Discussion
Being a significant appreciater of music of all genres, I've long found myself feeling guilty for never really 'getting' The Beatles. It's not that I don't appreciate what they did, what they achieved and all that, it's just that there are a million songs I'd think of putting on before I got to anything from the Fab Four.
However, I've been reading a series of excellent articles in the latest Q magazine and have become somewhat hooked and now wading through their tracks with added attention which I must say is paying dividends in terms of my wider appreciation of what they did.
I think they deserving of my wider interest and would grateful for a heads up on any decent biography worthy of a read.
However, I've been reading a series of excellent articles in the latest Q magazine and have become somewhat hooked and now wading through their tracks with added attention which I must say is paying dividends in terms of my wider appreciation of what they did.
I think they deserving of my wider interest and would grateful for a heads up on any decent biography worthy of a read.
Being a person of the fairly old persuasion, I was around when they first got started. I remember the excitement when She Loves You hit number one. So I was able to experience their development as it actually happened. My desert island disc would be Revolver, but I listen to them all, in sequence, while at work so probably get through their catalogue at least once every couple of weeks. There are a few of their tracks that I don't like, so I miss them out, but regularly listen to at least 95% if their stuff.
And Your Bird Can Sing would probably be my favourite single track.
Not a biography, but Revolution in the Head is an excellent book and provides invaluable background on all the Beatles recordings complete with dates, personnel etc. I keep mine in the workshop so I can refer to it while listening.
And Your Bird Can Sing would probably be my favourite single track.
Not a biography, but Revolution in the Head is an excellent book and provides invaluable background on all the Beatles recordings complete with dates, personnel etc. I keep mine in the workshop so I can refer to it while listening.
singlecoil said:
... There are a few of their tracks that I don't like, so I miss them out....
Revolution Number 9 by any chance? 
but generally like you I grew up in the Beatles era so know all their stuff very well. Revolver & Rubber Soul are classics and I view them as a pair. Personally I love the second side of Abbey Road played loud in it's entirety. Jimboka said:
The Beatles Anthology is worth getting hold of. If you like their music then ' A Hard Days Write' is pretty interesting, it gives the story behind most of their songs..
One of the very best Beatles books is:The Beatles: An Illustrated Record by Roy Carr and Tony Tyler
I have a copy and its superb it's out of print now but pops up on e bay from time to time
I'll go out on a limb and say the Beatles were responsible for creating the most eclectic and perfect collection of rock and pop in the history of music - at least between 1963 and 1968.
Have you got "Hard Days Night"? Put on, say, "If I fell". Forget it was recorded nearly 49 years ago. Imagine (no pun intended) it was released this week. See what you think of the double-tracked two-part harmonies that change from McCartney and Lennon swapping upper and lower harmonies and the unusual chord changes from flats to majors.
Move on to "And I Love Her".
When the charts were full of three-chord pop songs here's how a musicologist called Alan W. Pollack describes the song:
" It starts in the they of E and its relative minor C#m. It also changes keys altogether just before the solo, to F. It ends on the parallel major of the key of F's relative minor, D. This technique is known as Picardy third resolution".
Not bad for two guys under the age of 25 who had received no formal instruction in arranging and composition and recorded virtually live in the studio on four-track tape.
Have you got "Hard Days Night"? Put on, say, "If I fell". Forget it was recorded nearly 49 years ago. Imagine (no pun intended) it was released this week. See what you think of the double-tracked two-part harmonies that change from McCartney and Lennon swapping upper and lower harmonies and the unusual chord changes from flats to majors.
Move on to "And I Love Her".
When the charts were full of three-chord pop songs here's how a musicologist called Alan W. Pollack describes the song:
" It starts in the they of E and its relative minor C#m. It also changes keys altogether just before the solo, to F. It ends on the parallel major of the key of F's relative minor, D. This technique is known as Picardy third resolution".
Not bad for two guys under the age of 25 who had received no formal instruction in arranging and composition and recorded virtually live in the studio on four-track tape.
The most important thing about the Beatles was they brought songwriting acceptability to the artiste, who before this time the charts were awash mostly with pretty boys who could sing, that had had their hits written for them by talented old men in the studio backroom.. (before someone butts in I know there were a few exceptions, but rare)
The Beatles changed the format so it was expected that any decent artiste would pen their own tunes, and use complex arrangements, chord structure and melodic content, as Audidoody pointed out above.
The Beatles changed the format so it was expected that any decent artiste would pen their own tunes, and use complex arrangements, chord structure and melodic content, as Audidoody pointed out above.
audidoody said:
I'll go out on a limb and say the Beatles were responsible for creating the most eclectic and perfect collection of rock and pop in the history of music - at least between 1963 and 1968.
Have you got "Hard Days Night"? Put on, say, "If I fell". Forget it was recorded nearly 49 years ago. Imagine (no pun intended) it was released this week. See what you think of the double-tracked two-part harmonies that change from McCartney and Lennon swapping upper and lower harmonies and the unusual chord changes from flats to majors.
Move on to "And I Love Her".
When the charts were full of three-chord pop songs here's how a musicologist called Alan W. Pollack describes the song:
" It starts in the they of E and its relative minor C#m. It also changes keys altogether just before the solo, to F. It ends on the parallel major of the key of F's relative minor, D. This technique is known as Picardy third resolution".
Not bad for two guys under the age of 25 who had received no formal instruction in arranging and composition and recorded virtually live in the studio on four-track tape.
In common with some others on PH I was around and into music when the 1960's started and it was, and I suspect remains, the best period for popular music there has been. As audidoody says the Beatles were and remain the best of the best to this day. Lennon and McCartney were exceptionally gifted and driven musicians. They were the best of the best of the best and will remain so IMO.Have you got "Hard Days Night"? Put on, say, "If I fell". Forget it was recorded nearly 49 years ago. Imagine (no pun intended) it was released this week. See what you think of the double-tracked two-part harmonies that change from McCartney and Lennon swapping upper and lower harmonies and the unusual chord changes from flats to majors.
Move on to "And I Love Her".
When the charts were full of three-chord pop songs here's how a musicologist called Alan W. Pollack describes the song:
" It starts in the they of E and its relative minor C#m. It also changes keys altogether just before the solo, to F. It ends on the parallel major of the key of F's relative minor, D. This technique is known as Picardy third resolution".
Not bad for two guys under the age of 25 who had received no formal instruction in arranging and composition and recorded virtually live in the studio on four-track tape.
I became a guitarist and keyboard player in a variety of bands at school and Uni and have been fortunate enough to maintain my interest in music to this day. You should get a great deal of pleasure and lasting reward listening to the Beatles. Nothing before or since has ever come near to their combined talent in popular music and probably never will.
Steffan said:
Nothing before or since has ever come near to their combined talent in popular music and probably never will.
Sums it up perfectly.The first record I ever bought as a kid was "Please please me" in 1963. The main reason for their enduring appeal was they served their "time" and learnt their craft for three years in places like Hamburg (as the Silver Beetles with Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best) and "The cavern"....not a Simon Cowell "manufactured "pop group", with a shelf life of two years.
Wacky Racer said:
Steffan said:
Nothing before or since has ever come near to their combined talent in popular music and probably never will.
Sums it up perfectly.The first record I ever bought as a kid was "Please please me" in 1963. The main reason for their enduring appeal was they served their "time" and learnt their craft for three years in places like Hamburg (as the Silver Beetles with Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best) and "The cavern"....not a Simon Cowell "manufactured "pop group", with a shelf life of two years.
Whilst I am not so enthusiastic over their later material I think the early recordings are amazing. When I dissect one of these numbers to learn a guitar or bass part, the content is amazing.
Leaving aside that they were just young lads, the harmonies and interplay between voices and instruments could never be improved upon.
That they could be rushed into a basic studio, often with George and Ringo not having heard the songs before and produce pop masterpieces time after time really shows their magic.
I really think together they amounted to way more than the sum of their parts and that fifty years on their work still hasn't been bettered shows just how good they were.
Leaving aside that they were just young lads, the harmonies and interplay between voices and instruments could never be improved upon.
That they could be rushed into a basic studio, often with George and Ringo not having heard the songs before and produce pop masterpieces time after time really shows their magic.
I really think together they amounted to way more than the sum of their parts and that fifty years on their work still hasn't been bettered shows just how good they were.
realjv said:
I Saw Her Standing There - as near perfect as any pop song has ever got. Album 1, Side 1, Track 1. Not a bad start.
(Not even old enough to have alive at the same time as all four Beatles)
I agree with you. Pete Waterman reckons She Loves You is the best pop song ever. Other stars choose other Beatles numbers as the best ever pop song. The depth of the talent encompassed within the Beatles was and remains totally unequaled to this day.(Not even old enough to have alive at the same time as all four Beatles)
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