Created By: Jonathan Dysart (DJJD)
Original Creation Year: 2007
Year of Re-master: 2010
Song Listing
Side A
Side B
Side C
Side D
Origin of the Album
DJJD Volume 20 was intended to be my last album (or at least take a break from doing the CD collection projects). Also, it was the winter of 2006, and I finally had the opportunity to purchase my own desktop computer. With that purchase, I will have more opportunities of expanding my creativity – not just with the CD collection but with other craft projects not able to do at the office desktop.
While I was taking a two to four-month hiatus from the CD collection project, I was listening to a new Beatles internet radio at work, which a co-worker brought attention to me. This Beatles internet radio was playing Beatles songs 24/7. About two or three times an hour, the playlist would include “Beatles related” songs done by non-Beatles artists. Most of them were OK or fair, but some of them were pretty good. I decided to start writing these songs on a piece of paper for future use.
It was just when I bought a new desktop computer that I decided to start making this new album. So much for DJJD Volume 20 being my last album! I was still trying to get my new computer configured and set up. At that time, I compiled and created this album on my office computer for the last time. After the creation of this album, I started the painstaking time of transferring all of my albums, songs, and etc. from my office computer onto my home computer. It was a relief of having to stay late at the office in making albums anymore.
Concept and Theme of the Album
As I mentioned above, this is an album completely filled with songs that are Beatle related – or what it is commonly described as Beatlesque. This was a hard and long process (taking me at a record of two months to develop) since it was hard to find these songs. There were many from the Beatles internet radio that did not exist within the iTunes Music Store or at any other website. Therefore, I had to find many songs that were not on the list, nearly half of the album. Because the album contained many rare and non-mainstream songs, DJJD Volume 21 is probably the most obscure album I created.
What is Beatlesque?
Beatlesque is a term used to describe rock and pop bands and musicians who were influenced by The Beatles and make music that is very similar. New bands are promoted as being "The next Beatles" or "The new Fab Four", and members of the media refer to musical acts as being "Beatlesque". This practice has itself been parodied; for example, the band “Type O Negative” often refer to themselves as "The Drab Four". Here are some famous bands that are known for being Beatlesque:
Badfinger
Badfinger was a Welsh rock/pop band that formed in the late 1960's. They became closely associated with The Beatles due to their close work relationship with Beatles members and producers. The Beatles' producer George Martin was also their producer, and the band released their records on the Beatles' Apple Records label. Their interpretation of the song Come and Get It was based on Paul McCartney's demo version. Their song No Matter What is Lennon-inspired. George Harrison also worked with Badfinger, not only producing much of their music but also contributing the slide guitar solo on the song Day After Day. The band was even named after "Badfinger Boogie", the working title for the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends".
Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra, also known as ELO, was a successful British rock music group of the 1970's and 1980's. ELO grew out of a former band known as The Move, and when the remaining members decided to regroup as ELO, they announced their intention to "continue where 'I Am the Walrus' left off.", which was mentioned by John Lennon himself when introducing the song Showdown. They recorded an unreleased tribute song called Beatles Forever, but it is still unavailable, as band member and Beatles fan Jeff Lynne was reportedly embarrassed by it. Can't Get It Out of My Head (on The Mike Douglas Show) with a quartet and horn section is very Lennon-like and included the line, "I saw the ocean's daughter", a play on the name of Yoko Ono, whose name means "Ocean child". Another notable Beatlesque song from Electric Light Orchestra is Bluebird is Dead.
Frontman Jeff Lynne later produced George Harrison's Cloud Nine album, worked with him on the Traveling Wilburys albums and completed Harrison's final work Brainwashed. Jeff Lynne also produced the new songs (Free as a Bird and Real Love) for the Beatles’ “Anthology”.
Julian Lennon
Julian Lennon is the son of John Lennon. The songs "Valotte" (DJJD Volume 1), "Saltwater" (DJJD Volume 9), and Too Late for Goodbyes are all Beatlesque. The music video for the song I Don't Wanna Know features Julian and his band dressed up as the Beatles. Julian also covered "When I'm Sixty-Four", which was originally sung by Paul McCartney.
There was wild media speculation that a Beatles reunion might take place with Julian Lennon in his father's place, even though neither Lennon nor the remaining Beatles ever endorsed the idea, and the remaining Beatles denied that there had ever been any truth in the reports.
The Monkees
The Monkees were a pop-rock quartet specifically created by U.S. television in 1965 in order to replicate the style and music of The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania. At the peak of their success, the Monkees outsold The Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined, selling over 35 million records, and having four consecutive Number 1 albums in the year 1967 alone. The craze has become known as 'Monkeemania', as the remarkable teenage craze had not been seen since the peak of Beatlemania.
Much controversy has been put down by the "Pre-Fab" four as the public believed they did not play their own instruments; but aside from their first two LPs, this was not the case. Randy Scouse Git, a song written by Monkee Micky Dolenz about partying in London with The Beatles may be the first song reference to The Beatles in the line "the four kings of EMI," EMI being the Beatles' label. The song title was censored in England and it was released as a single there as "Alternate Title."
Oasis
Oasis has often cited The Beatles as a strong influence. Oasis has covered numerous Beatles songs during their career. The first was a live performance of I Am the Walrus, first released on the 1994 single Cigarettes and Alcohol and later released on the B-sides compilation “The Masterplan”. Since then they have released studio covers of "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and "Helter Skelter". Noel Gallagher himself performed "Help!" on some of his 1998 acoustic sets.
Noel has also been involved in a number of collaborations of Beatles songs, beginning in September 1995 with "Come Together". The song was recorded with Paul McCartney and Paul Weller under the guise of the Smokin' Mojo Filters and was recorded at Abbey Road and released on the “The Help Album”. In May 1996, Noel and his brother Liam were guests on a live cover of "Day Tripper" at an Ocean Colour Scene gig. In 1999, he provided an acoustic guitar for Claire Martin's cover of "Help!". In September 2000, he sang and played guitar on performances of "Tomorrow Never Knows" (with Johnny Marr and Cornershop) and "All You Need Is Love" (as part of a group finale) as well as backing vocals and acoustic guitar on a cover of "I'm Only Sleeping" with the Stereophonics. These three performances were part of a John Lennon tribute show, performed at George Martin's AIR Studios, and broadcast on Channel 4 in September 2000.
Other Beatlesque songs from Oasis: Whatever and All Around the World.
Concept and the Album Cover
Trying to creating the album cover took just as long as making the album. I went through volumes of internet pictures to find something good. Then I had an idea. When watching the music video for “Free as a Bird”, the thought of a bird flying in the sky came into my head. I did a Google search for Black Bird (which refers to Paul’s song from The White Album) and found this pitch-black bird silhouette placed on a forest background on a modified yellow dusk sky.
Using that picture as a background, I decided to apply a picture of a replica model of Ringo’s drum set and Paul’s bass guitar. Instead of having the famous Beatles logo on the face of the drum, I added “Beatlesque” using a customized Beatles logo from the internet.
When it came to remaster this album, I was hard pressed to re-do the album cover. I liked it so much. However, I did see picture quality problems when I originally mapped the drum set on the album. So, I decided to make a new album cover.
My inspiration for the new album cover came from both the movie “Yellow Submarine” and the famous psychedelic poster of The Beatles in 1967. Instead of using actual screenshots of “Yellow Submarine”, I wanted to find a “fan made” version of this unique art.
After searching for several days on the internet, I finally found a “fan made” picture. The background was completely white, so I decided to add various colors to the background. I then added the original blackbird silhouette element from the older album and applied them on the four corners of the picture. Using temporary picture software that I received from my home desktop, I was able to warp the picture to make it more psychedelic.
For the album back cover, I wanted to capture some of the elements that I had from the original album cover. Also, I wanted the back album cover to be black and white, which would represent the early Beatles as well as their famous Beatles logo. Therefore, I found a picture of a Ludwig drum and Paul’s famous bass guitar (taken from a “Guitar Hero” advertisement) and applied them to a picture.
Instead of adding the Beatles logo on the drum, I added the album title using the Beatles font. From there I added the song listings using the Beatles font, and all was good in the world.
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