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I once thought the Beatles would be remembered forever and Sgt Pepper's is still considered the greatest pop album of all time but for how much longer? Most youngsters today have never heard of them and even less so of their individual members. It just goes to show how ephemeral pop music is.
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 10:17 - Dec 8 by dirk_doone
I once thought the Beatles would be remembered forever and Sgt Pepper's is still considered the greatest pop album of all time but for how much longer? Most youngsters today have never heard of them and even less so of their individual members. It just goes to show how ephemeral pop music is.
And yet their record sales are holding up? Time will take its toll, but I know a lot of kids who like their music, partly through the ‘entry level’ songs such as Yellow Submarine, Octopuses Garden and Goodnight.
Are Led Zep, Elvis and other greats also fading do you think?
My kids are millennials and all 3 love The Beatles. Music is timeless. I don’t think he was a genius but he and McCartney were certainly able to mine a very rich vein of songs together. When The Beatles split up both their outputs seems to suffer as a result. He was certainly a fascinating character. When people talk about the likes of Bowie being a genius, compare him to Lennon and McCartney and he pales by comparison. Lennon/McCartney are the Mozart and Beethoven of the modern era and will go down in history as such. The Beatles defined the 60’s in a way that no other band has done before or since. Would Lennon have done that on his own? I doubt it.
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John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 12:28 - Dec 8 with 1564 views
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 10:40 - Dec 8 by Chesham_Saint
And yet their record sales are holding up? Time will take its toll, but I know a lot of kids who like their music, partly through the ‘entry level’ songs such as Yellow Submarine, Octopuses Garden and Goodnight.
Are Led Zep, Elvis and other greats also fading do you think?
Things have changed totally now with free streaming. Bob Dylan has just sold his publishing rights because there is little money in sales anymore. Mrs SOG pays Apple £15 a month and for that the family can download as much music as we like. The downside is that I can’t afford to go to live concerts much now because tickets prices are risen to take place of the money the artists used to earn from record sales.
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 14:49 - Dec 8 by Sadoldgit
Things have changed totally now with free streaming. Bob Dylan has just sold his publishing rights because there is little money in sales anymore. Mrs SOG pays Apple £15 a month and for that the family can download as much music as we like. The downside is that I can’t afford to go to live concerts much now because tickets prices are risen to take place of the money the artists used to earn from record sales.
You say JWL aka JOL isn't a genius, but then you compare the Beatles to Mozart and Beethoven who clearly were. A tad confusing...
You can be top of your game but not a genius. Beethoven was deaf but produced amazing symphonies. Mozart was a musical prodigy. Lennon and McCartney composed amazing 3 minute pop songs but neither could read or write music. McCartney is an accomplished musician but Lennon was limited in his playing ability. A lot of The Beatles success was due to the input of George Martin. The Beatles were greater than the sum of their parts but some of their parts were very impressive. Just my opinion. If you think he was a genius, fair dos.
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John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 18:44 - Dec 8 with 1438 views
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 18:21 - Dec 8 by Sadoldgit
You can be top of your game but not a genius. Beethoven was deaf but produced amazing symphonies. Mozart was a musical prodigy. Lennon and McCartney composed amazing 3 minute pop songs but neither could read or write music. McCartney is an accomplished musician but Lennon was limited in his playing ability. A lot of The Beatles success was due to the input of George Martin. The Beatles were greater than the sum of their parts but some of their parts were very impressive. Just my opinion. If you think he was a genius, fair dos.
Comparing them to Mozart is a bit like comparing Rembrandt to Van Gogh. As you say, it’s all down to taste,
But then I think I also MLT is a genius...football wise.
McCartney is really regarded as more than accomplished, more a virtuoso by some accounts.
If you shout Neil Lennon in Glasgow you will likely get punched or shouted at, but if you shouted it 40 years ago today in New York, you might have saved one of the Beatles
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John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 08:58 - Dec 9 with 1317 views
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 18:44 - Dec 8 by Chesham_Saint
Comparing them to Mozart is a bit like comparing Rembrandt to Van Gogh. As you say, it’s all down to taste,
But then I think I also MLT is a genius...football wise.
McCartney is really regarded as more than accomplished, more a virtuoso by some accounts.
I have a friend who thought that Bowie was a genius and another who thought that Kurt Corbain was a genius. When I was younger I thought that Keith Emerson was a genius. Yes, as you say, all down to taste. As for McCartney, when you compare him to bass players like John Entwhistle and Chris Squire he really doesn’t come out that great. He could play guitar quite well but nothing like Clapton etc. His piano playing is adequate but not wonderful. A good all rounder is probably a good description but up there with the best ever as a songwriter, no doubt. Having said that, I think that George Harrison wrote the two best songs in Abbey Road! 😉
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John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 09:11 - Dec 9 with 1311 views
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 08:58 - Dec 9 by Sadoldgit
I have a friend who thought that Bowie was a genius and another who thought that Kurt Corbain was a genius. When I was younger I thought that Keith Emerson was a genius. Yes, as you say, all down to taste. As for McCartney, when you compare him to bass players like John Entwhistle and Chris Squire he really doesn’t come out that great. He could play guitar quite well but nothing like Clapton etc. His piano playing is adequate but not wonderful. A good all rounder is probably a good description but up there with the best ever as a songwriter, no doubt. Having said that, I think that George Harrison wrote the two best songs in Abbey Road! 😉
As Lennon sung to McCartney ' the only thing you done was Yesterday'
My favourite Beatles song, Norwegian Wood, was written by Lennon but, to be fair, most of the songs on Sgt Pepper's, including She's Leaving Home, Fixing a Hole & Getting Better, were written by McCartney as well as many other of the Beatles' finest songs like Eleanor Rigby, Blackbird, Penny Lane, Paperback Writer, Hey Jude, Let It Be, Back in the USSR, All My Loving & Can't Buy Me Love. It would be hard for any song writer in the history of pop music, even John Lennon, to compete with that.
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 08:58 - Dec 9 by Sadoldgit
I have a friend who thought that Bowie was a genius and another who thought that Kurt Corbain was a genius. When I was younger I thought that Keith Emerson was a genius. Yes, as you say, all down to taste. As for McCartney, when you compare him to bass players like John Entwhistle and Chris Squire he really doesn’t come out that great. He could play guitar quite well but nothing like Clapton etc. His piano playing is adequate but not wonderful. A good all rounder is probably a good description but up there with the best ever as a songwriter, no doubt. Having said that, I think that George Harrison wrote the two best songs in Abbey Road! 😉
Presumably you play the bass guitar or Indeed the guitar generally do you?
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 10:18 - Dec 9 by dirk_doone
My favourite Beatles song, Norwegian Wood, was written by Lennon but, to be fair, most of the songs on Sgt Pepper's, including She's Leaving Home, Fixing a Hole & Getting Better, were written by McCartney as well as many other of the Beatles' finest songs like Eleanor Rigby, Blackbird, Penny Lane, Paperback Writer, Hey Jude, Let It Be, Back in the USSR, All My Loving & Can't Buy Me Love. It would be hard for any song writer in the history of pop music, even John Lennon, to compete with that.
They both wrote amazing songs both together and separately. They had very different styles which complemented each other so well. What were the odds of having two exceptional writers living so close and getting together to form the biggest band on the planet?
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John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 18:51 - Dec 9 with 1181 views
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 13:35 - Dec 9 by Chesham_Saint
Presumably you play the bass guitar or Indeed the guitar generally do you?
Can’t play an instrument to save my life Chesh but I have been listening to music and going to gigs for over half a century so have a certain level of appreciation for those who can. Actually that isn’t true. I did play my one and only gig at the Royal Festival Hall when I was a kid. I was a whiz on the triangle!
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John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 18:59 - Dec 9 with 1174 views
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 10:42 - Dec 8 by Sadoldgit
My kids are millennials and all 3 love The Beatles. Music is timeless. I don’t think he was a genius but he and McCartney were certainly able to mine a very rich vein of songs together. When The Beatles split up both their outputs seems to suffer as a result. He was certainly a fascinating character. When people talk about the likes of Bowie being a genius, compare him to Lennon and McCartney and he pales by comparison. Lennon/McCartney are the Mozart and Beethoven of the modern era and will go down in history as such. The Beatles defined the 60’s in a way that no other band has done before or since. Would Lennon have done that on his own? I doubt it.
Have you ever listened to the 1001 Album Club podcasts? They're, basically, young people reviewing classic old pop albums. It's interesting to get a fresh take on them all. When they don't like something, they don't hold back. You can hear them all on Spotify.
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 18:59 - Dec 9 by dirk_doone
Have you ever listened to the 1001 Album Club podcasts? They're, basically, young people reviewing classic old pop albums. It's interesting to get a fresh take on them all. When they don't like something, they don't hold back. You can hear them all on Spotify.
[Post edited 9 Dec 2020 19:02]
No I haven’t Dirk. I will give them a listen. My kids are very critical about my old vinyl collection, mind you, it didn’t stop them nicking most of them! I think we all have a “golden era” which is generally the point at where we start to listen to music seriously. I feel lucky to have had there era in the 60’s and early 70’s. For Mrs SOG it was the 80’s. I think also, with so much easy access to music from any generation, there is a wider appreciation of music across the eras. I am on some chat sites for Prog Rock bans like ELP, Yes and Genesis. Whilst most of the people are old fits like me, there are a number of younger people who have picked up on 70’s album classics via their parents.
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John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 20:16 - Dec 9 with 1139 views
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 19:54 - Dec 9 by Sadoldgit
No I haven’t Dirk. I will give them a listen. My kids are very critical about my old vinyl collection, mind you, it didn’t stop them nicking most of them! I think we all have a “golden era” which is generally the point at where we start to listen to music seriously. I feel lucky to have had there era in the 60’s and early 70’s. For Mrs SOG it was the 80’s. I think also, with so much easy access to music from any generation, there is a wider appreciation of music across the eras. I am on some chat sites for Prog Rock bans like ELP, Yes and Genesis. Whilst most of the people are old fits like me, there are a number of younger people who have picked up on 70’s album classics via their parents.
Some old bands, like The Byrds, get ripped apart. Episode 034, where they discuss The Beatles, is a good starting point. "I f--king hate being told that I should like The Beatles. This is f--king ear candy. It's non-offensive." Yet, he's offended by it! To be fair, the more sober reviewers (they're often drunk or stoned) try to view it as objectively as possible from the time when it was recorded. Bear in mind the fact that they have never heard most of these albums before.
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 18:51 - Dec 9 by Sadoldgit
Can’t play an instrument to save my life Chesh but I have been listening to music and going to gigs for over half a century so have a certain level of appreciation for those who can. Actually that isn’t true. I did play my one and only gig at the Royal Festival Hall when I was a kid. I was a whiz on the triangle!
So, like most people, you can’t really assess the skill involved. Like non-golfers looking at a great drive and thinking how easy it looks...
Lennon was, without doubt, the 'cool' one in The Beatles but could he ever have written songs that have as much empathy with the human condition as She's Leaving Home and Eleanor Rigby?
There is something totally unique about Paul McCartney's song writing, which has never been surpassed. In classical music people talk about the greatness of Schubert's songs, most of which were just His musical arrangements to other people's poems, like Die schöne Müllerin. McCartney wrote both the music and the lyrics to songs as great as that.
The 50/50 collaboration between Lennon and McCartney in songs like Day in the Life, was truly magical, but to attempt to write McCartney out of the picture because he is considered less 'cool" is wrong.
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 21:23 - Dec 9 by dirk_doone
Lennon was, without doubt, the 'cool' one in The Beatles but could he ever have written songs that have as much empathy with the human condition as She's Leaving Home and Eleanor Rigby?
There is something totally unique about Paul McCartney's song writing, which has never been surpassed. In classical music people talk about the greatness of Schubert's songs, most of which were just His musical arrangements to other people's poems, like Die schöne Müllerin. McCartney wrote both the music and the lyrics to songs as great as that.
The 50/50 collaboration between Lennon and McCartney in songs like Day in the Life, was truly magical, but to attempt to write McCartney out of the picture because he is considered less 'cool" is wrong.
Interesting points Dirk, but I’d say George was pretty cool certainly in the latter half of the decade. As for McCartney, whilst the other three were living domestic lives in Surrey he remained in London soaking up the culture whilst Lennon lazed around watching tv at home...
John Lennon 40th Anniversary on 21:07 - Dec 9 by Chesham_Saint
So, like most people, you can’t really assess the skill involved. Like non-golfers looking at a great drive and thinking how easy it looks...
Are you saying that only a musician is able to assess the quality of another musician? Apart from forming my own opinion by listening to music for many, many years I have also read thousands of written articles written by musicians about other musicians. Paul McCartney is clearly held in high regard but I doubt very much if you will find him in any top 5 bass players, top 5 5 guitarists or top 5 keyboard players. Read articles about bass players by other bass players and maybe you will get what I am saying. McCartney came 9th in the Rolling Stone best bass players top 50, so perhaps take it up with them?
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