Friday, December 26, 2014

Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)

Somehow, and I'm entirely sure how, I've lived for decades without being aware of this recording. That is a tragedy—fortunately, retroactively rectified by the downright saintly Chris Barton the Good—but I'm going to do my part to ensure none of you suffer that same fate a moment longer than absolutely necessary.


You just know that when they heard it, John grinned at Paul, feeding off his delicious envy, and rightfully so. Sure, the great Fats had done "Lady Madonna" (an early and groundbreaking experiment in meta) and "Lovely Rita" (less obvious and hampered by an overstuffed arrangement but with characteristically awesome singing by the man himself).

But. Still. Both are good to great songs. Neither inherently superior or inferior to John's "Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)." Except that "Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)" is simply so goddamn out there. And having the great Fats Domino cover such a crazy song? Is just so very, very.

1 comment:

  1. All credit goes to my missus. Jenny and I and some friends had been casually, without any arguments or tough calls, imagining the White Album boiled down to a single, 14-track LP. Along the way, she ran into Fats, and I'm so glad she did.

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