Two Eras of The Beatles

[Soul Reaper]

Do you like The Bealtes more pop-based songs (I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Please Please Me etc.) which were before Sgt. Pepper or do you prefer their more surreal and adventurous songs which were during and after Sgt. Pepper (I am The Walrus, Sgt Pepper)?

[Coyote]

Sgt. Pepper's onward.

Always thought that before "Pepper's" they were a bit of a bubblegum-pop band. (Which they technically were...)

[FORD]

It's easy to dismiss the early Beatles as "pop" now, but at the time, they might as well have been death metal compared to the shit which dominated the radio at the time.

Plastic teen idols who could neither play instruments nor write songs, complete puppets of the music industry.

Now why does that sound familiar?

Now having said that, there's no doubt that Lennon & McCartney turned a corner as songwriters with the Help & Rubber Soul albums and turned another as musical innovators with Revolver. And of course that continued with Sgt. Pepper. But Revolver is often overlooked in that process, which is a crime.

Gotta admit though, I really like the later stuff. White Album/Let It Be/Abbey Road. With over 35 years of history in between, a lot of people forget that those three albums were recorded within the space of less than a year. In fact, the Get Back/Let It Be sessions begin in January 1969, less than 2 months after the White Album was released.

Most of the Abbey Road material was written during the Get Back sessions as well, along with several songs which would end up on the Beatles' solo albums. George's "All Things Must Pass", Paul's "Junk", and Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth", just to name a few. Had the Beatles stayed together another year and put these songs out as a band, it probably would have been considered one of their best albums.

[Soul Reaper]

Well today, early Beatles is considered as pop and that's how I identify their early music

[FORD]

Originally posted by Soul Reaper
Well today, early Beatles is considered as pop and that's how I identify their early music

Sure it was pop. The Beach Boys records were pop as well. Pop music wasn't always total crap back then because AM radio was still the standard and most young people bought 45 RPM's rather than albums.

Creedence Clearwater Revival is a great example of this, though they came later in the 60's. They had an endless string of top 10 hits from 1968 - 1972. They were, by that definition, a pop band. But the music was good enough that it stood up over time, and especially in the case of CCR ended up influencing several genres of music, from country, to straight ahead rock (of the Springsteen/Mellencamp/Petty variety), to Southern rock. Hell, they might have even inspired grunge, at least in the fashion sense. Fogerty wore a lot of flannel back then.

[Terry]

Think Pete Townshend wasn't too far off the mark when he said the Beatles didn't have as much to do with rock and roll as the Stones did.

Definitely the only Beatles stuff of any use to me was 1965 onwards, but even then it's only select tracks. Stuff like Penny Lane is always gonna be fluff to me.

I mean, you take what the Beatles were doing from 1965 to 1970 and what the Stones were doing during the same period, and which band had more of an impact on rock and roll? I'd say the Stones.

[Panamark]

Funny, I always found the Stones more of a Blues type of Band :)
But thats just me..

[Panamark]

I like the Stones, by the way.. (I guess who doesnt ??)

[Rikk]

Originally posted by FORD
But Revolver is often overlooked in that process, which is a crime.

REVOLER is their best album, which is why I found it difficult to answer this poll. That said, the band did have more incredible music in the late 60s than early and mid 60s...but it's very close. ABBEY ROAD, for instance, is incredible.

Then again, I love every Beatles album. But '66 and '69 are my favorite Beatles years.

[POJO_Risin]

The Beatles influenced music in more ways than just music...

the same way that Elvis did...as silly as it is to say...

and the same way that the Stones did...

I don't know that you can honestly say that the Stones had MORE of an impact on rock than the Beatles...

[Warham]

I don't really want to go into the reasons for why it is, but the Beatles are the biggest cultural phenomena in music history (besides Presley). The Stones just never competed on the same level. Hell, it's up for debate if Zep actually was bigger than the Stones in the early 70's, at the height of their power.

[Rikk]

I would say that Zeppelin was MORE influential than the Stones. Don't get me wrong...the Stones were VERY influential and one of the most important and (at their peak) best bands in the world. But lots of shitty bands picked up on their worst attributes. Lots of retro bands with that sort of cheesy, back-up singers, honky tonk piano and bad blues songs-kinda vibe...these bands (e.g. BLUES TRAVELLER and all that other shite) say they're influenced by classic Stones. But they really AREN'T influenced by intense albums like BEGGAR'S BANQUET or STICKY FINGERS. They're more influenced by parody Stones...

ZEPPELIN? I have yet to meet a guitarist in a band (at least in my years of singing) that doesn't have at least SOME Jimmy Page influence in his sounds, soloing or rhythms.

[Bill Lumbergh]

I always looked at the Beatles as having THREE phases. The early "formula song" period, the mid years experimental period, and the late more straight ahead rock period.........My fave album is The Beatles(The White Album).

[tydhurst]

I love 'Em both man, love 'Em both!

[Panamark]

Agree with all the comments here, I preferred the early beatles as a kid, but now love the Revolver onwards Beatles.....

That era gets my vote. Some magic stuff !

[DLR82VH]

Hard to say.............if I had to choose I'd say Sgt Peppers and on, but I like both eras almost equally.

[Soul Reaper]

when i was 4 to about 7 i was into early Beatles. Then I went through a period of hating them, until i was 14 and I liked their later stuff more.

[Don Corleone]

I have a slight preferance for the earlier stuff, songs like I Feel Fine, Paperback Writer, Can't Buy Me Love. It's just fun, straight forward music.

[Panamark]

Paperback writer was very Rocking for the time..

[Warham]

Dear Sir or Madaam, can you read my book...

[Soul Reaper]

...it took me years to write, could you take a look?