Beatles Set For $1.6 Billion Pay Day

The surviving Beatles stars are set for a bumper $1.6 billion pay day, following a slew of re-released records and a new Fab Four-inspired video game.

Sir Paul MCCartney and Ringo Starr teamed up with John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, to approve the use of the band's music in new game Beatles: Rock Band, which goes on sale later this year.

Beatles fans will also be able to get their hands on remastered versions of 13 of the Fab Four's albums as a $272 (£170) boxset, as well as digital tracks which will soon be available to download through iTunes.

The new projects are set to make 2009 the group's highest-earning year ever, with experts predicting a massive $1.6 billion profit.

Brand expert Jonathan Gabay tells British newspaper the Daily Record, "In one masterstroke, they address falling sales of CDs as well as grab a new generation of Beatlemaniacs."

Thanks for the report to Contactmusic.com.

Comments

[Lemonmonkye]

proof that the Beatles will truly live forever as well as their music

[FearOfTheDuck]

Talk about milking the cash cow!

[klysandral]

do they really need this money? I hope they distribute it to charity or something.

[Samqua93]

So this is confirmed that they'll be on itunes then?

[Korzack]

klysandral wrote:

do they really need this money? I hope they distribute it to charity or something.

Not really, but Damn, they're gonna enjoy it!

[pwrmax]

klysandral wrote:

do they really need this money? I hope they distribute it to charity or something.

Knowing Paul, he would do something like that.

[Guitarist_Taylo]

You know Paul? Didn't think so.

[lank81]

I do think it is somewhat, "milking the cash cow", at least with Rockband. The remasters will be cool although I'm not sure it'll be better than the original recordings, maybe just louder? Also, I don't know that Paul would be the first to handle over a fistful of cash to the needy. If George were still alive I believe he'd be the first to donate, especially to a fund for India.

[visiofx]

I wish the 1 billion will house all homeless people or find a cure for cancer.

[Matt-92]

[quote=klysandral]do they really need this money? I hope they distribute it to charity or something.[/quote]
They may not need the money, but no-one is forcing anyone to buy the albums again. At the end of the day if people want to buy these albums in what will be the best quality they'll have been available in since vinyl then the Beatles and their families as the artists deserve the money. The rockband isn't "milking the cash cow" either. They were aproached about doing it and agreed, it's not like they came up with the idea themselves. Also I agree that George would have been the first to give it to charity, although Paul's been pretty good for the last 30 years or so

[flashmdg]

visiofx wrote:

I wish the 1 billion will house all homeless people or find a cure for cancer.

same

[KingSquall802]

There will always be a time for The Beatles, forever.

[This1GoesTo11]

I wonder if Paul looks at Ringo and thinks, "I can't believe this guy gets an equal cut of 1.6 billion dollars." Ringo, as lovable as he may be, is one of the luckiest men on earth.

[darkl64]

Beatles Rock Band isn't a cash cow thing, it was something that should've been done. A band like The Beatles needs as much legacy as they can get =P
As for the re-masters... Meh, to be honest the sound is well mixed but quiet so they shouldn't mess up the balance, but then they'll just be making the old albums louder?

[griff1987]

not even gene simmons has sunk this low

[Airline-Olie]

visiofx wrote:

I wish the 1 billion will house all homeless people or find a cure for cancer.

the homeless didn't do shit to earn it did they now

[ChucklesMginty]

Airline-Olie wrote:

visiofx wrote:

I wish the 1 billion will house all homeless people or find a cure for cancer.

the homeless didn't do shit to earn it did they now

Well they're pretty disadvantages >.>

Anyways, I actually don't think it'll sell very well.

[Jet_Black88]

Love the beatles, want the Rock Band game. I think these guys deserve the respect they get - genius song writers, an obscene amount of talent (All of them can sing pretty well), and really evolving the music scene of the 60s. If you don't like the Beatles, you like someone influenced by them.

[Portugeezer31]

greaatt i hear heather needs a new leg

[wouldyakindly]

Airline-Olie wrote:
the homeless didn't do shit to earn it did they now

Did Ringo Starr and Yoko Ono? Sure, the Beatles deserve their place in rock royalty, but the idea of giving Paul, Ringo and Yoko any more money for sitting on their asses making mediocre music since the 70s makes me sick.

[Hasok]

This1GoesTo11 wrote:

I wonder if Paul looks at Ringo and thinks, "I can't believe this guy gets an equal cut of 1.6 billion dollars." Ringo, as lovable as he may be, is one of the luckiest men on earth.

LOL yeah...

[JS5150]

Maybe Paul can buy the entire catalog back now...

[McTodd]

"Sir Paul MCCartney and Ringo Starr teamed up with John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, to ..."

I'm sure Olivia and Dhani Harrison were involved in this too. Nice to see they're still screwing George out of his credit from beyond the grave.

[GoldenBlues]

As somebody likes all the Beatles songs he hears on the radio, but doesn’t own a single Beatles album. This new box set is a good opportunity for me to get into them.

checked. stop arguing about rap.

[Zyph73]

Innovative or not, I have to wonder if they earned the billion for doing just about nothing new. I honestly found them rather boring and dull to listen to but that's usually just me. And I'm usually seen as horribly wrong for not hopping on the Beatles train, ah well.

[sottpwn]

Lemonmonkye wrote:

proof that the Beatles will truly live forever as well as their music

More like proof that the cash cow will live forever, as will their wallets.

[jtemkin42]

the beatles sell out... the day that rock and roll has truly died

[cyonn]

if this money goes to a good cause, then im fine with this.

if they keep it, then theyre sell outs imo

[l2wis]

i hope they do what the hell they want to with the money they've earnt! If some snotty people started telling me what to do with my money i wouldnt be to impressed!

[RyanEsta]

ha I think it's funny when people try to tell other people how they should spend the money that they've earned.

[UnaLaguna]

Further evidence that the current method of paying artists in the music industry for their work is broken.

IMHO musicians should get one payment for making a record, full stop. None of this earning loads if your record happens to commercially successful, or nothing if your record doesn't sell, regardless of quality.

Nobody every needs as much money as is being talked about here in their lifetime.

[MethLabForCutie]

the beatles are not sellouts. bands like nickelback are. if you use the same 3 chords every song and sing about how cool you are and why people should like you, thats compromising your artistic individuality to make money. the beatles however, did not do this.

[MethLabForCutie]

UnaLaguna wrote:

Further evidence that the current method of paying artists in the music industry for their work is broken.

IMHO musicians should get one payment for making a record, full stop. None of this earning loads if your record happens to commercially successful, or nothing if your record doesn't sell, regardless of quality.

Nobody every needs as much money as is being talked about here in their lifetime.

that leaves no incentive to make better music and progress. go be a commie somewhere else, lol

[ibanezfreak42]

IM NOT SAYING THE BEATLES ARE SELL OUTS
but i hate how when aerosmith did this they were called sellouts i mean seriously wut the hell its doesnt make sense
im a HUGE beatles fan and im glad for all the success but im just trying to make a point

[Beerad1337]

MethLabForCutie wrote:

the beatles are not sellouts. bands like nickelback are. if you use the same 3 chords every song and sing about how cool you are and why people should like you, thats compromising your artistic individuality to make money. the beatles however, did not do this.

That's not what a sellout is, lol. That's just you not liking Nickelback's music.

[Ackj]

visiofx wrote:

I wish the 1 billion will house all homeless people or find a cure for cancer.

ALL homeless? cure cancer? its a billion dollars, yes its a lot of money for a few people to have, but in the grand scheme, its really not much. there are already billions spent on cancer research, and certainly the number of homeless is high enough that each would only receive a hundred or so dollars

[NorCalLos]

Sweet. Can we please have a remixed and remastered ...And Justice For All now?

Thanks.

[adayinthelife]

Well, according to John Lennon, the Beatles sold out right at the beginning of the career. So whether this compromises their integrity or not (which, despite my dislike of Rock Band, I believe it does not) should hardly be an issue to debate.

[NorCalLos]

Beerad1337 wrote:

MethLabForCutie wrote:

the beatles are not sellouts. bands like nickelback are. if you use the same 3 chords every song and sing about how cool you are and why people should like you, thats compromising your artistic individuality to make money. the beatles however, did not do this.

That's not what a sellout is, lol. That's just you not liking Nickelback's music.

What if you sing about how it's not cool to beat women? Is that "selling out?"

[Shuk]

The concept of 'sellout' is widely misunderstood. 'Selling out' is when you sacrifice the quality or integrity of your art for the sole purpose of making money. Making money that you earned is not 'selling out'. The Beatles Rock Band does not sacrifice the quality of the Beatles music, and if you argue that the Remasters do, you're just plain dumb, they sound amazing.

[jrcsgtpeppers]

The Beatle's rock band sold more than I thought. Not many Beatles fans anymore.

[gothikchile13]

Technically, isn't Michael Jackson's estate set for the $1.6 Billion pay day? He is the one that bought the rights to all of their songs, right?

-g13

[Ranting Thespia]

klysandral wrote:

do they really need this money? I hope they distribute it to charity or something.

Yoko donates all money from John's work to charity (Beatles and Solo). Paul donates a shit load, and so does Ringo. They also forgot to mention Olivia Harrison, and she donates a shitload too.

[Ranting Thespia]

jrcsgtpeppers wrote:

The Beatle's rock band sold more than I thought. Not many Beatles fans anymore.

I HIGHLY disagree. All of my friends and acquaintances have at least one Beatles album in some form or another (and I have all of them, and all of George's solo work, and all of John's, as well as a good chunk of Paul's, and tons of DVDs of the Beatles and their solo Career).

[Slash 555]

Well paul is hanging up touring next year so i guess this is his "retirement" cash lol.

[Jarf]

klysandral wrote:

do they really need this money? I hope they distribute it to charity or something.

Fuck that. Ferraris for everybody (in my immediate friend circle)!

[beyondthegrave]

Airline-Olie wrote:

visiofx wrote:

I wish the 1 billion will house all homeless people or find a cure for cancer.

the homeless didn't do shit to earn it did they now

thats somewhat true for the crackheads and other drug addicts and people who dont try to better themselves. as of latley the downfall of the acconomy has put many hard working people and their families on the streets.

[Mattylightning]

MethLabForCutie wrote:

the beatles are not sellouts. bands like nickelback are. if you use the same 3 chords every song and sing about how cool you are and why people should like you, thats compromising your artistic individuality to make money. the beatles however, did not do this.

THANK YOU!

[hardrocker628]

i want to buy their music on itunes

[Rengori]

jtemkin42 wrote:

the beatles sell out... the day that rock and roll has truly died

Well they've been for sale since 1964.

[TryingYourLuck]

jtemkin42 wrote:

the beatles sell out... the day that rock and roll has truly died

isnt the money going to a charity? from what i heard "doctors without borders" or is that just the downloadable song "all you need is love"? idk but i heard its going to charity, cuz i dont think paul and ringo need that money anymore lol.

[Ponomar]

Eh I never liked The Beatles. Not to offend anyone.

[Ponomar]

NorCalLos wrote:

Sweet. Can we please have a remixed and remastered ...And Justice For All now?

Thanks.

Lmao, don't you mean St. Anger? But really I'd like to hear a remastered Kill 'Em All, but with Jaymz's 1983 vocals.

[Henkdemachtige]

Ponomar wrote:

NorCalLos wrote:

Sweet. Can we please have a remixed and remastered ...And Justice For All now?

Thanks.

Lmao, don't you mean St. Anger? But really I'd like to hear a remastered Kill 'Em All, but with Jaymz's 1983 vocals.

When did this article involve a shitty band?

[sfaune92]

I thought it was cover.
Definetily gonna check out the Beatles when their remastered album becomes released.

[sfaune92]

*covers

[RockDragon]

This1GoesTo11 wrote:

I wonder if Paul looks at Ringo and thinks, "I can't believe this guy gets an equal cut of 1.6 billion dollars." Ringo, as lovable as he may be, is one of the luckiest men on earth.

I lol'd

Airline-Olie wrote:

visiofx wrote:

I wish the 1 billion will house all homeless people or find a cure for cancer.

the homeless didn't do shit to earn it did they now

/\ This.

Portugeezer31 wrote:

greaatt i hear heather needs a new leg

ROFPMSL!!!

Seriously though, they haven't sold out as the music hasn't suffered as a result (has even been improved in the case of the remasters).

And I'm with the guy who likes the songs he hears but doesn't actually own any albums - could well increase my interest in what is, whether you like it or not, an iconic rock and roll group.

[mr_metal121]

shit thats alot of money just for releasing remasters and a game especially in a time were pirating and downloading is everywhere

[Neurie]

Remember George Harrisons estate also get a quarter of the profits.

Having actually met Paul once through work and his ex wife hether I can say he is actually a really nice guy

[The_Metalfreak]

NorCalLos wrote:
Lmao, don't you mean St. Anger? But really I'd like to hear a remastered Kill 'Em All, but with Jaymz's 1983 vocals.

When did this article involve a shitty band?

First word of the title

[tom1thomas1]

were there CDs available before today though? Are these just reengineered, or the first CD releases?

[Jonesy033]

Isn't Macca already worth like £250million? Deary me.

Checked.

[jkassel]

jtemkin42 wrote:

the beatles sell out... the day that rock and roll has truly died

wouldn't selling out mean they sold themselves to big business in order to ***** themselves to the masses?

...last i checked, the beatles already made more money than god when they were still in the sgt. pepper days. this is them being rock stars. and enjoying the **** out of it years later.

...and on a further note, rock and roll has not died. yes, the biggest band of all time is making more money than necessary. but the GREATest band of all time hasn't sold the rights on any of their songs, save i think one. (psst. it's led zeppelin) So as long as they don't ***** themselves out, rock and roll is doin' juuuuust fine.

[guitar_hero999]

This1GoesTo11 :
I wonder if Paul looks at Ringo and thinks, "I can't believe this guy gets an equal cut of 1.6 billion dollars." Ringo, as lovable as he may be, is one of the luckiest men on earth.

he has the worlds best talking voice too XD

[Italy's Finest]

Come on - this is definitely ridiculous. No one needs that much money , especially with what they preached in their songs. I love The

[Italy's Finest]

Come on - this is definitely ridiculous. No one needs that much money , especially with what they preached in their songs. I love The beatles as much as the next guy but what the hell? THEY BETTER GIVE THAT ALL AWAY- REALLY.
I find this quite depressing, honestly. They are making all musicians look like greedy pricks. Since they are the most renowned musicians in the world, it's pretty important too. What the hell guys? Where did you leave your souls behind? You already have more than enough money to live a life of grandiose and excess plus tons more, and your gonna GET MORE now. What the ****?

[Italy's Finest]

jkassel wrote:

jtemkin42 wrote:

the beatles sell out... the day that rock and roll has truly died

wouldn't selling out mean they sold themselves to big business in order to ***** themselves to the masses?

...last i checked, the beatles already made more money than god when they were still in the sgt. pepper days. this is them being rock stars. and enjoying the **** out of it years later.

...and on a further note, rock and roll has not died. yes, the biggest band of all time is making more money than necessary. but the GREATest band of all time hasn't sold the rights on any of their songs, save i think one. (psst. it's led zeppelin) So as long as they don't ***** themselves out, rock and roll is doin' juuuuust fine.

I agree that rock stars shoudl be rich since they are stars but at this point it is a little absurd. Other stars have handled the fame in much different and better ways. Paul McCartney is a cock sucking bitch if you ask me. I hate judging people but seriously what the hell man?

[Italy's Finest]

I hate to post again but something is just seriously wrong about this and it's making me never want to cover a single Beatles song again. That's a god damn shame.

[youwon'tseeme]

This is to themetalfreak( to ever say that The Beatles are a "sh*tty band is so ludicrious and stupid!) and anyone else who has said inaccurate ignorant things about The Beatles.

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. 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 voсalists 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.

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 were 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

[youwon'tseeme]

their early music and that they invented folk 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!
Wilco's John Stirratt also said in a Bass Player interview online when asked what bass players has had the most impact on his playing and the first thing he said is,"Paul McCartney is one of the greatest bass players of all time,if you listen to what he was tracking live in the studio it's unbelievable." "With his tone and musicality he was a huge influence =,he covered all of his harmonic responsibilities really well but his lines were absolutely melodic and inventive."

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 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 Keno'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 admir

[youwon'tseeme]

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. In fact Bob Dylan said in a Rolling Stone interview last year 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 anyo

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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!

Also, The Beatles were *NEVER* a boy band at all not even in 1963, 1964 and 1965, and they were Mostly a Great *ROCK* Band from the start! They started out playing 8 hours a night for two years in a row playing in the sleazy strip clubs of Hamburg Germany wearing tight leather black pants and jackets, cursing and smoking on stage, and taking speed pills to awake, and going to bed with many young women groupies. The cleaned up image was a fake joke that their manager Brian Epstein created which John hated and resented the most.

There were a lot of rough thugs who came into those clubs, and if they played bad live, they would have beaten the crap out of them playing 8 hours a night for 2 years! Instead they became the most popular successful group in these German clubs even with all of the competition from other groups from England and Germany! They also played live in The Cavern Club for several years. They worked very hard to get where they got!

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, plus Day Tripper, Paperback Writer, She Said She Said, And You're Bird Can Sing, Taxman, 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, Hey Bulldog, 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.John and Paul wrote it right in front of them. And Keith Richards said, wow how can you write a song just like that? And it inspired them to start writing their own songs.

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.

I also have to say, that I have always totally hated Led Zeppelin they truly sound like one of the worst groups I have ever had the misfortune of hearing! They along with Queen and Pink Floyd are the only 3 groups that I have to get up off of my chair even if I'm very tired and turn off immediately!

The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Jimi Hendrix are all a million times better! And The Beatles are Certainly a ZILLION times BETTER!!

I have also found many other people who hate Led Zeppelin and feel they are one of the worst bands ever too, and even some people on heavy metal sites. Oh and I have also read many people on music boards saying that Led Zeppelin's lyrics are simple,and not that good and like a teenage boy wrote them !

[youwon'tseeme]

Comment (1)

That the Beatles mean so much to so many people who make music in so many genres goes without saying. What doesn’t go without saying is what John, Paul, George and Ringo mean to these musicians, who share in their own words the important role the Fab Four have played in their songs and in their lives.

“The three of us [in Nirvana] grew up listening to the Beatles, then classic rock and punk. Somehow, it all came together.” –Dave Grohl

“I don’t think I could write with John Lennon. He’s too genius … All you [could] do is mess it up.” –Miley Cyrus

“In Dublin we think the Beatles are Irish. There’s a revenge against [the] class system that’s a very Irish preoccupation… Here were the Fab Four spitting out a new vocabulary, that comes from that kind of revenge against the old idea of England that wasn’t inclusive of the working class.” –Bono

“I love the Beatles. What more can I say? I’m not gonna lie to you. I love ‘em. They make me happy. And I think they were the best, and still are.” –Liam Gallagher

I don’t think anybody comes close to the Beatles, including Oasis.” –Brian May of Queen

“I heard ‘Rubber Soul’ one night in my house here in LA, and I was so blown out that I said, ‘I have to record an album as good or better than ‘Rubber Soul.’ If I ever do anything in my life, I’m going to make that good an album.’” –Brian Wilson

“You can’t beat the Beatles. You join ‘em.” –Peggy Lee

“The first [record] I can remember buying was ‘Meet the Beatles!’ at a garage sale for five cents.” –Billy Corgan

“The Beatles really synthesized what I wanted to do. The single biggest moment that I can remember being galvanized into wanting to be a musican for life was seeing the Beatles on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’” –Billy Joel

“I bought [John Lennon's] ‘Plastic Ono Band,’ and I listened to it over and over for months. It’s a monumental work of genius… The attitude and emotion of that album are harder than any punk rock I’ve ever heard.” –Lenny Kravitz

“The Beatles were why we turned from a jug band into a rock ‘n’ roll band. What we saw them doing was impossibly attractive.” –Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead

“To be in the same room as the four of them caused me to not sleep for, like, three days.” –Jeff Lynne

“The Beatles defined their own sense of values and honor. They took stances without ever being politically correct. And they did it all with incredible humor… I honestly think that there are certain things in life that help people understand themselves. I think the Beatles are one of those things. They resonate the journey of true selfhood, really.” –Sophie B. Hawkins

“I’m probably the biggest Beatles fan on the planet.” –Robin Zander of Cheap Trick

“A lot of that Beatles influence comes from Steven [Tyler]’s collaboration with Mark Hudson, both of whom are absolute Beatle freaks… I guess the goal is to try and emulate probably some of the best music of the last 50 years, which has to be the Beatles.” –Brad Whitford of Aerosmith

“We looked deep down inside the very core of our souls and there was a little Ringo sitting there. Sure, we like telling people it’s John Lennon or George Harrison, but when you really look deep inside of Soundgarden, there’s a little Ringo wanting to get out.” — Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

“[The Beatles were] the start of the reason why we’re doing a band.” –Vicki Peterson of the Bangles

“How could you not be influenced by the Beatles if you write songs?” –Sean Lennon

Which Beatle Are You? Quiz
at 9-15-2009I’m really surprised that you didn’t include quotes from Ozzy Osbourne who was interviewed I think in your very own magazine in 2002 where he calls The Beatles The Greatest Band To Ever Walk The Earth and said that he loved them since he was a teenager and called Paul McCartney a musical genuis.

Also Bob Dylan praised John,Paul and George last year in Rolling Stone.And Roger McGuinn is also a big fan and The Rolling Stones were fans and friends with them too.Also,

Artist Main:
The Beatles

The Beatles

Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready Praises The ‘Phenomenal’ Beatles

But he might not be so good at the just-released ‘Beatles: Rock Band’: ‘I need to work on my skills.’

by Kyle Anderson

Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready (MTV News)

Pearl Jam already have several links to “Rock Band,” as they have made their classic debut Ten available in its entirety as a playable download and will be dropping their forthcoming album

Add RSS Headlines

Add VH1 News to My Yahoo

Backspacer in the same fashion once it’s released September 20. And though founding guitarist Mike McCready has played the game and is excited for the Wednesday (September 9) release of “The Beatles: Rock Band,” he has a confession to make.

“I honestly grew up listening to the Stones more,” McCready told MTV News at the Outside Lands Festival. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t love the Beatles.”

McCready cited the band’s harmonies as a musical development that really inspired him, and he also gave a nod to a classic piece of video. “The concert footage on the roof was probably something that was

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

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

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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.

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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 bed sheets 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.

Back to Inside the Crossfire
Back to the Home Page

Web page design copyright 1996 © , text copyright 2005 © Peter Cross

[youwon'tseeme]

Also,

on a fan site for the rock group Yes, called, Yesfans.com ( who are also big Beatles fans themselves and they recorded and played live several Beatles songs and member Rick Wakeman did a whole Beatles tribute album in 2000) they had a topic called Are The Beatles Overrated? from 2004-2008 and over 70% of the Yes fans voted the first choice, No Of Course Not They Were Not Overrated How Can You Even Ask This Question.

And one of the Yes fans posted in early 2008," The Greatest Band of all time overrated? Phuck no!"

And another Yes fan quoted him and said I second what he said! Another Yes fan quoted his own post from a year before when he had said he thought The Beatles were overrated and he now quoted his old post with an I'm stupid emoticon and he said how could I have been so stupid,of course The Beatles are not overrated.

Also, guitarist Frank Marino of the hard rock group Mahogany Rush said in several online interviews that he hates The Rolling Stones but he likes The Beatles,Jimi Hendrix,and The Doors etc. And Dave Navarro of the rock group Jane's Addiction said in Guitar World in 1991 and 1996 that he has always hated The Rolling Stones and he will never play one of their records.

Also there used to be an online interview with Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts from a 1973 Magazine called Zig Zag,and the interview was called,The Drinking Man's Rolling Stone. He says in this interview that The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were a lot alike as people and were friends. He also said what made The Beatles so great is that they made one great single and great album after the next!

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Z401: The Music of The Beatles

Dr. Glenn Gass
Indiana University -- School of Music

An in-depth, song-by-song look at the music, lives and times of this extraordinary group and songwriting partnership. Offered at Indiana University since 1982, the course focuses on the Beatles' music and is aimed at heightening student listening skills as well as fostering a deeper appreciation for the Beatles' remarkable recordings. The music is supplemented by a multimedia course companion that provides biographical information, audio and video clips and a closer look at the Beatles' songwriting and recording process.

Fall 2009

Tues & Thurs 70 - 90 in Ballantine Hall 013

Instructor: Dr. Glenn Gass, Sycamore
Grading Assistant: Kelsey McCardle

Required text: "The Beatles" by Bob Spitz

Recommended Text: "The Beatles" by Hunter Davies

Listening: The Beatle albums are on reserve at the School of Music Library and at the Media Center in the Main Library

Click here for instructions on using the on-line reserve listening at the School of Music Library
Listening via Variations2 is also available for use at home (click here for information and for software downloading and installation instructions).

Students will be responsible for knowing all of the Beatle albums, along with the singles collected on the two Past Masters cd's.

Students are strongly encouraged to buy all of the Beatle CD's and have them in your permanent collection.
On 9/9/09 the long-awaited Beatle remasterings will be released making this an ideal time to purchase the Beatle catalog.

COURSE GRADES will be based on four exams, all of equal weight.

No make-ups will be given without a documented and officially sanctioned excuse. Instead, students who must miss an exam will take a comprehensive makeup exam at the end of the semester, following the final exam. This option is also available to students who wish to use the makeup to take the place of a lower exam score (it cannot hurt your grade).

The course grade is determined entirely by the results of the best four scores from the five exams (including the comprehensive make-up). The grading scale is fixed and must remain so in a class this size in the interest of fairness. All requests to "round up" a score or receive extra credit will be regretfully declined. The grading scale is:

A+ = 98%; A = 93%; A- = 90%
B+ = 88%; B = 83%; B- = 80%
C+ = 78%; C = 73%; C- = 70%
D+ = 68%; D = 63%; D- = 60%

Fall 2009 test dates:

TEST ONE: September 29 (Please Please Me, With the Beatles & Hard Day's Night; Spitz chapters 1 - 26)
TEST TWO: October 20 (Beatles For Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul; Spitz ch. 27 - 28)

TEST THREE: November 12 (Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine; Spitz ch. 29 - 35)

TEST FOUR/Final Exam: Thursday December 17 at 7:15pm in BH 013 (White Album, Let It Be, Abbey Road; Spitz: read to end)

Note: the singles from Past Masters will also be included on the exams for the appropriate period.

LAPTOPS, Texting, Twittering, etc. will not be allowed in class. I apologize for this but the use of laptops and online devices of any sort has proven to be too much of a distraction.

Final note: I am no happier about our late exam date than you are, but there is nothing we can do to change it. Please keep it in mind and do not make plans to leave Bloomington until after the exam(!)

Grades will be available via the "Post 'Em" link on our class Oncourse site.

Beatles In London: Summer IU Office of Overseas Studies course

Music in General Studies homepage

Beatle Sites in England:
Glenn's Guide to the Beatles' England website: Beatle sites in London and Liverpool

A video tour of Beatles sites in London and Liverpool (17 minutes long: may take a while to load):

A shorter Beatle tour is also posted on YouTube.com (please view in "High Quality" mode if possible)

Two Beautiful Boys, Mathew and Julian (YouTube video, High Quality mode please)

Some WWW Beatle links:

Glenn's interview with Beatle biographer Hunter Davies

Bill Harry's Merseybeat online. Feedback and suggestions welcome and appreciated.

Another guide to Beatle Locations in London

Info on guided walking tours of Beatle sites in London.

A Liverpool Beatle locations site

The official BEATLES website

George's All Things Must Pass. website

Beatles Discography and Day-By-Day website.
The Beatles Lyrics webpage

Beatle lyrics from rare-lyrics.com

Beatles Number 9 website, a great site for archived interviews, books excerpts, history etc.

The massive Beatles Index site.

Beatle discography site.

Beatles triva quiz site.

Beatle Fan Club Christmas Records.

Beatlelinks

The Internet Beatles Recording Index: a fantastic central point for cross-indexed information about every song

Steve's Beatle Page, with lyrics and song info

Beatlelinks.net: Beatle Internet Resource Guide

The Bootleg Zone, with detailed information about Beatles recordings (and many other bands)

Songsofbeales.com: song lyrics

[youwon'tseeme]

As this guy Sal66 who has also posted on sites debunking ignorant crap about The Beatles has rightfully pointed out, The Beatles wrote, played and recorded the hit song I Feel Fine in the Fall of 1964 which was the first use of feedback guitar on a pop rock record and it also had a prominent rock guitar riff throughout this very good song, almost a year *before* The Rolling Stones's Satisfaction came out.

And on John's great Norwegian Wood recorded in the Fall of 1965, George Harrison was the first to play a sitar on a pop rock song and it was released on their great album Rubber Soul in December and then in May 1966 The Rolling Stones song Paint It Black came out with Brian Jones playing a sitar!

Also The Rolling Stones wrote quite a few soft sentimental songs like Lady Jane,Ruby Tuesday, As Tears Go By, Angie, Waiting On A Friend none of which are rock songs and the two dreadful disco imitations Emotinal Rescue and Miss You. At least when Paul McCartney did a disco like song Good Night Tonight it had very good and interesting sounding music!

[youwon'tseeme]

You know your music - so do we. THE ALLMUSIC Blog.


The Beatles

Formed

1960 in Liverpool, England

Disbanded

1970

Genre Styles
Pop/Rock
Early Pop/Rock
Rock & Roll
British Invasion
Psychedelic
Merseybeat
Pop/Rock
British Psychedelia
AM Pop
Folk-Rock

Moods
Ambitious
Complex
Exciting
Fun
Bright
Lively
Witty
Carefree
Happy
Sentimental
Wistful
Searching
Sweet
Warm
Yearning
Whimsical
Amiable/ Good-Natured
Poignant
Laid-Back/ Mellow
Lush
Literate

Biography by Richie Unterberger

So much has been said and written about the Beatles -- and their story is so mythic in its sweep -- that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating clichés 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. 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 experimental, the Beatles grabbed a hold of the international mass consciousness in 1964 and never let go for the next six 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 original and even more exciting. They established the prototype for the self-contained rock group that wrote and performed its own material. As composers, their craft and melodic inventiveness were second to none, and key to the evolution of rock from its blues/R&B-based forms into a style that was far more eclectic, but equally visceral. As singers, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney were among the best and most expressive vocalists in rock; the group's harmonies were intricate and exhilarating. As performers, they were (at least until touring had ground them down) exciting and photogenic; when they retreated into the studio, they were instrumental in pioneering advanced techniques and multi-layered arrangements. They were also the first British rock group to achieve worldwide prominence, launching a British Invasion that made rock truly an international phenomenon.

More than any other top group, the Beatles' success was very much a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Their phenomenal cohesion was due in large degree to most of the group having known each other and played together in Liverpool for about five years before they began to have hit records. Guitarist and teenage rebel John Lennon got hooked on rock & roll in the mid-'50s, and formed a band, the Quarrymen, at his high school. Around mid-1957, the Quarrymen were joined by another guitarist, Paul McCartney, nearly two years Lennon's junior. A bit later they were joined by another guitarist, George Harrison, a friend of McCartney. The Quarrymen would change lineups constantly in the late '50s, eventually reducing to the core trio of guitarists, who'd proven themselves to be the best musicians and most personally compatible individuals within the band.

The Quarrymen changed their name to the Silver Beatles in 1960, quickly dropping the "Silver" to become just the Beatles. Lennon's art college friend Stuart Sutcliffe joined on bass, but finding a permanent drummer was a vexing problem until Pete Best joined in the summer of 1960. He successfully auditioned for the combo just before they left for a several-month stint in Hamburg, Germany.

Hamburg was the Beatles' baptism by fire. Playing grueling sessions for hours on end in one of the most notorious red-light districts in the world, the group was forced to expand its repertoire, tighten up its chops, and invest its show with enough manic energy to keep the rowdy crowds satisfied. When they returned to Liverpool at the end of 1960, the band -- formerly also-rans on the exploding Liverpudlian "beat" scene -- were suddenly the most exciting act on the local circuit. They consolidated their following in 1961 with constant gigging in the Merseyside area, most often at the legendary Cavern Club, the incubator of the Merseybeat sound.

They also returned for engagements in Hamburg during 1961, although Sutcliffe dropped out of the band that year to concentrate on his art school studies there. McCartney took over on bass, Harrison settled in as lead guitarist, and Lennon had rhythm guitar; everyone sang. In mid-1961, the Beatles (minus Sutcliffe) made their first recordings in Germany, as a backup group to a British rock guitarist/singer based in Hamburg, Tony Sheridan. The Beatles hadn't fully developed at this point, and thes

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these recordings -- many of which (including a couple of Sheridan-less tracks) were issued only after the band's rise to fame -- found their talents in a most embryonic state. The Hamburg stint was also notable for gaining the Beatles sophisticated, artistic fans such as Sutcliffe's girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr, who influenced all of them (except Best) to restyle their quiffs in the moptops that gave the musicians their most distinctive visual trademark. (Sutcliffe, tragically, would die of a brain hemorrhage in April 1962).

Near the end of 1961, the Beatles' exploding local popularity caught the attention of local record store manager Brian Epstein, who was soon managing the band as well. He used his contacts to swiftly acquire a January 1, 1962, audition at Decca Records that has been heavily bootlegged (some tracks were officially released in 1995). After weeks of deliberation, Decca turned them down as did several other British labels. Epstein's perseverance was finally rewarded with an audition for producer George Martin at Parlophone, an EMI subsidiary; Martin signed the Beatles in mid-1962. By this time, Epstein was assiduously grooming his charges for national success by influencing them to smarten up their appearance, dispensing with their leather jackets and trousers in favor of tailored suits and ties.

One more major change was in the offing before the Beatles made their Parlophone debut. In August 1962, drummer Pete Best was kicked out of the group, a controversial decision that has been the cause of much speculation since. There is still no solid consensus as to whether it was because of his solitary, moody nature; the other Beatles' jealousy of his popularity with the fans; his musical shortcomings (George Martin had already told Epstein that Best wasn't good enough to drum on recordings); or his refusal to wear his hair in bangs. What seems most likely was that the Beatles simply found his personality incompatible, preferring to enlist Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey), a drummer with another popular Merseyside outfit, Rory Storm & the Hurricanes. Starr had been in the Beatles for a few weeks when they recorded their first single, "Love Me Do"/"P.S. I Love You," in September 1962. Both sides of the 45 were Lennon-McCartney originals, and the songwriting team would be credited with most of the group's material throughout the Beatles' career.

The single, a promising but fairly rudimentary effort, hovered around the lower reaches of the British Top 20. The Beatles phenomenon didn't truly kick in until "Please Please Me," which topped the British charts in early 1963. This was the prototype British Invasion single: an infectious melody, charging guitars, and positively exuberant harmonies. The same traits were evident on their third 45, "From Me to You" (a British number one), and their debut LP, Please Please Me. Although it was mostly recorded in a single day, Please Please Me topped the British charts for an astonishing 30 weeks, establishing the group as the most popular rock & roll act ever seen in the U.K.

What the Beatles had done was take the best elements of the rock and pop they loved and make them their own. Since the Quarrymen days, they had been steeped in the classic early rock of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and the Everly Brothers; they'd also kept an ear open to the early '60s sounds of Motown, Phil Spector, and the girl groups. What they added was an unmatched songwriting savvy (inspired by Brill Building teams such as Gerry Goffin and Carole King), a brash guitar-oriented attack, wildly enthusiastic vocals, and the embodiment of the youthful flair of their generation, ready to dispense with postwar austerity and claim a culture of their own. They were also unsurpassed in their eclecticism, willing to borrow from blues, popular standards, gospel, folk, or whatever seemed suitable for their musical vision. Producer George Martin was the perfect foil for the group, refining their ideas without tinkering with their cores; during the last half of their career, he was indispensable for his ability to translate their concepts into arrangements that required complex orchestration, innovative applications of recording technology, and an ever-widening array of instruments.

Just as crucially, the Beatles were never ones to stand still and milk formulas. Al

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All of their subsequent albums and singles would show remarkable artistic progression (though never at the expense of a damn catchy tune). Even on their second LP, With the Beatles (1963), it was evident that their talents as composers and instrumentalists were expanding furiously, as they devised ever more inventive melodies and harmonies, and boosted the fullness of their arrangements. "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" established the group not just as a popular music act, but as a phenomenon never before seen in the British entertainment business, as each single sold over a million copies in the U.K. After some celebrated national TV appearances, Beatlemania broke out across the British Isles in late 1963, and the group generating screams and hysteria at all of their public appearances, musical or otherwise.

Capitol, which had first refusal of the Beatles' recordings in the United States, had declined to issue the group's first few singles, which ended up appearing on relatively small American independents. Capitol took up its option on "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which stormed to the top of the U.S. charts within weeks of its release on December 26, 1963. The Beatles' television appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964 launched Beatlemania (and the entire British Invasion) on an even bigger scale than it had reached in Britain. In the first week of April 1964, the Beatles had the Top Five best-selling singles in the U.S.; they also had the first two slots on the album charts, as well as other entries throughout the Billboard Top 100. No one had ever dominated the market for popular music so heavily; it's doubtful that anyone ever will again. The Beatles themselves would continue to reach number one with most of their singles and albums until their 1970 breakup.

Hard as it may be to believe today, the Beatles were often dismissed by cultural commentators of the time as nothing more than a fad that would vanish within months as the novelty wore off. The group ensured this wouldn't happen by making A Hard Day's Night in early 1964, a cinéma vérité-style motion picture comedy/musical that cemented their image as "the Fab Four": happy-go-lucky, individualistic, cheeky, funny lads with nonstop energy. The soundtrack was also a triumph, consisting entirely of Lennon-McCartney tunes, including such standards as the title tune, "And I Love Her," "If I Fell," "Can't Buy Me Love," and "Things We Said Today." George Harrison's resonant 12-string electric guitar leads were hugely influential; the movie helped persuade the Byrds, then folksingers, to plunge all out into rock & roll, and the Beatles (along with Bob Dylan) would be hugely influential on the folk-rock explosion of 1965. The Beatles' success, too, had begun to open the U.S. market for fellow Brits like the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Kinks, and inspired young American groups like the Beau Brummels, Lovin' Spoonful, and others to mount a challenge of their own with self-penned material that owed a great debt to Lennon-McCartney.

Between riotous international tours in 1964 and 1965, the Beatles continued to squeeze out more chart-topping albums and singles. (Until 1967, the group's British albums were often truncated for release in the States; when their catalog was transferred to CD, the albums were released worldwide in their British configurations.) In retrospect, critics have judged Beatles for Sale (late 1964) and Help! (mid-1965) as the band's least impressive efforts. To some degree, that's true. Touring and an insatiable market placed heavy demands upon their songwriting, and some of the originals and covers on these records, while brilliant by many group's standards, were filler in the context of the Beatles' best work.

But when at the top of their game, the group was continuing to push forward. "I Feel Fine" had feedback and brilliant guitar leads; "Ticket to Ride" showed the band beginning to incorporate the ringing, metallic, circular guitar lines that would be appropriated by bands like the Byrds; "Help!" was their first burst of confessional lyricism; "Yesterday" employed a string quartet. John Lennon in particular was beginning to exhibit a Dylanesque influence in his songwriting on such folky, downbeat numbers as "I'm a Loser" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." And tracks like "I Don't Want to Spoil the

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Party" and "I've Just Seen a Face" had a strong country flavor.

Although the Beatles' second film, Help!, was a much sillier and less sophisticated affair than their first feature, it too was a huge commercial success. By this time, though, the Beatles had nothing to prove in commercial terms; the remaining frontiers were artistic challenges that could only be met in the studio. They rose to the occasion at the end of 1965 with Rubber Soul, one of the classic folk-rock records. Lyrically, Lennon, McCartney, and even Harrison (who was now writing some tunes on his own) were evolving beyond boy-girl scenarios into complex, personal feelings. They were also pushing the limits of studio rock by devising new guitar and bass textures, experimenting with distortion and multi-tracking, and using unconventional (for rock) instruments like the sitar.

As much of a progression as Rubber Soul was relative to their previous records, it was but a taster for the boundary-shattering outings of the next few years. The "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" single found the group abandoning romantic themes entirely, boosting the bass to previously unknown levels, and fooling around with psychedelic imagery and backward tapes on the B-side. Drugs (psychedelic and otherwise) were fueling their already fertile imaginations, but they felt creatively hindered by their touring obligations. Revolver, released in the summer of 1966, proved what the group could be capable of when allotted months of time in the studio. Hazy hard guitars and thicker vocal arrangements formed the bed of these increasingly imagistic, ambitious lyrics; the group's eclecticism now encompassed everything from singalong novelties ("Yellow Submarine") and string quartet-backed character sketches ("Eleanor Rigby") to Indian-influenced swirls of echo and backward tapes ("Tomorrow Never Knows"). Some would complain that the Beatles had abandoned the earthy rock of their roots for clever mannerism. But Revolver, like virtually all of the group's singles and albums from "She Loves You" on, would be a worldwide chart-topper.

For the past couple of years, live performance had become a rote exercise for the group, tired of competing with thousands of screaming fans that drowned out most of their voices and instruments. A 1966 summer worldwide tour was particularly grueling: the group's entourage was physically attacked in the Philippines after a perceived snub of the country's first lady, and a casual remark by John Lennon about the Beatles being bigger than Jesus Christ was picked up in the States, resulting in the burning of Beatle records in the Bible belt and demands for a repentant apology. Their final concert of that American tour (in San Francisco on August 29, 1966) would be their last in front of a paying audience, as the group decided to stop playing live in order to concentrate on their studio recordings.

This was a radical (indeed, unprecedented) step in 1966, and the media was rife with speculation that the act was breaking up, especially after all four spent late 1966 engaged in separate personal and artistic pursuits. The appearance of the "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever" single in February 1967 squelched these concerns. Frequently cited as the strongest double A-side ever, the Beatles were now pushing forward into unabashedly psychedelic territory in their use of orchestral arrangements and Mellotron, without abandoning their grasp of memorable melody and immediately accessible lyrical messages.

Sgt. Pepper, released in June 1967 as the Summer of Love dawned, was the definitive psychedelic soundtrack. Or, at least, so it was perceived at the time: subsequent critics have painted the album as an uneven affair, given a conceptual unity via its brilliant multi-tracked overdubs, singalong melodies, and fairy tale-ish lyrics. Others remain convinced, as millions did at the time, that it represented pop's greatest triumph, or indeed an evolution of pop into art with a capital A. In addition to mining all manner of roots influences, the musicians were also picking up vibes from Indian music, avant-garde electronics, classical, music hall, and more. When the Beatles premiered their hippie anthem "All You Need Is Love" as part of a worldwide TV broadcast, they had been truly anointed as spokespersons for their generation (a role they had not actively sought), and it se

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and it seemed they could do no wrong.

Musically, that would usually continue to be the case, but the group's strength began to unravel at a surprisingly quick pace. In August 1967, Brian Epstein -- prone to suicidal depression over the past year -- died of a drug overdose, leaving them without a manager. They pressed on with their next film project, Magical Mystery Tour, directed by themselves; lacking focus or even basic professionalism, the picture bombed when it was premiered on BBC television in December 1967, giving the media the first real chance they'd ever had to roast the Beatles over a flame. (Another film, the animated feature Yellow Submarine, would appear in 1968, although the Beatles had little involvement with the project, either in terms of the movie or the soundtrack.) In early 1968, the Beatles decamped to India for a course in transcendental meditation with the Maharishi; this too became something of a media embarrassment as each of the four would eventually depart the course before its completion.

The Beatles did use their unaccustomed peace in India to compose a wealth of new material. Judged solely on musical merit, The White Album, a double LP released in late 1968, was a triumph. While largely abandoning their psychedelic instruments to return to guitar-based rock, they maintained their whimsical eclecticism, proving themselves masters of everything from blues-rock to vaudeville. As individual songwriters, too, it contains some of their finest work (as does the brilliant non-LP single from this era, "Hey Jude"/"Revolution").

The problem, at least in terms of the group's long-term health, was that these were very much individual songs, as opposed to collective ones. Lennon and McCartney had long composed most of their tunes separately (you can almost always tell the composer by the lead vocalist). But they had always fed off of each other not only to supply missing bits and pieces that would bring a song to completion, but to provide a competitive edge that would bring out the best in the other. McCartney's romantic melodicism and Lennon's more acidic, gritty wit were perfect complements for one another. By The White Album, it was clear (if only in retrospect) that each member was more concerned with his own expression than that of the collective group: a natural impulse, but one that was bound to lead to difficulties.

In addition, George Harrison was becoming a more prolific and skilled composer as well, imbuing his own melodies (which were nearly the equal of those of his more celebrated colleagues) with a cosmic lightness. Harrison was beginning to resent his junior status, and the group began to bicker more openly in the studio. Ringo Starr, whose solid drumming and good nature could usually be counted upon (as was evident in his infrequent lead vocals), actually quit for a couple of weeks in the midst of the White Album sessions (though the media was unaware of this at the time). Personal interests were coming into play as well: Lennon's devotion to romantic and artistic pursuits with his new girlfriend (and soon-to-be wife) Yoko Ono was diverting his attentions from the Beatles. Apple Records, started by the group earlier in 1968 as a sort of utopian commercial enterprise, was becoming a financial and organizational nightmare.

These weren't the ideal conditions under which to record a new album in January 1969, especially when McCartney was pushing the group to return to live performing, although none of the others seemed especially keen on the idea. They did agree to try and record a "back-to-basics," live-in-the-studio-type LP, the sessions being filmed for a television special. That plan almost blew up when Harrison, in the midst of tense arguments, left the group for a few days. Although he returned, the idea of playing live concerts was put on the back burner; Harrison enlisted American soul keyboardist Billy Preston as kind of a fifth member on the sessions, both to beef up the arrangements and to alleviate the uncomfortable atmosphere. Exacerbating the problem was that the Beatles didn't have a great deal of first-class new songs to work with, although some were excellent. In order to provide a suitable concert-like experience for the film, the group did climb the roof of their Apple headquarters in London to deliver an impromptu performance on January 30, 1969, before the

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performance on January 30, 1969, before the police stopped it; this was their last live concert of any sort.

Generally dissatisfied with these early-1969 sessions, the album and film -- at first titled Get Back, and later to emerge as Let It Be -- remained in the can as the group tried to figure out how the projects should be mixed, packaged, and distributed. A couple of the best tracks, "Get Back"/"Don't Let Me Down," were issued as a single in the spring of 1969. By this time, the Beatles' quarrels were intensifying in a dispute over management: McCartney wanted their affairs to be handled by his new father-in-law, Lee Eastman, while the other members of the group favored a tough American businessman, Allen Klein.

It was something of a miracle, then, that the final album recorded by the group, Abbey Road, was one of their most unified efforts (even if, by this time, the musicians were recording many of their parts separately). It certainly boasted some of their most intricate melodies, harmonies, and instrumental arrangements; it also heralded the arrival of Harrison as a composer of equal talent to Lennon and McCartney, as George wrote the album's two most popular tunes, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun." The Beatles were still progressing, but it turned out to be the end of the road, as their business disputes continued to magnify. Lennon, who had begun releasing solo singles and performing with friends as the Plastic Ono Band, threatened to resign in late 1969, although he was dissuaded from making a public announcement.

Most of the early-1969 tapes remained unreleased, partially because the footage for the planned television broadcast of these sessions was now going to be produced as a documentary movie. The accompanying soundtrack album, Let It Be, was delayed so that its release could coincide with that of the film. Lennon, Harrison, and Allen Klein decided to have celebrated American producer Phil Spector record some additional instrumentation and do some mixing. Thus the confusion that persists among most rock listeners to this day: Let It Be, although the last Beatles album to be released, was not the last one to be recorded. Abbey Road should actually be considered as the Beatles' last album; most of the material on Let It Be, including the title track (which would be the last single released while the group was still together), was recorded several months before the Abbey Road sessions began in earnest, and a good 15 months or so before its May 1970 release.

By that time, the Beatles were no more. In fact, there had been no recording done by the group as a unit since August 1969, and each member of the band had begun to pursue serious outside professional interests independently via the Plastic Ono Band, Harrison's tour with Delaney & Bonnie, Starr's starring role in the Magic Christian film, or McCartney's first solo album. The outside world for the most part remained almost wholly unaware of the seriousness of the group's friction, making it a devastating shock for much of the world's youth when McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles on April 10, 1970. (The "announcement" was actually contained in a press release for his new album, in which his declaration of his intention to work on his own effectively served as a notice of his departure.)

The final blow, apparently, was the conflict between the release dates of Let It Be and McCartney's debut solo album. The rest of the group asked McCartney to delay his release until after Let It Be; McCartney refused and, for good measure, was distressed by Spector's post-production work on Let It Be, particularly the string overdubs on "The Long and Winding Road," which became a posthumous Beatles single that spring. Although McCartney received much of the blame for the split, it should be remembered that he had done more than any other member to keep the group going since Epstein's death, and that each of the other Beatles had threatened to leave well before McCartney's departure. With hindsight, the breakup seemed inevitable in view of their serious business disagreements and the growth of their individual interests.

As bitter as the initial headlines were to swallow, the feuding would grow much worse over the next few years. At the end of 1970, McCartney sued the rest of the Beatles in order to dissolve their partnership; the battle dra

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the battle dragged through the courts for years, scotching any prospects of a group reunion. In any case, each member of the band quickly established a viable solo career. In fact, at the outset it could have been argued that the artistic effects of the split were in some ways beneficial, freeing Lennon and Harrison to make their most uncompromising artistic statements (Plastic Ono Band and All Things Must Pass). George's individual talents in particular received acclaim that had always eluded him when he was overshadowed by Lennon-McCartney. Paul had a much rougher time with the critics, but continued to issue a stream of hit singles, hitting a commercial and critical jackpot at the end of 1973 with the massively successful Band on the Run. Ringo did not have the songwriting acumen to compete on the same level as the others, yet he too had quite a few big hit singles in the early '70s, often benefiting from the assistance of his former bandmates.

Yet within a short time, it became apparent both that the Beatles were not going to settle their differences and reunite, and that their solo work could not compare with what they were capable of creating together. The stereotype has it that the split allowed each of them to indulge in their worst tendencies to their extremes: Lennon in agitprop, Harrison in holier-than-thou mysticism, McCartney in cutesy pop, Starr in easy listening rock. There's a good deal of truth in this, but it's also important to bear in mind that what was most missing was a sense of group interaction. The critical party line often champions Lennon as the angry, realist rocker, and McCartney as the melodic balladeer, but this is a fallacy: each of them was capable, in roughly equal measures, of ballsy all-out rock and sweet romanticism. What is not in dispute is that they sparked each other to reach heights that they could not attain on their own.

Despite periodic rumors of reunions throughout the 1970s, no group projects came close to materializing. It should be added that the Beatles themselves continued to feud to some degree, and from all evidence weren't seriously interested in working together as a unit. Any hopes of a reunion vanished when Lennon was assassinated in New York City in December 1980. The Beatles continued their solo careers throughout the 1980s, but their releases became less frequent, and their commercial success gradually diminished as listeners without first-hand memories of the combo created their own idols.

The popularity of the Beatles-as-unit, however, 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 quantities, and continue to be covered and quoted by rock and pop artists through the present day.

Legal wrangles at Apple prevented the official issue of previously unreleased Beatle material for over two decades (although much of it was frequently bootlegged). The situation finally changed in the 1990s, after McCartney, Harrison, Starr, and Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, settled their principal business disagreements. In 1994, this resulted in a double CD of BBC sessions from the early and mid-'60s. The following year, a much more ambitious project was undertaken: a multi-part film documentary, broadcast on network television in 1995, and then released (with double the length) for the home video market in 1996, with the active participation of the surviving Beatles.

To coincide with the Anthology documentary, three double CDs of previously unreleased/rare material were issued in 1995 and 1996. Additionally, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr (with some assistance from Jeff Lynne) embellished a couple of John Lennon demos from the 1970s with overdubs to create two new tracks ("Free as a Bird" and "Real Love") that were billed as actual Beatles recordings. Whether this constitutes the actual long-awaited "reunion" is the subject of much debate. Certainly these cuts were hardly classics on par with the music the group made in the 1960s. Some fans, even diehards, were inclined

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WHAT DO OTHERS SAY?

George Martin

" There's no doubt that Lennon and McCartney were good musicians. They had good musical brains, and the brain is where music originates - it has nothing to do with your fingers. As it happened, they could also play their own instruments very well.
And since those early days they've all improved, especially Paul. He's an excellent musical all-rounder, probably the best bass-guitarist there is, a first-class drummer, brilliant guitarist and competent piano player."

Sting

" It's hard to separate McCartney's influence on my bass playing from his influence on everything else-singing, songwriting, even becoming a musician in the first place. As a child, I would play my Beatles albums at 45 RPM so I could hear the bass better. He's the Guvnor."

Will Lee

" Growing up in Texas in the early '60s I was so obsessed with the Beatles' music that I didn't feel like a fan, I felt like I was in the Beatles. About the same time I switched from drums to bass I became aware of who gave the band its charm and personality, from visual tunes like "Penny Lane" to the group's repartee with the press. It was the same fellow who was able to take a poor-quality instrument like the Hofner bass and create magic on it. I especially dug Paul's funky, Motown-influenced side, evident in the bass line from Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey," or even in the syncopated part from "A Day In The Life.
Paul's influence on bassists has been so widespread over numerous generations that there's no denying he's in everybody's playing at this point. We're all descendants. He played simple and solid when it was called for. But because he had so many different flavors to add to a song, he was able to take the instrument far beyond a supportive role. Paul taught the bass how to sing."

Stanley Clarke

"Paul definitely had an influence on my bass playing, not so much technically, but more with his philosophy of melodic bass lines - especially as I hit my teens and the Beatles' records became more adventurous. On tracks like "Come Together," the bass line WAS the song. I've always liked that. The only other person I knew of who was doing that was James Jamerson. That was one of the reasons I was inspired to write "School Days": so I could just play the bass lines and people would hear a whole song.

I had the honor of being contacted by Paul through George Martin to play on Tug of War, and I also appeared on Pipes of Peace [both on Capitol]. Paul was very nice. He asked me to show him how to slap. During Pipes we got a groove going in a studio jam, and it ended up making on the album as "Hey Hey." He graciously gave me a co-writing credit, and it's still a thrill to see my name next to his above the music in the song book."

Billy Sheehan

" The reason I got involved with music in the first place was because I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. I watched all the girls going crazy, and I figured this was the best business in the world to be in. Later on, when I got more deeply into music, Sgt. Pepper was a break-through record for me. I must have listened to it several hundred times. What intrigued me was how totally musical every aspect of it was, especially Paul's melodic, fluid bass lines. When my band Talas was starting in the mid '70s, [the Beatles' tribute show] Beatlemania was big, and we used to play entire gigs of just Beatles tunes. I've learned so much from Paul about playing, writing, and playing and singing at the same time that I should probably start sending him checks.

Most bassists get into the flashy players, but I think the reason Paul is often overlooked is that what he was doing wasn't really obvious. It was so brilliantly woven into the context of the songs. One of my favorites is the bass line from "Rain." I still use it to test the low end of an amp. That Paul happens to play bass is a great boon to all of us, because he made us realize that there are no limitations to being a bass player."

John Lennon

"Paul was one of the most innovative bass players ever. And half the stuff that is going on now is directly ripped off from his Beatles period."

[youwon'tseeme]

Still relevant after decades, the Beatles set to rock 9/9/09
Story Highlights

9/9/09 a big day for The Beatles

"Rock Band" video game and remastered albums both to be released

Apple Inc. expected to make "music-related" announcement the same day

Expert compares The Beatles to Picasso, says their music will endure
By Doug Gross
CNN
(CNN) -- "Number nine. Number nine. Number nine."

The repetitive refrain from one of The Beatles' most mind-bending journeys into psychedelia -- "Revolution 9," the audio pastiche from "The White Album" -- is now serving as the backbeat of a big day for the biggest band in rock 'n' roll history.

On Wednesday -- 9/9/09 -- remastered versions of the Beatles catalogue will be released, giving listeners what the remaining members of "The Fab Four" say is the closest reproduction ever of how their music sounded in the studio.

The same day, the video game "The Beatles: Rock Band" is set to be released by Harmonix. Modeled after the already popular "Rock Band" game, and closely supervised by The Beatles and their estates, the game lets players sing and strum along on a huge list of Beatles classics over scenes ranging from Liverpool's Cavern Club to their final performance on a London rooftop.

And on top of that, there's rampant speculation that a planned "music-themed" announcement by Apple Inc., also scheduled on 9/9/09, could involve the supergroup.

The Beatles are one of a handful of groups whose music has never been approved for sale by Apple's iTunes, and the timing of the announcement has fueled speculation that could finally change -- or even that specialized Beatles iPods, like the ones sold in 2004 loaded with U2's music, could be in the works.

It's a remarkable amount of buzz for a band whose roots stretch back nearly five decades. And it's a clear sign, observers say, that through time and a multitude of cultural shifts, the group's hold on the public's imagination has endured.

"People are still looking at Picasso. People are still looking at artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original," said Robert Greenfield, a former associate editor at Rolling Stone magazine who has written about the band. "In the form that they worked in, in the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive than The Beatles were."

Research shows that more than 40 years after their last public performance, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr's music remains as interesting to young people now as it ever was.

A Pew Research survey released last month showed that 81 percent of respondents between ages 16-29 said they liked The Beatles. Eleven percent said they dislike the band and only 4 percent said they have never heard of them.

By comparison, current rockers Coldplay received 39 percent positive responses, with 45 percent saying they'd never heard of them. Forty-two percent said they like hip-hop star Kanye West.

"To put this in perspective: Try imagining young adults back in the 1960s putting the big jazz bands of the roaring '20s at the top of their list of favorites," the survey reads. "Not very likely."

Walter Everett, professor and chairman of music theory at the University of Michigan, said his students know The Beatles catalogue as well today as they would have 30 years ago.

He said the cultural phenomenon that was The Beatles -- the frenzy-inducing early concerts, the furor when John Lennon said the group was "more popular than Jesus," the pre-Internet obsession over "Paul is dead" rumors -- made them something more than just another rock group.

"They were just idolized," said Everett, who has written several books on the band. "It was a musical revolution, but [also] the hair, the clothing, their attitude about the establishment, their support of everybody, young and old alike, to try to understand each other at a very difficult time.

"Some of that message endures."

But at the heart of the phenomenon, experts agree, is the music. From the charming, school-boy bop of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to the blistering assault of "Helter Skelter," the songs, they say, were just that good.

"The point is how great the music is," Greenfield said. "It isn't about the fact that The Beatles were willing to practice and get better at what they did -- it was the fact that that band contained at least two-and-a-half geniuses [Lennon, McCartney and, at times, Harrison]."

Wednesday's announcements -- and, in Apple's case, possible announcement -- show that the minders of The Beatles legacy are keeping up with how today's music consumers behave, said Bruce Burch, director of the University of Georgia's music business program.

"A lot of bands and artists have been slow to embrace the fact that technology is driving the industry," Burch said. "Their music is not going away and this is a step for them for their music to come into the 21st century."

EMI, which will be releasing the remastered recordings, has been

[youwon'tseeme]

Pete Townsend along with John Bonham, John Paul Jones and David Gilmore played on 2 songs on the last Wings album Back To The Egg that came out in 1979 . They also all played with Paul and Wings in the last Wings concerts in December 1979.

Pete also along with Phil Collins who is also a big Beatles fan since he was 13 in the concert scene in the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night, played on Paul's 1986 album Press To Play.

Last year a musician posted on some message board about the new John Lennon biography, and he said watch The Beatles Anthology video series and learn how truly immensely talented this band was.

I once found a post a few years ago of a 35 year old musician in Jamaica who said on his blog that when he was younger and a big Who fan he used to think The Beatles were overrated, but that he did a 300 degree turn around and he said he now truly believes that The Beatles were the greatest rock band ever.

[youwon'tseeme]

You know your music - so do we. THE ALLMUSIC BLOG

She's a Woman

The Beatles

Composed By
John Lennon/Paul McCartney

Song Review by Richie Unterberger

"She's a Woman" was one of the hardest-rocking early Beatles originals, and although it was the B-side to "I Feel Fine," it was almost as big a hit in its own right, reaching number four on the American charts. Sung and primarily written by Paul McCartney, it's a belter that illustrates how the Beatles could be bluesy without writing conventional blues songs that stuck to normal blues progressions. Right from the start, the track has a brash, almost harsh edge, with choppy guitar chords that are more like barks than power chords. McCartney, too often unfairly pegged as a sweet balladeer, demonstrates that he was also one of the best white rock hard singers of all time with his shrill yet rich, even ballsy, vocal.

Certainly his vocal style here betrays a strong trace of Little Richard, but it's unfair to accuse him of imitating or lifting wholesale from his idol. In its confidence and assertiveness, McCartney's high-octane style is most assuredly his own. The basic, R&B-derived melody is effectively counterpointed with one of the briefer Beatle bridges on record, in which the Beatles detour into some non- blues chords and melodies for just a few bars before returning to the main thrust of the tune. McCartney, while devoting most of the words to celebration and praise of his woman, throws in a couple of phrases as evidence that he's starting to think in more sophisticated terms, particularly the line "turns me on when I get lonely" (a very, very early use of "turn me on" slang).

There's also the declaration that his love doesn't buy him presents, even though she's no peasant. Peasant's an unusual word to use in a pop song no matter what the era, and McCartney's value of true love over money (as previously also stated in "Can't Buy Me Love") is eternally hip. George Harrison executes a crafty blues-rock solo with a touch of country influence that's, as was his wont, just right for the song at hand. The ending is uncommonly unimaginative for a Beatles track, with McCartney repeating the title phrase several times over a fade; a more basic alternate take exists (on bootleg) in which he extends this section by improvising on that title line for a few minutes. He'd have to wait until "Hey Jude," however, to take that approach to the multi-extended fade onto an official single. As a rabble-rousing rocker, "She's a Woman" was a natural for the Beatles' live shows; a 1965 version was recorded for their The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl album, and it was still part of their set on their final world tour in 1966. The most famous, or notorious, cover of "She's a Woman" was done by Jeff Beck in the mid-'70s, employing a voicebox on his guitar to sing-play the lyrics. That version was an FM radio favorite for a while, and subsequently sometimes scorned (as were Peter Frampton's voicebox-heavy tracks) as an example of mid-'70s hard rock excess.

Appears On
Rating
Year
Album

Length
Label

1964 Beatles '65
2:57 Capitol
AMG Track Picks

No Reply, I'll Follow the Sun, I Feel Fine

196Z Beatles in Italy EMI

1977 Live at the Hollywood Bowl 2:47 Capitol

1984 The Compleat Beatles [Video] MGM

1988 Past Masters, Vol. 1
33 Capitol
AMG Track Picks

She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, I Feel Fine, I'm Down

1988 Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2 Capitol

1988 The Beatles Box Set [1988] 33 Capitol

1988 Ultra Rare Trax, Vol. 1 The Swingin' Pig

1989 Documents, Vol. 2 6:31 Oh Boy

1989 Five Nights in a Judo Arena Swingin' Pig

1989 Hold Me Tight 6:34 Condor

1989 Ultra Rare Trax, Vol. 6 6:32 The Swingin' Pig

1989 Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 2 (1964-1965) Yellow Dog

1991 British Rock: 1st Wave [video] RCA

1991 I Feel Fine/She's a Woman Capitol

1992 Ready Steady Go!, Vol. 3 [Video] Pioneer

1992 The Beatles Box Set [1992] Capitol

1993 Artifacts, 1958-1970 6:32 Big Music

1993 Compact Disc Singles Collection 31 Capitol

1994 Artifacts II 1960-1969 3:19 Big Music

1994 Complete BBC Sessions Great Dane

1994 Live at the BBC 3:14 Apple/Capitol
AMG Track Picks

I'll Be on My Way, Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms)

1996 Anthology 2
2:54 Apple/Capitol
AMG Track Picks
Yes It Is, If You've Got Trouble, That Means a Lot, I'm Looking Through You, Strawberry Fields Forever

1996 Anthology Video, Vol. 5 Apple

1998 Live in Japan 2:52 Walrus

1999 CD Singles Collection

31 EMI
AMG Track Picks
We Can Work It Out, Paperback Writer, Strawberry Fields Forever, Don't Let Me Down, I Am the Walrus, I'm Down, Ticket to Ride, She's a Woman, Revolution, All You Need Is Love

1999 EP Boxset 35 EMI

2001 Beatles Story CTA

2003 Around the World Import

2004 The Capitol Albums, Vol. 1 31 Capitol
AMG Track Picks
I Want to Hold Your Han

[youwon'tseeme]

You know your music - so do we. THE ALLMUSIC BLOG

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I'm Down
The Beatles Send to Friend

Composed By Other Links
John Lennon/Paul McCartney All Performers that have performed this Title

Song Review by Richie Unterberger

"I'm Down," the B-side of "Help!," was one of the most frantic rockers in the entire Beatles catalog. The very first line — sung a cappella by the principal writer, Paul McCartney — was about as larynx-twisting an upper-register, non-falsetto vocal as was possible in rock music. Critics have often noted that the vocal and the song itself are very much in the Little Richard style, and some see it as little more than a rewrite of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally."

It's true there are some similarities between "I'm Down" and "Long Tall Sally," but it's not just a blatant copy. For one thing, there are the great call-and-response vocals between McCartney and the other Beatles, as well as the sudden jerky shifts in tempo in which the instruments periodically stop altogether. George Harrison lets loose with one of his patented bluesy, slightly disheveled, growling guitar solos, and then it's back to a final verse where McCartney really climbs the high notes for emphasis. That done with, it's time for one of the group's more crazed and elongated fadeouts, kicked off by a hair-raising McCartney scream, then settling into more vocal trades between him and the group as well as some wild organ playing by John Lennon. Although The Beatles Recording Sessions tells listeners that seven takes were completed at the session, the song has a wonderfully loose, almost jammy feel. Listen to the part where McCartney starts the final verse, for instance, and his first line is answered with a lazy, almost diffident guitar sliding slowly up the low notes. Not that it hurts the song any, but there's a contradiction between the mood of the lyrics — ostensibly a guy down in the dumps about being dumped — and the delivery.

McCartney does not sound down in the dumps; he sounds like he's having the time of his life, with an energy that's incredibly infectious. "I'm Down" was a great live favorite of the Beatles' mid-'60s shows, as seen in the famous footage of their 1965 Shea Stadium concert, which closed with an especially wild performance of the song. There have not been many covers of "I'm Down"; indeed, for years it was surprisingly hard to hear, as it didn't get issued on a Beatles LP until the mid-'70s. There were a couple of surprising attempts, however, one a live version (recorded in 1966, released in the 1980s) by the 13th Floor Elevators, with Roky Erickson contributing a demented lead vocal that was grating where McCartney's was uplifting. Even more surprisingly, Yes, a group not known for rock-'em-sock-'em party tunes, did "I'm Down" in concert.

Appears On
Rating
Year
Album

Length
Label

1976 Rock & Roll Music 2:32 Capitol

1980 Rock & Roll Music, Vol. 2 2:38 Capitol

1988 Past Masters, Vol. 1 2:31 Capitol
AMG Track Picks
She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, I Feel Fine, I'm Down

1988 Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2 Capitol

1988 The Beatles Box Set [1988] 2:31 Capitol

1989 Five Nights in a Judo Arena Swingin' Pig

1991 Help/I'm Down Capitol

1993 Artifacts, 1958-1970 2:18 Big Music

1993 Compact Disc Singles Collection 2:33 Capitol

1996 Anthology 2 2:53 Apple/Capitol
AMG Track Picks
Yes It Is, If You've Got Trouble, That Means a Lot, I'm Looking Through You, Strawberry Fields Forever

1996 Anthology Video, Vol. 5 Apple

1998 Live in Japan 3:40 Walrus

1999 CD Singles Collection 2:33 EMI
AMG Track Picks
We Can Work It Out, Paperback Writer, Strawberry Fields Forever, Don't Let Me Down, I Am the Walrus, I'm Down, Ticket to Ride, She's a Woman, Revolution, All You Need Is Love

2001 Beatles Story CTA

2003 Around the World Import

2008 Cartoons Brainmade

2009 The Beatles: Stereo Box Set Capitol

Budokan Concert VAP Inport

Concerts 1964-66 [DVD]

Unauthorised Live, Vol. 1 Joker

Video Scrapbook Encore Entertainment Imprort

[youwon'tseeme]

You know your music - so do we. THE ALLMUSIC BLOG

You Can't Do That

The Beatles

Composed By Other Links
John Lennon/Paul McCartney All Performers that have performed this Title

Song Review by Richie Unterberger

As the B-side to "Can't Buy Me Love," "You Can't Do That" was a worthy companion to the more well-known hit, particularly as it was also one of the Beatles' grittiest and hardest-rocking early originals. The track was introduced by a ringing, circular George Harrison guitar lick that marked the first time he played 12-string electric guitar on a Beatles recording — an innovation that would figure strongly not just in the Beatles' mid-'60s records, but also in the development of folk-rock. Rhythmically the song has a funkier, more soulful beat than anything else the Beatles had previously done, perhaps sparked by increased exposure to American soul music as the group began to tour the U.S. John Lennon, in fact, specifically cited Wilson Pickett as an inspiration for the song, although since Pickett had barely begun to record under his own name when "You Can't Do That" was written in early 1964, one wonders if Lennon was influenced by Pickett only in hindsight.

The song had no shortage of dynamite hooks, particularly the insistent stuttering beats at the end of each verse and bridge, the thrilling soulful responsive harmonies that answer Lennon's lead vocal, and the dramatic rising harmony vocals that accompany Lennon on the bridge.

Lennon lets loose with one of his all-time great screams to launch the instrumental break, in which he makes his debut as a lead guitarist on a Beatles record, with crunchy, frenetic riffing that suits the tune well. Listen also for the very end, in which a reprise of the principal 12-string guitar riff suddenly slows to a crawl for the last three notes. Lyrically this is one of the toughest Lennon- McCartney songs, principally written by Lennon , and verging almost on misogyny in its threats to leave a girl if she so much as talks to another guy. There's an underlying note of insecurity, however, in his laments that others will laugh in his face if they see her acting the way she does. "You Can't Do That" was honored with a most unusual cover version by Nilsson a few years later on his debut album, in which he did not so much sing "You Can't Do That" as use its main motifs for the body of a track which interwove brief phrases from other Beatles classics like "Can't Buy Me Love," "Day Tripper," "You're Going to Lose That Girl," and "Drive My Car."

Appears On
Rating
Year
Album

Length
Label

1964 A Hard Day's Night [UK] 2:37 Capitol
AMG Track Picks
A Hard Day's Night, I Should Have Known Better, And I Love Her, Can't Buy Me Love

1964 The Beatles Beat Odeon

1964 The Beatles' Second Album 2:23 Capitol
AMG Track Picks
You Can't Do That, I'll Get You, She Loves You

1976 Rock & Roll Music 2:37 Capitol

1980 Rock & Roll Music, Vol. 1 2:33 Capitol

1988 The Beatles Box Set [1988] 2:37 Capitol

1990 Ready Steady Go!, Vol. 1 [Video] Pioneer

1991 Can't Buy Me Love/You Can't Do That Capitol

1993 Artifacts, 1958-1970 2:38 Big Music

1993 Compact Disc Singles Collection 2:34 Capitol

1994 Complete BBC Sessions Great Dane

1994 Complete BBC Sessions Great Dane

1994 The Making of a Hard Day's Night MPI

1995 Anthology 1 2:42 Apple/Capitol
AMG Track Picks
Free as a Bird, Ain't She Sweet, One After 909, All My Loving, A Hard Day's Night, Leave My Kitten Alone

1999 CD Singles Collection 2:34 EMI
AMG Track Picks
We Can Work It Out, Paperback Writer, Strawberry Fields Forever, Don't Let Me Down, I Am the Walrus, I'm Down, Ticket to Ride, She's a Woman, Revolution, All You Need Is Love

199Z The Get Back Journals VigoTone

2001 Beatles Story CTA

2001 The Beatles Beat: The Beatles Sessions [Bootleg] Odeon Bootleg

2004 The Capitol Albums, Vol. 1 2:40 Capitol
AMG Track Picks
I Want to Hold Your Hand, It Won't Be Long, I Wanna Be Your Man, Roll Over Beethoven, You Can't Do That, She Loves You, I'll Cry Instead, Things We Said Today, And I Love Her, No Reply, I'm a Loser, She's a Woman, I Feel Fine

2009 The Beatles: Stereo Box Set Capitol

It's All in the Mind Y'know Beat

The Beatles, Vol. 3 Beat/Cool Daddy

The Beatles: 16 Superhits, Vol. 3 2:36 Dorado

[youwon'tseeme]

You know your music - so do we. THE ALLMUSIC BLOG

Revolution
The Beatles

Composed By
John Lennon/Paul McCartney All Performers that have performed this Title

Song Review by Richie Unterberger

As the B-side of "Hey Jude," "Revolution" formed one-half of a worthy contender for the best rock single of all time. As with another contender, "Penny Lane"/ "Strawberry Fields Forever," each side represented one of the best and most characteristic songwriting efforts by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, respectively (even if they were billed to Lennon- McCartney jointly, out of contractual custom). "Revolution" was, of course, quite different in tone from "Hey Jude," one of the group's best ballads. In contrast, "Revolution" was one of their greatest, most furious rockers, also featuring some of Lennon's most challenging, fiery lyrics.

It must first be noted that two entirely different arrangements of "Revolution" were recorded and released. A slow one with doo wop-inspired harmonies, officially titled "Revolution 1," appeared on The Beatles (popularly known as the White Album); the faster and, most would agree, superior version appeared on the B-side of the "Hey Jude" single. The song described here will be the single version, simply entitled "Revolution."

Leading off with a startling machine-gun fuzz guitar riff and a scream, the heart immediately starts pounding before Lennon goes into the first verse. (Trivia note: An obscure 1954 recording by bluesman Pee Wee Crayton, "Do Unto Others," has an opening riff that sounds almost identical to the riff that opens "Revolution." Coincidence, or not?) Combining one of his throatiest vocals and the consistently buzzing, fuzzy guitars, you have one of the most down-and-dirty Beatles tracks ever.

In "Revolution," Lennon seems to be questioning, quite reasonably, the validity of changing the world through violent means. He was setting himself up for criticism from all sides here, particularly in the turbulent year of 1968: the establishment was angered by anyone talking about "Revolution" in any context, while some of the left viewed refusal to overthrow society by any means necessary as a cowardly sellout.

Lennon is quite emphatic, however, that when it comes to violence, you can count him out. (Typically, he would sit on the fence on this issue over the years, and in "Revolution 1," qualify his observation by immediately singing the word "in" after declaring that he could be counted out.) Characteristically, optimism prevails in the Beatles' world, even when taking on one of the most explosive subjects possible, as on the uplifting chorus (helped greatly by harmony vocals), when the group urgently and repeatedly reassures listeners that everything's going to be all right.

Those reassurances become sing-shouts in the final refrain, though the loud guitar figures in the background imply that everything might not be all right, as does a final near-hysterical repetition of the phrase by Lennon. "Revolution," incidentally, was one of the few Beatles tracks to feature a contribution from an outside rock session musician, Nicky Hopkins, who adds ebullient keyboards to the performance.

Appears On

Rating *****
Year
Album

Length
Label

1968 Hey Jude [Single] Apple

1970 Hey Jude
3:21 Capitol
AMG Track Picks
Paperback Writer, Hey Jude, Old Brown Shoe

1973 1967-1970
3:25 Capitol
AMG Track Picks

Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, I Am the Walrus, Hey Jude, Don't Let Me Down, Here Comes the Sun, Something

1976 Rock & Roll Music 3:24 Capitol

1980 Rock & Roll Music, Vol. 2 3:21 Capitol

1984 The Compleat Beatles [Video] MGM

1988 Imagine: John Lennon [Original Soundtrack]
3:22 Capitol
AMG Track Picks

Real Love, In My Life, The Ballad of John and Yoko, Jealous Guy, (Just Like) Starting Over, Imagine

1988 Past Masters, Vol. 2
3:24 Capitol
AMG Track Picks

Day Tripper, We Can Work It Out, Rain, Hey Jude

1988 Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2 Capitol

1988 The Beatles Box Set [1988] 3:24 Capitol

1989 Ultra Rare Trax, Vol. 5 3:19 The Swingin' Pig

1991 Hey Jude/Revolution Capitol

1991 Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 7 (1962-1969) Yellow Dog

1993 Artifacts, 1958-1970 3:19 Big Music

1993 Compact Disc Singles Collection 3:22 Capitol

1993 Unsurpassed Demos Yellow Dog

1994 Artifacts II 1960-1969 3:58 Big Music

1994 Revolution Vigotone

1996 Anthology Video, Vol. 8 Apple

1999 CD Singles Collection
3:22 EMI
AMG Track Picks

We Can Work It Out, Paperback Writer, Strawberry Fields Forever, Don't Let Me Down,

[youwon'tseeme]

You know your music - so do we. THE ALLMUSIC BLOG

Abbey Road
The Beatles

Artist

The Beatles

Album

Abbey Road

Rating *****

Release Date

Sep 26, 1969

Label

Capitol

Genre Styles
Pop/Rock
Album Rock
Rock & Roll
Pop/Rock
British Psychedelia
Psychedelic
Sunshine Pop
Prog-Rock/ Art Rock
AM Pop
Hard Rock

Moods Themes
Whimsical
Naive
Elegant
Sophisticated
Cheerful
Freewheeling
Complex
Brassy
Fun
Romantic
Bittersweet
Sweet
Refined/ Mannered
Brash
Laid-Back/ Mellow
Hypnotic
Intimate
Self-Conscious
Lush
Energetic
Passionate
Road Trip
Reflection
Summertime
Housework

Review by Richie Unterberger

The last Beatles album to be recorded (although Let It Be was the last to be released), Abbey Road was a fitting swan song for the group, echoing some of the faux-conceptual forms of Sgt. Pepper, but featuring stronger compositions and more rock-oriented ensemble work. The group was still pushing forward in all facets of its art, whether devising some of the greatest harmonies to be heard on any rock record (especially on "Because"), constructing a medley of songs/vignettes that covered much of side two, adding subtle touches of Moog synthesizer, or crafting furious guitar-heavy rock ("The End," "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," "Come Together").

George Harrison also blossomed into a major songwriter, contributing the buoyant "Here Comes the Sun" and the supremely melodic ballad "Something," the latter of which became the first Harrison-penned Beatles hit. Whether Abbey Road is the Beatles' best work is debatable, but it's certainly the most immaculately produced (with the possible exception of Sgt. Pepper) and most tightly constructed.

Tracks


Title
Composer
Time

1 Come Together Lennon, McCartney 04:20
2 Something Harrison 032
3 Maxwell's Silver Hammer Lennon, McCartney 03:27
4 Oh! Darling Lennon, McCartney 03:26
5 Octopus's Garden Starkey, Starr 02:51
6 I Want You (She's So Heavy) Lennon, McCartney 07:47
7 Here Comes the Sun Harrison 035
8 Because Lennon, McCartney 02:45
9 You Never Give Me Your Money Lennon, McCartney 042
10 Sun King Lennon, McCartney 02:26
11 Mean Mr. Mustard Lennon, McCartney 016
12 Polythene Pam Lennon, McCartney 01:12
13 She Came in Through the Bathroom Window Lennon, McCartney 01:57
14 Golden Slumbers Lennon, McCartney 01:31
15 Carry That Weight Lennon, McCartney 01:36
16 The End Lennon, McCartney 02:19
17 Her Majesty Lennon, McCartney 00:23

indicates Track Pick
indicates a click-through to a song review

Releases
Year
Type
Label

[youwon'tseeme]

Also Brian Wilson was interviewed on a 1995 ABC news Nightline Beatles tribute show which had music artists of all ages and from all different music fields including a middle aged black Opera singer,a young black jazz musician,Steve Winwood,Meatloaf,and classical violinist Itzhak Perlman who said he plays his children Bach,Beethoven and The Beatles.

Anyway Brian Wilson was playing and singing The Beatles With A Little Help From My Friends on the piano and said he just loves this song. He then said that he thinks John Lennon and Paul McCartney were the 2 greatest song composers of the 20th century. And he said he thinks that Sgt.Peeper is the greatest album he's ever heard!

Brian also said that when he first heard The Beatles brilliant 1965 Rubber Soul album he was just blown away by it. He said all of the songs flowed together and that it was folk rock but pop music at the same time,and he said he couldn't belive that they did this so well.This album inspired him to make Pet Sounds.

And both Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn both have said that even in early songs like She Loves You and I want To Hold Your Hand The Beatles used interesting and unusual chords and arrangements.

Roger McGuinn is quoted in online interviews and on message boards from his interviews saying that in The Beatles early songs they were using folk rock chords and that it had never been done in pop/rock songs before and that he thinks they invented folk rock without even realizing it.He played Beatles songs in clubs in the 1960's and after he saw George Harrison playing his new at the time 12 string guitar in The Beatles great film,A Hard Day's Night,he bought one soon after.

[youwon'tseeme]

THE CLEVELAND LEADER

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Entertainment Breadcrumbs The Beatles Take Over the World's Music Charts with Re-masters Catalogue Release

Submitted by Leader Staff on September 22, 2009 - 4:34pm. Entertainment Music News

On September 9, 2009, The Beatles released their digitally re-mastered catalogue. The band showed their timeless appeal and unique position in the world of music and history, by selling more than 2.25 million copies of The Beatles re-mastered albums during the first five days of release in the major music markets including North America, Japan and the UK.

The Beatles' original UK studio albums were re-mastered by engineers at Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period. The fruit of their meticulous labor is the highest fidelity the band's catalogue has seen since its original release. Each of the re-mastered albums were made available for purchase individually and in two multiple-CD box sets - one in stereo and one in mono.

Decades after their original releases, The Beatles albums sold amazingly with the re-masters' release this month, as evidenced by their unparalleged global chart performance:

US: During the first five days of release, consumers purchased more than one million copies of re-mastered Beatles titles, and the individual CD and boxed sets debuted strongly across multiple Billboard charts.
On Billboard’s Comprehensive Albums chart, which lists the most popular album releases in the US, including current and catalogue titles, The Beatles set a new record for the most simultaneous titles by a single artist (18), including five of the top 10 and nine of the top 20.

On the Pop Catalog chart, The Beatles achieved another new Billboard chart first for the most simultaneous titles in the top 50 (16), a record they previously set themselves with 12 titles in December 1995. The Beatles have nine of the chart’s top 10 titles, and all 14 re-mastered CDs are in the top 20, led by ‘Abbey Road’ at number one and ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ at number two.
On the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, ‘The Beatles’ stereo boxed set debuted at number 15, and ‘The Beatles in Mono’ limited edition boxed set debuted at number 40.

UK: In last week’s chart, The Beatles had four titles in the top 10, seven in the top 40 and 16 in the top 75, including both the stereo and mono boxes, as well as 2000’s ‘Beatles 1’ compilation. This set a new record for the most simultaneous albums in the UK charts according to the UK Official Charts Company. In this week’s UK chart, The Beatles have 13 albums in the top 75. A further 84,000 CDs were sold last week, bringing their total sales of the re-masters to more than 354,000 in 11 days and their total UK sales this decade to 6,755,000.

Japan: All 14 re-mastered titles and boxed sets debuted in the top 25 of the international chart, including seven of the top 10, led by the stereo boxed set at number two, the mono boxed set at number three, ‘Abbey Road’ at four and ‘Let It Be’ at six. Across all titles and box sets, more than 840,000 albums were purchased by consumers in Japan in the first three days of sales.

Canada: The Beatles have 15 of the top 20 catalogue titles including all of the top 11. The stereo boxed set is a new entry in the current albums chart at number four, the highest debut for a boxed set in Canada since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales. Cumulative sales across all titles were just under 160,000 over the counter.

France: All 14 of the re-mastered titles and boxed sets entered the latest album chart, including three in the top 10, led by ‘Abbey Road’ at number four, a new record for the most original studio albums in the French album chart in one week.

Italy: The Beatles have 17 titles in the current chart – all 14 re-mastered titles, the two boxed sets, plus the ‘1’ compilation, a record for the most simultaneous entries in the album chart.
Belgium: With 17 entries in the current chart - the 14 re-mastered titles, two boxed sets and ‘1’ compilation – The Beatles have set a new record for the most simultaneous albums in the Belgian chart as confirmed by chart compiler Ultrapop.
Sweden: The Beatles have 16 titles simultaneously in the top 60, led by ‘Abbey Road’ at number six. Local industry body IFPI have confirmed that this is a record for the Swedish charts.

Argentina: Seven of the current top 10 albums are Beatles re-masters, led by ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at number two, ‘Abbey Road’ at number three and ‘The Beatles’ (The White Album) at number four. All 14 re-mastered titles are in the top 20 and the boxed sets are at numbers 73 and 74 in the chart.
Spain: 13 Beatles albums plus both boxed sets debuted in the latest chart, a record for a single artist. The combined sales of the boxed sets places them at number four in the chart
Poland: All 14 re-mastered albums and two boxed sets debuted in the current top 100, led by ‘Abbey Road’ at six. This is a record for the highest number of simultaneous entries in the Polish chart.
Switzerland: 14 Beatle