The Beatles
Country of origin:
England
Type of music generally:
Pop/rock
Status:
Disbanded in 1969. Last release of new material, Let It Be (1970), with many subsequent reissues and compilations
See also:
The official Beatles siteWikipedia's entry on The Beatles
Covers/own material:
Almost entirely own
General comments:
NOTE: The Beatles are such a classic group we aren't going to do a great deal of focus on their work as we can leave that to the many, many other music sites out there. Below are just a few comments by ectophiles about their work. (The Editors)—————
They still are my faves and I believe the roots of Ectosounds. (mundopax@ingress.com)
They were the Masters. They showed us all how it was done. They just didn't have a very long career. IMHO, none of their solo recordings was ever as compelling as the work that they did together. I may get some argument with that statement. There are some definite masterpieces in their solo work such as Imagine, Walls and Bridges (Lennon); Venus and Mars, Band on the Run (McCartney), All Things Must Pass (Harrison).
The difference between where The Beatles were with Please Please Me to where they had progressed with Sgt. Pepper's was truly amazing. They accomplished this in a five-year span while they were still only in their 20s. They were very fortunate to have the guidance and encouragement of George Martin. He recognized and respected their abilities. He allowed them to explore their boundless creativity. (wpm@value.net)I can respect the contribution the Beatles made to music even if I don't think most of their music is that great in my opinion compared to the stuff I listen to. (onyx@vianet.ca)
I concur re: the Stones and the Beatles...I realize they're great, but they don't thrill me like they do some people. (dbailey4117@gmail.com)
The Beatles do 'pop' music, but are they superficial and disposable? I don't think so. Some can do pop really, really well so that it is pop but also art. (glblair@hotmail.com)
It's not that I don't like heavy production at all: going way back, some of my favorite Beatles songs are the most elaborate studio creations ("Strawberry Fields," "Tomorrow Never Knows," "A Day in the Life" to name a few)—though my #1 is still "And I Love Her," a mostly acoustic number. (dgk@panix.com)
The Beatles. I just don't get it. I like their stuff okay. They make nice pop music—but I just don't get why people are so devoted to them. I'd say there's plenty of stuff that's come after them that's better written. I understand that they have been incredibly influential to music. But there's a difference between saying they are an important part of music's roots and saying the songs they produced are still better then most of what's come after them.
See, the thing is—I don't think being FIRST is enough. And I definitely think there have been a great number of pop tunes made since then. And I think music has evolved, if not pop music. I frankly find many of the Beatles' songs to be quite.... well, quaint. Not without merit, and certainly worthy of a great deal of respect... but some people act as though it's the pinnacle of music, never to be eclipsed. That strikes me as very sad.
I think they owe a lot of their popularity to nostalgia from people who grew up with them, and trickled down nostalgia passed onto kids who grew up their whole life being told how great they were. But that's just my opinion. I still don't get it. :) (jonwesleyhuff@gmail.com)
Recordings:
See Wikipedia's Beatles Discography for a complete listing. The discs commented on here are:
- Help! (1965)
- Abbey Road (1969)
- 1962–1966 (1973)
- 1 (2000)
- Live at the BBC (2001)
- Anthology (2003)
Help!
Release info:
1965—Parlophone
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
George Harrison—lead guitar
John Lennon—electric piano
Paul McCartney—Steinway, guitar
Ringo Starr
Guest artists include:
George Martin—Steinway
Flutes
String quartet
Produced by:
George Martin
Comments:
This album has great songs (mostly about love and relationships) sprinkled throughout with only a few filler tracks. A classic with much to love, especially the first half which comes from the film Help! and includes pop hits "Ticket to Ride" and "Help!". The second half isn't as strong, but includes the beautiful "Yesterday." (JoAnn Whetsell)
Abbey Road
Release info:
1969—EMI
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Comments:
My favorite Beatles album, and one of my favorite albums ever. There are beautiful, heart-stirring songs ("Something," "Here Comes the Sun") and fun/funny songs. (JoAnn Whetsell)
1962–1966
Release info:
1973
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Comments:
The definitive Beatles collection. Virtually every one of the fifty plus songs is a pop classic. (nightwol@dircon.co.uk)
1
Release info:
2000—EMI—7243 5 29325 2 8
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
John Lennon Paul McCartney George Harrison Ringo Starr
Produced by:
George Martin; track 27 reproduced for disc by Phil Spector
Comments:
A fabulous collection. (JoAnn Whetsell)
Live at the BBC
Release info:
2001
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Comments:
The Beatles are my favorite group. I had a lot of these songs on tapes from various bootleg albums, but it's nice to have them sounding so clean. These songs are from the height of Beatlemania, and I think they clearly demonstrate what an amazing group they were. (SANDOVAL@stsci.edu)
Anthology
Release info:
2003
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Comments:
Just wanted to add my 2 cents. I loved the Beatles Anthology and the two new songs and it seems a fitting final chapter to the Beatles. What can I say? Maybe this will lead to Paul, George and Ringo recording some new material. Love "Real Love."(mundopax@ingress.com)I *like* 'Free As A Bird" and "Real Love". I know they were originally John's tunes... and yeah... they have Jeff Lynne-does-Phil Spectre written all over them... but I really like them. I would say I like "Real Love" better than "Free As A Bird" but only because I think that the latter was a more finished composition—the quality of John's vocal takes was much much better—help me out guys—but wasn't that the tune that John was working on at the time of his death? ("Real Love" that is)... I've heard the original "demos" for both tunes. (she sheepishly admits to having friends who own copious amounts of Beatles b**tl*gs) and neither finished tune bears too much resemblance to the sparse demos that John left behind. I think that Macca is still (in spite of himself) a damn good composer/arranger... and I don't think he did John any disrespect by the finishing touches he put on the songs (okay... you purists can beg to differ with me and I won't take offense!) George's guitar work is still beautiful... (if I had been a teenager in the 1964-1968 era I would have SCREAMED for George... I jist LOVE that guy!!!) Ringo's drumming—well—the drums on the new singles unfortunately bears little resemblence to what Ringo is all about (the drums sound way too processed!) but it's the thought that counts, ultimately. The whole Anthology thang made me dig out my Revolver CD, and the white album and play at high volume :-) (RedGtrGirl@aol.com)
Further info:
See also the Ectophile's Guide entry for This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber SoulBeatles covers by Ectoguide artists include:
- "I Want to Tell You" by Thea Gilmore on Revolver Reloaded
- "Love Me Do" by Bel Canto on Beatles 101
- "I Want You" by Katell Keineg on Across the Universe of Languages: B for Bang Rewires the Beatles
- "Across the Universe" by Fiona Apple on Revolution: A Rock Tribute to the Beatles
- "Strawberry Fields Forever" by Peter Gabriel on All This and World War II (1976)
- "Lovely Rita by Michelle Shocked on Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father (1988)
- "Lovely Rita" by The Nields on their album Gotta Get Over Greta (1996)
- the I Am Sam soundtrack (2002) featuring Sarah McLachlan, Heather Nova, Rufus Wainwright, Aimee Mann & Michael Penn, Sheryl Crow, and Ben Folds
- "Let It Be" by Allison Crowe on It Was 40 Years Ago (2004)
- "Martha My Dear " by Vashti Bunyan & Max Richter on Mojo Presents The White Album Recovered—Nº 0000001 (Mojo Magazine freebie, 2008)
- "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" by My Brightest Diamond and "Sexy Sadie" by Rachel Unthank & The Winterset on Mojo Presents The White Album Recovered—Nº 0000002 (Mojo Magazine freebie, 2008)
- "I Me Mine/Dig It" by Beth Orton on Let It Be Revisited (Mojo Magazine freebie, 2010)
- "All You Need Is Love" by Thea Gilmore on Yellow Submarine Resurfaces—Mojo Presents a Tribute to The Beatles Classic 1968 Soundtrack (Mojo Magazine freebie, 2012)
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