Maxed out

 Maxed out,

passed over,

done in, and hopefully not

too under the weather,

the cartoon stars

 emit a cautious glow.

Rolling Stones lesser '70s: Only Goats Head Rollin'

Nowhere for these goats to roll after Exile but downhill, I suppose.

I put together the best of Goats Head Soup (that is, side one) and best of It's Only Rock 'n Roll and it makes for an album almost as engaging as The Rolling Stones, Now! (preferred edition: Australian).

The least enthralling selections from Goats Head Soup (that is, side two) and It's Only Rock 'n Roll would still make for a better listen than any album the band's assembled since Undercover. To my surprise, I find these lesser selections more enjoyable together in their own playlist than as originally interspersed among my favored material from each corresponding album.

Playlists below, links to Apple Music for anyone who happens to use the music streaming service from the company that revolutionized home computing by totally lifting the Xerox Alto graphical user interface.

Rolling Stones lesser '70s 01) Goat Heads Roll {1973-74

cover I hacked together for best of these two LPs

___side one]

 Dancing With Mr. D —|— Goats Head Soup » 1 of 10

 100 Years Ago —|— Goats Head Soup » 2 of 10

 Coming Down Again —|— Goats Head Soup » 3 of 10

 Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) —|— Goats Head Soup » 4 of 10

 Angie —|— Goats Head Soup » 5 of 10

___side two]

 Ain't Too Proud to Beg —|— It's Only Rock 'n Roll » 2 of 10

 It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It) —|— It's Only Rock 'n Roll » 3 of 10

 Till the Next Goodbye —|— It's Only Rock 'n Roll » 4 of 10

 Short and Curlies —|— It's Only Rock 'n Roll » 9 of 10

 Fingerprint File —|— It's Only Rock 'n Roll » 10 of 10

Rolling Stones lesser '70s 02) It's Only Rock in Soup {1973-74

even hackier cover I threw together for rest of the two LPs

___side one]

 If You Can't Rock Me —|—It's Only Rock 'n Roll » 1 of 10

 Time Waits for No One —|—It's Only Rock 'n Roll » 5 of 10

 Silver Train —|— Goats Head Soup » 6 of 10

 Hide Your Love —|— Goats Head Soup » 7 of 10

 Winter —|— Goats Head Soup » 8 of 10

___side two]

 Luxury —|— It's Only Rock 'n Roll » 6 of 10

 Dance Little Sister —|— It's Only Rock 'n Roll » 7 of 10

 If You Really Want to Be My Friend —|— It's Only Rock 'n Roll » 8 of 10

 Can You Hear the Music —|— Goats Head Soup » 9 of 10

 Star Star —|— Goats Head Soup » 10 of 10

best of the rest of the Stones 2: Cheap Wheels

The last Rolling Stones album I actually like, and which I consider pretty much end of their essential catalog, is Undercover. The last one I think has a fair album's worth of decent or better material is the bloated Voodoo Lounge. And I think there's some alright enjoyable Stones and Mick and Keith solo stuff in between. So, playlist time.

(if ya happen to use Apple Music, you can hear this here)

Here I'm asking — wouldn't Steel Wheels, which I find so lackluster, be much better with the benefit of the best songs Keith instead had debuted over on Talk is Cheap? In an effort to compile a single LP of material originally released 1987-1989 from Keith's solo debut album, Wyman's last Stones album, and a single selection from Mick's second solo disc, I found myself initially dismissing and then, within a week, reconsidering the last two songs released during Bill's tenure in band –recorded January 1991– and added the dancier, more distinctive of the two, bumping Keith's Locked Away from spot as side one closer.

I think I've arrived at something quite passable. It's no Sucking in the Seventies — it'd barely even Suck Under the Eighties — but here's…

Cheap Wheels

Shoot Off Your Mouth    Primitive Cool    7

Take It So Hard    Talk is Cheap    2

Terrifying   Steel Wheels    3

You Don't Move Me    Talk is Cheap    6

Sex Drive    Flashpoint    17

Fancy Man Blues    Rarities 1971-2003    1

Almost Hear You Sigh    Steel Wheels    9

How I Wish    Talk is Cheap    7

Wish I'd Never Met You    Rarities 1971-2003    8

Slipping Away   Steel Wheels    12

I found the inner sleeve from Primitive Cool, again like the One Hit single illustrated by Francesco Clemente, had a circular motif, so I took this side of it and overlayed the Steel Wheels pattern from 2020 RSD picture disc for some art

best of the rest of the Stones 1: Dirty Boss

The last Rolling Stones album I actually like, and which I consider pretty much end of their essential catalog, is Undercover. The last one I think has a fair album's worth of decent or better material is the bloated Voodoo Lounge. And I think there's some alright enjoyable Stones and Mick and Keith solo stuff in between. So, playlist time.

(if ya happen to use Apple Music, you can hear this here)

Here I'm saying, hey, Dirty Work might've been better if Mick had not made She's The Boss. Perhaps the world of music would be better off too? Anyhow, trying to compile a single LP from these two not terribly listenable records, I arrived at the following. It's no Emotional Rescue, but…

Dirty Boss

Lonely At The Top  She's The Boss  1
Winning Ugly  Dirty Work  6
Back to Zero Dirty Work  7
Dirty Work  Dirty Work  8
Lucky In Love  She's The Boss  7

One Hit (To the Body)  Dirty Work  1
Too Rude  Dirty Work  5
Just Another Night  She's The Boss  6
Had It With You  Dirty Work  9
Sleep Tonight Dirty Work  10
Key to the Highway (Ian Stewart Piano Instrumental) Dirty Work  11

I like to have cover art for my fake albums, so here I stole the art by Francesco Clemente from the single for Dirty Work's best song and just removed the title

2006 alt.

When I first heard the cover lead single Harlem Shuffle, I must've figured these guys were wrapping up creatively. [One Hit (To The Body) on the other hand feels like the last vital Stones song, or something.] And their version has always annoyed me. Regardless, today I figured I oughta add it back. It is the hit song, and it does work well as third track on the album. It adds some needed variety here. Makes the playlist a little long for an LP now, but still shorter than several anyway.

Lonely At The Top She's The Boss
Winning Ugly Dirty Work
Harlem Shuffle Dirty Work
Back To Zero Dirty Work
Too Rude Dirty Work
Just Another Night She's The Boss

One Hit (To The Body) Dirty Work
Dirty Work Dirty Work
Lucky In Love She's The Boss
Had It With You Dirty Work
Sleep Tonight Dirty Work
Key To The Highway Dirty Work​

couleur

Not sure if I'm feeling more red, more white, or more blue.

 Everyday is America when I'm around.

Beatlantis: 70} Let's At Sea

Let's At Sea (December, 1970, Timaeus | Apple)

< file under Beatles In Atlantis >

~ an approximation of this album, using latest remasters of solo studio renditions, can be heard here on Apple Music ~ 

Atlantean delegates negotiating with some Surface corners,
     buying time,
         knowing their dusty counterparts
were not conferring in good faith

{Upon initiating this series of posts, some of which relies (see note in first entry) on sources which must remain off-the-record, Library Industries fully expected to conclude with the Atlantean release of Abbey Road. As we neared that intended conclusion, however, the astonishing revelations shared in this final entry came to light, provided to us by a source, or sources, we for now can only describe as unimpeachable.}

A small but respected contingent within the Atlantean administration argued for absolute domination of the surface world as the only acceptable response to the land threat. President Rubbqe, the bulk of her cabinet, and the majority will of the people, as determined from intensive referendum caucuses followed by final proposition balloting, pointed instead to a resigned preference toward total disengagement as the only humane, moral approach to dealing with the looming barbarism from above. Atlantis, assured by dint of their vast technological and military superiority absolute "victory" in any showdown with surface powers, did not wish to obliterate innocent Surface Life on Earth in the inevitable existential escalation. A veil of secrecy now enveloped the realm such that no word of internal Atlantean affairs, not even of matters like public opinion and electoral results, made way to the surface. Meanwhile, it was clear from Surface press that land leadership had drummed up growing popular support to deal with Atlantis militarily if deemed (or claimed) necessary. The aforementioned negotiations, a pretense for the surface leaders — a blatant delay as they prepared an all-out assault on Atlantis — provided the Atlantean Chamber of Science time to ready the means of absolute disentanglement via insurmountable distancing from the warring Dry.

Tivowr Dorna, privy to the innermost workings of the Atlantan administration, was granted a surface-communication exemption as regarded ironing out licensing of solo Beatles work. Having long ago secured the trust of the artists from a distance, courtesy of his sensitive handling of their defunct band's underwater catalog, he now entered into contract discussions about their individual work whilst keeping an enormous secret from them. Dorna knew the Atlantean Solve to the Surface Conflict had been arrived at and was imminent:
                   off-world relocation to an oceanic exoplanet.

It was very late fall 1970. A McCartney post-Beatles album and two Starr solo albums had already been issued, Harrison had his first post-Beatles album – a double or triple, depending on how you slice it – on its way, and Lennon was about to follow his striking early solo / Plastic Ono Band single sides with his debut solo LP. Aside from the title track and another tune from Harrison's upcoming triple, issued in a concocted band performance, and as a one-man demo, respectively, on Timaeus Beatles releases over the past year, not a note of this had been heard by Atlanteans other than Dorna himself.   

A complication Tivowr had learned of not long after considering, and being dissuaded from, issuing George's first solo album, Wonderwall Music, in its entirety, now meant he found himself needing to negotiate with the former bandmates in unison, no easy sell to the fractured foursome. Atlantean music publishing standards, going back to a dispute within one of the nation's most popular instrumental big bands of an earlier era, prohibited any release under solo/individual names from members of an existing group until a new agreement was reached across the parties, in joint meetings of all concerned. With the Beatles, finished though they were, still a legally extant entity, this restriction applied.

Thankfully, advanced Atlantean tech meant Dorna did not actually need to get John, Paul, George, and Ringo into a room with him. He secured for the four of them, and his mentor and pal George Martin, handheld Atlantean satellite communicators, by which they all attended, virtually, meetings towards the goal of establishing release of the all-but-legally dissolved band's solo work. Martin, no longer an EMI employee nor currently working with any of the four, was likely invited merely to increase Dorna's level of ease in the meetings, and/or with hope of fostering a certain civility in the proceedings.

Given known tensions and even acrimony among the former bandmates, these talks went smoothly with all ex-members agreeing to Dorna's pitch, grateful towards him for helping the Beatles become by far the most embraced Surface act in Atlantean history. Explaining resources were greatly limited due to what he coyly deemed "defense and manufacturing considerations in light of strained relations with outside world powers" Dorna proposed a double LP compilation representing work from the four incipient solo careers would be the best Timaeus could manage, and noted it would continue in the tradition of unique releases for this special market. Dorna choose songs from across the solo recordings at his disposal, preferring in Harrison's case a couple of early takes and a demo over final produced versions. Only one change was suggested by the erstwhile band: Tivowr had selected the Sentimental Journey cover of Stardust, arranged by Paul, to be Ringo's number; George offered to send the recently mixed It Don't Come Easy, recorded early in the year, which Dorna had yet to hear and which would not see surface release until the following spring, with Ringo wholeheartedly agreeing to this substitution. Though that number would provide his only vocal spotlight, Ringo's drumming would be amply represented on selections from John and George. 

Back in the corridors of power, with graver matters in mind, a discovery was greeted with what might be most accurately regarded as a celebratory solemnity. A suitable — and uninhabited — planet had been located within the waters of which to transplant all of Atlantis. Upon this disclosure, Dorna, a de facto cabinet member, was struck with sudden inspiration for one ultimate effort at reaching peace with the Surface World— offering them something much of their younger and restless citizenry would clamor for, while giving the Atlanteans (whether staying on Earth or soon departing) one last and very special connection to their favorite land act. Leadership agreed, cautiously but enthusiastically. 

Promptly Dorna convened, somewhat to their surprise, a followup conference with the splintered quartet and their longtime producer. Tivowr asked, simply and boldly… "Howzbouteph [sic] instead of a compilation introducing these solo songs to Atlantis, you four come introduce them, in person, together— in a live set…?!?"

The faintest gasps and a lingering pause followed.

Dorna expounded upon the crisis facing the Atlanteans, through no fault of their own, daringly going beyond his remit from leadership and telling the five in sworn confidence that shy of a peaceful resolution Atlantis would soon vanish, in its entirety, from Earth. Further, he explained the purpose of such an event would be far more momentous than introducing these songs to the Liverpudlians' devoted aquatic audience. A twofold agenda was put forth: providing such earnest fans a chance to finally see these four in person — a tremendous thanks, from you to them, he punned — while raising among Surface populations a sympathetic awareness of Atlanteans' plight, generating goodwill towards them from the countless Beatles fans worldwide who'd dearly appreciate the chance to see a reassembled fabsum and consequently be open to hearing a message of sea-land unity. The event, to be kept secret from the Surface until after its completion and the group's safe return home, would be cast live into Atlantean homes for all who couldn't attend, filmed for later broadcast in the Surface World, and recorded by Martin directing a team of Timaeus' finest engineers for a (likely Atlantean-only) double LP, to be followed by Atlantis issuance of the existing and future solo records. Such a modern benefit concert at this scale would be a first. It also would belatedly realize one of the abandoned aspects of the collapsed Get Back project: introducing a dedicated fanbase to a slew of songs by way of a live performance subsequently fashioned into an album. He suggested if averse to officially reforming for the event, the four assembled could be billed, for instance, as the Fab Former.

No reply

It was as if the satellite connecting them had cut out.

Dorna beseeched the stunned silence; this would, he stressed, be in the interest of peace and the continued presence on Earth of an entire peoples.

Starr, cracking the icy stillness with what would prove the final Ringoism to impact course of the band's history, interjected:

"Let's, at sea!"

Laughter from all; the endeavor agreed upon; the project thusly named.

McCartney was like the others swayed by the noble purpose and perhaps more than, or even unlike, the others, won over by the callback to the Get Back mission and the prospect of belatedly realizing the idea, albeit in a remarkably different, infinitely more important context. This, the rest of them could no doubt see, was finally a worthwhile reason to bother returning to the stage, yes? Yes, they each already saw it that way and Paul didn't need to push or try to sway them. Though undoubtedly the most splintered from the other three, Paul pragmatically and convincingly remarked that though the Beatles were no more, since the purpose of this confidential undertaking, once revealed to worldwide audiences, would be to generate attention and raise awareness, and as initially presented to the live and at-home Atlantean audience served to celebrate the realm's enduring love for the dissolved quartet, it only made sense to forgo any placeholder pseudonym — the Fab Former, The Silver Quarrymen, The Ladders, or any other suggestion that Dorna offered — and instead acknowledge this as a singular Beatles reconciliation in the interest of the same, longterm, between surface and sea.

"We'll need Billy!" exclaimed John, to sounds of concurrence from all including Dorna and Martin.

"He should sing a number, coming all the way with us to Atlantis," added George.

Ringo, who appeared on John’s God alongside Preston, as well as on George’s My Sweet Lord, songs conveying disparate stances on deity, suggested hewing to the take of the latter which he and George had laid down with Billy for Preston’s Encouraging Words album– the Harrison-sung single version of which Dorna had chosen for inclusion on the initially proposed studio compilation which now served as the setlist for the upcoming concert. Again, unanimous agreement was easily reached. This project, with its lofty, mayhaps naive, aims, ameliorated the rifts between the four, who embarked on it as the united creative front they'd ceased being.

Hence, the first grand rock benefit concert, predating and certainly an influence on George's starry Concert for Bangladesh of the following year, was in the works. Dorna hoped it could be staged, recorded, and then announced and broadcast to the outside world, before hostilities commenced and derailed this last ditch drive for harmony.

And so, some mid-December morning, gathered at the Port of Liverpool under cloak of secrecy, John, Paul, George, Ringo, Billy Preston, and George Martin boarded a yellow submarine, one of a fleet which the Atlantis Navy had unveiled following the success of the Beatles Revolver track which many an Atlantean listener had seen as a wink to their community of submerged fandom.

Promotional materials announced the upcoming concert to the staggered joy of the public. Isolated from the outside world, but aware of the band's demise for nearly a year now, Atlanteans had long resigned themselves to never seeing a Beatles visit to their nation. Slogans were high on hopeful messaging. 

"The Fab Former Convene For One Night Only, in a very special performance… as the Beatles!" 

"And Now… For Atlantis… and to the World: Here They Are!"

The vast ancient open water Amphiareionopolis amphitheater, the stage of which was rechristened Octopus's Garden in the performers’ honor, hosted the event. ABC, the Atlantean Broadcasting Consortium, webcast it live into homes via secure Aquanet, for all the Atlanteans not in attendance. An estimated 94% of the population tuned in, eclipsing the relative stateside interest in the band's famed US debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. 

Starr was of course familiar with his own number and the Lennon and Harrison compositions he'd played on in studio. Perhaps all four of them had intimately familiarized themselves with much of each other's solo work before Dorna approached them with this idea; perhaps they found time to rehearse back on land or upon arrival; perhaps it was some irrepressible magic when they all assembled; probably a combination of all factored into what they achieved that night before the enthralled audience. The concert was stellar, overshadowing what until now the surface world has mistakenly believed to be the band's final live performance, nearly two years earlier on Apple's London rooftop. Now, under the waves, they put on the best and last of all Beatles shows. The recording, under George Martin's deft guidance, went flawlessly as did the filming. Realistically, a splendid time had not been guaranteed for all, but one was delivered.

Performing in an enormous amorphous bubble based on same biotech in which the Atlantean delegation had floated over the United Nations Security Council, though tailored to needs of air-breathing surface people, the band took the stage to adoring cheers. 

President Rubbqe attended and before the first note delighted the audience and band by rattling her state jewelry. 

Lennon, reprising his role as bandleader and keen on promoting the cause at hand, first took the mic. Thanking the fans for years of unsurpassed love and support, apologizing for having never toured there, John declared, as much to the expected subsequent Surface audience as to the Atlanteans experiencing this live, "But even though we no longer exist [laugh], we're here now! It must look like we exist, but we don't— not as a group anyway. And that's all we were, a group. But maybe if we can get together, the surface nations can get it together with this watery world."

The band gestured to lower the stage lights a bit.

John— "Now it's going to sound just like we exist, too."

Paul— "Oh, it's going to really sound like we exist alright!"

Ringo— [drum fill]

George— "'Existence' to the end…"

At that, they launched into Give Peace a Chance, with verses rewritten for the occasion and the chorus alternating with a modified refrain of "give seas a chance."

Interjecting some of their trademark humorous asides, and a further plea or two to Surface fans to demand their political leadership seek peaceful resolution with Atlantis, the Fab Former accompanied by Billy Preston debuted for the Atlanteans every solo song Dorna had proposed, in the sequence he'd crafted, surely transforming them in ways we might only imagine. (The full setlist, which would comprise the four-sided live LP as conceived by Tivowr, can be seen below.) 

For one night the dream wasn't over— it was, indeed, dreamier than ever, almost unreal. A total musical triumph, a paramount cultural event, a heartfelt petition for unity through festive euphoria. But to say this call for peace fell on deaf surface ears would be a misstatement; it would fall on no surface ears at all.

As the passionate crowd dispersed, and the Beatles, Preston, Martin, Dorna, and some of the Timaeus team celebrated with an after show toast, a full-scale assault on Atlantis was launched from the surface. The former fabs and their two colleagues were hurried to their yellow submarine for departure back to England. Harrison ruefully remarked this recalled reasons they'd stopped touring. McCartney and Martin implored Dorna for a copy of the recordings to share with the surface networks. But there was no time for that, and Dorna reminded them why: any assault would trigger nearly immediate automatic implementation of Operation New Atlantis. The six surfacemen needed to board that sub and exit the realm posthaste, lest they be transported off-world with all of Atlantis' population, buildings, infrastructure, tech, and secrets. Among these secrets was the one these half dozen visitors had sworn to keep under the circumstances now unfolding: for their own safety, and that of the Surface world at large, they must never tell of the one and only time they reconvened, nor speak of the cause for which they reunited, nor divulge the emergency remedy of total Atlantean departure. The disappearance of Atlantis must remain a mystery, their own involvement unspoken.

Only now does the truth surface, illuminating for outsiders the final manifestation of this global popular music phenomenon at their idealistic gig on the last day of Atlantis on Earth.

Surface leadership was baffled, finally realizing how completely outclassed they had been all along by Atlantis. Imperialist in outlook, they could not fathom why Atlantis would abdicate their oceanic realm rather than subjugate the surface and impose rule over Earth as they themselves would surely do given similar advantages. Mendaciously, in the aftermath of the vanishment of Atlantis, surface leaders returned to their earlier pose of outright denial, claiming the underwater nation never existed, and accusing their surface enemies of propagating the myth. Not so surprisingly, huge swaths of the surface population took this on faith, relegating Atlantis to status of fable. 

We can dream that one day Atlanteans reach out to Earth, disabusing our world of our disbelief, reestablishing relations. Then may we Surface People eventually see and hear the storied final Beatles performance — or first and only performance by the ex-Beatles, the fab former — showcasing their near-wizardry when assembled as a creative force.

Shortly after arrival and resettlement on New Atlantis, before the year was out and in time to commemorate the traditional winter solstice Timaeus presumably issued the live recording double LP Let's At Sea as The Beatles' final entry in their unique Atlantis discography.

Re-creation of Dorna's planned cover for Let's At Sea; the back cover was to show the band, including Preston, onstage as seen from recording control booth with Martin and Dorna in foreground at the console

Side one

1.     Give Peace a Chance †

2.     I'd Have You Any Time (early take) °

3.     The Lovely Linda *

4.     Well Well Well ‡

5.     Oo You *

6.     Awaiting on You All (early take) °

7.     My Sweet Lord §

Side two

1.     Mother ‡

2.     Hold On ‡

3.     Run of the Mill (demo) °

4.     That Would Be Something *

5.     Apple Scruffs 🜃

6.     Look at Me ‡

7.     Man We Was Lonely * 

8.     Isolation ‡

Side three

1.     Cold Turkey †

2.     It Don't Come Easy ∞

3.     Every Night *

4.     I Dig Love 🜃

5.     Momma Miss America * 

6.     God ‡

Side four

1.     What Is Life 🜃

2.     Junk *

3.     Working Class Hero ‡

4.     Wah-Wah 🜃

5.     Maybe I'm Amazed *

6.     Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) †

 

    The following indicate preferred digital masterings of the solo studio takes selected for the initially conceived Atlantean comp which consequently served as setlist for the Let's At Sea concert and that recording's planned subsequent double LP. Those live, Beatles, renditions have certainly never surfaced in the surface world. 

† Singles {Signature Box; EMI, 2010} —John Lennon—

° Early Takes Volume 1 {UMe, 2012} —George Harrison—

* McCartney {DCC Compact Classics, 1992} —Paul McCartney—

§ Encouraging Words {EMI, 2010} —Billy Preston—

‡ Plastic Ono Band {Signature Box; EMI, 2010} —John Lennon—

🜃 All Things Must Pass {George Harrison | Official Website; Apple Records, 2010} —George Harrison—

∞ Ringo {DCC Compact Classics, 1994} —Ringo Starr—

previous: 16} Abbey Road (1970)

Beatlantis: 16} Abbey Road (1970)

Abbey Road (May, 1970, Timaeus | Apple)

< file under Beatles In Atlantis >

~ a surround mix — not Dorna's original Atlantean six channel release but rather the 2019 Giles Martin and Sam Okell remix — can be heard here  in Dolby Atmos on Apple Music ~

Following the Atlantean delegation's forceful plea for peace before the UN, the surface world's major powers approach to the very existence of Atlantis descended into Mutually Asinine Deliriously Deceptive Denial, or MADDD as it came to be known in Submerged Political Discourse. Both East and West insisted that not only was Atlantis a mere myth, an utter fiction, but that it (including the stunning display of power witnessed before the UN) was the fabrication of each opposing surface superpower. That is, the allied Western nations claimed the whole of Atlantis – all that was known of it, and the delegation seen before the eyes of the world – was fakery perpetrated by the Eastern Bloc, while the East countered with the identical claim against the Western Bloc.

Atlantis knew just how dangerous this was, for their nation and more so for those on dry land. Not only did this charade run the risk of ratcheting up real tensions between the increasingly antagonistic Surface Powers, it also meant that as long as a significant percentage of their populations believed this, either Surface coalition — or both, working covertly in tandem against what they perceived as a shared threat — could attempt a genocidal assault on the underseas peoples of Atlantis and face among the surface nations little or no effective opposition.

There was much dark irony in how they approached this: Despite the powers both viewing Atlantis as a threat, and possibly contemplating joint aggression against it, they could only arrive at this unstable consensus by amplifying the very dangerous tensions between them, potentially leading to their own destruction in a global conflagration; Atlantis in truth did not, nor ever had, presented a threat— rather it was Surface greed for Atlantean resources that spurred on this land-sea conflict in ages past, renewed again now with greater, potentially world-ending consequences; and, finally, shockingly deluded as Surface leadership may have been about their capabilities compared to the advances of the aquatic civilization they increasingly targeted, neither alone nor even in some temporary alliance did the Surface Powers have the strength to defeat, let alone annihilate, Atlantis. Atlantis knew with complete confidence that it had the means to defend itself; all the Surface Powers could really do was destroy themselves and wipe the Earth free of all non-Atlantean life. The peaceful leadership of Atlantis, stewards of the seas and by extension the globe that hosts them, though in no way responsible for this threat, felt obliged to do whatever they could to nullify the danger. Serious, and seriously divergent, options were weighed as the tenuous calm, or absence of assault, held for the time being.

Meanwhile, Tivowr Dorna had one last Beatles album to release.

Firmly ensconced within president Zithå Rubbqe's inner circle both on account of his cultural insights & impact and for his ever-developing engineering & scientific prowess – a pelagic polymath, if you will – Dorna was only ever a call away from an emergency security meeting or other national matter of gravest consequence. As he consulted on how best to deal with the MADDD threat, he devotedly set about belatedly issuing the Fabs' true farewell, Abbey Road, in both the original George Martin stereo mix, and, working from digital transfers of the multitrack masters provided by Martin again by way of Timaeus' technological marvel the Pod Click Train, a fully immersive surround mix. The holdup had been a new means of delivery to the Atlantean listener, as the three-needle surround turntable playback system that brought the 5.1 Sgt. Pepper's mix into Atlantean homes turned out over time to be a rare Atlantean, and even rarer Timaeus, tech fail. The styli proved in need of unique and arduous calibration for each individual release; every home system was good to keep playing Pepper's as many times as anyone could want, but beyond that the turntable's use was strikingly impractical!

It occurred to Dorna, though, that the rest of the system — the associated multichannel speaker setup — was perfectly usable. All that was needed was a connection to another Atlantean consumer electronics first — the personal computer already in use for educational and communication purposes in nearly all Atlantean homes.

The sole extant photo of Tivowr Dorna, & only one known to ever have been sent to the surface, from the EMI archives were it sat unpublished for decades; note, behind him, Dorna's depiction of early Surface World air military, perhaps a subtle dig against surface weaponry as antiquated and a hint at Atlantean knowledge of land & sky wars

A joint development of Timaeus engineers and AtEdD, the Atlantis Educatin' Department, the AtEdD Alcove was a schooling staple of Atlantean homes going back years, utilizing a typewriter-like keyboard, a three-button pointer input device akin to a mouse, and a fully featured Graphical User Interface — the first such GUI to utilize a desktop metaphor. A photo (above) of Dorna seen with an Alcove was sent to EMI's London headquarters to be used in a promotional piece about Atlantis' special relationship to the Beatles, while highlighting Timaeus' pioneering technology and Dorna's surround mix of the band's swan song, and perhaps to suggest cooperation between land and sea people could lead to a sharing of this and other tech. But with first a Surface Worldwide embargo against Atlantis, and now amid the MADDD claims that Atlanteans were merely a fraudulent Cold War scheme, EMI did not dare undertake such a promotion. While EMI never circulated this photo in publicity materials, it seems someone(s) at the fabled Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) must have seen it, as PARC's own groundbreaking Alto computer would bear a remarkable resemblance to the Alcove— not just the hardware, and not just the name, but right down to the UI's little folders seen on-screen. (Appropriately enough, these advancements would later be emulated, and finally popularized in the Surface World, by that other Apple — the one started in 1970s Cupertino, not 1960s London — with their Macintosh line of computers.)

Though meant to showcase the advanced development of the undersea nation and Dorna's pivotal role in it, the photo was sent out not in full color but rather in a sepia tint; presumably this was to avoid anticipated surface reader alarm at Dorna's naturally blue skin. Another Atlantean physical characteristic, the webbing between Tivowr's fingers, was retouched out of the photo. Interestingly, the edict for these changes, likely coming from AIA, the Atlantean Intelligence Agency, and carried out with a mere command using AAI, Atlantis Artifice Intelligence, apparently exempted one telltale detail of Atlantean physiognomy: whether somehow missed, or in all probability left in as a point of pride, Dorna's pointy ear is clearly unaltered.

With the music education software already installed in the nation's Alcoves now upgraded for multichannel use, and repurposed for a bit of entertainment, Timaeus was ready to disseminate Dorna's 5.1 channel mix of Abbey Road which he'd so exactingly prepared, on and off, over the last few months. Distribution was easy, utilizing Atlantis' existing information network connecting all the Alcoves, a seabed precursor to our own internet known as the Aqua Net. And so, with vinyl production back in full swing, stereo pressings (no dedicated mono mix had ever been made) of George Martin's Abbey Road production came packaged with another first— a code for a free digital download of the surround mix was printed on a card provided with every LP.

With the band finished, there was little need for Dorna to relay much of this to them, either directly or via their common intermediary Martin who no longer functioned as producer for any of the former members, having wrapped up his work on Ringo's solo debut Sentimental Journey. Still, Dorna almost certainly provided Martin a transfer for approval; records of any communication between EMI Atlantis and EMI London are practically nil for this late period between Timaeus sending the unused promo photo of Dorna and the subsequent Atlantean issue of Abbey Road.

Unlike the worldwide release, with Her Majesty a so-called hidden track, the Atlantean issue simply named the entire side two medley as "The Long One" leaving all its component compositions unlisted and untitled.

Greeted enthusiastically with a celebratory warmth and hailed as a tremendous achievement — Dorna's surround mix receiving even greater accolades than the stereo edition — the album was also received with a bittersweet finality; not only were the Beatles' finished, odds were distressingly high that Atlantis' coexistence with the Surface World would also soon come to an end. With the Beatles no more, and both their worlds on the existential brink, there was yet still one last chapter to be written in the tale of Atlanteans' exceptional connection to the four lads from Liverpool.

Instead of usual land level cover, listeners in the sea were presented this aerial view

Side one

01.     Come Together †

02.     Something †

03.     Maxwell's Silver Hammer †

04.     Oh! Darling †

05.     Octopus's Garden †

06.     I Want You (She's So Heavy) †

Side two

01.     Here Comes the Sun †

02.     Because †

03.     ∞You Never Give Me Your Money †

04.     ∞Sun King †

05.     ∞Mean Mr. Mustard †

06.     ∞Polythene Pam †

07.     ∞She Came In Through the Bathroom Window †

08.     ∞Golden Slumbers †

09.     ∞Carry That Weight †

10.     ∞The End †

11.     ∞Her Majesty †

All tracks stereo (or surround). Stereo: vinyl-only; Surround edition: no physical release, download only, of Tivowr Dorna's {lost} mixes, for playback via the AtEdD Alcove

∞ All the side two medley tracks simply identified as The Long One, their individual titles not listed

† Stereo: Abbey Road {Japan; Toshiba-EMI/Odeon; manufactured by CBS/Sony Records Inc. of Japan; Pre-Emphasis "Black Triangle" edition; 1983} or, if not available, Abbey Road {The Beatles Box Set; 1988}; 5.1: Dorna's mix being unavailable, the Martin-Okell effort is only surround option {Abbey Road: 50th Anniversary (Super Deluxe) Edition; 2019} 

next: 17} In The End and Then (1970)

previous: 15} Let Back (1970)