Someone explain the beatles era music to me

FastEddieB said:
Before reading the last post, I, too, was thinking of John Lennon post-Beatles.

Erratic is a good way to put it, especially when combined with Yoko, but there were still flashes of brilliance. "Imagine" is a classic that still makes me long for the heyday years when anything seemed possible. And "God" and "Working Class Hero" still strike the right note every time I hear them.

His death affected me more than any other celebrity death ever did, before or since.

Though losing Warren Zevon and Lou Reed hit pretty hard as well.
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Funny you should say that. I was just thinking of how many rocks stars idles I have lost. As a frustrated lead guitar player Jimmy Hendricks was my hero. (Where is RT when I admit that! ;)) That dude could play. He died, and I loved Janis Joplin. Strange powerful voice and a party gal should like no other. She died.

Morrison was a drama queen "wanna be" freak. Not worth mentioning.
 
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Geico266 said:
Funny you should say that. I was just thinking of how many rocks stars idles I have lost. As a frustrated lead guitar player Jimmy Hendricks was my hero. (Where is RT when I admit that! ;)) That dude could play. He died, and I loved Janis Joplin
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Ahhhhh...the 27 club.

Brian Jones, Alan Wilson, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Pete Ham, Chris Bell and Jim Morrison

And later Kurt Cobain, Dave Alexander, Richey Edwards, Jean-Michel Basquiat, D. Boon and Kristen Pfaff.

And much later Amy Winehouse.

Lots of great talent left this earth way too early at age 27.
 
We must remember how long ago the Beatles were. 1962 - 1970 was essentially their run. Half a century ago. They took up where Elvis left off, and continued to usurp black R&B, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, etc and rock to become acceptable to whites, although they did cover white acts like Buddy Holly who were also imitating the black r&b, rock, and blues.

Then they heard Bob Dylan, and began to mix folk style chord progressions over a rock beat, and that is what really set them apart. That was different, as most fusion music is different, and as others have said the drug culture got us the albums such as Sgt. Pepper, and those leading up to it like Rubber Soul, and Revolver.

The Beatles only really toured from 1964 -1966, and then it became too much of a hassle, so that's why you don't see them all in stadiums, but they did them here in the U.S., and around the world, mostly on their last tour in 1966.
 
Knowing I will draw the ire of some hard core Beatles fans:
There never was a good song the Beatles didn't plagiarize bits and pieces and use for themselves.
There were other, better British bands, and a lot of much better American bands.
My teen years spanned 1962 through 1969 so I saw it all up close and personal.
 
My teen years were also spent in the 60s, and I saw most of the big bands in concert at one time or another. I kept hitting concerts up until 1981. I stopped going after the Stones concert in Seattle in the King Dome. a girl in the line ahead of me was telling her boyfriend that the Stones were the greatest and her dad had all of their albums. Her comment along with my frustration with the lines and other hassles made me feel old and out of place. Too bad, because concerts indoors and outside had been the source of a lot of joy over the years. Radio stations stopped surprising me with new sounds I hasn't heard before about the time of the big corporate consolidations in the late 80s. Now I seem to prefer talk radio on NPR over music, but I often think back to one fabulous outdoor concert with Jefferson Airplane with a smile.
 
Shepherd said:
There never was a good song the Beatles didn't plagiarize bits and pieces and use for themselves.

My teen years spanned 1962 through 1969 so I saw it all up close and personal.
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I have to respectfully disagree with you on this. Yesterday, all of Abbey Road, and the White Album feature completely original material. As I recall, McCartney and Lennon worked very hard not to copy other material in their later albums because they were asked to cover so much of others material earlier in their career.

Sgt Pepper's could be thought of as thematically plagiarized about a band that was performing which had been done in the 50s by one of the big band era guys(I forget the name), but all the material was original.

The Beatles possibly more than any other band of the day rarely had to defend their music from copyright or theft. Lennon particularly was very careful to not take material from others. Harrison in his close relationship with Clapton possibly did steal some riffs from Clapton because he was the greatest guitarist of the generation, but more often than not - George would just ask Clapton to sit in and session with them if needed. Penny Lane was challenged by either Kershner, or Rafelson I can't remember which as a take off on one of the Monkees tunes, and he got so far as to the muni court in LA, where a judge not only threw it out instantly but he awarded the Beatles court fees without even being asked. That was that as far as copyright went, no one messed with Beatles music after that.

I was an 'assistant engineer' at A&M records in the late 70s while doing my undergrad at UCLA, which means I got coffee and booze for a lot of artists. But, I was careful about new music, and did my best to see that whoever recorded there wasn't stealing from another artist. A&M was real careful about it, so I listened to a lot of tracks, and a lot of comparative tracks over those years looking for actionable stuff. I found a lot, mostly I found people riffing on Beatles melodies but not the other way round.

Hope you don't mind some friendly repartee. :wink2:
 
Dagnabbit. Who mentioned Yoko? This thread had a good thing goin until then. Gack.
 
Have some fun looking over this list. I am not sure how accurate it is now, it is from 2 years ago but I was amazed to see where some people placed relative to the others.

Net worth as of 2011

#1: Paul McCartney Net Worth – $800 Million (The Beatles)
#2: Bono Net Worth – $600 Million (U2)
#3: Jimmy Buffett Net Worth – $400 Million
#4: Elton John Net Worth – $320 Million (Solo)
#5: Mick Jagger Net Worth – $305 Million (The Rolling Stones)
#6: Gene Simmons Net Worth – $300 Million (KISS)
#7: Sting Net Worth – $290 Million (The Police, Solo)
#8: Phil Collins Net Worth – $250 Million (Genesis, Solo)
#9: Dave Matthews Net Worth – $250 Million (Dave Matthews Band)
#10: Prince Net Worth – $250 Million
#11: Dave Grohl Net Worth – $225 Million (Foo Fighters, Nirvana on drums)
#12: Rod Stewart Net Worth – $220 Million
#13: David Bowie Net Worth – $215 Million
#14: Bruce Springsteen Net Worth – $200 Million (The E Street Band)
#15: Don Henley Net Worth – $200 Million (The Eagles, Solo)
#16: Lionel Richie Net Worth – $200 Million (Commodores, Solo)
#17: James Hetfield Net Worth – $175 Million (Metallica)
#18: Billy Joel Net Worth – $160 Million
#19 : Axl Rose Net Worth – $150 Million (Guns N’ Roses)
#20: Roger Waters Net Worth – $145 Million (Pink Floyd)
#21: David Gilmour Net Worth – $130 Million (Pink Floyd)
#22: Steven Tyler Net Worth – $130 Million (Aerosmith)
#23: Jon Bon Jovi Net Worth – $125 Million (Bon Jovi)
#24: Paul Stanley Net Worth – $125 Million (KISS)
#25: Anthony Kiedis Net Worth – $120 Million (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
#26: Sammy Hagar Net Worth – $120 Million (Van Halen)
#27: Robert Plant Net Worth – $120 Million (Led Zeppelin)
#28: Bruce Dickinson Net Worth – $115 Million (Iron Maiden)
#29: Eric Clapton Net Worth – $115 Million (Cream, Solo)
#30: Brian Johnson Net Worth – $90 Million (AC/DC)
#31: Ozzy Osbourne Net Worth – $90 Million (Black Sabbath, Solo)
#32: George Michael Net Worth – $90 Million (Wham!, Solo)
#33: Gwen Stefani Net Worth – $80 Million (No Doubt, Solo)
#34: Eddie Vedder Net Worth – $80 Million (Pearl Jam)
#35: Bob Dylan Net Worth – $80 Million
#36: Brian Wilson Net Worth – $75 Million (The Beach Boys)
#37: Michael Stipe Net Worth – $75 Million (R.E.M.)
#38: Trey Anastasio Net Worth – $75 Million (Phish)
#39: Tom Petty Net Worth – $75 Million (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
#40: Joe Elliott Net Worth – $70 Million (Def Leppard)
#41: Peter Gabriel Net Worth – $70 Million (Genesis, Solo)
#42: Glenn Frey Net Worth – $70 Million (The Eagles, Solo)
#43: John Fogerty Net Worth – $68 Million (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
#44: Stevie Nicks Net Worth – $65 Million (Fleetwood Mac, Solo)
#45: Roger Daltrey Net Worth – $65 Million (The Who)
#46: Neil Young Net Worth – $65 Million
#47: Joe Walsh Net Worth – $65 Million (The Eagles, Solo)
#48: Chris Cornell Net Worth – $60 Million (Soundgarden, Audioslave)
#49: Mark Hoppus Net Worth – $60 Million (Blink 182)
#50: Tom DeLonge Net Worth – $60 Million (Blink 182)
#51: Chris Martin Net Worth – $60 Million (Coldplay)
#52: Billie Joe Armstrong Net Worth – $55 Million (Green Day)
#52: Liam Gallagher Net Worth – $50 Million (Oasis)
#53: Vince Neil Net Worth – $50 Million (Motley Crue)
#54: Billy Corgan Net Worth – $50 Million (Smashing Pumpkins)
#55: Steve Perry Net Worth – $45 Million (Journey)
#56: Jon Anderson Net Worth – $45 Million (Yes)
#57: Maynard James Keenan Net Worth – $45 Million (Tool)
#58: Jonathan Davis Net Worth – $45 Million (Korn)
#59: David Gahan Net Worth – $45 Million (Depeche Mode)
#60: David Lee Roth Net Worth – $40 Million (Van Halen)
#61: David Byrne Net Worth – $40 Million (Talking Heads)
#62: Trent Reznor Net Worth – $40 Million (Nine Inch Nails)
#63: Kid Rock Net Worth – $37 Million
#64: Thom Yorke Net Worth – $35 Million (Radiohead)
#65: Pat Benatar Net Worth – $32 Million
#66: Jack White Net Worth – $30 Million (The White Stripes)
#67: Scott Stapp Net Worth – $30 Million (Creed)
#68: Chad Kroeger Net Worth – $30 Million (Nickelback)
#69: Peter Frampton Net Worth – $30 Million (Humble Pie, Solo)
#70: Geddy Lee Net Worth – $28 Million (Rush)
#71: Marilyn Manson Net Worth -$25 Million
#72: Zack de la Rocha Net Worth – $50 Million (Rage Against the Machine)
#73: Rob Halford Net Worth – $25 Million (Judas Priest)
#74: Chester Bennington Net Worth – $25 Million (Linkin Park)
#75 : Dave Mustaine Net Worth – $20 Million (Metallica, Megadeath)
#76: Ian Anderson Net Worth – $20 Million (Jethro Tull)
#77: Geoff Tate Net Worth: $17 Million (Queensrÿche)
#78: Gregg Allman Net Worth – $15 Million (Allman Brothers)
#79: Tom Araya Net Worth – $14 Million (Slayer)
#80: Jacoby Shaddix Net Worth – $12 Million (Papa Roach)
#81: Bret Michaels Net Worth – $12 Million (Poison)
#82: Scott Weiland Net Worth – $10 Million (Stone Temple Pilots)
#83: Phil Anselmo Net Worth – $8 Million (Pantera)
#84: Fred Durst Net Worth – $8 Million (Limp Bizkit)
 
Shepherd said:
Knowing I will draw the ire of some hard core Beatles fans:
There never was a good song the Beatles didn't plagiarize bits and pieces and use for themselves.
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That could be said of almost any musical artist in the 20th century onward.
 
Shepherd said:
Knowing I will draw the ire of some hard core Beatles fans:
There never was a good song the Beatles didn't plagiarize bits and pieces and use for themselves.
There were other, better British bands, and a lot of much better American bands.
My teen years spanned 1962 through 1969 so I saw it all up close and personal.
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Agreed.

FastEddieB said:
Which gradually morphed into "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?"

Talk about a musical journey!
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:rofl:
 
eman1200 said:
Dagnabbit. Who mentioned Yoko? This thread had a good thing goin until then. Gack.
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That was me.

Anyway, for those not familiar, search for "Be My Yoko Ono" by BareNaked Ladies on YouTube.

Lyrics:

If there's someone you can live without,
then do so.
And if there's someone you can just shove out;
do so.

[Chorus]
You can be my Yoko Ono
You can follow me wherever I go
Be my, be my,
Be my Yoko Ono.

Isn't it beautiful to see two people so much in love?
Barenaked as two virgins hand in hand and hand and hand in glove.
Now that I'm far away it doesn't seem to me to be such a pain.
To have you hanging off my ankle like some kind of ball and chain.

[Chorus]

Oh no, here we go, our life is just one big pun.
Oh no, here we go as Yoko sings
Aieee!

I know that when I say this,
I may be stepping on pins and needles;
But I don't like all these people
slagging her for breaking up the Beatles.
(Don't blame it on Yokey)
if I was John and you were Yoko,
I would gladly give up musical genius,
just to have you as my very own, personal Venus.
(Hit it)

[Chorus]
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Yeah um... How are they worth more than Eric Clapton.
That's just not right.
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The thing about the artists from the sixties---the great thing actually---is that it was still about the music, the originality and the freedom of expression. It wasn't about the money or commercial success. With few exceptions.

Clapton left The Yardbirds in the mid-60s because the producers wanted them to start recording more mainstream music. He wasn't going to be forced into mediocrity by anyone.

By the seventies it was all about money. Do you think Steve Perry would've walked away from Journey? Not a chance. He happily created and performed uninspired, mainstream, teeny-bopper crap. But, hey, he's got more money than...me...

Music from the sixties and very early seventies is far better then that of the following ten years. And this from a guy who came of age in the late 70s. I can't stand to listen to any of the music from my generation anymore. Journey, Foreigner, Boston, etc., all quite uninspired crap by comparison. There's far better stuff out there.
 
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My playlist right now?

Howlin Wolf
Eric Clapton
Robert Johnson
Muddy Waters
Albert King
BB King
Buddy Guy
John Lee Hooker
ZZ Top
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Jimmie Vaughn
 
BTW...just to clarify my above post a bit. Not ALL music from the mid/late 70s was crap. Some first albums had inspired cuts on them. Boston is an example. Their first album had a few good songs, their second album "Don't Look Back" did nothing but.

A better example is The Cars. Their first album was great. Far different and unique from any of the other music of the day. Their second album (Candy-O) not so much and, all the rest were just so-so.

The point being, there were still some unique and inspired artist around and their first albums are a testament to this but, once they entered the "music making mill," they became uninspired slaves to the money.
 
RotorAndWing said:
My playlist right now?



Howlin Wolf

Eric Clapton

Robert Johnson

Muddy Waters

Albert King

BB King

Buddy Guy

John Lee Hooker

ZZ Top

Stevie Ray Vaughn

Jimmie Vaughn
Click to expand...


NICE!!! Just add Hendrix to that and it's 10 out of 10!!!
 
timwinters said:
The thing about the artists from the sixties---the great thing actually---is that it was still about the music, the originality and the freedom of expression. It wasn't about the money or commercial success. With few exceptions.

Clapton left The Yardbirds in the mid-60s because the producers wanted them to start recording more mainstream music. He wasn't going to be forced into mediocrity by anyone.

By the seventies it was all about money. Do you think Steve Perry would've walked away from Journey? Not a chance. He happily created and performed uninspired, mainstream, teeny-bopper crap. But, hey, he's got more money than...me...

Music from the sixties and very early seventies is far better then that of the following ten years. And this from a guy who came of age in the late 70s. I can't stand to listen to any of the music from my generation anymore. Journey, Foreigner, Boston, etc., all quite uninspired crap by comparison. There's far better stuff out there.
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I was in the middle of nowhere hiking between deer lodge and anaconda montana. I setup camp near some other people. Started talking to them and the guy's name was Rick Parnell. The drummer from SpinalTap. He claims to have turned down an offer to join Journey, he also claimed it wasn't the greatest idea he ever had.
 
bartmc said:
I was in the middle of nowhere hiking between deer lodge and anaconda montana. I setup camp near some other people. Started talking to them and the guy's name was Rick Parnell. The drummer from SpinalTap. He claims to have turned down an offer to join Journey, he also claimed it wasn't the greatest idea he ever had.
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You saw him after he spontaneously combusted? Or was he the one who choked on vomit not his own?
 
The 60s hypocrisy began with it's music and musicians. The era was alleged to be about anti-establishment, anti-authority, anti-capitalism, anti-you name it. The musicians made just as much money (adjusted for inflation) as today's goons who make no pretense about making money and getting famous.

The 60s teens who ate up the music, took the drugs, and bashed the Democrats (who were in power then) during the 60s over the Vietnam war went into academia and poisoned a whole generation of leadership in today's Democrat party. The left-wing now in charge and quite successfully busy destroying the full fabric and gist of what the country once was.

In short, the dreams of the kids during the 60s to tear down the establishment are today's establishment continuing that tear down.

Is it really that surprising to see Paul McCartney a near billionaire? And the Stones, Clapton, and what's left of Credance and the Grateful Dead too? Soon they will all be dead, and their legacy of music and hypocrisy will live on in the post Obama era.
 
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Fearless Tower said:
That's my kind of playlist!
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Mine too but way too short!

I have over 700 favorite songs "hearted" on Slacker. There are about 120 artists involved. From 60s stuff to stuff that came out this year.

My latest purchase at home was last month's Rodrigo y Gabriela release and I already have a couple of songs off of it "hearted" on Slacker. Great stuff!

I'm of the opinion that there is so much good stuff out there that you shouldn't need to hear the same song twice in a month much less twice in a day.

I've always had a job involving travel so I've listened to music far too much while driving over the years. Until the advent of XM, pandora, slacker, etc. it was misery. "Classic Rock" stations that played the same sht over and over and over. (and you could set your watch by when you heard a song).

Arrrrrrggggghhhhhhh.
 
Man, Pandora has done opened up my horizons.

Because of poor parenting and limited choices, all I knew was "country" and "top 40 rock". My FLAC collection has exploded in the last few years, though. Pandora + used cds from amazon + bandcamp (et al):

Pendulum
Silicon Sound
Buddy Rich (holy crap, "The Roar of '74 - Time Check")
The Seatbelts
Perturbator
The Piano Guys
Lindsey Stirling
CoLD SToRAGE
Ry Cooder
Stan Getz
John Coltrane
Brian Setzer
Paul Gilbert
Blue Stahli
Cell Dweller
Hybrid


And that's just the last 6 months or so, 'ls -lrt ~/Music'.

I LOVE THE INTERTUBES.

*ahem*
 
docmirror said:
I have to respectfully disagree with you on this. Yesterday, all of Abbey Road, and the White Album feature completely original material. As I recall, McCartney and Lennon worked very hard not to copy other material in their later albums because they were asked to cover so much of others material earlier in their career.

Sgt Pepper's could be thought of as thematically plagiarized about a band that was performing which had been done in the 50s by one of the big band era guys(I forget the name), but all the material was original.

The Beatles possibly more than any other band of the day rarely had to defend their music from copyright or theft. Lennon particularly was very careful to not take material from others. Harrison in his close relationship with Clapton possibly did steal some riffs from Clapton because he was the greatest guitarist of the generation, but more often than not - George would just ask Clapton to sit in and session with them if needed. Penny Lane was challenged by either Kershner, or Rafelson I can't remember which as a take off on one of the Monkees tunes, and he got so far as to the muni court in LA, where a judge not only threw it out instantly but he awarded the Beatles court fees without even being asked. That was that as far as copyright went, no one messed with Beatles music after that.

I was an 'assistant engineer' at A&M records in the late 70s while doing my undergrad at UCLA, which means I got coffee and booze for a lot of artists. But, I was careful about new music, and did my best to see that whoever recorded there wasn't stealing from another artist. A&M was real careful about it, so I listened to a lot of tracks, and a lot of comparative tracks over those years looking for actionable stuff. I found a lot, mostly I found people riffing on Beatles melodies but not the other way round.

Hope you don't mind some friendly repartee. :wink2:
Click to expand...

I disagree. Much of the Psychedelic Beatles was stolen from of all places, the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" album. Read the story of how they sat in a French villa and wore the album out while having massive angst over "how can we compete with that!?!?"
Beatles music was driven by what was going on around them, not driving what was going on around them.
 
ClimbnSink said:
To understand a generation's music you need to listen to it while doing that generation's drugs.
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Coming into Los Angeles
Bringing in a couple of keys
But don't touch my bags if you please
Mister Customs Man
 
I never did heroin, but Lou sure gave me a hint of what it was like...

I don't know just where I'm going
But I'm goin' to try for the kingdom if I can
'Cause it makes me feel like I'm a man
When I put a spike into my vein
Ooh babe, things aren't quite the same

When I'm rushing on my run
And I feel just like Jesus' son
And I guess baby that I just don't know
Oh oh, I guess I just don't know

I have, I've made very big decision
I wish that I could nullify my life
'Cause when the blood begins to flow
When it shoots up the dropper's neck
When I'm closing in on death

You can't help me not you guys
All you girls with all your sweet, pretty talk
You can all go take a walk
And I guess I just don't know
I guess that I just don't know

I wish that I was born a thousand years ago
And I, I wish that I'd sailed the darkened seas
On a great big clipper ship
Going from this land here to that
I put on a, a sailor's suit and cap

Away from the big city where a man cannot be free
Of all the evil in this town
Oh baby, and himself and those around
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess I just don't know

Heroin, be the death of me
Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life
Because a mainer to my vein
Leads to a center in my head
Then I'm better off than dead

When the smack begins to flow
I really don't care anymore
About all you Jim, Jim, Jim, Jims
Everybody putting everybody else down
And all you the politicians makin' crazy sounds
And all the dead bodies piled up in mounds, oh yeah

And while that heroin is in my blood
And the blood is in my head
Thank God I'm good as dead
Thank God I'm not aware
Thank God I just don't care
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess that I just don't


Thanks Lou and Andy and the gang.

LAWSUIT.jpg
 
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Shepherd said:
I disagree. Much of the Psychedelic Beatles was stolen from of all places, the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" album.
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I don't know, _Pet Sounds and _Revolver_ pretty much were released at the same time. The two combined changed rock and roll "albums" forever.

Revolver was quite a change from the previous "I want to hold your hand" Beatles.
 
timwinters said:
Well, I guess it's a good thing Canned Heat wasn't on the A&M Label! ;)

Canned Heat - Going to the Country

And about forty years earlier:

Henry Thomas - Bulldoze Blues
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I think they were on UA? I only worked at A&M for about 2 years. In that time I think I referred three cuts back to mgmt for possible copyright. Most of the disco stuff of the late 70s and early 80s was so hard to judge. It was all derivative, and luckily people rarely got sued. It was only when a song got in the top ten did other acts pay attention to it because there was finally some money in the pot to get, but even then a lot of top 10 disco stuff was copied in some way from someone else.

Honestly, I wasn't very good at my job there. I hated getting coffee, or booze, or cleaning up the studio, or all the other shyte work required of an 'asst engineer'. I got one and only one credit on a record from that era, and most of the acts I worked with(Ozark Mtn Daredevils) were stoners or drunks. Since I worked after school from about 4-11, I got to see all the crap that went on in the studio. We also recorded commercials, and did some demo work for new artists. It was sad to see the difference between the commercial and struggling artist side with the established acts. Cheech and Chong were the worst. If they were scheduled to come in and record, I usually called in sick, or told the boss I had to cram for a test. I quit a few days before getting fired. :sad:
 
Yoko killed the Beatles.
 
paflyer said:
Yoko killed the Beatles.
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That seems true. If you listen to the tribute to george Harrison album ( and watch the video) you'll see some of the many heavy hitters who showed up to pay tribute. Indicative of what contemporaries thought of them. My only complaint was the constant repetition of the lyrics, over and over again. Some of their melody was really beautiful. Paul mccartneys father had had a dance band in the 30s and I think this showed in his abilitys. McCartney and John Lennon seemed to be the driving force and the most gifted. I don't think their later use of drugs helped much. They were huge with young people. Elvis Presley was also very big and still is to a large crowd. His album , I think it's aloha from Hawaii pretty well sums up his abilitys. Great album. ( lenord Bernstein said of the Beatles " they are genius". That's pretty large coming from him.)
 
Jimmy cooper said:
That seems true. If you listen to the tribute to george Harrison album ( and watch the video) you'll see some of the many heavy hitters who showed up to pay tribute. Indicative of what contemporaries thought of them. My only complaint was the constant repetition of the lyrics, over and over again. Some of their melody was really beautiful. Paul mccartneys father had had a dance band in the 30s and I think this showed in his abilitys. McCartney and John Lennon seemed to be the driving force and the most gifted. I don't think their later use of drugs helped much. They were huge with young people. Elvis Presley was also very big and still is to a large crowd. His album , I think it's aloha from Hawaii pretty well sums up his abilitys. Great album. ( lenord Bernstein said of the Beatles " they are genius". That's pretty large coming from him.)
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makes sense.
 
Shepherd said:
I disagree. Much of the Psychedelic Beatles was stolen from of all places, the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" album. Read the story of how they sat in a French villa and wore the album out while having massive angst over "how can we compete with that!?!?"
Beatles music was driven by what was going on around them, not driving what was going on around them.
Click to expand...
Stolen in what way? Melody, lyrics, chords? There is a pattern to rock music, and there are just a few chord combinations that are used in rock. Sometimes there are variations in voice, but the same progressions all the same. Stray Cat Strut and Hit the Road Jack, are exactly the same chord progression, along with probably twenty or thirty other songs. Pencil Thin Mustache by Jimmy Buffett has a lot of the same progressions as the song, as Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue, which was written in 1925. I actually have a book that has 100 rock hits that you can play with a C, G, Am, F progression. That is why it is so easy to jam with other rock musicians. Just have to know what key, and you can play. Most of the time that would be the key of E by the way. And that carries on to modern day rock. A lot of it is just the same three or four chords. So if that is what you are talking about, there isn't any ownership of a blues progression, anyone and everyone uses the same ones.

Back to the Beatles, it all goes back to the Rockers and the Mods, the Beatles being Mods, the Stones, Rockers. My parents didn't so much think that the Beatles were bad boys, they just thought the hair style was ridiculous. My dad called them mop heads.
 
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The Beatles brought a major change to the structure of rock music. They were one of the first bands to write their own music with songs that were more complex than the standard 1-4-5 blues-based, verse/verse/bridge/verse/solo/verse format. Also, they were one of the first to consistently use 3-part harmonies in rock/pop music. After them, there was a dramatic shift in shape and sound of rock and roll. As simple as it sounds today, their music was much more sophisticated than that of their predecessors.
 
write-stuff said:
The Beatles brought a major change to the structure of rock music. They were one of the first bands to write their own music with songs that were more complex than the standard 1-4-5 blues-based, verse/verse/bridge/verse/solo/verse format. Also, they were one of the first to consistently use 3-part harmonies in rock/pop music. After them, there was a dramatic shift in shape and sound of rock and roll. As simple as it sounds today, their music was much more sophisticated than that of their predecessors.
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I grant you that the Beatles went beyond a standard 1,4,5 progression, one that comes to mind is 1,6,2,5 progression but all the same, they didn't stray far. Not much dissonance in the Beatles. As far as the rest, yes, they did bring a lot into their music, and I'm not arguing that. But nothing really new, just not generally associated with rock at that time. But my remark was in really in response to the post saying that they stole, and I'm just saying that if it is chord progressions that they were stealing, there isn't anything there to steal. Chord progressions are chord progressions, and don't belong to anyone.
 
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Shepherd said:
I disagree. Much of the Psychedelic Beatles was stolen from of all places, the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" album. Read the story of how they sat in a French villa and wore the album out while having massive angst over "how can we compete with that!?!?"
Beatles music was driven by what was going on around them, not driving what was going on around them.
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:rolleyes2:

That's an interesting point of view. The Beatles stole from the Beach Boys? Pet Sounds was the Beach Boys' response to Revolver and then Sgt. Peppers was the Beatles response to Pet Sounds. Competition? Sure. Theft? No.

Personally, I never had much use for the Beach Boys. Most of their stuff (sans Pet Sounds) was teenie bopper crap...as was the earlier Beatles stuff and then almost all of the horrible Wings music after the Beatles split up. Wings...what a HUGE step backwards Wings was for McCartney.

Listen to a Brian Wilson interview sometime if you can stand to. He's about the biggest ego-megalo maniac I've ever heard talk (outside of politics anyway). He's the undisputed God of music in his own mind's eye.
 
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