Behka’s Breakfast With The Beatles Recap: Week of January 13

As you probably know by now, I host the morning show now here on BOB-FM.  And when you're the one who's behind the mic, a good amount of the time you get to decide what plays on the radio.  Since I like the Beatles, I plays 'em! Here’s the rundown of what I’ve been spinning this week.  I’ve been doing a segment at the beginning of the morning show to play some Beatles every day.  However, I know some of you out there aren’t exactly early birds – 6:00 a.m. is pretty dang early, after all. And some of you might have caught the end of a song or just missed it, and so I thought I’d post some audio and videos of the songs I used each day, and I’ll tell you what I know about em here, too.

On Monday, I played "Helter Skelter."

This one was written by Paul McCartney.  Paul was inspired to write the song after reading an interview with The Who's Pete Townshend where he described their latest single, "I Can See for Miles," as the loudest, 'rawest, dirtiest song' the Who had ever recorded. McCartney then wrote "Helter Skelter" to be the 'most raucous vocal, the loudest drums' and said he was using the symbol of a helter skelter as a ride from the top to the bottom; the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.  In the British English, helter-skelter not only has its meaning of "in disorderly haste or confusion" but is the name of a spiraling amusement park slide.  Unfortunately it was taken and used for some terrible reasons by Charles Manson and his Family - but The Beatles always denied it should be a song to inspire violence.  Look at this thing.

That's a helter skelter.  Doesn't look so ominous, does it?

On Tuesday, I played "Things We Said Today."

Paul wrote this one in May 1964 while cruising the Caribbean aboard a yacht called Happy Days with his then-girlfriend Jane Asher. The Beatles recorded "Things We Said Today" in three takes on 2 June 1964. The Beatles included "Things We Said Today" as part of their live set during their 1964 tour of the United States and Canada. George Harrison sang harmony vocals alongside Paul McCartney during the performances.  It was on the album/soundtrack A Hard Day's Night.

On Wednesday, I played "Anna (Go To Him)."

A personal favorite of John Lennon, it became part of the Beatles' early repertoire and was consequently recorded by them for their 1963 debut album, Please Please Me.  John had a bad cold which accounts for his very rough, almost strange tone he demonstrates on all his vocals during the historic session of eleven songs recorded in ten hours, including the last song, "Twist and Shout".

On Thursday, I played "Lovely Rita."

This one was written by Paul McCartney for the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. The term "meter-maid" was largely unknown at the time. In the Uk, they're called traffic wardens. The song was inspired from an incident when a female traffic warden named Meta Davies issued a parking ticket to McCartney outside Abbey Road Studios.Instead of becoming angry, he accepted it with good grace and expressed his feelings in song. When asked why he had called her "Rita," McCartney replied, "Well, she looked like a Rita to me."

Friday's song was "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away".

John Lennon's vocal style was inspired by Bob Dylan. Lennon wrote the song at home during what he called his "Dylan period," wanting another song for the film 'Help!.'  The song "is just basically John doing Dylan," Paul McCartney confirmed. Musician/singer Tom Robinson connected the song's lyrics to Brian Epstein, the group's manager, who was a closeted homosexual(Homosexuality was a criminal offense in Britain at the time).

Let me know if there's a Beatles song you want to hear next week!

Fably yours,
Behka