It was 46 years ago Today…..
…..That the band who would become “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” set foot on American soil for the first time….. February 7, 1964, The Beatles started their first American tour, which, changed American pop music forever…… John, Paul, George, and Ringo – the Moptops who became the guru’s of music in my generation, and, I believe, will be considered rock icons by many more generations to come…..
This ties-in with my previous Post on Buddy Holly, as Paul owns the publishing rights to the Holly catalog….. He lost the rights to The Beatles catalog thanks to one “Yoko Oh-No”….. The music business is rough around the edges (it has a black hole at the center)…..
This is strange and weird – I’ve been listening to my I-Pod set on shuffle play since I haven’t got my main music system setup yet…. As I started this post, I clicked on my I-Pod….. It was on the last two seconds of silence on the song I stopped it on the last time I used it…. Here’s what came screaming though the speakers, out of 555 choices I have on the I-Pod – “That’ll be the Day”, a Buddy Holly hit, performed by The Beatles from the Anthology I album cranked up….. I’m bettin’ it’s going to be a good day….. Dig out some early Beatles and “Rock Out, Citizens of MR Land” (That is an order signed by MR, and approved by PD Bob)……
February 7th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Awww, do I have to?
The Beatles isn’t really “rock out” music, is it?
February 7th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Hell, yeah. Rock Out, Mellow Out, Trip Out-the Beatles just about covered it all. Just my humble opinion of course, HS. Maybe MR should have said Rock On.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:42 am
HS, most of The Beatles early albums (up to “Rubber Soul”) contain many cover versions of what is now considered R’nR’ classics….. If those aren’t rockin’ enough, may I suggest listening to “Helter Skelter” continuously for an hour or two….. That should twist your ears up somewhat….. I also consider, “Birthday”, “Get Back”, “Come Together”, “Sgt. Pepper’s”, “Taxman”, and many others as decent “rock out” music…… Of course, HS, I respect your musical opinion, and I’m sure we can, “Agree to Disagree” (From “Help”)…..
I agree with you, Sunn, The Beatles’ did cover the full musical spectrum…..
February 8th, 2010 at 11:36 am
I think HS is saying that the early Beatles catalog you told us to listen to may not qualify as music to rock out to–at least not as the phrase resonates with many of us. Rocking out usually involves pulling a neck muscle or two. A string of chunky music comes to mind. I can’t think of a Beatles song that strictly matches what I’m thinking of… that’s not a bad thing. Must the Beatles be all to all?
February 8th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I prefer to enjoy my music with out breaking my neck or slamming my head into things. LSD Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds 😉
February 8th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
jek, i hear what you’re saying.
That being said, the concept of the Rock group didn’t really exist until the Beatles came along.
The so-called “Rock Groups” prior to the Beatles weren’t even allowed to play their own instruments on their recordings. It is quite possible there wouldn’t have been what some consider true “rock” music (Van Halen, Metallica, etc.)until many, many years later. “We Just Disagree” (Dave Mason).
February 8th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
They’ve clearly been brainwashing me with too much Judas Priest and The Clash at the gym.
I’ve always had the impression that (quality) pop music owed tremendous depth to The Beatles; the more rock-y bands appear more to trace their roots to The Who. [I’m sure there are huge holes in this theory, so I won’t press it much.]
February 10th, 2010 at 12:14 am
The Who are definitely the Godfathers of Punk.
However, if the Beatles hadn’t struck gold, we would probably never have heard of The Who or any other band from England. Before the Beatles, there had never been an artist on the American charts.
February 10th, 2010 at 10:14 am
….And Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper are the Godfathers of Metal….. Another good thing about the Beatles making it big in America was that fans in America became more aware of American RnR artists like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and other blues based players because most of their first few albums contained covers of songs by these artists… It opened a lot of repressed doors to these artists because at the time America still had a lot of prejudices including segregation……
February 10th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Add Deep Purple to the list, MR.
February 10th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Excellent point, MR. Hail, Hail Rock & Roll!
February 11th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Can’t leave out Bill Haley and the Comets, can we, Sunn?….. Seems like there was one other kid – a truck driver (J.J. ?..No) out of Memphis, TN that gained somewhat of a fan base…… Let’s see, it was a funny first name….. Started with an E…. or a P….. That’s it!…. The news media called him “Elvis the Pelvis”….. Banned from the waist down on TV!….. Imagine that happening today…..
February 11th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
I would be willing to bet, that in our children’s lifetime, they will see full nudity by musical “performers”. After that, I’m not sure what else they could do. But I’m sure it will be something.
February 12th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Wouldn’t it now be 66 years ago that Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play?
February 13th, 2010 at 12:12 am
Yes, I have allways taken offense to the labeling of Elvis as a “Truck Driver”. He drove a delivery Pick up for an local electrical contracting company. As for the Beatles being “Rock out Music” I dare anyone to put on Revolution, or Helter Skelter turn up the volume to oh lets say 8 and set perfectly still without “Rocking Out”
February 13th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I agree with you on this one, J.J., I just can’t picture Elvis as a full blown Trucker…… I see him on a two to three minute “Top 40” local delivery run….. Uh-huh-uhh….. “Elvis has left the building on a delivery”……. Everyone has their own musical taste, but, I agree with you, The Beatles definitely have some “Rock-Out, Neck wretching” music…..
February 13th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
I can’t think of a genre the Beatles didn’t cover (Rap & Hip Hop weren’t invented quite yet).
They did pop, rock, country, blues, a cappella, psychedelic, big band, jazz, acoustic, electric, raga & I’m probably forgetting a few. Wait a minute, I don’t think they ever did opera (although that my be disputed). I think Sgt. Pepper could have been a “Rock Opera” if there had been such a term before the Who’s “Tommy”.
February 15th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Yeah, Sunn, they definitely contributed their fair share to the music world…… Maybe you don’t have to be a Beatles fan, but, if you are into music in any way, you should at least give a nod to what they accomplished……
February 19th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Don’t forget all the people that did neat things with equipment like Les Paul.