The segue we were
Any classic rock jock worth his salt knows you cannot play Queen's "We Will Rock You" without following it up with "We Are the Champions". It simply isn't done. Some songs come with a natural segue. This is not only something that cannot be determined by software - unless it is written in about specific songs - it is also something that can only be learned through experience.
Natural segues have been around since the beginning of notationed music, but it wasn't until the Beatles that they were produced into rock recordings. Deejays from 1967 started taking flack from disgruntled listeners when they would break apart the song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" from the follow-up of "With a Little Help From My Friends". The same went for the "Sgt. Pepper's reprise" and "A Day In the Life". They were meant to go together.
In today's mp3 world, CD Ripping software and song stores such as i-Tunes need to make this distinction, but alas, they do not. If i-Tunes is going to sell Beatles music, this needs to be addressed. A vast majority of side two of "Abbey Road" is a medley of shorter songs joined together to create a mini suite of music. Editor's note: For all you whipper snappers out there, a "side two" of an album comes from the days when LP records were sold and music was pressed into both sides of the disc.
It is not just the Beatles music that needs to be protected, one cannot listen to Bob Seger's "Travelin' Man" without expecting to hear "Beautiful Loser". How about Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker"/"Livin' Lovin' Maid" duo? The problem with purchasing the songs separately and putting them together later has everything to do with timing. We know how much of a millisecond there is between cuts that follow each other, and in some cases - especially when it comes to the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, etc. the segues are actually musical instead of a quick break.
So, if you're a music purists like me and want to listen to "Jesus Just Left Chicago" right after hearing Billy Gibbons sing "Waitin' For the Bus", do yourself a favor and buy the CD. When I rip a CD to put on my i-Pod, I make sure to rip "Back in the USSR" and "Dear Prudence" as a single song instead of two. It's only right.
Natural segues have been around since the beginning of notationed music, but it wasn't until the Beatles that they were produced into rock recordings. Deejays from 1967 started taking flack from disgruntled listeners when they would break apart the song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" from the follow-up of "With a Little Help From My Friends". The same went for the "Sgt. Pepper's reprise" and "A Day In the Life". They were meant to go together.
In today's mp3 world, CD Ripping software and song stores such as i-Tunes need to make this distinction, but alas, they do not. If i-Tunes is going to sell Beatles music, this needs to be addressed. A vast majority of side two of "Abbey Road" is a medley of shorter songs joined together to create a mini suite of music. Editor's note: For all you whipper snappers out there, a "side two" of an album comes from the days when LP records were sold and music was pressed into both sides of the disc.
It is not just the Beatles music that needs to be protected, one cannot listen to Bob Seger's "Travelin' Man" without expecting to hear "Beautiful Loser". How about Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker"/"Livin' Lovin' Maid" duo? The problem with purchasing the songs separately and putting them together later has everything to do with timing. We know how much of a millisecond there is between cuts that follow each other, and in some cases - especially when it comes to the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, etc. the segues are actually musical instead of a quick break.
So, if you're a music purists like me and want to listen to "Jesus Just Left Chicago" right after hearing Billy Gibbons sing "Waitin' For the Bus", do yourself a favor and buy the CD. When I rip a CD to put on my i-Pod, I make sure to rip "Back in the USSR" and "Dear Prudence" as a single song instead of two. It's only right.
posted by Robert Rouse at 11:25 AM
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