Now that the two stand-alone guitars have been unveiled and pre-ordering has begun, the anticipation for The Beatles Rock Band video game is continuing to grow. It is no surprise that they’ve decided to go with John Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325 Capri as it may be the most recognizable Beatles guitar. There was some speculation that an Epiphone Casino model would be used for the game and this would have made sense as it is probably the most heard guitar on Beatles records as well as the only guitar used by Lennon, Harrison, and McCartney respectively. However, it looks as though the makers of the video game have gone with the early Beatles look concerning their gear.
Interestingly, they have decided to make a Gretsch Duo Jet as George Harrison’s guitar when all signs pointed to the Gretsch Country Gentleman being released. Although Harrison used the Duo Jet well into 1963 as Beatlemania erupted throughout Great Britain, it was the Country Gentleman that he has been more identified with and was his main guitar for much of 1964 and beyond. My theory is that the makers of the game didn’t want to spend the extra money replicating the very large bodied Country Gentleman with its dark brown paint and probably thought the matching black Duo Jet and Rickenbacker a better look.
There has been a fair amount of mystery surrounding the new game and exactly which songs will be used among other things. When it was first announced that a Rock Band Beatles video game was going to be released, some believed their music wouldn’t translate well onto a platform so obsessed and preoccupied with scorching guitar licks and minute long solos. I definitely think there’s some credibility to this because it will be difficult to play along to many Beatles songs with a two guitar, bass, and drum equipment lineup. The problem is that only two years into their career the band became less of a group through greater individual efforts and increased experimentation in the studio and this effectively denies dozens of songs from being Rock Band compatible.
For example, “Yesterday” a song with only McCartney on acoustic guitar and vocals (plus strings) has very little chance working on the Rock Band format. The same goes for other Beatles classics such as “Penny Lane”, “Hey Jude”, and “Tomorrow Never Knows”, all of which have minimal to zero guitar playing.
Nevertheless, this game has great potential (despite the certain loss of the above songs) and I have created what I believe would be the ultimate Beatles Rock Band game. The real game hitting stores on 09/09/09 is rumored to feature 45 songs so I have tried to stay near that amount. Also keep in mind that not all songs will fit chronologically into the different scenes because of the need to condense the Beatles catalog into different eras and make the game more fun.
Scene #1 The Cavern 1962
1. Some Other Guy
2. Long Tall Sally
3. Roll Over Beethoven
The game will begin by descending the steps from street level in Liverpool into the cramped confines of the Cavern, the club where the Beatles made their name in their hometown. The shortest scene in the game, it will present the band in their black leather clothing and slicked hair showing the edge they have acquired through their time playing in Hamburg, Germany. The three songs will be covers (don’t expect any covers in the real game though) and each will feature a different Beatle on lead vocals. It will be a high energy set revealing the groups rock ‘n’ roll roots and the crowd will consistently grow more feverish as the music ensues.
Scene #2 London Palladium Fall 1963
1. I Wanna Be Your Man
2. Matchbox
3. Ask Me Why
4. Twist and Shout
5. Please Please Me
This set begins with a look at the Palladium stage as the curtain opens and out come the new and improved Beatles. The group will be wearing their matching gray Edwardian suits with boots and the soon to be famous long haircuts. Ringo’s drum set now features the “drop T” Beatles and the band is polished and professional. The five song set contains two more covers and will culminate with the title track from their first LP. The band has finally arrived.
Scene #3 Ed Sullivan Show February 1964
1. She Loves You
2. From Me To You
3. All My Loving
4. I Saw Her Standing There
5. I Want to Hold Your Hand
The scene reenacts Ed Sullivan introducing the Beatles on his variety show and bringing Beatlemania to the United States. The band appears nervous but romps through a set of songs that encapsulates the group’s early energetic sound. For the performance they are wearing matching dark suits and making themselves household names.
Scene #4 Hollywood Bowl Summer 1964
1. Can’t Buy Me Love
2. I’m Happy Just to Dance with You
3. What You’re Doing
4. A Hard Day’s Night
5. Eight Days a Week
The fourth scene will re-live the concert the Beatles performed in California on their first U.S. tour. Surrounded by 15,000 screaming fans the band begins to show their maturity as songwriters and they have mastered their stage act.
Scene #5 Shea Stadium Summer 1965
1. I Feel Fine
2. She’s a Woman
3. You’re Going to Lose That Girl
4. Ticket to Ride
5. Help!
The concert that changed the music industry forever will be the fifth scene. Re-creating the record breaking show the band will perform five more hits in the Shea Stadium infield amidst 55,000 screaming fans.
Scene #6 British TV studio Spring 1966
1. Drive My Car
2. Nowhere Man
3. Day Tripper
4. Rain
5. Paperback Writer
6. Taxman
7. I’m Only Sleeping
The flower power age shows its stripes when the Beatles enter a studio to perform a 7-song set for television. Now the group no longer wears matching suits and their hair has become even longer. Half way through the set the band will step outside and finish the last songs in a garden recreating the Paperback Writer/Rain music videos that were made in 1966.
Scene #7 Psychedelic Abbey Road Summer 1967
1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band
2. Lovely Rita
3. Strawberry Fields Forever
4. I am the Walrus
5. A Day in the Life
6. All You Need is Love
With the summer of love in full swing the band will create a psychedelic mural inside their Abbey Road recording studio for the seventh scene. By now the Beatles are a different band sporting facial hair and flamboyant colored clothing and accessories. The last two songs may be difficult to bring to Rock Band, but somehow someway these songs have to be included.
Scene #8 India atop Ganges River 1968
1. Revolution
2. Birthday
3. Helter Skelter
4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
5. Back in the USSR
6. Hey Bulldog
The eighth scene will show the band on their trip to India as they rock atop the Ganges River in front of their meditation compound. Dressed in plain white clothing the Beatles perform six songs with a throng of Indians, tourists, and exotic animals dancing about.
Scene #9 Apple Rooftop 1969
1. Get Back
2. Don’t Let Me Down
3. Come Together
4. Something
5. Octopus’s Garden
6. Here Comes the Sun
7. Let It Be
The final scene fittingly occurs atop the band’s Apple office rooftop recreating their last performance together in 1969. Finally the journey is complete.
Interestingly, they have decided to make a Gretsch Duo Jet as George Harrison’s guitar when all signs pointed to the Gretsch Country Gentleman being released. Although Harrison used the Duo Jet well into 1963 as Beatlemania erupted throughout Great Britain, it was the Country Gentleman that he has been more identified with and was his main guitar for much of 1964 and beyond. My theory is that the makers of the game didn’t want to spend the extra money replicating the very large bodied Country Gentleman with its dark brown paint and probably thought the matching black Duo Jet and Rickenbacker a better look.
There has been a fair amount of mystery surrounding the new game and exactly which songs will be used among other things. When it was first announced that a Rock Band Beatles video game was going to be released, some believed their music wouldn’t translate well onto a platform so obsessed and preoccupied with scorching guitar licks and minute long solos. I definitely think there’s some credibility to this because it will be difficult to play along to many Beatles songs with a two guitar, bass, and drum equipment lineup. The problem is that only two years into their career the band became less of a group through greater individual efforts and increased experimentation in the studio and this effectively denies dozens of songs from being Rock Band compatible.
For example, “Yesterday” a song with only McCartney on acoustic guitar and vocals (plus strings) has very little chance working on the Rock Band format. The same goes for other Beatles classics such as “Penny Lane”, “Hey Jude”, and “Tomorrow Never Knows”, all of which have minimal to zero guitar playing.
Nevertheless, this game has great potential (despite the certain loss of the above songs) and I have created what I believe would be the ultimate Beatles Rock Band game. The real game hitting stores on 09/09/09 is rumored to feature 45 songs so I have tried to stay near that amount. Also keep in mind that not all songs will fit chronologically into the different scenes because of the need to condense the Beatles catalog into different eras and make the game more fun.
Scene #1 The Cavern 1962
1. Some Other Guy
2. Long Tall Sally
3. Roll Over Beethoven
The game will begin by descending the steps from street level in Liverpool into the cramped confines of the Cavern, the club where the Beatles made their name in their hometown. The shortest scene in the game, it will present the band in their black leather clothing and slicked hair showing the edge they have acquired through their time playing in Hamburg, Germany. The three songs will be covers (don’t expect any covers in the real game though) and each will feature a different Beatle on lead vocals. It will be a high energy set revealing the groups rock ‘n’ roll roots and the crowd will consistently grow more feverish as the music ensues.
Scene #2 London Palladium Fall 1963
1. I Wanna Be Your Man
2. Matchbox
3. Ask Me Why
4. Twist and Shout
5. Please Please Me
This set begins with a look at the Palladium stage as the curtain opens and out come the new and improved Beatles. The group will be wearing their matching gray Edwardian suits with boots and the soon to be famous long haircuts. Ringo’s drum set now features the “drop T” Beatles and the band is polished and professional. The five song set contains two more covers and will culminate with the title track from their first LP. The band has finally arrived.
Scene #3 Ed Sullivan Show February 1964
1. She Loves You
2. From Me To You
3. All My Loving
4. I Saw Her Standing There
5. I Want to Hold Your Hand
The scene reenacts Ed Sullivan introducing the Beatles on his variety show and bringing Beatlemania to the United States. The band appears nervous but romps through a set of songs that encapsulates the group’s early energetic sound. For the performance they are wearing matching dark suits and making themselves household names.
Scene #4 Hollywood Bowl Summer 1964
1. Can’t Buy Me Love
2. I’m Happy Just to Dance with You
3. What You’re Doing
4. A Hard Day’s Night
5. Eight Days a Week
The fourth scene will re-live the concert the Beatles performed in California on their first U.S. tour. Surrounded by 15,000 screaming fans the band begins to show their maturity as songwriters and they have mastered their stage act.
Scene #5 Shea Stadium Summer 1965
1. I Feel Fine
2. She’s a Woman
3. You’re Going to Lose That Girl
4. Ticket to Ride
5. Help!
The concert that changed the music industry forever will be the fifth scene. Re-creating the record breaking show the band will perform five more hits in the Shea Stadium infield amidst 55,000 screaming fans.
Scene #6 British TV studio Spring 1966
1. Drive My Car
2. Nowhere Man
3. Day Tripper
4. Rain
5. Paperback Writer
6. Taxman
7. I’m Only Sleeping
The flower power age shows its stripes when the Beatles enter a studio to perform a 7-song set for television. Now the group no longer wears matching suits and their hair has become even longer. Half way through the set the band will step outside and finish the last songs in a garden recreating the Paperback Writer/Rain music videos that were made in 1966.
Scene #7 Psychedelic Abbey Road Summer 1967
1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band
2. Lovely Rita
3. Strawberry Fields Forever
4. I am the Walrus
5. A Day in the Life
6. All You Need is Love
With the summer of love in full swing the band will create a psychedelic mural inside their Abbey Road recording studio for the seventh scene. By now the Beatles are a different band sporting facial hair and flamboyant colored clothing and accessories. The last two songs may be difficult to bring to Rock Band, but somehow someway these songs have to be included.
Scene #8 India atop Ganges River 1968
1. Revolution
2. Birthday
3. Helter Skelter
4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
5. Back in the USSR
6. Hey Bulldog
The eighth scene will show the band on their trip to India as they rock atop the Ganges River in front of their meditation compound. Dressed in plain white clothing the Beatles perform six songs with a throng of Indians, tourists, and exotic animals dancing about.
Scene #9 Apple Rooftop 1969
1. Get Back
2. Don’t Let Me Down
3. Come Together
4. Something
5. Octopus’s Garden
6. Here Comes the Sun
7. Let It Be
The final scene fittingly occurs atop the band’s Apple office rooftop recreating their last performance together in 1969. Finally the journey is complete.
