band they were recording might someday be considered significant, it’s probably understandable that tracking the comings and goings of what was still a flash-in-the-pan band was not a priority. …

For some Republicans in Washington it was an important victory, In the otherwise smoke-free capital city they can now enjoy their cigars inside. It was all about freedom, or so they said regarding a return to a time when 9 out of 10 doctors endorsed a brand of cigarette. — The Smell of Freedom What it really was about was misdirection. The concept is simple. Throw crap at the walls faster than it can be washed away. Eventually something will stick.