BeatleProg
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Other music related lounges
Forum Name: Proto-Prog and Prog-Related Lounge
Forum Description: Discuss bands and albums classified as Proto-Prog and Prog-Related
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=61127
Printed Date: December 30 2024 at 14:03
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: BeatleProg
Posted By: soundscape
Subject: BeatleProg
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 19:17
|
Hi gang, Many of the folks over at The Dividing Line mailing list have been having a small debate about the Beatles influence on prog. I decided the best way to settle this is to take the best Beatle Inspired prog tunes and put them together for a Beatleprog episode of Soundscape. I have found a great many pieces of music that are Beatleprog, but I do not want to miss the most important ones. You guys are the experts and I always appreciate your feedback here. Can you guys tell me what you believe to be the top Beatleprog songs (Progressive Artists influenced by Beatles. Cheers and Thanks, Woody ------------- Listen to the best in Progressive Rock at www.thedividingline.com |
Replies:
Posted By: CryoftheCarrots
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 19:42
|
The only song I can think of is "Four Chords That Made a Million" by Porcupine Tree!
Every time I hear that song it reminds me of The Beatles. ------------- "There is a lot in this world to be tense and intense about" MJK |
Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 19:49
| Ladies of the Road by King Crimson is known by it's Beatles-esque vocals. |
Posted By: Darklord55
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 19:59
You'll probably think I'm crazy but who cares. Opeth's Master's Apprentices at about the 6:00 minute mark through about 7:46. The solo singing and harmonies sound very Beatlesque to me. I have played this for a few of my friends who agreed. The first time it hit me, I was watching the Lamentations DVD.  ?
|
Posted By: TODDLER
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 20:27
| There is a piece at the closing of Jerry Goodman and Jan Hammer Like Children titled I Wonder. It reminds me of the ending to I Want You(she's so heavy). |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 20:29
|
the Beatles' impact on prog is crucial but overestimated, I would say they fostered an atmosphere of a progressive attitude in popular music which, along with the whole period of art-as-rock, influenced some to push the form forward.. as far as prog songs that are traceable directly to Beatles songs, that's harder to say. I hear more Beatles in pop than I ever did in Prog which was a breaking from the standard format the band had to the end. |
Posted By: progmatic
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 20:43
|
King's X uses Beatles-like harmonies to go along with its funky progrock ------------- PROGMATIC |
Posted By: TODDLER
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 20:47
|
Atavachron wrote:Posted By: King Crimson776
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 20:47
|
Hey, great topic! All of the Above by Transatlantic immediately comes to mind, a huge epic that has Beatles influence all over it. Perhaps though even some early Yes like I've Seen All Good People has considerable Beatles influence, and stuff from their first album like I See You. Other stuff: Gentle Giant and early Genesis I'm sure... Aqua Vitae by Rocket Scientists (one really Beatlesque part), plenty of Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, Glass Hammer, Echolyn... yeah I think the Beatles make up a huge amount of the influence of the more poppy side of prog. Ah yeah, the Stupid Dream album by Porcupine Tree, particularly "Piano Lessons". Oh duh, and Caravan along with other Canterbury as well.
|
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 22:27
| Perhaps to see how The Beatles influenced prog, we should see which of the songs and / or albums that the Beatles created were breaking ground and creating new ideas that eventually helped to create prog. In the end, let's remember that by the time prog began to exist, The Beatles were at their peak, and had been a major (if not THE Major) force in pop-rock while the Prog giants were still growing up and becoming musicians. It's clear that The Beatles were a major influence and were admired by many of prog's classic artists. |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: September 08 2009 at 22:35
| For anybody to even question whether or not the Beatles influenced Prog is astounding to me. |
Posted By: Sacred 22
Date Posted: September 09 2009 at 00:05
That's a good observation and of course his song 'The Sound of Muzak' really sums up the music business. Steven Wilson's understanding of how the world works is very openly expressed in his music and I must tip my hat to him for that. Many of the Neo Prog acts are expressing their views towards the affairs of the world in an effective way. IQ comes to mind as well as the Flower Kings, hell, even Dream Theater is talking about it.
|
Posted By: clarke2001
Date Posted: September 09 2009 at 01:30
| There are numerous examples - but right now I will mention just Capability Brown's "Circumstances". |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 09 2009 at 01:42
|
^ still need that'n |
Posted By: Alberto Muñoz
Date Posted: September 09 2009 at 09:59
|
The Beatles influenced prog, no doubt. -------------  |
Posted By: paulwalker71
Date Posted: September 09 2009 at 10:19
Beat me to the punch In fact Transatlantic made no secret of their desire to capture something of the spirit of the Beatles. It's not just All of the Above, its all over their output. |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: September 09 2009 at 10:47
Suite Charlotte Pike has an obvious Abbey Road influence.
|
Posted By: thrashaddiction
Date Posted: September 09 2009 at 15:32
|
the beatles have influenced every musician ever to hear & listen because the melodies are part of our existence from childhood until now..silly to break down which are similar..they are all over in all styles, especially kings x first 5 cds.....
------------- get what you can out of life before it gets what it can out of you |
Posted By: Rubidium
Date Posted: September 09 2009 at 15:44
|
While not the most progressive band, ELO was heavily influenced by the Beatles. I also second Suite Charlotte Pike. Very Beatlesque. In fact, a lot of Neal Morse's music is Beatles influenced. |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: September 09 2009 at 16:22
John Lennon invented ELO - they based their entire career around Strawberry Fields. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: September 09 2009 at 16:32
or perhaps Jeff Lynne's mother was the brains behind the Beatles.... ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: American Khatru
Date Posted: September 10 2009 at 05:08
|
I'll throw in that I heard Phil Collins say once in some old interview that, for "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", a pretty deliberately 'pop' sort of song, he did a Ringo impression on the drums. I'm not saying you can hear the Ringo-ness so undeniably loud and clear in the track, but Collins did state this. It's an impression, not an impersonation. (If anyone knows the interview please notify the poster. I can only remember that it dealt with the whole matter of how Genesis were invited to do the song on top of the pops, what happened with that, the lawn-mower sound effect, etc.)
-------------  Why must my spell-checker continually underline the word "prog"? |
Posted By: ProgressiveAttic
Date Posted: September 10 2009 at 06:48
|
Esoeranto's Eleanor Riggby ------------- Michael's Sonic Kaleidoscope Mondays 5:00pm EST(re-runs Thursdays 3:00pm) @ Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio(http://www.deliciousagony.com) 
|
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: September 10 2009 at 07:10
 My wife reckons The Beatles nicked all their songs from The Carpenters, it's just a quirk of time that meant The Beatles version of Ticket To Ride was released first.
|
Posted By: SgtPepper67
Date Posted: September 10 2009 at 21:07
I think that's in the interviews for the remasters wich I've been watching recently. I think there's definitely some Beatles influence on that song and also in the drumming, the same could be said about Counting out time. ------------- 
In the end the love you take is equal to the love you made... |
Posted By: akin
Date Posted: September 10 2009 at 21:59
| I think the real influence that Beatles had on prog was that they, unlike many popular acts, were willing to improve their sound and experiment. Of course they were not the first and neither the most creative, experimental or technical, but when the most famous band of the age is willing to experiment with music to the point of sounding strange to fans and not being commercial, record companies, promoters, managers and broadcasting companies start to see other experimental artists with other eyes, so the whole environment keeps on pushing itself. That is what happened in the 60s, many of the most famous artists started experimenting and they created the environment needed to the birth of prog, and The Beatles had a important part in creating this environment. |
Posted By: The Runaway
Date Posted: September 11 2009 at 00:47
------------- http://www.formspring.me/Aragorn224" rel="nofollow - Trendsetter win! The search for nonexistent perfection. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: September 11 2009 at 08:04
  back at the first poster... 'While not the most progressive band, ELO' just what pray tell was ELO if not progressive....  ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: akin
Date Posted: September 11 2009 at 09:26
Disco
 |
Posted By: ModernRocker79
Date Posted: September 11 2009 at 10:04
Once they got past writing three-minute crowd pleasers, the Beatles wrote songs like "Revolution," (Revolution 1) and "Nowhere Man" -- songs with real meaning, with a message. They also began experimenting with sound. Listen to songs like "Tomorrow Never Knows" or "I Want to Tell You" off the album, "Revolver." These aren't the same old pop songs that everybody else was making. The Beatles weren't just moptop rockers. And they weren't just making statements in their lyrics. Have you seen the album covers? They were designed to make statements too.
Concept albums, mixing effects, tape loops, unconventional instruments, unconventional ways of using conventional instruments, etc. started with them or were first popularized by them in rock music. Let us remember that the British Invasion -- of which The Beatles were the vanguard -- set the stage for youth-oriented music supplanting the like of the Rat Pack. It's is arguable that The Beatles created an appetite for other British rock bands with a harder edge that might not have otherwise been able to break into the US market so soon. They took rock, interpreted it and fed it back to us, giving us an entirely new way of looking at our entire culture. They are therefore the number #1 most important band in recent history. Oh yeah they influenced Robert Fripp to get into rock music after hearing "A Day in the Life".
|
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: September 11 2009 at 11:09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owzU9_J5Iuw - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owzU9_J5Iuw ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: akin
Date Posted: September 11 2009 at 20:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m1UWSD-FaA - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m1UWSD-FaA
Don´t worry, I consider the first four ELO albums fully prog.
|
Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: September 11 2009 at 21:24
|
Transatlantic's Suite Charlotte Pike off of Bridge Across Forever was intended to sound very influenced by The Beatles' Abbey Road Medley. When they play it live, they actually make a 30-minute medley of the two songs.
------------- 
Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: September 11 2009 at 21:35
|
Would it be too adventurous of me to ask if anyone here would consider the song I Want You (She's So Heavy) the first progressive metal song?
Well, at least it would be really interesting to hear a cover of this song by a progressive metal band. |
Posted By: Tarquin Underspoon
Date Posted: September 12 2009 at 02:19
|
A lot of stuff by 3 is very Beatlesque, I've noticed. I think Joey Eppard's voice helps. ------------- "WAAAAAAOOOOOUGH! WAAAAAAAUUUUGGHHHH!! WAAAAAOOOO!!!" -The Great Gig in the Sky |
Posted By: Yorkie X
Date Posted: September 13 2009 at 23:47
| When I read about Transatlantic or Spock's Beard or even Kings X it makes me realize its those elements about each band the Beatles influence that stops me really liking them .. I consider the whole Beatles thing a little "OFF" the moment I hear it I know what it is and I just turn off the song/artist |
Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: September 14 2009 at 00:37
Without resorting to mere examples of bands "sounding like the Beatles" their influence on Prog could be seen as much deeper : they experimented in the studio with various unusual techniques, they broke the 3 minute sound barrier with the emphasis on creating concepts within their albums, they experimented with many different types of instruments, one of which could change the whole mood of the song, they studied many different cultures and trancended the whole concept of pop music into something more serious - the rest is Prog history! 
i could go on all day but better do some work
 -------------  Prog Archives Tour Van 
|
Posted By: Marty McFly
Date Posted: September 14 2009 at 02:45
|
Their version of <b>The End</b> is great ------------- There's a point where "avant-garde" and "experimental" becomes "terrible" and "pointless," -Andyman1125 on Lulu  Even my |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: September 14 2009 at 02:54
Some Beatle-esque songs from prog or prog-related artists:
------------- 
|
Posted By: Abstrakt
Date Posted: September 14 2009 at 03:01
|
All of you KNOW That the GIRLS Of the ROAD Are like apples we stole in our youth  |
Posted By: Abstrakt
Date Posted: September 14 2009 at 03:10
Well, i kind of agree  I really like that song! Kind of a shame that such a beautiful song should have such a brutal intro. But it's the dynamics that makes opeth i guess. |
Posted By: horla
Date Posted: September 14 2009 at 04:01
|
walking on air from thrak is definetely influenced by the beatles sun king from abbey road. anyways the entire song it's sounds pretty beatle esque
|
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: September 14 2009 at 04:04
|
^Dinosaur from the same album is another fine example that comes to my mind. -------------
|
Posted By: persianfish
Date Posted: September 14 2009 at 06:05
|
Posted By: soundscape
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 22:30
|
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. In developing a reasonable playlist I often get in over my head and I always appreciate the feedback of all you fine folks. The Beatleprog show that we put together can be found here: www.thedividingline.com/ss I was not able to hit all of the suggestions, and I may have flubbed once or twice but for the most part I feel the setlist came together quite nicely. I am posting the setlist here for anyone who wants to take a look. My deepest thanks to you all. After some incredible discussion through the Dividingline mailing list and over at Prog Archives, we got togeher a group of the most beatle inspired prog that we could find. Regardless of whether or not you call the fab four prog, proto prog, experimental pop, or psychedelic you will see that they had a huge influence on the progressive world. Even our short flash in the pan set cannot do justice to pointing out the effect of the Beatles on progressive rock, but it was a great deal of fun to put together and to listen to. We also have tucked inside of this episode new music from Phish, Paris Keeling, and Shadowland as well as a tribute to our Dragon experience featuring the one and only C.S. Brown as well as George Hrab. Next week we will spin the tale of progfolk. Prog is so huge it has a great many subsets and we here at Soundscape are trying to understand the boundaries of each division and we will carry you along on our journey with us. Also next week, new live music from Tinyfish, Believe, and Jupiter Society. If you would like to vote for Soundscape drop by podcast alley: http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=58796 - http://www.podcastalley.com/
------------- Listen to the best in Progressive Rock at www.thedividingline.com |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: September 17 2009 at 05:37
bingo.... and no shame.. the song wouldn't have been half as good if it was simply brutal... or even beautiful. It is the contrast that makes the song interesting.. I'll go a step further and say that it is dynamics that separates the good from the ... hoohum. Any swinging dick can play it fast and heavy... practice enough and you can do with a high degree of technicality... a good musician is not just technically proficient... but has a sense of compositional proficiency. Use of dark and light as Prince once said... it is those dynamics which often make music 'interesting' to listen to. In a nutshell.. if I had to express why I love Opeth.. and loath DT. That is why... Opeth is simply interesting to listen to...DT... heard one... heard them all. It simply isn't interesting. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: earlyprog
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 07:50
| Porcupine Tree delivered an excellent example of beatleprog on The Incident: Remember Me Lover bears clear similarities with I Want You (She's So Heavy). Even until the last abrupt ending of the song. |
Posted By: ModernRocker79
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 22:43
|
A number of Radiohead songs are influenced strongly by the Beatles. "Karma Police takes from "Sexy Sadie, "Hail to the Theif" takes from "I Want You She So Heavy, and "Paraniod Andriod" takes from "Happiness is a Warm Gun". King Crimson "Tomorrow Never Knew Thela" obviously takes from "Tomorrow Never Knows". |
Posted By: sealchan
Date Posted: September 22 2009 at 14:39
|
I'm beginning a systematic review of albums starting with the late 60s and moving forward...one thing I've noticed in songs by the Beatles are some forms and phrases that might turn out to be common in later prog. But since I don't know music in general I can't say if this is exclusive to The Beatles and prog...
One form is the two different melodies alternating with contrasting moods and tempos. The Beatles used this in "Strawberry Fields Forever" and in "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". So far I've seen this in "Back to the Family" by Jethro Tull, but I expect I will see it more as I continue my reviews (which have just barely escaped the era of the Beatles).
Also, I noticed how The Beatles used the instrumental coda and then moved this either into the middle of the song or also to the middle of the song. Examples include again "Strawberry Fields Forever", "I Am The Walrus", "Hello Goodbye", "All You Need Is Love" and "Here Comes the Sun" moves this instrumental coda to the middle. Now I'm sure I'm going to spot tons of these but already I see that Chicago does a brilliant one in "Beginnings", but I believe this is also the case in the classic "Starship Trooper" (although whether you see "Wurm" as a coda or a third movement may be debatable). Now the Beatles could never take this instrumental coda very far but the basic emotional impact it has on the song is there only amplified tenfold by the good progressive rock song.
|
Posted By: soundscape
Date Posted: September 27 2009 at 09:30
|
This sounds like a fantastic project although incredibly time consuming. I applaud your efforts. I do not pretend to be much a music historian, but weren't The Beatles one of the first bands to use orchestrations, as well as back masking. At least for the strings part, this seems to be a stepping stone towards the full orchestrations done by the Moody Blues and of course quite a few people consider Days of Future Passed to be the first prog album. The guys over at Pandora have done a lot of work analyzing songs and their supposed genome and this might be a helpful way to analyze each Beatle song as well. www.pandora.com Cheers, Woody ------------- Listen to the best in Progressive Rock at www.thedividingline.com |
Posted By: ModernRocker79
Date Posted: September 29 2009 at 10:08
|
After the Beatles, British groups were finally able to have impact over here in America. And lets face facts, if the Who or Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin didn’t have the Beatles to come before them, would they have been as widely accepted by this country? The Beatles were not like Traffic, The Doors, Cream and Jimmie Hendrix. They were not blues artists. The Beatles ability to incorporate exotic sources into a pop song was what they excelled at. This proved to be hugely influential to music in general. A song that is not popular like “Think For Yourself” is innovative as uses layering of fuzz bass and regular bass right up-front as the same function as if you would use electric guitar and rhythm guitar in a rock song. Listen to a track like “I’m Only Sleeping” instead of regular guitar leads they use backward guitar leads. They recorded their guitars and vocals using Automatic Double Tracking. The Beatles recorded vocals and guitar backwards, creating volume swells by the use of harmonics example "Yes It Is" and coaxing feedback from other instruments like piano. On “Tomorrow Never Knows” you have McCartney instead of using the regular way creating sounds from rock instruments, created a soundscape from loops and samples. Now yeah this was done in musique concrete but not really in rock music. The Beatles “The Word” Definitely a forerunner to psychedelia that The Thirteenth Floor Elevators liked it enough to play it in their live sets during 1966. Another thing we can be thankful for is that these guys brought Avante-Garde music to mainstream. |