Greg Kot on the Beatles Vs. the Threetles
From
Norbert K@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Feb 5 04:46:12 2022
"The Beatles put music at the center of popular culture; specifically, rock music. The group's fluency across that spectrum, from protometal ("Helter Skelter") to progressive rock (side 2 of Abbey Road) psychedelia ("I Am The Walrus") to folk ("I'
ve Just Seen a Face") remains staggering. No music seemed out of their reach. George Martin, their longtime producer, once explained why: "Their curiosity was their strength," he said. "They always wanted to peer over the edge of the horizon, and ask,
'What other sounds can we make?' They never did anything twice."
"Even their self-marketing, their commercial ambition -- while appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show or rolling out a cartoon such as Yellow Submarine -- seemed utterly effortless and in keeping with their collective personality. They always seemed a
step ahead. The Anthology campaign, in contrast, rang hollow, perhaps because they were so earnest, solemn, and sentimental -- everything the Beatles were not. More to the point, the music wasn't up to Beatles standards. Two wretched "new" songs built
on scratchy Lennon discards, "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love," were dredged up and patched together in the studio to help sell the project. No one remembers them now."
From Kot's essay "Toppermost of the Poppermost."
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