Music Banter - View Single Post - The Beatles vs The Beach Boys
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Old 03-08-2013, 01:57 PM   #614 (permalink)
G.A. De Forest
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 4
Default No one was ever thanked or got rich attacking sacred cows

Sorry, didn't mean to refer to the Fabs as cows. I grew up with the Beatles, first heard 'From Me to You' when I was going on 8 in the hospital -- loved it. They were my favourite band until 1968 when the whole second half of 'Hey Jude' consisted of 'nah' chanted 175 times. This didn't seem like an act of genius, or even imagination -- still liked 'Revolution' very much though. Don't believe in genius-by-committee as the Beatles worked in the studio anyway. I'm not posing George Martin as an undiscovered genius -- but he was essential to their product for six years. But he was so humble he refused to take a small part of Northern Songs as a conflict of interest unlike all the others on the Beatle bandwagon. Even if he was a genius it would have been suppressed for the sake of Beatle hype and the Lennon-McCartney inviolable brand. Listening to what the Beatles said about themselves would give people better insight -- John Lennon admitting 'Help!' was only the second or third genuinely heartfelt he ever wrote; George harrison saying the White Album could/should have been cut to 14 tracks instead of a double album; Paul McCartney wondering out loud to Phil Spector on their first flight to New York why Americans would want the Beatles when they already had the originals? Let's face it, after five years of going nowhere the Beatles were so grateful to be snapped up by an upper-crust manager that they gave him 20%, in all estimated to have earned what Lennon & McCartney did together while he was alive; just so grateful to get a record deal that they settled for one farthing royalty per side; so grateful to be chosen as EMI head Sir Joseph Lockwood's pet export project and placed on high around the world they gave up all thoughts of rebellion or even writing meaningful songs until John Lennon was 25 and they were in an unassailable position of popularity.
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