Beatles
Posted by: mmiller <mmiller@...>
I'll take a stab at this, being that I'm not a Beatles fan. Be forwarned-
the following post contains a heavy dose of "just my opinion".
Actually, to be perfectly accurate, it's not that I'm not a fan- it's just
that I find them boring. Yeah, they did change much of pop music, and the
song writing (in most cases) is excellent, but I'd have to echo your
friend's statement about their musicianship. With the exception of
McCartney, the Beatles were a group who were greater than the sum of their
parts. Ringo Starr the single most overrated drummers in history (I'd
include Keith Moon and Carl Palmer in this list, too) and John Lennon was
pretty much devoid of anything I find musical. George Harrison was an
afterthought, but there might have been something there if he hadn't been in
the shadows so much. McCartney's playing, while insightful, wasn't really
anything to write home about, especially his bass playing. There were other
bassists of the day (and earlier) - mainly jazz players - who were way more
groundbreaking than McCartney- most notably Scott LaFaro, Paul Chambers,
Jimmy Garrison and Milt Hinton - and some truly great rock bassists like
Felix Pappalardi, Jack Bruce and John Entwhistle, and even to a certain
extent Bill Wyman or any of the Motown guys - these guys really took bass
playing to a newer level than did Sir Paul. Imagine popular music today if
James Jamerson hadn't been around? (Perish the thought.)
Look at the impact of the various Beatles members after the group. Wings?
Plastic Ono Band? Travelling Wilbury's? Please.
What really stands out for the Beatles is their production. I propose that
if George Martin hadn't been involved in all facets of what they were doing,
that the Beatles would never have made nearly the impact as they did. I can
still listen to tunes like "Tomorrow Never Knows" or anything off of Sgt.
Pepper's and am constantly amazed at the production aspects of the tunes and
how this incredible production served the songs much more than the actual
tunes themselves.
I respect what the Beatles brought to popular music, but I can't say that
I'm a true fan.
Hope that makes a little sense.
-Marc Miller
mmiller@prezbass.com
http://www.prezbass.com