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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
 Posted - 13/08/2012 : 19:08:53
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Well, 50 years ago this year; on August 18, 1962! RINGO JOINS THE BEATLES.
Leonard Bernstein said "She Said She Said" was the greatest pop song ever written. John Lennon said, "We were four guys...and then became a band that became very very big." Oh yeah!
For what it's worth, Ringo IS the greatest drummer of all time. If only for his totally unique style of drumming that was and never will be again.
Listen and see if you agree...take away all the other instruments and vocals and you would still know the song...because of Ringo. He gave every song a distinction and beat that made it all work. I still believe that the Beatles would not have been the Beatles WITHOUT Ringo...
She Said She Said
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlKIsg_XdkI
Ringo Starr: Fifty Years Later and the Birth of the Beatles
by John Whitehead, Huffington Post
August 13,2012
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"You're the greatest drummer in the world. Really."--Paul McCartney, the day after the band's infamous rooftop concert at Apple Studios (January 3, 1969)
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"Starr's legacy is clouded by misconception and ignorance. Some say he was the luckiest guy on earth, a competent player who stepped into a million-dollar quartet. Why the bum rap? Was it because he didn't overplay and shunned solos? Or was it his unassuming, Everyman countenance?"-- Dennis Diken, drummer for The Smithereens (2009)
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It may have been a simple twist of fate that gave us Ringo Starr, arguably the most influential rock drummer of all time. Or perhaps it was always meant to be. Either way, we almost didn't have Richard Starkey (aka Ringo Starr) with us.
At the age of six, little Ritchie fell into a coma as a result of complications from appendicitis. A slow recovery kept him in the hospital for an extended stay. Hoping to help him stave off boredom, his parents bought him a couple of toys -- a small red bus and a drum. Enamored with the drum, Starkey gave the toy bus to a sick boy sharing his hospital room. Still, it would be roughly 11 years before the young Liverpudlian got his first real set of drums, a gift from his stepfather in December 1957. And it would be another three years before Richard Starkey became Ringo Starr, the drummer for the band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.
Meanwhile, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison were finally beginning to gel as a musical group after several years of continuing engagements in Hamburg, Germany. Night after night, the Beatles, accompanied by Pete Best on drums, hammered out songs on stage for hours at a time. In this way, the Beatles sound, as we now know it, was born.
As another singular twist of fate would have it, Ringo, a star in his own right by then, was also playing in Hamburg with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, where his drum solo was billed as "Starr" time. That's where Ringo got to know the Beatles. Sitting in a few times on the drums, Ringo -- age 22, the oldest of the Beatles -- became chummy with John, Paul and George. Having grown tired of the moody Pete Best, the Beatles asked Ringo to join the group, which he did 50 years ago on August 18, 1962. And the foursome that would change popular music forever was set.
So what did Ringo add to the Beatles? Penning only a few compositions, it clearly wasn't his songwriting talent. As notable as "Octopus' Garden" and "Don't Pass Me By" are, they certainly couldn't match the talents of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison. Even with Lennon and McCartney composing some of their best-known Beatle songs such as "Yellow Submarine" and "With a Little Help from My Friends" for Ringo to sing, deliberately written so he wouldn't have to reach any high notes, it wasn't Ringo's singing talent that made him the key ingredient in the Beatles.
With Lennon, McCartney and Harrison's mercurial egos to contend with, Ringo was the emotional glue that held the Beatles together. Like a rock, Ringo anchored the group (the exception being his own emotional meltdown during the recording of the White Album in 1968). This was epitomized in the fact that Ringo, who developed into a fine actor, was the center figure in all three of the Beatles films -- especially in Help (1965) and Yellow Submarine (1968). Apparently, Ringo being front and center didn't threaten the Lennon-McCartney-Harrison trio. Indeed, although he was the first drummer to be elevated on stage, privately and otherwise, Ringo appeared to be egoless, simply going along with what the other three wanted to do.
Rhythmically, Ringo helped transform the Beatles into modern-day legends. In fact, the Smithereens' Dennis Diken praises Ringo's "style" or "feel" as the essence of what made the Beatles great. This is due, in part, to Ringo's steady drumsticks. He was never offbeat. The band only had to stop recording sessions because of a mistake Ringo made a handful of times. A steady rhythm is the heartbeat of any piece of music, and without a competent drummer, the Beatles' tracks would have unraveled.
Moreover, Ringo was often asked to do the impossible. Imagine having to play drums on Lennon's "Tomorrow Never Knows" or "I Am the Walrus." Or the amazing collage of tunes on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. In fact, in 1968, producer George Martin praised Starr's drumming on Sgt. Pepper's. Ringo, Martin said at the time, was "probably the finest rock drummer in the world." Even after the Beatles broke up, Ringo continued to provide his strong drum beat for the various solo albums. For example, Ringo played on Harrison's monumental All Things Must Pass (1970) album and Lennon's remarkable Plastic Ono Band (1970).
Beyond the basics of drumming, Ringo played unique fills. In these, rather than through solos, he showcased his skill -- a skill about which he is remarkably modest. "Whenever I hear another drummer I know I'm no good. I'm no good on technical things," Ringo admitted. "I'm your basic offbeat drummer with funny fills. The fills were funny because I'm really left-handed playing a right-handed drum kit. I can't roll around the drums because of that."
Indeed, Starr's placement of drum fills set him apart from other musicians. Where other bands would place guitar riffs, the Beatles allowed Ringo to play. This choice altered the purpose of the drum in their songs, giving Ringo the opportunity to play melody and be creative where he would normally be restricted to rhythm. Within the fills, Ringo adopted two innovative rhythmic techniques. The first, termed "The Ringo Shuffle" is a type of snare roll, that falls somewhere between 8th and 16th notes. Heard on virtually the entire White Album, the shuffle lends a danceable tempo and addictive partitioning to the Beatles' upbeat tracks. Ringo's second innovation was not by his own design. As he himself recognized, Ringo was a left-handed drummer playing on a right-handed set. Thus, all his fills begin with his left hand, rather than the typical right-handed start. This technique turns traditional drumming on its head, putting cymbal beats and snares where they normally would not be, producing the different "feel" of rhythm so many recognize in Ringo's playing.
Beyond the music, Ringo also contributed to the Beatles' lyrics. Although he authored few songs, Ringo became famous among his band mates for his sometimes silly, but often lyrical malapropisms. Phrases like "a hard day's night," "tomorrow never knows" and others were born on Ringo's lips and served as inspiration for wordsmiths McCartney and Lennon. "Ringo would do these little malapropisms, he would say things slightly wrong, like people do, but his were always wonderful, very lyrical," McCartney once said. "They were sort of magic." Thus, Starr was obviously more than a proficient drummer for the Beatles. His musical eccentricities gave the group much of its hard-to-articulate aura that entices listeners to this day.
The overall effect of Ringo's work as a musician thus goes far beyond the technical. As drummer Steve Smith of Journey recognizes:
"Before Ringo, drum stars were measured by their soloing ability and virtuosity. Ringo's popularity brought forth a new paradigm in how the public saw drummers. We started to see the drummer as an equal participant in the compositional aspect. One of Ringo's great qualities was that he composed unique, stylistic drum parts for the Beatles' songs. His parts are so signature to the songs that you can listen to a Ringo drum part without the rest of the music and still identify the song."
Though it was true that Starr did not draw attention to himself with dazzling technique on the drums, his influence on the Beatles has garnered respect from many drummers over the last forty years. Genesis's Phil Collins has remarked that Starr is "vastly underrated." Max Weinberg, notable for his work with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and for Conan O'Brian's late night shows, wrote in his book, The Big Beat: Conversations with Rock's Greatest Drummers (1984), "
"From his matched grip style to his pioneering use of staggered tom-tom fills, his influence in rock drumming was as important and wide spread as Gene Krupa's had been in jazz. More than any other drummer, Ringo Starr changed my life."
The Big Beat also featured an interview with D.J. Fontana, who played for Elvis Presley, wherein he commented,
"I was playing maracas or something behind him, just listening to him. I swear he never varied the tempo. He played that back beat and never got off it. Man, you couldn't have moved him with a crane. It was amazing. He played a hell of a back beat."
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HIGH ALL THE TIME...
-Mad River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0PCzH-K1hg
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Edited by - lemonade kid on 16/08/2012 20:59:50 |
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markk
Old Love
USA
803 Posts |
Posted - 14/08/2012 : 00:26:42
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| Totally concur that without Ringo, The Beatles would not have been the same. A main piece of the puzzle, part of the glue that held it all together. |
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rocker
Old Love
USA
3606 Posts |
Posted - 14/08/2012 : 14:26:36
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You know I went to listen a little more closely on tracks that had always made me wonder how Ringo handled the beat. One was "I Feel Fine". Well it always was one of my favorites and I just couldn't believe how Ringo could play in such a way that he kept the drumming and use of cymbals so seamless as the vocals are going on. Nirvana!
hey I need more songs to check out..and what's Ringo's best where he is KING'O' THE BEAT??????? |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 14/08/2012 : 16:05:27
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quote:
Originally posted by rocker
You know I went to listen a little more closely on tracks that had always made me wonder how Ringo handled the beat. One was "I Feel Fine". Well it always was one of my favorites and I just couldn't believe how Ringo could play in such a way that he kept the drumming and use of cymbals so seamless as the vocals are going on. Nirvana!
hey I need more songs to check out..and what's Ringo's best where he is KING'O' THE BEAT???????
Good point about Ringo's use of the cymbals: it's not mentioned much, but it's also unique and groundbreaking...another integral part of each Beatles composition. They provide a rush of sound and emotion. I FEEL FINE!
________________________________________________
HIGH ALL THE TIME...
-Mad River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0PCzH-K1hg
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rocker
Old Love
USA
3606 Posts |
Posted - 14/08/2012 : 20:31:08
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You know if you think about it the Beatles were pretty good 'pharmacists' in the sense that their music surely released a whole bunch chemicals inside anybody who managed to listen to their songs. Their music just had that ability to make you "feel fine". yeah yeah yeah..... ...I think we're addicted you know? |
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Joe Morris
Old Love
3491 Posts |
Posted - 14/08/2012 : 23:35:08
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unforgivable the Beatles sacking of Pete Best but Ringo didn't really have anything to do with that. He was still with Rory Storm performing at a Butlins camp when John and Paul came to visit, and the dirty work went down (poor Brian had to cope with the breaking of bad news)
Rereading Shout the Beatles in their Generation, its noted that one good thing that came about after the split is that the other Beatles looked after Ringo, helping him with songs and guesting on his (successful for a while) albums
George could very easily have used his song Photograph than giving it to Ringo; the song was better than any he ever wrote, and a substantial hit
Does Ringo still record albums? The last I heard of he had done a Christmas album (including Christmastime is here again, apparently)
Hopefully it isn't as bad as Dylans, which was as unlistenable as Self Portrait (but for a good cause!) |
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bob f.
Old Love
USA
1308 Posts |
Posted - 15/08/2012 : 00:35:33
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Ringo is the turning point in rock-pop music, and ya know it! Every freakin time WE heard a drum riff, (A.B. = after Beatles) , we'd think, sounds, Ringo-ish! ......you know ...that style, like, you hear it, and think, ," yeah, you know, THAT'S HOW IT SHOULD BE PLAYED! ...you know ....it's just not just RIGHT, but Ringo took it beyond just right, to BEYOND and so right, it seemed it was overlooked or just so right, it should have been drummed that way , always, but Ringo reminded us how it is.....you see!?
...what the world needs now... |
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Joe Morris
Old Love
3491 Posts |
Posted - 15/08/2012 : 03:04:45
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Luckiest man in the world. Very lucky to have been alive, so ill growing up and in a poor part of Liverpool (The Dingle)
Good the Beatles were looking after him. Owning a quarter of Apple, Ringo was never gonnna be destitute, but John (for instance) was writing songs for him up to his death, and George and Paul were involved in his solo career, writing him songs and playing on his records for some time. Think Ringo and Paul played fairly recently at a TM (Transcendal Meditation) concert - don't know if they played Sexy Sadie!
As the oldest geezer hes still playing with his band, and hopefully has kicked the booze! |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 15/08/2012 : 14:03:55
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The Beatles didn't "look after" Ringo....he was a Beatle. During or post...they were friends and Ringo was the one true friend in the band, during & post, for the other Beatles. After the "divorce", he was the best friend,
It wasn't "unforgivable" that the Beatles sacked Pete Best--it was INEVITABLE-- time for Pete to go...he was a distraction with his adoring fans and groupies, yet no more than an average but competent drummer....
Ringo was one of the best & well known drummers in England at the time. It was good business, & the only way for the Beatles to move up to the next level of professionalism. Yeah it was a little heartless HOW they let him go (but not why). They were kids, and kids do that kind of stuff.
Pete didn't lose his lottery ticket & the millions he deserved if he had stayed a BEATLE. He just wasn't good enough. Nor was he right for them. They didn't want a star--they wanted a band.
Pete was an adequate drummer, but would never have become as creative or innovative OR integral for the Beatles as Ringo-- and the rest of the Beatles knew it.
Ringo became the Beatles best friend; the shy one and the heartbeat in "A Hard Days Night" (a brilliant move)...Ringo was a Beatle.
And post Beatles, the rest of the Beatles had no good reason to take care of Ringo in their solo lps -- they felt he would add something special...and he did. Every solo artist that had a band brings in former members because there was a chemistry like no other.
When Ringo "quit" the Beatles during the White album and Let It Be, why did they court him with flowers and entreaties to come back?
...because Ringo was the glue, the rock, the beat.
With Pete they would have been more a Dave Clark Five, with a drummer as a central figure. But with Ringo they were the four Beatles--a band....equal and ....perfect.
Pete was an integral part of early Beatles history, but he was not to be...for good reason.
________________________________________________
HIGH ALL THE TIME...
-Mad River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0PCzH-K1hg
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Edited by - lemonade kid on 15/08/2012 14:08:41 |
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rocker
Old Love
USA
3606 Posts |
Posted - 15/08/2012 : 14:35:22
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Pete was an integral part of early Beatles history, but he was not to be...for good reason.
Kind of reminds me of Brian with the Stones. Some individuals work very well in contributing to the whole in the early stages but when it's time to take the next step up on the rung some things simply get in the way. I don't think I have to explain what happened to the Stones vs Brian but the theme is there. |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2012 : 21:02:22
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50 years later, we're still mad for The Beatles
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
On Jan. 1, 1962, The Beatles flunked an audition at Decca Records in London. Label executive Dick Rowe's brush-off: "Guitar groups are on the way out."
It was an inauspicious start for the group that would soon dominate global society and a downbeat Day 1 in the year that saw the scrappy Liverpool lads evolve into the Fab Four who forever altered the course of pop music.
No other entertainers in history have been as popular, as influential, as important or as groundbreaking. The best-selling act ever sold 600 million albums worldwide and racked up 20 No. 1 U.S. singles, a Billboard record that still stands. The band hijacked the entertainment media and transcended music to become a chapter in world history. Its members had political clout, spiritual authority, cultural sway and the ears of the planet.
Fifty years later, the melodic, instantly memorable tunes of The Beatles are ingrained in the DNA of modern civilization. On this golden anniversary, their golden oldies sound as vital and fresh as ever and continue to bewitch new generations.
How did The Beatles become so profoundly enormous and enduring? Even the players couldn't fathom such sovereignty. Paul McCartney expected a brief joy ride when Beatlemania struck.
Special edition: The Beatles
The Beatles special edition celebrates the 50th anniversary of rock's greatest band. This 48-page edition, on newsstands now, covers the band's history and impact on music and society.
"Oh, yeah, we thought a couple years, that would be it," he told USA TODAY in 2009, when The Beatles' remastered catalog reignited international excitement. "We never thought it would last at all. You've got to ask, 'Why did it last?' I think the music is very well-structured, like a good house. It's going to stand for a long time. It's nice that I can sit back now and be proud of what we did."
The Beatles sprang from a perfect storm of timing, chemistry, luck, key support and, most critically, talent. And many of those essential factors fell into place 50 years ago.
John Lennon and McCartney met in 1957. George Harrison joined their band in 1958, when they were busking in Liverpool. They adopted the name The Beatles in 1960.
The pivotal year of 1962 saw a rapid coalescence: "Fifth Beatle" Brian Epstein became their indefatigable manager in January. He sent The Beatles, performing in Hamburg, this telegram on May 9: "Congratulations, boys. EMI requests recording session. Please rehearse new material."
On June 4, they signed a contract with Parlophone, a subsidiary of EMI. And on June 6, they entered Abbey Road Studios with producer George Martin for the first time, recording demos of cover tune Besame Mucho and Lennon-McCartney compositions Love Me Do,P.S. I Love You and Ask Me Why. Martin, mildly impressed, lectured the band about its lousy equipment, then asked whether they had any complaints.
The Beatles by the numbers
The story of The Beatles’ influence is as much about math as music. Reaching the toppermost of the poppermost meant stacking up some of history’s steepest numbers and sturdiest records. Their impressive stats have been steadily escalating since the band’s remarkable run ended in 1970. And with fresh generations of fans feeding the tallies, there’s no end in sight. USA TODAY's Edna Gundersen tallies some of the sums.
600 million albums sold: The Beatles are the best-selling act in history, with more than 600 million albums sold worldwide. In the United States, they top the list with 177 million, ahead of Elvis Presley with 134.5 million.
20 singles: The band racked up 20 No. 1 U.S. singles (17 in the U.K.), a Billboard record that still stands.
5 chart positions: In April 1964, The Beatles held the top five chart positions in Billboard with (in descending order) Can’t Buy Me Love, Twist and Shout, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand and Please Please Me. The feat has never been repeated. Can’t Buy Me Love was the band’s third back-to-back chart-topper, an achievement also never duplicated in the chart’s 52-year history.
2,700 Love shows: Cirque du Soleil’s Love, a lavish Beatles musical in Las Vegas, has staged more than 2,700 shows to nearly 5 million fans since it opened in June 2006.
2.3 million remastered catalog sales: In 2009, the release of The Beatles’ remastered catalog broke chart records worldwide. In North America, Japan and the U.K., fans bought 2.3 million copies in the first five days. Here, the top-selling album was Abbey Road, and Here Comes the Sun led the song race. Since the music of The Beatles arrived on iTunes in late 2010, the band has sold more than 10 million songs and 1.8 million albums.
11.4 million Beatles 1 albums sold: In the first decade of the 21st century, the hits compilation Beatles 1 sold 11.4 million copies, more than any other album and one of only four to sell more than 10 million copies. In 2000, it entered the chart with 595,000 copies, sold 662,000 the next week and peaked with 1.3 million during Christmas week, spending a total of eight weeks at No. 1 in Billboard. The Beatles trailed only Eminem for total album sales for the decade, selling 30 million to his 32.2 million.
7 Grammys: Some figures are less stellar. Grammy voters were not overly generous to The Beatles, bestowing a modest seven trophies, only four while they were active and only one for best album (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967). Voters did start out on a high note, anointing the British sensation best new artist of 1964.
Sources: Apple, EMI, Nielsen SoundScan, Billboard, Recording Industry Association of America
Harrison quipped, "I don't like your tie."
In August, drummer Pete Best was fired and replaced by Ringo Starr. First single Love Me Do was recorded on Sept. 4 and released in the U.K. on Oct. 5, setting the stage for a musical and cultural revolution.
World was ready for them
"An incredible convergence of factors contributed to The Beatles' breakthrough and to sustaining their growth," says Beatles scholar Martin Lewis, who since 1967 has worked as a writer, producer, strategist and consultant on numerous Beatles-related projects, including The Beatles Anthology.
"They would have been successful at any time, but the speed and magnitude of that success owes in large part to the times. Britain was so poor after World War II. In Liverpool, which had been heavily bombed, the atmosphere was great poverty and sterility and gloom. The Beatles grew up in that, and their first awakenings came from the distant sounds of rock in America."
Inspired by U.S. rock pioneers, The Beatles began to blaze a trail, first with yeah yeah yeahs, moptops and a cheeky air.
"The prevalent attitude among the elite ruling class was that young people had no say in their own lives," Lewis says. "The Beatles made rebellion constructive, articulating it with joyous, giddy exuberance. At a time when cigar-chomping moguls paid people in cubicles to write factory-farm pop songs for teenagers, The Beatles were completely authentic, and kids instinctively understood that."
Their camaraderie, self-deprecating wit, effervescence and non-conformist hair and fashion also appealed to a growing youth culture. Radio, formerly a fixed object in homes, proliferated in transistor form, and an improving economy gave teens a disposable income to buy records.
Lewis also credits integral contributions of "three wise men" guiding The Beatles: producer Martin, who nurtured rather than imposing his vision; publicist Derek Taylor, a perceptive propaganda minister who shaped the band's narrative; and Epstein, a tireless advocate.
Talent, while abundant, was not enough to take The Beatles to the toppermost of the poppermost, to borrow Lennon's pep phrase.
"Unlike vast legions of entertainers before and since, The Beatles' objective in forming a group was not to become famous or rich or have their pick of the opposite sex," Lewis says. "They were motivated by the love of music. It colors your approach. How many kids today make a record on their Mac with Pro Tools and expect it to be No. 1 in 10 minutes?
"From 1957 to 1962, The Beatles played hundreds of live shows in front of very few people, making no money, sleeping in disgusting locales. They had no sense of entitlement. Just drive and commitment."
From Liverpool with love
Only war-battered Liverpool and its sociopolitical dynamics could have produced The Beatles, says David Bedford, author of Liddypool: Birthplace of The Beatles and founder of the new online Beatles Social Network. Yet he marvels that any disruption of the chance meetings and coincidences critical to the band's formation could have foiled destiny. At every turn, circumstance favored The Beatles' rise.
"Just as the U.K. charts were growing tired and predictable, the United States, which had taken the lead with the great rock 'n' roll artists of the '50s, was in need of something new. What happened in Dallas in November (1963) sent the public into mourning for the loss of a president who promised so much. How could the country rise again? Four lads from Liverpool, who were funny, charming and different, came over to try their luck."
They came, they conquered, drawing 73 million viewers with their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964.
"Will we ever see the stars align this way again? Unlikely," Bedford says. "In the end, it all comes back to one thing: the music. The songs are as good today as when they were written."
The bulk of those songs, arguably history's most influential, grew from the imagination and combustible chemistry of Lennon and McCartney, says Dennis Mitchell, host for 21 years of syndicated radio show Breakfast With The Beatles.
"The odds are incredible that two individuals with that kind of musical acumen met and made all this music together," he says. "What they created was totally original, a starting point for so many bands that followed. Millions of fans and musicians were inspired and motivated to a degree we've never seen."
The genius of Lennon-McCartney
Though various junctures and backdrops fleshed out the Beatles phenomenon, Lennon and McCartney were the only two crucial components, says Mark Shipper, author of Paperback Writer, a satiric revisionist history of The Beatles.
"Working together, they were absolute geniuses," Shipper says. "The other two Beatles were little more than journeymen who spent most of their time desperately trying to keep up.
"Doubt this? Ringo certainly does. He seriously thinks he's the world's greatest living drummer. To those who share his opinion, I say, put Ringo in the Rolling Stones. There could be no Stones. And yet Charlie Watts, if he really needed a paycheck, could have played in The Beatles.
"As for George, he ruined every early album with his incessant clankers on guitar and the later ones with that god-awful sitar. He sang very good harmony with Paul. But that's it."
Lewis disagrees, arguing that all four brought skill, personality and grit to the unorthodox ensemble, a leaderless gang of musical omnivores.
An important key to their longevity was "the sheer eclecticism of the music, cultural and literary influences they absorbed," he says. "Unlike many musicians today, who narrowcast what they listen to, The Beatles had a voracious appetite for an incredibly diverse range of music. Their initial heroes were the Everly Brothers and Little Richard, but they drew from the American songbook. They listened to folk, Gershwin, Cole Porter, vaudeville. They were sponges."
Had The Beatles not used their influences and curiosity to push boundaries, they might have had the shelf life of a hula-hoop craze, Lewis says.
"What added depth to their credibility was a continuing thirst to break new ground. This was in an era when it was the norm to lay the same golden egg over and over. You were not expected to become more polished. But The Beatles set out on a voyage of discovery."
Historical events and the cultural climate didn't matter much, says Steve Marinucci, Beatles columnist on Examiner.com and webmaster for AbbeyRd's Beatles Page (abbeyrd.best.vwh.net). The Fab Four were unstoppable.
"The older generation scorned rock 'n' roll at that time, and for The Beatles to make it through on that level was a heck of an achievement," he says. "It's astonishing how everything revolved around them. That's all you heard between 1964 and 1969. Nobody can have that kind of impact again. It was a different world. We didn't have the Internet, and people weren't so jaded."
Analyzing Beatlemania, Harrison once said, "The world used us as an excuse to go mad."
'No one can explain it'
Perhaps the band's unprecedented exploits simply defy logic, says Matt Hurwitz, Beatles historian and Mix magazine contributing editor.
"I've never figured it out, and I don't think anyone has ever been able to," he says. "Even their publicist Derek Taylor told me, 'It's something I've never been able to put a finger on. They just had an inexplicable charisma.'
"There's never been an experience like Beatlemania before or since. No one can explain it. We all just love it. It's exciting, and it makes us happy."
One momentous aspect tends to be overlooked in theories of Beatle magnitude, undiminished since the band's acrimonious 1970 split or the deaths of Lennon in 1980 and Harrison in 2001.
"They had the good sense to break up at the height of their creativity," Lewis says. "It wasn't planned, but it was the best move ever. The result is we never had to endure the embarrassment of The Beatles going disco or getting a middle-age paunch.
"They left seven years of brilliantly recorded music and a perfect corpse that kept the mystique and beauty of The Beatles intact."
________________________________________________
HIGH ALL THE TIME...
-Mad River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0PCzH-K1hg
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Edited by - lemonade kid on 16/08/2012 21:04:49 |
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markk
Old Love
USA
803 Posts |
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captain america and billy
Old Love
907 Posts |
Posted - 17/08/2012 : 18:04:54
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| Just purchased the box set "Beatles Capitol Albums Vol.1" including "Meet the Beatles","Second Album","Something New" and "Beatles '65".All albums are offered in both stereo and monophonic plays.Magnificent!! |
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It was 50 years ago today....still mad for the Fab
