Quincy Jones Interview

The early Beatles were rough around the edges but they were quick studies.  Just listen to their third album, A Hard Day's Night--a pop masterpiece if there ever was one.  I'll take it over Thriller.

My understanding is the Monkees were permitted to play their own instruments around the time of their third album. Originally that was not in the plans.

A lot of The Monkees stuff actually holds up pretty well as pop music IMHO. Most of their songs do not all sound the same at all. Rather diverse actually! I still enjoy them. Does that make me a bad person? Tapioca Tundra remains one of my favorite 60’s treats that I never get tired of.

I thought he sounded a little senile in this interview, but you have to appreciate his brutal honesty. I didn't much care for the Beatles earler hits like "Do you want to know a secret" and "I want to hold your hand", but once I heard them cover "Twist & Shout", I was hooked. You have to give George Martin some credit for upping their game.

You have to compare early Beatles to what was going on at the time, and as a band in the early days they had honed themselves into a kick ass live act by playing out in clubs (Hamburg). Not everybody, when given good production and opportunity, comes up with good music. The Beatles not only had natural excellent vocal abilities and an ear for actually wanting a certain blend, they had the ability to use the resources of George Martin's production to get their ideas out there and by Rubber Soul they pretty much left everyone else in the dust. Note that Martin produced other people that went nowhere. It's sort of a little too late to criticize the Beatle's impact on music, or at least the relevancy of what I consider to be timeless stuff (I listen to Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper and other Beatle stuff still…and it's astonishingly hip and clearly holds up). Regarding the Monkees,  they initially weren't supposed to be much more than a funny (questionable) rip off of the Beatles, and utilized the best musicians, songwriters, and production to get the music out. That's why some of it is good, pretty much having zero to do with them personally although some musical talent did exist. Note that when a new Beatle album came out in the 60s the world sort of stopped…I remember hearing "Im Looking Through You" for the first time on my tiny car radio in a parking lot someplace…couldn't drive unit it was over, and just sat there stunned…do people get that sort of buzz from Taylor Swift or Ed Sheerhan? Maybe they do, but doubtful.