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4 July 2015
2.36am
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Mademoiselle Kitty >^..^<
the Netherlands
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I’m with @Zig on this one: I love singing along to Mr. Moonlight, and I’ll really lay on the drama when John gets to the ‘begging if you please’ part. 

Is it their best? Nope. But bloody hell, I like it! I think I’ve grown to like it even more since I got the Anthology Highlights album.

 

John: “MISTEEEEEEEER MOOOOONLIIIIIIGHT…(laughing) whoah, stop!”

Paul: “Nearly!”

John: “Yeah, ‘s not bad that one.”

George: (sniffling) “You don’t know now…”

Gets me every time.

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Beatlebug, Zig

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'Out There' - 07-06-2015 - Ziggo Dome Amsterdam -- 'One On One' - 12-06-2016 - Pinkpop Festival Landgraaf

22 October 2015
11.29am
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meanmistermustard
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Is this the most disappointing (not worst, there is a difference) track in the Beatles catalogue? 

John’s opening is phenomenal, the remaining 2:35 never reaches the same heights.

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Zig, Vera Chuck and Dave

"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)

22 October 2015
2.36pm
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Zig
The Toppermost of the Poppermost
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I believe “disappointing” sums it up best. It’s really not a bad song but, as you say, it falls off quite a bit after John’s opening vocal.

To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.

22 October 2015
7.23pm
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Starr Shine?
Waiting in the sky
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This is my favorite Beatles, I like the hammyness of the vocals.

https://youtu.be/52nwiTs7bk8

Brainwashed by RadiantCowbells.

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23 October 2015
12.29am
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SaxonMothersSon
Royal Command Performance
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I love this song. It was a stab at a llittle calypso which was quite popular late 50s, early 60s. My only bite with the recording is that it’s muddy, like they were singing and playing under a wet blanket. Wish there were a way to crisp it up. (Loved the Hammond & drumming.)

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Beatlebug

Matches...Candles...Matches...Candles

4 February 2018
5.37pm
Marcelo
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I love to read too much into songs, so I think Mr. Moonlight is about Faust making a pact with Mephistopheles who gives Gretchen (the young woman in Goethe’s play).

I'd like to say "thank you" on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition.
John Lennon

5 February 2018
10.46am
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QuarryMan
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Marcelo said
I love to read too much into songs, so I think Mr. Moonlight is about Faust making a pact with Mephistopheles who gives Gretchen (the young woman in Goethe’s play).  

Woah, this is really weird. I’m studying Faustus in English at the moment, and we read that scene in class today. Interesting explanation.

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Marcelo

I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

22 February 2019
10.11pm
Beatlebass
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New member, and I think this site is great. 

I have a question about something in the recording of Mr Moonlight that’s bugged me since I bought the Beatles 65 album as a teenager.  There’s something in the organ solo that I originally assumed was a flaw in the recording or LP pressing process, but it seems to show up in every version I’ve heard over the years.  There’s one note played on the organ that sounds like it’s overloading and creating a strange resonant note that’s completely foreign to the music. Is that a limitation imposed by the recording technology of the 60’s?  After hearing how fastidious they were about the recordings, I’ve never been able to understand why it wasn’t corrected……If not then, then now with digital technology.

23 February 2019
12.07pm
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50yearslate
Playing on the roofs again
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a-hard-days-night-ringo-8Interesting question, @Beatlebass , and welcome!

I never noticed that before, I’ll have to give Mr. Moonlight a relisten. 

Love one another.

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(I'm Fiddy, not Walrian)

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23 February 2019
3.02pm
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The Hole Got Fixed
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Beatlebass said
New member, and I think this site is great. 

Wonderful to have you on board, @Beatlebass 

I have a question about something in the recording of Mr Moonlight that’s bugged me since I bought the Beatles 65 album as a teenager.  There’s something in the organ solo that I originally assumed was a flaw in the recording or LP pressing process, but it seems to show up in every version I’ve heard over the years.  There’s one note played on the organ that sounds like it’s overloading and creating a strange resonant note that’s completely foreign to the music. Is that a limitation imposed by the recording technology of the 60’s? 

Analysing the song’s waveform, that note is the loudest in the solo – perhaps it’s clipping? I’ve never worked out what might cause that sound. 

After hearing how fastidious they were about the recordings, I’ve never been able to understand why it wasn’t corrected……If not then, then now with digital technology.

Analysing the spectrogram – one couldn’t use EQ to get rid of anything (the noise has the same frequencies as the actual organ), and I don’t know what else you could use to remove the sound other than EQ. 

Chalk it down to a glitch, I guess?

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Beatlebug, Beatlebass

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24 February 2019
5.52am
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QuarryMan
Rishikesh
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Can you pinpoint the timestamp within the song that you hear this, @Beatlebass ? Welcome to the forum john-lennon-salute_gif

I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

24 February 2019
11.58am
Beatlebass
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Thanks for the welcomes, guys.  The same thing happens numerous times throughout the organ solo, but a good example happens at 1:33.

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50yearslate
24 February 2019
12.20pm
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Billy Rhythm
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I find it to be more noticeable on the ‘Beatles ’65’ album than on the ‘Beatles For Sale ‘ record…  I did initially think that my copy of ‘Beatles ’65’ was defective when I’d first heard it…  it’s hard to say if it was by design or not…  the sessions were kinda crammed into a brief window between tours so it’s entirely possible that it was an oversight…  I’d lean towards them experimenting a bit with distortion though…  they were really trying out a lot of new ideas here in the studio…  the feedback intro to ‘I Feel Fine ‘ from the same era comes to mind, not to mention the alternate ‘Anthology’ take of ‘Mr. Moonlight’ which is even weirder than the one that we’re familiar with…  it’s nice to compare these two to the Hamburg live version where we’re treated to a great glimpse of just how much they’d grown musically in just a couple of years…:-)

24 February 2019
3.30pm
Beatlebass
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I’m glad that someone has at least confirmed what I’m hearing, and it’s not just me, lol. 

I initially thought, as Billy Rhythm said, that it was a defect in the LP pressing.  It’s interesting though, that the issue is more apparent on the Beatles 65 album than on Beatles For Sale .  It obviously goes deeper than that though, because today I identified the timestamp in the recording by listening to an online recording, rather than vinyl, and it’s readily apparent on a digital version.

The only other thing I’ve been able to conjecture is that it might have been something caused by the recording equipment of the day. I’ve heard somewhat similar effects from my Fender Twin Reverb guitar amp that turned out to be a microphonic preamp tube. Is it likely that either the organ or other studio equipment used in the recording would have been vacuum tube-type, rather than solid state? 

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25 February 2019
3.31am
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meanmistermustard
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I prefer the guitar solo take 4 over what they did release but I guess the weird solo by Paul was a step forward over the regular and they were always trying different ideas.

Maybe it was a nod to Buddy Holly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?…..dBoFm2SihI

"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)

4 December 2020
4.34am
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Vera Chuck and Dave
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I had Beatles For Sale on in the car with my dad today (he hadn’t heard that album)

he called the organ solo on this the worst piece of music he’s ever heard, hahahaha

also holy crap page 2 of this thread is a RIDE

25 December 2020
7.34pm
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William Shears Campbell
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Rishikesh
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Not sure why this song gets so much hate.  I don’t think it’s the best song they did, but I find it enjoyable to listen to.

Here | There | Everywhere

It's ya boi!  The one and only Billy Shears (AKA Paul's Replacement)

"Sometimes I wish I was just George Harrison" - John Lennon

 

21 November 2023
7.40am
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Sea Belt
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On my first careful listen (10 minutes ago), it sounded like the Beatles harmonies were not quite up to snuff.  Then I found an isolated vocals recording on YT, and it’s clear the vocals are (as usual) well nigh perfect.  So the effect of something slightly off I think may be an effect due to the guitars not quite tuned accordingly.

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Rube

Now today I find, you have changed your mind

21 November 2023
12.05pm
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meanmistermustard
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I find the Hammond organ is what does it for me, it sounds too empty to bring anything substantial and the solo is incredibly weak. Take 4 with the scrunching guitar solo is far better. Maybe a hybrid mash-up would be the answer.

"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)

22 November 2023
1.05am
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Sea Belt
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My impression is that Paul was aiming for a sound he would later find in perhaps more advanced keyboards (like the intro to Strawberry Fields), but at that early date all he had was a rinky dink organ.

Now today I find, you have changed your mind

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