Beatles

[Jeepster1973]

I enjoy the music of both the Stones and the Who, but still prefer the Beatles. It is interesting to go back to their music after a break and realise the sheer range of what they produced. I have not forcefed my children on this music, but still heard Sgt Pepper coming from the bathroom this morning as my son got ready for school, something that has not happened with the other two groups to date.

I also accept that some stuff was not great, but that happens with most bands (for example, the Who's 'Waspman' was not exactly a career highlight).

[bozotheclown]

Sorry if I offend any hardcore Beatles fan but they were not really talented. I think what made them so popular worldwide was the role they were playing in many aspects for young people. They were the voice of a generation and liberation. But besides that, they were just an average heart-breaking group. The band members made better music after the split-up.

This is an example of what I call "The Beatles are so far on another plain with this gentlemen. He can not conceive the greatness of The Beatles. And for this we should feel sorry for Norbert#9.
Son you're missing it.

[billybunter]

"waspman" was a joke 'B' side written for Keith Moon. It was inspired by a turbulent plane journey were passengers were being sick. Moon wore a black and yellow jumper and a women's bra around his face and made "wasp" noises. It's called a pisstake were i'm from.

The beatles quit in 1970. Thankgod because they had started to write turds.

[stardust2003]

Beatlemania began England in the autumn of 1962
when the Beatles released Love me Do .
The Beatles made their first ever TV appearance on October 17th. 1962 in Manchester, at the Granada TV Studios.
'Please Please Me' was released in the spring 1963
then in May 1963 they released ... 'From Me to You.'
In July 1964 .... 'She Loves You ' was released and by then Beatlemania was becoming a phenomenon sweeping the country, the Beatles were mobbed wherever they went, every venue was sold out with masses of screaming girls drowning out their singing.

There had never been anything like the Beatles and the mass hysteria that they inspired among their growing army of fans.
Their pictures were in every newspaper and magazine, their TV , radio and live appearances were major events, eagerly awaited by their millions of fans.
The Beatle songs were so fresh and new, 'Please please me,' 'She loves you'.....etc there was an excitement and energy in these pop songs that was unique , almost magical ......and two of the Beatles....... John and Paul, were writing them !

The Beatles were young, good looking guys with a disarming humour, they were becoming rich and famous with their music ........ and having a ball along the way.
Suddenly the British showbiz world of Alma Cogan, Cliff Richard , Tommy Steele and Lonnie Donegan appeared a little old fashioned and out of date.

The Beatles were a breath of fresh air, something new and different........ like the beginning of a New Age.

1963 was a fabulous year for the Beatles, it was the year they achieved nationwide fame and a unique status in British showbiz. There had never been such mass hysteria and mass worship for a singing pop group before.

Their status was confirmed on the night of 4th November 1963 when they appeared at the Royal Variety Performance in front of the Queen Mother , Princess Margaret and London's show biz elite.
It was a glittering occasion, televised to the nation ...... a TV show eagerly awaited by Beatles fans up and down the land............ and the Beatles stole the show !

All this excitement and musical innovation was going on in the UK, meanwhile....... across the Atlantic, the Americans were blissfully unaware of the very existence of the Beatles.

America had Elvis, they had The Beach boys, the Ronnettes, Chuck Berry, they had a hot music scene, without doubt the hottest on the planet.

All too soon that fateful day.... 22nd November 1963 ...... came around...... that day when time stood still...... that dreadful day when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas.
It was a world shaking event that traumatised America and shocked the entire world.

In late December the Beatles released ' I want to hold your hand.' The boys had done it again and it was yet another Lennon / MacCartney composition........ was there no end to their amazing talent ?

'I want to Hold Your Hand' is significant because it was the song that went on to break the Beatles in America ..... it was the song that made Americans prick their ears up.
It went on to become the fastest selling British release in America and by February 1st 1964 it had reached No 1 in the American Billboard charts, (selling 2 million copies along the way.)

7th February 1964 ......... the Beatles land at Kennedy Airport to be greeted by 3000 screaming fans.
The fan hysteria and idol worship had followed them across the Atlantic...... only ..... this time the hysteria was on a massive American scale.

America, that mighty continent, that home of the brave.......... and land of the free.... was also the home of pop music, Hollywood and mass consumerism.
America was rich, its thriving economy the envy of the world.
By Feb 1964 the post war baby boomers were coming of age........ and they wanted to party.

The Beatles mesmerised America with their music and style when they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. They played before an audience of 73 million ...coast to coast.... for the Beatles this was the big time...... the big , big time !
It seemed that the long years of touring round seedy venues in Britain and Hamburg had all been worth it, they had all been in preparation for this moment.
The Beatles were broadcasting to the American Colossus they were there on TV in in every city, in every home.
And the Beatles were well prepared..... they had a fabulous catalogue of songs to sell to their legion of American fans.

I can t help thinking that it was really John Lennon who generated all this mass hysteria on two continents.
I feel that so many of the early songs are his alone, songs like ' I want to hold your hand ' and 'She loves You' for example.
I don t think Paul had very much to do with them.
John was the mastermind behind Beatlemania in the early days, he was the driving force , the dynamo.
It was John's musical genius that supplied the rocket fuel behind the Beatles meteoric rise to success and world fame.

Later, during the calmer, hippie days of Sergeant Pepper and 1967 , the power shifted over to Paul.
The handsome, diplomatic Paul became the driving force behind the Beatles with his clever, innovative songs, songs like 'Fixing a Hole,' 'Meter Maid', and ' With a little help from my friends'.
Songs that were so different from the earthy, gutsy, visceral songs of John Lennon , whose burning genius generated the phenomena known as ......... Beatlemania !

[tygrkhat40]

The songs of McCarney and Lennon were not sold by Paul and John (and/or Yoko) but were sold out from under them. When they tried to buy them back, they were out bid by Michael Jackson and if I'm not mistaken are still owned by Jacko's estate.

Billy, I love the Who as well as the Beatles, but give Pete and the boys the same equipment the Fab Four used when they toured and they'd sound like crap as well.

Norbert, how can you say the Beatles aren't talented? The Lennon/McCartney songwriting team (with each other and on their own) ranks with the Jagger/Richards team, Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend and Brian Wilson as the greatest songwriters of the last half of the 20th Century and with Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin and Irving Berlin as the greats of the entire 20th Century. People without talent don't write songs like "Yesterday," "In My Life" and "Imagine." In fact, the Beatles work on "Rubber Soul" pushed Brian Wilson to create "Pet Sounds," which pushed McCartney and Lennon to do "Revolver," which led Wilson to do "Smile," which became "Smiley Smile," which led to "Sgt. Pepper."

Now, I will admit that during the Beatles heyday, there were better players out there. George was the best at his chosen instrument, Paul was the most versitile musician, John just after him and Ringo was, well, adequate. They got better as time went on, but we can all probably list a dozen or more musicians better than the lads from Liverpool.

And the influence of the Beatles in many ways cannot be understated. John and Paul showed Mick and Keith that they could try to be songwriters. Chuck Berry influenced a lot of guys to try playing the guitar, but the Beatles influnced a lot of people to form bands. Shows in places like Shea Stadium proved that stadium concerts could work (for better or worse). And like the Stones and the Who, the Beatles were always generous in citing their influences.

And an interesting note. In VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock and Roll from the late 90's, despite the fact that Rock and Roll is originally an American music genre, the greatest bands on the list are all British: the Beatles (#1), the Rolling Stones (#2), Led Zeppelin (#4) and the Who (#9). In fact, 6 of the top 10 are British with David Bowie at #7 and the Police at #10. And Jimi Hendrix at #3 got his big break across the pond. The highest ranking American band is the Beach Boys at #13, the highest American artist is Bob Dylan at #5.

[ubu_roi]

The Beatles certainly sounded good on their last live concert, the legendary rooftop appearance that gave us "Get Back" and "Don't Bring Me Down."

Originally Posted by billybunter

The beatles quit in 1970. Thankgod because they had started to write turds.

I dunno, Billy....their last album (chronologically by recording date) was Abbey Road....you don't really think that's a collection of turds, do you?


I like the Stones, I like the Who, but I friggin' LOVE the Beatles.

[billybunter]

The Who supported The Beatles at Blackpool England. John Lennon asked Pete Townshend as their massive rigs were being wheeled on stage "what do you need all that for?" "So the C###s can hear us!" the Beatles were using Vox AC30's but had no PA. So when all the girl's started to scream you couldn't hear them. The Who on the other hand deafened the audience with what was then the biggest PA around.

[billybunter]

Originally Posted by ubu_roi

The Beatles certainly sounded good on their last live concert, the legendary rooftop appearance that gave us "Get Back" and "Don't Bring Me Down."


I dunno, Billy....their last album (chronologically by recording date) was Abbey Road....you don't really think that's a collection of turds, do you?


I like the Stones, I like the Who, but I friggin' LOVE the Beatles.

I like the Beatles too. But I think they are over rated.

[rlg118]

Take a close listen to some of the chord structures they came up with. "You can't make this stuff up" - but they did.

Over-rated, my ass.

[billybunter]

Originally Posted by rlg118

Take a close listen to some of the chord structures they came up with. "You can't make this stuff up" - but they did.

Over-rated, my ass.

All music is "made up" as a pianist and guitarist I can assure you the Beatles music is very simple.