K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Given that all four Beatles owned Apple Records, I am 99.9% sure it was a unanimous decision.
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"1900 Yesterday" song
- Thread starter johnbasalla
- Start date
Given that all four Beatles owned Apple Records, I am 99.9% sure it was a unanimous decision.
Most of Paul Revere and The Raiders records are just Mark Lindsay and the Wrecking Crew
Okay hold on a minute. "Yesterday" came out in September of '65 as a single here in the states. Capitol pulled it from an album to release it as a single. The Beatles were not planning on it having a single release - it was supposed to just be an album cut on Help! It's a good thing Capitol pulled it for a single because it went to #1 and is clearly a standout track.
Apple Records was not formed until 1968. There was no Apple Records when "Yesterday" was released back in '65.
In fact, the Beatles had enough power over Parlophone, their label in the UK, to block its release as a single. Not so with Capitol in the US, where it was released as a 45.
And actually, at the time, a Paul McCartney solo album was considered by Capitol:
Apparently, at the time even George Martin and Brian Epstein discussed whether or not "Yesterday" should be credited to The Beatles as a group or as McCartney solo.
I know some of this is getting down into the weeds of Beatles history, but it's pretty fascinating nevertheless.
And back on topic... I discovered this song as a freshman in college a couple of years ago. Bought the White Whale 45 then and I still spin it often on my radio show. It is an absolutely gorgeous tune. The arrangement is lush and very fitting, and the harmonies are superb.
In Pittsburgh, it went to #12 on KQV back in early March of '71.
It's really awesome that this song has garnered 6 pages of discussion (not all directly related, but still). Right on!
In Pittsburgh, it went to #12 on KQV back in early March of '71.
It's really awesome that this song has garnered 6 pages of discussion (not all directly related, but still). Right on!
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Yes, unfortunately some people cannot resist the temptation to hijack the thread by going down a dead end siding.
Going back on topic: I'm still playing "1900 Yesterday" as part of the "smooth AC" format I installed the day after Christmas on KRKE's sister station, KOAZ. Eric Records has a good stereo copy on this CD.
And, unsaid in that memo is the fact that if “Yesterday” were released as a McCartney solo single, the Beatles breakup rumors would have been colossal.
Also, a McCartney solo single would have still been credited to Lennon-McCartney and the duo had not yet been open about how many songs in fact were largely written by only one of them.
A lot of pop hits of that era are one band’s vocalist and a batch of studio musicians.
Many of which were done by the Wrecking Crew.
And they did it well.
They were so versatile that you could listen to several pop songs of all kinds of different styles, and you would never have known that the same group of studio musicians played it all, because they don't have that much in common.
Unfortunately, I can't cite any examples off the top of my head, so I'm risking looking dumb here.
c
I'm having a problem with that. The Raiders were the house band on Where the Action Is every weekday and when that was cancelled moved on to Happening '68, 69 etc. The band members were probably as well known as say, the individual Monkees. Let's just say, they were not the Archies! Later on, they were part of Paul Revere's oldies act, which I saw multiple times and have worked three times with their manager, Roger Hart!
"Yesterday" was released in 1965 on Capital Records. The Beatles started their Apple Records brand in 1968 with the first single being "Hey Jude" / "Revolution".
Sorry. I posted this before I read all of the other related posts, which I should have done "Yesterday".
So, I went looking (because of course I did) and found a conversation with Mark Lindsay, who says that everything up to and through "Hungry" is the band.
In terms of big national hits, then, there were three where the band is who's playing on the single: "Just Like Me", "Kicks" and "Hungry", and three albums: "Here They Come", "Just Like Us" and "Midnight Ride".
But the time demands of the live concerts and TV shows were such that producer Terry Melcher switched to having the basic tracks done by the Wrecking Crew:
Full interview:
A Conversation with Mark Lindsay
sundazed.com
Exactly. Beach Boys, Mamas and Papas, Monkees---all different sounds, and those completely different from what they were doing for the Fifth Dimension and Frank Sinatra.
The other (BIG) upside to the Wrecking Crew: They were one-or-two take wonders.
Studio time costs money. The less time it took to record, the more profitable a record could be.
By the way, two books I wholeheartedly recommend from author Kent Hartman are "The Wrecking Crew" and "Goodnight, L.A."
"The Wrecking Crew" covers the glory years of those studio musicians, and "Goodnight, L.A." continues into the era where bands insisted on doing it themselves and only rarely bringing in a studio pro (usually for an instrument or solo a band member couldn't play, and virtually never for the basic track):
"The Wrecking Crew" covers the glory years of those studio musicians, and "Goodnight, L.A." continues into the era where bands insisted on doing it themselves and only rarely bringing in a studio pro (usually for an instrument or solo a band member couldn't play, and virtually never for the basic track):
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Now you have me wondering why I have a persistent memory of a 45 of that song with the Apple label. Age playing tricks on me, I guess.
It's entirely possible that The Beatles later reissued it under their Apple Records label, so your memory may not be as faulty as you think.
As of now, I have no proof, of course, but I'd imagine it wouldn't be too hard to find some.
c
That's the original.
Apparently "Yesterday" was so popular through the 1960s that Capitol continually was pressing new copies, and when Capitol changed its label design in 1969, the new copies then got that label:
It was reissued in 1971 on Apple, but with "Yesterday" as the B-side and "Act Naturally" as the A-side.
And then re-re-isued in 1975 after the dissolution of Apple, again on Capitol:
And re-re-re-issued in 1978 when Capitol changed label designs:
Beginning in 1981, "Yesterday" was made part of the Capitol "Starline" label of oldies 45s. But even that involved four more label design changes between then and the last pressing in 1996.
Here's the whole run:
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
That third release is undoubtedly what I remember, and I am kicking myself for not checking Discogs.
My copy is the 1981 release with the blue label, I think.
I might now have to go look.
I thought so!
Apple Records never dissolved? They seem to still exist, but I guess pretty much as a Beatles reissue label.
c