Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Beatles for Sale.

Linda bought me the complete Beatles set for my birthday.

Oh, what a sublime sound.

Not meaning to get all Hallmark Moment on it, but this isn't just great music, this is the soundtrack of my life. I remember going to a party at the big house in Drake Park (yes, there was actually a house on the park side of the river, just below where the parking lot is now) and dancing to I Wanna Hold Your Hand.

I remember my brother and sister playing Rubber Soul over and over again, so that to this day I know every word and can start singing the next song before it starts.

The first few albums I never owned. The first I remember actually having is Beatles '65, which in this set is "Beatles For Sale." I loved the song, I'll Follow the Sun. I think these songs are the ones I hear the least nowadays.

I remember winning the Lady Madonna single at a Jr. High limbo dance contest. I played Hey, Jude on the High School jukebox so many times, that I think my classmates were groaning. (I'm actually a little embarrassed by that....)

I absconded with Rubber Soul (sorry, Tina), and Revolver (sorry, Mike) , and purchased Magical Mystery Tour. Revolver and Magical Mystery Tour disappeared in my old rented apartments with roommates phase of my life. A lot of good albums disappeared that way. Karma.

I remember my big brother buying Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in Portland, in our yearly trip to the big city to buy clothes. And my memory of what seemed like a city wide block of department store is inextricably linked. A magical land. I remember not liking it at first, and then slowly but surely becoming fascinated by the seemingly brand new sound.

I bought the White Album with the money my parents gave me to eat on a debate trip to Eugene. (Many of my albums were purchased by a starvation diet...)

What I remember about Abbey Road is playing it over and over and over again, and seemingly hearing something different every time. I don't know if I love this music so much because it's great, or because it hit me when my hormones were in overdrive, or both.

I put on the first disk of the set last night, intending to listen to just one. Ended up closing my eyes on my futon and just soaking in the beautiful sounds for a couple of hours.

I don't know how my customers are going to take it, but I'll be having a Beatles marathon at the store for the next few weeks.

7 comments:

H. Bruce Miller said...

The Beatles (leading the English Invasion) were just hitting our shores in the fall of my senior year in high school. I remember arguing with my girlfriend (she had a major crush on Paul), saying the Four Seasons (anybody remember them?) were better singers. I think I was just jealous.

But soon I became a Beatles fan like everybody else, and in college I bought every LP they ever issued. Unfortunately they were all lost or "borrowed" except for two, Sgt. Pepper and Rubber Soul, which I still have. They're scratchy, but playable.

Funny how music can unite two people of the same generation despite vast differences in geography and backgrounds. (The bit about making your annual trip to the great metropolis of Portland to buy clothes and how you were in awe of the big buildings was pretty damn funny to a kid who grew up a 45-minute train ride from NYC.)

Now, if you had iTunes software you could "rip" the songs from the CDs (no, it doesn't damage them) and save them as MP3 files, which you could then load on your iPod and/or use to "burn" duplicate CDs in case you wanted extra copies -- to play in the car, for instance. You also could make up your own "playlists" of favorite songs from various CDs. This new technology is slicker than snot; I don't understand your reluctance to venture into it.

Anyway, enjoy your new collection. I'm envious.

Duncan McGeary said...

I remember escalators and elevators being HUGE novelties.

Yes, elevators.

I remember many of my classmates as not ever having been to PORTLAND.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"I remember escalators and elevators being HUGE novelties."

I remember escalators being a novelty ... in about 1953. Can't ever remember when elevators were considered novelties; the modern elevator was invented in 1852, fer cripe's sake. That's Oregon -- always about a hundred years behind the curve.

There still isn't an escalator anywhere in Central Oregon, is there?

tim said...

Hope you got the mono set. Those rock.

Jelement said...

Hey Dunc, what's the deal with the new Dark Horse Gaming shop over on 27th and Greenwood?

I wasn't aware until I started looking into it that Dark Horse had its roots in your very location.

Duncan McGeary said...

Dark Horse Gaming?

First I've heard of it.

What do you know and what can you tell me?

Looking it up online; it appears to be an electronic gaming lounge. Nothing to do with Dark Horse comics....which may be interesting, because I'd be surprised if Mike didn't nail down that name for the state of Oregon.

Duncan McGeary said...

I talked about the Dark Horse connection early on in this blog.

To summarize, Mike Richardson started Pegasus Books in 1980. I started working for him the same year. After a couple of years, he went back to Portland and started Pegasus Stores in Beaverton and Vancouver.

After leaving Pegasus first in the hands of his brother, and then me, he sold it to me in April 1984.

We kept in contact for a couple of years, through the beginnings of his publishing industry, but began to go our own ways.

Eventually, Mike changed the name of his 3- 6 stores (I can never keep track) to Things From Another World.

I believe his biggest focus is on movies, then comics, then his stores.