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11.39am
10 May 2011
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I looove that song.
It nearly makes me cry.
What are your thougts about the songs?
Anyway… I love that song, also the singalong.
It reminds me of my childhood, when I was at my cousins house.
(They had much junk).
My Music Blog.
One and one don't make two
One and one make one.
12.04pm
19 September 2010
Offline I prefer the Anthology 3 version, but a great song.
As if it matters how a man falls down.'
'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.
7.36pm
4 December 2010
Offline I also greatly prefer the Beatles version.
I told her I didn’t
9.15pm
4 September 2010
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Yeah, the Anthology version has a much nicer ambience to it. Something about the song makes me incredibly emotional though. A certain je ne sais quoi.
You all will have read that Dave Dee is no longer with us. But Mickey and Titch and I would like to carry on the good work that's always gone down in number two.
9.13am
1 May 2011
Offline I think Junk's a really good song, and I like how Paul sings it!
Daniel love Trix bunny. Kids mean to bunny. They no give bunny cereal.
11.45am
10 May 2011
Offline Daniel said:
I think Junk's a really good song, and I like how Paul sings it!
Yes, my friend.
He sings it soooooooo gently.
My Music Blog.
One and one don't make two
One and one make one.
3.08am
22 July 2011
Offline A Macca Masterpiece.
6.20pm
1 December 2009
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Wonderfully melancholy melody on this one. Especially the piano part in “Singalong Junk”, that can bring a tear to your eye all by itself if you’re in the right (wrong) mood! The high point of the solo debut (after “Maybe I’m Amazed “) for me, for sure.
GEORGE: In fact, The Detroit Sound. JOHN: In fact, yes. GEORGE: In fact, yeah. Tamla-Motown artists are our favorites. The Miracles. JOHN: We like Marvin Gaye. GEORGE: The Impressions PAUL & GEORGE: Mary Wells. GEORGE: The Exciters. RINGO: Chuck Jackson. JOHN: To name but eighty.
11.34pm
7 February 2014
Offline Agree that junk is a beautiful melody.
They should have put it on the White Album IMHO.
5.29pm
3 May 2012
Offline I don’t really understand why they didn’t bearing in mind some of the crap they did put on there….
Moving along in our God given ways, safety is sat by the fire/Sanctuary from these feverish smiles, left with a mark on the door.
(Passover - I. Curtis)
7.53pm
1 November 2012
Offline 
Interesting, three BBers (not to be confused with Biebers) above said they liked the Anthology 3 version of “Junk” better — but I could not disagree more. I think some people like the feel of human messiness and spontaneity (which the Anthology 3 version has) more than the slick perfectionism of music refined in a studio after numerous rehearsals and re-recordings (and we know Paul was infamous for being preoccupied by that process).
When one compares the two versions, one sees (or hears) the process Paul must have gone through, where the Anthology 3 version shows him still diddling and experimenting with his “la da da” scat singing parts and acoustic guitar noodling; while apparently by the time of the McCartney version, he had got that down pat and had the best form of it in his mind to record as the final. I happen to be a musician who appreciates that perfectionism that Paul was concerned with (similarly shared by other musicians I like — Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon). Also, the final version has perfected a mood of utter sedate calm, almost zen-like, almost like being at a remove from a living memory through the medium of an old black-and-white photograph, which I think is essential for that song and its vague ambiance.
Another thing about “Junk”, while I’ve got you on the line, is that the “la da da” scat part he does (twice I think) on the McCartney final version is quite musically inspired and almost reminds me of a Mozart melody.
Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...
8.57pm
3 August 2014
Offline I think the words are cute and the melody gets me in a kind of relaxed melodic way but what I really like is the guitar. I just love the playing and the sound he gets. I can hear he has a second guitar overdubbed at the very end but I think the whole thing is just sublime.
11.09pm
1 November 2012
Offline Yes, the acoustic guitar playing is excellent in Junk; it’s one of too few songs where Paul showed off his finger-picking ability (Blackbird , Mother Nature’s Son , Heart Of The Country , 3 Legs ; I can’t think of any others offhand…).
The sound of the guitar in Junk to me sounds like he didn’t record until the strings were broken in and sounded “used” — unlike his later uses of acoustic guitar in later albums, where it always sounds brand new and crisp. I prefer the “used” sound, myself.
Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...
12.30am
3 June 2014
Offline I love this track. I really like Linda’s backing vocals on it, the guitar playing is superb, and it overall has a great melody. This is probably my second favorite on McCartney.
If you're lonely (or not!), you can talk to me. .....Hey! Are you a new member on this fine forum and don't know where to go to introduce yourself?
Well, you can do it here! Dig it?
8.17am
15 May 2014
Offline I love it guys. It’s an amazing melancholic melody matched by great, intelligent lyrics. I prefer the McCartney version simply because it brings me back to my teens. Not many people talk about this little known masterpiece.
“Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit” (“Perhaps one day it will be a pleasure to look back on even this”; Virgil, The Aeneid, Book 1, line 203, where Aeneas says this to his men after the shipwreck that put them on the shores of Africa)
9.03am
3 August 2014
Offline Funny Paper said
The sound of the guitar in Junk to me sounds like he didn’t record until the strings were broken in and sounded “used” — unlike his later uses of acoustic guitar in later albums, where it always sounds brand new and crisp. I prefer the “used” sound, myself.
Yes I agree. He also often tunes down (like on Yesterday ) so you can hear the slapping and buzzing of the looser strings. I love the sound he gets.
I wonder if anyone else can confirm this- If you tune up from his solo bottom E on the intro to Mother Natures Son, it’s clear he has it just slightly lower than standard tuning but the top E appears to be flatter in comparison to the others. I don’t know if this top E thing is my ears or my guitar! Needless to say it sounds fab 
10.37pm
1 November 2012
Offline Sugarplum fairy said
Funny Paper said
The sound of the guitar in Junk to me sounds like he didn’t record until the strings were broken in and sounded “used” — unlike his later uses of acoustic guitar in later albums, where it always sounds brand new and crisp. I prefer the “used” sound, myself.Yes I agree. He also often tunes down (like on Yesterday ) so you can hear the slapping and buzzing of the looser strings. I love the sound he gets.
I wonder if anyone else can confirm this- If you tune up from his solo bottom E on the intro to Mother Natures Son, it’s clear he has it just slightly lower than standard tuning but the top E appears to be flatter in comparison to the others. I don’t know if this top E thing is my ears or my guitar! Needless to say it sounds fab
I’m a little confused by your description: your “but” implies a difference, but isn’t “lower” the same as “flatter”? If they are, that means you’re saying Paul might be tuning both the bass E string and the high E string slightly looser/lower. Also, since the song is mainly in D, I’m pretty sure he tunes his bass E string all the way down to sound a D note (but that could be further flatted slightly if you’re right). Not sure why Paul would do that, other than to get a slightly “sour” effect.
On another song — “Only One More Kiss” (from Red Rose Speedway ) — that has what seems to be four guitars:
him fingerpicking an electric guitar to sound like an acoustic guitar (sort of country style)
a second electric guitar layered over also picking stuff
a third electric guitar strumming
an acoustic guitar strumming (I could be wrong about the inclusion of this fourth guitar)
It sounds to me like all the guitars are ever so slightly out of tune with each other, and yet it couldn’t possibly be that Paul just was sloppy and didn’t have his instruments tuned; so I conclude that he did this on purpose — and the point is, it works!
Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...
10.47pm
1 November 2012
Offline P.S.: I forgot to mention that while Paul’s choice to be slightly off-key in “Only One More Kiss” is great for listening to it, it pretty much ruins my ability to play along on my own guitar without compounding the off-key effect so much it no longer sounds good (Lord knows I’ve tried many times to approximate it). Same problem I have, incidentally, with the ukelele-dominated song “Ram On “.
Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...
11.16pm
3 August 2014
Offline Funny Paper said
I’m a little confused by your description: your “but” implies a difference, but isn’t “lower” the same as “flatter”? If they are, that means you’re saying Paul might be tuning both the bass E string and the high E string slightly looser/lower. Also, since the song is mainly in D, I’m pretty sure he tunes his bass E string all the way down to sound a D note (but that could be further flatted slightly if you’re right). Not sure why Paul would do that, other than to get a slightly “sour” effect.
I meant to imply a difference. He has the bottom E only slightly lower (nowhere near as low as D though) From there all the strings are in tune (relative to each other) until the top E which is tuned flatter still. It’s all fairly slight but as far as I can see, anyone that tries to simply match the bottom E and tune from that will find their top E higher than Paul’s (and not sounding as nice). It’s a mystery to me!
I have a little tuner which should have helped but it shows Pauls bottom E as just a bit below E. In fact, in Nowhere Land! It seems to me he just tuned it by ear and then deliberately dropped the top E until it sounded nice!
If anyone else has a guitar and the White Album can they see what they make of it?
11.33pm
22 December 2013
Offline Haha, you’re all a bunch of freaks! The song is exactly what the name implies: JUNK! At best it’s, “on par” with ‘I Will ‘ (the low point of the ‘White Album ‘, in my opinion), but it’s still JUNK!
Funny Paper said
The sound of the guitar in Junk to me sounds like he didn’t record until the strings were broken in and sounded “used” — unlike his later uses of acoustic guitar in later albums, where it always sounds brand new and crisp. I prefer the “used” sound, myself.
Don’t discount the evolution of microphones during these times, the “later albums” utilized microphones with considerable expanded frequency ranges (‘Early Days ‘ would be an “extreme” example) which account for the bulk of the “brand new and crisp” fidelity (not to mention that the ‘McCartney’ version utilizes modest gear, on a Studer 4-Track I believe). I agree on preferring the “broken in” sound, but much of the credit has to go to the evolving technology of the input devices. Paul’s playing hasn’t really changed that much on the “later albums”, but merely “sounds like it”. Apologies for expressing my personal opinion here on a public Beatles’ forum, but thank God that this wasn’t included on the ‘White Album ‘, it’s one of those many McCartney tunes that sound, to my ears anyway, that Paul spent a minimal amount of time (9 minutes perhaps to keep John off his back?) while performing the ‘Morning Ritual’ (Talking to God on the Porcelain Phone, although perhaps not the case in Rishikesh!) because he wanted to take the rest of the day off. Including this on the ‘White Album ‘ would’ve been like sandwiching ‘World Without Love’ between timeless classics such as ‘No Reply ‘ & ‘I’m A Loser ‘ on the great ‘Beatles For Sale ‘ LP for the sake of “Quantity over Quality”, ‘Junk’ belongs alongside the other scraps found on the ‘McCartney’ album, absolutely the right call to leave it off the ‘White Album ‘…:-)
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