Revolution
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
What a year it has been! 2020. Riots, pandemics, elections and general upheaval around the world. The world wasn't much different in 1968 when The Beatles went to India to meditate and study with the Maharishi. The result? A myriad of songs that reflected the times. That collection led to the making of the White Album. John started those sessions with this iconic number - Revolution. Billy and Jay dig deep highlighting the differences between Revolution 1 and the single that followed. Of course, Jay talks about that GUITAR TONE! Maybe he'll even reveal how you can recreate that tone at home. Enjoy our final offering of 2020. You say you want a revolution? Don't you know that you can count me out...in? You know it's gonna be alright. Shooby doo wop!
Hold Me Tight
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
A song unloved by The Beatles! Wait, what? A song hated by critics! A song recorded during the Please Please Me sessions, but scrapped because it was not working. A barely audible bass and out of tune Paul singing? Jay and Billy peel back the layers of the Glass Onion to try to convince you that this 'work song' is a real rocker! Do you love this one? Because it feels so right, yeah! From 1963, here's HOLD ME TIGHT!
You Never Give Me Your Money
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Welcome to the Paul McCartney love fest. Maybe one of his best songs, best vocal performances, best piano songs? Written as homage to the 60s and The Beatles career, You Never Give Me Your Money is an absolute masterpiece. It’s a medley within ‘THE’ medley on Abbey Road and it’s amazing.
A lot of topics in this episode! Why does Abbey Road sound so good? Jay discusses. Who was this song written about and how does it echo the 60s? How does it indicate a look ahead into Paul’s solo career? Billy discusses. George Martin’s advice to Paul on this song? Think symphonically. And boy, did he.
Is Paul the greatest untrained musician of the rock era? Billy and Jay discuss the genius that is Paul McCartney. You’ll also hear a heartfelt discussion between Billy and Jay about playing this song live.
Enjoy our deep dive into this fantastic song. Of course, after we peel all of the layers of this song, Billy and Jay give this one extremely high marks. Know where to go…nowhere to go? Well the yellow lorries slow. Find us a better Beatles song than this one - we don’t think you can! And remember, hold on to your gear!
I Want To Hold Your Hand
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Our biggest and BOLDEST episode yet (also our longest)! The Beatles were surely ready for their big moment...Will Billy and Jay be ready for theirs?
Let’s start with a question…if The Beatles were a one-hit-wonder, what would be their one hit? Without a doubt, it would have been this song. Billy and Jay break down Beatlemania from the day John and Paul met in Liverpool to the day of their now iconic performance in New York City on the Ed Sullivan Show. It is on this 5 year journey we see that John, Paul, George, Ringo, Brian Epstein and George Martin were all prepared and poised when THIS song broke them in the USA and then all over the world.
Written nose to nose at Jane Asher’s parents house on a piano and recorded nose to nose WITHOUT headphones in Abbey Road Studios, I Want To Hold Your Hand is a marvel of writing and recording genius. It highlights a point in The Beatles’ career when this collection of brilliant young minds came together to make one of The Beatles most important recordings. Jay talks gear and recording techniques and Billy talks about American music’s influence on both The Beatles and George Martin.
How fun is this song to play in a live setting? Billy and Jay offer their unique perspective having played I Want To Hold Your Hand live hundreds of times in the past 13 years.
Could this be the highest rated song we’ve done?! Take a look through the Glass Onion and find out - We think you’ll understand!!
I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
We brought notes for this one! Another of John’s great songs with an odd time signature. Featuring blistering bass, a killer John Lennon guitar solo, wicked drums and Billy Preston.
The first song recorded for the Abbey Road album, I Want You (She’s So Heavy) gets high marks from Billy and Jay. This episode dives into Trident Studios, Billy Preston, white noise and more amazing Beatle outros.
If you don’t love this song as much as we do, you just may after listening to this episode of Looking Through The Glass Onion. We bet you like it better than Robbie Roberson did...
Good Day Sunshine
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Good day! The summer of ‘66 was a fruitful year for summertime songs. ‘Daydream’ by the Lovin’ Spoonful and ‘Sunny Afternoon’ by the Kinks dominated the airwaves in England. Paul went to John’s house on a sunny day and wrote this classic, ‘Good Day Sunshine’.
Billy and Jay talk about the Beatles desire to make an American sounding album in Revolver, Jay dives into George Martin’s use of the varispeed technique and Billy reveals his thoughts on Rolling Stone magazine’s top 500. And of course, Billy and Jay offer up their unique perspective on playing this one live!
Do you love this song as much as they do? It burns their feet as they touch the ground!!
Because
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
A Moog Synth, an electric Spinet, Ringo as a metronome and heroin. These ingredients lead us to another Beatles classic. This is the only Beatles song that uses a flat second. A rare occurrence in pop music. Probably all influenced by Yoko.
This is a snobby Beatles song. You know, in a good ‘musically snobby’ way. Don’t attempt this one live without listening!! The difficult harmonies are reminiscent of Yes It Is and this song is George and Paul’s favorite song on Abbey Road.
Does this start the Abbey Road Medley? We offer our opinion! A couple of language bits in here, but enjoy Because.
BONUS
McCartney vs. Joel. We discuss.
Hey Bulldog
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Dave Grohl’s favorite Beatles song gets a lot of love on this episode! Fun game, google what drugs were the Beatles using in 1968 - we did!
Do you know who played the guitar solo on this song? We offer our expert opinion. Did you know this song before 1998? This one is potentially the most obscure Beatles song.
The last true group effort from the group, what is it about this track that contributes to The Beatles being the greatest band of all time? If you’re lonely, you can talk to me.
Get Back
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
We certainly found out a lot of unknowns about this rooftop classic! Jay discusses the differences in all of the releases of this track, introduces us to the term ‘wow and flutter’ and gives himself a ‘78%’ accuracy score when playing Johns iconic guitar solo. Billy brings up the brilliance behind the fifth Beatle, Billy Preston.
With this song being all about feel, Get Back may be one of the most difficult three chord songs to pull off in a live setting. And how could they fit a Dr. Evil impersonation in when discussing the tape operator? Listen to find out!
Anytime At All
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
On June 2, 1964, The Beatles went into the recording studio and belted out 3 songs: Things We Said Today, When I Get Home and the song discussed in today’s episode.
A song that John Lennon called a ‘rewrite’. A song that was released unfinished.
A song picked by Yesterday and Today superfan, Kevin Klimowski.
A song that got Billy and Jay talking about the BeatBugs and Playboy magazine in the same episode!
Old Brown Shoe
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Back to back George songs! Jay picked this George Harrison song to give the ‘Glass Onion’ treatment. Who played drums? Who produced this? Who played bass? Did this song get the ‘Beatle’ treatment it deserved? There are a lot of questions to be discussed this week...I’m so glad you came here, it won’t be the same now when I’m with you.
I Need You
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Billy and Jay discuss this George Harrison track from the Beatles 1965 album, Help! Who is the greatest rock muse? How does George get that cool guitar sound? Why does Jay stare extra hard at the teleprompter when performing this song live? Well, take a peak through the glass onion and find out!
Blackbird
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Billy and Jay take a look at one of the Beatles most complicated guitar songs yet simplest recordings: Blackbird. Written by Paul in 1968, this song is as relevant in 2020 as it has ever been.
As always, there’s a lot of insight and info on the song, but this is the one where we get a little political...enjoy!
Tomorrow Never Knows
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream… Billy and Jay dig into one of the most innovative songs of the rock and roll era. Did Paul invent Sampling? Who came up with the title? Find out how The Beatles and George Martin created a one of a kind tape loop that can never be recreated. And Jay draws a line from Tomorrow Never Knows all the way to Imagine that, much like this song, blew Billy’s mind.
Hey Jude
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
This episode concentrates on one of the MOST popular of The Beatles' songs, Hey Jude. Who did what in the studio and where it was recorded. You’ll find out what Paul’s inspiration was behind this iconic track - and who it was written for. Billy and Jay also discuss what it means to perform this song night after night and the emotional bond it creates with the audience. And of course, they'll rate it with their unique Glass Onion rating system.
Video Jay refers to:
https://youtu.be/vofOdSilwGs
Beatles on David Frost:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHEn1RGTB4Q
A Hard Day’s Night
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Billy and Jay peel back the layers of the Glass Onion on this Beatles classic. So much information in this episode…what’s a malapropism? Can Billy and Jay unlock the mystery of the opening chord? Who wrote this song and how quickly? What are the issues performing it live? How many Glass Onions for this song/album/movie? Listen and find out!
Something
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Something is one of the most beautiful and deep songs The Beatles ever recorded. The only #1 hit George Harrison had as a Beatle, it encapsulates the genius of all of The Beatles and George Martin. Billy and Jay break this one down as only they can.
I’m Looking Through You
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Billy and Jay delve into this classic cut off of Rubber Soul. Do you hear the American false start version or the British without the error? Do you have any idea what we're talking about? After episode 4 of this podcast, you'll soon know the answer!
I’ve Got a Feeling
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
Recorded on the rooftop of Apple in Saville Row in January, 1969. Paul's written his part for his new found love, Linda Eastman and John is reflecting on his chaotic and drama filled year. Each part of the song sheds light on the differences in the two men's lives at that point.
Yellow Submarine
One from the Looking Through the Glass Onion Podcast Archives - brought to you by the McGuigan Brothers Podcast.
A song that is deeper than just a movie title or a catchy kid song. Yellow Submarine tip toes the psychedelic tightrope and serves as an appetizer for the follow up record to Revolver. Could it have fit on Sgt. Pepper? How difficult is it to pull of live? How many Glass Onions? Billy and Jay answer all of these questions and more.