"The Beatles!"

[Lord Sausage]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1360704885' post='1975230']
Thank you. That was very nice to read, indeed, and a great support. Must be doing something right then.

Trying to explain what I mean:
When I write, apart from often making mistakes, I can choose how much time I use on looking things up, and I can form sentences that only use the words and ways of expressing that I feel comfortable enough with. When I read, however, part of this freedom is removed, and often stuff does go over my head. In sum, I'll often look more able than I really am.



OK, this has cost a lot of time and energy, and I'm tired and not capable of rereading and judging what I wrote. Will come back later and change where necessary, rather than not posting now.


best,
bert
[/quote]Respect!

[flyfisher]

Seconded!

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1360704885' post='1975230']Must be doing something right then.[/quote]

Uw locatie zegt Noorwegen maar ik zou veronderstellen Flanders enige tijd?

[Hobbayne]

If you want to go to Abbey Road, don't go to Abbey Road station!!

[flyfisher]

Could be the definitive statement regarding their influence and place in history.

[51m0n]

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1360701173' post='1975100']
And why did they have a 'unique level of access' to technology and 'studio usage'? Because very quickly they had proved to the 'powers that be' at Parlophone that they were worth the investment.
Initially they were treated no differently to any other bands of the day. It wasn't until they started selling shed loads of records that all that changed - basically, they had [i]earned[/i] their right to more studio time - and that's how it works to this very day.
Oh, and no one would be foolish enough to say that George Martin wasn't a major factor in their success.
[/quote]

In the first instance a good deal of luck and right place and right time about it, just like pretty much every other band that gets a really good break. After that they made the absolute most of their opportunity and ran with it. GM was hugely influential in their early efforts and at the same time they helped him get access to kit that previously was only available stateside (compressors for instance) at Abbey Road.

It was a fascinating exchange of ideas though, but Hey Jude one of the best songs ever written? Not to me, I absolutely loath it with a vengeance, utter sentimental garbage in every imaginable way; thats not to say I dislike all their material, but I really do think that they are afforded more zealous adulation than the musical output alone deserves. But thats just my opinion....

As for having influenced everyone since, I dont think there is anyway to back up such an ascertion, it is pure fantasy to think so. There are certainly plenty of artists who haven't necessarily been particularly influenced by the Beatles directly, thats for sure, and plenty more whose main influence was to do anything they could to avoid sounding like The Beatles at all, if that is really an influence. Yet there are very few comparatively who claim that The Beatles make up their main and most enduring influence (Oasis being the most obvious stalwarts that come to mind as having preached from the roof tops).

Personally, I, like many others, have never actively gone out of my way to listen to the Beatles, of course I've heard their music, and plenty of it (there are about 4 or 5 of their albums on the shelf), but never because I desperately wanted to, therefore I would consider myself not especially influenced by their work, or PMs efforts on the bass, as worthy as they are to so many. I'd rather listen to other musical waters, which in turn may or may not have been influenced by The Beatles directly, I couldn't hazard a guess.

I do like Yellow Submarine (the film) though. By far the best thing they were ever in - oh, hang on a minute....

[mckendrick]

[quote name='Perennial' timestamp='1360681692' post='1974521']
Wow that was great. I usually avoid the Lennon solo stuff but this was interesting. A little Zappa.
[/quote]
Eh?

[onemanband]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1360422170' post='1970120']
The most over-rated band in history
Very influential etc but I have never actually listened to 90% of their stuff. Not hostile, just never went there.
[/quote]

If you "just never went there" how can you possibly judge them one of the most over rated bands in history!!
You had to be there to appreciate the overwhelming effect they had on the music scene in the sixties; so many great artistes, musicians and orchestras have covered (and I admit, sometimes destroyed) there work. Listen to the words of some of the less popular tracks (In My Life - Rubber Soul....a true classic).
The Beatles have nothing to prove, they were quite rightly absolutely massive, set in stone.......history will tell.

PS. I lived through the sixties and am so glad I did, The "mersey" groups, plus fantastic acts like The Stones, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, The Yardbirds... far too many to mention, but wonderful years and be in NO DOUBT.......The Beatles were the most influential!!!

Edited February 13, 2013 by onemanband

[Dave Vader]

are we still doing this?

[flyfisher]

I'm not. I reckon 20 pages is enough for any subject.

[SteveK]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1360714091' post='1975459']
In the first instance a good deal of luck and right place and right time about it, just like pretty much every other band that gets a really good break. After that they made the absolute most of their opportunity and ran with it.
[/quote]
Maybe it was luck that L&M hooked up and went on to great things, but it's equally possible that L&M hooked up, wrote a couple of songs, decided they were crap, and knocked it on the head, never to be heard of again.
As far as 'right place and right time' is concerned, it's just possible that they created the right place and right time, maybe the right place and right time followed them around. There were many other bands around at the same place and at the same time.
I note you use the word 'opprtunity', come on, you are allowed to use the words 'talent' or 'ability'...or did they stick in your throat .

Another Fab Factlet:
The Beatles and Paul McCartney were the catalyst that prompted Chris Squire to consider a career in music and take up the bass guitar.

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1360753851' post='1975775']Another Fab Factlet:
The Beatles and Paul McCartney were the catalyst that prompted Chris Squire to consider a career in music and take up the bass guitar.
[/quote]

For that alone; come the glorious day, he'll be first against the wall, bop, bop, bop.

[gsgbass]

[IMG]http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u426/roadrex/bang/end.jpg[/IMG]

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='gsgbass' timestamp='1360754146' post='1975784']

[/quote]

Maybe not! It may end up as a
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6AuKENgmLQ[/media]

[tonybassplayer]

Think it was the brilliant South African golfer Gary Player that once said when someone mentioned he was lucky with a shot "yes, the more I practice the luckier I get"

[ead]

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1360427797' post='1970236']
You're entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts. Sgt Pepper is considered the first psychedelic/prog album. It was released before the Moddy Blues ever had an album out.
[/quote]

If memory serves the Moody's released their first album in 1965. Days of Future Passed was released a few month after Sgt. Pepper..

[BigRedX]

[quote name='tonybassplayer' timestamp='1360755948' post='1975825']
Think it was the brilliant South African golfer Gary Player that once said when someone mentioned he was lucky with a shot "yes, the more I practice the luckier I get"
[/quote]

But being good at golf is very easy to quantify. You consistently need to take less shots than anyone else to get the ball from the tee to the hole.

Music like any other art is subjective. Good and bad are different for every person. Being successful at any artistic endeavour is a mixture of being hard work, luck, being innovative/different and talent. Usually in that order. You get lucky by being in the right place at the right time, but you also have to work hard to make sure that you are constantly putting yourself out there in order for one of those places and times to be the right one. Only then do your innovation and talent have a chance to count for anything.

IME too many musicians think that talent/technical ability is sufficient, and spend all their time in their bedroom s honing their "chops". These people are never going to be in any right place at any right time.

Edited February 13, 2013 by BigRedX

[icastle]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1360759130' post='1975903']
But being good at golf is very easy to quantify. You consistently need to take less shots than anyone else to get the ball from the tee to the hole.
[/quote]

Yep.

It's cricket for people that can't run.

[SteveK]

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1360754021' post='1975781']
For that alone; come the glorious day, he'll be first against the wall, bop, bop, bop.
[/quote]
Not a fan then(?)

[KevB]

Quite true though, Yes in their embryonic youth were quite Beatles influenced and used to cover at least one of their songs. I think it was the vocal harmony aspect of the fab four that they drew on the most (and possibly the hash ). For all the instrumental ability they are known for Yes was, at it's root, set up primarily as a [i]vocal [/i]group.

Edited February 13, 2013 by KevB

[aende]

The Beatles were of a generation, a time and a place. So, I think it is not just about the tunes but about the culture and what was happening in the UK at that time.

Of course, this was way before my time on this planet, so, I guess I don't relate to them as a movement. However, when I compare what they were producing to what other British bands were producing - they were very good.

I am happy to listen to a few records, my preference is the later period - Sgt Pepper.

Pretty good pop music and I like a few songs - Are they worth the hype and hysteria; well I guess you had to be there and experience the cultural revolution first hand. So, I have allot of time for the people who want to talk about it all from first hand experience. But there seems to be something slightly 'false' about people who were not there, yet are still hysterical about The Beatles....kinda feels like gravy train or a sheep mentality that found out nothing new and are unable to adapt to new songwriting, but have no cultural connection at all to the period. So many people claim that the Beatles influenced them, but have never gone back to see who influenced the Beatles.....

I was there in Norwich when Nirvana player at the Waterfront in 1990, so, I guess that is my Beatles moment - My 3yo daughter may never understand the hysteria that surrounded grunge in my yoof....But that is where I learned about music, what clothes to wear and became culturally aware; Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, RHCP and so on guided my look and my persona to some degree. And I think the same can be said for The Beatles; More than music, it was a revolution and they were at the head of the charge.

[tonybassplayer]

With regard to my earlier "luck" comment i remember a few years ago a friend of mine saying I was always lucky when applying and getting jobs. I referred him to a saying an old teacher had told him me that the "definition of being lucky is when preparation meets opportunity". I think that's a very nice and simple way to define it.

[KevB]

[quote name='aende' timestamp='1360763339' post='1976029']
My 3yo daughter may never understand the hysteria that surrounded grunge in my yoof....[/quote]

I didn't understand it either and I was in my twenties by that time...too old probably

[KevB]

[quote name='tonybassplayer' timestamp='1360765688' post='1976108']
With regard to my earlier "luck" comment i remember a few years ago a friend of mine saying I was always lucky when applying and getting jobs. I referred him to a saying an old teacher had told him me that the "definition of being lucky is when preparation meets opportunity". I think that's a very nice and simple way to define it.
[/quote]

There's no doubt The Beatles were prepared alright. Macca had spent most of his schooldays thrashing out the likes of twenty flight rock in his bedroom then after The Quarrymen they'd had an intense period of gigging in the UK and (perhaps more importantly) Hamburg. By the time they were being tested out at various record companies they were still raw admittedly but by God they were ready for an opportunity.

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1360760729' post='1975940']
Not a fan then(?)[/quote]

Neither one way or the other tbh; I just fancied ropping in a "Citizen Smith" quote.
I hear a lot being said of Geddy Lee too on here, when I listen to him I don't hear anything remarkable, which probabaly entitles me to a place against the wall too, nor do I with Macca or many other bassists. But my guess would be that any one of them would be preferred to be seen as one element of the sum of the parts.