The Beatles

Writer2011 · May 24, 2007

Who here remembers The Beatles? I was born about a year and a half after they broke up--needless to say from about age three and onward i've always listened to them... Most of their songs are truly genius... some of my faves are:

1. Revolution--the hard rock version
2. Nowhere Man--one of my all time favorite songs EVER
3. Help!!--There's a version which has a James Bond type theme at the beginning

4. In My Life
5. Hey Jude
6. I Want You (She's so heavy)

And the list goes on and on

I did buy Beatles LOVE back at Christmas... AWESOME

benbradley · May 24, 2007

I remember when I was about six years old my big sister was really excited that they were going to be on the Ed Sullivan Show. I was about 12 or 12 when I heard on the radio that it was "official", they were breaking up. But yes, they made a large amount of the best pop music ever. Hear them on the original LP's if you can, or even the originally released CD's from the mid-late '80's, where they didn't overdo the "remastering for CD" stuff that's done nowadays.

Writer2011 · May 24, 2007

My Dad has a great number of the original albums and some of the imports too...sounds great on vinyl.

julief · May 24, 2007

my dad is a HUGE Beatle fan and I was raised on them. He has all the records and has also amassed them on CD over the years. When I was 5, I knew all the words to "I want to hold your hand." By 13, "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" was totally cool to me. "Here, There, Everywhere" will always remind me of my freshman year of college. My favorite song these days is "A day in the life" mostly because of the merging of John's and Paul's songs into one. And last year, when my sister got married, I joked that I'd start quoting "All you need is love" if I blanked on my maid of honor speech.

Two years ago, my dad custom made a box that said "The Beatles Jukebox" and filled it with every cd the Beatles had ever made (including some of those unreleased tracts that made it onto later cds) and he gave it to me as a present.

benbradley · May 24, 2007

And another thing, the "Revolvers with silencers attached" thread, I keep thinking NO, I want to HEAR that album.

Writer2011 · May 24, 2007

julief said:
my dad is a HUGE Beatle fan and I was raised on them. He has all the records and has also amassed them on CD over the years. When I was 5, I knew all the words to "I want to hold your hand." By 13, "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" was totally cool to me. "Here, There, Everywhere" will always remind me of my freshman year of college. My favorite song these days is "A day in the life" mostly because of the merging of John's and Paul's songs into one. And last year, when my sister got married, I joked that I'd start quoting "All you need is love" if I blanked on my maid of honor speech.

Two years ago, my dad custom made a box that said "The Beatles Jukebox" and filled it with every cd the Beatles had ever made (including some of those unreleased tracts that made it onto later cds) and he gave it to me as a present.

Way cool about that Beatles jukebox...

Still my favorite song of all-time by them is Nowhere Man--I had that eight video set that came about about ten years ago--want it on DVD. The first song I ever remember hearing of The Beatles was, A Hard Day's Night

DeborahM · May 24, 2007

I watched them on the Ed Sullivan show on February 1964, I was still 13 at the time and have listened to them since.

Shadow_Ferret · May 25, 2007

I was a huge Beatles fan as a child. I even collected all the teen bop type magazines that featured them and had all the issues of Time, Newsweek, Life, etc. about the whole "Paul is dead" affair.

I had all their albums and singles. I watched all their movies and the cartoon show.

But after they broke up I lost interest and now most of their stuff I just find uninteresting. The only Beatles albums I own now are the White, Sgt. Pepper, and Abby Road.

A lot of their music I find unlistenable. I think it's their sappy harmonies.

ChunkyC · May 25, 2007

DeborahM said:
I watched them on the Ed Sullivan show on February 1964, I was still 13 at the time and have listened to them since.

I was eight. Within minutes of watching the show, I had a cardboard bass I cut out of an old box and was dancing around the living room 'playing' it left-handed like Paul. That was the same year I sang in public for the first time at my elementary school. From then on, all I wanted to do was be in a rock and roll band. Six years later, I joined my first band and spent the next twenty years earning money (not much, mind you) playing guitar.

My fave Beatles album has to be Abbey Road, followed by Sgt. Pepper. I was in one band when I was around sixteen or seventeen that learned most of the second side of Abbey Road and played it at our gigs. Learning Beatles tunes is one of the best things a musician can do if they want an education in how songs are put together. Fantastic chord progressions that sound simple, yet are quite unique. Some of the riffs George Harrison played on Abbey Road have become iconic guitar passages, like the descending guitar work underpinning the part of the album where they're singing, "1 2 3 4 5 6 7, all good children go to heaven." That particular bit is repeated on the album and is instantly recognizable as a Beatles riff whenever it shows up in popular music.

They may not have been together all that long, but they presided over and were responsible for many of the greatest changes pop music ever saw.

Meerkat · May 25, 2007

But then, there was that dark time, when Charlie and I thought there were secret messages to us on the White Album. We just were not responsible for our actions, at that point. At least we were surrounded by a harem of babes who would do just about anything for us!

madderblue · May 25, 2007

I adore the Beatles! When I went in for my first bass lessons as a teen I asked to learn S"moke on the Water" and the Yardbirds' "Train Kept a Rollin". My teacher was a Beatles nut and once I started learning how completely amazing Paul was, and the music was put together, I was sold forever. I want to write the way The Beatles played music.

ChunkyC · May 25, 2007

Meerkat said:
But then, there was that dark time, when Charlie and I thought there were secret messages to us on the White Album. We just were not responsible for our actions, at that point.

And nobody believed us when we told them our wrists were sore from spinning the turntable backwards.

julief · May 25, 2007

aspiringwriter said:
Way cool about that Beatles jukebox... Still my favorite song of all-time by them is Nowhere Man--I had that eight video set that came about about ten years ago--want it on DVD. The first song I ever remember hearing of The Beatles was, A Hard Day's Night

I totally love that box. And I can't even begin to remember the first song I heard. I'm in my mid-20s, so John was already dead by the time I was born; I'm willing to bet my dad played them for me and my sister when we were sleepy-eyed newborns.

And I always loved how simple their music sounded, but there were layers and layers beneath that. As they aged (and got a little more drugged) together, their work got so intricate and complex, without letting it weigh them down.

Anyone else got "Paperback Writer" playing in their head now?

ChunkyC · May 25, 2007

I do now.

(another great Harrison guitar riff)

popmuze · May 25, 2007

julief said:
Anyone else got "Paperback Writer" playing in their head now?

No, but I do have the book Paperback Writer, by Mark Shipper. It's a supposedly hilarious fictionalized story of John and Paul. I haven't read it yet, but it's on my list.

I once interviewed Paul McCartney as part of a five journalist round table and another time on the phone. Once on the internet I found out John Lennon's proof copy of my first book went for 480,000 yen during an auction of Beatles memorabilia in Tokyo in 1997.

John Lennon had a copy of my book?????!!!!!

Writer2011 · May 25, 2007

julief said:
I totally love that box. And I can't even begin to remember the first song I heard. I'm in my mid-20s, so John was already dead by the time I was born; I'm willing to bet my dad played them for me and my sister when we were sleepy-eyed newborns.

And I always loved how simple their music sounded, but there were layers and layers beneath that. As they aged (and got a little more drugged) together, their work got so intricate and complex, without letting it weigh them down.

Anyone else got "Paperback Writer" playing in their head now?

"Paper back writer...writer...writer..." and don't forget Rain..

Abbey Road--best album EVER!!!

Writer2011 · May 25, 2007

Day Tripper--i'm sure you all know what the song is about?

Norwegian Wood

DeborahM · May 25, 2007

Wow! You've had some great times! I agree about their music changing the world of music and creating one of the biggest group of fans or followers to match Elvis.

Deb

ChunkyC said:
I was eight. Within minutes of watching the show, I had a cardboard bass I cut out of an old box and was dancing around the living room 'playing' it left-handed like Paul. That was the same year I sang in public for the first time at my elementary school. From then on, all I wanted to do was be in a rock and roll band. Six years later, I joined my first band and spent the next twenty years earning money (not much, mind you) playing guitar.

My fave Beatles album has to be Abbey Road, followed by Sgt. Pepper. I was in one band when I was around sixteen or seventeen that learned most of the second side of Abbey Road and played it at our gigs. Learning Beatles tunes is one of the best things a musician can do if they want an education in how songs are put together. Fantastic chord progressions that sound simple, yet are quite unique. Some of the riffs George Harrison played on Abbey Road have become iconic guitar passages, like the descending guitar work underpinning the part of the album where they're singing, "1 2 3 4 5 6 7, all good children go to heaven." That particular bit is repeated on the album and is instantly recognizable as a Beatles riff whenever it shows up in popular music.

They may not have been together all that long, but they presided over and were responsible for many of the greatest changes pop music ever saw.

Writer2011 · May 25, 2007

The Beatles changed music forever...although some would disagree...they were the first to use reverb or whatever it's called on I Feel Fine not sure if that's the one

ModoReese · May 27, 2007

I had the unique chance to discover the Beatles all on my own. I was born in '73, and my parents were older -- not music buffs at all. For some reason I was compelled to take out "Rubber Soul" from the public library and it has been my favorite Beatles album ever since.

I got to work my way backward through their releases and then forward. As a teen I prefered the earlier more poppy stuff, but as I grew up I "got" the later tunes more.

Now I'm absolutely groovin' on the genius that was George Harrison -- solo and within the band. Wow. "All Things Must Pass". Can't get enough.

Michelle <-- not named after the song

ChunkyC · May 28, 2007

Yeah, while with the Beatles, George's guitar playing was overshadowed by John and Paul's songwriting. He was never a blazing soloist, but he always seemed to find the right thing for the song.

Mind you (and in retrospect), having songs penned by Lennon and McCartney to add your guitar playing to would be any picker's dream.

Writer2011 · May 29, 2007

Thanks to those who responded---let's keep it going

While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Something two of the best songs ever written.

janetbellinger · May 30, 2007

As a pre-teen I had an all-encompassing crush on Paul McCartney. My Grade 7 friends and I traded Beatles bubble gum cards. I like While My Guitar Gently Weeps, but am disappointed in the line "I look at the floor and see it needs sweeping." It takes away from the profoundity of the song. I love "Something in the Way She Moves," "Help," and the early songs sucjh as "She Loves You," and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." It's melodic with rhyming lyrics that I like.

Lindo · May 30, 2007

All my high school buddies agreed with me on the Beatles: a bunch of wimpy, goody-goody wienies who dress stupid and talk weird. Cool groups like the Stones were singing about Satisfaction and Spend the Night Together and here are these dinks saying "I wanna hold your hand."

Then something happened (I suspect drugs). I heard some guys playing Ticket to Ride at a party and said, Wow great song, did you right it? They said, nah, it's a Beatles song. BEATLES???? Yep, they got hip in a big way about then. Maybe because people stopped screaming at them.

Thing is, they're like Elvis. Everybody knows their stuff (even if they are young and hip enough to pretend they don't) and it's outlived a lot of passing fads. I'd say there's a good chance that kids listening to rap right now will take their wife out on the floor to dance to a Beatles song when they're fifty.

ChunkyC · May 30, 2007

For a while when I was about nine or thereabouts, the local radio station in my home town used to have a Beatles hour every weekday afternoon at 4:30. I would rush home from school and glue myself to the radio. Mom knew better than to call me for dinner before the show was over, I wouldn't budge. I had this folding accordian-like thing of pictures of them, posters, a stack of 45s (what they'd be worth now....)

At the time, I couldn't have cared less who the Rolling Stones were. The Beatles were the only group in the world as far as I was concerned. Thank goodness I got over that fairly quickly. But the Fab Four will always be that special group that can never be replaced. Just the opening chord of A Hard Day's Night is enough to instantly transport me back to the sixties.

The Beatles

It's a doggy dog world

Hardly here

It's a doggy dog world

I need espresso & chocolate!

Court Jester

It's hard being green

Claims the loan was a gift

Beagle Lips.

It's hard being green

Hardly here

It's hard being green

Last of a Dying Breed

I need espresso & chocolate!

Bang head here for service

It's hard being green

It's hard being green