Figured we could compile the influence that The Beatles have casted on Chemical Brothers. I know there is a bit, and quite honestly I probably only remember a handful of them off the top of my head, so let this be a refresher!
This could regard samples, songs they might have featured in their DJ sets or live shows, phrases used in the Chemical Brothers universe, and even "potential" controversial recompositions. All I ask is provide some type of evidence, or link us to something, especially for the not so obvious takes.
Maybe we'll cast a broader net beyond "The Fab Four" (The Beatles). But for now, let's stick to any work that may have spawned from John, Paul, George, or Ringo.
Hopefully this can be informative or educational for all. :wise
I'll get the ball rolling:
Junior Parker's - Tomorrow Never Knows (The Beatles)
Long featured as the prelude to their live show, is a cover of The Beatles, Tomorrow Never Knows [White Album]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3YXU6nNM88
"Take this brother, may it serve you well" (Chemical DJ sets) at 6:53
The Beatles - Revolution 9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNdcFPjGsm8
Tom collaborated with director Joe Wright, providing music for Hanna and The Life Of Galileo.
Joe's wife (until 2018) is/was Anoushka Shankar. She's a sitar player and half sister to the singer Norah Jones, (source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoushka_Shankar)). They are half sisters via their dad, Ravi Shankar - perhaps the world's most famous sitar player.
In 1966 The Beatles' George Harrison "met... Ravi Shankar in London and became a student of the sitarist" (Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborations_(Ravi_Shankar_and_George_Harrison_album))).
The Chemical Brothers' Private Psychedelic Reel (a track named after a rumoured tape reel (https://www.discogs.com/release/5742801-The-Beatles-Private-Psychedelic-Reel-1966-1968) of Beatles songs) contains sitar which many believe to be sampled from The Beatles' Norwegian Wood.
For full clarity, it's worth pointing out that Norwegian Wood came out in 1965 whilst Harrison met Ravi Shankar in '66. So it seems Harrison had already managed to play that famous sitar 'lick' before meeting Shankar.
Nonetheless it does seem funny that the Chems (possibly/probably) did a cheeky sample of sitar from a band that Anoushka's dad was friends with for "sitar reasons". And now she's friends with them via Joe Wright.
https://twitter.com/ShankarAnoushka/status/1005453588502638593
She was even standing behind T&E during their DJ set at Printworks back in 2017: Facebook link (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10154782354322030)
The next time the Chems need some sitar on one of their tracks, maybe they should just call Anoushka.
I also find it funny that Beatles producer, George Martin's son, Giles worked on (https://musictech.com/news/music/the-chemical-brothers-no-reason-new-song-track-single/) the Dolby Atmos mastering of No Reason at (the Beatles/EMI's) Abbey Road studios. Especially as the Chems may have taken another cheeky sample from The Beatles - from the orchestration (https://forum.thechembase.com/index.php/topic,3258.0.html) in Strawberry Fields Forever on Let Forever Be. Is it a coincidence that both tracks have "Forever" in the title, and they got Noel Gallagher, famous for his 'Beatles' sound to sing on it?
It seems that TPPR samples the Beatles and references them in the track title.
And Let Forever Be samples the Beatles and references them in the track title.
Imagine if Star Guitar sampled the acoustic guitar from Starman (David Bowie). And referenced that in its title. ...Oh!
@Wolkenkrabber Holy smokes, that was an amazing post. You nailed the exact type of information I'm looking to fill this thread!
The Chemical Brothers (technically The Dust Brothers at the time) in addition to what you've mentioned, actually partially sampled Revolution 9, on the presumably uncleared (?) extended version of Chemical Beats on The Fourteenth Century Sky EP
"Take this brother"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWatYLIHyW0
Quote from: Bosco on Mar 08, 2024, 16:45The Chemical Brothers (technically The Dust Brothers at the time) in addition to what you've mentioned, actually partially sampled Revolution 9, on the presumably uncleared (?) extended version of Chemical Beats...
Good point. Let me do a "Yes, and..." on that.
Yes, and the sound they mixed with "Take This Brother" is sampled from a George Harrison record. The very record that inspired the EBW 1-10 label image. The sample is at 5:17 here:
George Harrison - No Time Or Spacehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pP8wAwamM0
And indeed the sound at 20:00 also pops up on It Doesn't Matter (circa 5:44) as discussed here. (https://forum.thechembase.com/index.php/topic,729.msg19634.html#msg19634)
As you can see, that post also mentions the CD reissue of Harrison's Electronic Sound, with a forward by none other than Tom Rowlands. I seem to remember that George hollered his approval of Tom's interest in his synth stuff at some industry "do" or awards ceremony (had George heard Chemical Beats??). So they actually knew each other a bit, and then Tom was invited to write the forward for the reissue.
I do wonder if these sort of connections help the Chems to
not get sued for their cheeky Beatles samples.
Oh PS: WhoSampled suggests that DYOH also sampled the same George Harrison piece. (https://www.whosampled.com/sample/652708/The-Chemical-Brothers-Dig-Your-Own-Hole-George-Harrison-No-Time-or-Space/) Although that one's not so obvious.
PPS: The sound at about 5:03 to 5:10 above. I think I recognise that too. Which Chems track am I thinking of? Anyone?
PPPS: It's only just occurred to me that Let Forever Be is potentially a combination of the titles Let It Be and Strawberry Fields Forever. I'm gonna guess that this track started off as Tom's idea and Noel Gallagher picked up the ball and ran with it.
So while we are on George Harrison, I'm curious if Tom and Ed ever reached out to Dhani Harrison (George's son). For those who don't know, he can capture his dad's voice pretty well. Honestly feel this would be a beautiful moment in music history if Chemical Brothers could collaborate with him in some capacity.
Talking about LFB, you all remember this thread => CLICK (https://forum.thechembase.com/index.php/topic,3258.0.html) <= because you all contributed to it
Quote from: Bosco on Mar 08, 2024, 16:45on the presumably uncleared (?) extended version of Chemical Beats on The Fourteenth Century Sky EP
Would not say extended version. It's more like a Original Version. They just cut the whole intro part to make a better transition from Fuck Up Beats.
Quote from: ThePumisher on Mar 09, 2024, 10:22Talking about LFB, you all remember this thread => CLICK (https://forum.thechembase.com/index.php/topic,3258.0.html) <= because you all contributed to it
Yes, I remember. I linked it in my first post in this thread like this:
Quote from: Wolkenkrabber on Mar 08, 2024, 11:24Especially as the Chems may have taken another cheeky sample from The Beatles - from the orchestration (https://forum.thechembase.com/index.php/topic,3258.0.html) in Strawberry Fields Forever on Let Forever Be
Quote from: ThePumisher on Mar 09, 2024, 10:22Would not say extended version [of Chemical Beats]. It's more like a Original Version. They just cut the whole intro part to make a better transition from Fuck Up Beats.
How about "The original 12" version"? Can we live with that?
Quote from: Wolkenkrabber on Mar 09, 2024, 13:39Yes, I remember. I linked it in my first post in this thread like this:
Should i start reading these posts more carefully? I do think so...
Quote from: Wolkenkrabber on Mar 09, 2024, 13:39How about "The original 12" version"? Can we live with that?
Sounds good to me