Fan Fare

Alan Parsons’ third act: instructional filmmaker

Alan Parsons is perhaps best known for his work with the easy-listening progressive rock group that bears his name. Between 1976 and 1990, the Alan Parsons Project enjoyed eight top-40 singles in the United States, including the No. 3 smash “Eye in the Sky.” But before he became a rock star, Parsons was a knob-twiddler at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London. He was an assistant engineer on the Beatles’ final albums “Let it Be” and “Abbey Road,” and one of the brains behind the 1973 Pink Floyd opus “The Dark Side of the Moon,” one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.    Now resident in Santa Barbara, 95 miles northwest of Los Angeles, Parsons is trying his hand at instructional filmmaking. He has just released a three-disc DVD package that aims to lift “this mysterious veil of secrecy” that surrounds the recording experience, he said Wednesday.

“Art & Science of Sound Recording,” which was two years in the making and is narrated by Billy Bob Thornton, is aimed at both music industry professionals and casual observers. It covers such topics as studio acoustics, the use of microphones and consoles, and recording techniques for vocals and various instruments. There’s also a useful section called “Dealing with Disasters.” 

Parsons, now 61, chatted about the DVD and his career during a Q&A at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles, and performed a couple of songs, including “Sirius”/”Eye in the Sky,” ”Games People Play” and “Time.” He wryly noted that he had never won a Grammy despite receiving 10 nominations, one of the worst losing streaks in Grammy history. He received his first nod for “The Dark Side of the Moon,” losing that race to the engineers of Stevie Wonder’s “Innervisions.” 

Parsons, who learned his craft on the job at Abbey Road under the tutelage of “Get Back” sessions engineer Glyn Johns, lamented that the album-listening experience is becoming obsolete. “Albums are, I think, a thing of the past. We’re in now a three-minute download world and listening on nasty, little white things,” he said, referring to the reductive earbuds that accompany most MP3 players. His revelation that 80 percent of music is listened to on such devices sent a shiver through a boomer audience weaned on what Parsons had jokingly described as “big black CDs.”

(photos: Dean Goodman)

The kids are all right as Beatles’ White Album gets a fresh coat

The good thing about cuts to music education in schools is that wannabe rock stars flock to savvy entrepreneurs like Paul Green — the Philadelphia musician who inspired the Jack Black movie “School of Rock.” 

Green — himself the subject of the 2005 documentary “Rock School” — has set up a nationwide School of Rock chain that helps kids unleash their inner Ozzys, Jimis and Janises. It’s certainly more fun than learning “Home on the Range” and “Kumbaya” in a public-school setting. 

In Los Angeles on Sunday, 19 future stars from the Hollywood school recreated the Beatles’ “White Album” at the Whisky a Go Go, the Sunset Strip site where the Doors and the Byrds cut their teeth. Even though it was a midday show, there was a surprisingly long line at the bar as parents and grandparents stocked up for the 30-song marathon. 

The musicians ranged in age from about eight to 17, with girls slightly outnumbering the boys. All were dressed in white, with a few accessorizing with John Lennon glasses or Sgt. Pepper jackets. The lineup changed after each song, giving everyone at least several shots in the spotlight. The all-star champ was the youngest: Stanford Fram (pictured at left), who sang lead on three songs, played drums and keyboards on most of the others, and even provided nasal snorts on “Piggies.” 

Among the others, Ronnie Connell — a dead ringer for Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington — pounded the drums on “Don’t Pass Me By”; William Lancaster (pictured below), almost dwarfed by his bass, studiously replicated Paul McCartney’s melodic stylings; Genessa Gariano did some elegant finger-picking on “Blackbird”; and Waylon Rector tore up a guitar solo on “Yer Blues.” The vocalists, naturally, basked in the spotlight, and who wouldn’t want to belt out “Helter Skelter” on stage?         The songs were surprisingly faithful to the originals, although the full-cast take on “Revolution No. 9″ came in at a mercifully short 90 seconds. In a technological innovation that George Martin would have been proud of, singer Ava Cohen played bird noises from her iPhone at the end of “Blackbird.”  

The musicians were actually in the beginners class at the Hollywood school, which has about 120 students in total, said their teacher Pablo Signori. Armed with a 90-page dissertation on the Fab Four, they started intensive rehearsals and lessons in February. Signori joked (or maybe not) that fist-fights broke out along the way.

The Beatles songbook is a tough challenge for the best of musicians, with songs such as “Sexy Sadie” and “I Will” full of deceptive chord progressions. “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” sung by Matthew Ernst, also presented hurdles with its time changes, but ended up being the highlight.        Up next for the school is a tribute to Jane’s Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Saturday and Sunday, while the following weekend will see students loading up on spandex and Aquanet as they take on hard rock tunes from the 80s.

Jeff Beck says Beatles “as good as George Martin allowed them to be”

The Beatles probably would have gone down in history as a pretty good bar band had it not been for their producer George Martin, according to Jeff Beck. The guitar virtuoso, who worked with the studio wizard on a pair of acclaimed albums in the 1970s, said on Thursday the Beatles were “as good as George Martin allowed them to be.”

” To my ears I wasn’t hearing much,” Beck said during a Q&A at the Grammy Museum. “George put (in) all these chords and these fantastic sounds, and all the experimentation was afforded by George. He enabled it. Up to that point they were singing the Star Club (in) Hamburg and doing Gene Vincent songs.

“When we got later the psychedelic stuff, George put all that together. So without George, I don’t know. But of course the songwriting’s there, the melodies are there, marvelous. But they would be much more crude and raw, I think.”

Beck said Martin even had a great deal to do with embellishing John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s songwriting, as evidenced by the sixth chord on the “Yeah Yeah” part of “She Loves You.” “I don’t think they were doing that then,” Beck said. “George said, ‘You put that note there, boy, and that’ll be a hit.’ That’s the way I see it.”

Beck is on the promotional trail for his new album “Emotion & Commotion,” which debuted on the U.S. pop chart this week at No. 11.  Only the Martin-produced “Blow By Blow” opened higher, at No. 4 in 1975.

As part of his visit to the Grammy Museum, he performed an eclectic eight-song set of instrumentals, including his Grammy-winning take on Lennon’s “A Day in the Life,”  “Nessun Dorma,”  “Over the Rainbow” and Les Paul’s “How High the Moon.” At Q&A host Jim Ladd’s prompting, he surprised fans with a version of Curtis Mayfield’s  “People Get Ready,” which was a hit for Beck and Rod Stewart in 1985.

Ringo Starr gets his Hollywood star at low-wattage ceremony

If the stars come out at night, they failed to illuminate Ringo Starr’s Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony on Monday, the first time a star has been unveiled at night.

A surprisingly low-wattage assortment of celebrities showed up to see the former Beatles drummer get his star outside the Capitol Records building, most of them holdovers from Roy Orbison’s ceremony 10 days ago such as Joe Walsh, Jeff Lynne, David Lynch, Eric Idle and Barbara Orbison. 

Walsh, who recently became Starr’s brother-in-law, addressed the 500-or-so fans, as did producer Don Was and folk musician Ben Harper (pictured at left with Was, Starr, Walsh and Starr’s wife Barbara Bach). A chorus of loud boos greeted Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who stood in front of the press photographers after they had finished snapping him. 

When George Harrison got his star last year, Paul McCartney, Tom Hanks and Tom Petty topped the crowded VIP list. But McCartney was in England on Monday, Starr told the crowd, in between frequent flashes of the peace sign. Hollywood was represented this time by, er, “ER” veteran Noah Wyle.

Starr, obscured at times by two anxious bodyguards, joked that the Beatles “helped pay for” the historic (in L.A. terms) Capitol tower — even though it was completed in 1956. His meandering speech barely touched on the Beatles apart from an aside that he considered his bandmates to be “brothers … they looked out for me, and I looked out for them. We all supported each other.” 

Was, bundled up against the cold but still sporting his trademark sandals, hailed Starr’s subtle drumming style, humming tunes such as “Something” and “A Day in the Life” for effect. “I don’t think it’s out of line to say that Ringo’s musicality, his groove and his spirit are absolutely essential components of all those great Beatle records,” he said.

The unveiling was part of Starr’s promotion for his new album “Y Not,” which recently graced the lower reaches of the charts. Hollywood stars are usually unveiled in the late-morning, but the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decided to make Starr’s a nocturnal event to mark the 50th anniversary of the Walk of Fame.

Ringo Starr: “I’m the greatest”

After more than 50 years in the music business — eight of them in the most scrutinized band on the planet — Ringo Starr would rather do anything than submit to even more questions. But the former Beatles drummer has a new solo album to promote, and that means more interviews — most recently at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on Tuesday, when he took part in a Q&A and mini concert for about 230 fans.

Dressed in black, including an Elvis Presley t-shirt and Nike tennis shoes, the 69-year-old Starr lived up to his reputation as the “funny Beatle.” The fans were eager to project a Beatles connection onto his every word, and Starr knew it.

It also helped that Paul McCartney played on the new album “Y Not,” the first time the pair have been in the studio together in 12 years. Starr told the audience — including E Street band drummer Max Weinberg, Edgar Winter and Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh — that he invited McCartney over to his house in Los Angeles for a cup of tea, his guest pulled out his bass and played along on two tunes. ”He understands my drumming because we used to play together,” Starr deadpanned.

It was hard to tell if Starr was being serious when he discussed playing with the revolving cast of A-list musicians who tour with him in his All-Starr Band. “I always say that they’re great, but I’m the greatest. The drums are holding it down, holding it together,” he said.

But at least it gave him the opportunity to segue into another Beatles anecdote. ”I learned a great thing in the ’60s in that band I was in that it doesn’t matter who has the good idea, let’s use it. It’s no use standing on that principle when it’s a sh—y chord.”

After asking his inquisitor, museum executive director Robert Santelli, to fire off one last question, Starr eagerly teamed up with Ben Harper to perform some new songs and old favorites. The “Y Not” tunes might best be considered an acquired taste, especially given Starr’s rough-hewn vocal stylings, but the fans lapped up “Photograph,” “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “Boys.”  Starr took to his Ludwig drum kit for the latter tune, a Beatles B-side he was singing long before he joined the Fab Four.

In fact, it ties in with perhaps the evening’s funniest — if not most politically correct — recollection. An audience member asked about Starr’s time with Merseyside skiffle stars Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, whose exuberant frontman was born with a stammer. ”He stuttered so bad, and we were teenagers so the game was get him angry then he wouldn’t say a word,” Starr recalled.

George Benson recounts “criminal” encounter with Beatles

As The Beatles take center stage in the music world this week with the much-anticipated reissue of their albums, it’s easy to forget that the Fab Four were not exactly adored by large swathes of the musical community back in the day. Jazz artists, especially, looked down on the noisy pop stars (or were more likely envious of their fame and fortune). 

“It used to be a crime for a jazz musician to even mention the word ‘Beatles,’” jazz guitarist George Benson recalled on Thursday, during a promotion for his new album at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles. 

“There was such a divide between rock music and jazz music … We just didn’t discuss anything like that.”

There were some notable crossover efforts, including Ella Fitzgerald with her versions of “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Got To Get You Into My Life.” 

“But among the instrumentalists, it was not possible,” said Benson, who was forced to keep his admiration for The Beatles a secret. ”I liked The Beatles. It just was against the law,” he said. 

But within weeks of the 1969 release of The Beatles album “Abbey Road,” Benson found himself in the studio, at the best of his label boss, doing a jazz version of the album with a chamber orchestra. ”The Other Side of Abbey Road,” complete with a cover that showed Benson carrying his guitar across the road, scrambled the order of the tunes, recasting most of them in medley form. He also sang on the album for the last time until his smash 1976 Warner Bros. label debut “Breezin.’” 

“It took me to a place I had never been before,” he said of the “Abbey Road” sessions, singing the first line of “Golden Slumbers” for good measure. 

And the last Beatles song will be…

Help!

We admit we may be playing into the hands of a marketing campaign designed to eke out as much publicity as possible for the new Beatles interactive “Rock Band” video game on Sept 9. (Read the latest story here). But we couldn’t resist what is a rather intriguing question.

What will be the last Beatles song available for fans to “virtually” play from a list of 45 tunes for the new game? Today, the makers announced 19 more titles that will come with the game including “Ticket to Ride,” “Come Together,” “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “A Hard Day’s Night” – bringing the list to 44.

Other songs previously announced for the Fab Four’s first digital release after years of shunning websites like iTunes include “Yellow Submarine”, “Day Tripper,” “I Am The Walrus,” “Get Back” and “Eight Days A Week.”

But some of the band’s biggest hits are not on the list and could still sneak into the game, including “Hey Jude”, “We can Work It Out” and “Yesterday.”

So what do fans hope for, as they dream of the day they can strum their plastic guitars in their lounges and make all their troubles seem so far away?

Paul McCartney does not have his songs back from Jackson, but he feels fine

Paul McCartney has put to rest any lingering questions about whether Michael Jackson bequeathed to Macca his rights to songs by The Beatles. The reports began surfacing before Jackson died two weeks ago, but when the King of Pop’s will was released last week it contained no reference to any such transfer.

In a post on his website, McCartney wrote that it was all a case of the media getting it wrong.

“Some time ago, the media came up with the idea that Michael Jackson was going to leave his share in the Beatles songs to me in his will, which was completely made up and something I didn’t believe for a second,” McCartney said in the post. 

“Now the report is that I am devastated to find that he didn’t leave the songs to me. This is completely untrue. I had not thought for one minute that the original report was true and therefore, the report that I’m devastated is also totally false, so don’t believe everything you read folks!”

A January 2009 article in British tabloid The Mirror said that Jackson wanted to leave his share in many of the Beatles songs to McCartney as a peace offering. Of course, the will that keeps the Beatles songs with Jackson’s estate dates from 2002, so even if he had wanted to turn them over to McCartney, he would have had to revise that document, and clearly he did not.

Jackson snapped up the Beatles songs for $47.5 million in 1985 in a purchase of the ATV Music catalog, outbidding McCartney himself. When he died, he owned a 50 percent stake in the catalog with Sony, but his share was heavily leveraged.

McCartney famously called Jackson a “massively talented boy-man” after the King of Pop died at age 50 on June 25. But on his website Macca, who in decades past socialized with Jackson, said that even though he and Jackson “drifted apart over the years,” they “never really fell out” and that he still has fond memories of his old friend and duet partner.

George Harrison returns to charts with solo hits record

My Sweet Lord, indeed. George Harrison is back on the pop charts with the first hits package covering his entire solo career. 

“Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison,” released last week, boasts tracks from 1970′s “All Things Must Pass” to his posthumous 2002 set “Brainwashed.” It also includes three Beatle-era tunes from 1971′s “Concert for Bangladesh” all-star live charity album. 

In the U.K., “Let It Roll” debuted at No. 4, his highest solo ranking since “Living In The Material World” reached No. 2 in 1973. In the United States, it debuted at No. 24 after selling 18,880 copies, EMI said on Wednesday. It also peaked at No. 1 on Amazon.com and at No. 2 on iTunes last week, the label said. 

Harrison did better Stateside with “Brainwashed,” which debuted at No. 18 with 74,000 copies. That marked his first studio set since his 1987 comeback “Cloud Nine,” which hit No. 8 (Sales data did not become available until 1991, when SoundScan launched its point-of-sales system.) In all, Harrison enjoyed six top-10 solo hits before he succumbed to cancer in 2001. But “Let It Roll” outranks his two other compilations: “The Best of George Harrison” reached No. 31 in 1976, and “Best of Dark Horse 1976-1989″ stalled at No. 132.

No Grammy, but Sir Paul goes backstage anyway

Even Sir Paul McCartney is a good sport when it comes to losing, pretending to weep but making light of the fact that he lost an early bid to get his first Grammy in 29 years on Sunday at the 51st annual Grammys. “I am really annoyed. That is why I didn’t come. I don’t come to win it, I come to be in it,” said McCartney backstage, sporting a t-shirt of the four Beatles with clown noses  designed by his daughter to benefit the charity Comic Relief. “It is a great thing and I am honored to be asked. I was watching the Golden Globes and I saw Mickey (Rourke) win for best actor. And in the audience there’s Clint (Eastwood), there’s Brad (Pitt) — they come to be a part of it, not necessarily win it.” McCartney is the most-honored former Beatle, with 13 Grammys, but his chance at topping that eluded him early on at the Grammys on Sunday. He was competing for two awards and was also scheduled to perform with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. McCartney lost out to John Mayer on Sunday in the best solo rock vocal performance category. The former Beatle had been nominated for his cover of the early Beatles tune “I Saw Her Standing There,” a track from the 12-inch vinyl release “Amoeba’s Secret.” McCartney, 66, is also nominated for best male pop vocal performance statuette for “That Was Me,” another track from “Amoeba’s Secret.”

(Reuters photo by Mario Anzuoni)