Bob Kasenchak ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>Steve Schwartz:
>
>>As far as I'm concerned, their best stuff is from Rubber Soul on, although
>>I don't slight the earlier work.
>
>You bet, 100%.

I agree with you both, but the earlier work does have much to recommend it
- I seem to recall Leonard Bernstein expounding at some length on the song
And I Love Her (from the Hard Day's Night LP) which features a tritone in
the melody.

 From their first days with Parlophone The Beatles were an extraordinarily
tight and efficient rock'n'roll band - their version of Long Tall Sally,
for instance, was recorded in a single take, the first and only take in
fact.  (And yes, that is George Martin battering the ivories).

But they combined with this a wonderfully natural feel for vocal harmonies
(anyone who's ever tried to cover one of their songs - guilty!  - will tell
you how difficult the harmonies are to sing accurately) together with a
more folk-ish harmonic sense.

One of the things which comes across very clearly in the three Anthology
doubles, particularly the second and third, is how much of the arrangements
are "composed" almost on the fly, in the studio; and how amazingly
efficient they remained as a musical unit until the Let it Be fiasco.  The
musical distance covered in just a few takes in many of their finest songs
is remarkable.

Personally I think Revolver is their finest hour - well, 38 minutes.
mcCartney manahges to say more in the 1:50 of Eleanor Rigby than in the
entire dreay almost 2 hours of the Liverpool Horrortorio.

Basically, I don't think - nor am I saying either of you is necessarily
suggesting this - that there is a single point, or album which could be
said to mark their transition from mere popular music to Art.  The latter
was always there, waiting to emerge fully, even though I'm sure those
involved would deny that they were trying to do any more than make music
and have fun exploring their own potentialities.

In Philip Norman's flawed biography, Shout!, there is a wonderful picture
taken during the Sgt Pepper sessions.  Lennon is sitting in front of the
board, quite possibly (from his glazed look) out of his head, while George
Martin looks down on him with a slightly quizzical expression.  You can
almost hear him thinking "I wonder if you truly understand the significance
of what you are doing here?"

I think they did, but mainly in retrospect.

Deryk Barker
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