Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2020 January 5

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January 5

Side B of Abby Road

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I'm trying to find the quote where John Lennon called side B of Abby Road "trash" (or similar word). Thx, 2606:A000:1126:28D:80CC:FB4F:9449:9FB1 (talk) 18:34, 5 January 2020 (UTC)

First hit when I googled "john lennon" "abbey road": [1]

"What did you think of Abbey Road? "

"I liked the “A” side but I never liked that sort of pop opera on the other side. I think it’s junk because it was just bits of songs thrown together." --Viennese Waltz 19:03, 5 January 2020 (UTC)

Thanks!  2606:A000:1126:28D:80CC:FB4F:9449:9FB1 (talk) 19:05, 5 January 2020 (UTC)

See also Abbey_Road#Recording_history for some more background. ---Sluzzelin talk 21:45, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

Octopus's Garden is on side A. Maybe he got the two sides mixed up... Lugnuts ^{Fire Walk with Me} 14:17, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

No, he didn't. He's specifically talking about the "Abbey Road Medley" that consists of a bunch of "song fragments" that makes up the bulk of side 2 of Abbey Road. John had commented on it several times in interviews. He didn't like that they put out what was essentially a bunch of unfinished songs, he felt it was cheap filler, and didn't like that. I'm not sure what he felt about "Octopus's Garden". --Jayron32 14:39, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

Yeah I think Lugnuts knows which songs are on which side. That was some kind of "joke", a dig at "Octopus's Garden". --Viennese Waltz 15:01, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

(edit conflict) I did some more research. I couldn't find anything specifically about John's opinion on "Octopus's Garden", but he did have considerable respect for Ringo's songwriting in general. In the early 1970s, after Ringo scored a string of solo hits, John wrote him "In 1974, after two years of not having a hit song himself, John Lennon sent Ringo a telegram reading: “CONGRATULATIONS. HOW DARE YOU? AND PLEASE WRITE ME A HIT SONG.”". So there's that. --Jayron32 15:02, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

I was just writing: "Good one, Lugnuts!" when more comments came in ... it was obviously a joke! SMH Maineartists (talk) 15:05, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

The comments do expose that John's opinion was not about the songs specifically, but about the medley format. He made similar comments about other songs like Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. He said he liked the indpendent songs enough, but jumping from one unfinished song to another is jarring and lazy songwriting. 135.84.167.41 (talk) 18:16, 7 January 2020 (UTC)