The Beatles

[RyeOfTheDead]

Picked up the remastered version of Sgt. Pepper's today after spending half an hour playing the store demo of the new Rock Band game with the Beatles songs in it. Seriously, how amazingly good were the Beatles? I know some people get annoyed by them but I never get over just how talented those guys were/are.

[Milfmog]

I've just ordered a copy of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from Amazon. I heard "Good Morning" on the radio the other day and could still remember every word, even though it was probably thirty years since I last heard it. That reminded me just how good the album was and I place the order as soon as I got home.

My wife is convinced she has never heard the album although obviously she knows some of the songs, so I feel a need to "educate" her. My son (14) commented that he was glad I've ordered it as he wants to rip it to his Ipod...

In the attic I still have a vinyl copy (in Mono!) bought on the day of release (by an older sister - I was not old enough to be buying records then, even if I'd had any money), unfortunately it is so worn as to be almost unplayable now, even if I still had one of those old record player things

Have fun,


Ian.

Edit: typo corrected - Ian

[nicothoe]

The wife is one of those people who is not a big fan of the Beatles. Of course, being from Liverpool myself, I am compelled to give her an evil look and snarl menacingly....

[Mipi]

They are very high on my top list.

[PatJ]

The Beatles were like a fine wine - it needed to mature.

In their early days - not so good. But as they aged, their music improved dramatically.

I still won't listen to their early stuff, but the later music was great IMHO.

That's my 2 cents worth.

[imadube]

The Beatles were like a fine wine - it needed to mature.

I wouldn't say Mature so much as Drug induced.
Which in combination with Yoko actually caused the demise of the band.

So, had they never "went Hippy" would the music been better or worse?

[crfriend]

Like all great bands, The Beatles produced some really amazing stuff as well as some utter dreck -- it's all part of the creative process, and sometimes a well-meaning experiment goes awry. So, extreme highs and embarrassing lows are to be expected. The Rolling Stones were (and perhaps remain -- are they still writing or merely coasting along on their earlier works?) the same way.

What I didn't particularly care for about The Beatles' style was that it obliterated, almost overnight, some rather creative stuff that was going on here in the States. Groups like the Everly Brothers and the Kingston Trio had some really interesting sounds and themes to them, but the raw splash-and-flash (and seeming alienness) of The Beatles shoved that to the sideline very quickly -- and ushered in the age of the "guitar band".

The cynic in me wonders who's getting rich on the latest re-re-re-release of The Beatles' catalogue (as was stated in Men in Black, "I'll have to buy the "White Album" again). There are two surviving band members, neither of whom likely need the money; I smell the record companies, and that smell is rather pungent. I just hope that when they played the original tapes again (actually, you have to do that every so often for a number of reasons) that they oversampled like fiends with wide word-widths, and did a broadband FM copy in analogue as well. (Go ahead. Call me a fossil.)

[Sarongman]

Carl, count me in as a fellow fossil. I liked a lot of the Beatles' quieter stuff and am also wistful about the "might have been" re. The Everly Bros and the Kingston Trio. Also, while in fossil mode, I have a half speed recorded (most lp's were ripped off the master tape at far more than twice speed, losing pitch, in the highs especially, in the process) vinyl LP of Kim Carnes and the quality IMHO is far superior to cd.

[Since1982]

The thing I liked best about the Beatles is their bringing long hair to America. I just wish they'd thought of identical skirts instead of identical pants for their cute suits when they first arrived. If they had, we'd all be in skirts now and these sites would have never needed to exist as they are. They'd have existed as simply men's fashion sites instead of promoting a NEW thing.

[PatJ]

That was an interesting thought! What if the Beetles had worn skirts instead of identical pants. The girls screamed through their concerns and pushed their boyfriends into letting their hair grow. It may have led to a Fashion Revolution.

But then again - those nero jackets they wore for a time never made it big so maybe the skirt idea would have failed as well.

[Since1982]

If beetles start wearing skirts it will definitely be a surprise to all the other insects.

[Bob]

I just got Magical Mystery Tour, Rubber Soul, Revolver and Let it Be in the mail, newly remastered. As mentioned above, I just can't ever get over what amazing musicians they were.