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It was 50 years ago today....

...that the Beatles played their last concert on the rooftop of Apple Records.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/beatles-famous-rooftop-concert-15-things-you-didnt-kno...
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bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,715 posts
 

George suggested The Beatles stop touring as the 3rd USA tour grinded on, as he (and Ringo) didn’t think they were playing as well as they once had. They didn’t even have stage monitors, to be able hear their vocals! I therefore don’t fault them for the often out-of-tune harmonies of their live shows.

They never again performed together live on stage until on the rooftop in Get Back (with Billy Preston on electric piano). In that performance, they sound pretty rusty imo. Having not played night after night on stage for many years, they were not exactly firing on all 8 cylinders! But that’s immaterial; it was their songs that made them what they were, and their personalities, humour, style, and cultural influence.

When I said arrangements, I was talking about the charts George Martin wrote for the strings, horns, and other instruments The Beatles themselves didn’t play. The "arrangements" of the songs themselves, the song construction---verse/chorus/refrain or middle 8 (no offense, but that’s not what "arrangement" means), THAT John, George, and Paul did, with some suggestions from Martin. In contrast, Brian Wilson DID write all the parts for the strings, horns, percussion, tuned percussion (tympani), keyboards (piano and organ), celeste and harp, bass harmonica, basses (up to three on any given song: upright acoustic, 4-string electric played by Carol Kaye, and Fender or Danelectro 6-string), and complex harmonies and counterpoint he started using long before did The Beatles. I can’t overstate in what high esteem Paul McCartney holds Brian Wilson.

During the recording of Smile (an album scheduled to be released before Sgt. Pepper. It ended up not being released at all---at least not fully finished, but is truly and astonishingly musically revolutionary. Sgt. Pepper---a vastly over-rated album imo, pales in comparison), Brian and his brother Carl were floating in Brian's pool, a Beethoven symphony playing on the outdoor speakers. As the symphony ended, Brian turned to Carl and said: "It's nice to know you're a musical midget" ;-) . I love humility.

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goofyfoot
1,354 posts
 
It would be hard to come up with a 60's/70's pop group that didn't incorporate horn and string arrangements into there recordings. The Beatles were a product of their environment with this respect.

Often, the band would record and then a later date was set for a string and woodwinds or horn section and they would superimpose their recording with the earlier recording.
johnto
1,012 posts
 
If they weren't the best I quess I'm missing something. I have yet to hear another group with a body of work like the Beatles, each lp except maybe Let it Be showing progress  and growth.
harold-not-the-barrel
895 posts
 
Ignorance and prejudice never fails to surprise me. It´s always funny actually : )
Seems only me and Eric realize the brilliance of their 1965-66 albums, THE best pop albums from incredible 60´s ? Their pinnacle, all their other albums before and later are inferior, musically. As I already mentioned, White Album has it moments (well many inferior albums by almost any artist have its moments so nothing new under the sun).
Thank God exist different (musical) cultures. And I´m glad people like Eric knows a thing or two about pop (and rock) history ´cos has been there, so to speak.
Beatles or any other pop "icon" are just some other people´s fantasies, nothing more nothing less. Quite silly POP icons. Walrus, saw it on telly, I laughed at it as kid, I still do, another happy harmless tune. Likewise is We Can Work It Out, what a message, positive attitude, probably pop´s finest hour. And McCarthy is a great musician and a bass player. I never said they had´t influenced a number of musicians - who had´t who could possible have closed ears for FM radio in the 60´s ? Ridiculous. They just happened to be the first. All pop music is inspired from earlier artist, like we it not.
But luckily the best of them got their inspiration elsewhere. Classical music, serious music, the best music, Man´s finest achievement.
Before bands like Hendrix Experience, Procol Harum, (well Nice too and Beach Boys´ Pet Sounds in some extent, I admit) and The Moody Blues, exist popular music or even progressed rock´n´roll music, that you Eric are talking about. But here I´m talking about Progressive Rock Music, where Beatles is so often referred, took influenced from classical music and different musical cultures and blended them into rock´n´roll and finally created new rock music, very interesting music and true art, art at finest, the best in existence. You gotta realize that essential difference. Even so you seem to dis Hendrix in so many ways, which is just plain absurd. Don´t try to explain your strange behauviour, I coudn´ t care less.
Electric Ladyland, in particular is one of the very first Progressive Rock albums alongside Procol´s second and Ennio Morricone´s work, really. Not Pet Sounds despite its brilliance, it´s still pop music, not Frank Zappa his actually avant-garde(n) not true Prog. Prog Rock was invented in England, but not by Beatles, thank heavens.
Back to pop. Well, I´m glad you understand what ABBA is all about. Gorgeous pop tunes, huge hits worldwide. So silly, so cute and so good. Fantastic female singing and harmonies, nice and VERY HAPPY pop songs, never harmed anybody never offensive NO so damn booooring political feminist racist BS. The perfect Pop Product, from Sweden. That must be hard for Brits, I almost feel sorry for them. Almost. But Brits should not worry too much about ... also Sally Carr had nice legs and bottom : _)
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