Hello, America!

Great photo.

The white album is on heavy rotation over here. And yeah, great photo.

i got the anthology dvds for christmas and only now did i see them throughout this week. i'm in such a beatles phase right now it's a bit worrying.

interresting band.

It took me several years to realize how much those early records suck ass.

Get the Live at teh BBC album. This was teh greatest rock and roll band in teh world. They could play anything, and better than anyone else.

Fuckin' right.

I spent most of 2008 diving into Motown, R&B, Soul... I suppose pretty much anything from the mid 50's through '64 or so, and stumbling onto the live at the BBC album was really a highlight of last year. I considered myself a pretty big Beatles fan at the time, but I honestly didn't know it existed.

An incredibly fun album, I love how much it highlights George. Nothin' Shakin might be my favorite on the whole freakin thing. Love all the banter and stuff too. I think i'll listen to it tomorrow.

Not true at all.

lol wut.

Sir, they barely even qualified as a rock and roll band.


I like Abbey Road like everyone else, and I do love some of their songs, but DAMN they were lousy back in the day.

Wrong. Those early songs and their covers are awesome. You're honestly saying Twist & Shout isn't a great rock song?

Yes.



It's a catchy pop song though.

i had this one stuck in my head for a week

How much do you know about the early history of rock and roll?

I'm pretty knowledgeable. What does it have to do with the Beatles?

How is their early stuff not rock and roll?

whats that have to do with him thinking the music sucked?

I just don't see a lot of the elements I associate with rockn'roll in those first few singles and albums. I hear a lot of pretty melodies and that rythm and blues sensibility, but mostly what I hear is a watered-down, radio-friendly pastiche of great r&b, Motown, Smokey-Robinson, Holland-and-Dozier songs, with a sparse, lifeless production and a lousy rythm section.

Granted, other UK bands of the time did the same thing, but with more style: The Who were dangerous and unpredictable, the Stones had swagger and virtuosity, The Kinks were aggressive as all-out. The Beatles were controversial because... they had long hair.

Now I'll say this. I believe they were always genuine in what they did. Sure, those first few songs were catchy and dumb and radio-friendly, but they meant every word. They did write some gorgeous songs, and I admire them for their ability to trascend their teenybopper beginnings. I just... I can't listen to those early songs without cringing.