The Beatles White Album and controversial Revolution No. 9

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The Beatles White Album and controversial Revolution No. 9

There is huge controversy over this album among Beatle fans. The sprawling double album with its range of styles, solo efforts, experimental tracks and spontaneous jams, divides opinion, Some rave about it and enjoy the rawness, versatility and daring. For them the variety piques the attention. Others see it as being full of fillers and unhoned numbers and would have preferred a single album of more carefully crafted songs. I’m firmly with the former. For me the album shines precisely because of its range and rawness.

The most controversial number of all was Lennon’s Revolution No.9. Many people wrote this off as a Lennon indulgence, a meaningless pile of junk – and I must admit that I used to feel the same. It was one of a few tracks that I used to skip.

Not anymore. When I came to write the book I had to study each track in detail. Here’s an extract from the book that might help explain:

Revolution 9 (Lennon McCartney)

There is no doubt that Yoko really turned John on. He’d become lost, searching and feeling desperate, as we heard in ‘Yer Blues’. Yoko, with her uncommercial avant garde approach, quirky humour and zany perspective provided a stimulating life-line. It awakened aspects of John that had lain dormant. Suddenly he had a desire to be authentic, say what he thought, and do what he wanted, regardless of the consequences. She’d unshackled him. It was no longer about image and creating commercially successful songs. He wasn’t just a Beatle; he was John.

   The other Beatles, press and public, found this new Lennon hard to understand. He wasn’t following the rules. Yoko unleashed a new burst of creativity and it did not always head off in the direction people wanted. Being accessible and commercial were no longer considerations. Being artistically authentic was all that mattered. Nowhere was this more obvious than on this Beatles track and the three experimental albums he released with Yoko in 1968/69 – Unfinished Music No.1 – Two Virgins, Unfinished Music No.2 – Life With The Lyons and Wedding Album.

   ‘Revolution 9’ and these three albums largely used the same techniques – cut-up, backwards sections, tape loops and spoken word. The two of them were having fun producing soundscapes – painting abstract aural compositions with noise. It might leave the other Beatles, critics and the public bemused but they were enjoying themselves.

   Saxonmotherson summed up the situation perfectly: ‘Sigh…where were YOU in 1968? I was 17. MLK & RFK were assassinated, there were race riots, cities burned, Anti-Vietnam demonstrations, all over Europe, there were student demonstrations. When MLK was killed, there were army tanks (ARMY TANKS!) in the field behind our house. There was a police riot in Chicago. First time I heard R #9, it made perfect sense to me. In retrospect, it still does. It is 1968. It is the aural version of Guernica by Picasso.’- comment on Beatles Bible.

   At the time, 1968, with the French fighting in the streets, and black riots in a number of US cities, there was much talk of revolution. Violent revolution really seemed a possibility. Speaking to Jan Wenner in his 1971 Rolling Stone interview John articulated his thoughts on violent revolution: ‘At 17 I used to wish a fuckin’ earthquake or revolution would happen so that I could go out and steal and do what the blacks are doing now. If I was black, I’d be all for it; if I were 17 I’d be all for it, too. What have you got to lose? Now I’ve got something to lose. I don’t want to die.’ ‘Revolution’ was a really important song for him. He was breaking out of the straitjacket and saying something from the heart. The Vietnam War and Civil Rights issues were exploding and he was determined to have a voice in it. He had been dismayed by the overcautious reaction of the rest of the band and their rejection of it as a single.

Album of the day – Phil Ochs – A Toast To Those Who Are Gone

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I’m having a little Phil Ochs phase this week. Doing an interview with RNR magazine about my Phil Ochs book has sparked me off.

Yesterday I played All The News That’s Fit To Sing – his debut album – today I’ve moved on to A Toast To Those Who Are Gone. That seems appropriate. I propose a toast to the great Phil Ochs.

A Toast To Those Who Are Gone is an album of demos recorded between the end of his Elektra contract and the new A&M one. Although they are demos they sound good to me. They are very much in the same mold as his other Elektra recordings – civil rights takes centre stage but workers’ rights and unions also feature.

I’ll Be There is a favourite of mine.

All songs by Phil Ochs.

  1. “Do What I Have to Do” – 2:36
  2. “The Ballad of Billie Sol” – 2:24
  3. “Colored Town” – 3:00
  4. “A.M.A. Song” – 2:17
  5. “William Moore” – 3:07
  6. “Paul Crump” – 3:34
  7. “Going Down To Mississippi” – 3:04
  8. “I’ll Be There” – 2:10
  9. “Ballad of Oxford (Jimmy Meredith)”  – 2:51
  10. “No Christmas in Kentucky” – 3:04
  11. “A Toast to Those Who Are Gone” – 3:31
  12. “I’m Tired” – 2:20
  13. “City Boy” – 1:58
  14. “Song of My Returning” – 5:17
  15. “The Trial” – 2:44

Today’s Album of choice! Phil Ochs – All The News That’s Fit To Sing.

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I was writing an article on my Phil Ochs book for the RNR magazine which made me get my Phil Ochs albums out and listen once more to the great Phil Ochs.

I chose All The News That’s Fit To Sing – his debut album. It contains a number of my favourite numbers – songs of anger like Too Many Martyrs, One More Parade and Power And The Glory as well as songs of great emotional impact and beauty such as Cecelia. An album doused in the heady fumes of civil rights, injustice and antiwar. An album of great passion and optimism.

A great pleasure to play it once more.

  1. “One More Parade” (Ochs, Bob Gibson) – 3:00
  2. “The Thresher” – 2:50
  3. “Talkin’ Vietnam” – 3:38
  4. “Lou Marsh” – 4:04
  5. “Power and the Glory” – 2:15
  6. “Celia” – 3:08
  7. “The Bells” (E. A. Poe, with musical adaptation by Phil Ochs) – 3:00
  8. “Automation Song” – 2:08
  9. “Ballad of William Worthy” – 2:15
  10. “Knock on the Door” – 2:47
  11. “Talkin’ Cuban Crisis” – 2:40
  12. “Bound for Glory” – 3:15
  13. “Too Many Martyrs” (Ochs, Bob Gibson) – 2:46
  14. “What’s That I Hear” – 2:00
  15. “Bullets of Mexico” – 2:34 – bonus track on CD
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phil-Ochs-Track-Every-Album/dp/1789523265/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3NV3OO5LH85F5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.PtxBgqTQenyYhaE4sPnjnkhXU7j65BPE6KRtLgvQ2iiv6xiTfRepaCYAjQ1iysk0JqB2-WQeZuPpoJNREv5LAke5yqG5tcHeWEHmCCc7nPy_1WwE2S68a-3denb0DJ1xhxy3LjYl9Rf–QfR8xXqofRoTp0kOIhShRdaa0PzwH4syV-LUHC-F59I4YzeTy7kvhMIiZgOxz84W3zokbhdhjGVAQESY0Bkbj4S5CtsJM8.engzxEj77a1kRtVOoALZbEafeX44JQDJLL9ABwQF72U&dib_tag=se&keywords=opher+goodwin&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1732117079&s=books&sprefix=opher+goodwin%2Cstripbooks%2C1055&sr=1-4

Phil Ochs Book Release Delayed!!

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Sorry! The Publishers have delayed the release of the Phil Ochs book by three weeks. It appears there were a few distribution issues that required sorting.

Hopefully the launch with now continue as planned: Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song Paperback – 18 Oct. 2024

The book is available for preorder!

by Opher Goodwin 

Today’s music to keep me IiiiNnnnSSSAAaaNnnneEE – Paul Simon – A church is burning

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Paul Simon – A Church is Burning – Lyrics about the Civil Rights movement and the Klu Klux Klan.

paulsimon-624-1387465055

Paul Simon wrote this early on in his career when he was still a solo act. It is a brilliant song that captures the violence and ugliness of the terror tactics being used by the Klu Klux Klan to terrorise the black population in a vain attempt to stop the civil rights movement.

The civil rights movement came out of the Baptist Church and the white supremacists often targeted churches and the homes of activists for arson attacks. The stuck burning crosses in front of houses, rode through at night firing guns and actually lynched and shot people.

Fortunately a head of steam had been got up and people were not going to be intimidated. They wanted the vote and they wanted equality and freedom.

As Paul said – the idea of emancipation was not merely embellished in bricks and mortar; it was in the minds of the people and their bravery was indestructible.

There’s a way to go! We need more of that bravery now!

Help build a positive zeitgeist!

“A Church Is Burning”

A church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying
They grow in the sky
Like hands that are praying
The fire ascends
You can burn down my churches
But I shall be freeThree hooded men through the back roads did creep
Torches in their hands while the village lies asleep
Down to the church where, just hours before
Voices were singing, and
Hands were meeting, and
Saying, “I won’t be a slave anymore”A church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying
They glow in the sky
Like hands that are praying
The fire ascends
You can burn down my churches
But I shall be free

Three hooded men, their hands lit the spark
And they faded in the night, they vanished in the dark
And in the cold light of morning, there was nothing that remained
But the ashes of a Bible and a can of kerosene

A church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying
They glow in the sky
Like hands that are prayin’
The fire ascends
You can burn down my churches
But I shall be free

A church is more than just timber and stone
And freedom is a dark road when you’re walking it alone
But the future is now, and it’s time to take a stand
So the lost bells of freedom can ring out in my land

A church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying
They glow in the sky
Like hands that are praying
The fire ascends
You can burn down my churches
But I shall be free

Core Values – Freedom

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Freedom is the basis for a lot of my life and thinking. I refuse to be a clone or slotted into a hole. I want to be free to think, feel, experience and express myself.

I resent any intrusion into what I regard as my freedom.

But I do recognise that freedom is a compromise and is limited. None of us are free.

The only way we can be completely free is to be living entirely on our own. Even then we are constrained by our abilities and nature.

I do not want extreme freedom.

I do not want to live in a society where people are allowed to be violent.

I do not want to live in a society where they are free to bully, express hatred, practice misogyny or racism, threaten, rape, steal or damage. I’m happy that there are laws to prevent this.

I do not want to live in a society where everyone has guns and armed police can shoot me.

I do not want to live in a society where those of a disposition can practice incest or paedophilia. I am happy there are laws on incest and an age of consent.

I feel that I am fairly able to live as I like. It is not a police state. I can vote for who I want, say what I like about the government and religion with impunity. I can believe in what I like or not, worship or not and blaspheme. I will not be tortured, imprisoned or burnt at the stake.

I might complain about the sham of our democracy and argue about certain laws – such as the drug laws – or complain about the exploitation and elitism – but I can go where I want, say what I want and do what I want.

If freedom was absolute we would have anarchy and a violent society in which nobody was safe. The violent bullies would rule. It would be grossly unfair and frightening.

So freedom for me is a compromise.

I’m OK with governments forcing short-term restrictions in an emergency – such as a pandemic – as long as those restrictions are limited, fair and removed ASAP.

I get aeriated about religions indoctrinating children or restricting women’s rights. I get aeriated about government censorship or political restrictions. I get vexed about media lies, government spin and fake news – it undermines truth and removes freedom.

I’m on the side of the people of Myanmar opposing their military government, those who fought apartheid, the Muslim women refusing the veil, the people standing up to juntas and oppression of any form. I’m for civil rights and for us all to be equal and free.

But let anybody try to take away my free speech, right to travel, right to vote or right to not worship and I would be forced to fight them.

Freedom is a basic right as far as I’m concerned. But freedom is a slippery beast. It is a compromise at best. Freedom is an ever evolving battle.

Poetry – Equality

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Equality

Something’s gotta change.

This racial divide is despicable.

This use of violence intolerable.

This inequality reprehensible.

This has gone on

For far too long.

People need to act.

That’s a fact!

The level of racism in the country is incredible.

Indefensible.

Incomprehensible!

Opher – 20.11.2020

The Black Lives Matter campaign should not be happening.

Not in 2020.

The fact that racism is still so prevalent is a sign of a sick society.

America is the richest country on the planet – and the most unequal!

Something has got to change.

It starts with education.

Poetry – Death to Tribalism

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Death to Tribalism

 

I’m brown in the sun

And black at night,

But in the light,

I’m white.

 

I’m privileged

And immune,

Treated with respect,

Not subject to neglect,

As a member of the select.

 

But I’m not happy,

I crave for equality,

A better society,

A meritocracy,

Fairer, without inequality.

 

I don’t care about your pigment,

Or your race.

I want to see a smile

On your face.

 

It’s primitive tribalism

Holding us back.

Let’s stop thinking –

Brown, white and black.

 

Opher – 26.5.2020

Skin Colour

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Skin Colour

skinr skin

We are all children of Africa. Our species evolved from the Rift Valley in Ethiopia. We have a common ancestor with the Chimpanzees and Gorillas with who we share 99% of our genes.

There used to be a number of different species of hominids but unfortunately only two survived to recent times and our close relatives, the Neanderthals, didn’t make it. We are alone.

We nearly didn’t either. At one point it appears that our numbers got so perilously low that extinction was the more likely option. We prevailed.

Now we are present in teeming numbers (7 billion and counting) and are changing the very eco-structure and climate of the planet.

We appear to be so different yet we are not. I look at Asian, African, Australian and European and I see differences. Under the skin, aside from the cosmetics of appearance, we are the same. Incredibly there is more genetic variation within groups than between groups. We can all be traced back to the same mother.

I wonder. I can imagine her sitting on her haunches in that African valley, cradling her first born, surveying the landscape, watching the rest of her troupe, and wondering. She could have had no idea.

At first our skin was black; full of the pigment melanin. That black pigment gave us protection against the strong UV light of the African sun. That sun gave us Vitamin D but it also gave us melanoma. With our hairless bodies we need protection.

When we migrated out of Africa to more temperate regions we underwent minor mutations. They gave us our body shapes, our facial characteristics and our skin colours. The different races of mankind were born.

We were all black once.

In terms of skin colour the reasons are simple. We need Vitamin D to keep us healthy and give us strong bones. We need protection against UV Light to prevent skin cancer. It is a balance. In the tropical sun the skin needs to be black. In the temperate regions white. And in the between regions shades of brown.

Our skin colour is the result of minor mutations to balance protection from the UV rays and the production of vitamins.

Now we settle in various parts of the world there are certain lessons we need to learn. If you are black and living in Norway then take some vitamin supplement and get out in the sun as much as possible. If you are white and living in Africa then cover up and use strong sun shield.

Incredible to think that such pragmatic evolution should have resulted in such prejudice, discrimination, racism and hatred.

Human beings are a recent evolutionary invention. We are not yet civilised. We have much to learn. We are still cruel, tribal and incredibly stupid.

It is our mother’s birthday! We should all celebrate.

Civil Rights – Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman – Murders – Tom Paxton Lyrics.

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Civil Rights – Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman – Murders – Tom Paxton Lyrics.

 

Goodman Chaney Schwerner

Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were two young white men who went down to Mississippi in 1964 to help the Civil Rights cause and help sign up black registration for voting.

They were joined by James Chaney who was a young black man. They were pulled over by the cops for supposedly speeding and taken back to the police station.

Their bodies were later discovered buried in a damn. They were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan for daring to fight for justice, freedom, equality and an end to racism.

It is great that we have people as brave as these three heroes who are prepared to put their lives on the line, non-violently, for freedom and equality, but it is sad that such actions were ever necessary. Social justice is always paid for in blood.

The 1960s was not that long ago. It is hard to believe how bad things were.

Things are much better now but there’s still a lot to do. People of all colours need to come together to demand social justice.

Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney

Words and Music by Tom Paxton

The night air is heavy, no cool breezes blow.
The sounds of the voices are worried and low.
Desperately wondering and desperate to know,
About Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney.

Calm desperation and flickering hope,
Reality grapples like a hand on the throat.
For you live in the shadow of ten feet of rope,
If you’re Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney.

The Pearl River was dragged and two bodies were found,
But it was a blind alley for both men were brown.
So they all shrugged their shoulders and the search it went on,
For Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney.

Pull out the dead bodies from the ooze of the dam.
Take the bodies to Jackson all accordin’ to plan.
With the one broken body do the best that you can,
It’s the body of young James Chaney.

The nation was outraged and shocked through and through.
Call J. Edgar Hoover. He’ll know what to do.
For they’ve murdered two white men, and a colored boy too
Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney.

James Chaney your body exploded in pain,
And the beating they gave you is pounding my brain.
And they murdered much more with their dark bloody chains
And the body of pity lies bleeding.

The pot-bellied copper shook hands all around,
And joked with the rednecks who came into town
And they swore that the murderer soon would be found
And they laughed as they spat their tobacco.