Wonderwall music - Sgt.Pepper Vol.2 ?

А вот эта же песня, но в фильме:


Вроде пишут, что ее в фильме исполняет ливерпульская группа "Remo Four", но голос вокалиста так на Харрисона похож, что я бы не отличил.

Ага, песня называется "In The First Place".


Только неясно:

- кто ее написал - Харрисон или сами Remo Four.
- кто записал - Харрисон с Remo Four или группа работала без него. Скорее всего, Харрисон, как минимум, пел. Чужую песню он вряд ли стал бы петь (тем более, что он - композитор фильма).
- было ли официальное переиздание песни, или по инету разгуливает бутлегерский вариант?



The Remo Four were a 1950s-1960s rock band from Liverpool, England. They were contemporaries of The Beatles, and later had the same manager, Brian Epstein.

Late in 1967, Beatle George Harrison hired the Remo Four as his backing band for part of his first solo project, the soundtrack album to the movie Wonderwall. While the songs were mostly instrumentals, they did record one lyrical song, "In The First Place", with Harrison, which was left in the can until the 1990s.

Интересная статья об этой песне. Харрисон не включил ее в саундтрек к фильму, потому что композитор In The First Place не он, а двое музыкантов The Remo Four. Песню включили только в недавнее переиздание фильма и даже выпустили синглом, но Харрисон настоял, чтобы его вокальное участие в записи In The First Place не упоминалось. А еще пишут, что в записи музыки Харрисона к фильму принимали участие не только Ринго Старр и Эрик Клэптон, но и Джон Леннон, взявший на себя ритм-треки.



Harrison invited a few musicians to augment his basic session group. One of these musicians was his new pal, guitarist Eric Clapton. However, as was the case on the Beatles’ White Album later in 1968 - his contribution was uncredited. (Prior to 1969, name musicians were rarely permitted to perform on recordings issued by labels other than their own.) Though the album credits didn’t display it, subsequent rumors referred to the soundtrack sessions as having included a guitarist called Eddie Clayton - a well-known pseudonym used by Eric Clapton.


Also contributing to the sessions - though uncredited for a different reason - were fellow Beatles Ringo Starr and John Lennon (who added rhythm guitar at one of the sessions.) Neither of the Beatles wanted the fact of their involvement to draw attention away from Harrison on his first solo project - and they eschewed any credit.
(The 1992 Apple CD reissue of the album includes comprehensive liner notes by longtime Beatles/Apple publicist and Harrison friend/confidante Derek Taylor - in which he confirmed in print for the first time the uncredited participation of Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr “and others” in the Wonderwall sessions.)


The completed film was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 1968 - at a screening attended by George & Pattie Harrison and Ringo & Maureen Starr.
On November 1, 1968, (December 2, 1968 in US) Harrison’s much-praised score for the movie became the first album released on the Beatles’ new Apple label (receiving the UK catalog number Apcor 001) The album was well reviewed and a comparative success for an album of instrumental music from an as-yet-unseen film. It stayed on the Billboard album charts for 16 weeks - peaking at #49.

The film - which was a heavily psychedelized impressionistic fable featuring the young Jane Birkin - premiered in London on January 20, 1969 - but it was not a commercial success and fell from distribution rapidly. It never secured release in the USA.

With the passage of time and the subsequent backlash against 60’s psychedelia, the film became an obscurity, occasionally surfacing on TV as late-night filler. The film’s director Joe Massot went on to a variety of other projects - most notably directing the 1972 Led Zeppelin documentary The Song Remains The Same and 1981’s Dance Craze about the two-tone ska revival - featuring Madness and The Specials et al.

Apart from the release of Harrison’s soundtrack album on CD in 1992 as part of a general Apple catalog reissue - the project attracted no further attention until 1995.

That was the year that Noel Gallagher writer/guitarist of the band Oasis happened to see the film on one of its occasional middle-of-the-night TV airings and became fascinated with the movie and its music. His fascination led to him writing a song incorporating the film’s title. The next Oasis album - their breakthrough What’s The Story Morning Glory - featured the song called Wonderwall - and it became a worldwide hit single for the by now enormously popular Oasis.

Once people realized the inspiration for the song - the success of the track sparked renewed interest in the original Wonderwall film.

So director Joe Massot decided to bring his 1967 production out of mothballs and see if there might be some interest in reissuing the film. On viewing the movie some 30 years on, he felt that the film could be improved with some re-editing and restoration work.

With the assistance of his eldest son Jason, an aspiring filmmaker, he started to re-edit the film and create a new ‘director’s cut.’ He also decided that he needed to restore the glory of the film’s original soundtrack which - conforming to the low-fi exhibition standards of the day - had been mixed in mono.

Massot set about tracking down all the original elements of the soundtrack. Several masters were located in the tape libraries of Abbey Road Studios and EMI’s Bombay studios. However there were still some music cues missing. Massot decided to contact George Harrison to see if he could be of assistance.

Harrison searched deep in his personal vaults and eventually located all the multi-track masters that he had created for the movie. He passed the tapes to Massot to be used for the soundtrack restoration. It was then that Joe Massot made his startling discovery....

The tapes contained most of the missing music cues. The Wonderwall tapes also included a hidden gem. Apparently Harrison had been working on a SONG for the movie - called "In the First Place". However since the commission had been for instrumental music and there seemed to be no obvious location for a song in the movie - he had not bothered to submit the track to the film’s director!

The song was an extremely strong piece of psychedelic pop - in the style of the Beatles’ Blue Jay Way recorded by Harrison just weeks before the Wonderwall sessions. The atmospheric style perfectly matched the movie’s mood. Since he was in the process of re-editing the film, Massot felt that he could find a way to include this long-lost gem. In fact he wanted to use it as the film’s theme song. He approached Harrison with news of his discovery and his request.

Wonderwall is apparently a project Harrison still feels great pride in. It was the first time that he was commissioned for a project as a creative person outside of the Beatles. Harrison considered the request - and he readily agreed to the use of his recording in the film. He even gave permission for the song to be commercially released as a single in conjunction with the reissue of Wonderwall.

He sought just two minor conditions. Though the song was produced by him, clearly features his lead vocal, and is heavily influenced by his Blue Jay Way eastern/psychedelic style of composition and arrangement - he was not actually the song’s composer. It had been written by two of his session players for the Wonderwall soundtrack. The composers were Colin Manley and Tony Ashton - two members of the disintegrating Remo Four group.

Harrison first of all wanted to be sure that his fellow Liverpudlian musician pals were properly credited for their composition - and that the song was not erroneously represented as having been his composition. (He acknowledged having been the sole producer of the recording - and agreed to accept the official credit as producer.)

Secondly, Harrison did not want to be officially credited as the artist or as a vocalist on the record. The song had been written by two members of a group that was barely in existence at the time of the recording - and that had indeed officially disbanded shortly after the Wonderwall sessions. But the recording had included the instrumental playing of its four members. The group - though never commercially successfully - was a well-respected Liverpool group which had provided instrumental backing for many local artists. Harrison’s guest performance on the 1970 Ashton, Gardner & Dyke album attested to his affection for his ex-Remo Four musician pals.

The shy and retiring “quiet Beatle” - Harrison requested that the track be officially credited as a performance by The Remo Four. At the time he took this decision, Harrison was also aware that none of the four members of the defunct group were in good financial health and that one of the song’s two composers - Colin Manley (who in recent years played with another old Liverpool group The Swingin’ Blue Jeans) - was also in poor physical health. In fact Manley died just a few months later.

Close friends say that Harrison’s insistence on sole credit going to a forgotten and long unsung band of pals (and to not take any credit for his performance) is a typically generous gesture by the reclusive ex-Beatle.

Ringo Starr and George Harrison biographer Alan Clayson (“George Harrison: The Quiet One”) - who is also acknowledged as one of the world’s leading author/historians on British beat music of the 60’s - states that at the time of the recording - the Remo Four had been without a record deal for two years. The group was primarily known as an instrumental backing group (most of their singles had been instrumentals.) They had spent much of 1967 playing live in Germany - where they had been experimenting with a new jazzy sound - quite unlike the progressive rock, psychedelia and eastern music styles which Harrison had been pursuing. The group’s subsequent breakup - with two members forming a ‘back-to-basics’ no-nonsense rockabilly trio (Ashton, Gardner & Dyke’s hit had been aptly titled Resurrection Shuffle) indicated that none of the group’s musical leanings were remotely in the same direction as those of Harrison.

The track in question "In the First Place" sounds exactly as though it was a track from the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour - recorded just a few weeks earlier in September/October of 1967. Most particularly it has the same swirling eastern psychedelia found on Harrison’s song Blue Jay Way.

Taking all these factors into account - his opinion is that it was highly unlikely that the song could have been recorded as a prospective track for a Remo Four release. Apart from their long-standing lack of a record deal and the imminence of their break-up - the very contemporary Beatlesque style and vocals would have been at complete odds with the very limited industry - or public expectation of a Remo Four record.

Though they may not understand the reason for Harrison’s generous gesture to his old friends - fans of the Beatles and George Harrison are likely to agree with Clayson’s analysis of the music. They will simply be glad that the quiet Beatle agreed to allow this 31 year old gem hear the light of day.

In the UK, Wonderwall film director Joe Massot is already selling the CD single (with a collector’s 7” vinyl single also available) through his Pilar Productions company via a website. Both configurations feature two versions of the song. The original 1967 Abbey Road mix - and the new mix prepared for the movie.

Сабж никак не тянет на 2-й том Сержанта. Уж извиняйте.

2Mr.Moonlight:
>Сабж никак не тянет на 2-й том Сержанта. Уж извиняйте.

Мне нравится название фильма, тема, изложение и атмосферность музыки. Конечно, не сержант, но это гораздо эффектнее, чем идея фильма "Волшебное путешествие". Кроме того, Вондерволл можно очень широко трактовать, и с берлинской стеной тема перекликается (а на обложке-заднике - ее фото). И снят Вондерволл так, что "Мэджикал" и рядом не валялся. Мне кажется, что если бы Битлз поработали над этой темой, получилось бы великое продолжение Сержанта. Собственно, как и в случае с мультфильмом о Субмарине - тоже великая тема, но работать над музыкой битлам особенно не хотелось, и даже на обложке саундтрека - реклама Белого альбома.

В буклете к фирменному компакту "Wonderwall" Дерек Тейлор пишет, что в записи альбома принимали участие Ринго Старр и Эрик Клэптон (никакого Леннона не было). Интересно, это правда, или деза? Ведь The Remo Four - очень профессиональная группа, и играли вполне в стиле Битлз. Если Ринга стучал, а Клэптон "гитарил" в альбоме - что тогда они делали?
И вообще, история с "пропавшей песней" тоже выглядит странно. Пафос вышеприведенной статьи в том, что скромняга и тихий битл Харрисон даже не предложил ее режиссеру. А много лет спустя песню откопали, поразились, включили в реставрированную версию фильма и выпустили синглом. Парадокс в том, что песня относительно малоизвестных The Remo Four - гораздо интереснее того, что насочинял для фильма великий Джордж Харрисон. Может быть, поэтому она столько провалялась на полке? А когда ее переиздали, она уже мало чем могла помочь одному из своих авторов, который умер в безвестности и нищете от рака.

2Sitaradio:

>А когда ее переиздали, она уже мало чем могла
>помочь одному из своих авторов, который умер в
>безвестности и нищете от рака.

Это кто, простите, у нас умер в безвестности и нищете...Джордж, что-ли?

REMO FOUR In The First Place (Scarce 1998 UK mail order-only Pilar label vinyl 7" featuring Original Abbey Road Mix b/w Movie Mix, produced by George Harrision and recorded at Abbey Road studios during the 'Wonderwall' sessions, picture sleeve PILAR02V)

The Beatles Contribution: George produced the track, and had a hand in the vocals.
Label Pilar
Catalogue No. PILAR 01
Release Date 25th May 1999
U.K. Singles Chart Detail : Did NOT Chart.

Track 1: IN THE FIRST PLACE (Manley-Ashton) Original Abbey Road Mix
Track 2: IN THE FIRST PLACE Movie mix

A C.D. single (also available on 7" vinyl) promoted as "The single from the film Wonderwall", although this track was not on the album Wonderwall Music.
The main track was produced by George Harrison (the "movie mix", just being shorter), and recorded in 1967 at Abbey Road. This C.D. was mixed on 16th November 1997.
Track 1 is 3:21.
Track 2 is 2:33.

So, touted as a "Wonderwall" track, but why not on the original soundtrack ? ....
When preparing "Wonderwall" for it`s re-release, British director Joe Massot stumbled upon the song while piecing together a new digital audio track. Massot initially thought he was just doing routine cleaning of the film (featuring the only score ever composed by George Harrison) but while rifling through the old soundtrack tapes, Massot heard a new tune with a Harrison ring to it. It turns out that Harrison recorded "In the First Place" with backup band the Remo Four, but never submitted it to Massot for consideration as part of the original "Wonderwall" score. In response to a plea from Massot, however, Harrison agreed to release the song commercially and add it to the new director's cut of the picture. But he insisted on two conditions: he would receive credit only as producer (although his voice is plainly heard on the track), and the Remo Four would be named as the performers.
http://www.jpgr.co.uk/col_pilar01.html

Sitaradio Дата: 20.12.07 13:23:35
>2Mr.Moonlight:
>Сабж никак не тянет на 2-й том Сержанта. Уж извиняйте.

>>Мне нравится название фильма, тема, изложение и атмосферность музыки. Конечно, не сержант, но это гораздо эффектнее, чем идея фильма "Волшебное путешествие". Кроме того, Вондерволл можно очень широко трактовать, и с берлинской стеной тема перекликается (а на обложке-заднике - ее фото). И снят Вондерволл так, что "Мэджикал" и рядом не валялся.<<

Мне по барабану как идея Вандерволла, так и то, кто с ним рядом валялся. Один факт для меня важен: Мэджикал - фильм с участием Битлз, с их песнями, а Вандерволл - просто слабая, ныне забытая киношка. Сравнивать их - все равно, что сравнивать Хард Дейз Найт с Шанхайским сюрпризом.
Мэджикал, фильм и альбом, выходит гигантскими тиражами, а саундтрек Вандерволла в UK даже в чарты не попал в свое время. Определенную историческую ценность - да, представляет, но не более того.
Я ничего не имею против Вандерволла, я только против того, чтобы этот саундтрек именовали "вторым томом Сержанта Пеппера".

Удивляет стремление сравнивать эстетичесчкую ценность альбомов с точки зрения тиражей, мест в хитпарадах. Все равно что утверждать: RELEASE ME Хампердинка "лучше" чем STRAWBERRY FIELDS. Разве это нормально?
Тем более участие Битлз отнюдь не спасает фильм "Волшебное таинственное путешеие", делая его вполне сравнимым с тем же Шанхайским сюрпризом. Вечер трудного дня - вообще не фильм, а комерчиский ацтой. Конечно, разбавленный песнями Битлз, но данное кино создается для подростков, в особенности для девушек, еще не испытавших свой первый оргазм от созерцания бойз-группы.

2Японец

>>Вечер трудного дня - вообще не фильм, а комерчиский ацтой<<

Вы форум не перепутали, уважаемый?

2Mr.Moonlight:

>2Японец
>>>Вечер трудного дня - вообще не фильм, а комерчиский ацтой<<
>Вы форум не перепутали, уважаемый?

Нет, самый то. Неужели это сегодня кто-нибудь может смотреть?

2Японец Дата: 21.12.07 19:30:18

>>данное кино создается для подростков, в особенности для девушек, еще не испытавших свой первый оргазм от созерцания бойз-группы.<<

Самому-то сколько лет?

2Mr.Moonlight:

>2Японец Дата: 21.12.07 19:30:18
>>>данное кино создается для подростков, в особенности
>для девушек, еще не испытавших свой первый оргазм
>от созерцания бойз-группы.<<
>Самому-то сколько лет?

мне 15, но выгляжу я старше и мудрее.

2Горностаев Алексей:
>Это кто, простите, у нас умер в безвестности
>и нищете...Джордж, что-ли?

Нет, не Джордж.

2Mr.Moonlight:

>Сравнивать их - все равно, что сравнивать Хард
>Дейз Найт с Шанхайским сюрпризом.

Я не сравниваю, потому что фильм Вондерволл видел только фрагментами. Но и в Мэджикал не вижу ничего особо выдающегося. Приятный фильм своего времени, далеко не самый передовой.


>Я ничего не имею против Вандерволла, я только
>против того, чтобы этот саундтрек именовали "вторым
>томом Сержанта Пеппера".

Я не именую, и название темы мне не нравится, просто это единственное место, где можно обсудить Вондерволл.

2Sitaradio

Еще раз. Эстетические достоинства Мэджикала никого не волнуют. Он интересен тем, что там мы видим живых битлов. А Вандерволл как раз НЕ интересен тем, что там битлов нету. И музыка намного слабее. Вот и все.