BDJ's Cellar Full of Remixes

Peter Sellers in a TV broadcast, performing A hard Days Night. It was a highlight of this "The Music of Lennon & McCartney' broadcast. In the show, there was only minimal accompaniment by a sew violins and choir. Here, we invoke the Beatles to help Peter Sellers out with his Hard Days Night. The vocals follow the version released on a record, with some outtakes included for good measure.

88 Fingers Louie formed in spring 1993, with the intention of playing sloppy, fun punk music for themselves. And they succeeded..... eexcept for their version of Help !, which is quite good. Lots of pace and power, straight through the middle. somehow, I feel John would have appreciated their style for this song.

Peter Sellers and the Beatles seem to have got along remarkebly well. Of course, they shared their producer (George Martin), made absurd films, and had a special sense of humour. Sellers was present in the studio when the Beatles recorded, on several occasions, and expresed a clear interest in recreational drugs on the 'Get Back' session tapes. Sellers covered a few Beatles songs, in his own comic...

This is a little known take of what would later become "You Know My name". In this early version, The beatles experiment with a Soul version of the Lennon composition. Quickly put together, but still the inspiration for the Soul industry that would spring from it, and singers such as Eddy Floyd.....

Paul once called You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) his favourite Beatles song. Was he already dead after all ? It is certainly a mcCartney-esque track, harking back to the good old days when his father played the piano in a band..... In the version of BDJ productions, no actual Beatles were harmed. In fact, all instrumental tracks are form 'others', who shal remain nameless. But they are not c...

The flipside of "Beautiful Mother", this track is - as we often find with Lennon-McCartney B-sides - a little masterpiece, albeit less commercial. John teamed up with Shuggie Otis (who is alive and touring) to record this track. Shuggie layed down the rythm tracks, and played keyboards (piano & organ) and also takes care of the stunning guitar solo. All that was left was Lennon's haunting voca...

One of Lennon's great "I'm so Sorry for Myself" songs, perhaps inspired by the Primal Scream therapy that he subjected himself to. The original production was minimalistic, and can hardly be bettered. But it can be changed altogether..... A bit of pezzaz, some flutes, an organ, and three it is: a a beautiful production of mother. Begs the question: Julia or Yoko ?

Sleeping appears to have had a particular interest to Lennon. From "Close your eyes and I'll kiss you", "I'm only Sleeping", through to "No 9 Dream", sleeping was present in his songs. Why ? Hard to tell, but somewhow sleeping was associated to imagining, new thougths or insights for JL., rather than just resting. In 'Goodnight' we again are encouraged to sleep so we can have 'sweet dreams', rathe...

Revolution 9 is an enigmatic track, which captures the attention for 10 minutes or so. It is of interest because it is is different, rather then being of any musical value. Here, we attempt to do one better, by combining the lunacy and other Lennon quotes with a catchy tune. The backing track is from the LP (never released on CD) 'From the Workshop', by the Sandy Coast, who were world famous all o...

Some 4 to 5 live recordings of Yesterday survive, with largely varying sound quality. None of them are in Stereo; until today, that is ! For the first time, in glorious stereophonic sound (provided your turntable is equipped to reproduce stereo), and a little help from our friends at NHK, we present: Yesterday !

I'm pretty sure that Yesterday is the most often covered Beatles song. Can we still do something original with it, after more than 40 years of messing about by the worlds greatest singers/musicians ? That is the Challenge for the month of August. Could not do that alone, but - fortunately - had help from Robbie Williams. Sounds different when you hear it, just listen to it twice and you will not f...

Here is a delciate rendition of Across the Universe, supported by the Doors (my other favourite group). Not bad for a last-minute entry in the July Remix-of-the-month challenge ? NB as a challenge to the experts, I included one bad edit in the mix. See if you can spot it!

In the way that Good Dog Nigel captures the essence of Lennon in a a poem, so does this track capture Lennon in Song; or at least I tried..... All that is important is here: peace, mother, and the man imself. Who could ask for more ?

Once upon a time - or maybe twice - there lived a young boy boy named BDJ. And he loved music, but he couldn't play. He BDJ grew up and a beard, and - one fine day - he spoke upon his friends and said: let's make music. And so they did, although they could not play. Unfortunately, their music ws recorded and preserved for posterity, though no one wanted to hear it. When BDJ's beard had turned grey...

Many Beatles Songs can be performed in different styles, the Beatles themsleves tried out their tracks in vatious formats on occasion. In this way Strawberry Fields started as a mellow singalong, ending up as the galaxy-busting supernova of sound that we have come to know. Here, we go the other way with Hey Bulldog: from the rough and let's-do-it-now version that was released, to a more introvert...

The Beatles visit funky town in this free-flowing re-mix with the Average White Band. Miraculously, the songs fit quite well together, and Hey Bulldog settles nicely to the groove.

One of Lennon's shortest poems, "Good Dog Nigel", paired with the only logical backing. This poem clearly shows what Lennon's poems are about: looks like "A Laugh-a-minute with Lennon" at first sight, but one level down, the story is pretty sad. According to Philip Norman's "Shout", p.49: 'They (Mimi and John ed.) used to keep al little dog named Sally...John really thought the world of her. One t...

This is the longest poem Lennon wrote (I think). Here, just the first minute or so is set to music, before it all turns too sad......

One needs to know a bit of British political history to fully appreciate the poem "The General Erection", which Lennon wrote while Wilson was in office as prime minister (and awarded him an MBE...). Even so, the poem sits nicely with 'Revolution', written when Lennon had already returned his MBE.......

Here's a teaser for Lennon's second book (Spaniard in the Works) set to Music. What is more beautiful, Lennon's music or Lennon's Poetry ? We don't know, but the combination of music and poetry should surpass all. Judge for yourself, in this charming little episode, from John in a rare contemplative mood.

The project to set Lennon's poetry to music is progressing well. Here is 'I sat belonely', one of the best known poems from Lennon's first book. Lennon took his poetry as seriously as his music. History may judge differently (perhaps), and what it will say about these music/poems, only time will tell....... And you, just leave a Comment.

Is it possible, John Lennon (rythm guitar, vocals), Eric Clapton (lead guitar) and Keith Richard (bass) in a single mix ? Yes it is ! and it sort of happened in december 1968. Never released tracks of these superstars performing live took a little doctoring, and the result is stunning. Rock & roll, baby !

Wild Honey Pie is a strong contender for the worst song that the Fab Four ever released. Why was this episode of non-music included on the White Album ? McCartney - who was always very keen to release only qualiity Beatles tracks - explained that Pattie Boyd said she liked the recording, so he decided to keep it on the album. What clouded Macca's judgement, was is it Something in the way she moved...

Here's a classic rocker that never was. It's a Hey Bulldog type throw-away, that turned out better than anyone expected (at least better than I hoped for.....).. Pity that George had left in anger, before his solo had been recorded.....

Circumstance or inspiration ? Some songs just belong together, but are they stronger when combined ? Find out here......