The Beatles

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Comments

  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,921
    Any band is capable of producing a load of bilge, the overrated Beatles are no exception.
  • ayjaycee
    ayjaycee Posts: 1,277
    crispybug2 wrote:
    I think personally that while a lot of the Beatles influences are more than musical their musical legacy should not be underestimated
    I’m a particular fan of Paul McCartney’s bass playing, listen to say Penny Lane or Something, they are amongst the most subtlety complicated basslines you’ll ever hear and yet they sit perfectly inside the song without ever overwhelming the melody, which I would say is the mark of a musical genius

    And also the remark about their songs being too simple to play, so what? Smells like teen spirit is probably the easiest riff ever but it doesn’t stop it also being one of the best

    In g
    That's exactly the sort of thing that made me post in the first place - I wouldn't presume to tell you that you're wrong as it's all a matter of personal opinion but I just can't agree with any of it. Although I'm more of a six string kind of a guy, I do know my way around a four string fretboard and have never heard anything from McCartney or, indeed, any other Beatle that makes go 'wow'.
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  • crispybug2
    crispybug2 Posts: 2,915
    ayjaycee wrote:
    crispybug2 wrote:
    I think personally that while a lot of the Beatles influences are more than musical their musical legacy should not be underestimated
    I’m a particular fan of Paul McCartney’s bass playing, listen to say Penny Lane or Something, they are amongst the most subtlety complicated basslines you’ll ever hear and yet they sit perfectly inside the song without ever overwhelming the melody, which I would say is the mark of a musical genius

    And also the remark about their songs being too simple to play, so what? Smells like teen spirit is probably the easiest riff ever but it doesn’t stop it also being one of the best

    In g
    That's exactly the sort of thing that made me post in the first place - I wouldn't presume to tell you that you're wrong as it's all a matter of personal opinion but I just can't agree with any of it. Although I'm more of a six string kind of a guy, I do know my way around a four string fretboard and have never heard anything from McCartney or, indeed, any other Beatle that makes go 'wow'.

    Honestly, if you can get your hands on a bass, spend a few days trying to learn ‘Something’, I think you’ll emerge with a greater amount of respect for McCartney as a musician and bassist
  • ayjaycee
    ayjaycee Posts: 1,277
    crispybug2 wrote:
    Honestly, if you can get your hands on a bass, spend a few days trying to learn ‘Something’, I think you’ll emerge with a greater amount of respect for McCartney as a musician and bassist
    I've already got one (a Fender P) but I'll pass on learning to play 'Something'. Apart from anything else, I suspect the whining vocals would get in the way every time I tried to listen to it.
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  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    ayjaycee wrote:
    A mate of mine has just paid what I thought to be an outrageous sum (about £140) for a re-release of The White Album by The Beatles

    In the modern ecconomy of music, big box sets are a big thing and there are a lot of 50th anniversaries for Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, Stones Jethro Tull (also 40th anniversaries of punk era bands). Apparently a good package can be expensive to put together but a limited run of 500 copies at £50 will still generate more profit than a billion streams/hits of the artists songs.

    Personally I've been loving the deluxe sets that Jethro Tull have been putting out over the last ten years, since their 40th annniversary.
  • bianchimoon
    bianchimoon Posts: 3,942
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    The Clash had it spot on "...now phoney Beatle mania has bitten the dust..."
    Wasn’t that line a reference to the end of punk rock and false idols, nothing to do with the Beatles?
    All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
  • joe2008
    joe2008 Posts: 1,531
    bianchimoon wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    The Clash had it spot on "...now phoney Beatle mania has bitten the dust..."
    Wasn’t that line a reference to the end of punk rock and false idols, nothing to do with the Beatles?

    I always thought it was that too... don't look to us for the answers, we're just rock 'n roll bands.

    'I never felt so much a'like singing the blues'.
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    No the Beatles don’t do anything for me but at least they don’t make me want to vomit like the Rolling Stones do.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,589
    I've always felt the same about The Beatles but the answer I usually get from those who were around at the time is along the lines of it is less their music than how they helped change pop music from what it was at the start of the 60s to what it had become by the end. I'm not convinced though as if it hadn't been them credited with it then someone else would have been.

    You can look at lots of the big 'legends' and think why was it them and not one of the others who are arguably better artists e.g. Elvis and Sinatra.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,270
    There's some cracking songs on that album. Dear Prudence, Glass Onion, Everybody's Got Something To Hide, Helter Skelter, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Blackbird, Happiness is a Warm Gun. Problem is there was no editing out the dross. Now it's easier to skip tracks, it's better.

    Probably the best Lennon song, the best Harrison Song, and the best McCartney song all on one album.
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    Yes, part of the "I'm a messenger calling the resistance out but I have no more idea what to actually do than you" sort of attitude. Of course "London Calling" opened up the BBC world service broadcast during WWII to spread coded messages to the resistance.

    There's a lot in the lyrics of the clash records if you look at them written down. In some ways I think the clash were always too clever to just be called a punk band. Just the opinion of a fan of course.

    PS got into the clash through an NME spread on them where they called them the best rock band ever. A load of the coolest musical talent of the day gave their favourite clash song. They had the London Calling Album as the best one. Got it straight away then sandinista then.... Well you get the gist.

    They're still my most used playlist for my cycle commute now. Gets me home quicker than any other!

    Beatles? Got some but don't listen. Not my thing. Dull music. If they're a big influence then apart from oasis and possibly a few others I think I've missed it out.

    Stones? Prefer them to the beatles personally. Those two were the Blur vs Oasis of their time I think. Most prefer one or the other.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,270
    OK, the whole 6CD set is on Spotify. Despite myself, listening to take 2, take 17 and the final versions of Helter Skelter is actually interesting.

    And take 1 of Hey Jude. And an early take of Across the Universe.

    So, thanks for posting the thread, it's pointed me towards hearing things that make me happy.
  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,389
    I can take or leave the Beatles but I don't think that their enduring appeal and influence can be ignored. I always thought the idea that they changed tack after meeting Bob Dylan an interesting piece of music history (or floklore depending on the way you look at it) and I prefer that era to the stuff preceding it.

    https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/ ... he-beatles

    On the Clash front, White Man in Hammersmith Palais is one masterpiece among many of theirs and, even after listening to it for 40 years, it never loses its edge - it would certainly be one of my Desert Island Discs
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  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,805
    It is music. It is personal. You either like it, or you don't.
    There is no need to analyse any music further than that.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,560
    joe2008 wrote:
    bianchimoon wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    The Clash had it spot on "...now phoney Beatle mania has bitten the dust..."
    Wasn’t that line a reference to the end of punk rock and false idols, nothing to do with the Beatles?

    I always thought it was that too... don't look to us for the answers, we're just rock 'n roll bands.

    'I never felt so much a'like singing the blues'.
    Appears so - I hadn't looked at the underlying meaning before, just enjoyed the music
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-line-Phony-Beatlemania-has-bitten-the-dust-in-Song-London-Calling-by-The-Clash

    My 'Best of the Clash' double CD has helped get me through the tedium of a few trips up and down the A1.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • bianchimoon
    bianchimoon Posts: 3,942
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    joe2008 wrote:
    bianchimoon wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    The Clash had it spot on "...now phoney Beatle mania has bitten the dust..."
    Wasn’t that line a reference to the end of punk rock and false idols, nothing to do with the Beatles?

    I always thought it was that too... don't look to us for the answers, we're just rock 'n roll bands.

    'I never felt so much a'like singing the blues'.
    Appears so - I hadn't looked at the underlying meaning before, just enjoyed the music
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-line-Phony-Beatlemania-has-bitten-the-dust-in-Song-London-Calling-by-The-Clash

    My 'Best of the Clash' double CD has helped get me through the tedium of a few trips up and down the A1.
    I guess a lot of us are 'guilty' of liking the music and not always getting (or liking) the underlying message the band is trying to get across.
    All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,560
    bianchimoon wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    joe2008 wrote:
    bianchimoon wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    The Clash had it spot on "...now phoney Beatle mania has bitten the dust..."
    Wasn’t that line a reference to the end of punk rock and false idols, nothing to do with the Beatles?

    I always thought it was that too... don't look to us for the answers, we're just rock 'n roll bands.

    'I never felt so much a'like singing the blues'.
    Appears so - I hadn't looked at the underlying meaning before, just enjoyed the music
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-line-Phony-Beatlemania-has-bitten-the-dust-in-Song-London-Calling-by-The-Clash

    My 'Best of the Clash' double CD has helped get me through the tedium of a few trips up and down the A1.
    I guess a lot of us are 'guilty' of liking the music and not always getting (or liking) the underlying message the band is trying to get across.
    True, although now I'll be thinking about the underlying meaning in the lyrics next time I have it on! May have to put The Ramones on instead :)
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • bianchimoon
    bianchimoon Posts: 3,942
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    bianchimoon wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    joe2008 wrote:
    bianchimoon wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    The Clash had it spot on "...now phoney Beatle mania has bitten the dust..."
    Wasn’t that line a reference to the end of punk rock and false idols, nothing to do with the Beatles?

    I always thought it was that too... don't look to us for the answers, we're just rock 'n roll bands.

    'I never felt so much a'like singing the blues'.
    Appears so - I hadn't looked at the underlying meaning before, just enjoyed the music
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-line-Phony-Beatlemania-has-bitten-the-dust-in-Song-London-Calling-by-The-Clash

    My 'Best of the Clash' double CD has helped get me through the tedium of a few trips up and down the A1.
    I guess a lot of us are 'guilty' of liking the music and not always getting (or liking) the underlying message the band is trying to get across.
    True, although now I'll be thinking about the underlying meaning in the lyrics next time I have it on! May have to put The Ramones on instead :)
    Nah, music like many things will be ruined if we only play what we agree with :wink:
    All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
  • craker
    craker Posts: 1,739
    edited December 2018
    Rubber Soul. Revolver. Magical Mystery Tour. Sgt Pepper's. The White Album. Let It Be. Abbey Road

    Can you think of another band who can knock it a string of seven stunning albums that show so much progression in just a 5 year period? (A quick vote for Joni Mitchell here...). No one else sounds anything like them, though plenty have tried.

    Pick one, I'd say Revolver from 1966.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,560
    Nah, not a case of whether I agree with the message or whatever, more about whether I'll enjoy the music as much if I'm concentrating on trying to pick up the message behind the words.

    Assumptions, assumptions :wink:
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • nozzac
    nozzac Posts: 408
    craker wrote:

    Can you think of another band who can knock it a string of seven stunning albums that show so much progression in just a 5 year period? (A quick vote for Joni Mitchell here...). No one else sounds anything like them, though plenty have tried.

    Totally agree

    They didn't get the reputation of being the best pop band ever by accident. They produced a large (the largest) body of brilliant pop records. White Album has some filler on it but not many bands ever produce masterpieces like While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

    As for them not influencing people, just google "influenced by the Beatles" and you'll find scores of artists saying they were influenced by them and their innovative production.

    They're unsurpassed in melody writing IMO. Compare them to the dross that's in the charts now.
  • craker
    craker Posts: 1,739
    Talking of infuences, where would The Faces Ogden's Nut Gone Flake be without Sgt Peppers? Progressive Rock started here (for better or worse).
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    joe2008 wrote:
    bianchimoon wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    The Clash had it spot on "...now phoney Beatle mania has bitten the dust..."
    Wasn’t that line a reference to the end of punk rock and false idols, nothing to do with the Beatles?

    I always thought it was that too... don't look to us for the answers, we're just rock 'n roll bands.

    'I never felt so much a'like singing the blues'.
    Appears so - I hadn't looked at the underlying meaning before, just enjoyed the music
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-line-Phony-Beatlemania-has-bitten-the-dust-in-Song-London-Calling-by-The-Clash

    My 'Best of the Clash' double CD has helped get me through the tedium of a few trips up and down the A1.
    That's one of my son's favourite CDs to listen to on a car journey. Had it on so much the CD needs replacing. He's been listening to it since about 2.5 to 3 years old. Either that or Bob Marley or reggae compilation CD. All those CDs are just about worn out.

    I also liked death and glory (he who effed nuns and all that might be relevant to the more radical new, old Labour leadership). Koka kola I like too. I used to have it running around in my head in my youth when I did kayaking to an adventurous level. It increased my concentration somehow. Of course on a superficial level the lyric "London burning" satisfies.
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    Lyrics are worth listening to. Although I used to have the Buzzcock "suspect device" rolling around my head every time Adam's gave a press conference in NI back in the day after the GFA. I always wanted someone to play it over the PA as he came out to talk to the press. Just superficial satisfaction in the link between ex terrorist commander, terrorist bomb and the modern day politician he became. Even though the song probably is a bit deeper than being about a bomb.
  • capt_slog
    capt_slog Posts: 3,946
    I like The Beatles' music.

    There's a lot that is just ok, and has to be heard in the context of the time it made, but even that has my respect in that they were usually good tunes and well crafted. Others are brilliant.

    I think Paul produced some good stuff too. I don't like all of it, but the above still applies, I have to respect the ability even if i don't like the work. He even went onto write classical music which I didn't know anything about until the first time time I heard it, and even then I didn't know he'd wrote it until it finished. There's not many pieces of music I like the very first time I hear them, but that was one.


    The older I get, the better I was.

  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    Tangled Metal wrote:
    Lyrics are worth listening to. Although I used to have the Buzzcock "suspect device" rolling around my head every time Adam's gave a press conference in NI back in the day after the GFA. I always wanted someone to play it over the PA as he came out to talk to the press. Just superficial satisfaction in the link between ex terrorist commander, terrorist bomb and the modern day politician he became. Even though the song probably is a bit deeper than being about a bomb.
    Wasn’t Suspect Device Stiff Little Fingers.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,560
    Webboo wrote:
    Tangled Metal wrote:
    Lyrics are worth listening to. Although I used to have the Buzzcock "suspect device" rolling around my head every time Adam's gave a press conference in NI back in the day after the GFA. I always wanted someone to play it over the PA as he came out to talk to the press. Just superficial satisfaction in the link between ex terrorist commander, terrorist bomb and the modern day politician he became. Even though the song probably is a bit deeper than being about a bomb.
    Wasn’t Suspect Device Stiff Little Fingers.
    Beat me to it. SLF = another of my favourite bands and have seen them live more than once.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    Webboo wrote:
    Tangled Metal wrote:
    Lyrics are worth listening to. Although I used to have the Buzzcock "suspect device" rolling around my head every time Adam's gave a press conference in NI back in the day after the GFA. I always wanted someone to play it over the PA as he came out to talk to the press. Just superficial satisfaction in the link between ex terrorist commander, terrorist bomb and the modern day politician he became. Even though the song probably is a bit deeper than being about a bomb.
    Wasn’t Suspect Device Stiff Little Fingers.
    Yes it was. I couldn't recall their name so b guessed. Complete and utter memory block over their band name. Don't know why I had that block because I like stiff little fingers music a lot. Funny how your memory blocks things out that you like occasionally.
  • bianchimoon
    bianchimoon Posts: 3,942
    This thread led me on a one of those youtube journeys starting with the clash London Calling and clicking random 'associated' music vids trying not to click the obvious ones. McCartneys 'Fly Blackbird Fly' not as pleasant as John Denvers :o ... what a weird but pleasant musical journey I've been having, - not a lot of work done :)
    All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    Tangled Metal wrote:
    Webboo wrote:
    Tangled Metal wrote:
    Lyrics are worth listening to. Although I used to have the Buzzcock "suspect device" rolling around my head every time Adam's gave a press conference in NI back in the day after the GFA. I always wanted someone to play it over the PA as he came out to talk to the press. Just superficial satisfaction in the link between ex terrorist commander, terrorist bomb and the modern day politician he became. Even though the song probably is a bit deeper than being about a bomb.
    Wasn’t Suspect Device Stiff Little Fingers.
    Yes it was. I couldn't recall their name so b guessed. Complete and utter memory block over their band name. Don't know why I had that block because I like stiff little fingers music a lot. Funny how your memory blocks things out that you like occasionally.
    Although there appears to be a band called Suspect Device who do a version of Ever Fallen in Love.

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