The Beatles place in Prog History
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Topic: The Beatles place in Prog History
Posted By: grandoleopry
Subject: The Beatles place in Prog History
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 02:20
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Were the Beatles Prog?
That's like asking if God's a Democrat or a Republican. He's above all that and so are they. Not saying that they are God Almighty, but they are certainly gods of all rock and roll. Remember, rock was dark and without substance, then came Elvis who took it from dark to light. Then came the Beatles who expanded the genre and saw that it was good. Where the Beatles went, rock followed. Everybody and I mean everybody at the time waited to see what direction the Beatles would take music next. Hendrix, Zappa, Beach Boys, Jagger, LZ, Tull, Yes, Dylan, Doors, Paul Simon, Elton John, not to mention the country western, jazz and pop stars, they all took their cues from the Beatles. Make no mistake: no Beatles, no Prog. They taught the world how far rock 'n roll could go. Ask the giants of prog what they thought of the Beatles. Ask Jon Anderson, Ian Anderson, Robert Fripp, Frank Zappa (if he were alive). They will tell you the same thing I've already said. They were gods. True, there were embryonic awakenings of prog with other bands at the time in remote places under obscure names, but nobody with the name power of the Beatles who had the ability to pioneer and experiment with every type of music and have it commercially successful. And thats how the Beatles (unbiet known to themselves) started prog: by borrowing sounds from everything and every type of music and experimenting and having commercial success. It must be remembered that without commercial success most music by the modern era would die a premature death. So when you're taking about the Beatles take your shoes off proggers your on holy ground. |
Replies:
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 02:24
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Revolver wipes the floor with every prog album I've heard. |
Posted By: Dreamer
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 03:48
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well said. I agree. Alot of people nowdays are ignorant about the Beatles, saying they're some cheap boy band who sang 3 chord love songs! It happens all the time with my friends |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 04:00
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'Come Together' gets played all the time on the radio. How can anyone listen to that and say, 'Man, I wish something unusual would come on the radio...' |
Posted By: Hammill
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 05:42
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well some years ago i was not a big fan of beatles. i thought
they were just another pop band that didin't worth all this fame. but
as years pass away, some things change and some opinions too. in our
days i am a big fan of beatles and i love every album they recorded. my
top 5 includes: revolver, white album, sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club
band, abbey road and rubber soul. i know it is quite strange for a 24
years old person to listen to beatles in our days but how can i resist
to their music? it is impossible. . 
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Posted By: philippe
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 05:56
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pppffffff, the Beatles, just radiophonic boring stuff. 60s pop psych pre-progressive bands as Seventh sons or Bobby Callender are by fare more original, dynamic and consistent than the ridiculous Beatles...stop being blind!!
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Posted By: krauthead
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 06:01
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I read some interviews on an online record store for some years ago and many top names in the progressive genre choosed the Sgt. Pepper album to be the most progressive album and to be the album that started it all for example with songs floating like a whole into each other.
My personal favourite is Magical Mystery Tour, these lads know how to make both fun and serious music that will never die. I have some thousands of records and i can say that Beatles beating almost all of them, can't say what album they don't, maybe after all they sweep the floor with anyone ------------- *Dancing madly backwards on a sea of air* - Captain Beyond |
Posted By: philippe
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 06:05
not surprising, the guys who written these articles surely be influenced by others..and you believe that!!! very disconcerted! the first prog rock album in history is raga by seventh sons! -------------
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krauthead wrote:Posted By: krauthead
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 06:08
Maybe your right my fellow, don't saying anything about that, just saying a read interviews of members from King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Rush, Genesis and maybe like 10-11 bands more, and all of them did place that album at the top 1 position of all albums. ------------- *Dancing madly backwards on a sea of air* - Captain Beyond |
Posted By: DavidInsabella
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 06:51
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Very true grandoleopry. I especially like "Where the Beatles went, rock followed. Everybody and I mean everybody at the time waited to see what direction the Beatles would take music next. Hendrix, Zappa, Beach Boys, Jagger, LZ, Tull, Yes, Dylan, Doors, Paul Simon, Elton John, not to mention the country western, jazz and pop stars, they all took their cues from the Beatles." That's entirely correct. Look at any genre in rock or pop (plus a few others) music today and the Beatles will have a strong influence in it. Pop songs today can be traced back to Please Please Me and other early records an songs like Come Together. At the same time the symphonic prog world is reminiscent to Revolver and St. Pepper. Even genres like punk and heavy metal can be traced to some place in the Beatles history. Oh what a marvelous group they were. If a band came around today with the same goals they'd be gods among men. Great post. ------------- Life seemed to him merely like a gallery of how to be. 
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Posted By: marktheshark
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 09:38
| Well, here we goooo again! Welcome back my friends to the debate that never ends! Yes I would agree The Beatles were the biggest influence on prog, but not ALL their songs were prog. Even the post-Pepper works like Let It Be were far from prog. |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 09:48
Let's just include the White Album and leave it at that ... oh, and Yellow Matter Custard ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to: 
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 09:48
How about Space Revolver? It's circling orbits 'round Revolver ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: Jaja Brasil
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 10:43
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Hi guys, There are two things: 1st.-> They are (and always be) my favourite all time band. 2nd-> They were the root of all styles that appears from then. (from prog to metal) And that`s all.
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Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 12:19
Philippe likes to cite bands no one ever heard of... ------------- "Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood) |
Posted By: Dreamer
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 12:24
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Beatles are amazing beyond words, I can not begin to say how good they are. Has anyone seen/bought the anthology? Its fantastic and every beatlemaniac should see it at least once. The last episode brings tears to my eyes..... |
Posted By: philippe
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 13:04
you can easily find and purchase these CDs on the net if you were more attentive to what happened outside the big musical business -------------
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Posted By: marktheshark
Date Posted: June 12 2005 at 14:39
Phillippe is one of those few anti-Beatles types you come across occasionally. Which is fine, I respect everybodys opinion. I'm sure he's got a good thorough knowledge in music. But if you guys think you can convert him, you're wasting your time. I know, as a Beatlemaniac myself I've come across a good share of them. Most of them Deadheads. Those types always have the same arguements: "They didn't improvise, dude" "Phil Lesch is a better bass player than Paul, dude" "They only had one drummer, the Dead had TWO, dude" "They didn't do jazz, dude" "The Dead's album covers were cooler, dude" And so on and so on. They're like a broken record! At least Phillippe has some rather unique observations.
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Posted By: gleam
Date Posted: June 19 2005 at 14:37
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I read somewhere that "hating the Beatles is a bit like hating sunshine". The same can be said for those who don't realize the impact they had on modern music, "it's a bit like trying to block the sun's rays with your hand" (your better off going inside). The Beatles were able to define the evolution of an entire generation. Each album was a stepping stone that the entire youth culture followed. It's easy to look back and downplay the enormity of Sgt. Pepper's because so much has evolved since then. However, there wasn't anything remotely close to Sgt. Peppers prior to it's release. Prog rockers like Yes drew inspiration from their work. Listen to "Abbey Road" and then "CTTE" and you will see the correlation. IMHO, the Beatles were to modern music what Shakespeare is to English literature.
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Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: June 20 2005 at 00:47
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After reading all the previous posts some questions come to my mind: 1.- Were The Beatrles influential? Yes they were, denying this would be absurd and blind. 2.- Are The Beatles the main influence in Prog? I don't think so, they were one of the influences, prog' roots especially symphonic come from way behind (A couple of centuries) to precise since the late XVII - early XVIII Centuries and Johan Sebastian Bach, there's also a lot of Jazz influence (in the way they blend styles and genres), classic Rock & Roll and even other genres as folk. The Beatles are one more. 3.- Are the Beatles Prog? No way, they released 2 albums prog' related but their earlier career is very far from prog'. I'm not offending The Beatles or their fans, I know they were great, but I don't believe they were gods, to be honest, I don't like most of their albums, except Sgt. Peppers (Which I believe is good but way overrated) and Abbey Road which is my favorite. Iván ------------- 
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Posted By: marktheshark
Date Posted: June 20 2005 at 11:04
| I would say that The Beatles were not the main influence directly on prog itself either. But I would say that they were a huge influence on the expansion and experimentation that lead to prog. Starting at Rubber Soul. Bringing in that sitar on Norwegian Wood was pretty bold for the time. |
Posted By: Arsillus
Date Posted: June 21 2005 at 22:34
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I have been known to say I don't particularly care for the Beatles, but Revolver is one that I find myself playing somewhat often. Probably the ONLY Beatles album I find myself playing somewhat often. But for some reason, I didn't particularly care for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. |
Oh well.Posted By: Odd24
Date Posted: June 30 2005 at 15:50
The Beatles combined classical music with pop. They were one of the first bands which did this. Prog is also pop with classical influences. I wonder what was actually the very first pop hitrecord with classical influences. Was it "Anyone who had a heart" by Dionne Warwick? I think that song was a revelation for the music back in 1964. I'm not very interested in the mainstream pop from 1960-1964. I usually make fun of it ------------- Right down the line |
Posted By: marktheshark
Date Posted: July 01 2005 at 01:18
You're almost there Odd. But I wouldn't consider prog as "pop" with classical influences. Prog is a more non-mainstream experimental genre that was spun-off of what the Beatles started. Would you really call Yes, KC and early Genesis as pop? Some of them had some pop moments most notably ELP, but overall they were not pop. Pop with classical influences would be artists like French conductor Paul Mauriat (remember Love Is Blue in '67? Actually a beautiful song, I love it), the Sandpipers, Burt Bachrach and so forth. |
Posted By: Carakhallo
Date Posted: July 01 2005 at 11:32
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And what about Abbey Road b-side suite? That's pretty close to symphonic prog, isn't it?. And "You know my name" may also be considered prog, really a weird tune... I think they started good pop (actually, they made the best pop ever) and also were a very important influence for the first prog bands. But they were not prog. Almost... but not (sadly...). And maybe they were also first band to play hard rock. Remember "Everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey" and "Helter Skelter" from The White Album?. It was back in 1968, just before Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath or Deep Purple existed.... |
Posted By: boo boo
Date Posted: July 02 2005 at 07:59
| sgt pepper was the first concept album, it also experiemented with deverse styles, themes and instruments in ways that was never done before, revolver introduced revolutionary studio techniques such as the double tape loop system and digitaly altered vocals...abbey road features early use of synths and a mini rock suite, and the white album was prog all the way, with longer instrumenals, more epics and so on...plus they experiemented with so many styles..raga, 20s style tin pan alley music, classic theater and opera, plus stuff that is completely out there...they progressed greatly after rubber soul, so id say yes, they made a big influence on prog. |
Posted By: Eetu Pellonpaa
Date Posted: July 05 2005 at 10:10
| I saw their cartoon "Yellow Submarine" as a kid, and it evoked my interest towards psychedelia. I don't listen to them though... |