Beatles Marathon 4
(The White Album, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road & Let it Be)
The Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto
August 29, 2008
by Live Music Head
“I’m waiting for you in the parking lot across from the Phoenix”, says Hilarie Morin
“Wait till you see this car!”, I tell her
As Donnie and I drive east along Bloor St
We risk the rain but the weather is too lovely
To not have the black top down
Listening to Beatle tunes on our way to the show
Feeling pretty special riding in the passenger seat
Of a 2005 charcoal-silver BMW two-seater Z4 sports car convertible!
From my earliest memories
My brother was always nuts about cars
And he’s probably had every damn car on the market since 1970
But never one as nice as this
Coming home from work earlier
I saw Donnie from a distance sitting on my front porch waiting for me
My excitement grew as I got closer to see the new car parked in my drive
“Will you teach me to drive in this car”, I ask my older brother
“No!”, Hilarie overhears on the other end
“That was a pretty quick answer,” she says laughing
Hanging up our cell phones as we pull into the Green P alongside Hilarie
She immediately spreads herself across the front windshield exclaiming
“oh you must love your car
Do you tell your car you love it every day?”
Hilarie Morin you are funny
But enough about cars
“Hilarie, do you know your husband rocks?
“He f*&king rocks you know!”
I think she knows this
Planting herself flat up against stage right directly below Martyville
At almost every CAL show her husband’s a part of
Yes I think she knows he rocks
Pulling up to the bar
Hilarie and I talk about the female fire in a mid-life crisis
As the muscle-clad bartender in a tank top serves us vodka soda lemon
And a Marlon Brando Stella! from A Streetcar Named Desire
I tell her, “I’m forty fucking five
And for the last two weeks I’ve watched an incredible amount of Nip/Tuck!”
Causing me to dream about breast implants, face lifts and personal trainers
But enough of that
Having found our little group of musical friends over to the right of the stage
My friend Tony hands me a home-made Beatles boxed set
Of the obscure, various takes and alternates to all the Beatle songs we love
How cool is that?
Luke, Donnie, Tanya, Tony, Hilarie and myself are all there
As the band nails Glass Onion
And hats off to the strings that finished it off
The White Album is my favourite Beatle record
And the one that started my love affair with Classic Albums Live
I believe this performance marks the twelfth time I’ve seen CAL play it since 2003
The horn section was so great in Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da
But it’s Wild Honey Pie I want
And the band did it for us so well, yet again
It may sound strange
But Wild Honey Pie is one of my three favourite tracks from the album
“So Captain Marvel zapped in right between the eyes, zap!,
All the children sing”
I use to always say, “every band should have a percussionist”
Now I say, “every band should have a Marty”
With Alex McMaster playing mummy on 'Not when he looked so fierce'
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill never sounded so good
I loved the clapping to separate Bungalow Bill from My Guitar Gently Weeps
And as Marty played great sticks
Russell Gray really did give a great guitar solo for the popular Harrison tune
“I need a fix 'cause I'm going down
Down to the bits that I left uptown”
And a fix Doug Inglis gives as he rocks on the drum kit
Marcus Garrison gives a great start to Martha My Dear
And Joe Power sings I’m So Tired
Tired?
He sure will be at the end of this show
Mike Daley and Marty are the only ones on stage for Blackbird
And they play it perfectly
Before Marcus brings in Piggies and Joe shows us how to snort real good
Don’t Pass Me By was a helluva lot of fun
And then Marty does it in the road
While I think I see Hilarie still standing below him
My second favourite track of the album comes up
And it sends all my hair standing on end
Yer Blues was the first big highlight of the night for me
I loved it
What fantastic guitar work by Mike Daley and Russell Gray
I absolutely loved it as I stood there mesmerized
And remembering that great clip of this same song in Rock and Roll Circus
With John, Keith Richard, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell playing it
Yer Blues is the greatest most depressing song ever written
And I absolutely love it
Me, My Monkey and Marty rocks
And another hair raiser as the crowd responds to the great energy on stage
Loved the “wah wah wah” and “see see see” back up on Sexy Sadie
And the hell-raising Helter Skelter
How could any crowd of music fans not go nuts to this one
With Marty Morin at the helm?
It’s a no-brainer that will f%$king rock, and it did
But now it’s time for my third favourite from the record
Long Long Long
And although I’m missing Greg Wyard on this one
Joe Power sings it lovely
I’m loving it
When Vanessa appears to my left
Bearing gifts
It appears my birthday week has been extended
When she hands me the most adorable little gift bag and card
Inside?
I have to wait till the end of Long Long Long first
And when Vanessa returns from the ladies room
I open the little draw strings to discover
A Beatle ring!
How adorable is that?
Ha!
And I love it
“now she’s hit the big time”
How incredibly thoughtful of Vanessa Lee, 100% Beatlemaniac
And the horn section hits me the most in Savoy Truffle
Before I have to ask…
Has everyone dropped their LSD?
Because it’s time for Revolution 9 and it’s gonna get real wierd
But I never heard the line “like being naked”
What happened to that? Did I miss it somehow?
I had to giggle watching Joe sing “ride! ride!”
Or is it “rise”?
Images of the Manson murders still come to mind when I hear it, unfortunately
Doug Inglis puts the finishing touch on the record with a sweet Good Night
Before Northern Song comes out with a great trumpet
To be followed by a slew of other perfectly played great songs…
All Together Now! to the delight of the audience
Bulldog
It’s All Too Much
Don’t Let Me Down
Old Brown Shoe
And groovy Joe Power bass on The Ballad of John and Yoko
Marty and Doug switch it up at the start of Abbey Road
And my second highlite of the night comes with
I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
My favourite song from Abbey Road
And I felt it through my entire body
Loved it, loved it, loved it
Thanks for that!
Mean Mister Mustard drums
And Mike Daley almost made me weep in Carry that Weight
Almost
But no time for tears because…
You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)
Separates Abbey Road from Let it Be
And oh my god!
This is definitely a big big highlight
Highlight number 3
I’ve been waiting for this since the last Marathon
And when Daley took the mic from the stand to sing hand-held
Like a lounge singer
I thought I would wet my pants
Absolutely hilarious and I loved every bloody second of it
Thanks so much for that blast of silliness boys
Do it more!
Having to drive all the way back to Mount Hope
Donnie has to leave now
So I guess I won’t be getting a ride home in that awesome
2005 charcoal-silver BMW two-seater Z4 sports car convertible
Instead I got caught up in chatter on my way to the can
When I finally found Bill and Vicki at the beginnings of the Let it Be record
Friends who I usually find at David Rotundo and Jerome Godboo gigs
But who have jumped on the CAL bandwagon this past year
Vicki tells me she’s been flooded with memories all night long
Of “all the sex I had listening to these records” when they were originally released
But looking at her sexiness now
Somehow I think she’s still having lots
She’s a hot mama with Bill at her side
And he looks totally blown away by the show
It’s so great they’re here enjoying this band as much as I am
And I think I helped detain them a little longer
From their early departure to Pickering
Having to work in the morning they can’t stay till the end
When Vicki says (to my horror) “I really don’t like the song Let it Be”
So I thought they would have left then
But suddenly I saw Vicki enthusiastically singing along to Let it Be
Reminding me of my love-hate for Hey Jude
My favourite from Let it Be would have to be I Dig A Pony
And the band did it very well
But Mike Daley really had me close to tears again with
Long and Winding Road
It was so beautiful
So absolutely beautiful
Dr Daley looked pretty tired by this album and showing some eye strain
But I just love watching him perform
The intensity, the focus, the intelligence and the humour are all clear on his face
And he never seems to make a mistake
My other favourite from this record is George Harrison’s For You Blue
With thoughts coming to mind of an ex-boyfriend
Who is also a musician
He use to sing and play this song for me
And although we parted for good… a long time ago
How can I not have fond memories of this song?
It’s beautiful
I never did find my friend Jon
Who was the one who sent that text last week
But just knowing he was there is cool
Because the feedback I got from his first CAL experience
Last week at Beatle Marathon 3 was…
“I sent the text Lisa
Neglected to sign it though!
Good review
I was totally blown away by this show
A Day In The Life was amazing!”
And a new CAL fan was born
With the final cut of Get Back
The words “on behalf of the group I hope we passed the audition” are spoken
And holy mother of god
Did this band ever pass the audition
You are so hired!
Lovely to chat with some folks after the show
And just when I thought I really need to get out of this place
Having spent a considerable amount of time in the Phoenix this summer
I suddenly spot Greg Wyard hanging out over by the stage
What a wonderful surprise!
I always miss him at every CAL Beatle band show
But here he is, unfortunately arriving after the show ended
But perfectly charming
Just to show his love and support for all involved with CAL
Now that was a sweet end to the fourth and final round
Of Greg Wyard’s original idea for Classic Albums Live
To perform every Beatle song live, note for note, cut for cut
In chronological order
The Beatle Marathon was a massive musical undertaking
And a completely insane idea
So everyone reading this right now
Grab your drink and let us all cyber toast
A toast to completely insane ideas
And to every single person involved with Classic Albums Live
We love you
Cheers!
http://www.classicalbumslive.com/
