What does it take to be a die hard Beatles fan?

In the words of Lt. Gerard in the opening moments of the 1960's TV show "The Fugitive," when it comes to my opinion of Blues Breakers/Cream era Clapton all I can say is "I don't philosophize, I hunt."

I never considered myself a die hard Beatles fan though I remember seeing them on the Ed Sullivan show back in the day and of course have a fair number of their albums, not the early Parlaphones but the Blue Box, the Mono Box and a few others. One, which was a kick, was a certain German pressing of Die Beatles which was hard panned left and right. Rumor had it that the UK shipped Germany a copy of the raw two track transfer rather than the finished mix. It does have a wiiiiiiide sound.

I worked on a project some years ago involving a videotape of their first live concert appearance at the Washington DC Coliseum, which wasn’t really a concert venue, more like a basketball court. The band was set up on a small rotating stage that didn’t work, so stage hands had to rotate it manually. What blew me away was how in tune those guys were- no stage monitors, no ear pieces, and their harmonies were spot on. They were very tight too. At the time, they were still doing old rock and roll covers among some of their original songs.

I find the phenomenon of The Beatles fascinating as a cultural matter- it was really time and place, though they worked extremely well together as musicians. And I never found fault with the joint writing of Lennon and McCartney, though I found that their solo work tended to be too weird (Lennon) or too saccharine (McCartney) with a few exceptions.

They also seemed to have the right personalities to be celebrities at the time, again, maybe a matter of being in the right place/time.

I don’t listen to them much these days, but every once in a while I’ll pull out a record. There’s a Russian (Soviet era) compilation with a Taste of Honey that is surprisingly good, also from the early era as far as I know.

@whart: Bill, I find your summary of the solo writing of Lennon and McCartney right in line with my opinion. Let’s see if you too get attacked for not considering The Beatles above all criticism.

I saw The Beatles live in ’65 (at The Cow Palace in S. San Francisco), and was underwhelmed. I actually was more impressed with the opening act, Sounds Incorporated, a UK band with a horn section. Very exciting!

The Beatles live on the rooftop? Sorry, they just don’t sound very good. To me, at any rate. Of course by the time I saw that performance, I had already seen The Band live (and Procol Harum. And The Kinks. And Albert King. And Jeff Beck. And dozens more.). Absolutely no contest. ;-)

@bdp24 

Thanks for the background on your listening history with Clapton.

I recall reading one interview in which he described his musical taste as "schmaltzy".  Maybe that explains some of the post-Layla records?

 @grislybutter 

Ah, OK.  I really don't know anything about Harrison's relationship to SRF, other than seeing photos of him wearimg a Babaji button. I went down there several times for services in the mid 70's before they built the new temple. It's an inspiring place, for sure.

To answer the OP's question...when I found myself purchasing a couple of original 35mm slides of them in their heyday. What the hell do I need those for? They do look pretty good though, once I fixed them up in Photoshop. I guess I just wanted something unique that no one else owned.

I remember (having seen them on Ed Sullivan), buying 'meet the beatles', growing out my bangs (which I had to comb back whenever my parents were around). Whenever I left the house the first thing I'd do it fling my bangs down over my forehead...heaven forbid!

below are links to those photos I mention.

https://ibb.co/0fWkTgM
https://ibb.co/W2rL9cD