Monday, June 16, 2014

Meet The Beatles. Really, re-meet them.

Photo via The Beatles' Facebook page
I've been reading Revolution In The Head, a song by song breakdown of The Beatle's catalog, and have been listening to all the music as I read about it. This has led me to the question: why do so many Beatles-esque bands sound staid and sterile while the actual Beatles still sound so innovative and unexpected, even today?

The answer is actually pretty simple. Obviously you're dealing with an extremely rare alchemical reaction of just the right four guys getting together to make music. But I think that the enforced simplicity—it took EMI forever to upgrade their studio, forcing the foursome and their producer and engineers to get inventive—along with endless studio time to find the things that worked within the simple technology afforded them took amazing song into a completely weird and unexpected area. Conventional wisdom has cast The Beatles as the "good boys of rock" over the years but in fact they were the weirdos, making crazy sounds and melding them with a pop sensibility that both shocked and entranced listeners.

And now, one of my favorite Beatles songs. And to anyone that is under the impression Ringo Starr couldn't drum, just try to keep up with this.

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