The Beatles: icon or con?

Sidney Morning Herald ^ | 12/22/04 | Greg Hassall and Charles Purcell

[Dan from Michigan]

While I think the Beatles are a little overrated, they are still better than 99.99999% of the crap out today.

Taxman, Back in the USSR, I am the Walrus, Hey Bulldog, Hard Day's Night, Let it Be - all great songs.

[cspackler]

I don't know much about the technical side of music, but I agree that their stuff is a pleasure to listen to. And anything that can drive Brian Wilson insane can't be all bad....

[Adder]

"then quit on a high note with the peerless Abbey Road."

No, they had the forgettable "Let it Be" album.

The "against" guy is all wet. Measured aganst the absolute wasteland of the '60's music the Beatles were a shining star: fresh, innovative, extremely listenable. Give 'em a 85 because you could dance to it.[You old fogies know what that means...]
There were others coming like the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane...but they weren't there yet. The Beatles were there first.

You poor guys and gals who were born in too late...you missed something special thats hasn't happened since.

[GVnana]

"Love Me, Do"

"Please, Please Me"

"Lay Down Your Arms"

[CyberCowboy777]

Cultural maybe, but I am not so sure about musical.

They were accessible and along with many others found foundation within blues, gospel and early rock.

But they did not anymore greatly expand the horizons of music.

[DoctorMichael]

Annoying: I much prefer endlessly droning 14 Hz bass drumbeats played at 130 dB underneath a tuneless monotone about Ho's, Bitch Slappin', Chillin' wit mah Homies, Killin' da Man, and Crusin' wit mah Pimped Out Ride.

[Billthedrill]

Listen to rock 'n' roll and pop before them and then after them. The musical difference is enormous, and you don't even have to like their stuff to come to that conclusion. I still think the Stones were/are a better rock band, but the Beatles didn't really play a lot of rock after Sgt Pepper anyhow.

[Constitution Day]

I am basically neutral on this subject, but here's an interesting collection of MP3s I saw posted on a blog the other day:

The Beatles | Christmas Records

If you were fortunate enough to have been a member of the official Beatles fan club between 1963 and 1969, then you likely have heard one or more of these records. The Beatles recorded them and sent them out to their adoring fans every year, finally collecting them all on one album for the 1970 edition. Now rare and quite pricey to obtain, these seldom heard recordings offer a rare glimpse of the fabs at their funniest.

[Aquinasfan]

I'm with the first guy, although I can't listen to anything pre-Sgt. Pepper, and I can't take the nonsense lyrics in songs like "A Day in the Life," "I am the Walrus," etc.

The white album is my favorite. It's amazingly diverse.

[Ciexyz]

The first album I ever bought was "The Beatles First Album", the year it came out. I played it over and over on my turntable and memorized all the lyrics to all the songs. I thought "I Wanna Be Your Man" was kind of dirty. And I followed the position of all the Beatles' songs on the Hit Parade. I rejoiced when one of their songs knocked Elvis out of first place.

[drjimmy]

For sheer musical and cultural impact in history there is none that compare to the Beatles. Zip Zilch Nada Zero Goose Egg None.

Which is the very reason why some snobby critics hate the Beatles. They are an easy target. I have to admit that I wasn't much into the Beatles on the first go round (even though I was old enough). It wasn't until I was in college and a friend played "Tomorrow Never Knows" for me, and I learned it was from 1966, that I began to explore them. So they have some clunkers. They also had three great songwriters--and a great producer--who were able to put their words and music and musicianship together to create some indelible masterpieces.

[Cogadh na Sith]

The Hives, Vines, White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Evanescence

[pissant]

gator,
you are right on about the Kinks. Great straight ahead Rock & Roll at times, funny at times (unlike the Beatles), and some of their late 70's/early eighties stuff was a kick in the pants. Too bad the Davies brothers hated each other's guts.

On a side note, Chrissie Hynde of Pretenders fame left Ray Davies standing on the alter. Four husbands later, I'm sure Ray is relieved he didn't hitch with the slimy skank.

[t_skoz]

qam1, can you ping either myself or weegee to music articles? Thanks!

Rock and Roll PING! email Weegee to get on/off this list (or grab it yourself to PING the rest)

[dennisw]

Kinks were great too. Did you hear that live version on the Sopranos last season? "I'm Not Like Everybody Else"

[Mr. Mojo]

I'm curious as to what sort of crappy music all these oh-so-contrarian "The Beatles sucked" posters listen to.

Yeah, I'm wondering the same. Who was it that said that not liking the Beatles is as perverse as not liking the sun? They were right.

[dmz]

You're too young! That's why.

[Xenalyte]

Let's see . . . my favorite band is Sonic Youth, closely followed by the Muffs.

Tom Waits is a genius. Frank Zappa was a genius.

Sebadoh is always worth a listen. The Beastie Boys really rock, especially for forty-something white guys. De La Soul is highly recommended.

Right now, there's a Cast in Bronze CD in my player.

[Xenalyte]

"Junior's Farm" is the best song McCartney has ever been involved with.

[EQAndyBuzz]

I was born in 1960. My mom always enjoyed the Beach Boys and my Dad was a Tito Puente fan who also like the Stones. The Beatles were ok. Looking back now they were a packaged product, not unlike any boy band out there today.

If Sgt Pepper was an album coming out today, what would be the lead track that MTV would play? BY the way, the third song in my opinion was "Slow Down."