The Official Beatles Thread

[Tick]

Mike Portnoys Beatles tribute featuring Neal Morse and Paul Gilbert will be in NYC on Feb. 28th! I will be there!

[RushCanuck]

It was 47 years ago today (Feb 9, 1964) the Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan, and this girl (7 at the time) was parked in front of the TV in total awe. I have loved them ever since.

[Bastille Dave]

QUOTE (tick @ Feb 9 2011, 07:49 AM)

Mike Portnoys Beatles tribute featuring Neal Morse and Paul Gilbert

I like this band. Aren't they called Yellow Matter Custard?

[Don Quixote]

We bought Paul's "Good Evening New York City" CD / DVD set last week...and it is just incredible. Sure he has some years on him, but he does just fine, and his current band is just outfrigginstanding.

[tel]

yes indeedy the beatles are the greatest there has ever been,they dident even have to try hard because everything just came naturally.

i dont think we will ever see another band that could deliver such consistently fantastic music although rush are potentially hiers to the throne.

 

favorite albums....

 

abbey road

sgt pepper

revolver

[Bastille Dave]

listening to the Red Album 1962-1966 on vinyl. Pristine condition, sounds phenominal. Paul's bass is just hynotizing.

 

"He's a reeeaal Nowhere Man, sitting in his nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans, for nobody..."

 

grab the bass knob and turn it up, it comes in right.....here^^^^^

 

 

nobody has since equaled this greatness.

Edited March 7, 2011 by Bastille Dave

[Mr. Not]

1. The White Album

2. Magical Mystery Tour

3. Sgt Pepper

4. Abbey Road

5. Let it Be (Why doesn't it have Don't Let Me Down on it? WHY? Ironic.)

[Na na na]

The Beatles 1964 - 1966 is my fav period, my fav album is probably Help!

[ReRushed]

1. The White Album

2. Magical Mystery Tour

3. Sgt Pepper

4. Abbey Road

5. Let it Be (Why doesn't it have Don't Let Me Down on it? WHY? Ironic.)

 

Why doesn't Sgt. Pepper have Strawberry Fields Forever or Penny Lane? Why doesn't Revolver have Rain or Paperback Writer? Why doesn't the White Album have Hey Jude?

[CygnusGal]

*This* is the official The Beatles thread? It must be from the date, but...how the heck did I miss it with my earlier searches.

 

Oh well...

 

Abbey Road is the finest album The Beatles created, imo. Sgt. Pepper's, Rubber Soul, Meet and White round out the top 5 though its really a rather vague distinction, imo. Rubber Soul through Abbey Road is some of the greatest rock music ever recorded, imo.

 

Just my $.02

[Mr. Not]

1. The White Album

2. Magical Mystery Tour

3. Sgt Pepper

4. Abbey Road

5. Let it Be (Why doesn't it have Don't Let Me Down on it? WHY? Ironic.)

 

Why doesn't Sgt. Pepper have Strawberry Fields Forever or Penny Lane? Why doesn't Revolver have Rain or Paperback Writer? Why doesn't the White Album have Hey Jude?

 

I still don't know!

 

Sgt Pepper's lack of Strawberry / Penny is what pushes Magical Mystery tour up above it.

[drbirdsong]

Back in the day non-album singles meant something. I wish we still had them or at least had good ones.

[ReRushed]

CA-CHING!

 

For the completist only: http://www.rollingst...albums-20131212

[custom55]

more cowbell

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrA-mooV_8o&list=PL4565E153E348069E

[Rhyta]

more cowbell

 

 

LOL!! I sang along with it, so good. The Beatles got me into music, I would sit by the stereo and play their albums over and over while singing along with John's parts. I fell in love with singing so I joined choir and chorus in school because of these guys. I would say that l love ALL the albums but partial to Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper's and Abbey Road. I still think In My Life is such a gorgeous song, gives me goose bumps. Love the Fab Four Forever :kisshug: :D

[ReRushed]

more cowbell

 

 

LOL!! I sang along with it, so good. The Beatles got me into music, I would sit by the stereo and play their albums over and over while singing along with John's parts. I fell in love with singing so I joined choir and chorus in school because of these guys. I would say that l love ALL the albums but partial to Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper's and Abbey Road. I still think In My Life is such a gorgeous song, gives me goose bumps. Love the Fab Four Forever :kisshug: :D

 

It is a good song to sing along to.

[bluefox4000]

Ah the Beatles. Used to think they were the end all be all. Not now...but they are still in my top 10. And have the honor of having my fav album of all time in the White album.

 

Others I love are

 

Revolver

Magical Mystery Tour

Abbey Road

And sometimes Sgt. Pepper's.....have a love/hate thing with that one, lol

 

Mick

[The Cat 3]

http://2a56b976980e0793ddee-5cc5435fcbc367bb03f9a415e7067a97.r91.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/beatles-us-albums-box.jpg

[ReRushed]

http://2a56b976980e0793ddee-5cc5435fcbc367bb03f9a415e7067a97.r91.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/beatles-us-albums-box.jpg

 

Yes, I caved and pre-ordered it. It took me years to get used to the British tracklistings! For the memories...

[Rutlefan]

Late coming to this thread, but as a huge Beatles fan (even more than The Rutles!) I'll flake out and refuse to name favorite albums because I really do think they are all great in their own way.

 

I do have a soft spot for Revolver though, and along those lines, my favorite period is '65 and '66; that's for me the ideal intersection of their increasing song-writing talent and declining economy of their song-writing approach (meaning longer and more complex songs as they matured). Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, and the singles Ticket to Ride, We Can Work it Out, Paperback Writer, and Rain... those are pretty much definitive as to what music I like: perfect power pop. No one did it, or has done it since, like The Beatles of the mid-'60's. Once in awhile a band approaches their heights with a kick-ass song like Cheap Trick's He's a Whore or The Replacements' I Will Dare, but no one did it with the consistency and quality of The Beatles. There's nothing I know of like Tomorrow Never Knows, especially the more minimalist first take. Velvet Underground's Venus in Furs comes closest for me I guess, but again, Beatles did it over and over again.

 

So, no favorite albums, despite a love for the middle period, but I will name my (very) favorite songs: I Feel Fine, Paperback Writer, I'm Only Sleeping, Tomorrow Never Knows, Dear Prudence, Julia, Across the Universe, Because. Score: John 7, Paul 1 (none from George, though I love his songs).

Edited December 19, 2013 by Rutlefan

[sitboaf]

Late coming to this thread, but as a huge Beatles fan (even more than The Rutles!) I'll flake out and refuse to name favorite albums because I really do think they are all great in their own way.

 

I do have a soft spot for Revolver though, and along those lines, my favorite period is '65 and '66; that's for me the ideal intersection of their increasing song-writing talent and declining economy of their song-writing approach (meaning longer and more complex songs as they matured). Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, and the singles Ticket to Ride, We Can Work it Out, Paperback Writer, and Rain... those are pretty much definitive as to what music I like: perfect power pop. No one did it, or has done it since, like The Beatles of the mid-'60's.

I thought about posting last night, but after reading your thoughts, Rutlefan, I will. Because I feel the same way you do.

I wrote this a couple years ago on my blog (edited slightly):

 

People ask me who my favorite Beatle is (Paul), or what my favorite song is (I have no idea), or which album is my favorite.

That last one is tricky. It changes from time to time, but the album that I'm most fascinated with is Revolver.

 

The Beatles' look and sound changed several times from Please Please Me in 1963 until Abbey Road in 1969. They mastered pop rock, expanded the form, defined psychedelia, and then helped lay the groundwork for several styles (AOR, glam, hard rock, power-pop) that would dominate radio for the next few years.

 

But the year 1966, and the Revolver album, is the lynchpin. From 1963 - 65, The Beatles recorded 2 albums. From 1967 - 69, they also recorded 2 albums.

But, in 1966, there was just Revolver.

 

And 1966 brought changes to the band.

After a disastrous and harrowing tour in Asia, the band played their last concert — the "studio years" had begun.

George learned to play sitar from Ravi Shankar in India, and emerged a songwriter nearly on par with John and Paul.

People's image of the band changed when John made his "bigger than Jesus" comment.

 

Exactly half of Revolver's 14 songs are pop, the other half psychedelic. From the irreverent ("Taxman"), to the haunting ("Elanor Rigby"), to the whimsical ("Yellow Submarine"), to the endearing ("Here There and Everywhere"), to the trippy ("Good Day Sunshine"), to the heartbreaking ("For No One"), to the impish ("Doctor Robert"), it's all genius.

And then to finish the album, the perfect brace of songs:

 

Got to Get You into My Life: Paul, who hadn't yet plunged fully into mind-alteration and the psychedelic sound, cranked out his most powerful pop rock song yet, With its Motown-inspired horns, the genre was pushed to its breaking point. Paul would never venture into these waters again.

 

Finally, closing the album is John's single-chord, tape loop-filled, Book of the Dead-influenced Tomorrow Never Knows. This swirling, mind-bending trip gave the psychedelic genre its first masterpiece.

 

Beyond rock music, you might even say Western society "revolved" around 1966. Fading away was the clear-skied, buzz cut, Great Society feeling of the early and mid-'60s.

Just arriving was the hazy, long-haired, countercultural, violent upheaval of the late '60s.

 

Revolver was a revolution, indeed.

[Rutlefan]

1. The White Album

2. Magical Mystery Tour

3. Sgt Pepper

4. Abbey Road

5. Let it Be (Why doesn't it have Don't Let Me Down on it? WHY? Ironic.)

 

It's already a strong collection of songs of course, but I always wished that Let it Be included Don't Let Me Down and Maybe I'm Amazed. I doubt MIA had been written when the LIB material was recorded, but it was released before LIB was released. Would have fit perfectly and the 1st McCartney album wouldn't miss it as it sucks so badly that even MIA can't redeem it. On that note, I wish What's the New Mary Jane had taken the place of Revolution 9.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Rutlefan

[ReRushed]

I wish Abbey Road dropped either "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" or "Octopus's Garden" for one of the great many songs (preferably a George song) that never made it onto a Beatles album.

[Segue Myles]

I wish Abbey Road dropped either "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" or "Octopus's Garden" for one of the great many songs (preferably a George song) that never made it onto a Beatles album.

 

you leave Abbey alone. She is beautiful the way she is. And her Octopuses Garden is amazing fun. Love it. Leave her be!

[Rutlefan]

I wish Abbey Road dropped either "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" or "Octopus's Garden" for one of the great many songs (preferably a George song) that never made it onto a Beatles album.

 

you leave Abbey alone. She is beautiful the way she is. And her Octopuses Garden is amazing fun. Love it. Leave her be!

 

I can understand the no-tamper sentiments, especially concerning Octopus's Garden, but I'd be more than happy seeing Maxwell's Silver Hammer relegated to a b-side. Maybe it's that I can't get the image of a prancing Steve Martin out of my head when I hear it (I don't have a problem with Steve Martin, but rather the context), or maybe it's just a sub-par song for the Beatles. Likely both.