21–30 of 89 posts
It's one of those things where, if anything was different, the arc of the Beatles would have been completely different, or not at all. The Butterfly Effect.
If the universe is deterministic it was going to happen no matter what.
I tend to think of The Beatles as a fantastic world-spanning pachinko game. Once Ww2 ended and a mass boom of young people with disposable income crossed with new mass media markets and advances in recording distribution technology, it was inevitable that some act or another would be the first-to-market with catchy tunes and stadium-filling star power. Heck, even the stadiums were a modern combination of improved bui…
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The thing that amazes me about the Beatles is that they were led by a musical genius. And then a second member of the band achieved the same level of musical genius (some would say an even greater level of genius). And then within a few years, a third member of the band that was just the rhythm guitarist demonstrated that he also achieved an astonishing level of musical genius. Especially for that time, this was incr…
I think Ringo is never given enough credit for his role in the band. While not the flashiest player, he laid down the groundwork of what a pop drumbeat is. Also, watching Get Back it become painfully apparent that Ringo is the elusive glue person without whom the Beatles probably would have fallen apart years prior.
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> some act or another would be the first-to-market with catchy tunes and stadium-filling star power Yes, but The Beatles were at least an order of magnitude better than anyone could have reasonably expected.
Definitely. Especially surprising for a long time to me, given that their early songs seem really simple (She loves you...). And while that may be true, what one must realise is that the Beatles kind of started out as a cover band, as a "live juke box" really playing in clubs. So even before they published the first album they had a routine of hundreds of songs from memory. I think this cannot be underestimated as a…
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Except The Monkees couldn't play. They had to learn to play & sing. Their songs were written by others.
They all could play and sing before The Monkeys. It was just that the instruments that some of them played were not necessarily the instruments that their characters in the show were supposed to play. Davy Jones was a singer before The Monkeys. He had a single make the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965, and a couple singles that made the top 10 that year in Australia. He could also play drums. But he was also short and it wo…
I tend to think of The Beatles as a fantastic world-spanning pachinko game. Once Ww2 ended and a mass boom of young people with disposable income crossed with new mass media markets and advances in recording distribution technology, it was inevitable that some act or another would be the first-to-market with catchy tunes and stadium-filling star power. Heck, even the stadiums were a modern combination of improved bui…
The thing about the Beatles is that even after they stopped filling stadiums, they turned to experimental and innovative musical techniques that changed the face of popular music forever.
Their best and most beloved work all came after Beatlemania ended... any attractive boy band with a catchy beat could've fulfilled your conditions, but the Beatles were so much more than that.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The thing that amazes me about the Beatles is that they were led by a musical genius. And then a second member of the band achieved the same level of musical genius (some would say an even greater level of genius). And then within a few years, a third member of the band that was just the rhythm guitarist demonstrated that he also achieved an astonishing level of musical genius. Especially for that time, this was incr…
I think Ringo is never given enough credit for his role in the band. While not the flashiest player, he laid down the groundwork of what a pop drumbeat is. Also, watching Get Back it become painfully apparent that Ringo is the elusive glue person without whom the Beatles probably would have fallen apart years prior.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think Ringo is never given enough credit for his role in the band. While not the flashiest player, he laid down the groundwork of what a pop drumbeat is. Also, watching Get Back it become painfully apparent that Ringo is the elusive glue person without whom the Beatles probably would have fallen apart years prior.
This is the true role of a great drummer. To play what is needed and nothing more or less. Sometimes to be quiet and stay in the background, sometimes to be loud and take up space, sometimes just to crack a joke and break the tension when things start to get off track.