"Real Love" & "Free As a Bird"

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Beatles singles released when the Anthology came out. Neither of them received particularly good marks at the time, but I have a major soft spot for "Real Love", and will even give Jeff Lynn sort-of props for making it sound like an actual Beatles song rather than the wheezing, Wilbury-lite of "Free as a Bird". Have a few years made a difference for these tunes?

― dleone (dleone), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I haven't heard "Real Love" in ages, but "Free As a Bird" does seem to crop up every now and then. Still sounds pieced together, and the Jeff Lynne/George Harrison slide guitar does indeed render it disquietingly Willburyian, unfortnately.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought this was about the Mary J Blige song, damnit.

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Monday, 11 August 2003 15:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I like them both. Quite a lot actually.

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 11 August 2003 15:24 (twenty-two years ago)

"Real Love" seems more like something that would have been on an actual "prehumous" Beatles reunion, i.e.: a slightly updated "Abbey Road"-type sound. "Free as a Bird" just seems too pieced-together, especially when Paul's middle eight ("Whatever happened to...") comes in. Although Lennon and McCartney used to write songs where one would add a different bit to the other's contribution, that approach just didn't seem to work across the space of 20 years and beyond the grave.

― Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Monday, 11 August 2003 15:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I hate what they did to Lennon's vocal on Free As A Bird. I'd rather not hear either again, so dud. Though the video for Free As A Bird gives me shivers for some reason.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 11 August 2003 16:59 (twenty-two years ago)

i thought it was going to be about mary j too :(

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 11 August 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Real Love is a beautiful song. I think that perhaps lennon's solo demo is more emotionally striking than the "beatles" version.

― MerkinMuffley (MerkinMuffley), Monday, 11 August 2003 17:03 (twenty-two years ago)

The video for "Free as a Bird" was nice.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 11 August 2003 17:36 (twenty-two years ago)

fckng awful both of em.
there was a third for 'anthology 3'
due that was so bad george poo-poo'd it.
*shudders*.

how bad must that have been ?

― piscesboy, Monday, 11 August 2003 17:58 (twenty-two years ago)

i love both of them, but the dressed up versions are disgusting. john's original demos are much better.

― Felcher (Felcher), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:02 (twenty-two years ago)

are the original demos only available on bootleg? I can't even stand the echo John put on his voice on all those later solo hits. Is there any easy way to get some non-polished version of those songs too?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:04 (twenty-two years ago)

'real love' is wonderful, and I like the finished version more than the undoctored john demo. 'free as a bird' makes me extremely uncomfortable.

― milton (Jon L), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:06 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm actually very very fond of "Real Love" too. "Free as a Bird" is just kind of okay--way overproduced, too "Beatles-sounding" and not Beatles-sounding enough.

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:24 (twenty-two years ago)

In the comic Great Pop Things the ghost of John Lennon screams "GEORGE! TAKE THOSE ELO HARMONIES OFF MY VOICE! NOOOOO!"

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:32 (twenty-two years ago)

"prehumous"

Is that kind of like "posthistoric"?

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:33 (twenty-two years ago)

No, "prehumous" is kind of like the lazy writing I employ when I can't be bothered to use actual words and make up my own instead.

It's a perfectly cromulent word...a noble spirit embiggens the smallest man!

― Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Didn't JL really like ELO tho? (not to mention Elton John)

― dave q, Monday, 11 August 2003 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't care if he liked the Sugarland Express, those harmonies SUCK, and his ghost has to be aware of that (don't you become omniscient when you die or something?).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 16:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Um, Sugarland Express should be Starland Vocal Band. I am not embarassed that I got the name of the Starland Vocal Band wrong. No one should be.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 16:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I listened to "Real Love" again yesterday for probably the first time since the Anthologies came out, cuz of this thread, and I really really enjoyed it. I like the live shit on that Anthology 2 too. Oh and that demo version of "Tomorrow Never Knows" sounds exactly like the Tall Dwarfs!

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 17:38 (twenty-two years ago)

"Free as a Bird" - dud.
"Real Love" - not quite dud.

― Burr (Burr), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 17:40 (twenty-two years ago)

"Free as a Bird" - tripe, although I personally like "disquietingly Willburyian" slide guitar, even if it is sort of off-putting on a Beatles tune, since they tended to prefer harder-edged blues-tinged slide to the slick country lite which is heard here.

"Real Love" - certainly not full-fledged tripe, and does remind one of "abbey road" era beates, but, as with "Free," the demos are certainly to be preferred.

I agree with you about the outstandingly mediocre production of john's later solo work. They would probably be much more appreciated, if the production was absent. The box set, although somewhat top-heavy, contains many of his under-appreciated tracks minus the sacharine production and thus listenable, including (I believe) the demos of the two songs on the anthology.

― J. Weiss (jweiss), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 00:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Awful. Terrible. Those Anthologies were such wastes of money.

― Evan (Evan), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 00:15 (twenty-two years ago)

they weren't essential enough that I've felt the need to replace them but there was plenty of good stuff on them. 90% of it was strictly fanatix turf though.

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 00:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Anthony - someone sent me a tape with the FAAB and RL demos a few years ago. I can make you a copy if you like, they're much much better than the ELOized versions. they're unfortunately NOT on the John Lennon Anthology, for some reason. (none of John's other late 70s demos are on there either; it's like Yoko feels she has to respect JL's long-proved-bogus claim that he just hung up his guitar and baked bread for 5 years)

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 05:07 (twenty-two years ago)

the "real love" demo is gorgeous and much much better than the ELOized version (which I like alot anyway)

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 07:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I just remembered, there's a different "real love" demo on the imagine: john lennon soundtrack, it's quite good and also worth hearing.

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 07:29 (twenty-two years ago)

eleven months pass...

bump. Actually, I'm not sure "Real Love" could have fit on Abbey Road or some other late period Beatles album. It's so cheery and compact. Written in the style of Rubber Soul, but the harmonies are Abbey Road, so perhaps that can only translate to Wilburys. Still like it.

― dleone (dleone), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 03:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Why are the harmonies considered ELO-esque and not Beatle-esque? Because it's a more modern recording and mix? The wordless harmonies over the solo on "Free as a Bird" sound like "Because." I know Lynne sang on them, but it's not like his voice is dominant.

And there's nothing wrong with the slide guitar parts even if it makes you think of the Travelling Wilburys. George played lots of slide throughout his solo career.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 03:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't care if he liked the Sugarland Express, those harmonies SUCK

hahaha, oh I so laughed at this. This is going to be my comeback for everything.

"I hear Eddie George is joining the Dallas Cowboys."
"I don't care if he's joining the Sugarland Express, his game SUCKS."

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 04:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Troy Hambrick: 3.6 yards/carry --> run out of town
Eddie George: 3.3 yards/carry --> ushered in w/roses

― dleone (dleone), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 05:08 (twenty-one years ago)

. . . someone sent me a tape with the FAAB and RL demos a few years ago. I can make you a copy if you like, they're much much better than the ELOized versions. they're unfortunately NOT on the John Lennon Anthology, for some reason.

"Real Love" is listed under the title "It's Real," and it's the last track on Disc 4 of the Lennon Anthology.

― phil dennison, Tuesday, 27 July 2004 10:57 (twenty-one years ago)

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"Real Love" & "Free As a Bird" - C/D?