Saturday 5 May 2012

the Beatles 50 years later

The Beatles 50 Years Later Newsweek released a special collector’s edition celebrating the 50 years since the Beatles were launched in 1962. In that same amazing year Dylan, The Beach boys and The Rolling Stones also surfaced onto the music scene. But in the words of the late Steve Jobs, who introduced Beatle music to i-Tunes, ‘anyone could imitate The Rolling Stones, but no one could be Dylan or The Beatles.’ What caught my attention in one of the many articles in the special edition was a paragraph about John Lennon’s evaluation of his own guitar playing: ‘I am embarrassed at my guitar technique…but I know how to drive a band.’ When Lennon met McCartney the former could only play banjo chords on the first four strings on his guitar. Lennon and McCartney became the most prolific tune factory the world has ever known. They had 27 hits that lasted 100 weeks on the No. 1 spot on the hit parade. They have sold over 600 million albums and 1.8 million on i-Tunes. They introduced the stadium performance as an event to the crowds and headed the other bands in selling their wares and merchandise in shops all over the world. Their name became an adjective in the modern English language: e.g. Beatle mania. Lennon’s statement about his guitar playing is so painfully honest – just like his music. He was not ashamed to write about his mother or about his helplessness in life. There is a pic of him and Paul sitting at a grand piano, composing a song. Paul is at the bass end and John working out the tune. It is the tunefulness of the Beatle’s songs that remains with us today. Anyone can whistle, sing or play their songs because they have memorable tunes. The spark between Lennon and McCartney produced unforgettable tunes that the world is still singing and playing today. Every time you hear a Beatle song you know it is a Beatle song. It does not matter who is performing it – because you know the tune and the style of the Beatles. They transformed music and began to sing about things street people encounter in life, meter maids, lonely people and paperback writer. Ask anyone today, what is your favourite Beatle song and they will tell you without hesitation. This is 50 years after they were launched! Yes, Lennon and Harrison are no longer with us, but McCartney and Ringo are still around. The media quoted Lennon as saying, ‘we are more important than Jesus Christ!’ but that is not the truth of the matter. He explained later that he was misquoted (typical of the media moguls to seek sensation and misquote a pop star to sell a newspaper!). What he actually said was, ‘the way people treat us you would say that we are more important than Jesus Christ!’ It was not an anti-Christ statement as the media made it out to be. But here is a simple guy with loads of talent from Liverpool, embarrassed about his guitar playing but churning out one after the other memorable tune to fill the world with beautiful music. He was willing to give it a go in spite of his guitar technique. The fab four complemented each other perfectly: John the driving force and tune giver of the group, McCartney adding the chords and rhythm, George letting his guitar gently weep and Ringo providing the simply beat behind the music. When they split up it was no longer the same. The one lacked what the other possessed. The genius of the Beatles lay in the fact that each one contributed something valuable to the group. It was not one superstar doing it all and the other riding on his success. It was a real team effort. There is much we can learn from them. If any group can rely on each other’s strengths, they can achieve much. It is okay that Lennon’s guitar playing was not brilliant, because he was the rhythm guitarist. He left the deft technique of guitar playing to George, the lead guitarist. Steve Jobs observed how they operated in the studio: ‘they kept refining and refining their music; they kept on going and going.’ Their striving for perfection produced unforgettable music. They would not settle for less. There is a lesson in that as well. At the turn of the century they brought out a compilation of their greatest hits and it went straight to No. 1 spot again, starting off a spate of other bands following in their wake with their compilation albums. Somehow they pioneered so many different directions in their burst of creativity that they are the most unforgettable pop band ever. You cannot ignore something that stood the test of time! Here comes the sun…Strawberry Fields Forever…Yesterday…While my guitar gently weeps…The long and winding road…I wanna hold your hand…Let it be…Eleanor Rigby…Get Back…and many more. Which is your favourite tune?

No comments: