I've probably mentioned this a couple times on this website, but when I refused to agree that Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was not only the Beatles' finest album but the finest piece of music of all time, all my high school friends unceremoniously dumped me.
What does it take to be a die hard Beatles fan?
I am the first to admit that I am a Beatles fan. And might even say that I am die hard. A recent film and recent album has me questioning the latter.
Peter Jackson's film "Get Back" and the 2022 "de-mixed" release of "Revolver" were both somewhat over the top for even a long time Beatles fan.
I had difficulty getting through both the film and the album.
Yes, it was pretty cool to get an inside look at the prep for the famous rooftop concert. But it became tedious to listen to all the "bla bla" in the studio and the endless fiddling of non Beatles songs.
Not to mention all that time "practicing" in the studio to come up with 3 or 4 songs.
And it was cool to hear the de-mixed versions of Revolver material, but 63 tracks with much relatively meaningless stuff took me 2 days to get through.
I certainly can appreciate the attraction to the behind the scenes things.
But neither the film or the album gave me much insight into who these guys are were/are.
The film was especially disappointing.
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So, you were thrown out of a cult -- maybe not such a bad thing, in the long run! Musical taste is a funny thing. For example, I've read numerous reviews on Amazon by folks who "love" Clapton. They disparage Cream, Blues Breakers and Derek & Dominos while loudly proclaiming "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight" to be EC's best work. Apparently they don't enjoy his guitar playing very much, given their rejection of those recordings that feature him at his best in this regard. What can we deduce, then -- that they like him mostly as a vocalist ? I do not comprehend but boy, are they passionate!
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Somehow this got on the most tiresome of tiresome things: Eric Clapton. I get it. I too could have been a Baby Boomer. Spare me your Jann Wenner regurgitations, i.e. “he brought the blues to the masses,” “he was a sincere, serious student of the blues” (a hilarious thing to say about learning a I-IV-V chord progression and peddling stock minor pentatonic licks - a person is a ‘student’ of such for a month after they begin learning to play guitar, and that’s all folks…it’s like saying a guy who still mans the fry station at McDonalds after 25 years is a ‘serious student of the fry station.’), or “Eddie Van Halen said, ‘(blank),’” or “(so-and-so) once said, ‘(blank),” or, for the love of Christ, spare me, “have you ever heard Riding With the King?” (sweet bastard…puke). That’s cute and all that Rolling Stone told you he was #2 all-time (patently preposterous) after they deified him for 50 years prior, but he ain’t. I’ve never been good at self-promotion. Clearly people believe anything they read. I might have to stop by the hardware store tomorrow and pick up some spray paint…
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@stuartk I share your assessment of “Sgt. Pepper.” You’re incorrect on the song, “Something,” by the way. George Harrison played that guitar solo. |
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