Reel Music
Making of a young Beatle fan
I remember the first record I ever bought.
It was called Reel Music.
I bought it at K-Mart, in the newly built Brookside Mall on the north side of Fredericton.
The LP was comprised of selected songs from The Beatles movies. It had one of those cheesy album covers that were so common for Beatles re-releases in the early 80’s.
But no matter how amateurish the drawings were, 13 year old me must have stared at that cover for months, mesmerized by the magic that was, and is, The Beatles. I wore the grooves out on that thing, and it started a lifelong obsession with vinyl, and all things Beatle.
Sure, the album may have been no more than a cash grab by Capitol Records, but it had one important asset - it managed to convey the breadth of the Beatles career on a single LP. From the first track, A Hard Day’s Night, to the last, The Long and Winding Road, Reel Music showed the incredible artistic change and growth The Beatles had experienced in 7 short years. It’s still a bit of a miracle.
And although the movies - A Hard Day’s Night, Help, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be - might not be cinematic masterstrokes, but the music contained therein is pure Beatle magic.
The Reel Music tracklist:
A Hard Day’s Night
I Should Have Known Better
Can’t Buy Me Love
And I Love Her
Help!
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
Ticket To Ride
Magical Mystery Tour
I Am The Walrus
Yellow Submarine
All You Need Is Love
Let It Be
Get Back
The Long and Winding Road
To a kid, that is a pretty enlightening batch of recordings. I think it’s fair to say that those songs changed my life. Thank you, John, Paul, George and Ringo. Very thoughtful of you.
In this spirit, I am thrilled to share that I will be premiering my Beatles-themed show Wednesday, January 22 at Saint Andrews Brewing Company.
The show is called Love Is All You Need: A Beatles Deep Dive with Shawn Corey.
I will perform 25 Beatle songs (13 Beatles, 12 solo), in chronological order, spanning 1963-2024. Every Beatle album will be represented, and every decade of their respective solo careers will be included.
The show will include storytelling and lots of Beatles photos. It will be, I hope, a fab time.
I have hesitated to do covers in my shows in recent years. I love songwriting, and making music is a major creative and emotional outlet for me. But The Beatles are incorrigible, and I am a willing co-conspirator.
“That’s it, really; it’s all love, whichever way you look at it, it’s all love” - George Harrison
I hope you will join me for the show. Please spread the word, and let’s try to make the world a more loving place one Beatle song at a time.
