The Beatles (Early Years) - An Artist Deep-Dive

[@brandonuebel7486]

Great podcast. Its funny, you were getting into the Beatles in January of 2006, and I was born in January of '06 and am now expanding my love and knowledge of the band as a early teen stuck in my condo alone alot since my moms a nurse, they comfort my fear and tension of her possibly getting sick after being transfered to work at the hotspot in our area. Their music comforts and distracts me. And i expand my knowledge and love through your podcast and other things. The end made me sad though, Rubber Soul is my favorite album both of the Beatles and of all time.

[@davidpratt5456]

This was stellar. Great job. Your abilities to pull all the information together and make it cohere is what makes this channel special. Straightforward technical analysis with a huge dollop of fandom and minimal snark.Thanks for sharing your passion.

[@velocitiesinmusic]

+David Pratt Thank you very much for the feedback, we really appreciate it!

[@SoYouWantToBeAnImagineer]

Awesome podcast guys. I'm very much like Tom in how I got introduced to the band. I have vivid memories of my dad playing his vinyl copy of Magical Mystery Tour in the garage when I was very young and listening to their "1" compilation religiously in middle school. It wasn't until my freshmen year of high school that I started going through their discography when I bought Sgt. Pepper on a whim the weekend before school started. Needless to say that weekend changed my life and set the tone for how I listen to music. Went through all the classic British stuff (The Who, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Stones, etc...) before branching out into modern indie. Currently trying to get through all the 70s and 80s prog rock stuff, and I still have Sgt. Pepper's and The Beatles to thank for showing me what music could do to begin with.

[@Ardianax]

I am a huge fan of the Beatles, ever since I was curious enough to know who they are being all famous and that, and then finding out that I know most of the songs already without even knowing who they were! Craaaazy, I went on a Beatles rampage for months around 2009. Now I am one of those maniacs who are building a small shrine of their stuff in my room. I've been analysing their stuff for quite a while now, not as extensive as you guys cos I'm a not well-informed about the technicalities in music, yet I dare say try to step away from listening to their whole albums because I want to have a proper run through with it when I complete all the albums on vinyl and buy myself a decent player set-up so I could experience more from them each time. Except for Sgt. Peppers cos I already did that. AHHH SO GLAD YOU DID THIS GUYS. You just put gas to the flame for my love of the Beatles. PS. The school they you guys were talking about is an extensive 2-year course in University of Liverpool. I am contemplating of going there if I have the funds and time to do so. Just for fun's sake.

[@velocitiesinmusic]

+Ardiana x Glad to hear it! And thanks for giving us the details on that school program, that sounds awesome.

[@stevenaustin8274]

Sorry was with you all the way there until your comments on Rubber Soul could not disagree more incredible album in every respect

[@maritheresereyes]

Agree. It's the most cohesively tight Beatles album for me.

[@heldercdo]

Great podcast. Looking forward to part II. I got into The Beatles when i was in a friend's house and he had recently bought a 1MB/s DSL internet (that was a huuuuuge deal back then). As a mean to test how fast it was, i decided to download The Beatles' discography... As I started listening to some of the songs, I realized I already knew a lot of them. Some were on TV, some were covered, and etc...It was mind boggling...

[@lizmil]

I’ve been a Beatles fan since I saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show at the age of four, and I’ve seen and read a large amount of the stuff on them, and I really enjoyed your podcast. I think it can be enjoyed by someone just getting into the Beatles, as well as someone like me, who thinks they have heard it all already.

[@jnagarya519]

As shown in the BBC recordings, "The Beatles" were a kick-ass live band.

[@neilloughran4437]

Thanks for these podcasts guys. As an English guy who just hit 50 and a real lover of the Beatles and all that came after I am always intrigued by how British music is loved the world over. I'm wondering if there is something specific about British culture which turns out such great music. Have listened so far to your Radiohead and Nick Drake podcasts and am ready to dive into this and the Joy Division, David Bowie podcasts. My own introduction to the Beatles was the tape of the 1962-66 compilation album. Back in the 1970s their films were also shown on TV fairly regularly... I also loved Wings back in those days as well as John Lennon's output. There was always the feeling that the Beatles would one day reconcile.. sadly brought to an end with the murder of John Lennon in 1980 (can't believe we are approaching the 40 year anniversary). Anyway great work guys and have a great day. :)

[@LimerickOfficial]

Miss this channel! I’m glad y’all at least kept the videos up!

[@lukegosling9066]

David Bowie 70s deep drive? Due to his recent passing. And his massive Contribution to music and influence on both the mainstream and underground. which is very rare for someone of his stature. To have such a large mainstream success but still influenced and be accepted by the underground shows his groundbreakingness if that's a word

[@jnagarya519]

The covers on "Please Please Me" are of black R&B. "With The Beatles" is their overdub and multi-tracking LP. "Beatles for Sale" is their Carl Perkins album.

[@airtwo2270]

Glad you guys brought up Dylan. His influence goes way beyond weed, I'm not sure it's easy to map the influence directly, but it must have been absolutely massive. Remember, the Beatles were touring America right when he shifted into "Bringing it all Back Home" and "Highway 61" from his more traditionally folk-y stuff. One of the great moments in American pop culture, I'd think. Maybe intellectuals and hipsters bought into the Beatles AFTER Rubber Soul, but I think you guys may be a little off in suggesting the band had much more than a shrill, teenage audience before then. the Rolling Stones had the hipster, "edgy" crowd. That isn't to say that if you drew up a venn diagram of "cool people" in the period, there wouldn't be any overlap between the Stones and Beatles, but I think it would be a noticeable difference. People were aware of the Beatles 'commercial' status, and lots could see it wasn't cool. And while that sounds like an insult, I don't mean it to be. I think literally EVERYBODY loves at least a chunk of this era. I think that's where the importance of Dylan really comes into play: Lennon wanted to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, everybody knows now that he was a giant fucking hypocrite, and by all accounts a rotten person - but he still wanted Dylan's intellectual audience and seriousness (without the responsibility of being a serious intellectual). Pretty good article about it here in the Atlantic: www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/09/bob-dylan-and-john-lennons-weird-one-sided-relationship/262680/

[@cremetangerine82]

Great podcast! I’m an amateur Beatles historian, so some corrections/clarifications/comments: - I really loathe the writing off of the Beatles as a boy band in this period of their music (not from you guys, from others). Boy bands were modeled *after* their personalities (the cute one, etc.) and the Beatles wrote their songs and played instruments unlike future boy bands. - Ringo Starr joined the band in August 1962, which pushed out Pete Best. Ringo did three things when joining the Beatles: 1) shaved his beard, 2) got the Beatles haircut, and 3) starting working on a song (“Don’t Pass Me By”, released in 1968). - George consistently wrote songs starting in 1963, but was always against the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team and soon developed a backlog of songs. It’s why his solo album “All Things Must Pass” was a triple-LP! - I’m on the same page as not liking “Little Child”, I always skip that one! - “A Hard Day’s Night” was a breakthrough film for many musicians, because quite a few musicians became one because of the film! I know Roger McGuinn of the birds started the birds after watching the film, and Roger Ebert has always claimed to be one of his best movies of all time. Even at the time, many people were amazed at how good the quality was as compared to some of the Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello beach movies and Elvis movies that were out at the time. It had two Oscar nominations (Best Adapted Score and Best Screenplay) and Andrew Sarris called it “the Citizen Kane of jukebox musicals” which is high praise for what was supposed to be a quick cash-in to their success. The first MTV Music Awards gave Richard Lester (the director) an award as “the father of music videos”. He jokingly demanded a blood test to establish paternity. - I do like you keep the drug use in context; I’m also not a fan of the “drugs made the Beatles great” narrative. They were incredibly ambitious, intelligent, and creative, so they would’ve been eager to evolve their sound with or without chemical enhancement. - Sid the Beatles perform at the MBE ceremony? I doubt it, there were 189 who received awards that day, six of whom who are being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. I really doubt that there was time to have a impromptu concert. - I agree with the “Rubber Soul” critiques. Of the “Big Five” Beatles albums (along with “Revolver”, “SPLHCB”, “The White Album”, and “Abbey Road”), it really suffers from a lackluster closer song and some filler songs (“Wait”, “What Goes On”). - It’s remarkable how the Beatles were able to cater to casual music listeners and intense music nerds at the same age time. Also, to me they were the first rock and roll band beloved by all age groups and both sexes with plenty of non-white fans.

[@jnagarya519]

In an interview John was asked what he thought of "The Beatles" as musicians. "Just adequate," he said. Then asked, "Then why are you so popular?" he answered, "Perhaps people prefer adequate musicians." As musicians they were way ahead of everyone else.

[@secondlife9984]

Another song with 'little girl' is off of "Anthology 1" which is "Hello Little Girl".

[@jnagarya519]

Crucial to know is that those of us who grew up with "The Beatles" knew nothing about their Hamburg stints until many years later.

[@jainsworr]

You guys should do an in depth look at The Beach Boys

[@jnagarya519]

For those who grew up with "The Beatles" the US LPs are still essential, central. Adjusting to the UK releases is not easy.

[@TheOrlly]

i like scaruffi's take on the beatles

[@kilgoretrout3966]

i think you are way off on Rubber Soul.

[@PlaysWithChildren]

Yeah 'The Word' and 'Run for Your Life' are some of the best middle period Beatles songs and were actually pretty progressive and very dynamic for their time, instrumentally, along with Drive My Car and others off Rubber Soul.

[@jnagarya519]

The song "This Boy" is standard R&B form -- and an advance on that.

[@samholik8127]

Do you guys have any interest in David Bowie, Iggy Pop, or Frank Zappa? I think those artists have such a massive career that would be cool to see explored. I'd also like to hear you guys talk about At The Drive In/Mars Volta at some point, though I understand that one's a reach. Anyway, great podcast as usual. Looking forward to more of them. Not even a Beatles fan and I greatly enjoyed it.

[@velocitiesinmusic]

+sam holik Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the podcast! We love Bowie, Iggy, and Zappa, but honestly all of their careers are so expansive that they're a bit intimidating. We would like to tackle them at some point, but it would take a lot of preparation on our end. That doesn't mean it's not worth doing, it just means we'll have to defer to a point in time when we have more time to dedicate to doing those artists justice.

[@airtwo2270]

I was just reminded of this podcast. I am a proud, unashamed fan of The Doors (man, do they get a lot of hate!), but Jim Morrison is always going on and on about "little girl" this and "little girl" that - it always made me feel a little self conscious. Especially when he adds in "i'm a back door man, little girl!" and stuff like that. megacringe

[@kilgoretrout3966]

Again, as the creators of this podcast, you are transferring their time to our time. Not the same. They were writing in Blues language a LOT in the early years.

[@grimmcalypso396]

The Doors are the shit as are The Beatles. Fuck the haters! Listen to Dont Bother Me by Beatles & Take It As It Comes by The Doors! They are very similar!!

[@secondlife9984]

Yall ought to do The Who and Pink Floyd.

[@jnagarya519]

John Lennon said they wrote "Do You Want to Know a Secret" for George because he doesn't have much vocal range.

[@LeChaunce]

I divide the Beatles' recording projects into the four prevalent drugs (or other mind altering methods) of choice at the times of their recordings: Nicotine, alcohol, amphetamines: Please Please Me, With The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night Marijuana: Beatles For Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul LSD: Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour Transcendental Meditation and/or Heroin: The Beatles, Get Back/Let It Be, Abbey Road

[@Bonnenouvellesjonny]

For anyone who is intested in Beatles history, I strongly recommend this book: www.goodreads.com/book/show/17884043-tune-in?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true It's a very in depth history of the early Beatles, the book ends just before the release of 'Please please me'. It is beautifully written and exhaustively researched.

[@samstevenson5328]

Great review! Can't wait for part 2!! By the way, am I the only one creeped out that their second album "With the Beatles" was released on the same day JFK was assassinated??!!

[@kilgoretrout3966]

Yes, yes you are :) No, the release was slated at least a month prior if not earlier

[@davidrowe7967]

We will never see there like again. The biggest attraction the world has ever known.

[@cremetangerine82]

Also released that day was “A Gift for You: A Phil Spector Christmas”.

[@timramone8009]

good stuff

[@loutowers6529]

"Arguably" LOL. one of the greatest and most influential bands in music history. Ain't no argument, bra.That's fact.

[@3Horus]

So so so wrong about Run For Your Life. I don't mean this in a bad way but grow up lol we all know the lyrics are fucked up but it's catchy AF

[@jnagarya519]

Listen to the bass line in "Don't Bother Me"! The problem with Harrison's songs is the condescending religiosity: "I'm enlightened -- and you ain't."