You knew I was going to start a thread on the Beatles somewhere, didn't you?
Anyway, this thread will be for all things Beatles whether in the form of YouTube videos, stories on Beatle history (Including post Beatle endeavors), album and single reviews, whatever you want, as long as it is Beatles related.
Anyway, I'll start with a bit of trivia. How many of you knew that the Beatles' original bass player was a sunglass wearing chap by the name of Stu Sutcliffe? Not really part of the core group as Lennon had enlisted him (Sutcliffe was an art school buddy of Lennon's). His bass playing was adequate at best and the embarrassed Sutcliff would turn his back to the audience when the Beatles would perform in Hamburg. Sutcliffe dated photographer Astrid Kirchherr, who is also credited with encouraging what would become the Beatle haircut. Sutcliffe would leave the band in the beginning of 1962 to pursue a career in art and Paul McCartney would take up the bass. Sutcliff would tragically die of a brain hemorrhage just months later.
Okay, so who's next, or who wants to talk about Sutcliffe?
What's a Beatles? Never heard of 'em.
Geez! They came down to Earth on a Flaming Pie. Don't you know anything? :D
I'm sorry but I don't follow techno.
Beatles were a big part of my musical childhood as my parents were fans. I like a lot of their music even if I don't often seek them out these day.
By the way, I imagine it must've been fun being a Beatles fan when Peter Jackson's documentary came out. I heard on the radio that PJ's company also had made algorithms that could isolate the audio of an instrument like a bass f.ex from blended tracks and that they'd used this to create new stereo mixes. I wanted to check that out, but forgot about it and am not sure which album they were talking about.
Anyways, fun that there's still stuff coming out :) I hear them WAY less on the radio nowadays, though. Used to be a regular thing in the 80s/90s.
Actually, they were kind of overplayed on the oldies station I listened to in the nineties. The Beach Boys were too actually. It's bad when you get sick of a classic like God Only Knows. In the Beatles' case it was Hello Goodbye that seemed to get played daily. It remains one of my least favorite Beatles songs.
Quote from: Janszoon on Jan 30, 2023, 07:18 PMWhat's a Beatles? Never heard of 'em.
They were probably after your time. Definitely a childhood classic for me, though.
Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Jan 30, 2023, 09:49 PMThey were probably after your time. Definitely a childhood classic for me, though.
:laughing:
I used to jam to the Beatles a lot but over the past decade now I havent really.
Quote from: Guybrush on Jan 30, 2023, 08:01 PMBeatles were a big part of my musical childhood as my parents were fans. I like a lot of their music even if I don't often seek them out these days.
Ditto. My experience of hearing a lot of their music now is kind of like listen to children's music as an adult, not because it really is, but just because I associate it so strongly with my childhood that it's become over-familiar (for lack of a better way to describe it)
Of course, I'm old enough where the Beatles, and certainly the solo Beatles, were part of my childhood. I can remember an eight to nine year old kid listening to the lyrics of My Sweet Lord. I was eight when I first saw a Hard Day's Night on local TV and became an instant fan from that point on. I'd save my lunch money and buy an album whenever I had saved enough. I was quite resourceful in those days. :D
<------ Can you tell by my avatar whether I'm a Beatles fan? Not only am I a fan of The Beatles' music (both my parents were big fans) but I'm also obsessed with the entire Beatles *soap opera*, George's spirituality (a huge influence on my life philosophically) and Paul and Linda's lovely relationship and natural living on the Scottish farm with sheep (hence my avatar lol).
My daughter and I made the pilgrimage to Liverpool years ago and rode the Magical Mystery Tour bus. I won the Beatles trivia quiz contest on the bus (yes I am a dork) with the final answer to the question, "John and Paul performed as a double act in a pub with acoustic guitars in 1960. What was the name of their act?" Answer: "The Nerk Twins". My prize for this victory was a free pint at a Liverpool pub; my daughter thought this was a very big deal and my claim to fame. :laughing:
^Cool ribbons :)
About Paul, I've only seen a small part of Get Back (the 2021 Beatles doc with footage of the making of Let It Be), but I was impressed with Paul from the part I saw. He has a good ear, great musical instinct and a way of getting the guys along which was really positive. I've always liked him, but got a little extra newfound respect.
I really should watch the rest of that.
Couldn't agree more, Tore. What I find most impressive about Paul in Get Back is the incredible amount of effort, musicality and direction he lends to the other Beatles' songs as much as his own songs. And he keeps going on and on for the entire eight hours! Awesome.
I was just thinking (because this is obviously of immense importance) if I were stranded on a desert island but could keep 15 Beatles songs to while away my time alone, what would they be. Not necessarily what I think are the *best* Beatles tracks, but those most meaningful to me. Here goes:
Strawberry Fields Forever
A Day In The Life
Let It Be
Something
I'll Be Back
Two of Us
Love You To
Don't Let Me Down
Things We Said Today
Yesterday
Fixing a Hole
Think For Yourself
When I Get Home
I Want To Tell You
Tomorrow Never Knows
Dorkily watching this YouTube video on how to play like George.
Edit: He sure does think George "kicked a**" and sometimes "kicked major a**", lol. But I do agree. ;)
And spending a little time with Paul & Wings rehearsing "Jet" in the
One Hand Clapping unreleased film. :)
Quote from: Rubber Soul on Jan 30, 2023, 08:07 PMActually, they were kind of overplayed on the oldies station I listened to in the nineties. The Beach Boys were too actually. It's bad when you get sick of a classic like God Only Knows. In the Beatles' case it was Hello Goodbye that seemed to get played daily. It remains one of my least favorite Beatles songs.
By all accounts, Paul's not sick of "God Only Knows". I believe it's still his favorite song.
(Incidentally, I'm not crazy about "Hello Goodbye" either.)
I do feel like both Beach Boys songs like God Only Knows and Good Vibrations as well as Beatles songs like Hey Jude and Let it Be suffer from overexposure. There's no denying their greatness and I enjoy them when they come on. I don't seek them out, though.
Jet is a good song by the way :) also one of those songs from my childhood. It was the first track on this album that I listened to quite a bit :D
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/97/AllTBCover.jpg)
Unfortunately, I'm tired of "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations" - and even more worn out of "Hey Jude", especially the coda (sorry, Paul). I do still love "Let It Be", though - I think because it's about of the loss of his mother and I find it touching.
I used to listen to All The Best! all the time. "Jet" is another song I don't really tire of. It has a good energy and arrangement. I think Paul is really underrated as an arranger.
Like most of us are saying, I'm also rather burned out with the Beatles, especially all the classics - and I agree with you, Rubber Soul:
Hello Goodbye was one of their weakest singles, imo.
Jet on the other hand, is not so over-played (in my head, anyway) and it was interesting to see a slightly rougher rehersal version, ribbons. And here's a Paul song which has mercifully escaped too much radio play afaik, so not only is it beautiful, it still sounds quite fresh to me:-
I think they overplay sixties classics in general compared to seventies and later. That's why it's easier to appreciate a song like Jet as opposed to something overplayed like Hey Jude. As for Hello Goodbye, I much prefer the flip side, I am the Walrus. Even with Hey Jude, I'm much warmer to Revolution. Then again, I'm something of a Lennon fan :laughing:
I am definitely in camp McCartney, but rationally speaking, I like to think we can appreciate every Beatle and that always playing favorites and pitting artists against each other is rather childish. :laughing:
Quote from: Lisnaholic on Feb 03, 2023, 04:54 AM
^ That's one of my favorite Beatles songs, Lisna (it made my Top 15 Desert Island Beatles list posted earlier in this thread). It was also my mother's favorite Beatles song; she was very fond of the "
Someday when I'm lonely [/dreaming]" parts, I love the song's quiet-loud-quiet dynamics. I'm also partial to the live version on the
Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl album.
I think there are two albums where McCartney really shines with the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night (And I Love Her is also a favorite), and Revolver which features some of McCartney's most thoughtful songs (Here There and Everywhere, For No One, Eleanor Rigby). In contrast, Lennon's perfect album is on the White Album. Can't really rate George since he was just coming up as a songwriter in the last years, but While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Something certainly stands the test of time.
Quote from: Rubber Soul on Feb 03, 2023, 08:05 PMI think there are two albums where McCartney really shines with the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night (And I Love Her is also a favorite), and Revolver which features some of McCartney's most thoughtful songs (Here There and Everywhere, For No One, Eleanor Rigby). In contrast, Lennon's perfect album is on the White Album. Can't really rate George since he was just coming up as a songwriter in the last years, but While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Something certainly stands the test of time.
Agree, but John is certainly no slouch on
Hard Day's Night with the
title track, "If I Fell", "I'll Cry Instead", and "Tell Me Why". And on
Revolver with the magnificent "Tomorrow Never Knows", "She Said She Said" and "I'm Only Sleeping". Also agree that John is in top form on The White Album - he certainly has the most
interesting songs on it,
i.
e., "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", "I'm So Tired", "Yer Blues", "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey", "Sexy Sadie", "Cry Baby Cry" - hey, I even love "Revolution #9". I don't care for "Revolution 1", though - much prefer the single B-side "Revolution".
Quote from: Guybrush on Feb 03, 2023, 04:19 PMI am definitely in camp McCartney, but rationally speaking, I like to think we can appreciate every Beatle and that always playing favorites and pitting artists against each other is rather childish. :laughing:
You mean I should stop favoring Paul? No! I will never stop belaboring the merits of Paul - never! :laughing:
(https://i.etsystatic.com/11574533/c/615/488/236/373/il/6abe95/1815792967/il_340x270.1815792967_14t9.jpg)
Quote from: ribbons on Feb 03, 2023, 07:50 PM^ That's one of my favorite Beatles songs, Lisna (it made my Top 15 Desert Island Beatles list posted earlier in this thread). It was also my mother's favorite Beatles song; she was very fond of the "Someday when I'm lonely [/dreaming]" parts, I love the song's quiet-loud-quiet dynamics.
I agree with your mother, ribbons: those wistful lines from
"Some day when..." to
".. . we said today" are just beautiful.
I'd prob put myself down as preferring Lennon, and would rate
Beatles For Sale as one of his best showcase albums: it leads off with
I'm A Loser, No Reply, Baby's In Black. I don't particularly divide out their songwriting skills, partly because, even though the difference in their styles gets clearer and clearer with each subsequent album, a lot of their earlier songs were genuinely co-written I think.
And just for the record, Rubber Soul, even if The Word has spoken,
The White Album is nobody's perfect album ;)
I still hold that Lennon's best material overall is on the White Album. Yes, he might have saved Beatles For Sale and even Help! And I love his work on Rubber Soul and Pepper. But in terms of overall output, I still have to go with the White Album.
Quote from: Lisnaholic on Feb 03, 2023, 10:29 PMI agree with your mother, ribbons: those wistful lines from "Some day when..." to ".. . we said today" are just beautiful.
I'd prob put myself down as preferring Lennon, and would rate Beatles For Sale as one of his best showcase albums: it leads off with I'm A Loser, No Reply, Baby's In Black. I don't particularly divide out their songwriting skills, partly because, even though the difference in their styles gets clearer and clearer with each subsequent album, a lot of their earlier songs were genuinely co-written I think.
And just for the record, Rubber Soul, even if The Word has spoken, The White Album is nobody's perfect album ;)
Beatles For Sale is actually one of my favorite Beatles albums (despite the relative lack of original material), due to those three openers - which I refer to as Lennon's great triumvirate. :beer:
The beatles are utter shite and the only good thing that came out of it was While My Guitar Gently weeps (because of Clapton) and Wings, fight me bitches.
Quote from: Comus on Feb 05, 2023, 05:48 PMThe beatles are utter shite and the only good thing that came out of it was While My Guitar Gently weeps (because of Clapton) and Wings, fight me bitches.
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/83/96/48/8396482777d36829638ed35538479cb7.jpg)
And the worst thing is that while my guitar gently weeps is now a prince song. He owns that shit, the beatles have nothing to point to anymore.
Actually, I didn't like Prince's guitar take on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - way too histrionic and show-offy. Jumping around mimicking Hendrix with horrible tone does not a great guitarist make. ::)
Agree with you about Wings, though. :laughing:
Quote from: Comus on Feb 05, 2023, 05:48 PMThe beatles are utter shite and the only good thing that came out of it was While My Guitar Gently weeps (because of Clapton) and Wings, fight me bitches.
Well, I will accept your invitation and fight you on most of those points, Comus !
i) The Beatles, for years, were consistently coming up with some of the best 3-minute songs of their era. There were other 60s bands around, but not many writers who could rival the Lennon-McCartney songbook imo.
ii) The Beatles were also pioneers in moving away from the simple catchy pop song, and with albums like Revolver and Sgt. Pepper introduced the idea that an album was a carefully crafted work of art, not just a collection of tunes.
iii) rather than being some high point, I think that
While My Guitar Gently Weeps is a plodding exercise in spiritual superiority from G Harrison. A couple of good lines in the lyrics, but I always feel that the subtext here is GH saying, "my banal insights, as the suffering artist, make me more aware than you guys", a sentiment he expresses in a string of rhyme-driven clankers like:
sleeping/sweeping and
unfold/controlled/sold you. Unfortunately, the pace of the song doesn't give the lyrics any place to hide, although, as you suggest, at least Clapton's guitar work helps push the whole thing along.
On a more concillatory note, I like how your user-name and avatar keep the memory of a weird album alive, Comus.
Although I suspect we're of a minority opinion, Lisna, I'm definitely with you on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". A "plodding exercise in spiritual superiority" it is; sometimes George got a bit overly dour and preachy! I also think the whole track is musically inert and just drags along as though in quicksand. Agree with you and Comus that only Clapton's guitar saves that tune.
Incidentally, I've never heard Comus (the band) and am now inspired to listen to First Utterance. :)
I'm glad to find that you agree with me about the over-praised
While My Guitar, ribbons - I thought I might be upsetting you with such a critical take on a George song.
Quote from: ribbons on Feb 06, 2023, 10:48 PMIncidentally, I've never heard Comus (the band) and am now inspired to listen to First Utterance. :)
I'd be very interested to hear your opinion of that record, because after downloading it about 6 years ago, I still have mixed feelings about it; it feels like something I should like, but the fact is I can never be bothered to play it.
Quote from: Lisnaholic on Feb 07, 2023, 03:25 AMI'm glad to find that you agree with me about the over-praised While My Guitar, ribbons - I thought I might be upsetting you with such a critical take on a George song.
Not at all, Lisna - it
never upsets me if someone criticizes music I like. After all, it's not
my music and I'm not the creative artist. You are definitely a rarity, though, because whenever I tell other Beatles fans that I dislike "While My Guitar" it seems they're aghast. The song is a bit of a sacred cow in the Beatles canon.
Quote from: ribbons on Feb 06, 2023, 10:48 PMIncidentally, I've never heard Comus (the band) and am now inspired to listen to First Utterance. :)
Quote from: Lisnaholic on Feb 07, 2023, 03:25 AMI'd be very interested to hear your opinion of that record, because after downloading it about 6 years ago, I still have mixed feelings about it; it feels like something I should like, but the fact is I can never be bothered to play it.
I will definitely listen and share my opinion - thank you for asking!
Aghast, me aghast? :yikes:
The Beatles are a band I respect for their influence and they have a small handful of songs I really enjoy. That being said, I do not enjoy the vast majority of their music and a sizable chunk of it I would be fine with never hearing again.
But it is sometimes difficult to have an unbiased opinion as my dad raised me on their music as a young child and I was sick of their sound by the time I was in middle school and started listening to punk and goth and metal which spiraled out into my current taste. Never really looked back on the Beatles other than to trace their influence on the prog and psychedelic bands I did like.
It's different with me. For me, the Beatles were my gateway for my love of music in general, particularly folk and psychedelia and then punk/new wave, college rock, and beyond. I mean first it was the Beatles, then it was the Rolling Stones and the Who. Then Bowie, later REM- the list goes on.
So, yeah call me a Beatles fan boy.
Quote from: Rubber Soul on Feb 08, 2023, 01:19 PMAghast, me aghast? :yikes:
You look pretty aghast to me :laughing:
Like Lady and you and others on this thread, I was introduced to the Beatles in childhood/adolescence via my parents' record collection. My two older sisters were more like you, Lady, in that they tired of the Beatles early on - but somehow it stuck with me (I think also because it created a bond between my mother and I as I got older). Like RS, for me the Beatles were the gateway and my tastes evolved to other bands like the Stones, Velvet Underground, jazz, prog, folk, punk/new wave, what have you - my tastes are pretty varied.
But the Beatles will always be the band of my *heart* I guess. Call me a Beatles fan girl. :)
Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Feb 08, 2023, 01:38 PMThe Beatles are a band I respect for their influence and they have a small handful of songs I really enjoy. That being said, I do not enjoy the vast majority of their music and a sizable chunk of it I would be fine with never hearing again.
But it is sometimes difficult to have an unbiased opinion as my dad raised me on their music as a young child and I was sick of their sound by the time I was in middle school and started listening to punk and goth and metal which spiraled out into my current taste. Never really looked back on the Beatles other than to trace their influence on the prog and psychedelic bands I did like.
Thanks for pointing out something that (for good or bad) applies to most of us: The Beatles were such an unavoidable presence for so long that it's difficult to separate out the music from the "how we heard it".
Spoiler
My history with the Beatles
My sister bought the Please Please Me album when it came out, so at age 9 I began hearing their music, and became a fan quickly enough to save up my pocket money to get the From Me To You/Thank You Girl single. From then on, between us, we bought every Beatle release as it came out: that was our teen rebellion against our parents' exclusive diet of classical music. So my experience of the Beatles is like the negative inversion of Synth Lady's.
Some years later: after Revolver, my sister began moving irrevocably away from pop music. I bought and loved Sgt.Pepper, but when the White Album came out, the spell was over: I listened to a friend's copy, but it became the first Beatles album that neither of us bought. What had gone wrong? I think it was the up-coming prog-rock musicianship that did it for me: in terms of instrument playing and ambition of composition, The Beatles had dropped the batten in the relay race. Looking back, I think the tell-tale moment was actually that rare (or unique) Beatles instrumental, Flying, which perhaps should've been called Flailing as it so clearly demonstrated how they weren't really up to the long musical workouts that other bands were exploring.
(And if Rubber Soul happens to read this far, that's why the White Album is not a favourite with me. That was the watershed, and I never bought a Beatles album again -- partly because, as per Lady Synth, you're going to hear them anyway. ;) )
It does matter how you're introduced to a very popular icon. Nobody likes anything shoved down their throats and I'm sure that was the case with the Beatles as well. It's hard to be touted as the greatest band ever and expect everyone to follow like you're the Pied Piper.
Of course the Beatles circa White Album/Abbey Road are a totally different band than the moptop Beatles. Thus, it's possible to like one era while not being so crazy about the others. I know people that swear by late Beatles but can't stand anything as late as even Sgt. Pepper.
But for me, I love the whole thing (though even I tend to listen more to the Rubber Soul/ Revolver period)