Power Outages for ApX Drummers, No Single This Wkd

Power Outages for ApX Drummers, No Single This Wkd

J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here.

Oh, what a week it was! As some of you know, we experienced severe thunderstorms and heavy winds in the Greater Pittsburgh area on Tuesday. At my house, we had no property damage, and the power was only knocked out for an hour. We’re used to power outages around here, and that was a very brief one.

Unfortunately, in the neighborhood of our drummer, Jimmy “Vegas” Tanner, and his wife, Eve, (and Jimmy’s dad, who lives across the street), the power was out from Tuesday at 5 p.m. till Friday at 5 p.m (with 45 minutes of brief restoration on Thursday). First and foremost, that was tough on them. Secondarily, it affected ApX in a couple ways:

Earlier Tuesday afternoon, Jimmy and I had completed a vocal session for a very important parody that’s been in the works since January. Jimmy was planning to prep those tracks and send them to our mixer, David Michael by Thursday. However, with the power out, he couldn’t do that.

The song isnt just the first song we need for our next single ... it’s also the final song needed for the next ApX CD, which we were planning to master this weekend. Yes, we’ve already released 14 parodies this year, and we only need 12 tracks for that CD, but the parody I sang Tuesday was one we really want to include thematically on this project.

Jimmy also had drums almost ready for the second song on our next single, and he was planning to send them to Tom Tincha, Keith Haynie, and Rich Mannion by Wednesday morning. Those guys were supposed to record their parts over the next few days, so I could sing it next Tuesday. Without power, Jimmy couldn’t get them what they needed.

All’s well that ends well. Jimmy’s power has been back on now for almost 24 hours, and he says all the stuff in their refrigerator and freezer did not go bad. This morning, he was able to get the first song to David to mix, and the second song to the rest of the guys, so I should still be able to sing it on Tuesday.

Bottom line: Jimmy and Eve are OK. David is mixing the first song and mastering everything for the next CD. Tom, Keith, and Rich are working on the second song, while I’m polishing up the lyrics (God gave me some on the missing pieces unexpected when I woke up early this morning) and preparing to sing it on Tuesday.

Ordinarily, we’d be releasing a new single this weekend, but I was not able to record last week, because of the chain of events that started with my mother-in-law’s passing the day after Easter. While we hate to have to wait an extra week for a new single, we’re thankful Jimmy’s power is back on, or the new single and CD would be delayed even longer.

Praise the Lord!

Moose Loses Power, too, but Keeps on Praising

Jimmy “Vegas” Tanner wasn’t the only ApologetiX drummer to suffer a significant power outage Tuesday afternoon. So did his direct predecessor on drums, Bill “Moose” Rieger, who is dealing with a brain tumor (glioma) and is nearing the end of an intense six-week regimen of radiation therapy.

Bill posted the following on Facebook Friday morning:

No power. No phones. No internet.

3 a.m. Generator on loan runs out of gas. Go to landlord's garage and take gas. Wake up wife early go to gas station. Gas station pumps not working. Go to get go. Home. Replace landlord's gas can. Fill and restart generator. Swap power to airate fish. Swap back before I leave. Wife's doctor’s appointment in conflict with radiation schedule.

Get daughter to take me. Get to radiation. Whole wing closed. No power. No answers. Still 10 a.m. appt with podiatrist for infected open wounds on feet. Take daughter to restaurant. Too crowed. Second restaurant. Two crowded. Fast food. Too crowded. Sheetz [local convenience store]. OK Sheetz. Then go home

Contact from radiation. Move therapy to different hospital at 1:30 p.m.. Go to radiation. Now need ER for infection. Need to eat. Go to Wendy’s. No credit-card machines. Go to Denny’s. Worst meal ever. Didn't complain. No one asked or cared.

Convince wife that ER will admit me to hospital, so no need to stay. She leaves. 5 hours in ER waiting room. Told me I was getting a room. 45 minutes in er hallway. X-rays. Bloodwork. Called in prescription. Gave me pill. Sent me home.

Call Uber. Hospital cancels and says they'll pay for Lyft.

Wacko Lyft driver talks whole way home about … well, I'm not sure what ... some wacko fantasy about ant people lived above ground and below and Jesus was just here to collect samples. I kid you not.

Get home Get pajama wife into car to get more gas for generator. Can’t sleep. Watch movies till 5 a.m.

Thank God someone lent me a generator.

Thank God my landlord and I are so cool I can let myself into his garage and help myself to his stuff at 3 a.m.

Thank God someone gave me a GetGo [local gas station] card.

Thank God the generator saved my freshly filled fridge

Thank God my wife's doctor squeezed her in and got her treatment.

Thank God my daughter was available.

Thank God my daughter loves adventure like me.

Thank God my daughter loves me and loves to hang out with me .

Thank God someone gave me a Sheetz card that I forgot about and found that morning.

Thank God the radiation team didn't stop calling until they got a hold of me.

Thank God I wasn't so sick that I was deprioritized; I saw the people who went before me.

Thank God I didn't have to stay in the hospital.

Thank God the infection wasn't so bad.

Thank God the Lyft was in the hospital

Thank God the wacko driver didn't wreck.

Thank God my wife was still awake.

Thank God I still have the generator.

Thank God again for the GetGo card.

Reviewed the day with my wife on the ride home. Both of us laughing. We've had worse days.

Thank God for preparing us.

Thank God for our shared sense of humor.

Thank God for such a strong marriage.

Thank God for such a strong wife.

Thank you God!

You could claim serendipity, but the math is highly against that many things just working out.

Please continue to keep Bill in your prayers. As you can see, he still has his sense of humor and his awareness and appreciation of the Lord working in his life.

As we announced back in mid-March, Bill's church was scheduled to have a spaghetti-dinner fundraiser for him and his family this Saturday, May 3, from 2-5 p.m. EDT. However, due to power outages in the region, they have moved the dinner to four weeks from now, Saturday, May 31.

You can get updates on the event here.

If you'd like to give to support Bill and his wife, Chris, through this event, please go to his church's website, scroll down to “Giving” and then to the line that says “click here for online giving,” and select “Bill Rieger - Spaghetti Dinner.”

Grand-Prize Winner of the Great ApX CD Giveaway

As we announced last week, the grand-prize winner of The Great ApologetiX CD Giveaway was Cheri Kaye Hampton of Arnold MO. Two days after getting the news that she’d won the library, she messaged us and said:

It's been almost four months with this pain on my hand and wrist, and I've been through physical therapy, the MRI, and now I'm gonna be going to the hand specialist (as soon as they call me to make an appointment). This morning, I felt frustrated to the point of tears. Then a scripture that came into mind: 'God works all things together for good to those who love Him and those who are called according to His purpose' (Romans 8:28) … Those CDs will be a blessing.

The package of CDs was waiting for her when she came home from work on Friday afternoon. As kids (including my own) like to say these days, “Pics or it didn’t happen," so Cheri sent us this photo as proof.

She messaged us again on Saturday and said, “Thank you for those CDs. I’ve been listening to them since 7:00 this morning.”

Cheri’s appointment with the hand specialist is now scheduled for this coming Monday and 12 p.m. CDT. Please pray that all goes well and they can alleviate her pain. Thank you.

Get ApX Complete Library, USBs, Songbook

To get the complete ApologetiX library, ApX USB thumb drives, and/or the new ApX digital songbook — or to get more info about them — just click on the item(s) you want below.

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Bible-Reading for 2025

We began our latest trip through the Bible on Wednesday, April 3.

Note: If you don't have a Bible handy, you can look up these passages for free on Bible Gateway. They have about 60 different English translations/versions there to choose from, plus translations in many other languages, many of which also have multiple translations/versions.

CLICK HERE to see the reading plan for the whole year.

Influential Album Series Almost Over

J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.

On May 8, 2002, I started doing my daily Facebook posts of albums that influenced me. A couple weeks later, I posted the first 15 in our newsletter and have been reviewing each subsequent week’s posts in each subsequent newsletter.

I’m planning to make my last post of the series this coming Thursday, May 8, 2025. I figure, if a five-year mission was good enough for Captain Kirk and the starship Enterprise, it’s good enough for me.

Here’s what I said back when I started:

If you've been on Facebook recently, you've surely seen "the 10-day album challenge." A couple of weeks ago, two of my friends nominated me to share 10 albums that have greatly influenced my taste in music, having made a real impact on me in my life.

Both of those men will live to regret what they've done. How can they call themselves my friends? A mere 10 albums that greatly influenced me? It would be easier for me to post an album every single day for a year than to narrow it down to 10. So that's what I plan to do. That's teach 'em!

I've already posted the first 15 of 365. For the start of this list, I've tried to keep it as chronologically accurate as possible, so these aren't necessarily the most influential, but they were the first influential.

Since I started actively listening to music in the early 70's and didn't become a born-again Christian until early 1988, it's going to be a while before we hit the Christian albums, but there will be a plethora of those when the time comes (literally).

As I started assembling a list, it quickly became apparent to me that I'm going to have a hard time narrowing it down to 365. If I get a good enough response, I may continue including the list in upcoming newsletters so fans can see how my musical tastes developed over the years. It was a huge part of God preparing for me for what I do now in ApologetiX.

I never dreamed that the list would eventually expand to over 1800 entries! It’s been fun and educational, but it’s been a real investment of time, so I’ll be relieved when it’s over. Thanks to all of you who have followed these and sent notes of encouragement.

If you’ve actually been reading my album entries for a while, you’ve seen that it’s been much more than a discography; it’s been an autobiography … or at least part of one, because music is only part of my life. I have some ideas about other possible features in the future, but if I go that route, I’m hoping they won’t require as much writing. ;)

Influential Albums #1815–1821

J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.

Here are the latest entries in the "albums that influenced me" series I started writing in May 2020.

Note: Just because an album appears on this list doesn't mean I give it a blanket endorsement. Many of the secular albums on this list are mainly there because they wound up being spoofed by ApologetiX.

1815. The Very Best of Cream - Cream

British supergroup Cream famously featured Eric Clapton on guitar/vocals, Jack Bruce on bass/vocals, and Ginger Baker on drums. They released four studio LPs (technically, three and a half) in a little over two years (December 1966 through February 1969). All of them reached the Top 10 on the U.K. albums chart. Stateside, their debut only went to #39 on the Billboard 200, but the last three all made the Top Four. Roughly two decades after getting a second-hand copy of the '69 vinyl LP Best of Cream from my brother-in-law Dan, I purchased this CD. Released in 1995, The Very Best of Cream contained 20 tracks — twice as many as Best of Cream. I guess the subtle message was: "The more Cream, the better." Although not known as a pop group, Cream accumulated a decent amount of chart hits. Some of the lesser-known ones were missing from Best of Cream, but The Very Best of Cream made room for all of 'em: "Sunshine of Your Love" (#5 U.S., #25 U.K.), "White Room' (#6 U.S., #28 U.K.), "I Feel Free" (#11 U.K., #116 U.S.), "Strange Brew" (#17 U.K.), "Badge" (#18 U.K., #60 U.S.), "Crossroads (Live)" (#28 U.S.), "Wrapping Paper" (#34 U.K.), and "Anyone for Tennis (#40 U.K., #64 U.S.). Any other Cream standards you'd expect to hear on U.S. classic-rock stations were also present and accounted for, including "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (flip side of "Strange Brew"), "SWLABR" (flip side of "Sunshine of Your Love"), "I'm So Glad," "Spoonful," and "Born Under a Bad Sign." I mentioned my favorites from Best of Cream in an earlier entry. I've also always liked "I'm So Glad," which wasn't on that one. My favorites among the tunes I experienced for the first time on The Very Best of Creamwere "N.S.U." (flip side of "I Feel Free"), "Those Were the Days" (flip side of "White Room"), "Deserted Cites of the Heart" and "Anyone for Tennis" (which I knew about but never heard on our local rock stations). The Very Best of Cream never disturbed the Billboard 200, but it did sell half a million copies in the United States.

1816. Goodbye - Cream

My brother-in-law Dan gave me such a volume and variety of vinyl in the winter of '82-83 that I'm still adding entries for albums I missed mentioning. Here's another. Released on February 5, 1969, Goodbye was Cream's fourth and final studio LP — the group had actually broken up in November '68 — although the first three of the six total tracks were concert recordings. That followed a precedent set by its predecessor, the 1968 two-record set Wheels of Fire (#1 U.S., #2 U.K.), which had one entire disc of studio material and one of live stuff. In that case, sides one and two were studio and sides three and four were live. Goodbye, however, saved all the new material for the second half. In fact, the first two live recordings, "I'm So Glad" (9:13) and "Politician" (6:20) took up all of side one, so the third, "Sitting on Top of the World" (5:01), became the opener on side two. Ironically, the studio versions of "Politician" and "Sitting on Top of the World" had first appeared on the studio portion of Wheels of Fire. "I'm So Glad" had been on the group's debut LP, Fresh Cream. I'm more a fan of the new numbers on Goodbye: "Badge" (with George Harrison on rhythm guitar), "Doing That Scrapyard Thing," and "What a Bringdown." All three of those clock in under four minutes, and each was written by a different member. Guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton co-wrote "Badge" with Harrison," bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce wrote "Doing That Scrapyard Thing" (I love that title) and drummer Baker wrote "What a Bringdown." Goodbyereversed the chart positions of Wheels of Fire, going to #2 in the U.S. and #1 in the U.K. I've always loved the cover photo of the three members in silk suits and top hats. Like many LPs of its day, it opened up, and the inside showed seven tombstones, six of which had the name of one of the songs inscribed on it, while the final one just said R.I.P.

1817. 1 - The Beatles

The Beatles shocked the world with three new #1 U.S. LPs in the mid-'90s, but they had an even bigger surprise in store for us at the dawn of the new millennium. Released on November 13, 2000, the single-disc compilation known simply as 1 spent more weeks (eight) at the top of the Billboard 200 than those previous three chart-toppers combined, while selling more copies in the United States (11 million) and worldwide (31 million) than they did combined as well. Suddenly, a 33-year-old line from a song on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band seemed as applicable as ever: "It's getting better all the time." In fact, 1 went on to become the best-selling album of the 2000s both in the United States and worldwide. The album featured 27 songs, all of which had reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 or the U.K. Record Retailer Top 50. In fact, almost half of them topped both charts: "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Can't Buy Me Love," "A Hard Day's Night," "I Feel Fine," "Ticket to Ride," "Help!," "We Can Work It Out," "Paperback Writer," "All You Need Is Love," "Hello, Goodbye," "Hey Jude," and "Get Back." Eight only went to #1 in America: "Love Me Do" (#17 U.K.), "Eight Days a Week" (not a U.K. single), "Yesterday" (not a U.K. single), "Penny Lane" (#2 U.K.), "Something" (#4 U.K.), "Come Together" (double A-side with "Something") (#4 U.K.), "Let It Be" (#2 U.K.), and "The Long and Winding Road" (not a U.K. single). Six others reached the U.K. summit but came up short stateside: "From Me to You" (#41 U.S.), "Day Tripper" (double A-side with "We Can Work It Out" on U.K.) (#3 U.S.), "Yellow Submarine" (#2 U.S.), "Eleanor Rigby" (double A-side with "Yellow Submarine" on U.K.) (#11 U.S.), "Lady Madonna" (#4 U.S.), and The Ballad of John and Yoko" (#8 U.S.). ApologetiX has recorded spoofs of 17 of those 27, by the way. Technically, The Beatles had one other U.S. #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "For You Blue," which charted here as a double A-side with "The Long and Winding Road" in 1970, but radio stations overwhelmingly focused on the latter. What's more, a 1976 single reissue of the '66 album track "Got to Get You Into My Life" hit #1 in Canada (#7 U.S., not a U.K. single). Meanwhile, "Please Please Me" (#3 U.S.) topped three U.K. charts (New Musical Express, Melody Maker, and Disc) but only made #2 on Record Retailer. Three other Beatles singles peaked at #2 in the U.S. or U.K.: "Twist and Shout" (#2 U.S., not a U.K. single) "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" (#2 U.S., not a U.K. single), and "Strawberry Fields Forever" (#2 U.K., #8 U.S.). Despite its tremendous success, #1 turned out to be The Beatles' final #1 album in the United States (where they had a total of 19) and the United Kingdom (where they had 15). However, in 2023, the group notched one more #1 single on the U.K. Record Retailer Top 50, "Now and Then" (#7 U.S.).

1818. One Deep River - Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler fans had to wait almost five and a half years between his ninth solo LP and his 10th. Released April 12, 2024, One Deep River actually caught me by surprise. He was 74 years old by the time it came out, so I wasn't sure he would even be making any more albums. One notable thing about Knopfler, though: His voice hasn't changed much since Dire Straits burst on the scene in 1978, and his skills in guitar-playing and songwriting certainly haven't diminished. However, this album may be the man's most laid-back affair yet. Three songs were selected as singles, "Ahead of the Game," "Watch Me Gone," and "Two Pairs of Hands." I don't think any of them charted. Nevertheless, they were still good choices. One Deep River stalled at #157 on the Billboard 200 but sailed up to #3 on the U.K. albums chart. The standard edition had 12 tracks, while the digital version I got on iTunes added nine more. In addition to the big three, other selections I especially liked were "Janine," "Tunnel 13," "Sweeter Than Rain," "Before My Train Comes," and "One Deep River," plus the bonus tracks "Dolly Shop Man," "Wrong'un," "Fat Chance Dupree," "What I'm Gonna Need," and "The Living End." I also love the beautiful cover art, which shows the Tyne Bridge over the River Tyne in Knopfler's childhood hometown of Newcastle upon Tyne in England. He'd mentioned that river by name numerous times (Tynes?) before in solo songs such as "Fare Thee Well, Northumberland," "What Aye Man." "Sailing to Philadelphia," and "5.15 A.M." His website confirms that the title track of One Deep River "reflects Knopfler's deep affection for" that river, although it is not specifically named in that particular song.

1819. Number One Hits (And Others, Too) - Allan Sherman

When you say parodies, the first guy most people think of is a weird guy named Al. But Mr. Yankovic wasn't the first Al to achieve superstar status through spoofs. Two decades before him, former television producer Allan Sherman had even greater chart success ... albeit not with the same longevity. He is best remembered for his 1963 smash, "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter From Camp)," sung to the tune of Ponchielli's 1876 ballet composition "Dance of the Hours." It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 but topped the two rival charts at the time, Cash Box and Music Vendor. Sherman would only have one other Top 40 hit, "Crazy Downtown" (parody of "Downtown" by Petula Clark), which just barely made it (#40) in '65. However, in 1962-63, his first three albums all topped the Billboard 200: My Son, the Folk Singer (for two weeks); My Son, the Celebrity (for one week); and My Son, the Nut (for eight weeks). Not only that, My Son, the Folk Singer was recognized as the fasting-selling album ever released in the United States up to that point, and My Son, the Nut would be the last comedy LP to ever hit #1 until Yankovik's Mandatory Fun in 2014. Another notable thing is that "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah!" was on Sherman's third #1 LP, so he achieved the first two without the benefit of a hit single. Alas, success was fleeting ... only four more of his LPs would grace the chart after that (from 1964-65): Allan in Wonderland (#25), Peter and the Commissar (with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops) (#53), For Swingin' Livers Only! (#32), and My Name is Allan (#88). As was the case with other comedians of Sherman's ilk, the assassination of John F. Kennedy adversely impacted America's appetite for his style of humor. Meanwhile, like many American artists, his popularity was also eclipsed by The Beatles and the so-called British Invasion. Sadly, he died of emphysema at age 48 in 1973. Number Ones (And Others, Too) is a 20-track collection that features both of his Top 40 hits, plus others that helped make him famous, including "Sarah Jackman” (parody of "Frère Jacques”), a hilarious duet he performed with Christine Nelson; and "Harvey and Sheila” (parody of "Hava Nagila”). Raised in a Jewish family, Sherman frequently incorporated Jewish cultural references in his songs. Although the themes of his parodies mainly dealt with American life in the '60s, he often used much older songs, which were already in the public domain. I was already aware of Sherman's chart successes, but I wanted to learn more about him, since he obviously helped blaze a trail for other parodists like me. Consequently, in 2015, I read the 2013 book Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman by Mark Cohen. That led me to take a deeper dive into his music. I acquired various cuts from different collections available at online at the time, but Number Ones (And Others, Too) is the best non-exhaustive anthology I've found. In addition to the ones I've already mentioned, I'd recommend "Overweight People, Just Like Me" (parody of "Over the Rainbow), "Pop Hates the Beatles" (parody of "Pop Goes the Weasel"), "Glory Glory Harry Lewis" (parody of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"), "One Hippopotami Is Two Hippopotamus," "Mexican Hat Dance Song," and a medley called "Shticks and Stones." Although it's not on Number Ones (And Others, Too), I also really like "Ringo," his spoof of Lorne Greene's 1964 #1 hit of the same name. Greene sang about an infamous Western gunslinger; Sherman sang about a famous British drummer. Hmmm … Allan Sherman, Al Yankovic ... if only I had been born Alan Jackson maybe I could have had a #1 album, too! Actually, if were Alan Jackson, I would have had three #1 albums (Drive in 2002, What I Do in 2004, and Good Time in 2008), but they'd be filled with country music. So, you can't call me Al, but just remember: you can't spell ApologetiX without "Al" … and "po" and "ogetiX."

1820. Anthology 2 - The Beatles

Released on March 18, 1996, Anthology 2 was the second volume in a three-part series of double-CD/cassette compilations of alternative takes, rarities, live performances, and never-before-released songs by The Beatles. I wrote about Anthology 1 in a previous entry a couple years ago. The 45 tracks on this one were originally recorded between February 1965 and February 1968 ... with the exception of the opener, "Real Love." Based on a demo John Lennon made in 1980, that song was greatly embellished by the three surviving Beatles in '94 — Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr — who added instrumentation and vocals with production assistance by ELO's Jeff Lynne. It did fairly well on the charts (#11 U.S. pop, #4 U.K.), not quite attaining the heights of the "new" song on Anthology 1, "Free as a Bird" (#6 U.S. pop, #2 U.K.), a few months earlier. In similar fashion, Anthology 2 sold two million copies in the United States, as opposed to four million for Anthology 1. However, Anthology 2 did top the album charts on both sides of the pond, whereas Anthology 1 had hit #1 in the States but only #2 in the United Kingdom. Personally, I liked "Real Love" better than "Free as a Bird" and was much more interested in the musical period covered by Anthology 2 than Anthology 1. Among the alternate takes, there was nothing I thought was better than the official versions we'd heard for decades, but it was still interesting to hear them in earlier stages of development, including times when all the words weren't yet in place, like Paul's demo of "The Fool on the Hill." I also found the studio chatter and onstage patter (during the concert recordings) entertaining and amusing. My favorite comedic moments occurred before and after the live rendition of "Yesterday," an acoustic number sung and played by Paul alone (with orchestration but not the band) in Blackpool, Lancashire, about 25 miles from The Beatles' hometown of Liverpool. George introduces it to the audience by saying, "We'd like to do something now which we've never ever done before, and it's a track off our new LP. And this song's called 'Yesterday.' And so, for Paul McCartney of Liverpool, opportunity knocks." After the song closes and gets a screamingly appreciative response, John jokingly says, "Thank you, Ringo; that was wonderful.” Of course, Ringo didn't perform on "Yesterday," but he did play and sing lead vocals on the studio recording "If You've Got Trouble," which was originally intended for the Help! movie and album in '65 but saw its first official release on Anthology 2. The critics weren't too keen on it, but I consider it one of the album's highlights. I also like their original version of Lennon & McCartney's "That Means a Lot," which became a Top 30 U.K. hit for P.J. Proby but never appeared on a Beatles album until Anthology 2.

1821. Anthology 3 - The Beatles

Although Anthology 2 had arrived in stores a mere four months after Anthology 1, Beatles fans would have to wait almost twice as long for Anthology 3. Released on October 28, 1996, it didn't have the benefit of a "new" song like "Free as a Bird" or "Real Love," as its predecessors did. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr had begun reworking another John Lennon demo, "Now and Then," but abandoned the effort because Harrison hated it. McCartney and Starr returned to the studio and finished it in 2022-23. When "Now and Then" was finally made available to the public, it hit the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic (#7 U.S., #1 U.K.). In the meantime, Anthology 3 did just fine without a single, reaching the top spot on the Billboard 200 (as did the previous two Anthology installments) and selling 1.5 million copies in the States. It peaked at #4 on the U.K. album charts. The 50 tracks were originally recorded between May 1968 and January 1970. The first disc opens with "A Beginning," a beautiful brief instrumental originally intended to be the intro for "Don't Pass Me By" but used in the Yellow Submarine film (although not on that album) instead. It makes the perfect bookend with the second disc's closer, a remix of outtakes from "The End" from Abbey Road (with the decaying iconic final chord of "A Day in the Life" from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band added as a coda). I wound up liking Anthology 3 the best of the series. The majority of its songs were found in finished form on the group's final three LPs, the so-called "White Album," Abbey Road, and Let It Be, although some would appear on solo LPs by McCartney ("Junk" and "Teddy Boy") and Harrison ("All Things Must Pass" and "Not Guilty"). A couple would become hits for others, "Step Inside Love" by Cilla Black (#8 U.K.) and "Come and Get It" by Badfinger (#4 U.K., #7 U.S.). The version of the latter is a demo McCartney told Badfinger to copy, and it sounds remarkably similar to theirs. As was the case with Anthology 2, I can't think of any song on Anthology 3 that sounds better than the standard versions I grew up with, although I like the takes on "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" and "Old Brown Shoe." There are plenty of funny moments, thanks to silly intros/outros and comments made by Lennon and McCartney on tunes like "Hey Jude," "Rocky Raccoon," and "Let It Be," plus nonsense filler lyrics they ad lib on "Glass Onion," "Polythene Pam," and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer." It's also neat hearing the lads jam on the oldies medley "Rip It Up / Shake, Rattle, and Roll / Blue Suede Shows." Finally, I just have to say that I absolutely love the cover art for Anthology 2 and Anthology 3, courtesy of longtime Beatles friend and collaborator artist/musician/producer Klaus Voormann, who had previously designed the art for their '66 LP Revolver. Voorman played bass for Manfred Mann from 1966-69. Later, he did the same for Lennon, Harrison, and Starr on some of their solo projects. He's also responsible for the famous bassline that kicks off Carly Simon's signature song, "You're So Vain."

Donate Online or by Mail

If you'd like to donate to the ministry of ApologetiX, there are a couple ways you can do it.

Donate Online

If you prefer to mail a check or money order, please make it out to "ApologetiX" and send it to:

ApologetiX
208 Charlemma Drive
Pittsburgh PA 15214-1414

Although the donations are not tax-deductible, they will be received very gratefully and used immediately. Thank you!

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: “‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’

Numbers 6:22-26

P.O. Box 101705
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
USA

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