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A most important question

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MikeHz:
Early on, the Beatles churned out money-making pop tunes. The plan was to make a boatload of money before their popularity faded, as they assumed it would. By "Revolver" they didn't need to worry about money, and figured they could risk experimenting. If it bombed, who carried?

Anders:

--- Quote from: drizz on Mar 04, 2012, 07:06:19 PM ---*waits for Anders to tell me that he's pretty sure there were other bands before the Band*
--- End quote ---

Well there were.

The music comment was meant as a joke. I hope there are no hard feelings?

seamas:

--- Quote from: drizz on Mar 04, 2012, 07:06:19 PM ---
I disagree about the early Beatles. I think the main reason it sounds so cheesy is that it's completely dated, but from a historical standpoint it was crazy shit at the time. In a way they perfected a style that had already sort of been around, drawing together disparate threads from the blues, rockabilly, early soul music, etc...and coming up with the now-recognizable pop format. The BSB and N' Sync were more about drawing together influences from bottom of the barrel soul, r&b, etc., making them all shittier, and then coming up with shitty crap that sucked. These boy bands were basically told what to sing, how to sing it, how to dress,.... The Beatles on the other hand mastered melody, harmony and pop songwriting to a point where no one else could compete. Then they more or less scrapped everything and invented the modern concept of the album.

--- End quote ---

I agree.

Even their early music had a pretty interesting sophistication.
They basically synthesized all of the various American pop/Rock N Roll styles and fused it with their own substantial songwriting sensibilities.
It was a very potent mix.

Of course I do think the demands made upon them did make them toss out some sub par material in those days.

I think the weak material was mostly manifested in their covers of other people's stuff.
Their first recorded/released effort at a cover was a monster (Twist and Shout).
But yearly '65, the covers sounded tired.

What I think is funny is that when we discuss their "early" material, we are basically talking about 4 or five albums put out in less than three years.
Their early years had some really awesome songs and recordings. I Wanna Hold Your Hand may have a dated sentiment, but it is a total monster of a pop song.

MikeHz:
 The Beatles had the advantage of George Martin who, though classically trained, knew what a good song should sound like.
Martin had been given charge of a crappy minor sub-label of EMI's called Parlophone, which made novelty records.  He wanted to turn it around and bring it to profitability. He was specifically looking for a hit rock and roll band, and discarded many before finding the Beatles. He figured that with a little tweaking he could make something different--and successful.

Martin made many suggestions for improving the groups music, giving them their distinct style. For instance, at their first recording session, he suggested that John and Paul change the tempo of their slow song, “Please Please me,” speeding it up and giving it more power. After hearing the result, he said to them, “Boys, you’ve just made your first #1.”

seamas:
There is no doubt that Martin was the ideal producer for the Beatles (I think Phil Spector's handling of Let it Be is good proof of that!).

I don't think anyone has yet matched his work at arranging or producing orchestral parts for pop music.
While most artists use of orchestra or strings/brass sections always sound sort of pasted on (or a grasp at high-brow cred), his orchestration for Elanor Rigby is just stunning. And they sound like natural extensions of the Beatles' songs.

His work with the novelty records was no doubt handy when the Beatles would come up with some of their more outlandish ideas for sound.

The funny thing was the engineers at Abbey Road (and maybe martin himself) were still required to work in lab coats for much of the 1960s. It was apparently a very staid and conservative scene. Many of the engineers would balk at the Beatle's suggestions, but Martin would have the band's back.

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