I'm still asking, "What is the big deal?"

I mean they had their moments on a few.

"Rubber Soul" was probably closest to a R&B album.

Got through the self title [damn near went to sleep ]

A lot of their stuff sounded more of a novelty act, like showtunes....which isn't a bad, if you're into that.

But like I stated , I probably liked some of their tunes on each album, not all.

So what am I missing?

Historical context?

To each his own, I say. The White Album is a staggering, masterful achievement. No opinion to the contrary is likely to sway me.

If you can hear an album like The White Album or Abbey Road and still be left cold then you will likely never understand the brilliance of The Beatles.

Identity said:

To each his own, I say. The White Album is a staggering, masterful achievement. No opinion to the contrary is likely to sway me.

this isn't a thread to put them down or anything like that...

i'm just trying to understand what was the big deal about the music.

MattyJam said:

If you can hear an album like The White Album or Abbey Road and still be left cold then you will likely never understand the brilliance of The Beatles.

i guess not then

The Beatles were brilliant but I'm starting to feel like they're a tad overrated. There are certainly quite a few artists that are superior to them in my book.

MattyJam said:

If you can hear an album like The White Album or Abbey Road and still be left cold then you will likely never understand the brilliance of The Beatles.

The White Album is has way too much filler. It's Abbey Road and Revolver for me.

And also, how come Ringo didn't contribute any songs on the albums? George had a few, but no Ringo at all.

HuMpThAnG said:

And also, how come Ringo didn't contribute any songs on the albums? George had a few, but no Ringo at all.

He contributed on The White Album a bit as well as Abbey Road and the songs were godawful.

HuMpThAnG said:

And also, how come Ringo didn't contribute any songs on the albums? George had a few, but no Ringo at all.

Ringo has a song on The White Album.

MattyJam said:

HuMpThAnG said:

And also, how come Ringo didn't contribute any songs on the albums? George had a few, but no Ringo at all.

Ringo has a song on The White Album.

what song is that?

i'm looking at the listing now

HuMpThAnG said:

MattyJam said:

Ringo has a song on The White Album.

what song is that?

i'm looking at the listing now

Don't Pass Me By.

smoothcriminal12 said:

HuMpThAnG said:

And also, how come Ringo didn't contribute any songs on the albums? George had a few, but no Ringo at all.

He contributed on The White Album a bit as well as Abbey Road and the songs were godawful.

i'm talking regarding as songwriter

smoothcriminal12 said:

HuMpThAnG said:

what song is that?

i'm looking at the listing now

Don't Pass Me By.

it's listed as Richard Starkey being the songwriter

HuMpThAnG said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

Don't Pass Me By.

it's listed as Richard Starkey being the songwriter

Yeah! That's him.

smoothcriminal12 said:

HuMpThAnG said:

it's listed as Richard Starkey being the songwriter

Yeah! That's him.

oh ok

HuMpThAnG said:

So what am I missing?

Maybe more people like showtunes than R&B. Not everyone listens to R&B, especially in a worldwide context. You know there's 2 or 3 country music awards on network TV and the Tony Awards are on CBS. The R&B awards are either syndicated (Soul Train) or on niche cable channels like BET.

.

Back when The Beatles were growing up, showtunes were part of the pop music of the time. Look at Billboard magazine from the 1940s & 1950s. Broadway & movie soundtracks (ig. Show Boat, Singing In The Rain) were often in the top 10 and so was Harry Belefonte calypso albums and crooner pop. So of course that's going to show up in their music, particularly Paul, who's father played in a jazz group. George Harrison & Paul were fans of George Formby, the ukulele player.

MickyDolenz said:

HuMpThAnG said:

So what am I missing?

Maybe more people like showtunes than R&B. Not everyone listens to R&B, especially in a worldwide context. You know there's 2 or 3 country music awards on network TV and the Tony Awards are on CBS. The R&B awards are either syndicated (Soul Train) or on niche cable channels like BET.

.

Back when The Beatles were growing up, showtunes were part of the pop music of the time. Look at Billboard magazine from the 1940s & 1950s. Broadway & movie soundtracks (ig. Show Boat, Singing In The Rain) were often in the top 10 and so was Harry Belefonte calypso albums and crooner pop. So of course that's going to show up in their music, particularly Paul, who's father played in a jazz group. George Harrison & Paul were fans of George Formby, the ukulele player.

Nothing against showtunes or any genre.

Hell, I even have a 2 cd set of their stuff and the Abbey Road cd.

I wasn't being R&B brain while listening but i heard a few...

I think you need to kind of understand the British sense of humour and the fact that on a song like Good Night for example, their tongues were firmly placed in their cheeks.

HuMpThAnG said:

Nothing against showtunes or any genre.

Hell, I even have a 2 cd set of their stuff and the Abbey Road cd.

I wasn't being R&B brain while listening but i heard a few...

But you were asking what the appeal was. The Beatles albums had many types of things in their music that appeal to different kinds of people. There's some R&B, country, Indian music, psychedelic, doo wop, girl group songs, avant garde, rock n roll, children's music, easy listening, music hall, singalongs, etc. Probably because of this, acts from many genres have remade their songs, which spread their music to folks who may have not listened to The Beatles directly. Sort of like the music that is called standards, which people still record today like those Rod Stewart American Songbook albums.

smoothcriminal12 said:

HuMpThAnG said:

And also, how come Ringo didn't contribute any songs on the albums? George had a few, but no Ringo at all.

He contributed on The White Album a bit as well as Abbey Road and the songs were godawful.

What? "Octopus's Garden" gets no love from you?

I weep for the future of the music world.

Identity said:

"Octopus's Garden"

This might have been the first Beatles song I was really aware of, although I didn't know who it was at the time. They played it a lot at the nursery school I went to and this was a black nursery.

I tend to sway towards the later material, Revolver onwards, Abbey Road is my favourite. The White Album is ok IMO, compressed down to 1 cd is better for me.

HuMpThAnG said:

I'm still asking, "What is the big deal?"

I mean they had their moments on a few.

"Rubber Soul" was probably closest to a R&B album.

Got through the self title [damn near went to sleep ]

A lot of their stuff sounded more of a novelty act, like showtunes....which isn't a bad, if you're into that.

But like I stated , I probably liked some of their tunes on each album, not all.

So what am I missing?

I had to spend years to conjure all the albums. Have to remember it took years for all these albums to be made and probably not appreciative of the time and era these albums were created against others at their time.

I still havent listened to all James Brown album because I want to make sure I can appreciate one album at a time. Too much at once, id look over something.

I started off with Revolver...which blew me away. I wanted more.

Did you spend time with each album / experience? Take time off from each one to reflect?

There was a time,when I was much younger,I didn't understand what all the hype was about,either.

But then I started listening to albums like Sgt.Peppers and Abbey Road,and I began to understand the brilliance of their music The Beatles were incredible.

bigd74 said:

Abbey Road is my favourite.

same here that album is damn near perfect

Love the White Album, their Sign O the Times tour de force. Abbey Road is also strong. Their creativity, uniqueness, chemistry and consistency is pretty mind-blowing. They have never been one of my favorites but a lot of their shit is downright irresistable.