That's not all they did. Now, come on. Don't use hyperbole to make your argument.

As for sitar playing, that dates back to their song Norwegian Wood which was on the album Rubber Soul (1965). The experimental album you are talking about (which I assume is Sgt. Peppers) doesnt' have much sitar and was in 67. And on Norwegan Wood, it's George Harrison playing sitar...not an Indian musician (you are probably referring to Ravi Shankar).

feeluupp said:

Beatles suck. The hire an Indian instrument player or whatever and that album is hailed as the most experimental album of all time... Hahaha over rated.

[Edited 5/28/17 11:16am]

purplerabbithole said:

That's not all they did. Now, come on. Don't use hyperbole to make your argument.

As for sitar playing, that dates back to their song Norwegian Wood which was on the album Rubber Soul (1965). The experimental album you are talking about (which I assume is Sgt. Peppers) doesnt' have much sitar and was in 67.

feeluupp said:

Beatles suck. The hire an Indian instrument player or whatever and that album is hailed as the most experimental album of all time... Hahaha over rated.

Beatles... Bring them to Africa... See if anyone will care

You are getting silly now. Bring Prince to the Ukraine, see if they care there.

feeluupp said:

purplerabbithole said:

That's not all they did. Now, come on. Don't use hyperbole to make your argument.

As for sitar playing, that dates back to their song Norwegian Wood which was on the album Rubber Soul (1965). The experimental album you are talking about (which I assume is Sgt. Peppers) doesnt' have much sitar and was in 67.

Beatles... Bring them to Africa... See if anyone will care

purplerabbithole said:

You are getting silly now. Bring Prince to the Ukraine, see if they care there.

feeluupp said:

Beatles... Bring them to Africa... See if anyone will care

Beatles suck. Nothing silly about it. No swag, no style, no soul. They nothing.

Soul?--Debatable. Swag--I give you that. They weren't exactly known for swagger. But style?--oh, come on, nehru jackets and love beads are bad ass...LOL... and you know where Prince got Paisley from..

Look at Sammy Davis working the nehru jacket...LOL

The Beatles working Paisley and Nehru..

feeluupp said:

purplerabbithole said:

You are getting silly now. Bring Prince to the Ukraine, see if they care there.

Beatles suck. Nothing silly about it. No swag, no style, no soul. They nothing.

SoulAlive said:

have you guys seen this 50th anniversary set? Freakin' amazing!

The most ambitious reissue yet of an individual album from the Beatles’ catalog has just been released.It is an expanded and newly remixed edition of the Fab Four’s 1967 pop masterpiece, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

Consistently ranked by critics and fans among the most influential rock albums of all time, “Sgt. Pepper” is being reissued in multiple formats and editions, including new stereo and surround-sound audio mixes along with nearly three dozen previously unreleased recordings from the same sessions.

I bought this set and it is in the mail as we speak. The Beatles were the greatest band ever. Period. Case Closed.

1Sasha said:

SoulAlive said:

have you guys seen this 50th anniversary set? Freakin' amazing!

The most ambitious reissue yet of an individual album from the Beatles’ catalog has just been released.It is an expanded and newly remixed edition of the Fab Four’s 1967 pop masterpiece, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

Consistently ranked by critics and fans among the most influential rock albums of all time, “Sgt. Pepper” is being reissued in multiple formats and editions, including new stereo and surround-sound audio mixes along with nearly three dozen previously unreleased recordings from the same sessions.

I bought this set and it is in the mail as we speak. The Beatles were the greatest band ever. Period. Case Closed.

I'll be purchasing this set too.It looks absolutely fantastic! I'm very impressed with the way their catalog has been handled.

SoulAlive said:

1Sasha said:

I bought this set and it is in the mail as we speak. The Beatles were the greatest band ever. Period. Case Closed.

I'll be purchasing this set too.It looks absolutely fantastic! I'm very impressed with the way their catalog has been handled.

what do you get besides the same album? Personally, i don't care for the cards etc.., any alternate takes?

one more thing i just remembered, the rhythm guitar in I wanna be your lover sounded just like "it's getting better all the time". I'll never believe anyone introduced him to the Beatles, maybe they think that but i don't believe it. I've always heard snatches of beatles (and elvis, and little richard, chuck berry etc..,) going way back in P's music. Also, I thought Purple Rain was very similar to some of John Lennon's later ballads.

PeteSilas said:

SoulAlive said:

I'll be purchasing this set too.It looks absolutely fantastic! I'm very impressed with the way their catalog has been handled.

what do you get besides the same album? Personally, i don't care for the cards etc.., any alternate takes?

CD 1:
New stereo album mix.

CDs 2 & 3:
33 additional recordings from the studio sessions, most previously unreleased and mixed for the first time from the four-track session tapes, sequenced in chronological order of their recording dates.
A new stereo mix of “Penny Lane” and the 2015 stereo mix of “Strawberry Fields Forever”.

CD 4:
Direct transfers of the album’s original mono mix and the “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane” singles.
Capitol Records’ U.S. promotional mono single mix of “Penny Lane”.
Previously unreleased early mono mixes of “She’s Leaving Home,” “A Day In The Life,” and “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” (a mix thought to have been erased from a tape in 1967, but discovered during archive research for the anniversary edition).

Discs 5 & 6 (Blu-ray and DVD):
New 5.1 surround audio mixes of the album and “Penny Lane” by Giles Martin and Sam Okell, plus their 2015 5.1 surround mix of “Strawberry Fields Forever”.
High resolution audio versions of the new stereo mixes of the album and “Penny Lane” and of the 2015 stereo mix of “Strawberry Fields Forever”.
Video features: 4K restored original promotional films for “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Penny Lane,” and “A Day In The Life;” plus The Making of Sgt. Pepper, a restored, previously unreleased documentary film broadcast in 1992, featuring insightful interviews with McCartney, Harrison, and Starr, and in-studio footage introduced by George Martin.

rdhull said:

This thread is revealing the ignorance of prince fans. We always knew it was there but...

Yeah, your comment about the homeless and the mentally ill is typical of this shitdump.

[Edited 5/28/17 11:55am]

TheDigitalGardener said:

PeteSilas said:

jaawwnn said:

PeteSilas said:

one more thing i just remembered, the rhythm guitar in I wanna be your lover sounded just like "it's getting better all the time". I'll never believe anyone introduced him to the Beatles, maybe they think that but i don't believe it. I've always heard snatches of beatles (and elvis, and little richard, chuck berry etc..,) going way back in P's music. Also, I thought Purple Rain was very similar to some of John Lennon's later ballads.

Have to admit I rarely if ever hear any direct Beatles influence, I'd put your examples down to coincidence. I'm sure he knew the stuff thats just part of the tapestry of culture now but doubt he was a big fan. Wasn't there a story that he didn't even know While my Guitar Gently Weeps before being invited to perform it? It might have just been braggiado on his part but I'd believe it. Plus don't forget his teenage years were the 70's when Beatles records were largely out of print and they were generally seen as yesterdays news.

naw, don't believeit sorry. I grew up around mainly black folks, rarely heard any white rock at all but even i couldn't escape the beatles, more or less they were familiar when i finally got into them. I can't see how prince could escape them in lily white Minneapolis. It's kind of like a big head thing i think. He said a lot of things about what he did and didn't listen to and I don't believe it. He never outgrew it either did he? he was always saying "i don't have time to listen to music, if I want new music I make it" I think that kind of arrogance was certainly one of his lesser qualities.

PeteSilas said:

feeluupp said:

purplerabbithole said:

You are getting silly now. Bring Prince to the Ukraine, see if they care there.

Beatles suck. Nothing silly about it. No swag, no style, no soul. They nothing.

You're just a hater, fuck off.

PeteSilas said:

one more thing i just remembered, the rhythm guitar in I wanna be your lover sounded just like "it's getting better all the time". I'll never believe anyone introduced him to the Beatles, maybe they think that but i don't believe it. I've always heard snatches of beatles (and elvis, and little richard, chuck berry etc..,) going way back in P's music. Also, I thought Purple Rain was very similar to some of John Lennon's later ballads.

Interesting and it sounds like Getting Better.

214 said:

Tokyo said:

Really sad to read so many people queuing up to bash the Beatles on this thread. Everyone can be a wise-ass from afar! I think Prince's view eventually is likely to have been that here were four guys from working class backgrounds who learned their craft and played their own instruments. To give them their due - and leave the radio aside - they changed the face of popular music forever. Their music may not be to your taste, but there's a reason that the song yesterday is one of, if not the most, covered song of all time. Their music has universal appeal across languages, faiths and cultural boundaries. It also encapsulates everything from folk music to hymns, rock and roll, vaudeville, gospel, rock, skiffle, musicals, RnB. Rather than lining up to say how sh*t they were maybe think about having something more intelligent to say about their influence on Prince during one of his most creative periods. I loved Prince's music, I just can't stand this worthy nonsense about him being superior to other great artists that people feel they can rubbish here. T

This is a nice post, and as I have been one to pile on The Beatles, I'll respond.

I won't deny that The Beatles have been a massive cultural phenomenon and are rightful legends - I just can't stand their music. At all. And I've tried!

Usually, even when I don't necessarily like a legendary artist, I can at least see how they could be appealing. I don't particularly care for Bob Dylan, but I can see why he appeals to so many. Joni Mitchell doesn't do much for me either, but I can appreciate why people love her. As far as something more in Prince's wheelhouse, I've bought 3 different Sly & The Family Stone albums, and they come off as merely pleasant to me. That said, I can see why they were loved. There are several others who fit this bill.

Regarding The Beatles, I've always disliked them. However, as I eventually came around to some artists who I didn't initially like (Sufjan Stevens, Tom Waits), I've given The Beatles a chance in that same light, and have listened to 3 of their albums: Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Abbey Road. Whereas albums by artists like Joni Mitchell or Aretha Franklin or The Rolling Stones just didn't move me, these Beatles albums consistently irritated me.

So while I accept that they have had a big impact on music over the past 50+ years, I sometimes feel like Ashton Kutcher is going to pop out from around some corner and tell me I've been punk'd. The Beatles aren't alone in this - it wouldn't surprise me that much if I woke up one day and R.E.M. was only the 500th most acclaimed band or something like that.

For me, it's not a competition thing. Prince will always be my favorite, but I am more than happy to give other mega-legends their due. Otis Redding, The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Parliament-Funkadelic, Michael Jackson, Madonna? Yes, please!

As childish as it might sound, some of the backlash might also be due to overzealous Beatles fans insisting that they invented everything under the sun, as well, and that those who don't see it are somehow defective. Thankfully, I haven't seen as much of that as I did 10-20 years ago, but there is still an element of the Beatles fanbase that contends that The Beatles are above reproach and are factually the greatest artist ever by some objective standard, and regards those who don't agree with stunned horror.

Hyperbole is rife in all sorts of fanbases, but I fear it has become mainstream in the case of The Beatles. A new kids show has debuted on Nick Jr. called Beat Bugs, in which the characters all sing Beatles songs. From Wikipedia:

jaawwnn said:

Always love The Beatles are Overrated threads on here. You guys wouldn't even be listening to albums if it wasn't for Sgt Peppers. Sly Stone knew, you should too.

See, this is the kind of statement that goes way overboard. Yes, The Beatles had massively successful and influential albums. No, they are not solely responsible for albums being the standard for musical expression. There are albums that pre-date The Beatles which could be called "concept albums" and gained fame and success. I'm no fan of Frank Sinatra, but In the Wee Small Hours, from 1955, is one such album.

The overreaching "everything about music is the way it is becaue of The Beatles" narrative takes away from what they actually did achieve by cheapening the contributions of others.

Top 5 bands...

The Beatles

REM

The Smiths

The Boo Radleys

Super Furry Animals

The Beatles are not overrated. To me their albums average out slightly over 8/10, same as Prince. A lot of bands are overrated though, including many of their contemporaries, many New York bands etc. That's the sum of it. Good day!

Actually forget last sentiment... i take the 'good day' back. People are as thick as pig shit on here! Bye

fortuneandserendipity said:

feeluupp said:

I dont think it is a big deal or surprise that PRINCE did not hear "Sgt Pepper" why is that a shock? he was 10 when it came out, it seems that all the influences that PRINCE ever mentions, they all have been 70's artists, Sly, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago etc.. However this thread saying they are overrated, oh god here we fucking go again. YES there have been better guitarists, singers, drummers but this unit just fucking worked together better than anything and it all worked. I looked at other bands that I love like QUEEN, together genius, on their own as solo artists, pretty bad or average, The Rolling Stones great for most of their time, solo, jesus those MICK albums suck ass. Paul George and John and even some RIngo solo stuff is fucking great and there is some bad shit in there too.

And the whole thing about PRINCE denying Hendrix I get that, because you see PRINCE play guitar and automatically everyone says OH Got to be Hendrix, so I dont blame him for distancing himself every chance he had, I mean its like when Julian Lennon does work and even now 35 years or so after his dads murder he is still got to be asked questions about JOHN who rarely saw Julian anyway. So the BEATLES were the first that had to deal with that mania, that time period which was changing so rapidly and the things they dealt with from the mania to backlash to burnings and riots, sorry but no one in music has had to deal with that and actually still make music too.

fortuneandserendipity said:

Actually forget last sentiment... i take the 'good day' back. People are as thick as pig shit on here! Bye

Case in point of the sort of responses that can come from the more zealous Beatles fans.