Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Beatles: icon or con?
Sidney Morning Herald ^ | 12/22/04 | Greg Hassall and Charles Purcell

Posted on 12/22/2004 11:56:06 AM PST by qam1

Greg Hassall and Charles Purcell do battle over the fab four.

FOR

OK, Ob-la-di Ob-la-da is the most annoying song ever written. And you won't find Revolution No 9 on too many iPods. But how many bands' dud tracks can you count on one hand? The Beatles deserve their place in the pop pantheon. They revolutionised the way pop music was written, recorded and talked about. They were funny, charismatic, hungry to learn and unafraid of controversy. They matured spectacularly over seven tumultuous years, then quit on a high note with the peerless Abbey Road.

They were a genuine band, in that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. The three writers spurred each other on and checked each other's excesses (McCartney's sentimentality, Lennon's bile and Harrison's cod mysticism). In one throwaway B-side, Rain, they created the template for psychedelic Britpop, a genre lesser bands spend an entire career mining. Their refusal to write the same song twice resulted in a catalogue of breathtaking diversity, while producer George Martin gave the recordings a unique, uncluttered sound that refuses to date. And, as the age of the drum solo dawned, Ringo kept it real, underpinning the Beatles' sound with undemonstrative precision.

Greg Hassall

AGAINST

Pretty much everyone in the '60s must have been on drugs - that's the only reason I can imagine why the Beatles were so popular. They had about three decent songs: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Eleanor Rigby - and that other one, the one that doesn't suck. It's a riddle greater than the pyramids as to why a group of English fops with ridiculous hairstyles could make entire crowds of grown adults faint in awe. John Lennon? A prancing popinjay. Paul McCartney? A ponce. George Harrison? Vanity in the shape of a man. Ringo Starr?

A cool dude - the only one.

OK, so the Beatles recorded on top of a building. Big deal. OK, so they hung out with the Maharishi. Is that supposed to give their dire tunes spiritual worth?

"But they were a major influence in the history of rock'n'roll," some might bleat. Sure they were - but does that mean the baby boomers have to force their boring Beatlemania down our craws year after year, decade after decade?

I'm glad Yoko Ono helped split them up. She's the true heroine of this story. Too bad she's also a lousy artist.

And Wings. Don't get me started on McCartney's sad side project. That's another story.

- Charles Purcell


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: 60s; babyboomers; beatlemania; beatles; christmastimeishere; genx; rock; rockandroll; rockmusic; the60s; thebeatles; thesixties
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140 ... 341-358 next last
To: qam1
Their refusal to write the same song twice resulted in a catalogue of breathtaking diversity

Unlike most of the formulaic "rock" bands of today who are required to write the same drivel over and over ad infinitum.
One Nickelback song sounds like every other Nickelback song. The chord changes might differ somewhat from song to song, but stylistically, tonally, they are all nearly identical. Ditto U2, REM, Creed, Nirvana, and especially RAP by any RAP "artist".
Even when some groups do covers, they sound the same: GnR's covers of Knockin' on Heaven's Door and Live and Let Die, for example.
No one can claim that Eleanor Rigby sounds like Why Don't We Do It In The Road, nor that Helter Skelter sounds like Here, There, and Everywhere.

(flame suit on to protect from those whose favorite ox has just been gored)

101 posted on 12/22/2004 12:26:44 PM PST by Ignatz (Strategic Air Command: Peace is our profession...........bombing's just a hobby!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pissant
"Norwegian Wood is a total ripoff of the Dylan classic 4th Time Around from the Blonde on Blonde record."

I've listened to both cuts hundreds of times on both vinyl and CD and would disagree, but that's only an opinion about one cut. If I am wrong, the rest of my original response stands.

102 posted on 12/22/2004 12:27:14 PM PST by muir_redwoods
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: Bobber58

Grunge on bobber!


103 posted on 12/22/2004 12:27:28 PM PST by dennisw (Help put the "Ch" back in Chanukah)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: KJacob
I have to admit that "Hey Jude" is one annoying song.

The first half of "Hey Jude" showcases everything that was right with 60's music. The second half showcases everything that was wrong with 60's music.

104 posted on 12/22/2004 12:28:14 PM PST by kevkrom (If people are free to do as they wish, they are almost certain not to do as Utopian planners wish)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: CyberCowboy777
Good music is still being made, you just have to get outside Top 40.

You can bet a couple of really happening Celtic CDs at Cracker Barrel, too.

105 posted on 12/22/2004 12:28:32 PM PST by gov_bean_ counter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 100 | View Replies]

To: qam1

Like any other entertainment genre.... They do fine when they "shut up and sing" I liked the beatles music. When they started their anti-war retoric and other political nonsense they wore out their welcome.


106 posted on 12/22/2004 12:28:37 PM PST by jagfar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: muir_redwoods

While My Guitar Gently Weeped was a good song, made much better by the fact that Eric "slow hand" Clapton was the lead guitarist. As often done and still done today, studio musicians, are brought in to produce a better sound. I think over the years guys like Glen Campbell performed on many studio gigs making groups like the Beach Boys sound better.


107 posted on 12/22/2004 12:28:42 PM PST by Final Authority
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Egregious Philbin
"The Hives, Vines, White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Evanescence"

first off the hives, vines, and the white stripes are the same band. And i liked em better the first time around when they were called blind mellon and janes addiction.

As for evanescence. If i wanted to listen to a hot woman sing about how much her life sucks, I'd listen to fiona apple.
108 posted on 12/22/2004 12:28:56 PM PST by tfecw (dolphins are the spawn of evil)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 90 | View Replies]

To: EQAndyBuzz
If Sgt Pepper was an album coming out today, what would be the lead track that MTV would play?

I'd argue that given how music is produced and packaged nowadays, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have seen the light of day. FAR too visionary.

109 posted on 12/22/2004 12:29:05 PM PST by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: nothingnew; Central Scrutiniser

"I am the Central Scrutiniser."

(Okay, actually he is.)


110 posted on 12/22/2004 12:29:20 PM PST by Xenalyte (Surf's up, space ponies! I'm making gravy without the lumps!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 87 | View Replies]

To: gov_bean_ counter

bet = get


111 posted on 12/22/2004 12:29:23 PM PST by gov_bean_ counter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: gov_bean_ counter

Imagine wasn't a Beatles song. This was Lennon alone (post-Beatles).


112 posted on 12/22/2004 12:29:29 PM PST by Mudbug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 86 | View Replies]

To: Hemingway's Ghost
I think you meant to say "Before "I Feel Fine," feedback even rarely made its way into finished products of popular music."

I did say they were accessible.

The era certainly did pioneer studio/production work (see Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, ect.) and the Beatles were apart of that.

113 posted on 12/22/2004 12:29:56 PM PST by CyberCowboy777 (I know there's good will toward men on account of that Baby born in Bethlehem)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 97 | View Replies]

To: Freebird Forever

eh it was a play on south park a little bit ;) but it was britney spears records...i wanted to get it out quick so i wouldn't be in that middle of the page zone that people don't read ;)


114 posted on 12/22/2004 12:30:02 PM PST by tfecw (dolphins are the spawn of evil)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 98 | View Replies]

To: Egregious Philbin
Let me put it to you this way... I saw the White Stripes years ago before they got famous. They were playing at a free rock festival here in Rochester. Jack White can play guitar, that I have to give him. He's also a good songwriter. But what is he thinking? Fred Smith would have slapped the sh!t out of him for 2 reasons: 1, where is the rest of the band? His ex-wife Meg White is the worst freakin drummer you could find if you were in 9th grade and had never touched a guitar before but wanted to start a band. Secondly, where are the guitar solos Jack? At the show I saw him play, he did a slide guitar song just him and not his stupid ex-wife. He absolutely shredded!!! If he was smart he would team up with some real rockers and kick ass on the music industry. But instead he's looking for the payoff. No thanks, I'll take solid tunes and credibility over MTV and Rolling Stone fawning any day.

Sonic would be pissed, let me just say that.

The White Stripes are one of the worst bands to ever come out of Detroit. My only hope is that some kids picked up an MC5 or Stooges record and actually heard some good Detroit rock.

Sonic's Rendezvous Band... probably one of the greatest rock & roll bands of all time.

115 posted on 12/22/2004 12:30:15 PM PST by t_skoz ("let me be who I am - let me kick out the jams!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 90 | View Replies]

To: KJacob

Paperback writer royaly sucked!


116 posted on 12/22/2004 12:30:28 PM PST by Holicheese (The Red Hat makes great mudslides)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo
In fact, according to allmusic.com, pissant has it completely backwards about who ripped off who:
"Norwegian Wood," in addition to having a lovely melody and folk-based arrangement, was one of the first Lennon- McCartney songs to excite as much comment for the words as it did for the music. As with much of Rubber Soul, the mood was very much a folk-rock one, with the subtle ghost of Bob Dylan hovering over principal lyricist John Lennon's wordplay. Dylan, in fact, recorded a semi-parody of "Norwegian Wood," "Fourth Time Around," on Blonde on Blonde, which was okay but not as good as the tune it was gently mocking, and not as funny as it might have been intended to be."
117 posted on 12/22/2004 12:32:10 PM PST by drjimmy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 88 | View Replies]

To: tfecw

your post #108 pretty much sums it up for me... what total crap it is that passes for good music these days! damn!


118 posted on 12/22/2004 12:32:30 PM PST by t_skoz ("let me be who I am - let me kick out the jams!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 108 | View Replies]

To: Hemingway's Ghost

You recall correctly, Ghost. Spector effed that album up completely.

The Beatles broke down doors and all who came afterward had the benefit of that. If you are too young too appreciate their music and don't understand why they are icons, remember that their earlier stuff was released:

-when most everyone had a black and white TV and transitor radios;
-no remotes, no cable, no rap, just crewcuts and assembly day
-nuclear excavation drills in school
-World Series games played in broad daylight.


That said, my favorite rock band now is U2.


119 posted on 12/22/2004 12:32:52 PM PST by Voir Dire
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 85 | View Replies]

To: qam1
From Right Angles and Other Obstinate Truths

After the tears came the music

Finally, it's over. It appears we're now done drowning ourselves in memories of President Kennedy's assassination. At least for the time being.

Thirty years is a long time. Dwelling on what happened on November 22, 1963 brings sadness to aging baby boomers. The murder of the President was dreadful enough. When you combine that with the passing of time, it heightens our awareness of the many changes, both as a nation and as individuals, we've been through.

Only a few months after JFK's death a revolution swept through America. The weapons used in this revolution weren't guns or bombs, but guitars and drums.

For years popular music had been dominated by King Elvis. Gene Pitney, Bobby Vee, Neil Sedaka, the Four Seasons and the Everly Brothers were often in the Top 10. Then the British invasion began.

First came the Beatles. John, Paul, George and Ringo. Last names weren't necessary; within a few weeks everyone knew who you were talking about. On the radio, "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand" played incessantly.

Their lyrics may have been trite and their music usually consisted of the same three or four chords, but it made no difference. They had the big beat, a vibrancy and energy that made you happy when you heard it. Many American young people became instant Beatlemaniacs.

The Beatles had distinct haircuts, distinct clothes, distinct language. Or so it seemed. Mom pointed out the same haircut was sported in the 1940s by Ish Kabbible of Kay Kyser's band. Since then I've seen a couple of Kay Kyser's films and Mr. Kabibble (real name: Merwyn Bogue) did indeed have the look.

A peculiarity was how the Beatles sang without accents, but when they spoke it was hard to make out what they said. We were able to understand, however, that good things are always fab or gear.

Fans couldn't get enough of their songs or enough information on the Liverpool four. What were their favorite foods, their favorite colors, their favorite cars? Separate fan groups developed for each Beatle. John was the smart one; Paul the cute one; George the serious one and Ringo the happy (some thought dumb) one.

The only unhappy one was Pete Best, the Beatles' drummer since the group formed in 1960. He was dropped in favor of Ringo in 1962. That's what I call more than bad luck.

Some adults, particularly parents, found the Beatles objectionable. There was nothing new about that. Earlier generations of parents warned their children about Rudy Vallee, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. Some objections have more validity than others, but young people rarely listen. Challenging authority comes naturally for teenagers.

Following the Beatles' American triumph, the country was inundated with other English groups. The Dave Clark Five, the Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, the Searchers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Freddie and the Dreamers, the Animals, the Yardbirds, the Kinks, the Moody Blues, the Spencer Davis Group, the Zombies . . .

There were indeed a lot and they provided some terrific music. None of them, though, had the impact of the Beatles.

When John Lennon got involved in the peace movement, so did millions of his fans. When Beatles scoffed at drug laws, so did many of their fans. When the Beatles turned to the transcendental meditation of a fraud, some of their fans discarded traditional religious beliefs.

How much was attributable to the Beatles? What would have happened had they stayed in Liverpool? It's impossible to say. One thing is certain: They had a major impact on the culture and the lives of an entire generation.

Yesterday marked another event baby boomers remember. It was 13 years since John Lennon was killed. The smart Beatle wasn't so smart. Drugs damaged him to the point where he'd stare out a window for hours at a time and not speak for days.

I prefer to remember the John Lennon of 1964, when he and the other Beatles helped ease the pain of a national tragedy. Those were happy times and their music still sounds good. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

December 9, 1993

Michael M. Bates: My Side of the Swamp

120 posted on 12/22/2004 12:33:05 PM PST by Mike Bates (If you've been very, very good, Santa may give you. . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140 ... 341-358 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson