Beach Boys Surpass the Beatles for Billboard 200 Record

[Mr. Cohen]

Seriously, how does the finished arrangement on "I Am the Walrus" not essentially make Martin the 5th Beatle?

[JohnMill]

Yep, who can forget when John Lennon asked Martin to make "I Am the Walrus" sound like an orange? Just brilliant, eh? This is what "I Am the Walrus" sounds like without Martin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS12FUAJPXs

Not bad, but I'll take the Beach Boys over this. I stand by my comment: "She Said She Said" is the best the Beatles could've sounded like without Martin. They'd still be a great band, but Martin brought a degree of sophisticated artistry to the Beatles material from about '65 onward that they wouldn't have had otherwise.

Always preferred the outtake to the finished version on this one personally.  The outtake has a extremely grungy feel to it which I love. 

Also George Martin is the 5th Beatle no doubt about it.  I don't think there is even much of a debate although as an aside I also have a great deal of respect for Derek Taylor as well.  Derek was a genius in his own right too.

[Jonathan Blum]

That was my whole point. That's the Beatles, without adornment from a top producer.

It's also the Beatles without their *own* adornments, of course, deliberately going for "warts and all".  (Even on their own they decided to overdub the solo on "Let It Be" back in '69, which "Naked" doesn't reflect.)  They were effectively producing themselves for much of the White Album as well, so that might be a better comparison.

And yeah, I'd argue that the title track is just as much art in its "Naked" version as otherwise...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Yep, who can forget when John Lennon asked Martin to make "I Am the Walrus" sound like an orange? Just brilliant, eh? This is what "I Am the Walrus" sounds like without Martin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS12FUAJPXs

That's not The Beatles without George Martin. It's just the song without overdubs.

Also since when are we comparing a whole band to one song? If that's the case, let's compare The Beatles to I'm Bugged At My Old Man.

[Runaways]

Yep, who can forget when John Lennon asked Martin to make "I Am the Walrus" sound like an orange? Just brilliant, eh? This is what "I Am the Walrus" sounds like without Martin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS12FUAJPXs

That's not The Beatles without George Martin. It's just the song without overdubs.

Also since when are we comparing a whole band to one song? If that's the case, let's compare The Beatles to I'm Bugged At My Old Man.

Well I am the walrus and I'm bugged at my old man are definitely thought of equally. 

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Yep, who can forget when John Lennon asked Martin to make "I Am the Walrus" sound like an orange? Just brilliant, eh? This is what "I Am the Walrus" sounds like without Martin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS12FUAJPXs

That's not The Beatles without George Martin. It's just the song without overdubs.

Also since when are we comparing a whole band to one song? If that's the case, let's compare The Beatles to I'm Bugged At My Old Man.

Well I am the walrus and I'm bugged at my old man are definitely thought of equally. 

What difference does it make?

[Alex]

Seriously, how does the finished arrangement on "I Am the Walrus" not essentially make Martin the 5th Beatle?

I thought Zeppo was the 5th Rutle.