Watch these 1970s stars mangle Beatles songs on this TV special

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Originally published at: Watch these 1970s stars mangle Beatles songs on this TV special | Boing Boing

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Is that Paul Williams in the first photo?

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I swear I remember this special and yes, it’s Paul Williams.

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I’m pretty sure you’re right. I’m also pretty sure that’s not Ray Charles in the still for the YouTube video, but Jamie Foxx

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I knew everyone without Googling except the ballet dancer.

All great entertainers but I question the Beatles theme.

Bernadette Peters can belt them out.

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Got a real Across the Universe Eddie Izzard vibe from Paul Williams’ performance of For the Benefit of Mr Kite.

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I remember this era. I was there. I was young and the world seemed like it was waking up from a primitive mental illness - reason seemed in ascendency. I couldn’t imagine the future would look like it does today.

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Ray Charles was certainly the highlight, but I also enjoyed Bernadette Peters.
For reasons.

And I couldn’t find Ray Charles doing Yesterday. Maybe it was in the Christmas Special 3 weeks later.

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this is prime “let’s get high and watch this terrible show” fodder.

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I could only watch a little of this before all my cringing threw my back out. I’m reminded of how desperately the old musical order tried to either co-opt or “legitimize” the Beatles’ music. An ersatz MOR orchestra (Middle-Of-the-Road for you young-un’s) called The Hollyridge Strings issued several instrumental albums with Beatles songs safely rearranged as elevator music. They were reasonably successful, too. In fact, I heard their works playing in elevators within weeks of release.

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They SAID not to take the brown acid!!!

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I will not click on the link because I suffered through this once, with my parents, although it wasn’t completely horrible, because we sang along. And by we, I mean me.

In a small, weird piece of synchronicity, last night I was at a “Remembering John Lennon” benefit gig and the audience sang along to Beatles songs.

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What This isn’t Sgt Pepper?

[Man, I just bought this soundtrack on vinyl from Ebay… lol]

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I must admit I completely, unironically, enjoyed her rendition of “Something” in this.

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Shame they kept cutting into Ray to go back to the mostly terrible sing a long. Although yes, I’ve long enjoyed Bernadette Peters and her singing. But Ray, man… just perfection always.

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Then Reagan was elected, and it all went out the window.

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As a child of the 60s/70s, the very worst/best thing about the era was “variety shows” all the damn time.

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With five channels, we were held captive!

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At least the president wasn’t singing!

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She’s great but the “circus” production undermines it, due to following Mr. Kite where the circus theme made total sense. I liked Paul Williams’ take on that song too but the goofy clown visual is just too much.

Ray Charles’s Yesterday is great but the way it starts with a closeup on Diahann Carroll (and someone else) misty-eyeing him is hilarious.

Ugh the Eleanor Rigby is awful.

wow that’s Mel Tillis. He does an ok Here Comes the Sun

Pretty much ALL the duets suck bad

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