00:10 Intro. 01:40 The Love Mix 03:45 Stop, You Don't Know Where She Came From 04:40 Tipitina - Professor Longhair 09:00 Fool on the Hill 13:39 Commercial 18:00 Oobu Joobu 18:45 Johnny in Jamaica 18:56 New Moon Over Jamaica - Paul 20:50 New Moon Over Jamaica - Johnny 22:10 Dr. Funky 22:50 World Music - Baka Tribal Music 24:30 Bring It To Jerome 31:10 Commercial - Turn Tape Over 00:06 Commercial 02:30 Dance of the Cossacks - Andre Previn 03:50 Noodles German Style - Linda 05:40 Incredible Thing - Paul & Linda 10:16 Fixing A Hole 13:30 Oobu Joobu 14:10 Commercial 16:40 Soundcheck 17:36 Lost My Little Girl 18:50 Gimmie Some Lovin' - Spencer Davis 21:45 Comedy Bit 22:45 Let It Be (Vaudeville Version) 23:20 Let It Be 27:16 Goodbye
.Well, if you've been sitting there in avid expectation of me NOT liking an episode of Oobu Joobu, you've pretty much got your wish.
Last time out, I noted with pleasure that Paul had only played one incomplete recording, hoping that they were not going to be a big part of the series from here on in. As if purposely trying to dispel that notion, Paul not only played three such "snippets" in this episode, but crammed all of them into the opening minutes of the show, making them seem worse than they were. Speaking of making things worse, the excerpt of the already-booted "Stop, You Don't Know Where She Came From" lasted a whopping *17 seconds*. Oh, well, at least we know that Paul refers to it by that title, and not the other title that has been used for the song, "Take Her Back, Jack". The other snippets were an enjoyable but undistinctive unreleased song called "Love Mix" (what a lousy title!) with an overdone dancey backing, and a very interesting demo for "New Moon Over Jamaica" which is heavily reggae--and clashes horribly with the more downtempo, country-flavored released version when Paul segues the former into the latter.
Soundcheck and rehearsal material from Paul's recent tours again makes up the bulk of the material. Most enjoyable is a long jam on "Bring It To Jerome", the Bo Diddley showcase for his sidekick, Jerome Green. (Special gold star trivia question: apart from this performance and the brief "Get Back" session rendition of the same tune, what is Jerome Green's connection to Beatledom?) There's also a version of "Let It Be" which starts in a silly music-hall style much like the "Hey Jude" aired two weeks earlier, but which quickly turns into a straightforward, rather lacklustre reading. Oh, the version of "Jerome" comes from Minneapolis 5/22/93, previously described by Paul as "the soundcheck from Hell" (a dig at the venue's acoustics). Sounds fine here, though. Also included are routine run-throughs of "I Lost My Little Girl", "Fixing a Hole", and "The Fool On the Hill". McCartney introduces both of the last two as "blasts from the past"; given that he says nothing else about them, it might be easy for the uninformed fan to assume that these are Beatle performances, although clearly that is not the case.
Paul's lack of info on some tracks is even more felt on the song that follows Linda's recipe (for noodles, german-style). I can give you no hard info on this, not even a title, although for simplicity's sake we can refer to it as "Such an Incredible Thing" as that line appears prominently. This is a very intriguing dance track, similar to the Fireman material in structure but much more uptempo. There's no singing, just a lot of dialogue, mostly from Linda but some from Paul, put in sample-style. It works quite well, and if you like the Fireman at all, you'll probably like this.
There was also a very brief bit of improvisation with Paul snging about being "Dr. Funky".
Outside material comprised the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'" (gee, don't get to hear that enough B^), a bit of Andre Previn conducting the Nutcracker, some music from the Baka tribe of equatorial Africa, and "Tipitina" by one of Paul's favorites, Professor Longhair.
I keep thinking I've missed something, but that's just a sign that there wasn't enough substance to the show. There also wasn't as much sonic variety and playing as in previous episodes, although I did like one bit where a phone was ringing; Paul picked it up, and it was Paul on the other end!
Although I enjoyed the "New Moon Over Jamaica" demo, I'll pick a full recording as my song of the week for the first time since episode 1: "Such an Incredible Thing" is lots of fun, and it should have been on the Fireman album instead of yet another mix of the same song. (But perhaps that would miss the point.) Have you noticed that, much like Paul's b-sides, "Oobu Joobu" has a good deal more in the way of dance beats than his actual albums tend to have?
All in all, though, a disappointment, Better luck next week.
... There was a deliberate mistake in there!
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