Sun King and Albatross

michelej1 · #1 08-24-2009, 03:34 PM

[On the musicbyday site they are going through all the Beatles albums and compiling quotes of what was said about each song by the band members. This was included for Sun King]

http://www.musicbyday.com/abbey-road...own-words/574/

“Sun King”

Lennon: When we came to sing it, to make them different we started joking, saying ‘cuando para mucho’. We just made it up. Paul knew a few Spanish words from school, so we just strung any Spanish words that sounded vaguely like something. And of course we got ‘chicka ferdi’ - that’s a Liverpool expression; it doesn’t mean anything, just like ‘ha ha ha’. One we missed: we could have had ‘para noia’, but we forgot all about it. We used to call ourselves Los Para Noias.

Harrison: At the time, Albatross was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, ‘Let’s be Fleetwood Mac doing Albatross, just to get going.’ It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac… but that was the point of origin.

chiliD · #2 08-24-2009, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michelej1

[On the musicbyday site they are going through all the Beatles albums and compiling quotes of what was said about each song by the band members. This was included for Sun King]

Harrison: At the time, Albatross was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, ‘Let’s be Fleetwood Mac doing Albatross, just to get going.’ It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac… but that was the point of origin.

Well, obviously George would think it didn't sound like Fleetwood Mac, he didn't think "My Sweet Lord" sounded like the Shirelles' "He's So Fine" either!

But, that cost him a bundle in royalties & court costs.

Play 'em back to back ("Sun King" & "Albatross" that is)...they're pretty damned close for those first 8 bars or so.

triimoral · #3 08-24-2009, 09:22 PM

Do you see any similarities in Jimi's "Waterfall"?

Wouter Vuijk · #4 08-26-2009, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiliD

Play 'em back to back ("Sun King" & "Albatross" that is)...they're pretty damned close for those first 8 bars or so.

Then after you did that, play "Sun King" and "Little Dreamer", especially the beginnings, forget the lyrics. Now there's a resemblance....

sharksfan2000 · #5 08-26-2009, 10:13 AM

Jeremy, if you're still following this discussion, I have a question. Were you or any of the other Fleetwood Mac members fans of Jimi Hendrix? I'm just curious....I hear very little of his influence on any of the band's music (maybe some in Peter's "Fast Talkin' Woman Blues", possibly in "Underway") but of course that doesn't really mean that any of you were or were not fans. I've read that Peter once jammed with Jimi at a club but unfortunately it was not recorded.

jeremy spencer · #6 08-26-2009, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharksfan2000

Jeremy, if you're still following this discussion, I have a question. Were you or any of the other Fleetwood Mac members fans of Jimi Hendrix? I'm just curious....I hear very little of his influence on any of the band's music (maybe some in Peter's "Fast Talkin' Woman Blues", possibly in "Underway") but of course that doesn't really mean that any of you were or were not fans. I've read that Peter once jammed with Jimi at a club but unfortunately it was not recorded.

With the exception of 'Hey Joe', 'The Wind Cries Mary' and 'Little Wing', I personally wasn't a fan of Hendrix.
Pete told me that he had modelled the 'Curly' instrumental, which he recorded while with Mayall, after Hendrix. I know that Pete did not like the way he played blues, however.
Other than that I don't remember us talking too much about him. Remember, we were die-hard Chicago blues purists at the time!

sharksfan2000 · #7 08-26-2009, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremy spencer

With the exception of 'Hey Joe', 'The Wind Cries Mary' and 'Little Wing', I personally wasn't a fan of Hendrix.
Pete told me that he had modelled the 'Curly' instrumental, which he recorded while with Mayall, after Hendrix. I know that Pete did not like the way he played blues, however.
Other than that I don't remember us talking too much about him. Remember, we were die-hard Chicago blues purists at the time!

Thanks for your comments, Jeremy! I'd forgotten about "Curly" - excellent point about the Hendrix influence there. It's wonderful to hear things first-hand from you. Your participation on the board here gives us all such an amazing insight into those days 40 years ago - you have a great memory!

slipkid · #8 08-27-2009, 07:45 AM

I always thought "Curly" was influenced by Jeff Beck, that's interesting.

Sharksfan mentioned "Fast Talking Woman Blues" as a possible Hendrix influence. I think that song is tied directly to Texas blues, not Hendrix. That style of blues would be championed ten or so years later from a guitarist born in Dallas.

chiliD · #9 08-27-2009, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharksfan2000

... Jimi Hendrix? ...I hear very little of his influence on any of the band's music

If anything, I hear the influence going the other direction. Jimi's tune "Pali Gap" bears a striking resemblance to "Underway" (the shortened verson on Then Play On). The jam from Woodstock that segue's into "Purple Haze" sounds a whole lot like something Peter would've done at the time.

dino · #10 08-28-2009, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiliD

If anything, I hear the influence going the other direction. Jimi's tune "Pali Gap" bears a striking resemblance to "Underway" (the shortened verson on Then Play On). The jam from Woodstock that segue's into "Purple Haze" sounds a whole lot like something Peter would've done at the time.

Interesting point, though I don't really hear any similiarities. Never heard any of the British players do the "chordal" soloing Jimi does in those songs. He smoked all of them on rhythm guitar. Still, "Underway" has an "aquatic" theme, and "Pali Gap" has a watery tone from the Univibe. If you listen to "Drifting" from the same period, Hendrix tried to get what he called "sea sounds". And he did play the "Oh Well" riff in concert several times.

sharksfan2000 · #11 08-24-2009, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michelej1

Harrison: At the time, Albatross was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, ‘Let’s be Fleetwood Mac doing Albatross, just to get going.’ It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac… but that was the point of origin.

Yeah, this is a pretty well-known quote from Harrison regarding the Sun King - Albatross connection.

Quote:

Originally Posted by triimoral

Do you see any similarities in Jimi's "Waterfall"?

Never thought about any similarities between those two (assume you mean Hendrix's "May This Be Love"), and don't really hear very much similarity myself. Do you think Peter Green was influenced by that track when he wrote "Albatross"? Don't know that he's ever mentioned anything like that when he's talked about writing it.

slipkid · #12 08-25-2009, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharksfan2000

Yeah, this is a pretty well-known quote from Harrison regarding the Sun King - Albatross connection.

Never thought about any similarities between those two (assume you mean Hendrix's "May This Be Love"), and don't really hear very much similarity myself. Do you think Peter Green was influenced by that track when he wrote "Albatross"? Don't know that he's ever mentioned anything like that when he's talked about writing it.

Peter has mentioned the Santo and Johnny song "Sleepwalk" was the inspiration for 'Albatross'. It's the Hawaiian theme. If you've ever seen the end of "La Bamba" when Ritchie Valens' family finds out that he was killed, "Sleepwalk" is the song playing in the background.

sharksfan2000 · #13 08-25-2009, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slipkid

Peter has mentioned the Santo and Johnny song "Sleepwalk" was the inspiration for 'Albatross'. It's the Hawaiian theme. If you've ever seen the end of "La Bamba" when Ritchie Valens' family finds out that he was killed, "Sleepwalk" is the song playing in the background.

That's right, slipkid - I've read that Peter credited "Sleepwalk" as one of the inspirations for "Albatross", and it's easy to understand why. But I don't believe I've ever read that he spoke of any other specific songs as having inspired it. As mentioned, I don't hear much similarity with "May This Be Love" but that's just me.

Wouter Vuijk · #14 08-25-2009, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharksfan2000

As mentioned, I don't hear much similarity with "May This Be Love" but that's just me.

Don't worry, me too.
However, I do hear some resemblance of May This Be Love by Jimi Hendrix (after 2.00 minutes) with Little Dreamer by Peter Green.

jeremy spencer · #15 08-25-2009, 05:35 PM

...yes, they were inspired by Albatross for Sun King.
We, the FM, were off to a British gig one night in 69 (I think) and we were listening to a radio interview with John Lennon where the dj was quizzing him about every track on Abbey Road, after playing it.
They came to Sun King, and it seemed that the dj was miffed that the Beatles (having a rep for exceptional originality!) would stoop to 'copy' Albatross like that! John said: "So what? We like Fleetwood Mac, and that's a good tune."
Hope that's of interest.
Jeremy.

By the way, I know that George openly acknowleged that he took the tune of 'My Sweet Lord' from 'He's So Fine', and willingly paid the compensation. Sad that a story like that gets lost in favour of sensationalism.