I think the Beatles are seriously over-rated. They are interesting insofar that some of their pop songs are quite decent with a few being excellent. However, I always wonder how much was due to George Martin. Certainly I feel that all 4 of the Beatles were average musicians even if you were being kind. Ringo Starr was pretty hapless and McCartney's bass playing being stiff and uninspired.
The biggest impact is that they encouraged swarms of other young British musicians to follow in their wake and that it distilled a sentiment that somehow technical proficiency was less authentic than working class Brits with only limited technique. This manifested itself through Punk and has never really gone away.
I understand why people as a whole dislike jazz and classical music yet in America the pop music produced by the likes of Motown abd Stax remained superior as most of the backing musicians were musically literate and often came from a jazz background.
There are some brilliant versions of Beatles tunes performed by jazz artists. The local radio played an early Beatles track 2 weeks ago and I was shocked how basic yet shambolic it was. I just feel that the Beatles broaden the repertoire without really overing anything itself other than what George Martin or other musicians contributed. Lennon and McCartney are hugely important socially yet the were inept as musicians themselves.
I thInk most will disagree with me in this respect or at least re ignite the significance of the Brit Invasion. However, as dots on the page, the were not a great band and, with the passage of 60 plus years are pretty hopeless even in comparison with Harry Styles band which is a really tight ensemble .
I think the Beatles are overdue and appraisal and Quincy Jones assessment is nearer the mark.
The biggest impact is that they encouraged swarms of other young British musicians to follow in their wake and that it distilled a sentiment that somehow technical proficiency was less authentic than working class Brits with only limited technique. This manifested itself through Punk and has never really gone away.
I understand why people as a whole dislike jazz and classical music yet in America the pop music produced by the likes of Motown abd Stax remained superior as most of the backing musicians were musically literate and often came from a jazz background.
There are some brilliant versions of Beatles tunes performed by jazz artists. The local radio played an early Beatles track 2 weeks ago and I was shocked how basic yet shambolic it was. I just feel that the Beatles broaden the repertoire without really overing anything itself other than what George Martin or other musicians contributed. Lennon and McCartney are hugely important socially yet the were inept as musicians themselves.
I thInk most will disagree with me in this respect or at least re ignite the significance of the Brit Invasion. However, as dots on the page, the were not a great band and, with the passage of 60 plus years are pretty hopeless even in comparison with Harry Styles band which is a really tight ensemble .
I think the Beatles are overdue and appraisal and Quincy Jones assessment is nearer the mark.
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