This story explains that feeling I’ve been getting at the grocery story lately — that I’ve been writing progressively larger checks but bringing home fewer and fewer bags of groceries.
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Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — released 40 years ago today — maybe the single most overrated album in rock history.
That may sound counter-intuitive and a bit heretical, but hear me out. I’m not downplaying the album’s quality — it is a groundbreaking work with an artistic vision that remains surprisingly alive (mostly).
It’s just that the album doesn’t live up to the hype. But then, really, nothing could.
Mythologized like no other album in rock history, credited with single-handedly altering the landscape, Sgt. Pepper’s has become rock music’s version of “The Wasteland” or Ulysses.
Artistically, it remains a powerful and important work, but it is not one that stands above all else, especially when placed within the context of its time, its contemporary musical landscape and The Beatles own remarkable canon.
Historical context: The album may be the definitive psychedic soundtrack, which is both its strength and primary weakness. Connected to the Summer of Love via its exploration of Indian ragas and massive, multitracked sound, it also is incredibly selfconscious and arty, almost to a fault.
But as so many critics, if not fans, have come to realize about the album, it fosters an illusion (delusion?) of peace and love (in its sound if not in its lyrics, which mostly are about malaise), reinforcing the clichés of hippiedom at a time when the darker elements of the sixties were slowly coming into view (the band catches this in “A Day In A Life”). Because of this, the record stands in many ways as a great fake, as Devin McKinney wrote in his find book Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream and History (my review here).
Musical context: Sgt. Peppers was a groundbreaking record, but not in isolation. It was part of an amazing continuum of change that included records by The Beatles themselves (Rubber Soul and Revolver) , Dylan (the electric trio), the Byrds and particularly The Beach Boys.
Dylan, of course, expanded the genre’s lyrical possibilities, bringing the vocabulary of literary expressionism and surrealism to popular song while simultaneously expanding the boundaries of the blues form. Highway 61 Revisited with its organ assaults and explosive wall of music opened new frontiers, while The Beatles’ two records did the same for the pop side of the rock equation.
The Beatles’ records, in particular, had an amazing impact on Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, who released Pet Sounds a full year before Sgt. Pepper’s came out. From All Music:
The group here reached a whole new level in terms of both composition and production, layering tracks upon tracks of vocals and instruments to create a richly symphonic sound. Conventional keyboards and guitars were combined with exotic touches of orchestrated strings, bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, theremin, Hawaiian-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans, barking dogs, and more.
The songs were great, perfectly structured, and Paul McCartney in particular has said he viewed it as a challenge. There would have been no Sgt. Pepper’s without Pet Sounds, but no Pet Sounds without Revolver and Rubber Soul, and perhaps no Revolver and Rubber Soul without Dylan and so on. The continuum.
(One other note on this: The Beatles and the Beach Boys did not pioneer the use of violins and other “nonrock” instruments on rock records. Buddy Holly used them way back in 1958 and 1959.)
The Beatles canon: I love Sgt. Pepper’s. I do, despite what this post might seem to imply. But I don’t think it is the best Beatle record recorded — not by a long shot. Each record has a lot to recommend it, of course, but I take the two 1965 records, Rubber Soul and Revolver, mostly because they show a brooding edge and complete unity, and because they are the bridge records taking the band from early lighter days into the slow dissolution that follows Sgt. Pepper’s.
They also contain the best songs, the tightest, most well-crafted and mature music the band was to make.
But that doesn’t diminish what Sgt. Pepper’s is: a remarkable and majestical record by the greatest band in the history of popular music.
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I received this press release from Dow Jones last night (saw it this morning):
Dow Jones & Company(NYSE:DJ) said that a director who is a representative of the Bancroft family, Michael B. Elefante, has informed the Dow Jones Board of Directors that:
“After a detailed review of the business of Dow Jones and the evolving competitive environment in which it operates, the Family has reached consensus that the mission of Dow Jones may be better accomplished in combination or collaboration with another organization, which may include News Corporation.”
Accordingly, the Family has advised the Company’s Board that it intends to meet with News Corporation to determine whether, in the context of the current or any modified News Corporation proposal, it will be possible to ensure the level of commitment to editorial independence, integrity and journalistic freedom that is the hallmark of Dow Jones.
“The Family also indicated its receptivity to other options that might achieve the same overarching objective.”
In that connection, Mr. Elefante informed the Board of Directors that representatives of the Bancroft family would be meeting with representatives of News Corporation, including Mr. Rupert Murdoch,solely to discuss the issues related to journalistic integrity raised by the News Corporation proposal to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Dow Jones common stock and Class B common stock. Mr. Elefante advised the Board of Directors that there was no assurance the discussions would lead to a proposal satisfactory to the members of the Bancroft family. Mr. Elefante further indicated to the Board of Directors that all aspects of News Corporation’s proposal, including the price and the terms proposed by News Corporation, could be the subject of subsequent negotiation by the Board and the Bancroft family.
In light of this information, the Board of Directors has determined to consider strategic alternatives available to the Company, including the News Corporation proposal. The Board of Directors also indicated that are representative of the Board of Directors would be present at the Bancroft family’s discussions with Mr. Murdoch and News Corporation.There can be no assurance that any transaction or other corporate action will result from this exploration of alternatives or that the Board of Directors or the members of the Bancroft family will support any specific proposal received by the Company.
On a personal level, this makes me a bit nervous. As I’ve written here in the past, my wife works for Dow Jones, which means a large chunk of our livelihood — not to mention our retirement and health insurance — could be on the line if something goes down.
On a larger journalistic level, folding the Journal into a news media empire that relies on selling sensationalism and whose corporate management has never been afraid of directing coverage to favor its business interests cannot be good for the industry.
On a local level, there are concerns as well. Dow Jones is South Brunswick’s largest taxpayer, paying about two cents on the dollar (last I checked). hat might News Corp. — or some other entity — do with the Kilgore Center on Route 1? The printing plant makes it a valuable commodity, but there are no guarantees. Any significant change in use could reduce Dow Jones’ tax responsibilities, shifting them onto the rest of the township’s taxpayers — meaning we could see higher taxes here.
All in all, not the kind of news I wanted to wake up to this morning.
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Yes, I do think that gas taxes need to be raised in New Jersey. Read this week’s Dispatches column to understand why.
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Baseball fans might consider this heresy, but Jayson Stark thinks Andruw Jones is not quite the centerfielder he’s been built up to be. His argument — a good one that will cause me to reconsider some of watch Jones more closely — is that he is getting to fewer balls and has sacrificed much of not only his hitting but his fielding to hit homeruns.
Andruw is a man who has built his reputation around his Gold Glove parade, his exceptional ability to glide around center field and suck sure-thing doubles out of the sky without overheating a single sweat gland. But while most of us weren’t paying attention, Andruw was slowly, apparently imperceptibly, losing the part of that gift that made him special.
Hmmm. His numbers have been declining defensively, Stark writes, but few have really noticed — though the scouts appear to be onto it.
“I first noticed it two or three years ago,” he said. “Just from sitting there, scouting, watching balls dropping in that should have been caught. I’m not talking about balls that needed to be dived for. I’m talking about balls that should be caught.”
I surveyed other scouts. They’d begun to see the same things. Not getting the same jumps. Not reacting. Not putting in the defensive effort he used to. His body getting thicker. A sudden obsession with home-run hitting over everything else.
“He was a great defender,” said one scout. “He’s slipped. People used to compare him to Mays and Mantle. I wouldn’t put Andruw anywhere near those guys. Now he’s become an offensive player, and his defense has suffered ever since.”
So, who is the best defensive centerfielder? That’s a subjective thing and one that is difficult to gauge unless you can see the players play, in person, everyday. For isntance, I’ve always thought that Jim Edmonds, as good as he used to be, was overrated, a bit of a hotdog.
Carlos Beltran is outstanding, but he plays too deep and can be tentative on some balls — though I think he may have the best and most accurate arm.
Ichiro Suzuki, former corner outfielder who is in center for the Mariners this year, maybe the best. Statistically, he tops the charts, getting to more balls than anyone else without making an error. Coco Crisp also is having an outstanding season, showing a lot of range. (Torii Hunter, on the other hand, has an absurdly low put-out total for a guy who plays everyday — maybe he’s a bit overrated a, as well?)
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Hank Kalet 