Happy Birthday

[Tiger]

Sgt. Pepper was 40 yesterday.

[bssc]

They have been going in and out of style.

I find it interesting that the local oldies station now plays lots of Beatles, since the Beatles put the Oldies out of business.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

that's so funny. had no idea. i just bought the cd for the stang (received it a few days ago). couldn't find the songs online so i ordered 4 albums. sgt pepper, abbey road, rubber soul and the white album.

[tangomonster]

I can't quite decide if the Beatles were as good as I thought they were, back in the day. Recently on American Idol (yup, I know it''s ridiculous to be watching it as a 53 yo, but it's my one vice---I swear I read intellectual books and watch foreign films the rest of the time!), they did a medley of Beatles songs (it seems like some new artist came out with some Beatles and John Lennon covers, like Imagine, for a CD that will benefit Darfur.
Since they were doing a lot of Sgt. Pepper stuff, psychedelic stuff like Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, it seemed dated and kinda ridiculous that teens and twenty somethings were singing it, out of context of having lived during any of this, and not necessarily singing it real well.

I'd like to think that the Beatles are as talented as I originally thought and that most of their stuff is classic. There's some CD's called Beatles jazz that are entirely instrumental and done as straight-ahead jazz, which I really like. It sounds like you're playing on revisiting them again, lazygood4nothin bum---how does it sound after all these years? Anyone else? A musician like TromboneAl?

[Tiger]

tango,

I'm 15 years older then you and I'm also hooked on American Idol. I am a fan of every genre of music particularly the blues & jazz. IMO The Beatles are the best and most influential rock group of all time. Sgt. Pepper is considered by many to be the seminal rock song, there has never been another song like it. It, along with many other Beatles songs still hold up for me. The difference between rock and pop is that pop singers like Sinatra sang music written by other people and the great song became standards and are still being recorded to. Most rock singers only sing their own music so the music only lives on the oldies stations and the newest generations have no idea how good that music is and for the most part they don't care.

[Moemg]

Originally Posted by tangomonster

I can't quite decide if the Beatles were as good as I thought they were, back in the day. Recently on American Idol (yup, I know it''s ridiculous to be watching it as a 53 yo, but it's my one vice---I swear I read intellectual books and watch foreign films the rest of the time!), ?

How funny ! My one vice is America's Top Model .I know it's stupid but addicting .I also read continuously but I still have that vice .

[lazygood4nothinbum]

interesting observation tango. i still enjoy them though i was surprisingly disappointed by most of the white album. i thought i remembered liking it more. i still love the entire rubber soul album. (note that until now, i haven't bought a beatles album since, well, albums.)

i listen to a lot of different types of music (pretty much everything but country & rap). i've been drawn in recent years to some complex (at least to my ear) & contemporary international sounds. listening to the beatles again, i am struck by the simplicity of much of their work. i notice that it does not seem to engage my brain quite as much as some new music i've found, or perhaps just in old familiar ways.

for its time their music is really still quite wonderful. i am so used to playing the albums, even though i haven't played an entire album since i was a kid, that i like to hear the songs in the same order i remembered them being on vinyl. i don't think i could buy a greatest hits album of the beatles as the songs would be wrongly ordered.

and that's another thing about the beatles: even though they put out so many songs, they put out so many good songs. this was not a one hit band. you can buy an album, like rubber soul or abbey road, and every song is good. try that today with most contemporary artists. i don't know if integrity has been lost, or if it is their concentration or the rush to put out an album, but i suspect they simply don't have the talent of the beatles.

ps, just the other day, after i ordered the albums, my two little nephews are telling me how much they love rock and that i should love rock too (they get tired of listening to the international & tribal stuff in the convertible). the youngest, who had rap down pat told me how much he now loves the beatles. 40 years later. good to know we're still in.

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum

listening to the beatles again, i am struck by the simplicity of much of their work. i notice that it does not seem to engage my brain quite as much as some new music i've found, or perhaps just in old familiar ways.

The problem is that back in the day when we listened to the Beatles we were so stoned that everything sounded complex.

[HFWR]

Didn't care much for the "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" Beatles. The Rubber Soul and Revolver albums are two or my favorites. Like most of Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Pepper, about half of the The Beatles "White Album", and Abbey Road, side 2, is right up there as best album side of all time...

"...and life goes on within you and without you..."

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Originally Posted by Tiger

The problem is that back in the day when we listened to the Beatles we were so stoned that everything sounded complex.

hmmmm. that might explain why i can't seem to get the cd to play backwards.

YouTube - Beatles Backmasking

"turn me on dead man."~~beatles backwards

[HFWR]

Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum

hmmmm. that might explain why i can't seem to get the cd to play backwards.

"turn me on dead man."~~beatles backwards

Or, as Gallagher would say, "Have to listened to the new Beatles album? If you play it backwards, at 78 speed, it'll screw up your needle..."