There's A Place: Early Beatles Song Foreshadows Lennon's Future Path

One of my first 45s when I began collecting records was The Beatles' "Twist and Shout." It was the flip side of this gem that really struck a chord with me, "There's a Place."  When released on March 2 1964 "Twist and Shout" was an immediate hit, instantly climbing to the #2 position. It would no doubt has achieved #1 but because The Beatles occupied all five of the top slots on Billboard's Top 100 that historic week,
four other worthy tunes had to scuffle for the second thru fifth slots. 

It was only a few weeks earlier that The Beatles had made their first appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show (Feb 9 & 16), whetting the appetite of America's youth for more. Beatlemania had begun. 

The thing is, there must have been hundreds of thousands (millions?) of kids like me who would buy records for the A-side, and then get curious about the reverse side. I still have my original "Satisfaction" somewhere in my things, and what an unusual B-side there: "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man."  

The Beatles' "There's a Place", from their 1963 debut album Please Please Me, was primarily written by John Lennon, with contributions from Paul McCartney. What struck me recently was how the song reflects a theme that runs throughout John's career. Here are several examples.

I don't want to spoil the party so I'll go. I would hate my disappointment to show.

Yer Blues: "Yes, I'm lonely. Want to die."

Fool on the Hill:  "Day after day, alone on a hill...
Nobody seems to know him..."

Nowhere Man: "He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody"

Lennon's solo albums after the Beatles breakup continued to feature deeply personal, introspective lyrics exploring themes of pain, isolation and identity. And you see the seeds of this all the way back at the beginning.  

John Lennon wrote the song in 1963, purportedly inspired by the Motown sound, and possibly drawing inspiration from the song "Somewhere" from West Side Story (which begins, "There's a place for us...") composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.  Lennon was drawn to the emotional resonance of the phrase "There's a place," but reinterpreted it in a more introspective way.

As is well documented, Lennon and McCartney were both heavily influenced by American R&B and soul music at the time, and the song reflects their attempt to blend these influences with their own style. Lennon later described it as an attempt to emulate the style of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.

The song was written in Lennon's childhood home at 251 Menlove Avenue, Liverpool, during a period when the Beatles were rapidly composing songs for their debut album. It was recorded on February 11, 1963, at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London during the marathon session for Please Please Me. The Beatles recorded 10 songs in a single day, with "There's a Place" requiring 13 takes (10 for the backing track and 3 for vocal overdubs).

The song features John Lennon on lead vocals with a mournful harmonica intro, Paul McCartney on harmony vocals and bass, George Harrison on lead guitar, and Ringo Starr on drums. Its raw energy and tight harmonies reflect the band's live performance style at the time.

"There's a Place" was one of the Beatles' early originals, written during their pre-fame days when they were still performing in Liverpool and Hamburg. It was included on Please Please Me alongside other originals like "I Saw Her Standing There" and covers of American R&B hits. 

In the U.S., the song appeared on the Introducing... The Beatles album (Vee-Jay Records) and later on The Beatles' Second Album (Capitol Records), showcasing its significance in their early catalog.

The lyrics describe a mental or emotional place , a safe haven where the narrator retreats to escape feelings of sadness or loneliness: “There’s a place / Where I can go / When I feel low / When I feel blue / And it’s my mind / And there’s no time / When I’m alone.”  

Tim Hatfield, in his deep dive into the Beatles catalog, When We Find Ourselves In Times of Trouble, suggests that Brian Wilson's "In My Room"(Beach Boys, 1963) may have been inspired by "There's a Place." Each is about finding a place where you can lock out the world.

 

The song contrasts with the upbeat, love-centric pop of the era, hinting at deeper emotional struggles. Some biographers suggest it reflects Lennon’s personal experiences with loneliness or insecurity, themes that recur in his later work. Like great poems and songs, the lyrics remain open-ended enough to be universally relatable. I myself totally connected with it. The tight harmonies give it a lively, optimistic feel juxtaposed against a theme that is melancholic. The song also showcases the Beatles' early knack for blending pop accessibility with emotional substance. Its inclusion on Please Please Me demonstrated the band’s ambition to be more than a cover band, establishing Lennon and McCartney as serious songwriters.

In later interviews, Lennon cited "There's a Place" as an early example of his personal songwriting. In a 1980 interview, he noted it was “my attempt at a sort of Motown, black thing,” reflecting his admiration for soul music and his desire to express authentic emotion.

* * * 

While not as famous as other Beatles tracks, "There's a Place" is regarded by fans and scholars as an early gem that hints at the band’s future depth. It’s often cited in discussions of Lennon’s emotional vulnerability in songwriting:

 

Blast from the Past: A Duluth Armory Trivia Contest

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

For a number of years one of the highlights of our Duluth Dylan Fest was the Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan concerts assembled by Magic Marc Productions. In addition to being a great night of music for those who attend the Salute concert served as a fund raiser for the Armory Arts and Music Center.

As noted in Dylan's autobiography Chronicles: Volume One, it was here at the historic Duluth Armory that Dylan as 17-year-old saw Buddy Holly's second-to-last concert just before his untimely death in an Iowa cornfield along with Ritchie Valenz and The Big Bopper. Holly was only 22.

These were not the only famous folk, however, to pass through the Armory's halls. For this reason, I thought I would offer up this quiz as a form of entertainment. I like games and most of us enjoy trivia to some extent. (It made the creators of Trivia Pursuit wealthy for sure.) So here it is.

A DULUTH ARMORY TRIVIA QUIZ

A major feature of the Historic Duluth Armory is what it reveals about American celebritydom in the past century. The Armory’s Great Hall has been a virtual who’s who parade that says much about our iconic connections to America-at-large. It’s an illustrious history worth preserving, not simply for its past but for the foundations it offers for the future.

The following is a list of people who may or may not have performed or appeared at the Armory. Take a sheet of paper and number it from 1 to 12. Your assignment: Identify which name in each set of four did NOT appear at the Duluth Armory in the past century? Once you have filled out your sheet, look for the answers at the very end. No peeking.

Beach Boys on the Ed Sullivan Show, 1964.

1.
A. Marian Anderson
B. Louis Armstrong
C. The Beach Boys
D. Ricardo Montalbán

2.
A. Leonard Bernstein
B. Boston Pops with Arthur Fiedler
C. Johnny Cash
D. Stonewall Jackson

3.
A. Dale Carnegie
B. Patsy Cline
C. Cher and Sonny Bono
D. Tyrone Power

4. 
A. Doris Day
B. Jimmy Dean
C. Dion
D. Duke Ellington

Will Rogers. (Public domain)

5.
A. Roy Rogers
B. Jimmy Rodgers
C. Will Rogers
D. Oral Roberts

6.
A. Tommy Dorsey
B. Duke Ellington
C. Everly Brothers
D. Marty Robbins

7.
A. The Guess Who
B. Harlem Globetrotters
C. Buddy Holly
D. Hoosier Hot Shots

8.
A. Bob Hope
B. Liberace
C. Roy Orbison
D. Jack London

9.
A. The Osmonds
B. Floyd Patterson
C. John Philip Sousa
D. Minnie Pearl

10.
A. Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
B. Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
C. Isaac Stern
D. Harry S. Truman

11.
A. Hank Williams Sr.
B. Harry Truman
C. Ritchie Valens
D. Frankie Yankovic and the Yanks

12.
A. Bobby Vee
B. Bobby Vinton
C. Lawrence Welk
D. Ritchie Valens

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Billy Hallquist (left) performed here as a lad long ago.

The late Billy Hallquist (left) played in several Salute concerts.

ANSWER KEY: DULUTH ARMORY TRIVIA QUIZ
Everyone listed in every set of four has been here and done that. In other words, all the folks listed performed or spoke here at one time or another in the past.

NOTEWORTHY
Read the Bob Dylan interview in Today's NYTimes on the eve of his latest album of original tunes being released. Bob Dylan Has a Lot on His Mind

Music of Our Lives: Songs That Make Me Think of Various People I've Known

The poor cook he caught the fits
And threw away all my grits
And then he took and he ate up all of my corn...

Do you ever have a song going through your head that seems to just stay there for part of a day? It happens, and probably happens to most of us.

Sometimes these songs are just "there" in the soundtrack of your life, and other times they are associated with memories, occasionally with moments in time and sometimes in association with other people who have been part of our lives.

I thought it might be interesting to see what music comes to mind when I reflect on various people who have been significant to me or simply crossed my path. First on my list is Dad.

Dad
I actually have quite a few memories that coincide with music when I think of my father. I remember taking swimming lessons at the public pool in Maple Heights in 1960 when Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini was a hit. The public pool must have been playing pop hits as a soundtrack because I very much make this association of being at the public pool with my mom and dad.

Music was a big part of my parents' lives when I was growing up. I remember my father wiring speakers into the basement so they could play records upstairs while having friends over to play ping pong downstairs.

It was probably around this time that I began becoming aware of pop music on the radio. I didn't have a radio, but my parents had the radio on whenever we drove to our grandparents in Warren, about an hour away. Top hits of 1960 included Cathy's Clown (Everly Brothers), El Paso (Marty Robbins) and Alley Oop (The Hollywood Angels). Funny how the pop charts have always had room for these silly songs like Alley Oop, Yellow Polkadot Bikini and Monster Mash.

The song I will select to associate with my dad, though (besides all the classical albums he listened to on Sunday mornings when Mom took us to church) is Sloop John B by the Beach Boys.

After the British Invasion (1964 ff.) there was a surge of new music flowing over the airwaves. My father, who was conservative, was sometimes curious about the music we listened to. Occasionally I would notice him standing just below the living room in our split-level house tuning in to what I had on the turntable. I vividly recall him smiling while enjoying the Beach Boys Sloop John B. It's a special memory.

John Bushey

John was the host of KUMD's Highway 61 Revisited for more than 26 years. Our friendship didn't begin till I'd been a listener for many of those years. Eventually, I became involved with the Duluth Dylan Fest, of which he was a major influence, and over time we got to know one another quite well.

The nine years I knew him he was "on again off again" battling various cancer assaults. There were numerous special moments, but Not Dark Yet seemed to be especially significant. We still miss you, John.

Frank Capelli

My family moved to New Jersey in 1964, the year I turned 12. If you've ever moved to a new town in your youth, you know the challenge of "finding your tribe." That is, making connections with people you resonate with. Unless you are a premature curmudgeon, you usually get to know some of the kids on your block. These "friends by proximity" may or may not be "your type" but you appreciate the friendships that unfold.

Frank was in my German class in 7th grade and some of my other classes. We quickly bonded, with interests that in retrospect may have been unusual. For example, we used to draw mazes, which became increasingly elaborate, some of them dozens of pages with air pockets or holes from one level to another before coming back.

Several albums come to mind when I think of Frank. When I purchased Magical Mystery Tour (The Beatles) I went to his house and remember the excitement of removing the cellophane in his room and putting the album on the turntable to listen to it for the first time. For that memory I will cite I Am The Walrus, the meaning of which we discussed in detail, especially the cryptic recitation at the end. Similarly it was at his house that I first listened to Strange Days, the Doors' second album.

"Art is whatever you can
get away with."

Most memorably, Frank was the only person I know who had the 45 for They're Coming To Take Me Away Haha. by Napoleon XIV. Follow the link if you're not familiar with it. A unique feature of the single was the reverse side, which played the song in reverse and which had the label printed in reverse.

I also have song associations with two of my neighbors on Roger Avenue in Bridgewater. The Koons family (on the right side of our home, as you face the road) was quite musical. The father was a professional trumpet player. Kenny, who was my brother's age, or a year older, was also a trumpet player as well as drummer. He was quite alert to those groups that incorporated the trumpet into their recording, like Chicago. I most remember his appreciation for The Beatles' Penny Lane, another track from Magical Mystery Tour which he enjoyed emulating.

Tom Browne
The ranch house to our left housed the Brownes, and I was friends with Tom. Many memories there, but in the context of this blog post, the song that comes to mind is Zager and Evans' In the Year 2525. Don't recall it? I haven't heard it in ages but you will see that it was quite prescient. Do check it out.

* * * *

All these songs are associated with special people who are no longer with us. I lost my father in March 2006, John Bushey in February 2018, my best friend on the first day of school in 1968, and Tom Browne a couple years back as well. There's a sense in which the music keeps warm memories alive, and lost friends and loved ones near.

Do you have special songs for the people in your life?

Pet Sounds: A Rant

For Christmas this year I asked for the CD Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys. It was an album that in the Sixties made a very small impression on me, as in a dimple on the fender of a car. Two singles from the album were memorable, though -- "Sloop John B" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" -- so I figured that even if my feelings about the album remained lukewarm, I at least had two songs that I could add to my iTunes playlist.

Sloop John B makes a connection with a special memory of my father. I was playing the 1966 single on our record player in the living room and noticed out of the corner of my eye that Dad was down in the foyer enjoying the song. When I played it again he came up into the living room (we had a split level home) and listened to it with me.

The album itself has never been one that really sparked an "I gotta have it" reaction. The primary reason I caved in though and wished to own Pet Sounds was that I kept seeing it listed as one of the top rock albums of all time by Rolling Stone. At one point in time I saw it listed as number 5, and in another reference it is listed as number 2. So I decided to ask for it in order to discover what I had been missing.

Fifteen or so listens later and I find myself at the same place I was in the beginning. Why is this supposedly such a great album? I mean no disrespect, but it's just another Beach Boys album for crying out loud.

In a comment on YouTube a person called Nick Brown stated: "I love the album, but everyone calls it psychedelic rock.. in what way is this psychedelic? Just sounds like typical pop from the Beach Boys!"

That's my problem with Pet Sounds. When people laud it as a psychedelic album I have to reflect on the real psychedelic albums of the Sixties. Just looking at the album covers on this website you can see what psychedelic music is about.

OK, integrity requires that I also include this link to a site that declares Pet Sounds the Numero Uno psychedlic album of all time. That still doesn't leave me convinced. The songs themselves are no more psychedelic than Lulu's "To Sir With Love."

Another comment from the YouTube page: deathtokoalas wrote (edited)

i suppose that, standing in 1966, this would have been really radical and different.

but, standing in 1996, and beyond, what defines the record is how simplistic and boring it is relative to the other psychedelic rock of the period. reality: zappa, beatles, hendrix, moody blues, floyd did it better. this may have been first, but it just doesn't cut it, in comparison.

Some of the praise for Pet Sounds comes from critics who note the way Brian Wilson and company incorporated the "wall of sound" approach to many of the songs. This strikes me hardly significant as Phil Spector, Wilson's friend, had been doing it for years. (Listen to his 1963 production of The Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me" as an example of the form.)

* * * *
psychedlic music, wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_music
A number of features are often included in psychedelic music. Exotic instrumentation, with a particular fondness for the sitar and tabla are common.[2] Songs often have more complex song structures, key and time signature changes, modal melodies and drones than contemporary pop music.[3] Surreal, whimsical, esoterically or literary-inspired, lyrics are often used.[4][5] There is often a strong emphasis on extended instrumental solos or jams, typically featuring a heavily distorted electric guitar as the main instrument.[3] Electric guitars are used to create feedback, and are played through wah wah and fuzzbox effect pedals.[6] There is a strong keyboard presence, in the 1960s this especially using electronic organs, harpsichords, or the Mellotron, an early tape-driven 'sampler' keyboard.[7] Elaborate studio effects are often used, such as backwards tapes, panning, phasing, long delay loops, and extreme reverb.[8] In the 1960s there was a use of primitive electronic instruments such as early synthesizers and the theremin.[9][10] Later forms of electronic psychedelia also employed repetitive computer-generated beats.[11]

* * * *

After chewing on these things a while, I started wondering who decides what makes an album great? I'm sure this phenomenon occurs in every sphere of endeavor. Whether it be books, architecture, art or poets, some body of anointed individuals establishes their authority and pontificates. Since "the public" is too ignorant to decide what's "great" we discredit record sales as a real measure, though if you're curious here's a relatively current list of the best-selling albums of all time.

I then wondered who decides what gets listed on the Rolling Stone list and I decided to ask the Oracle. That is, I Googled it. Guess what? They are very transparent about all this. And if one had more time, and one were sufficiently motivated, he or she could contact each one and ask what it was like making their selections, and how close or far the actual final list diverges from their own picks.

Here is the list of people who determine the Rolling Stone "Greatest Albums of All Time" list.

I can't be overly critical of these "experts." Dylan and the Beatles are well represented in the top twenty. Nevertheless, I just can't get past the feeling that it's just the Beach Boys.

Meantime, life goes on....