The Black Album | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Compilation album by | |
Released | 21 July 2014 |
Recorded | December 1969 – February 1995 |
Genre | Rock, pop |
Length | 3:17:11 |
Compiler | Ethan Hawke |
The Black Album (stylised as The BLACK ALBUM) is an unofficial compilation album of solo material by members of the British rock group The Beatles. It was created by the American actor Ethan Hawke, and became widely known as a result of its inclusion in Richard Linklater's 2014 film Boyhood . Hawke compiled the record to give to his daughter Maya on her 13th birthday in 2011, including personalised liner notes; it was then incorporated into Boyhood in scenes shot later that year, with Hawke's character giving it to his son as a birthday present.
The compilation contains 51 tracks from Beatles members following the band's breakup in 1970. Critical reaction to The Black Album was generally positive: The Desert Sun described it as "a great listen", while USA Today called it "quite a compilation". In an analysis for the New York Daily News , Jim Farber suggested that the record was "a metaphor for divorce".
A lifelong fan of the Beatles, Hawke compiled The Black Album for his daughter Maya following his divorce from her mother Uma Thurman, and presented it to her on her 13th birthday on 8 July 2011. [1] The record consisted of 51 songs from the Beatles' members following their breakup in 1970. [2] John Lennon had 19 songs on the compilation from his solo career and his collaborations with the Plastic Ono Band, Paul McCartney had 20 from his solo career and his collaborations with Wings and Linda McCartney, George Harrison had seven songs from his solo career, and Ringo Starr had four. Additionally, the song "Real Love"—a Lennon demo reworked and overdubbed by McCartney, Harrison and Starr for the compilation Anthology 2 —was included on The Black Album. Included with the three-disc collection was a set of liner notes in the form of a personalised letter from Hawke to his daughter, explaining his motivation for creating the album. [3]
"Mason, I wanted to give you something for your birthday that money couldn't buy, something that only a father could give a son, like a family heirloom. This is the best I could do."
— Mason Sr. explains The Black Album [4]
Since 2002, Hawke had been starring in Boyhood, an ongoing 12-year film project directed by the American director Richard Linklater. [5] Boyhood chronicles the life of Mason Evans (Ellar Coltrane) from the ages of six to 18, with scenes shot each year between 2002 and 2013. [1] Hawke portrays Mason's father, Mason Evans Sr. [6] While filming scenes in 2011 for Mason's 15th birthday, Linklater decided to incorporate The Black Album into the film, by having Mason Sr. gift the compilation to his son as a birthday present. [7] In the film, Mason Sr. explains: "Whenever you listen to too much of the solo stuff it kind of becomes a drag, you know? But you put them next to each other, right, and they start to elevate each other. And then you can hear it: it's the Beatles." He describes the record as being the "perfect segue" of solo Beatles material. [1]
During promotion of the film, Linklater was asked at a Q&A in Chicago if the album actually existed. [8] Linklater confirmed that it did, and explained that he and Hawke were looking for a way to distribute its full track listing to the public. [8] Hawke eventually revealed the track listing and an adaptation of its liner notes on 21 July 2014 in an exclusive article for the website BuzzFeed. [9]
Critical reaction to Hawke's compilation was generally positive. In an analysis of The Black Album, Jim Farber of the New York Daily News suggested that the record was "a metaphor for divorce", and noted that Hawke had selected tracks that were recorded as the Beatles' members were approaching maturity and writing songs about more mature subject matter. [1] Trey Barrineau of USA Today said the album was "quite a compilation", [10] while Peter Howell of the Toronto Star called it "unique". [11] The Desert Sun described it as "a great listen" and were inspired to create their own shorter version of the album, which featured only 12 tracks consisting of solo material from 1970 to 1971. [12]
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Grow Old with Me (2010 Remaster)" (from Milk and Honey , 1984) | John Lennon | 3:07 |
2. | "Silly Love Songs" (from Wings at the Speed of Sound , 1976) | Wings | 5:54 |
3. | "Real Love" (from Anthology 2 , 1996) | The Beatles | 3:54 |
4. | "My Love" (from Red Rose Speedway , 1973) | Paul McCartney & Wings | 4:08 |
5. | "Oh My Love" (from Imagine , 1971) | John Lennon | 2:50 |
6. | "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" (from Living in the Material World , 1973) | George Harrison | 3:36 |
7. | "Pipes of Peace" (from Pipes of Peace , 1983) | Paul McCartney | 3:56 |
8. | "Imagine" (from Imagine , 1971) | John Lennon | 3:01 |
9. | "Here Today" (from Tug of War , 1982) | Paul McCartney | 2:27 |
10. | "All Things Must Pass" (from All Things Must Pass , 1970) | George Harrison | 3:44 |
11. | "And I Love Her" (from Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) , 1991) | Paul McCartney | 4:17 |
Total length: | 40:54 |
Works that explore similar concepts
Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, author and film director. He made his film debut in Explorers (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in Dead Poets Society (1989). Hawke starred alongside Julie Delpy in Richard Linklater's Before trilogy from 1995 to 2013. Hawke received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Training Day (2001) and Boyhood (2014) and two for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013). Other notable roles include in Reality Bites (1994), Gattaca (1997), Great Expectations (1998), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), Maggie's Plan (2015), First Reformed (2017), The Black Phone (2021) and The Northman (2022).
Apple Records is a British record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger and Billy Preston. In practice, the roster had become dominated by the mid-1970s with releases of the former Beatles as solo artists. Allen Klein managed the label from 1969 to 1973, then it was managed by Neil Aspinall on behalf of the Beatles and their heirs. Aspinall retired in 2007 and was replaced by Jeff Jones.
Paul McCartney and Wings, often billed simply as Wings, were an English-American rock band formed in 1971 in London by former Beatles songwriter, bassist, guitarist; and singer Paul McCartney; his wife Linda McCartney on keyboards; session drummer Denny Seiwell; and former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine. They were noted for their commercial successes, musical eclecticism, and frequent personnel changes. They went through three lead guitarists and four drummers. The core trio of the McCartneys and Laine, however, remained intact throughout the group's existence.
"Helter Skelter" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 album The Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song was McCartney's attempt to create a sound as loud and dirty as possible. It is regarded as a key influence in the early development of heavy metal. In 1976, the song was released as the B-side of "Got to Get You into My Life" in the United States, to promote the Capitol Records compilation Rock 'n' Roll Music.
"Let It Be" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 6 March 1970 as a single, and as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership though John Lennon reportedly loathed the song.The single version of the song, produced by George Martin, features a softer guitar solo and the orchestral section mixed low, compared with the album version, produced by Phil Spector, featuring a more aggressive guitar solo and the orchestral sections mixed higher.
"Something" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their eleventh studio album Abbey Road (1969). It was written by George Harrison, the band's lead guitarist. Together with his second contribution to Abbey Road, "Here Comes the Sun", it is widely viewed by music historians as having marked Harrison's ascendancy as a composer to the level of the Beatles' principal songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Two weeks after the album's release, the song was issued on a double A-side single, coupled with "Come Together", making it the first Harrison composition to become a Beatles A-side. The pairing was also the first time in the United Kingdom that the Beatles issued a single containing tracks already available on an album. While the single's commercial performance was lessened by this, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States as well as charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and West Germany, and peaked at number 4 in the UK.
Abbey Road is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although Let It Be (1970) was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly recorded in April, July, and August 1969, and topped the record charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. A double A-side single from the album, "Something" / "Come Together", was released in October, which also topped the charts in the US.
McCartney is the debut solo album by English musician Paul McCartney, released on 17 April 1970 by Apple Records. McCartney recorded it in secrecy, mostly using basic home-recording equipment at his house in St John's Wood. Mixing and some recording took place at professional London studios. In its loosely arranged performances, McCartney eschewed the polish of the Beatles' past records in favour of a lo-fi style. Apart from occasional contributions by his wife, Linda, McCartney performed the entire album alone by overdubbing on four-track tape.
"Blackbird" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, and performed as a solo piece by McCartney. When discussing the song, McCartney has said that the lyrics were inspired by hearing the call of a blackbird in Rishikesh, India, and by the civil rights movement in the Southern United States.
"Dear Prudence" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles. The song was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Written in Rishikesh during the group's trip to India in early 1968, it was inspired by actress Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence Farrow, who became obsessive about meditating while practising with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Her designated partners on the meditation course, Lennon and George Harrison, attempted to coax Farrow out of her seclusion, which led to Lennon writing the song.
The Best of George Harrison is a 1976 compilation album by the English musician George Harrison, released following the expiration of his EMI-affiliated Apple Records contract. Uniquely among all of the four Beatles' solo releases, apart from posthumous compilations, it mixes a selection of the artist's songs recorded with the Beatles on one side, and later hits recorded under his own name on the other.
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is a song by Paul and Linda McCartney from the album Ram. Released in the United States as a single on 2 August 1971, it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 4 September 1971, making it the first of a string of post-Beatles, Paul McCartney-penned singles to top the US pop chart during the 1970s and 1980s. Billboard ranked the song as number 22 on its Top Pop Singles of 1971 year-end chart. It became McCartney's first gold record after the breakup of the Beatles.
"My Love" is a song by the British–American band Paul McCartney and Wings that was first released as the lead single from their 1973 album Red Rose Speedway. It was written by Paul McCartney as a love song to his wife and Wings bandmate Linda. The single marked the first time that McCartney's name appeared in the artist credit for a Wings record, after their previous releases had been credited to Wings alone. Released on 23 March 1973, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US for four weeks and peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was viewed as Wings' first significant success in the US and helped Red Rose Speedway achieve commercial success.
"Band on the Run" is a song by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, the title track to their 1973 album Band on the Run.
"Listen to What the Man Said" is a hit single from Wings' 1975 album Venus and Mars. The song featured new member Joe English on drums, with guest musicians Dave Mason on guitar and Tom Scott on soprano saxophone. It was a number 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US the week of July 19, 1975 and reached number 1 in Canada on the RPM National Top Singles Chart. It also reached number 6 in the UK, and reached the top ten in Norway and New Zealand and the top twenty in the Netherlands. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.
"Junk" is a song written by English musician Paul McCartney and released on his debut studio album McCartney (1970). He wrote the song in 1968 with the Beatles while the group were studying Transcendental Meditation in India. After the band's return from India, he recorded the song as a demo at Kinfauns, George Harrison's home, before sessions for The Beatles took place. It was ultimately passed over for inclusion on The Beatles and Abbey Road in 1969. After the group's break-up, McCartney recorded the song for inclusion on McCartney. The lyrics describe various items in a junkyard. A slightly longer, instrumental version of the song, titled "Singalong Junk", also appears on the album.
Boyhood is a 2014 American epic coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Richard Linklater, and starring Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater, and Ethan Hawke. Filmed from 2002 to 2013, Boyhood depicts the childhood and adolescence of Mason Evans Jr. (Coltrane) from ages six to eighteen as he grows up in Texas with divorced parents. Richard Linklater's daughter Lorelei plays Mason's sister, Samantha.
New is the sixteenth solo studio album by English musician Paul McCartney, released on 11 October 2013 through MPL Communications, Hear Music, and Universal International. The album was his first since 2007's Memory Almost Full to consist entirely of new compositions.
Boyhood (Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack album to the 2014 film of the same name directed by Richard Linklater. The album, released on July 9, 2014 by Nonesuch Records, consists of 15 songs from popular artists recorded and released during the 2000s and early-2010s, that are compiled by Linklater and music supervisor Randall Poster. The film features more than 50 songs that are not included in the album.