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All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!!

#541
G-Dog said:
Hmmm, as much fun as The Beatles seemed to be having performing, they never talked like they thought their music was so great. One of my favorite lines in A Hard Day's Night is right after "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" when Paul says, "Well, we're trying." And they referred to lots of their early work as "throwaways", "bits and pieces" stuck together, or even "rubbish". John was positively brutal in later interviews saying that in the beginning they were trying to emulate other artists, and that often "it didn't work." Perhaps Jerry saw it from the same perspective?

I wonder what Garcia thought of their later work?
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I remember John said he would have been embarrassed to sing "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You." It was given to George. I think George did fine on songs like this and other early songs, too, whether they were originals or covers such as "Roll Over Beethoven." In this respect, I don't feel he got the credit he deserved. My only criticism of him would be a few of his solo albums such as "Somewhere in England" which was somewhat lacking, IMO.

As for throwaways, a few of the songs probably shouldn't have been recorded. It seems Paul said something to this effect about "All Together Now." I agree.

John Lennon was always critical even of some of his best music. There is no way anyone who wasn't a Beatle can even begin to look at things like this objectively. Personally, I think he was way too hard on himself, though. I can't even speculate what Jerry Garcia might have thought. I was never really a Grateful Dead fan and can't say much about them one way or another. But I thought those comments Garcia made in that article were very relevant and interesting. It certainly caused me to look at him in a favorable light.
 
#542
Some of Paul's throw away songs included "A World Without Love", "Nobody I Know", I Don't Want To See You Again", and "Woman". All recorded by Peter and Gordon. "A World Without Love" was both a US and UK number one hit. The first line of "A World Without Love" was "Please lock me away". John told Paul it was a lousy phrase for a song. So Paul dropped the song. His buddy and roommate Peter Asher needed a song so Paul finished writing it in 20 minutes and gave it to him to record
 
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#543
Splash7 said:
Some of Paul's throw away songs included "A World Without Love", "Nobody I Know", I Don't Want To See You Again", and "Woman". All recorded by Peter and Gordon. "A World Without Love" was both a US and UK number one hit. The first line of "A World Without Love" was "Please lock me away". John told Paul it was a lousy phrase for a song. So Paul dropped the song. His buddy and roommate Peter Asher needed a song so Paul finished writing it in 20 minutes and gave it to him to record
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All of those songs Paul gave Peter and Gordon were great songs. They wouldn't have had a career without him. John didn't like the phrasing of "A World Without Love" but his standards for songs were super high. He was sincere in how he felt, though. However, I think this helped Paul tremendously. It helped make Paul the best he could be. Paul worked well as a collaborator. Although I am a big George Harrison fan, I don't think the world has ever seen a songwriting team like Lennon-McCartney. At least not in modern history.
 
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#544
Something I appreciate about Paul is that he seemed to thoroughly enjoy being a Beatle. The concert I saw several years ago was like a lovefest--he unabashedly played a ton of Beatle songs and seemed to enjoy every minute of bonding with the audience over this shared experience. And that's what it is now--the Beatles now belong to the ages.

I always remember John in that last Playboy interview shortly before his death. The interviewer was pressing him on a reunion and John was getting annoyed but in the process he admitted that he thought they were the greatest rock and roll band in the world. But of course he once told George Martin that he would like to re-record everything the Beatles did. George asked "even Strawberry Fields"? And he replied especially Strawberry Fields. In that way I suppose he was like most true artists---never satisfied, and they consider the best thing they've done the thing they're doing now. He wasn't nostalgic. He said that Imagine was as good as anything he had ever written. He was a complicated, fascinating guy. It took all those diverse personalities and friction to create what they did, so really nothing to regret or wish differently.
 
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#545
Ray Manzarek's take was that the early Beatles were (to paraphrase) bubblegum teenie bop stuff. He became interested with Rubber Soul because they looked stoned on the cover and he figured they had been turned on and were now hip.
 
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#546
4TF32p.jpg
 
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#550
G-Dog said:
Dig the pointy boots! Is that an uncharacteristic smile on (I assume) Pete's face behind the drums? And even Stu seems really into it, too!! I've read that he routinely turned his back to the audience, whether out of genuine apathy or self-conscious bad playing. Good times. Good times. (sigh)
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Stuart would have recently turned 80 on June 23.

John and George are plugged into George's Selmer Truvoice Stadium TV 19T amp, 15" speaker, 25W. He bought it from Frank Hessy Ltd on June 6 1960 for £63 with a £10 down payment. The purchase witnessed by Stuart Sutcliffe. (Invalid Link Removed).

Paul is playing through his tiny 10W Elpico AC55 amp. He got it when he was 14 years old and still uses it in his studio. Ray Davies of the kinks used one on You Really Got Me with the razor blade sliced speaker for extra distortion.

Yes that was Pete Best in that photo, here's a clearer one of him.

early beatles 2.jpg
 
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#552
beans-on-toast said:
Stuart would have recently turned 80 on June 23. ... John and George are plugged into George's Selmer Truvoice ... ... Paul is playing through his tiny 10W Elpico AC55 amp. ... ...Yes that was Pete Best in that photo, ...
early beatles 2.jpg
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Was this still the time of "The Silver Bee(a)tles" or perhaps earliest of simply "The Beatles"? Anyone know?
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Splash7 said:
Beatle boots were "pointy". My brother had a pair circa 1966.
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Oh, I had a pair of what passed in my town for "Beatle boots", too, but they weren't very pointy at all. Looking back on all the various makers of various "Beatles" paraphernalia, I guess the pointiness of one's "Beatle boots" really depended on who made 'em.

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4d0bb4bc6e90c36ce82233be139fb8a6.jpg

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#554
G-Dog said:
Was this still the time of "The Silver Bee(a)tles" or perhaps earliest of simply "The Beatles"? Anyone know?
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Stu was in the band from May 1960-July 1961.

Sutcliffe and Lennon thought up the name Silver Beetles as an homage to Buddy Holly's band The Crickets. The name was then shortened to simply The Beatles in 1960. Stu was both a Silver Beetle and a Beatle. He was also in the Quarrymen, playing bass.

Many who were there, including Pete Best, say that Stu was a good musician. He took piano lessons from a young age, played trumpet, some guitar, and sang in a choir.

Stuart Sutcliffe
 
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#555
G-Dog said:
Hmmm, as much fun as The Beatles seemed to be having performing, they never talked like they thought their music was so great. One of my favorite lines in A Hard Day's Night is right after "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" when Paul says, "Well, we're trying." And they referred to lots of their early work as "throwaways", "bits and pieces" stuck together, or even "rubbish". John was positively brutal in later interviews saying that in the beginning they were trying to emulate other artists, and that often "it didn't work." Perhaps Jerry saw it from the same perspective?

I wonder what Garcia thought of their later work?
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The flip side of that coin...

I wonder what they would have thought about Garcia's work, especially with the Grateful Dead? The Fab were no doubt too polite to give an honest critique, at least publicly. I don't recall any of them trashing other artists, not even when The Beach Boys challenged them to a sophomoric "battle of the bands". Anyone remember that embarrassing episode?
 
#559
G-Dog said:
Please elaborate, Tempy. :confused:
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During the rivalry, the beach boys challenged the beatles to a battle of the bands.

I remember seeing Lennon on one of the talk shows. During the interview he was asked about the battle of the bands challenge from the beach boys. Lennon laughed, said (paraphrasing) that wasn't something they'd want to get involved with, called it ridiculous and said they weren't trying to compete with anyone, and that they were just making music.

If you recall, "battle of the bands" competitions were a thing back in the sixties, where local/regional bands would each play a couple songs. At the end, the audience would vote for the winner. There were prizes, usually cash.

My friend's band entered one ~ '66, so a bunch of us went to support them. It was held at a big ballroom in Chicago. None of the bands ever stood a chance because The Shadows Of Knight were there doing Gloria. More like "slaughter" of the bands that night.
 

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