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5.35pm
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1 May 2011
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Talking of harmonies those in Here, There And Everywhere .
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
9.44pm
15 September 2012
Offline Oh, I LOVE this topic, glad I peeked in while it’s recent.
I had heard John’s original home recording of ‘Free As A Bird ‘ about a year before the Anthology special and release of the final version. It was horrendous, a very muddled recording, and John sounded like he’d just got out of bed and sat at the piano, so I was very dubious as to how Jeff Lynne and the other Beatles were going to enhance it.
When I first heard the song debut the first night of Anthology, I was impressed and disappointed at the same time- the music was very competent, the overall production seemed adequate, but Paul’s contribution seemed kind of lethargic, more subdued than I had hoped it would be. And then George’s part comes in.
The instant when George starts with “Whatever happened to…,” I start getting chills. On his third line, when his voice gets that aching, almost crying sound when he hits “..so-uhu-oh” – goosebumps in a split-second – and then the duo effect of the word “free-ee-ee” and that wailing first note of the slide guitar beginning that incredible break- I get this overwhelming chill over my entire body, enough to make my eyes well up to where I’m wiping away a tear or two by the end of his solo, every single time I hear it.
To me, ‘Free As A Bird’ doesn’t begin to sound like a full-fledge Beatles‘ song until George’s part begins, and then I remember so many great George moments that I usually don’t think of: the ominous, dramatic solo in ‘Fixing A Hole ‘, all minor notes played in a flowing, dream-like fashion, as if they’re just coming to his mind as they’re being played; the lovely, melodic and smooth run of the classical guitar in the break of ‘Til There Was You’; and my all-time favorite, the blistering solo George rips through with a vengeance in ‘Hey Bulldog ‘, which has me whooping and hollering just like John and Paul are throughout – God , I never get tired of hearing it!
I have six dozen and one-half more favorite “fragments” I could think of in an instant, but I wanted to single out George for this reply, just as crucial to The Beatles‘ iconic sound as John and Paul ever were.
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lennonflower, Sexy Sadie, oldfannz10.12pm
1 May 2010
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I’ve been listening every day Strawberry Fields Forever as a mantra, and my new favorite bit is “It’s hard to be someone but it all works out”.. the way John sings it like shrugging his shoulders… I love it. 
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oldfannzHere comes the sun….. Scoobie-doobie……
Something in the way she moves…..attracts me like a cauliflower…
Bop. Bop, cat bop. Go, Johnny, Go.
Beware of Darkness…
6.31pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline Wildcat said
‘Free As A Bird ‘The instant when George starts with “Whatever happened to…,” I start getting chills. On his third line, when his voice gets that aching, almost crying sound when he hits “..so-uhu-oh” – goosebumps in a split-second – and then the duo effect of the word “free-ee-ee” and that wailing first note of the slide guitar beginning that incredible break- I get this overwhelming chill over my entire body, enough to make my eyes well up to where I’m wiping away a tear or two by the end of his solo, every single time I hear it.
What a great post – I hadn’t considered this song when I was thinking of all the “grabs”.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
9.24pm
14 February 2012
Offline annab93 said
I also love the emotion in John’s voice in “Girl.” It’s gorgeous.
Oh my goodness, YES! His vocals in that song is what ultimately makes it one of my favorites. 
I’ve often contemplated whether I would consider “Girl” or “God ” to be his best piece of work in terms of vocal performance, but it still remains a toss-up…
I know this one is fairly obvious, but the biggest song fragment that gets me is from “This Boy “:
*Oh, and This Boy would be happy just to love you,
But oh my-y-y-y!
That boy won’t be happy
‘Til he’s seen you cry-y-y-y!*
Chills every time, man. It just cuts through ya.
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lennonflower"I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know? I'm just one of those people."
9.26pm
19 September 2010
Offline Dipsy said
I know this one is fairly obvious, but the biggest song fragment that gets me is from “This Boy “:
*Oh, and This Boy would be happy just to love you,
But oh my-y-y-y!
That boy won’t be happy
‘Til he’s seen youcry-y-y-y!*
Chills every time, man. It just cuts through ya.
I. Hate. You. I was just getting ready to say that.
As if it matters how a man falls down.'
'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.
9.30pm
14 February 2012
Offline mr. Sun king coming together said
Dipsy said
I know this one is fairly obvious, but the biggest song fragment that gets me is from “This Boy “:
*Oh, and This Boy would be happy just to love you,
But oh my-y-y-y!
That boy won’t be happy
‘Til he’s seen youcry-y-y-y!*
Chills every time, man. It just cuts through ya.
I. Hate. You. I was just getting ready to say that.
View it more as me saving you the effort. 
We always end up doing this…lol.
"I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know? I'm just one of those people."
12.44am
15 September 2012
Offline I had been waiting for someone to get to that one! I thought of ‘This Boy ‘, like, days before
Naw, that one never crossed my mind, actually,
but it reminds me of “..You’re gonna saay you love me, too-oo-oo-oo-oo-oohh, oh, ohh..”
This is fun!
Hey Zig, I had been watching the HBO ‘Living In The Material World ‘ doc The Night Before (see what I did?), and I saw the Title in the Credits. I thought of ‘Wildcat’ when I first posted because it was playing random from my Beatles Media Library while I was browsing & I had to pull up the screen to remember the name! It ain’t no “scrambled eggs”-level of genius, but thanks for the reply!
6.20am
25 September 2012
Offline The very first thing I ever remembered about Abbey Road was the “ahhhh” harmonies during that bridge in “You Never Give Me Your Money “. I am still blown away every time I hear it, and George’s ringing guitar and John’s solo only add to it. You could almost have an entire topic debating what are the best harmonies they ever did haha, and I would almost definitely vote for that part.
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knethen2226.27pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline Wildcat said
Hey Zig, I had been watching the HBO ‘Living In The Material World ‘ doc The Night Before (see what I did?), and I saw the Title in the Credits. I thought of ‘Wildcat’ when I first posted because it was playing random from my Beatles Media Library while I was browsing & I had to pull up the screen to remember the name! It ain’t no “scrambled eggs”-level of genius, but thanks for the reply!
The master of subtlty. Nice!
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
9.37pm
23 July 2012
Offline The moment in I Want You (She’s so Heavy) when they all go into the harmonies, saying “Heavy, Heavy, Heaaaavvvvvyyy!!!!”
Awesome.
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Blistered Fingers“I was special. I always have been. Why didn't anyone notice me?"
-John Lennon
10.09pm
25 September 2012
Offline 
I have a lot of favorite Beatles fragments.
The first that comes to mind is Ringo’s double bass drum kicks on “Another Girl “:
“I don’t want to say that I’ve been…unhappy with you” (boom-boom)
also George’s guitar solo at the end.
When John’s double-tracked vocal at far right soundstage on the verses of “Hey Bulldog “
switches to stereo for choruses, also that little left channel “yeh?” after he sings “Big man..”
Mal Evans counting off bars for the final orchestral crescendo overdub on “A Day In The Life .”
The short outgroove noise fragment on the original British LP version of this song.
The quiet “she’s a bïtch” at the top of “Revolution 9 .” It’s a conversation that goes:
“I forgot all about it George, I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?” “Nyes..” and then, etc.
Also, John’s “Nnnh-DAH!” on this sound collage.
We’re talking original LP mixes here. I don’t do CDs much. They sound dead to me,
but that’s another girl.
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Blistered Fingers11.55pm
15 September 2012
Offline I’m not usually a monophonic snob, but those wiiide-spread channels on a lot of Beatles‘ songs irritate me, especially the rockers like “Paperback Writer ” and “Day Tripper ,” but most especially “Hey Bulldog .” Not trying to be contrary, Because there’s an excellent stereo remix of this I’ve heard on a bootleg, but it was from the 80’s; the original George Martin stereo version sounds like the YouTube video of John and Paul recording overdubs looks: like they’re about half a block away from the instrumental tracks. The stereo of “Paperback Writer ” is the same, all vocals on the right and music on the left, “Day Tripper ” not quite as bad.
The one LP where all that separation might possibly have worked, ‘Sgt Pepper ‘, was ruined in its stereo mix, like ‘White Album ‘, but they’re worse because the actual speed of the songs are slower than on the mono versions. All these years I’ve read about it and thought it was an exaggeration, but listen to the stereo version of “She’s Leaving Home ” as compared to the mono for the best example” the song draaagggs in stereo so badly I want it to just end already, but it sounds almost like it’s been switched to 45rpm when you hear the mono! Almost as bad as ‘The White Album ‘ – “Martha My Dear ,” “Back In The USSR ,” all of them.
Before the remastered Mono CD’s came out, you could sell a mono ‘White Album ‘ hundreds of dollars, LP or CD.
2.48am
3 September 2012
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I like the high-notes on I Should Have Known Better . I also like the bass fragments on I’m Only Sleeping . My favorite song fragments tend to me shorter or longer. I like parts on Things We Said Today when he’s either getting off-track on his double-tracking, or you can hear an echo especially well. It sort-of emphasizes his lyrics. I can’t really think of every single one off the top of my head.
Please don't wake me, no don't shake me, leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping~.
3.22am
15 September 2012
Offline Not really a “fragment,” nor ever officially released, but the 17-minute ‘studio talk’ from the “Think For Yourself ” rehearsals has so many funny “fragments” throughout (John, barely audible in the background, singing “Do you want to suck a penis, doo-dah-doo”;) with pretend ‘old-people’ arguments (Paul: “If you look in your BIBLE..”) and cutting up, you could spread them out between songs on an entire CD.
It’s a crime that it wasn’t added to the Anthology collection.
4.50am
25 September 2012
Offline Here’s a few more fragments.
Right after John’s last “Strawbery FI-elds forever,” Ringo’s brilliant drum work
set against a flown-in cello. I think it’s his shining moment, for those drums sing!
On the original intentionally out-of-phase LP mix of “Only A Northern Song ,”
the short instrumental break where we repeatedly hear three foot taps (?) and an
odd “whiii” noise (taptaptap whiii, taptaptap whiii, taptaptap whiii, taptaptap whiii)
as an organ plays the simple melody in chords.
The chorister who keeps shouting out “Buffalo Bill” instead of “Bungalow Bill.”
The engineer blowing a left-channel shut down on Paul’s double-tracked vocal
for the first verse of “Eleanor Rigby .” It goes: “Eleanuh…” and he vanishes.
John’s jolly “Welcome to Slagger’s” on “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number).”
We all know what a “slag” is (wink-wink).
Finally Anthology #2’s vibes on the “I’m Only Sleeping ” instrumental fragment.
5.12am
16 August 2012
Offline I’m just jumping in here after being in Southern Mexico for a week…
This is an interesting thread, because these “grabbers” (as they’ve been called) are something that become the hallmarks of enjoying Beatles under the influence, as it were. Those little 2-second moments of genius that you find so amazing while stone cold sober become life-altering emotional experiences.
Here are two off the top which qualify for me:
1. She’s Leaving Home – That sweet and sad harmony of “She’s Leaving Home / bye bye…” at the end totally crushes me every time.
2. Dear Prudence – Once you sit back and let it sink in that Ringo had quit the band and the drummer on this track is Paul, the entire drum track becomes something totally mind-blowing. But if pay close attention for a 30-second burst from 2:50-3:20, you’ll understand how that can run through my head at least once a day.
To wit: Here’s a video of what that drumming looks like. Since there’s a few seconds of intro, it’s offset by 10 seconds for the above break.
E is for 'Ergent'.
3.25pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline Annie said
The quiet “she’s a bïtch” at the top of “Revolution 9 .” It’s a conversation that goes:
“I forgot all about it George, I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?” “Nyes..” and then, etc.
Welcome to the Forum, Annie!
I believe he says, “cheeky bitch”. At least, that is what I have heard/read.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
4.26pm
3 May 2012
Offline From Abbey Road –
The harmonies in ”Because ” are just sensational. Still wow me.
I think it’s been mentioned before, John’s thick scouse accent in ”Polythene Pam ”.
In ”You Never Give Me Your Money ”, when Paul says (…) fu-unny paper.
The primal yeaahhhh in I Want You (She’s So Heavy).
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oldfannzMoving 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)
7.48pm
25 September 2012
Offline Welcome to the Forum, Annie!
Thanks, Zig!
I’ve read it’s “cheeky” but I hear this differently. Oh well, what do I know? As a 6 year old I thought the line was: “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, YUGLED down in history.” True story.
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