Jason Thompson: January, 2001

Get Back

So here it is the new year - the "new" millennium even, and what looks bright to me early on? Well, I hate to keep reaching into the past to look ahead to the future and seeming typical, but once again it seems that I've been won over by the Fab Four. I finally managed to get the video Anthology for Christmas and I have to say that the old familiar stories and great songs have rejuvenated me. To hear fans of 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys often declare The Beatles as the first "boy band" makes me want to puke. Even in their earliest years when they were singing lots of silly love songs, there was no holding a candle to the greatness of "I Saw Her Standing There" or "It Won't Be Long". Pointing out all the obvious facts such as the Beatles being so talented as to cause worldwide envy and 'N Sync being just a bunch of goofy guys assembled by a money guru down in Florida is moot.

The Beatles inspired me long ago back in my middle school years. My first purchase was Rock And Roll Music Vol. 1 in the bargain bin simply to hear their version of "Money" as I had always loved that song. Upon taking it home and playing it, I had possibly the greatest revelation of my life, if not a string of great revelations. Realizing that these were the guys who did indeed play "I Saw Her Standing There" was phenomenal. The little bargain bin wonder got played over and over again. My mom took great interest in my new "discovery" and quickly whisked me away to the record store to help me make another purchase. She had been there the first time around, after all. She decided that the Red album would be a good continuation of the primer that I had already listened to a million times. She was right. The basic schooling of everything from "Love Me Do" to "Yellow Submarine" was invaluable. After that, I struck out into The Beatles' music on my own.

Let's remember that this was just right around the time that The Beatles' albums were first being issued on compact disc, so I still had the thrill of buying them all on vinyl and gazing at the record sleeves while listening to the music. Of course, this also allowed me to hear the butchered U.S. version of Revolver, as well as the goofy Capitol-reissued United Artists' soundtrack for A Hard Day's Night with the Vegas-like instrumental incidental music hogging side two. Yet it was all good and none of my friends understood. They were into hair metal like Poison and Motley Crue. I tried to point out that "Helter Skelter" kicked anything recorded by either of those bands squarely in the balls, but they refused to listen. So I went on with my obsession.

But that was cooler in a way, as I got to enjoy the albums on my own and all the other things that go with being a fan. Checking out all the "Paul Is Dead" clues was a kick to me as a seventh grader, as was spinning some of the records backwards, and getting caught up in that whole insane trip that was still going strong all those years later. Yes, it was very good that I was a party of one in this discovery at the time, for a couple years later The Beatles got popular in the media again, along with a whole lot of other '60s groups and suddenly everyone finally realized how incredible the band really was and started coming up to me telling me so. I couldn't help but wonder if they actually liked the music, or if they were only interested because the media decided it was time to drag out the old ghost again.

It doesn't matter. What does matter is that this music still lives on, and if new listeners are introduced to it through seemingly pointless compilations such as 1 or through a mix tape some kid down the block made, or through a TV commercial, the end result is the same: an introduction to the greatest band of all time. For me, it was my sister playing the White Album when I was really small. But I kept that with me. Memories of "Blackbird" and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" taken into my pre-adolescent youth and rediscovered at just the right moment. Yeah, they all still sound fresh nearly four decades later. Don't even try to convince me that "Backstreet's Back" or "It's Gonna Be Me" are going to be tolerated ten years from now.

So into the new year I go on a high note. Listening to The Beatles' albums again has put that old spark in me to work on my own music that has been sitting around for quite awhile. I used to put out maybe two self produced collections of songs per year. Then I kind of stopped. I couldn't tell you why. I love writing songs and hearing The Beatles' music is a large part of the reason why I ever started writing them. Anyway, it's nice to be inspired once again and I look forward to this new year with much hope and a sense of a more youthful outlook that I haven't felt in quite a while. Here's hoping your new year is a good one as well.

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Jason Thompson: December, 2000, November, 2000

Jason Thompson's Reviews: December, 2000

Jason Thompson's Reviews: November, 2000

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