"I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered french toast during the Renaissance". --Steven Wright ... If you are a devotee of time travel, check out this song...

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Does This Guy Sound Like Early Beatles or What?

I bumped into this video by Paul Messis on George Cannon's Way off the Grid Radio page. I was drawn to it, because I wrote a song, years ago, also called "Time Will Tell".

But Paul Messis's song is completely different and a lot better. And his sound - especially that base guitar and harmonica - is about as early Beatles sounding as any group I've ever heard, other than the Beatles.

The video, by Glenn Prangnell, is also just perfect. Sweet, cool, sharp, well performed, well cut, and Katie Herbert and Samira Larouci are irresistible complements to Paul in their mod parts.

Yeah!  And this is from August 2010!



PS - George Cannon just told me that Paul Messis told him that he was going for "A Hard Day's Night" feel in the vid, which was all his idea. Great idea, smartly realized!

5 comments:

Nikolas said...

Hey Paul! Have you watched the film "That Thing You Do"? While not having that close a sound to the Beatles, it does capture the era amazingly and has a host of songs written exclusively for the film that you could swear you've heard before. Even my dad, who is the biggest music trivia buff I know (he used to rank as 1st or 2nd every week in various trivias around the interwebs) thought that one of the Jazz musicians portrayed was actually real! If you enjoy this kind of music you'll probably enjoy this film as well, especially the title track which will be stuck in your head for days.

Paul Messis said...

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your kind words in regards to my music.

Although I am thrilled to bits you heard the Beatles in my song 'Time Will Tell' I have to say it is mainly inspired by The Byrds.

for those interested I currently have 3 45rpm singles available... please visit my website www.paulmessis.moonfruit.com

I will also be having a full length LP out in May 2011 on 13 O'Clock Records who are based in Austin TX www.13oclockrecords.com

Also please check out mine and Samira's blog

www.itsmashedpotatotime.blogspot.com where we write about some of our favourite things.

All the best Paul and once again thanks for promoting and liking my music

kind regards

Paul Messis

Paul Levinson said...

Nicholas - yep, I love the movie!

Paul - thanks for coming by! I think your music's great - and Samira looks great in the video. I think there are big times ahead for both you, and you can count on me to keep getting the word out. Nice blog you and Samira have there, too. Good pix and vids, and it's always a pleasure running into another Jan and Dean fan. (I grew up singing just about all of their songs, with a guy by the name of Dennis. That was about five years before Twice Upon a Rhyme

Yeah, I can hear the Byrds in Time Will Tell, especially the base of Mr. Tambourine Man.

But that harmonica and the drum rolls still sing out to me like the Beatles' "Thank You Girl"! And your voice sounds more like Lennon's than McGuinn's (McGuinn and McGuire, still gettin' higher ... )

George Cannon said...

For those of you playing at home the correct answer is both. The Beatles harmonica and Ringoesque drum fills and The Byrds/Roger McGuinn 12 string Rickenbacker from "Bells Of Rhimney".

Also Paul is correct the key to the video is the girls. Their ubber cool looks, fashionable not glamorous and aloof but approachable attitude are iconic of the 60's British hip "chicks" we all remember.

Both music and video make a perfect pair.

Paul Levinson said...

Spot-on excellent analysis, George!

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