What's so great about the Beatles?

Well, 90% of life is just showing up. And they did that.

The other 10% probably has to do with their fresh sound, uncanny marketing abilities, innovative production, and pop tunesmanship.

27 number one songs in seven years in Britain and America
14 number one albums in six America.
The Most covered songwriters in music history
Number one selling rock act ever in America and most likely the world.
The first number one rock album with no covers A Hard Days Night.
The most influential music act the past 45 years
The British Invasion
Can't Buy Me Love and Hard Days Night early examples of power pop
She's A Woman- early influenced ska song.
Influencing the Byrds to mix folk with rock.
Ticket to Ride- uses guitar drone before the Kinks See My Friends
Influences Briand Wilson to create Pet Sounds
Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, and the White Album in three years.
Popularizing feedback- I Feel Fine
World Music- Norwegian Wood, Love You To, Within You Without You and the Inner Light
Automatic Double Tracking
Revolver- first extensive use of backward guitar in rock
Eleanor Rigby- no rock instruments just string octet and vocals
Tomorrow Never Knows- progressive rock
Strawberry Fields Forever- Avant Rock/ Sypmphoic Prog
Love You To- Classical Indian with rock
Norwegian Wood- First released song with sitar
Revolver- First number one psychedelic rock album
A Day in the Life- progressive rock/ avant
Rain- Backward music with psychedelic music.
Tomorrow Never Knows- Tamboura Indian Drones
Revolver- extensive use of tape loops with rock
Revolver- extensive use of mixed meters with rock
Yesterday- the most covered song by a rock artist
Tomorrow Never Knows- one of the first uses of mellotron
Beatles For Sale- conscious use of folk with rock and country rock before the Byrds
The Beatles use of 12 string influences McGuinn and Townsend to use the intrument.
Revolution and Helter Skelter- considered by many the first heavy metal or punk songs
The Beatles perform in the first global telecast.
Tomorrow Never Knows and Love You To early examples of deconstruction of rock and roll creating new types of music for rock music.
White Album- First double album to go numnber one in America and Britain at the same time
Help Started the classic rock era
Made the rock band bigger than the solo or Elvis clones
Helped the album as a art form
Songwriting
Acclaimed Music Forum number one artists

Lol. That's him told.

Well said, Taylor. It's the best answer possible for a question like that.

I might add without The Beatles and Dylan we might have had pre 1963 music for a long time.

The Beatles - The Word

Say the word and you’ll be free,
Say the word and be like me,
Say the word I’m thinking of,
Have you heard the word is love.
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine,
It’s the word love.
In the beginning I misunderstood,
But now I’ve got it the word is good.
Say the word and you’ll be free,
Say the word and be like me,
Say the word I’m thinking of,
Have you heard the word is love.
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine,
It’s the word love.
Everywhere I go I hear it said,
In the good and the bad books that I have read.
Say the word and you’ll be free,
Say the word and be like me,
Say the word I’m thinking of,
Have you heard the word is love.
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine,
It’s the word love.
Now that I know what I feel must be right,
I mean to show ev’rybody the light,
Give the word a chance to say,
That the word is just the way,
It’s the word I’m thinking of,
And the only word is love,
It’s so fine it’s sunshine,
It’s the word love.
Say the word love,
Say the word love,
Say the word love,
Say the word love.

Joy Division - Passover

This is a crisis I knew had to come
Destroying the balance I'd kept
Doubting, unsettling and turning around
Wondering what will come next
Is this the role that you wanted to live?
I was foolish to ask for so much
Without the protection and infancy's guard
It all falls apart at first touch

Watching the reel as it comes to a close
Brutally taking its time
People who change for no reason at all
Happening all of the time
Can I go on with this train of events?
Disturbing and purging my mind
Back out of my duties, when all's said and done
I know that I'll lose every time

Moving along in our god-given ways
Safety is sat by the fire
Sanctuary from these feverish smiles
Left with a mark on the door
Is this the gift that I wanted to give?
Forgive and forget's what they teach
Or pass through the deserts and wastelands once more
And watch as they drop by the beach

This is a crisis I knew had to come
Destroying the balance I'd kept
Turning around to the next set of lives
Wondering what will come next

The Beatles - absolutely outclassed lyrically

Those are two songs written at different times for different purposes. You might as well compare Van Gogh to Calvin and Hobbes.

Taz songwriting is not about using big words, its also melodies, hooks and chord usage. The Word was a very important song lyrically to psychedelic music. Frank Sinatra called the Beatles Something The Greatest song written ever and it was written by their third songwriter. When Joy Division creates albums like Rubber Soul and Revolver in eight months then talk. Talk is cheap dude.

I like songwriting that actually has some meaning,some message,some depth do it - you won't find many Beatles songs that really have much meaning lyrically to people - and as for music,they aren't even the best band musically of the 60s,let alone all time. And JD released Unknown Pleasures and Closer within the space of 2 years,a pairing stronger than rubber soul/revolver - only a fool would say Rubber Soul is better than Unknown Pleasures,and Closer is a bit better than Revolver...

I would say Rubber Soul is better than Unknown Pleasures and I would certainly say that Revolver is better than Closer. AM seems to think so too what with UP at 71 and RS at 27 and Closer at 46 while Revolver is at 2. If you're looking purely at lyricism and nothing else, that's an entirely different debate than who the better band was. Listen to Sal, lyrics are only a part of the whole, and even if you give Joy Division the lyrical edge (which I don't necessarily agree with), The Beatles have them beat by just about every other criteria. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to treat the AM list like gospel, but it is hardly only "fools" who like RS more than UP.

22/03/63 Please Please Me
22/11/63 LWith the Beatles
10/07/64 A Hard Day's Night
4/12/64 Beatles For Sale
6/08/65 Help !
3/12/65 Rubber Soul
5/08/66 Revolver
1/06/67 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
22/11/68 The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album)
17/01/69 Yellow Submarine
26/09/69 Abbey Road
6/11/70 Let it Be

The four most acclaimed Beatles albums (Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's, White Album and Abbey Road) came out within a period of little over 3 years. If you include Rubber Soul, that's five albums in ~3.75 years. Joy Division has NOTHING on the Fab Four.

This brief passage says more than the whole song by Joy Division

And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make

Within You Without You lyrics-dealing with eastern philoshpy.

We were talking-about the space between us all
And the people-who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth-then it's far too late-when they pass away.
We were talking-about the love we all could share-when we find it
To try our best to hold it there-with our love
With our love-we could save the world-if they only knew.
Try to realise it's all within yourself
No-one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small,
And life flows ON within you and without you.
We were talking-about the love that's gone so cold and the people,
Who gain the world and lose their soul-
They don't know-they can't see-are you one of them?
When you've seen beyond yourself-then you may find, peace of mind,
Is waiting there-
And the time will come when you see
we're all one, and life flows on within you and without you.

In My Life- Lyrics one of best songs lyrically to a lot of people.

There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more

Musically Happiness is A Warm Gun

Listen to the time changes and differences in the tone and tension in the music. Lennon even admitted to this. Incidentally, this is the song that inspired the three-part song "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead.

Just depends what you're into - if you like alternative,depressive music - most likely you will like Joy Division or The Smiths more than the upbeat Beatles. You can't expect them to be everyone's favourite band...

Lyrically the cosmic Tomorrow Never Knows and Inner Light are out there. Lyrics are Dylans forte the Beatles ended up writing very good and important themes. The Beatles were masters at Poetic subtlety in songs like Happiness Is A Warm and Day in the Life are examples. IF you are interested in the Beatles lyrics www.unt.edu/honors/eaglefeather/2006

The Beatles musically in songs like Tomorrow Never Knows, Love You To, Strawberry Fields Forever and A Day in the Life completely go away from their rock and roll roots create new music for rock. Eight Miles Hight and Shapes are examples but not to the extent of the Beatles songs I mentioned. Taz and others will never know better.

Don't worry Taz- there are others here who aren't so keen on the Beatles, myself included. I much prefer Joy Division. However, you're fighting a BIG uphill battle here, as you probably expect.

I think it's interesting that a Joy Division versus Beatles debate has come up here, because I always thought it was supposed to be Stones versus Beatles. To me Stones > Beatles > Joy Division (...and New Order beats them all).

Yeah I just sort of hate that so many people think they are 'obliged' to worship the Beatles just because they are the most popular,and are seen as the greatest band. Well 'greatest' doesn't always mean best and,yeah they were innovative and may have created new sounds and all but does that mean it's the best stuff? Well no,it doesn't. It was outstanding FOR THE TIME but I think if you ignore time and influence and importance and just listen simply to the music,well the Beatles stuff isn't outstanding...

Taz you are entiteled to your opinion, but your comments come off as someone who is angry and jealous. I listened to Joy Division once and never listened to them again. They are the most influential rock band for a reason. Joy Division verse the Beatles are you serious.

It was outstanding FOR THE TIME but I think if you ignore time and influence and importance and just listen simply to the music,well the Beatles stuff isn't outstanding.

Taz those are your words. You say they were innovative and it was outstanding for the time. The thing is that is why they were influential and important. Time has proven them to be still hugely influential, the same cannot be said about most of the Beatles peers or Joy Division. It is your opinion the Beatles is not outstanding then you say its great for its time. Really you sound jealous and angry from your comments. Well in my opinion they are the most influential and one of the most innovative rock artist ever.

The Freewheelin' - May 27 1963
The Times They Are A Changin' - February 10, 1964
Another Side Of - August 8 1964
Bringing It All Back Home - March 22, 1965
Highway 61 Revisited - August 30 1965
Blonde On Blonde (Double Album) - May 16 1966
BREAKS HIS BACK
The Basement Tapes (Released 1975, Recorded 1966)
John Wesley Harding - December 27 1967

4 1/2 Years, 8 of the Better albums to ever grace your ears, not to mention Dylan is 10000000 times better that the Beatles live, and arguably one of the most transcendal live performers ever....

And I LOVE the Beatles

Whilst the whole Beatles vs. Joy Division thing seems to have sidetracked this whole thread, the original point raised by Taz was essentially reasonable.
The Beatles were great because they took a lot of LSD-a lesson that many a current band could learn from.In terms of Taylor's bullet points, however, 'She's a Woman' was crap, innovative or not.

In case anyone takes offence, the LSD thing was semi-ironic.But I wasn't kidding about 'She's a Woman'-what a crock of shit!

Does it really matter? Can't we just say the Beatles are class,Joy Division are class - and be done with it...

I think that the main reason people don't like the Beatles are the lyrics. They are simple pop songs and there has been no other band/artist in history that created the catalog of pop songs that they were able to put together in a matter of 9-10 years. It's not about the lyrics- it's about the craftsmanship and the way they were able to keep producing hit after hit and rarely ever missed. They aren't a cult band with deep lyrics that you can dig into. They were a pop band that changed the landscape of music. If music is all about lyrics to you, you aren't going to like the Beatles for the most part. But, why are you listening to music then and not out reading poetry and fine literature? Let's compare Joy Division's lyrics to that.

The members of Joy Division comparing themselves to the Beatles and Nirvana.

All three members agree, more or less, on Joy Division/New Order's position in the scheme of things. "When I listen to Nirvana, I hear [New Order's] Ceremony bass line on quite a few of those songs. So I'd have to say, yes, we are the missing link between the Beatles and Nirvana," says Hook. "I'd agree with that," says Sumner, who declines to comment on the split. "But really I think we were a strange anomaly that came out of the north and south of Manchester that just happens to have had some profound resonance with people. When we wrote our music we had no idea it would have that effect. Seeing other people play it in the film made me realise how great it was, and is."

"It's not for me to say whether we're the most important band since the Beatles," says Morris. "I just happened to be in a group whose music I loved. When you're doing it, there's no intent in terms of being historically important. I can only see it as a time of my life that has now been documented in two films. But it's horrible to think that someone has to die before they make a film about you."

John these are not simple pop songs, that is sort of a insult. You would be hard pressed to find examples of this from their peers.Those are not simple pop songs, the Beatles experimentation, and innovation were one of the reasons for the start of art-rock and progressive rock. Many of those songs are without precedent in rock music.

The Word
Norwegian Wood
Tomorrow Never Knows
Love You To
She Said She Said
And Your Bird Can Sing
Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds
Strawberry Fields Forever
Day in the Life
She Leaving Home
I am The Walrus
Within You Without You
I am the Walrus
Blue Jay Way
Inner Light
Dear Prudence
Helter Skelter
Everybody Got Something to Hide
Revolution#9
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
I Want You She So Heavy
Here Comes the Sun
You Never Give Me Your Money

I have a different opinion, I think while I like Dylan a lot most people are only into Dylan for his lyrics only. McCartney blows away Dylan as a musician and as a live perfromer. He plays every rock instrument and is a great rock singer. Dylan was a terrible vocalist.

Musically the Beatles blew Dylan away. The Beatles chords are so outrageous they pointed in the direction of music was Dylan remarks as I remember. There is more types of music on one Beatles album the White Album than Dylan whole recorded output. The problem is when you compare two greats you have to point the bad points. The Beatles were a great singles artists as well as album artists. Dylan was like Led Zeppelin in that they were not great singles artists.

They both attempted entirely different things. Again, you guys are comparing these artists as if they were in competition with each other. Sure Dylan's lyrics were top notch, and so was his songwriting. He never put much into the arrangements and Lord knows that voice has driven more than a few away. His career has been a see-saw of excitement and disenfranchisement with the music industry, and his late career comeback was hardly expected. On the other hand the Beatles were a flash in the pan. Over the course of 7 years they recorded about a dozen albums, made a handful of films and crossed the world several times over. George Harrison was somewhere around 27 when they split. From day 1 they were a pop act whose sole focus was to sell records. They managed to transcend that in the latter half of their career, becoming able to not only sell records but create a musical legacy, and, surprise surprise, it was largely thanks to Dylan, who met John Lennon and traded advice (and instruments) with him shortly before they recorded Rubber Soul (and Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited) the first serious Beatles album. It's really silly to try to argue about which artist accomplished more. Not only did they both accomplish very different things, neither would have been half the artist they were without the inspiration of the other. Personally I prefer Dylan but I usually recognize the Beatles as greater, but really it just depends on where you place your value.

This Joy Division mania makes me laugh a little
Not that I don't like them : they were a pretty good band in their own style
But now when you're reading a magazine, it seems thet the cool thing to say is "Joy Division"
I remember 15 years ago, it was the Doors..
Another cool thing to say : "punk". In the French press, looks like every cool singer was punk : Dylan made "punk-blues" (Rock & Folk), and the funniest thing I heard (in the very serious newspaper Le Monde, even Johnny Cash was punk !!!!!!!

Then an argument broke out among them about which of them should be regarded as the greatest.

luke gospel, 24.22

When I read these posts I always think of this verse
(I'm not a religious guy but I love the scriptures, especially the gospels)

Your koan for the day:

There's nothing simple about simple pop songs.

Sal, Dylan is NOT a bad vocalist, hes not as good as the McCartney vocally but it is a dishonour to put him to far down.... Have you heard One More Cup Of Coffee? Every Grain Of Sand? Sad Eyed LAdy? Plus - The Beatles were SHIT live :P

What was Jimi Hendrix qoute if Dylan could get away with his voice so could he. Not to put Dylan down. Compare Oh Darling to what song by Dylan. Maybe the Beatles could not hear himself themselves play because they had thousands of screaming girls. Go listen to Live in Sweden on Anthology 1. The Beatles rocked. Dylan was a great lyricist, thats all. The Beatles had the sound, and the songwriting. I have said my peace.

Bob Dylan has won and been nominated for best vocals at the grammy awards a lot more times than the Beatles individually or collectively

Yeah, I think that does more to hurt your case than support it.

The Beatles are in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. McCartney has won I think five Grammys with vocals with the Beatles and solo. Then the Grammys were hard on rock artists when the Beatles were out. I think Sgt Pepper was the first rock album to win album of the year. Then were talking about grammys are we, Jethro Tull won a grammy for best heavy metal album. There is a reason why Dylan record don't sell well its becuase of his voice.

His last 3 albums have gone platinum or gold, and the point was that Dylan does not have bad vocals not that they're better than The Beatles'.

Dylan has a voice that suits his style. If music is self-expression then Dylan has the perfect voice because it is an excellent representation of his character. Sure Dylan will never be able to handle Josh Groban material, but on the other hand Josh Groban will never be able to do Subterranean Homesick Blues.

Roger McGuinn-thinks the Beatles invented folk rock

The Beatles had exploded onto the American charts. Captivated by their skiffle beat, mellifluous chord progressions, and infectious melodies, he instinctively knew that melding those distinguishing characteristics with his own tried-and-true folk sensibilities and training would yield a pretty unique sound.

"When the Beatles had come out, the folk boom had already peaked," McGuinn notes. "The people who had been into it were getting kind of burned out. It just wasn't very gratifying, and it had become so commercial that it had lost its meaning for a lot of people. So the Beatles kind of re-energized it for me. I thought it was natural to put the Beatles' beat and the energy of the Beatles into folk music. And in fact, I heard folk chord changes in the Beatles' music when I listened to their early stuff like 'She Loves You' and 'I Want To Hold Your Hand.' I could hear the passing chords that we always use in folk music: the G-Em-Am-B kind of stuff. So I really think the Beatles invented folk-rock. They just didn't know it."

I have been coming to this site for a month. I felt I need to make my opinin known. It is a not a God given right to like the Beatles. In the same respect the people who are say the Beatles are overrated don't know music. The musicians like Wilson, McGuinn, Cobain, Barrett and so many others were influenced by the Beatles they know better than us. Go find a song before like Strawberry Fields Forever, Tomorrow Never Knows, Love You To, Rain, A Day in the Life or others tell me. A lot of todays music goes back to the Beatles. If you don't think so then listen to Tomorrow Never Knows or Helter Skelter before you make comments you can't prove.

You haven't been reading a single word of what I've been saying, have you Manunitedfan?

In the same respect the people who are say the Beatles are overrated don't know music.

The Beatles are great, but the only reason they're considered the best rock band of all time is because they were the first to come along to do what they do.

Judged solely based on the music out of historical context, I'd put them a little lower, maybe in the teens.

Heh, I'd take Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited, and Bringing It All Back Home over any Beatles album.

(Of course I'd take Revolver, Sgt Pepper, and Abbey Road over any other Dylan album).

You don't need to be a good vocalist to make great rock music, you just have to use your voice in the right way.

Hey you forgot Dylan's best album,Blood On The Tracks

Even, Ozzy Osbourne said in an online 2002 Bender Magazine interview that The Beatles Are The Greatest Band To Ever Walk The Earth! He's been a huge fan since he's been a teenager and he says not loving The Beatles is like not loving oxogen! The Rolling Stones were very good friends and fans of The Beatles and Mick Jagger was at 4 Beatles recording sessions and Keith Richards was at 2 of them with them! Also,The Beatles even wrote one of The Rolling Stones first hits with the song, I Wanna Be You're Man in late 1963.


And The Beatles Were *NEVER* a boy band at all not even in their 1963,1964,1965 and 1966 period. The Beatles started out playing 8 hours a night for two years in a row in the sleazy strip clubs of Hamburg Germany wearing tight black leather jackets and pants ,smoking,drinking,cursing and taking speed pills to stay awake and going to bed with a lot of young women groupies. There were a lot of rough German thugs that came into those clubs and if The Beatles didn't play good live they would have beaten the crap out of them playing for 8 hours a night for two years,instead they became the most successful and popular group in Hamburg even with a lot of competition from other German and English groups playing in those clubs. The Beatles cleaned up image was a totally fake image created by their manager Brian Epstein which John hated and resented the most.And The Beatles also played successfully at The Cavern Club in Liverpool for several years before their manager Brian Epstein discovered them. too.


As for the other inaccurate comments that some people say The Beatles didn't even stay together for 2 decades,well they didn't have to because they did about 50 years worth of innovative,creative,diverse,prolific great critically acclaimed popular songs and albums in just a remarkable 8 year recording career! The Beatles are in The Song Writing Hall Of Fame & The Vocal Hall of Fame,and As The All Music Guide says in their excellent Beatles biography,"So much has been said and written about The Beatles and their story is so mythic in it's sweep that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating cliche's that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans ,to start with the obvious,they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era ,and introduced more innovations into popular music than any other rock band of the 20th century." "As vovalists John Lennon & Paul McCartney were among the best and most expressive in rock and the groups harmonies were intricate and exhillirating."


And music critics as well as brilliant classical composer Leonard Bernstein called John & Paul the most brilliant song writers of the 20th century when they were still a band . As for The Beatles playing live,they sounded pretty good playing live considering that when they were playing in 1963,1964,1965,and 1966 the sound systems back then were very limited and primitive,they only had 100 watt amplifiers,no feedback monitors so they couldn't even hear themselves play and sing,yet they amazingly played in tune and in sync anyway,and at the August 1965 Shea Stadium concert which was the first big outdoor rock concert with over 55,000 fans,they were plugged into the PA system that they announce baseball games with plus the screaming crowds drowing out their great music! Can you imagine The Rolling Stones and The Who playing on these very limited primitive sound systems? They wouldn't have sounded much better! Thats why they gave up touring,because they were serious music artists,composers,and musicians and they wanted their great music to be heard and valued. It would be like Beethoven playing on these limited primitive sound systems and screaming crowds! Also they were now writing music that was too complex to reproduce on stage at that time. I also forgot to mention two more great Beatles rockers, Paul's Get Back and John Lennon's great 1968 rocker Hey Bull Dog.



On the roof top concert in The Let It Be Film,they sounded great,because by January 1969 the sound systems had improved somewhat(although not anywhere near the 1970's,1980's,1990's and especially today's!) and they had changed and people had changed so there were no more screaming crowds so they could be heard.When I was a teenager I met 3 people who saw The Beatles in concert two of them were teachers who saw them in 1966 and he and she told me they were great,and my cousin saw them at age 16 at The Baltimore Colsieum in 1964 the year before I was born,and she said they were great. Former Kiss guitarist and grammy winning producer Bob Kulick who made the heavy metal Beatles tribute album Butchering The Beatles last year,says in an online interview,that he saw The Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1966 and that he could only make out pieces of the songs because of the screaming,but he could make out the songs Baby's In Black and Paperback Writer and he said they sounded amazing! He also calls The Beatles The Greatest Rock Band Ever!



George Harrison at only age 14 would stay up playing his guitar until he got all of the chords exactly right and his fingers wer e bleeding! And One of The Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick says that in early 1966 when The Beatles were recording John's song I'm Only Sleeping,George Harrison played backwards guitar the most difficult way possible even though he could have taken an easy way,and it took him 6 hours just to do the guitar overdubs! He then made it doubly difficult by adding even more distorted gitars and Geoff says this was all George's idea and that he did all of the playing! Eric Clapton said in a 1992 interview when he and George were asked what they admired about each other during their Japan tour,that George is a fantastic slide guitar player. He and George were very good friends and they obviously admired and respected each others guitar playing and George played guitar on Cream's song Badge. Roger McGuinn of The Byrds says The Beatles used unusual folk rock chords in their early music and that they invented folf rock without even knowing it! He started to play a 12 string guitar after he saw and heard George Harrison playing one in The Beatles great film A Hard Day's Night in early 1964.


In an online Eric Clapton interview called,Eric Clapton In His Own Words he says that John Lennon was a pretty good guitar player and he would have known since he played live in concert with John as a member of John's 1969 Plastic Ono Band! On an excellent site called,The Evolution Of Rock Bass Playing McCartney Style by Dennis Alstrand Stanley Clarke,Will Lee,Billy Sheehan,Sting,George Martin,and John Lennon are all quoted saying what a great,melodic,influential bass guitar player Paul McCartney has always been! The 1992 Rolling Stone Album Guide calls Paul a remarkable bass player and rightfully calls John & Paul the 2 greatest song writers in rock history! Both Phil Collins and Max Weinberg both Beatles fans and both praise Ringo's drumming and Phil Collins says that Ringo's great drumming on A Day In The Life can't even be repeated even by him!


Also on Rankopedia The Beatles are # 1 Greatest Rock Band,# 1 Greatest Most Innovative Rock Band,John & Paul are # 1 Greatest Rock Song Writers,John &Paul are on The Greatest Rock Male Vocalist list,and Paul McCartney is # 2 after John Enwistle as Greatest Rock Bass Players,John Paul Jones is # 6,and Bill Wynman is # 20! And on Digitaldreamdoor where many musicians post,The Beatles are # 1 Greatest Rock Artists,John &Paul are # 1 Greatest Rock Song Writers,they are both on The Greatest Rock Male Vocalists list,and Paul McCartney is # 8 out of 100 Greatest Rock Bass Players,John Paul Jones is # 21,and Bill Wynman is # 95! George Harrison is # 54 On The Greatest Rock Guitarists out of over 100.


And there are many music professors teaching music courses at good universities on the brilliance of The Beatles especially of John &Paul,including by award winning music professor and composer Dr.Glen Gass,who has been teaching a course on The Beatles and rock music at Indiana University since 1982. On his web site for his course it says the main purpose of this course is to get students to have a better appreciation of this extraordinary group and their remarkable recordings. Dr.Gary Kendal's Beatles course is the most requested course at North Western University. And a music professor by the last name of Heinonen teaches a Beatles course at JYVASKYLA University in Finland,and the university of California also teaches a Beatles course etc.


Also check out Ken's Classic Rock n Roll Site he also runs a Rolling Stones & John Lennon fan site. And he made a Top 10 List and voted and the fans voted. He voted John &Paul # 2 after Bob Dylan as Greatest Rock Song Writers,the fans voted them # 1! He voted Paul McCartney # 2 after John Entwistle as Greatest Rock Bass Player,the fans voted Paul # 3. He voted John Lennon # 2 after Keith Richards as Greatest Rock Rhythm Guitarist,and the fans voted John in a tie with Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones at # 4 ! He voted John Lennon # 1 in a tie with Elvis as Greatest Male Rock Vocalist and the fans voted John # 1,he voted Paul # 6 and the fans voted him # 7. Ken says Darn The Beatles were one great group in his review of The Beatles album 1967-1970,and he also says that John on Get Back showed why he should have played lead guitar more often because he did such a good job! He also said that John on their hard rocking great 1968 single Revolution,played one of the first and best acid guitar parts.And he also said that John played a pretty good slide guitar on George's For Your Blue. And he says in his review of The Beatles 1962-1966,that if you don't love or at least like The Beatles and their music than you are not a true rock fan and more than likely will never get it.


And Brian Wilson said on a 1995 Nightline TV Beatles tribute show,that Sgt.Pepper is the single greatest album he ever heard,and he played With A Little Help From Friends on the piano and he said I just love this song. He also said he thinks John Lennon &Paul McCartney were the 2 greatest song writers of the 20th century! He also said when he first heard The Beatles great 1965 album Rubber Soul,that he was blown away by it,he said all of the songs flowed together and it was pop music but folk rock at the same time,and this is what he couldn't believe. He said this inspired him to make Pet Sounds. Elton John said in a 1991 CBS morning news show,when he was asked who he musically admires,he said You can talk about your Rogers & Hammerstein but for the quality of quanity songs that Lennon & McCartney did in that short period of time,they were the 2 greatest song writers of the 20th century! Most music artists want to believe and want the public to believe that *their* the greatest so when they say other music artists are the greatest it really means a lot!


The Beatles are also the most covered music artists of all time with everyone from Motown,jazz,classical,and even heavy metal music recording their great diverse music! And in 2001 VH1 had a panel of well known musicans and music critcs,that voted The Beatles The Greatest Rock Band Ever,and in 2004 Rolling Stone did the same thing and several people said on message boards that Rolling Stone had a recent pael poll like this and The Beatles were voted # 1 again and for darn great reasons too! Nobody created as much innovative,creative,quality,critically acclaimed,popular diverse songs and albums in such a short amazing period of time as The Beatles and thats why most people know that The Beatles Are The Greatest Rock Band That Ever Was Or Will Be!!!!


Oh and A Day's Night is a great pop rock album!!!! And even Bob Dylan said decades ago about The Beatles early music,that their chords were outrageous,and the harmonies were wonderful and they were doing things in music that nobody had done before,and music critics of The London Times were praising their interesting and unusual chords that they used even in early songs like She Loves You & I Want To Hold Your Hand. Which were not as simple as they seemed and had clever subtleties in them.Infact Bob Dylan said in a Rolling Stone interview this Spring that he's in awe of Paul McCartney and he said he's the only one he's in awe of. He said that Paul has the melody,he has the rhthym and he can sing the ballad very good,and he can play any instrument. He also said there were no better singers than John Lennon &Paul McCartney and he said if George wasn't stuck in the shadow behind John &Paul and he said who wouldn't get stuck,he would have emerged as a great song writer in his own right anyway.


And by the way I have read some people saying on message boards that they don't think The Rolling Stones were the best technical musicians,and many even some fans have said they haven't done anything good in 35 years, and that their overrated and I have also found many people saying they hate or don't like The Rolling Stones and many people say the only Rolling Stones song they like is Paint It Black! Oh and by the way,in every major poll of The Beatles vs The Rolling Stones,The Beatles always win as # 1 even on sites and message boards that are not Beatles fan sites!


And when we look at the solo career comparison of Mick Jagger's and Keith Richards solo careers with John,Paul &George's,the facts are John Lennon's first brilliant solo album,and his second great album Imagine are rightfully critically acclaimed, and I love John's Walls & Bridges album and Paul McCartney's first solo album McCartney is very good,and he played every instrument all by himself at age 27,and he played so many different instruments great! Wings 1975 Venus & Mars is a great rock album too! And he and Denny Laine are the only musicians on Paul's great 1973 Band On The Run album,which is critically acclaimed and popular,and he played every instrument by himself again on McCartney 2 in 1979,and most of the instruments on his 1997 Flaming Pie album,and his 2 recent acclaimed popular albums,Chaos And Creation In The Backyard,and Memory Almost Full.And John Paul Jones,David Gilmore,John Bonham &Pete Townsend all played on 2 songs with Paul and Wings on the last Wings album Back To The Egg, in 1979,and they played in the last Wings concert too in December 1979. You know I have found over 50 former Beatles haters on many message boards and web sites that are noe HUGE Beatles fans and many say they are now their favorite band and that they were the Greatest Band Ever! I didn't communicate with these people but they said in their posts that they had a lot of inaccurate misperceptions of The Beatles and they hadn't even heard most of The Beatles great songs and albums! Most people don't hate The Beatles in the first place,most people of all ages all around the world love or at least like their music,but it's really something for former haters to turn into big fans and it just goes to show how Great The Beatles music is!!!!

And I and many people understandably feel that John Lennon had the best rock voices ever! George Martin said John's voice was one of the best he ever heard,and in May 1967 when The Beatles were recording their song,Baby You're A Rich Man,two recording engineers said they were always fascinated with the sound of John Lennon's voice,and they always wanted to record it live and when they heard him singing this song live they said they couldn't believe how great his voice was and that anyone could sing that well live.

And there are many people on message boards saying they can't stand the sound of Robert Plant's and Mick Jagger's voices,and Bruce Springteen has one of the worst voices I have ever heard,he sounds like he's throwing up to a music backing! I have to turn the radio off as soon as he's on,and the same thing with Tom Petty,he has a terrible nasally bad voice! Bob Dylan has never been considered to have a good voice but I can tolerate him!


The Beatles wrote many great rock songs that were pretty rocking for the time,John's great song You Can't Do That from early 1964 which he played lead guitar on for the first time,Paul's great blues rocker,She's A Woman from late 1964,John's I Feel Fine from late 1964, with the first use of feedback guitar,and one of the first songs to have a great guitar riff,a year before The Rolling Stone's Satisfaction came out,Paul's screaming hard rocker especially for 1965,I'm Down which they played even louder and more screaming at the August 1965 Shea Stadium concert, and as The All Music Guide says I'm Down was one of The Beatles most frantic rockers,and they said they did a really wild performance of this at The Shea Stadium concert. The All Music Guide also says The Beatles showed they could rock really really hard with their early songs,John's I Feel Fine,Paul's She's A Woman,and the peerless I'm Down.

Plus Day Tripper,Paperback Writer,She Said She Said,And You're Bird Can Sing, Taxman Get Back,Hey Bulldog,Polythene Pam,She Came In Through The Bathroom Window,all with heavy electric guitar sounds,John's 1968 hard rocking single Revolution,Yer Blues,Birthday,Back In The USSR,While My Guitar Gently Weeps,Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me & My Monkey,plus Paul's Helter Skeklter which as many people have pointed out was the first heavy metal songs,plus John's I Want You She's So Heavy on Abbey Road which many people have also pointed out was one of the first heavy metal songs,plus his great rocker Come Together,Paul's Oh Darling,You Never Give Me Your Money,and the hard rocking jam of Paul,George,and John on the song The End,etc!! So anyone saying THe Beatles were not a rock band You Are Wrong!!


The Rolling Stones were very good friends and fans of The Beatles and Mick Jagger was at 4 Beatles recording sessions and Keith Richards was at 2 of them with them! The Beatles even wrote one of The Rolling Stones first hits with the song,I WAnna Be You're Man in late 1963.

Mick Jagger was such a big Beatles fan that when The Beatles were recording their song,Baby You're A Rich Man in May 1967,he came there and stood on the sidelines just to watch and listen to them record it and his name was on the tape box because he likely sang at the end verses.

The Rolling Stones could also be considered a pop band since they too were very popular,had many hit songs and albums and some of their songs could be classified as pop,Ruby Tuesday,Angie,She's A Rainbow,Lady Jane,As Tears Go By,Waiting On A Friend,Emotional Rescue, their whole Sgt.Pepper rip off Their Satanic Majesties Request and they also put out many greatest hits albums.

Who let the Jehovah Witnesses in ?

Also She's A Woman is a fantastic blues rocker from Paul in late 1964,and I was not even born when it was recorded. I just recently read reviews of this song on the web site called,Song Facts and there are many teenage and college people who post on there and many people were saying that She's A Woman is a very good rock song! Several other music artists covered this song including Jeff Beck. When Paul McCartney played this song as an accoustic on his great 1991 MTV Uuplugged,it still sounded like a very good song!

And The Beatles were not just a group that only cared about making hit records,Paul McCartney started writing his own songs at only age 14,and he wrote the pretty song I'll Follow The Sun at only age 16,and John Lennon was writing heavy deep emotional poetry when he was a kid,and he started writing his own songs at age 18 long before they knew that they would make it and become big! And I listen for music,the chords,how they are arranged,beautiful melodies and harmonies,great singing,and very good musicianship,I don't care about words at all,if I wanted to mostly hear words I would go to a poetry reading and not listen to music! I like instrumental jazz music that has no words or vocals.

And John Lennon wrote many great lyrics in the middle-later Beatles period and in his solo career. Paul McCartney has also written many songs in The Beatles with very good lyrics and some in his solo/Wings career. But Paul often doesn't write complex lyrics,but he doesn't really have to because even when he does thats not what is so great about his songs,it's always his *music*!

Paul McCartney's father Jim McCartney was a naturally talented self taught accomplished jazz pianist who was the leader of his own band called,Jim Mac's Band and they were popular in clubs in the 1930's. But Paul's father wasn't a poet,and he even wrote some of his own instrumental jazz music and Paul and Wings recorded on of his father's old jazz instrumentals caled,Walking In The Park With Eloise and included it on the 1976 Wings At The Speed Of Sound album.So Paul inherited his father's natural musical talent to the extreme!

Any time you try to correct ignorant garbage said about The Beatles you get stupid comments like yours nicholas! I gave a lot of strong good information to debunk the inaccurate ignorant nonsense said about The Beatles on here!

I just realized I made a typing mistake, it's nicolas who said the stupid rotten remark.

Seems to me you're the ignorant one here, copy/pasting random praises off websites rather than making your own points. On top of that you're insulting the wrong person, nicolas is a Beatles fan.

You represent what's wrong with Beatles fans to me, you're too blind to see anything but their supposed awesomeness. Just bugger off, you're seriously annoying me now.

A fan I am
Not a fanatic
And one thing the Beatles had for sure was a great sense of humor

No I'm not the ignorant one at all I have been studying about The Beatles since I'm 11 years old! If you really read all of the information I wrote and you could believe that I'm just posting random quotes,then you really are the ignorant one!You don't want to have your ignorant misperceptions about THe Beatles corrected! And you are annoying me!

Nicolas I'm not a fanatic either and you don't know me and just because I am trying with a lot of great information to debunk ignorant nonsense said on here about The Beatles doesn't make me a fanatic! I only own a couple of Beatles books and I don't own any solo Ringo Starr albums. And I'm very knowledgeable about The Beatles since I have been studying about them since I'm 11 years old! There really is a lot of ignorance about them including on here!

Neoptolemos you are so damn ignorant that you really think I would possibly know that nicolas is a Beatles fan when I just posted on here today for the first time and I'm not familiar with any posters on here!

The Beatles Are the Most Creative Band of All Time

Arts And Entertainment
December 10th, 2006 21:55

BACKGROUND HISTORY: The first musical sets spring uped in New Orleans among black instrumentalists who have traditionally been the innovators. The first idle words record ever entered was by The Master Dixieland Idle words Set in 1917, and of course of study they were white because racism always rears its ugly head to do black people dorsum. But during the Roar 20's, young white people couldn't defy the dance crushed put down by the black idle words sets. Fletcher Henderson, a black adult male, acquired the first set leader to attain national celebrity possibly because he have goted Louis Armstrong on horn. Duke Ellington, a classically trained instrumentalist, conveyed a grade of style and sophistication to idle words that hadn't been seen before. But it wasn't until 1935 that idle words sets with a "swing crushed" accomplished national attending due to Benny Goodman who I consider was the best clarinet participant ever to blow air into that instrument. Benny also have goted the good sense and taste perception to take the first great drummer, Factor Krupa, into his set.

When rock and axial rotation set offed into human consciousness during the early 1950's, black instrumentalists like Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Chow Berry, and Smokey Robinson pioneered the mode, but a white DJ called Alan Freed is believed to have coined the term "rock and axial rotation". The first real rock and axial rotation record was "Shingle, Rattle and Axial rotation", indited by Jesse Rock who was black and entered by Big Joe Turner who was also black but it wasn't a hit. The first big hit rock and axial rotation record was "Rock Around the Clock" indited by James Meyers and Max Freewoman of obvious lineage, and that 1 catapulted Measure Haley and his Caucasian Comets to stardom. During the 1950's and early 60's, there were countless "do dago" groupings, rock groupings, vocalizers and ballad makers but until The Beatles hit the charts, there have goted been very few sets which comprised talented ballad makers. The vast bulk of idle words and rock sets entered vocals indited by ballad makers who were not performing artists, with occasional exclusions like Duke Ellington and Pal Holly. As time moves on, it's increasingly clear that Lennon/McCartney vocals are brilliant classics which will never be buried. Now here's why The Beatles are the most creative set of all time:

1. BEST INSTANCE OF WORD FORM = CONTENT

As I sit down here composition this at the keyboard of my computing machine facing the unique and colorful Beatles placard in my chamber, I'm aware that I have been directly and indirectly enlivened by John Lennon's music as well as by the mode he dwelt his life offstage. Squarely in presence of me is a full color placard of all four Beatles standing in a heavenly-like flower garden at about the time of the Abbey Route record album. Paul is angelic in his pink case with a white enlaced shirt. John is enigmatic peering out from the background. George is charismatic staring directly into the photographic camera from the lower right. Ringo is on the left with a stylish blue case and his pink rippled shirt. I always wished I could get get dresseded like those bozoes but obviously there's a bit of a problem with a money differential there. Surrounding this gorgeous placard which I have never seen elsewhere are my 45 velocity original Beatles hit records, including I Want to Give Your Paw, She Loves You, Delight Please Me, Twist and Call, Can't Purchase Me Love, She's A Adult female, Yesterday, and of course of study, Hey Jude. And surrounding all that is a concatenation of 1-1/2" long orange spark flaming visible radiations which are the most beautiful and unique Noel visible radiations I've ever seen. I pick outed to decorate the wall directly in presence of my work station this mode because, as I've indited elsewhere on this land site several clips, The Beatles were my major musical work and having them on the wall in presence of me inspires me to pen web pages like this 1. I was also among the megs of people who were enlivened by how The Beatles were actually living their off phase lives. The Beatles' music creatively stimulated megs of people to change the mode they were living, and The Beatles behaviour promoted people to have playfulness by trying new life style experiences. That's what I name a perfect instance of WORD FORM = CONTENT. In this causa it intends that the creatively and masterfully altered music The Beatles were producing (word form) body forthed the real life styles which each of the four Beatles were living (content), together as a set as well as separately as unique souls.

2. BEST BALLAD MAKERS

This should be self-evident, but just because Paul McCartney has the title of the most popular ballad maker in history doesn't necessarily do him the best ballad maker in history. The qualities which do do both Paul and John the best ballad makers in history travel beyond composition the greatest figure of catchy classic vocals. "Catchy" intends that their tunes and word are instantly memorable. "Classic" intends that they stand up the mental test of time. But both Paul and John penned very sophisticated tunes that traveled beyond the simple groupings of 2, 4 and 8 modeled phrases utilised by almost all other ballad makers. John and Paul's tunes zoomed, drifted, cascaded, plunged and peaked with true kinetics, naturally following the syllabic lyric forms - but not always. Sometimes the melodic and lyric forms were independent of each other, almost counterpoint in nature, and as a ballad maker, they never lay offed to astonish me with their blaze and originality. In the beginning, their word were simple and their vocals were simple love vocals. But they soon commenced exploring new territorial dominion by composition about topics that hadn't been covered before. Enlivened by British shilling Dylan, they penned true verse with feeling and depth, using evocative and unusual words. Natural rubber Psyche labeled the beginning of their development as mature ballad makers, Six-shooter was a interrupt-out record album, and Sergeant Madagascar pepper was an historic landmark record album in terms of new and innovative songwriting as well as production. Every vocal they penned was significantly different from the last 1 even though each vocal have goted their unmistakable sound.

Most ballad makers are only norm participants on their instruments, but John and Paul are both sophisticated guitarists who were able to incorporate their playing into their vocals and even into their vocal construction so that the "licks" they played acquired as catchy a component part of their vocals as the choruses and poesies. New world blackbird and Dear Prudence are only two representatives of vocals which couldn't possibly be indited by any other ballad maker because of the guitar playing which makes an integral component part of the vocal construction. In similar way, Lady Madonna is the best instance of a great vocal which deduces from the unique and beautiful bass component part which only Paul could possibly have created.

Norm ballad makers attain the catchy quality by repeating a phrase endlessly or by whipping a chorus to expiry. John and Paul bumped countless styles to be memorable without ever overly repeating something. The only time they reiterated something over and over again for a long time was in Hey Jude, and what they pick outed to reiterate is so gorgeous that 1 can only wish they have goted never lay offed the vocal. The Beatles were my biggest musical work and I utilised to consider, "If I could pen just 1 vocal that's as good as John and Paul's worst vocal, I'd be happy." People tell me I accomplished that end and they tell 1 good instance is John is Alive which is my sincere testimonial to Sir Lennon.

3. BEST VOCALISTS

Even Ringo could sing when he acquired a little assist from his friends who dwelt in the yellow pigboat. But to tell that Paul and John are two of the best vocalizers in rock and axial rotation is to state the obvious. Combining John, Paul and George created the best harmoniousness vocals the cosmos has ever saw. Even their two component part harmoniousnesses were unusual, catching us all by surprise on their first hit record with the fast harmoniousness melisma in the chorus of I Want to Give Your Paw. John have goted a bent of placing a unique low harmoniousness line underneath Paul's high tune line so as to word form a second tune which created unusual harmoniousness outcomes. He made that right from the beginning in the poesies of She Loves You. Both Paul and John could blare out screaming rock and axial rotation (i.e. Long Tall Crack and Twist and Call), and both could interrupt our bosoms with touching, deep feeling ballads (i.e. Yesterday and Julia). There appears to be no end to their emotional vocal reach, and John even explored the tallnesses of vocal psychedelia in vocals like She Stated (Six-shooter) and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.

4. MOST CREATIVE PARTICIPANTS

Paul conveyed a new style of melodic playing to the bass guitar, reaching a new high of creative thinking on Sergeant Madagascar pepper with a grade of sophistication never heard before. Many other instrumentalists besides me recognise Paul as being 1 of the best bass guitar participants ever. George is underrated as a pb guitarist by people with norm or below norm musical noesis or ability, but most guitarists (including Eric Clapton) cognise better. George's strength is in tune, pure and simple. It would be difficult to bump a George Harrison pb which is not melodic, and each of his pbs has a strong beginning, a stronger center and a well defined ending. In fact, that's Eric's definition of what do a good guitar pb. George continually developed new guitar sounds for each Beatles vocal. John and Paul are also excellent guitarists and both entered great pbs as well as innovative musical rhythm paths. All three of the Beatles guitarists may want showy technical fireworks but they do that definition of guitar control irrelevant by overwhelming the senses with creative thinking, style, and pure tune. The exact same thing can be told about John and Paul's keyboard playing. Ringo may be underrated as a drummer by the public but he is not underrated by other professional drummers. Ringo mastered the fine art of crushed sounds. No drummer has ever entered so many different sounds on so many different sounding records. Ringo devised a new style of slow crushed playing, epitomized on A Day in the Life and Strawberry Fields Forever. John told many clips, "Ringo has the best dorsum crushed in the concern" and the successful studio drummers understand why John was correct.

5. AGGREGATE PERSONAL MAGNETISM

A good definition of personal magnetism demands to include "an unusual ability to work people and provoke devotedness" and "a personal attraction which enables a individual to work others". No musical grouping prior to or after The Beatles characteristics true personal magnetism emanating strongly from the entire grouping as well as separately from each member. The Beatles stunned the cosmos with their photogenic quality, their charm, their bubbling and lovable personalities, their cuteness and their unique style. Even before The Beatles accomplished celebrity, people in Liverpool were imitating their haircuts, the mode they get dresseded, the mode they acted, and the mode they dwelt. Such a simple subliminal message about smoking ganja acquired pass oned to all the flower children who were waiting to take place without actual words ever being verbalised. The Beatles have goted a deal to lose by being explicit on that theme, but they successfully avoided problem by keeping it very subtle while at the same time clear enough so that we all acquired it. The Fab Quaternary maintained changing their styles rapidly, almost with each record album concealment, and soon the message acquired 1 of explicit spiritualism. After visiting India, The Beatles acquainted eastern religious mysticism and speculation to the Western cosmos for the first time through the the great unwasheds media. John's long saga with internal angst, drugs, spiritualism, political relation, personal conflicts, and ultimately his wedlock to Yoko played out like a moving-picture show the whole cosmos acquired to watch in captivation. Paul's happy life with Linda, George's great direction on speculation, and Ringo's calmness throughout were all perfect representatives of the powerfulness, the truth, and the effectiveness of true personal magnetism.

6. SEXUAL AURA

Demand I tell it? Inquire the megs of missies who were screaming and fainting at the very sight of them. "The Boys" didn't go like Elvis or dance like Mick, they just stand uped there shaking their "wipe up top" heads around, smiling, laughing, and looking gorgeous as they did great music and that was it. On their first visit to United states of america, some enterprising creep from New York Metropolis negociated to cut up the hotel bed sheets The Beatles have goted slumbered on into 1" square pieces, and these things were actually sold to missies over the public airwaves by adult DJ's on the AM wireless stations who should have cognised better. The Beatles phenomenon went mode beyond the rock and axial rotation sexual activity star position that have goted been seen before. Teenage missies in uncountable figures fell in love, their bosoms to be trapped, their bosom twines to be continually tweaked, and ultimately, their bosoms to be interrupted by the unobtainable physical object of their love. Worshiping a star from afar? Infatuation? Obsession? Not real love? For many of them, it was their first experience feeling love for a adult male/boy. Whatever it was, it was very real to all of them, and we all soon understood that The Beatles were The Real Thing.

That's why I name The Beatles the Most Creative Set of All Time. They were The Real Thing. The Creative Zenith. The high point on the bell curved shape of musical history.

Article Tags: The Beatles, Paul Mccartney, John Lennon, Lennon/mccartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr


Related tags

beatles john paul time rock people


Copyright (c) Journal a day. All rights reserved.
Our networks: Music Lyrics Chord

The article I posted The Beatles The Most Creative Band Of All Time was written by Peter Cross who is song writer and musician.

Perhaps you should try to read up on things before you make an idiot out of yourself. Just an idea.

Neoptolemos *YOU ARE THE DAMN IGNORANT IDIOT!!!! I am very knowledgeable about The Beatles I have read up and plenty of my homework now do some yourself! There is always a handful of idiot as*holes like yourself on these music boards!

Beatles haters are such morons like you Neoptolemos! And thank you for proving me right!

THe first post of this article had some words messed up so I'm posting again from another site.


Web Buzzle.com
Home World News


The Beatles are the Most Creative Band of All Time By Peter Cross

The Beatles phenomenon went way beyond any kind of stardom that had ever been seen before because of their creative songwriting abilities, their musical abilities and their charismatic personalities.

BACKGROUND HISTORY: The first musical bands originated in New Orleans among black musicians who have traditionally been the innovators. The first jazz record ever recorded was by The Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1917, and of course they were white because racism always rears its ugly head to hold black people back. But during the Roaring 20's, young white people couldn't resist the dance beat laid down by the black jazz bands. Fletcher Henderson, a black man, became the first band leader to achieve national fame possibly because he featured Louis Armstrong on trumpet. Duke Ellington, a classically trained musician, brought a level of style and sophistication to jazz that hadn't been seen before. But it wasn't until 1935 that jazz bands with a "swing beat" achieved national attention due to Benny Goodman who I think was the best clarinet player ever to blow air into that instrument. Benny also had the good sense and taste to bring the first great drummer, Gene Krupa, into his band.

When rock and roll exploded into human consciousness during the early 1950's, black musicians like Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Smokey Robinson pioneered the way, but a white DJ named Alan Freed is believed to have coined the term "rock and roll". The first real rock and roll record was "Shake, Rattle and Roll", written by Jesse Stone who was black and recorded by Big Joe Turner who was also black but it wasn't a hit. The first big hit rock and roll record was "Rock Around the Clock" written by James Meyers and Max Freeman of obvious ancestry, and that one catapulted Bill Haley and his Caucasian Comets to stardom. During the 1950's and early 60's, there were countless "do wop" groups, rock groups, singers and songwriters but until The Beatles hit the charts, there had been very few bands which contained talented songwriters. The vast majority of jazz and rock bands recorded songs written by songwriters who were not performers, with occasional exceptions like Duke Ellington and Buddy Holly. As time goes on, it's increasingly clear that Lennon/McCartney songs are brilliant classics which will never be forgotten. Now here's why The Beatles are the most creative band of all time:

1. BEST EXAMPLE OF FORM = CONTENT

As I sit here writing this at the keyboard of my computer facing the unique and colorful Beatles poster in my bedroom, I'm aware that I have been directly and indirectly inspired by John Lennon's music as well as by the way he lived his life offstage. Squarely in front of me is a full color poster of all four Beatles standing in a heavenly-like flower garden at about the time of the Abbey Road album. Paul is angelic in his pink suit with a white laced shirt. John is enigmatic peering out from the background. George is charismatic staring directly into the camera from the lower right. Ringo is on the left with a stylish blue suit and his pink ruffled shirt. I always wished I could dress like those guys but obviously there's a bit of a problem with a money differential there. Surrounding this gorgeous poster which I have never seen elsewhere are my 45 speed original Beatles hit records, including I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Please Please Me, Twist and Shout, Can't Buy Me Love, She's A Woman, Yesterday, and of course, Hey Jude. And surrounding all that is a chain of 1-1/2" long orange flicker flame lights which are the most beautiful and unique Christmas lights I've ever seen. I chose to decorate the wall directly in front of my work station this way because, as I've written elsewhere on this site several times, The Beatles were my major musical influence and having them on the wall in front of me inspires me to write web pages like this one. I was also among the millions of people who were inspired by how The Beatles were actually living their off stage lives. The Beatles' music creatively stimulated millions of people to change the way they were living, and The Beatles behavior encouraged people to have fun by trying new life style experiences. That's what I call a perfect example of FORM = CONTENT. In this case it means that the creatively and masterfully varied music The Beatles were producing (form) embodied the real life styles which each of the four Beatles were living (content), together as a band as well as separately as unique individuals.

2. BEST SONGWRITERS

This should be self-evident, but just because Paul McCartney has the title of the most popular songwriter in history doesn't necessarily make him the best songwriter in history. The qualities which do make both Paul and John the best songwriters in history go beyond writing the greatest number of catchy classic songs. "Catchy" means that their melodies and lyrics are instantly memorable. "Classic" means that they stand the test of time. But both Paul and John wrote very sophisticated melodies that moved beyond the simple groups of 2, 4 and 8 patterned phrases used by almost all other songwriters. John and Paul's melodies soared, floated, cascaded, dived and peaked with true dynamics, naturally following the syllabic lyric patterns - but not always. Sometimes the melodic and lyric patterns were independent of each other, almost counterpoint in nature, and as a songwriter, they never ceased to astonish me with their brilliance and originality. In the beginning, their lyrics were simple and their songs were simple love songs. But they soon began exploring new territory by writing about subjects that hadn't been covered before. Inspired by Bob Dylan, they wrote true poetry with feeling and depth, using evocative and unusual words. Rubber Soul marked the beginning of their evolution as mature songwriters, Revolver was a break-out album, and Sergeant Pepper was an historic landmark album in terms of new and innovative songwriting as well as production. Every song they wrote was significantly different from the last one even though each song had their unmistakable sound.

Most songwriters are only average players on their instruments, but John and Paul are both sophisticated guitarists who were able to integrate their playing into their songs and even into their song structure so that the "licks" they played became as catchy a part of their songs as the choruses and verses. Blackbird and Dear Prudence are only two examples of songs which couldn't possibly be written by any other songwriter because of the guitar playing which forms an integral part of the song structure. In similar fashion, Lady Madonna is the best example of a great song which derives from the unique and beautiful bass part which only Paul could possibly have created.

Average songwriters achieve the catchy quality by repeating a phrase endlessly or by beating a chorus to death. John and Paul found countless ways to be memorable without ever overly repeating something. The only time they repeated something over and over again for a long time was in Hey Jude, and what they chose to repeat is so gorgeous that one can only wish they had never ended the song. The Beatles were my biggest musical influence and I used to think, "If I could write just one song that's as good as John and Paul's worst song, I'd be happy." People tell me I accomplished that goal and they say one good example is John is Alive which is my sincere tribute to Sir Lennon.

3. BEST SINGERS

Even Ringo could sing when he got a little help from his friends who lived in the yellow submarine. But to say that Paul and John are two of the best singers in rock and roll is to state the obvious. Combining John, Paul and George created the best harmony vocals the world has ever experienced. Even their two part harmonies were unusual, catching us all by surprise on their first hit record with the fast harmony melisma in the chorus of I Want to Hold Your Hand. John had a knack of placing a unique low harmony line underneath Paul's high melody line so as to form a second melody which created unusual harmony effects. He did that right from the beginning in the verses of She Loves You. Both Paul and John could blast out screaming rock and roll (i.e. Long Tall Sally and Twist and Shout), and both could break our hearts with touching, deep feeling ballads (i.e. Yesterday and Julia). There seems to be no end to their emotional vocal range, and John even explored the heights of vocal psychedelia in songs like She Said (Revolver) and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.

4. MOST CREATIVE PLAYERS

Paul brought a new style of melodic playing to the bass guitar, reaching a new high of creativity on Sergeant Pepper with a level of sophistication never heard before. Many other musicians besides me recognize Paul as being one of the best bass guitar players ever. George is underrated as a lead guitarist by people with average or below average musical knowledge or ability, but most guitarists (including Eric Clapton) know better. George's strength is in melody, pure and simple. It would be difficult to find a George Harrison lead which is not melodic, and each of his leads has a strong beginning, a stronger middle and a well defined ending. In fact, that's Eric's definition of what makes a good guitar lead. George continually developed new guitar sounds for each Beatles song. John and Paul are also excellent guitarists and both recorded great leads as well as innovative rhythm tracks. All three of the Beatles guitarists may lack showy technical fireworks but they make that definition of guitar mastery irrelevant by overwhelming the senses with creativity, style, and pure melody. The exact same thing can be said about John and Paul's keyboard playing. Ringo may be underrated as a drummer by the public but he is not underrated by other professional drummers. Ringo mastered the art of drum sounds. No drummer has ever recorded so many different sounds on so many different sounding records. Ringo invented a new style of slow drum playing, epitomized on A Day in the Life and Strawberry Fields Forever. John said many times, "Ringo has the best back beat in the business" and the successful studio drummers understand why John was correct.

5. TOTAL CHARISMA

A good definition of charisma needs to include "an unusual ability to influence people and arouse devotion" and "a personal attractiveness which enables a person to influence others". No musical group prior to or after The Beatles features true charisma emanating strongly from the entire group as well as separately from each member. The Beatles stunned the world with their photogenic quality, their charm, their bubbling and lovable personalities, their cuteness and their unique style. Even before The Beatles achieved fame, people in Liverpool were imitating their haircuts, the way they dressed, the way they behaved, and the way they lived. Such a simple subliminal message about smoking marijuana got communicated to all the hippies who were waiting to happen without actual words ever being spoken. The Beatles had a lot to lose by being explicit on that subject, but they successfully avoided trouble by keeping it very subtle while at the same time clear enough so that we all got it. The Fab Four kept changing their styles rapidly, almost with each album cover, and soon the message became one of explicit spiritualism. After visiting India, The Beatles introduced eastern mysticism and meditation to the Western world for the first time through the mass media. John's long saga with internal angst, drugs, spiritualism, politics, personal battles, and ultimately his marriage to Yoko played out like a movie the whole world got to watch in fascination. Paul's happy life with Linda, George's great focus on meditation, and Ringo's equanimity throughout were all perfect examples of the power, the truth, and the effectiveness of true charisma.

6. SEXUAL AURA

Need I say it? Ask the millions of girls who were screaming and fainting at the very sight of them. "The Boys" didn't move like Elvis or dance like Mick, they just stood there shaking their "mop top" heads around, smiling, laughing, and looking gorgeous as they performed great music and that was it. On their first visit to America, some enterprising weirdo from New York City managed to cut up the hotel bedsheets The Beatles had slept on into 1" square pieces, and these things were actually sold to girls over the public airwaves by adult DJ's on the AM radio stations who should have known better. The Beatles phenomenon went way beyond the rock and roll sex star status that had been seen before. Teenage girls in uncountable numbers fell in love, their hearts to be trapped, their heart strings to be continually plucked, and ultimately, their hearts to be broken by the unobtainable object of their love. Worshiping a star from afar? Infatuation? Obsession? Not real love? For many of them, it was their first experience feeling love for a man/boy. Whatever it was, it was very real to all of them, and we all soon understood that The Beatles were The Real Thing.

That's why I call The Beatles the Most Creative Band of All Time. They were The Real Thing. The Creative Zenith. The high point on the bell curve of musical history.

Credit: Peter Cross is a former professional drummer and a singer/songwriter/producer/Web Master who was among the first to put music on the Internet in a downloadable format in 1996. His web site is very entertaining and at 208 pages, it may be the largest music artist web site on the Internet. You can find this article at: The Beatles are the Most Creative Band of All Time. Examples of some of the first downloadable music that was inspired by the Beatles can be found at: The Girl of My Dreams and Someday. His home page is at: Rock and Roll with an Immortal Soul where his copyright is displayed right above the "Greatest Rock Sites on the Web" designation.

By Peter Cross
Published: 8/1/2006



Why the Beatles Made More Money than Einstein




RSS Feeds | Become An Author | Topics | Articles | About Buzzle.com | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Service
©2000-2006, 2007 Buzzle.com® · All rights reserved.

As The All Music Guide says in their excellent Beatles biography,"So much has been said and written about The Beatles and their story is so mythic in it's sweep that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating cliche's that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans.To state the obvious,they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era,and introduced more innovations into popular music than any other rock band of the 20th century,moreover they were among the few artists of *any* discipline that were simultaneously the best at what they did,*and* the most popular at what they did Relentlessly imaginative, and expermintal The Beatles grabbed a hold of the international mass consciousness in 1964 and never let go for the next 6 years always staying ahead of the pack in terms of creativity but never losing their ability to communicate their increasingly sophisticated ideas to a mass audience.Their supremacy as rock icons remains unchallenged to this day decades after their breakup in 1970."

"Even when couching praise in specific terms, it's hard to convey the scope of The Beatles achievements in a mere paragraph or two. They synthesized all that was good about early rock & roll and changed it into something orginal and exciting. They established the prototype of the self-contained rock group that wrote and performed it's own material. As composers their craft and melodic inventiveness were second to none and key to the evolution of rock from it's blues R&B- based forms into a style that was far more eclectic but equally visceral. As vocalists John Lennon & Paul McCartney were both among the best and most expressive vocalists in rock;the groups harmonies were intricate and exhillarating."

"The Popularity Of The Beatles as a unit proved eternal. In part this is because the group's 1970 split effectively short-circuited the prospects of artistic decline;the body of work that was preserved was uniformly strong. However it's also because like any great works of art,The Beatles records carried an ageless magnificence that continues to captivate new generations of listeners. So it is that Beatles records continue to be heard on radio in heavy rotation,continue to sell in massive quanities and continue to be covered and quoted by rock and pop artists through the present day"

Ken Runs A Rolling Stones and A John Lennon Fan Site Too

Keno's Classic Rock n Roll Web Site

GREATEST HITS ALBUM REVIEW

THE BEATLES

1967 - 1970

Released - 1973, on Apple Records. Produced by George Martin, except tracks 27 &28, produced by Phil Spector

John Lennon - Lead &Backing Vocals, Rhythm, Lead, Slide Guitars, Bass on track 15, Percussion, Harp, Keyboards

Paul McCartney - Lead &Backing Vocals, Bass, Drums &Lead Guitar on track 15, Keyboards, Percussion

George Harrison - Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Backing and Lead Vocals

Ringo Starr - Drums, Percussion, Keyboards, Backing Vocals, and Lead Vocals on tracks 4 &25

Additional Personnel - Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Keith Moon, Marianne Faithfull, Pattie Harrison, Jane Asher, Graham Nash, Mike Sammes Singers and several others.

All songs written by Lennon/McCartney except "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Old Brown Shoe", "Here Comes The Sun" and "Something", written by G. Harrison and "Octopus's Garden" written by R. Starkey.


SONG YEAR RELEASED

RATING


Strawberry Fields Forever 1967 10.0
Penny Lane 1967 10.0
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1967 10.0
With a Little Help from My Friends 1967 10.0
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds 1967 10.0
A Day in the Life 1967 10.0
All You Need Is Love 1967 10.0
I Am the Walrus 1967 10.0
Hello Goodbye 1967 10.0
The Fool on the Hill 1967 10.0
Magical Mystery Tour 1967 10.0
Lady Madonna 1968 10.0
Hey Jude 1968 10.0
Revolution 1968 10.0
Back in the U.S.S.R. 1968 10.0
While My Guitar Gently Weeps 1968 10.0
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da 1968 10.0
Get Back 1969 10.0
Don't Let Me Down 1969 9.6
The Ballad of John and Yoko 1969 10.0
Old Brown Shoe 1969 6.0
Here Comes the Sun 1969 10.0
Come Together 1969 10.0
Something 1969 10.0
Octopus's Garden 1969 8.4
Let It Be 1970 10.0
Across the Universe 1970 9.0
The Long and Winding Road 1970 10.0
Ave. 9.75

Review



This is the companion greatest hits double album to 1962 - 1966 . You sure can see how much not only The Beatles appearance changed in just a few short years (just check out the two LPs covers, with photos taken at the same location of the Fabs just 6 years apart), but boy did their music change too!

No longer a pop group, they were now a pure rock band with songs that said a lot more than just I love you and I wanna hold your hand! Thanks to John Lennon, some of the most far-out lyrics written by anybody were now showing up on their records, and it seemed to rub off on Paul McCartney in some of his songs, too.

The best overall song on here was written by Paul for John's young son, "Hey Jude". It was at the time of its release the longest time running single ever released and was a smash hit, and most people were fooled into thinking the lyrics were about heroin addiction. The best written song in this greatest hits package has to be John's "I Am the Walrus", with "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" (another Lennon penned gem) a close second. One more song to make the "best" list would be "Revolution" with one of the first and best acid lead guitar parts ever played, courtesy of John.

The three greatest songs ever written by George Harrison show up on here, too, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Here Comes The Sun" and "Something". But what in the world is his "Old Brown Shoe" doing on here? This one is a weak song, if not for the slide guitar and neat bass it would not even be an average song, but for sure it was not a Beatles greatest hit, nor a song that most Beatles fans cared for. Almost any other song from '67 -'70 would have fitted in better than this dull one!

I guess I could close out this review in the same matter that I closed out my review for 1962 - 1966, nothing more needs to be written about this album, yes, it too speaks for itself! Damn, the Beatles were one GREAT group!

- Keno 2005

To listen to some soundclips from THE BEATLES 1967-1970 or to purchase it, click on: The Beatles '67 - '70

Return to Rock Album's Reviews

Keno's Classic Rock n Roll Web Site

GREATEST HITS ALBUM REVIEW

THE BEATLES

1962 - 1966

Released - 1973, on Apple Records. Produced by George Martin

John Lennon - Lead &Backing Vocals, Rhythm, Slide, Lead Guitars, Harmonica, Percussion, Keyboards

Paul McCartney - Lead &Backing Vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar on track 13, Keyboards, Percussion

George Harrison - Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Percussion, Backing Vocals

Ringo Starr - Drums, Percussion, Keyboards, Backing Vocals and Lead Vocal on track 25

Additional Personnel - Johnnie Scott - Flute on track 15; On track 25: Brian Jones - Percussion &Backing Vocals, Donovan, Pattie Harrison, Marianne Faithfull, Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall - Backing Vocals; Many others play on tracks 13 &24.

All songs written by John Lennon &Paul McCartney

SONG YEAR RELEASED RATING

Love Me Do 1962 10.0
Please Please Me 1963 10.0
From Me to You 1963 10.0
She Loves You 1963 10.0
I Want to Hold Your Hand 1963 10.0
All My Loving 1964 10.0
Can't Buy Me Love 1964 10.0
A Hard Day's Night 1964 10.0
And I Love Her 1964 10.0
Eight Days a Week 1964 10.0
I Feel Fine 1964 10.0
Ticket to Ride 1965 10.0
Yesterday 1965 10.0
Help! 1965 10.0
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away 1965 10.0
We Can Work It Out 1965 10.0
Day Tripper 1965 10.0
Drive My Car 1965 10.0
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 1965 10.0
Nowhere Man 1965 10.0
Michelle 1965 10.0
In My Life 1965 10.0
Girl 1965 10.0
Paperback Writer 1966 10.0
Eleanor Rigby 1966 10.0
Yellow Submarine 1966 10.0
Ave 10.0

Review


This greatest hits double album was released along with the companion greatest hits double album 1967 - 1970 . Every single song found on here is a pure ten, and too think for the time period covered ('62-'66), they had other songs just as good that didn't make it into this package.

Michael Jackson can call himself the king of pop, but the real pop kings in the early '60s were the Beatles, as anybody who was around back then can tell ya. The first 16 songs on here are all pop, but by mid 1965 their music style would slowly start to change, and since the Beatles were the main trendsetters in music, all of rock music changed along with them.Whatever the Beatles did, everybody else would follow.

It is totally impossible to say for sure which song on here is the best one, but I will try. Let's see, the best pop song would be "She Loves You" - better sung and blended vocals are just not possible, best drug song would be "Day Tripper" - even if most fans didn't have a clue what the song was really about when it first was released, and the best of the newer sounding songs is "Girl", a song with a double meaning to it, something that they would get into again in the upcoming years.

I really don't have to say too much more about this greatest hits album, it speaks for itself and if you love the Beatles you more than likely already have it and love it. If you don't love or at least like the Beatles and their music, then you are not a true rock fan, and more than likely never will ever get it.

-Keno 2005

To listen to some soundclips from THE BEATLES 1962-1966 or to purchase it, click on: The Beatles '62 -'66

Return to Rock Album's Reviews

As The All Music Guide says in their excellent Beatles biography,"So much has been said and written about The Beatles and their story is so mythic in it's sweep that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating cliche's that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans.To state the obvious,they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era,and introduced more innovations into popular music than any other rock band of the 20th century,moreover they were among the few artists of *any* discipline that were simultaneously the best at what they did,*and* the most popular at what they did Relentlessly imaginative, and expermintal The Beatles grabbed a hold of the international mass consciousness in 1964 and never let go for the next 6 years always staying ahead of the pack in terms of creativity but never losing their ability to communicate their increasingly sophisticated ideas to a mass audience.Their supremacy as rock icons remains unchallenged to this day decades after their breakup in 1970."

"Even when couching praise in specific terms, it's hard to convey the scope of The Beatles achievements in a mere paragraph or two. They synthesized all that was good about early rock &roll and changed it into something orginal and exciting. They established the prototype of the self-contained rock group that wrote and performed it's own material. As composers their craft and melodic inventiveness were second to none and key to the evolution of rock from it's blues R&B- based forms into a style that was far more eclectic but equally visceral. As vocalists John Lennon &Paul McCartney were both among the best and most expressive vocalists in rock;the groups harmonies were intricate and exhillarating."

"The Popularity Of The Beatles as a unit proved eternal. In part this is because the group's 1970 split effectively short-circuited the prospects of artistic decline;the body of work that was preserved was uniformly strong. However it's also because like any great works of art,The Beatles records carried an ageless magnificence that continues to captivate new generations of listeners. So it is that Beatles records continue to be heard on radio in heavy rotation,continue to sell in massive quanities and continue to be covered and quoted by rock and pop artists through the present day"

Yeah, a good point, well made. But now, it's medication time, medication time...