The artists of the 30s, 40s and 50s are largely unknown to the current generation. I’m a child of the 60s and can’t say I am all that familiar with Hope, Crosby, Sinatra, et. al. I knew of them, but not with the body of their work. I knew Frank Sinatra had a wonderful ear for music and marvelous voice. He also liked his Scotch. But I only knew his most popular songs like “New York New York.”
The Beatles, on the other hand, seem to have some enduring qualities. We have a Beatles cover band play at the amphitheater across the road from us every year. It’s a packed house, lots of young people. and they know all the songs. Will this still be the case in 30 years? Who knows. Maybe not.
Frank did not drink scotch he was a Jack Daniels Man.
Check all those guys out.
I would add to what I just said in my previous post that, to some extent, the Beatles are still held out as the template of Rock music. People who are familiar with the history of popular music know this not to be true. We also know that the music that “the kids are listening today” sounds nothing like the Beatles. Music continues to evolve. At some point, most of their catalogue (but probably not “A Day in the Life,” for example) will sound as antiquated as Glenn Miller does to millenials today.
Some years ago, I took Mom on a cruise. One night Mom and I went to a piano bar on the ship where this older fella played all the pre- and post-World War II hits and people could sing along. I must have been the youngest person in the audience. During his break, the piano player came over to us and marveled that I, being so young, could sing along to this music that was way before my time. I told him I grew up on that music.
On the other hand, while my friends went nuts over the Beatles, I was totally indifferent. Never thought they were good looking or that their music was all that wonderful. Don't get me wrong — I love rock, but the Beatles just aren't for me.
A little known fact about Sinatra-he got his first big break on the 30s equivalent of American Idol.