The Beatles *sigh*

[drbeachboy]

I try to like the Beatles, then superfans of them trash groups I like, making the Beatles fandom hard for me.

That kind of selfish and idiotic behavior has everything to do with those fans and their own personal issues and nothing to do with the Beatles or their music.

If you are older, then you would understand that comment. You had grow up around that in the 60s. I did and felt that way for decades. I tried to get that out of my mind back in the mid-90s, and I gave everything a clean listen and it worked. I now have whole other appreciation for their body of work.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Downloaded...about to bust my cherry, so to speak.

[guitarfool2002]

I try to like the Beatles, then superfans of them trash groups I like, making the Beatles fandom hard for me.

That kind of selfish and idiotic behavior has everything to do with those fans and their own personal issues and nothing to do with the Beatles or their music.

If you are older, then you would understand that comment. You had grow up around that in the 60s. I did and felt that way for decades. I tried to get that out of my mind back in the mid-90s, and I gave everything a clean listen and it worked. I now have whole other appreciation for their body of work.

Age has nothing to do with it, nor does the fact it's Beatles fans. As far as fans acting like jerks when someone says they like a certain band and catch heat for it, it is in no way exclusive to The Beatles.

How about this? When I was at that age of developing my own musical tastes, like getting a stereo for my 12th birthday or so, I'd go to school and catch major sh*t for openly saying I liked The Beatles. There was a very small group of us fans, some were less open and didn't come right out and say it. So in no way was it a majority opinion at that school to be a Beatles fan, at least openly. In the 80's I was all over the map musically, but i did catch sh*t for liking the Beatles and not whichever bands were "hot" at that time.

And if you want to see any number of examples of fan communities for any number of bands giving other posters a load of crap for liking certain bands that aren't in vogue in or around that community...pick any band and any message board that discusses them and their music. Radiohead, The Stones, Pearl Jam, etc. or any random YouTube music vid clip's comments section: It's not exclusive to The Beatles, and some of the more frustrating examples I've ever seen of that were posted on places like The Smile Shop, or whatever it was called after 2005.

Or how about the opposite side of the coin? Post how much you don't like Kanye West's music and see what reactions start flooding in. It's unreal. And not exclusive to Beatles fans at all.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I did go with the UK versions as those were the original intent as opposed to Capitol's vision. Never understood that whole thing, really.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I try to like the Beatles, then superfans of them trash groups I like, making the Beatles fandom hard for me.

That kind of selfish and idiotic behavior has everything to do with those fans and their own personal issues and nothing to do with the Beatles or their music.

If you are older, then you would understand that comment. You had grow up around that in the 60s. I did and felt that way for decades. I tried to get that out of my mind back in the mid-90s, and I gave everything a clean listen and it worked. I now have whole other appreciation for their body of work.

Age has nothing to do with it, nor does the fact it's Beatles fans. As far as fans acting like jerks when someone says they like a certain band and catch heat for it, it is in no way exclusive to The Beatles.

How about this? When I was at that age of developing my own musical tastes, like getting a stereo for my 12th birthday or so, I'd go to school and catch major sh*t for openly saying I liked The Beatles. There was a very small group of us fans, some were less open and didn't come right out and say it. So in no way was it a majority opinion at that school to be a Beatles fan, at least openly. In the 80's I was all over the map musically, but i did catch sh*t for liking the Beatles and not whichever bands were "hot" at that time.

And if you want to see any number of examples of fan communities for any number of bands giving other posters a load of crap for liking certain bands that aren't in vogue in or around that community...pick any band and any message board that discusses them and their music. Radiohead, The Stones, Pearl Jam, etc. or any random YouTube music vid clip's comments section: It's not exclusive to The Beatles, and some of the more frustrating examples I've ever seen of that were posted on places like The Smile Shop, or whatever it was called after 2005.

Or how about the opposite side of the coin? Post how much you don't like Kanye West's music and see what reactions start flooding in. It's unreal. And not exclusive to Beatles fans at all.

Very true. I used to go to a Stone Temple Pilots board and a great majority of  them over there were assholes.

[drbeachboy]

I did go with the UK versions as those were the original intent as opposed to Capitol's vision. Never understood that whole thing, really.

In one word, Marketing! I am thinking 14 songs on an album created issues with fees, as well.

[drbeachboy]

I try to like the Beatles, then superfans of them trash groups I like, making the Beatles fandom hard for me.

That kind of selfish and idiotic behavior has everything to do with those fans and their own personal issues and nothing to do with the Beatles or their music.

If you are older, then you would understand that comment. You had grow up around that in the 60s. I did and felt that way for decades. I tried to get that out of my mind back in the mid-90s, and I gave everything a clean listen and it worked. I now have whole other appreciation for their body of work.

Age has nothing to do with it, nor does the fact it's Beatles fans. As far as fans acting like jerks when someone says they like a certain band and catch heat for it, it is in no way exclusive to The Beatles.

How about this? When I was at that age of developing my own musical tastes, like getting a stereo for my 12th birthday or so, I'd go to school and catch major sh*t for openly saying I liked The Beatles. There was a very small group of us fans, some were less open and didn't come right out and say it. So in no way was it a majority opinion at that school to be a Beatles fan, at least openly. In the 80's I was all over the map musically, but i did catch sh*t for liking the Beatles and not whichever bands were "hot" at that time.

And if you want to see any number of examples of fan communities for any number of bands giving other posters a load of crap for liking certain bands that aren't in vogue in or around that community...pick any band and any message board that discusses them and their music. Radiohead, The Stones, Pearl Jam, etc. or any random YouTube music vid clip's comments section: It's not exclusive to The Beatles, and some of the more frustrating examples I've ever seen of that were posted on places like The Smile Shop, or whatever it was called after 2005.

Or how about the opposite side of the coin? Post how much you don't like Kanye West's music and see what reactions start flooding in. It's unreal. And not exclusive to Beatles fans at all.

My apologies, I misread what he wrote. I agree with you. Back in the day though, it was weird, you either liked the Beach Boys or the Beatles, but not both. It took years, as I said in my previous post to really enjoy Beatles music. There was a competition among the fans, as well as with the bands, themselves.

[guitarfool2002]

I did go with the UK versions as those were the original intent as opposed to Capitol's vision. Never understood that whole thing, really.

It's an odd situation: I got into Beatles music just a few years before the CD reissues. Up to that point, the most available versions were the US versions, and this includes the reissues on vinyl that I'd by at the local malls from places like Sam Goody as well as my flea market finds. My "Revolver" vinyl, bought brand new as a Capitol reissue was short a few songs, and two of the songs I really wanted were not on it! I'm Only Sleeping and And Your Bird Can Sing (which I got to know and love from watching MTV's reruns of that cheesy Beatles cartoon, it was the closing theme or something). It was a great album and I held onto that vinyl to this day, but I felt ripped off having to buy another just for those songs.

I was also at the record store the first day the CD issue of Please Please Me came out wanting to buy it, and stood in line very upset along with other fans who said the same thing because it wasn't available on cassette! And we didn't have a CD player in the house! So I stared at the longbox and that great cover but couldn't buy the album...how times have changed from the not-too-distant past 1980's.  

The older fans knew the sequencing and flow of those Capitol albums because that's all they had, but ultimately the British ones are the best bet overall, and now are the standard way of listening to those pre-Pepper albums, I'd say.

[EthanJames]

I use to love The Beatles when I was a child, i still enjoy there music from time to time. They are infact a good band but best band of all time? Not really, even the beatles themselves said they dont find themselves to be the best band in the world (I believe they said this on a couple occassions) and also no band could really be called the best band of all time if you ask me.

[guitarfool2002]

My apologies, I misread what he wrote. I agree with you. Back in the day though, it was weird, you either liked the Beach Boys or the Beatles, but not both. It took years, as I said in my previous post to really enjoy Beatles music. There was a competition among the fans, as well as with the bands, themselves.

That is interesting, I didn't experience that era firsthand but would like to hear more. I have heard that a competition between the Beatles and The Stones was being manufactured in certain music press or teen zine circles to create a controversy that didn't exist between the bands in reality, and that transferred to the fans, but I guess I can see the Beach Boys and Beatles having something like that among their fans too.

I have to add, my Mom grew up in the 40's and her older sister was a bobby-soxer who followed "Frankie" Sinatra and all the big bands. And if I remember she told me there was also a competition among fans of those bands around whose singer was the cutest, or whose trumpet player like Harry James was better, or who was dating which actress, and all of that teenage drama...  So it definitely had a history going back to the fans of the 30's at least.

[zachrwolfe]

‍

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I did go with the UK versions as those were the original intent as opposed to Capitol's vision. Never understood that whole thing, really.

It's an odd situation: I got into Beatles music just a few years before the CD reissues. Up to that point, the most available versions were the US versions, and this includes the reissues on vinyl that I'd by at the local malls from places like Sam Goody as well as my flea market finds. My "Revolver" vinyl, bought brand new as a Capitol reissue was short a few songs, and two of the songs I really wanted were not on it! I'm Only Sleeping and And Your Bird Can Sing (which I got to know and love from watching MTV's reruns of that cheesy Beatles cartoon, it was the closing theme or something). It was a great album and I held onto that vinyl to this day, but I felt ripped off having to buy another just for those songs.

I was also at the record store the first day the CD issue of Please Please Me came out wanting to buy it, and stood in line very upset along with other fans who said the same thing because it wasn't available on cassette! And we didn't have a CD player in the house! So I stared at the longbox and that great cover but couldn't buy the album...how times have changed from the not-too-distant past 1980's. 

The older fans knew the sequencing and flow of those Capitol albums because that's all they had, but ultimately the British ones are the best bet overall, and now are the standard way of listening to those pre-Pepper albums, I'd say.

OMG...cd longboxes....that brings back memories!

[drbeachboy]

I did go with the UK versions as those were the original intent as opposed to Capitol's vision. Never understood that whole thing, really.

It's an odd situation: I got into Beatles music just a few years before the CD reissues. Up to that point, the most available versions were the US versions, and this includes the reissues on vinyl that I'd by at the local malls from places like Sam Goody as well as my flea market finds. My "Revolver" vinyl, bought brand new as a Capitol reissue was short a few songs, and two of the songs I really wanted were not on it! I'm Only Sleeping and And Your Bird Can Sing (which I got to know and love from watching MTV's reruns of that cheesy Beatles cartoon, it was the closing theme or something). It was a great album and I held onto that vinyl to this day, but I felt ripped off having to buy another just for those songs.

I was also at the record store the first day the CD issue of Please Please Me came out wanting to buy it, and stood in line very upset along with other fans who said the same thing because it wasn't available on cassette! And we didn't have a CD player in the house! So I stared at the longbox and that great cover but couldn't buy the album...how times have changed from the not-too-distant past 1980's. 

The older fans knew the sequencing and flow of those Capitol albums because that's all they had, but ultimately the British ones are the best bet overall, and now are the standard way of listening to those pre-Pepper albums, I'd say.

OMG...cd longboxes....that brings back memories!

I still have all mine from the original Beach Boys releases. I was going to use them to make a collage to hang in my office, but 20 years later I am still getting around to it. At least they are packed away safe in the basement.

[LetHimRun]

I Saw Her Standing There is what got me into the Beatles. That definitely got my interest going. I'm not a huge fan of their early songs/albums (Please Please Me, With the Beatles), but when you get into A Hard Day's Night, it really changes things. My favorite part of the Beatles' catalog is when they started incorporating folk into their songs. A Hard Day's Night doesn't have a weak song on it, IMHO. Beatles for Sale, IMHO, is a step backward. I Feel Fine is a good single that preceded Beatles for Sale. No Reply, I'm a Loser, I'll Follow the Sun, Eight Days a Week, and Every Little Thing are the best off of that album to me.

Help! was them picking back up from A Hard Day's Night. There are a couple clunkers on Help! but, it's overall more consistent than Beatles for Sale. They start using more folk elements again. Help!, Ticket to Ride, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, I've Just Seen a Face, and Yesterday are highlights for me. This is also when Paul got his Epiphone Casino (played on Another Girl and Ticket to Ride). He then used it all over Rubber Soul. That bright sound is so fantastic to hear. Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out were a double A-sided single that preceded Rubber Soul. The only song I'm not a fan of on Rubber Soul is What Goes On. Other than the fantastic finger picking by George, it's just giving Ringo a song to sing. Some don't like Run for Your Life, but it doesn't bother me. Drive My Car is cool. Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, Girl, I'm Looking Through You, In My Life, and If I Needed Someone are my favorites.

They pretty well dropped the folk sound for Revolver. John and George got 1965 Epiphone Casino's for Revolver after loving Paul's sound on Rubber Soul. Paperback Writer and Rain were a double A-sided single preceding the album. Rain is really fantastic to me. Paul's melodic bass playing is awesome and I enjoy Ringo's drumming. Other than Doctor Robert and Yellow Submarine, the rest of Revolver is great. From there, you get into Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane and head on into Sgt. Pepper's, through Magical Mystery Tour, the White Album, Yellow Submarine soundtrack, and on into the sunset with Abbey Road/Let It Be.

[Alex]

Some days I tend to prefer Wings to the Beatles.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Actually, I really like Wings, and that is what inspired me to do this in the first place.

[zachrwolfe]

‍

[Jay]

I used to be a huge Beatles fan. I'm still a big fan, but I don't really buy into the "blind devotion" type of fandom. Yeah, they were a great band with some great singers and songwriters, but you can only hear so much of the early hits before they become downright annoying as hell. If you think about it, they were actually behind what some other groups were doing. Let's put it like this: The Beatles were doing She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand, but The Beach Boys were doing In My Room, Warmth Of The Sun, Please Let Me Wonder, etc.  I'd even take Needles and Pins by The Searchers over She Loves You. And let's not forget about that shaking their heads and going "ooooooooooooo!!!", and the dumb "yeah yeah yeah" crap. It's like The Beatles bought into their own hype, with all the silly Beatlemania stuff. In my opinion, it really wasn't until the Beatles For Sale album that they became a "serious" group.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

That's how I've always felt. So far going through the earlier work my opinion hasn't changed, although I am softening somewhat.

[Jay]

You should probably check out the Past Masters cd's. It's a two volume set that has all of their non album singles. It's actually one of the best compilation albums, of anybody.

[EgoHanger1966]

And let's not forget about that shaking their heads and going "ooooooooooooo!!!", and the dumb "yeah yeah yeah" crap. It's like The Beatles bought into their own hype, with all the silly Beatlemania stuff. In my opinion, it really wasn't until the Beatles For Sale album that they became a "serious" group.

Are you really knocking a band on a Beach Boys forum for not being "serious" enough?

[Chocolate Shake Man]

If you think about it, they were actually behind what some other groups were doing. Let's put it like this: The Beatles were doing She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand, but The Beach Boys were doing In My Room, Warmth Of The Sun, Please Let Me Wonder, etc.

She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand both came out before Warmth of The Sun and about a year and a half before Please Let Me Wonder (which in 60s years was like eight years  )

I'd even take Needles and Pins by The Searchers over She Loves You.

Fair enough. I like me some Needles and Pins. Nevertheless I would seriously disagree with the premise that She Loves You is "behind" Needles and Pins. You have to understand, of course, that saying the Beatles were "behind what some other groups were doing" and then basically only comparing them to The Beach Boys is really unfair and doesn't speak to the reality of what was happening at the time. Try to find a huge list of bands at their peak at the end of 1963. It's quite difficult. I tried once compiling a list of great British singles to put in chronological order and it was difficult to twist the list so that the first ten songs didn't include seven Beatles songs and a few by Dave Clark Five. Not only were The Beatles not behind other bands, there were very few other bands at the time doing what The Beatles were doing. However, I'd make the same remark about The Beach Boys. In that case, using The Beach Boys to make this case is a bit fallacious because they were the only band around that time who came close to doing what the Beatles were doing unless you count the fabulous stuff coming out of Motown en masse. Bob Dylan, meanwhile, was probably ahead of both bands in terms of sophistication but few had yet to catch on. Other than those three...

Let's put it this way. By the time you started to see the English Beat bands putting out their first major hit records (The Stones' It's All Over Now, The Kinks' You Really Got Me, The Zombies' She's Not There, The Animals' House of the Rising Sun), The Beatles were already beyond A Hard Day's Night and had scored five or six #1 hit singles. With that in mind, I really think it is impossible to suggest that they were "behind." And by the time The Who roll around to putting out their first record, The Beatles are on Rubber Soul.

And let's not forget about that shaking their heads and going "ooooooooooooo!!!", and the dumb "yeah yeah yeah" crap.

Meanwhile, during the same period, The Beach Boys were still establishing themselves as a novelty act - putting out a surf A-side with a car B-side. I'll leave it to you to decide which is better.

[Niko]

You should probably check out the Past Masters cd's. It's a two volume set that has all of their non album singles. It's actually one of the best compilation albums, of anybody.

I completely agree. Volume 2 is so incredibly good.

[LetHimRun]

I Saw Her Standing There is what got me into the Beatles. That definitely got my interest going. I'm not a huge fan of their early songs/albums (Please Please Me, With the Beatles), but when you get into A Hard Day's Night, it really changes things. My favorite part of the Beatles' catalog is when they started incorporating folk into their songs. A Hard Day's Night doesn't have a weak song on it, IMHO. Beatles for Sale, IMHO, is a step backward. I Feel Fine is a good single that preceded Beatles for Sale. No Reply, I'm a Loser, I'll Follow the Sun, Eight Days a Week, and Every Little Thing are the best off of that album to me.

Help! was them picking back up from A Hard Day's Night. There are a couple clunkers on Help! but, it's overall more consistent than Beatles for Sale. They start using more folk elements again. Help!, Ticket to Ride, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, I've Just Seen a Face, and Yesterday are highlights for me. This is also when Paul got his Epiphone Casino (played on Another Girl and Ticket to Ride). He then used it all over Rubber Soul. That bright sound is so fantastic to hear. Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out were a double A-sided single that preceded Rubber Soul. The only song I'm not a fan of on Rubber Soul is What Goes On. Other than the fantastic finger picking by George, it's just giving Ringo a song to sing. Some don't like Run for Your Life, but it doesn't bother me. Drive My Car is cool. Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, Girl, I'm Looking Through You, In My Life, and If I Needed Someone are my favorites.

They pretty well dropped the folk sound for Revolver. John and George got 1965 Epiphone Casino's for Revolver after loving Paul's sound on Rubber Soul. Paperback Writer and Rain were a double A-sided single preceding the album. Rain is really fantastic to me. Paul's melodic bass playing is awesome and I enjoy Ringo's drumming. Other than Doctor Robert and Yellow Submarine, the rest of Revolver is great. From there, you get into Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane and head on into Sgt. Pepper's, through Magical Mystery Tour, the White Album, Yellow Submarine soundtrack, and on into the sunset with Abbey Road/Let It Be.

Run For Your Life is awesome! One of my favourite on Rubber Soul, in fact.

I like it also! John, as always, sings it so well. I was talking about from a lyrical standpoint. The music is great.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Just as a small fact check -- I don't believe Paperback Writer/Rain was a double A side. One of the few from the period that wasn't.