smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Gregory Sager <hochsalzburg@yahoo.com> |
| Subject | Re: _____ are my Beatles |
| Date | Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:33:37 -0700 (PDT) |
[Part 1 text/plain us-ascii (2.9 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
>
> Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:06:49 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Kerry Kompost <kerry_kompost@yahoo.com>
> To: audities@smoe.org
> Subject: Re: _____ are my Beatles
> Message-ID: <955388.33818.qm@web65502.mail.ac4.yahoo.com>
>
>
> I always felt that, had Beatles continued as a band, they
> would've continued exploring the long-form song concept ala
> Abbey Road side two. I never felt Beatles were locked into
> any one specific genre -- they encompassed many, many genres
> and styles within their own unique musical vision, and it
> seemed logical they would've continued to push the
> songwriting envelope.
I don't agree. It's all speculation, of course, but I don't picture the Beatles heading in the direction of the side-long (or even multi-side-long) unitary composition that would later become a hallmark of '70s prog bands. Remember, the *Abbey Road* side two suite was a medley of unrelated songs that had no recurring motif (either lyrical or musical) running through them. It was aesthetically ambitious in a redactive sense rather than in a musical or lyrical sense.
The evidence just isn't there in their solo work that they would've gone in the direction that you indicated.
John Lennon was a rock'n'roller. That was his identity, that was his love, and he always returned in one form or another to the really basic, meat-and-potatoes rock'n'roll of his '50s idols. Most of his musical experimentation as a Beatle in the mid-'60s was stuff he either later disavowed or looked back upon as an interesting but impermanent digression in his career. He liked his songs minimalist, tuneful, direct, and about three minutes long. There were exceptions in his solo work -- "Number Nine Dream" comes to mind -- but the bigger part of his oeuvre as a solo artist from *Plastic Ono Band* through *Double Fantasy* fits that basic, minimalist pop description.
McCartney always painted with a broader musical palette than did Lennon, but it's interesting to note that Macca never became a prog-rocker back in the '70s when prog rock was fashionable. He, too, has for the most part remained true to the verities of the catchy three-minute pop song -- in fact, he's been lambasted for it to the point where he felt the need to record his own personal apologia, "Silly Love Songs". His songs tend to do more interesting things and go off on occasional strange tangents more than than those of most classic pop songwriters, but he's not Mr. Long-Form Song, either. And neither was Harrison.
I don't think they would've pushed any songwriting envelopes in terms of form if they had stayed together. I think that, in a best-case scenario, they could've coexisted (whether collaboratively or not) as a band that continued to put out great songs without feeling a compulsion to turn their back on their commercial impulses and their own sensibilities by writing sixteen-minute neoclassical suites.
Gregory Sager
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.