Beatles Revisited

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Aimless
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Re: Beatles Revisited

Post by Aimless » May 29th, 2015, 10:14 am

De gustibus non est disputandum, which is to say that matters of taste are not a proper subject for debate.

Personally, I find enjoyment in the music of the Beatles, probably more than I do in the music of the Rolling Stones, the Who, or the Doors. This enjoyment is not based on my opinion on whether Ringo is a better drummer than Ginger Baker, or Jim Morrison is a better lyricist than John Lennon. It is just enjoyment and doesn't need to be rational.

I suspect my enjoyment of the Beatles is largely based in a few simple facts. For one, I was exposed to the Beatles's music at a crucial time when my musical tastes were forming. I turned 10 late in 1964 and went through early adolescence listening to them. Not only are these songs blazoned in my brain from all that radio play or listening to their albums, but they are not so difficult to sing that I cannot sing most of them. And I still find them fun and evocative, which is enough to keep them fresh and enjoyable. The finer points of musicianship are irrelevant to this enjoyment. There's nothing very musically nuanced about Baby You're a Rich Man or Yellow Submarine, but they are memorable, clever singable songs, like most of the Beatles' output.

As for which, if any, of these groups will still be appreciated 50 years from now, I suspect that, much like Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five or the musicals of Rogers and Hart today, there will be a small group of fans who will treasure each of these 1960s groups and their recordings, but they'll be a tiny minority compared to the fans of whatever contemporary music is popular in 2065. The best of 1960s pop music won't be forgotten, but it will occupy a rather minor niche by then. And we'll be dead. :D

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-Q-
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Re: Beatles Revisited

Post by -Q- » May 29th, 2015, 11:09 am

Aimless wrote:And we'll be dead :D
Heck no, I will only be 90 years old in 2065.
I will be the guy blastin The Grateful Dead for all the youngsters to learn from :-)

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drm
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Re: Beatles Revisited

Post by drm » May 29th, 2015, 12:04 pm

A groups impact on music probably has more to do with composition than musicianship, with the humongous exception of Jimi Hendrix, who defined a whole new genre of guitar-playing. I think the Beatles were better composers than they were musicians.

That said, my tastes have never been so mainstream. I think that when some of you were listening to the Beatles, I was listening to Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa, who got their start only a few years after the Beatles. I also saw both perform numerous times. And both of them were very much the innovators too. I would like to think that 200 years from now, Zappa will be covered by more than any of them. But that's probably wishful thinking on my part. Zappa was also a better composer than a musician, though he was no slouch on the guitar.

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-Q-
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Re: Beatles Revisited

Post by -Q- » May 29th, 2015, 2:58 pm

drm wrote:A groups impact on music probably has more to do with composition than musicianship, with the humongous exception of Jimi Hendrix, who defined a whole new genre of guitar-playing. I think the Beatles were better composers than they were musicians.

That said, my tastes have never been so mainstream. I think that when some of you were listening to the Beatles, I was listening to Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa, who got their start only a few years after the Beatles. I also saw both perform numerous times. And both of them were very much the innovators too. I would like to think that 200 years from now, Zappa will be covered by more than any of them. But that's probably wishful thinking on my part. Zappa was also a better composer than a musician, though he was no slouch on the guitar.
Zappa is so underrated its not even funny. He was without question a musical genious.
His composition skills were through the roof, and wrote many classical pieces as you probably know.

His guitar playing is, in my opinion, easily top 5 of all time.
I would easily rank him right up there with Hendrix and Clapton and Page.

Not only was Zappa unreal, but so were the musicians that he had in his various bands.
There is no denying that Terry Bozio is a top 5 drummer, just not many people know of him.
Vinnie Colaiuta is a master, but even less people know him.

The only reason I didn't include Zappa in my original list was his relative obscurity in the general public eye.

If one were to compare their works as a whole, there really is no comparison of Zappa vs the Beatles. Its a blowout, with Zappa in front.

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Splintercat
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Re: Beatles Revisited

Post by Splintercat » May 29th, 2015, 4:34 pm

Heck no, I will only be 90 years old in 2065
Hey, I'll only be 103..! :lol: Probably still bored to tears by the Dead (and Phish) by then, too... I think that was from both overexposure (an older brother followed them around in his van for 10 years) and not being much into noodling/jamming of their kind. But no doubt there will still be Dead Heads around, if only as severed heads in jars, ala Futurama..!

Tom :-)

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-Q-
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Re: Beatles Revisited

Post by -Q- » May 29th, 2015, 5:15 pm

Splintercat wrote:
Heck no, I will only be 90 years old in 2065
Hey, I'll only be 103..! :lol: Probably still bored to tears by the Dead (and Phish) by then, too... I think that was from both overexposure (an older brother followed them around in his van for 10 years) and not being much into noodling/jamming of their kind. But no doubt there will still be Dead Heads around, if only as severed heads in jars, ala Futurama..!

Tom :-)
Bored by Phish?!?!
:o :shock: :?
Splintercat my man, say it ain't so

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kepPNW
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Re: Beatles Revisited

Post by kepPNW » May 30th, 2015, 6:49 am

Zappa is to Liszt as the Beatles are to Bach.

(Of all mentioned in this thread so far, the Dead - by far - get more playtime than any other by me, currently!)
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

Aimless
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Re: Beatles Revisited

Post by Aimless » May 30th, 2015, 8:32 am

-Q- wrote:
Aimless wrote:And we'll be dead :D
Heck no, I will only be 90 years old in 2065.
I will be the guy blastin The Grateful Dead for all the youngsters to learn from :-)
More likely you'll be blasting the Grateful Dead because your hearing aid batteries need changing. :D

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ErinL
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Re: Beatles Revisited

Post by ErinL » May 30th, 2015, 9:21 am

I agree that taste is not a fit topic for debate, but I have to address this point from Q. All of this is stated with a heavy dosage of YMMV, of course! :lol:
The way I view it, musical style is a matter of personal taste, but musical talent is not. Talent and skill are usually not subjective...
But even talent and skill are not metrics to which we can accurately reduce musical genius. For example, Steely Dan are technically talented and skilled musicians and composers, yet their music is absolutely soulless and devoid of any kind of unique perspective, or élan. In music, as with any art, the audience's enjoyment lies in its own wholistic interpretation of the piece.

And, on a final note, I'm glad to see there are so many Zappa fans here. This means I probably need not worry about offending any yacht rockers with my Steely Dan hate. :?

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Splintercat
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Re: Beatles Revisited

Post by Splintercat » May 30th, 2015, 9:54 am

Hahaha!! Well, yeah.... add Steely Dan to my list of "really tired of hearing it" as a child of the 70s... sheesh! It was wall-to-wall (along with Van Morrison) on KINK here in Portland back in the day. I actually hold Steely Dan, Boz Skaggs and the Michael McDonald-era Doobie Brother responsible for the "soft jazz" (aka "light jazz") explosion of the early 80s that briefly put Gresham on the map with its Mt. Hood Festival of Jazz... and when Boomers everywhere "graduated" from the rock icons of their youth to the soothing sounds of Kenny G at stadium festivals (while drinking their chilled bottles of Bartles & Jaymes...) ;-) They missed such a great decade of music in the process, too!
Splintercat my man, say it ain't so
Oh, it be so... sorry 'bout that, Q! :lol:

Tom :D

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