Week 10
00:27 Intro.
02:00 Shake Rattle and Roll
08:10 Rocket - Herbie Hancock
12:55 Honey Don't
16:25 Like A Hurricane - Neil Young
21:28 Motor of Love
26:50 Feel No Pain - ???
29:40 Your School
31:24 Get Back
35:10 Rodino Song of the Fatherland
Oobu Joobu
43:10 Dill - Cucumber Dip -Linda
44:40 By Tomorrow Night ???
48:30 Three Pieces for Blues Band and Orchestra by William Rousseau
The tenth "Oobu Joobu" is short on the transitional bits, comedy, and talk, and long on music, compared to most of it's predecessors. And there are a couple of doozies in the music, as well.
One of the best comes right at the top of the show, as Paul leads his band though a funky, slowed-down reworking of the early rock classic, "Shake Rattle and Roll". Using a soulful voice for the verses and his patented shout of the choruses, Paul puts his own stamp on the song in a way he failed to do on many of the "Russian Album" tracks. Great stuff.
Paul once again neglects to tell us titles and other basic information much of the time; I'm tempted to break down and pass off my own made-up titles as being real, as Beatlefan does, but I'll resist. There's a really choice song here, recorded at a soundcheck in Detroit (presumably June 4, 1993) that seems to be called "By Tommorow Night". I can't even tell you if it's a McCartney original or a cover version. The song is unusually carefully arranged for a soundcheck, as if the band were preparing to record it, which could suggest that it is an original. Whatever the origin, it's a fine performance of a sweet midtempo tune. (Assuming this is an original, one really must ask why this wasn't included on "Paul Is Live" over "A Fine Day"....) There's also a brief acoustic-guitar-and-wordless-vocal performance that isn't identified.
Other material from rehearsals and soundchecks: "Honey Don't", a song that we can now hear sung by any of the 4 Beatles, here sporting a prominent and sometimes incongruous accordion from Wix; a brief (but complete) run-through of "If I Were Not Upon the Stage"; and a fine "Get Back" with nice guitar work from Robbie and some spontaneous vocal improvisations from Paul. Oddly, this song is prefaced by Paul speaking in a mock-Indian accent; it seems like this might have been edited in from a different point in the soundcheck, but either way the juxtaposition raises eyebrows in light of the controversial "No Pakistanis" version of the same song.
Another highlight is a minute and a half of an unreleased song called "Your School". Paul plays this rendition solo at the piano, and it sounds like it would have stayed a piano-based song if it were completed. It's a pretty song in the McCartney tradition and even sports decent lyrics. Less inspiring is a fumbling demo for "Motor of Love" that is quickly faded into the released version (still a dull song, to these ears). There's also a very intriguing percussion-and-wordless-vocal piece that Paul does right out of Herbie Hancock's "Rockit".
"Rockit" is one of 5 outside recordings played on this show, more than in the last few weeks. The others: an uninspiring reggae record called "Feel No Pain" (the artist is not identified); an intriguing harmonica-based instrumental which is part of the third movement of "Three Pieces For Blues Band and Orchestra" by a composer named William Rousseau; "Rodino, Song of the Fatherland", and a cappella piece by the Woman's Choir of Sofia, Bulgaria; and a live version "Like a Hurricane" by Neil Young with a prominent pipe organ (anyone know if this version has been released? On "Arc", perhaps?).
The opening bit (we'll have some of this...and not forgetting...) is back after a one week absence, but Linda's song is not. She does, however, tell a joke--but botches it. The joke (a rather old one) is supposed to have mayonaisse saying "close the door, I'm dressing", but instead Linda has *lettuce* syaing that! How is lettuce dressing? Yeesh. The recipe is for dill and cucumber dip.
There's also a new "Oobu Joobu" song for the first time in a while--not a jingle but a full-fledged song with drum machines, synths, and gruff vocals from Paul. It even has a couple lines of actual words.
There's more than enough good material here to keep this show interesting, and enough even that I have trouble picking out a song of the week between two very strong contenders. So I'll cite both "Shake Rattle and Roll" and "By Tommorrow Night"--and hope I'll find out the real title and origin of the latter before too long!
... Clever segueway? I don't think so.
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