What does it take to be a die hard Beatles fan?

I forced myself to watch all nine hours of that boring, boring movie. And the music heard merely reaffirms my opinion of the Let It Be album: Dreadful, absolutely unlistenable. They peaked with the Revolver album.

That damn sitar ruined George as a guitarist, Ringo’s drumming got very sluggish as time went on, and John & Paul increasingly wrote apart not together (they really needed each other, the whole being vastly greater than the sum of it's parts). Their breakup was imo long overdue.

accepting ’Get Back’ as a very good or great film or even worth the time does not make or break one’s Beatles fandom qualifications. i see this documentary as a table full of excesses which i visit and consume at my own speed. from time to time i watch more of it, but may never finish. yet i listen to Beatles music all the time and hold them in the highest regards. i was 11 years old when the Beatles were first on the Ed Sullivan show, and since that night, i have been fully on board.

the creative magic that happened for that decade or so, was a freak of nature.

sure; we can play ’what if?’.......such is life. i celebrate what they have done to make my life more full and enjoyable, and expect to continue to appreciate them.

agree ’Get Back/Let it Be’ was not their best, but a few months later they were in top form for Abbey Road. maybe these sessions were just the warm up for that tour de force magic.

i am unabashedly a 'glass half full' die hard Beatles fan. and accept it all including the warts. 

I too was 12 when I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. It is astounding to think that show was the start of a new epoch in Rock! I agree with you that Abbey Road was their creative peak.

Check out Norman Maslov's YouTube channel if you want to see a hardcore/die hard Beatles fan; he talks about lots of other music, too, but his big three are the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Byrds... 

I watched that show with my parents on a black&white TV. My mother made loud disparaging remarks about the Beatles hair styles. My father mostly remained quiet. Ed Sullivan on Sunday nights was must-see TV for my parents.

Going through my record collection this Sunday morning I came across a nice pristine 1967 Capitol pressing of Magical Mystery Tour - with the invoice from the eBay seller I bought it from: $18..50 + $4.00 shipping. This was about five years ago so before eBay added sales tax. I will treasure this copy more than any new made-from-a- digital file 180 gram reissue!

@jasonbourne71: The copy of Magical Mystery Tour you want is the German pressing on either HOR ZU or Apple (unless you actually like "mono reprocessed for stereo" sound of the Capitol LP). They are the only true stereo LP pressings of that "thrown together" non-album album. I have the German Apple LP, and as it was originally released in England: a gatefold cover housing two 7" discs, which contain only the music on side 1 of the LP.

I too saw the group on Ed Sullivan, then went to see them at The Cow Palace in S. San Francisco. And was disappointed. Not a very good live band, honest. ;-)

Though I am rather critical of The Beatles (and even more so their solo work), I truly and deeply love Rubber Soul and Revolver, two of my all-time favorite albums.

I expect to finally meet Mazzy at the hi-fi show in Seattle next month, but may keep the fact that I saw The Beatles live to myself. I don't want to spoil his weekend. ;-)

I was born AFTER the Beatles disbanded. But I have all their original Albums (not the BBC,etc) and they get regular play in my system. I like they music making and that makes me a fan. I have never watched their documentary nor any other film. Maybe that is the difference between fan and die-hard fan 🙂

Me and my sister watched the Beatles' Ed Sullivan appearances, and Sis (and later me) bought each LP the day they came out. My sister had a great seat to see the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, as one of her girlfriends' fathers was a record industry bigwig. The Beatles were the first rock-and-roll band I liked, and my mania to hear them had me constantly listening to L.A.'s rock-and-roll station KFWB...which in turn got me liking all rock music. In other words, blame the Beatles for putting me on the path from a classical guy to an I-like-everything guy.

@jasonbourne71 - I was watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan that night with my parents and some other family friends. Of course, my father said something like 'Maybe Ed will pay 'em enough to get haircuts...' . 

Yes, it was pretty cool to get an inside look at the prep for the famous rooftop concert. But it became tedious to listen to all the "bla bla" in the studio and the endless fiddling of non Beatles songs.

I'm a huge Beatles' fan too and I totally agree with you. Maybe I just like to eat the bread and not take a complete tour of how bread is made, from wheat field to reaping to grinding to...etc. I mean, the songs are the point for me, not the hagiography.

Speaking of the non-Beatles songs they play in the studio rehearsals for the rooftop performance:

In his YouTube review of the movie, Rick Beato (whom I really like) marvels at how many songs The Beatles know (referring to the "oldies" they attempt to play). Well, they sort of remember those non-Beatle songs, but they certainly don’t perform them very well in those studio recordings. I know they were just "fooling around", but still. Their performances of those songs imo provide ample evidence that my assertion The Beatles were not a very good band---strictly in terms of being "a band"---is plainly obvious. You may disagree.

It was their songs that made them great, not their abilities as a band. IMO, of course. Most Rock bands are better at being a band than they are at songwriting. With The Beatles (no pun intended ;-) the opposite is true.

@bdp24 “That damn sitar ruined George as a guitarist”

What could possibly support such a statement?

“John & Paul increasingly wrote apart not together (they really needed each other, the whole being vastly greater than the sum of it's parts)”

- P.S. I Love You (Paul)
- Please Please Me (John)
- All My Loving (Paul)
- All I’ve Got to Do (John)
- This Boy (John)
- Things We Said Today (Paul)
- I Should Have Known Better (John)
- She’s a Woman (Paul)
- I Feel Fine (John)
- I’ll Follow the Sun (Paul)
- I’m a Loser (John)
- Yes it Is (John)
- The Night Before (Paul)
- It’s Only Love (John)
- I’ve Just Seen a Face (Paul)
- You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (John)
- Yesterday (Paul)
- Day Tripper (John)
- You Won’t See Me (Paul)
- Nowhere Man (John)
- I’m Looking Through You (Paul)
- Girl (John)
- Paperback Writer (Paul)
- I’m Only Sleeping (John)
- Here, There and Everywhere (Paul)
- She Said, She Said (John)
- For No One (Paul)
- Got to Get You Into My Life (Paul)
- Strawberry Fields Forever (John)
- Penny Lane (Paul)
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (John)
- Fixing a Hole (Paul)
- All You Need is Love (John)
- Hello, Goodbye (Paul)
- I am the Walrus (John)
- Your Mother Should Know (Paul)
- The Fool on the Hill (Paul)
- Across the Universe (John)
- Lady Madonna (Paul)
- Dear Prudence (John)
- Martha My Dear (Paul)
- Glass Onion (John)
- Blackbird (Paul)
- Happiness is a Warm Gun (John)
- I Will (Paul)
- Julia (John)
- Mother Nature’s Son (Paul)
- Sexy Sadie (John)
- Honey Pie (Paul)
- Cry Baby Cry (John)
- Hey Jude (Paul)
- Dig a Pony (John)
- Let it Be (Paul)
- Because (John)
- You Never Give Me Your Money (Paul)
- Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) (John)
- Maybe I’m Amazed (Paul)
- Mother (John)
- Junk (Paul)
- Isolation (John)
- Too Many People (Paul)
- Remember (John)
- Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (Paul)
- Love (John)
- Backseat of My Car (Paul)
- Look at Me (John)
- Band on the Run (Paul)
- Imagine (John)
- Let ‘Em In (Paul)
- Jealous Guy (John)
- Arrow Through Me (Paul)
- Oh My Love (John)
- Woman is the N***** of the World (John)  
- #9 Dream (John)
- Beautiful Boy (John)
- Free as a Bird (John)
- Grow Old with Me (John)

I think either John or Paul, whether it was early days, middle days, later days, or solo days, did okay on their own.

 

Nothing from the Hard Days Night era?  IMO, some of the best Lennon stuff ever.

So, you watched them bake a cake without Julia Child's doing the dialog.  Sorry it was boring.  Although the cake was really good. 

To take them as peaking at a point or whatever, I can't go there.  To me they were always evolving.  Their ability at convergence was second to none.  They layered solo's better than anyone.  Their vocals, unbelievable.  Individual ability, I don't think any of them could read music but they all contributed beyond so many others.  Look at some of Ringo's solos (microphone is a suitcase), Paul's bass on Sun King, George was as good or better than any lead guitar, I loved the sitar and the desire to go beyond a standard western beat and John's poetry was on par with Morrison, Keats, Byrne or Lewis Carroll (Jabberwocky a personal favorite). 

At the end there was divergence.  That divergence was its own and I love it.  Everyone wanted them back together.  That could only happen as their evolution allowed.  Free as a bird, to me was like watching grand great elephants coming in to mourn the loss of one of their great ones.  We had some convergence, it was nice. 

Now, lets talk about some "other" bands.  Did their sound evolve?  The Beach Boys, perhaps.  The Stones, nope.  Bruce, nope.  Name another band that evolved as much.  I have to go to Dave Brubeck and his differing time signatures. 

In summary I am thankful for the Beatles and all they did.  They had an alien probe up them 24/7.  This was a picture into their daily in a bakery making bread.  It's okay.  I would love to see this for Beethoven, but I guess that's not possible. 

Me, I would prefer to just enjoy and not worry too much about an extra added whatever.  Be happy, peace and love. 

Q: What could possible support such a statement?

A: A listen to Dave Edmunds, Albert Lee, Ry Cooder, Richard Thompson, and dozens of other better guitarists. Prior to Sgt. Pepper Harrison was a favorite of mine, his solo in "Nowhere Man" is in my all-time top 10 (even though it is very similar to James Burton’s in Ricky Nelson’s "Young World", another favorite of mine). He was never again that good, and in numerous interviews talked about not even picking up a guitar for years.

Unlike some, I don’t mind others having an opinion divergent from mine. It’s all about what we listen for in music. Why should we expect to agree on everything? For some reason I admit to not understanding, people become very defensive when it comes to The damn Beatles.

And with that final comment (made in violation of my vow to rpeluso), I bid you all adieu. I have obviously overstayed my welcome. ;-)

@nakam I included “I Should Have Known Better” from A Hard Day’s Night.  
“This Boy,” which I included, was released just 2 months prior (only 1 month prior in the US) to the A Hard Day’s Night sessions.  
“If I Fell” from A Hard Day’s Night is one of my all-time favorite Beatles/John songs, but Paul wrote the absolutely brilliant stand-alone intro section (a significant contribution, which Paul referred to as a ‘preamble’) so I didn’t count that one as a full-on “John song.”  

“Any Time at All” is another great John song off that LP, but Paul wrote the really cool instrumental bridge section, so I didn’t count that one either.
I suppose I should have included John’s “A Hard Day’s Night.”  
Personally, that’s never been a song I was particularly smitten with.  
I’m pretty lukewarm towards “You Can’t Do That” (similar song to the title track) but I should have included that one too.
John’s A Hard Day’s Night song “Tell Me Why” is pretty good.  
I probably should have thrown that one in there too.
 

@bdp24 You didn’t answer the question.
I’ll ask it another way:
how can playing sitar “ruin” a guitar player’s guitar-playing ability?
 

@hoosierinohio   Very well put!

@tylermunns: The fact you ask that question is evidence you know nothing about being a musician. In interviews Harrison candidly admitted he had not continued in his pursuit of guitar playing after picking up the sitar, as I already said stating he had not picking up a guitar for a number of years (’67-’69?).

When he went on tour in the mid-70’s, George hired Robben Ford (whom I saw and heard numerous times while he was living in San Jose, before he moved down to L.A.) to play guitar, George himself concerning himself with embarrassing stage "theatrics" (videos available for painful viewing), perhaps in an effort to distract from his dreadful vocals. I don’t take pleasure in dissing George; he was always my favorite Beatle. As far as I’m concerned, The Traveling Wilburys was the best post-Beatles work any of them did.

And then there was was John Lennon, who subjected us to his "Primal Scream" therapy recordings (how anyone can listen to his first album is beyond me), crying about his mommy abandoning him. Oh for God’s sake John, have you no shame?

And McCartney, whom, freed from John’s acerbic input, was set free to sing his sappy, corny, British Music Hall ditties (which infect the Sgt. Pepper and White albums). Plus, he had his wife Linda "singing" in his band (have you heard the live recordings of Wings?!). Did Paul feel obligated to do so, as John had Yoko Ono "singing" in his band? By the way, when John needed a backup band, whom did he hire? Elephant’s Memory, a truly pathetic group. From The Beatles to Elephant’s Memory, quite a downgrade in bands.

At least Ringo had the good sense to head to Nashville (for his Beaucoups Of Blues album), to record Country music with the cream of that cities studio musicians (most of whom had already been heard in Dylan’s fantastic mid-60’s recordings). And when Ringo recorded his 1973 self-titled album, he enlisted members of The Band, about whom I need not heap praise (everyone already knows Eric Clapton dissolved Cream after hearing Music From Big Pink, thereafter traveling to West Saugerties in hopes of The Band asking him to join. Uh, no thanks Eric, we already have Robbie Robertson).

As even you @tylermunns can see, I’m WAY ahead of you. Now stop wasting my time.

@bdp24
“The fact you ask that question is evidence you know nothing about being a musician.”
non sequitur, Ad Hominem, Ad Verecundiam.

“Q: What could possibly support such a statement? (‘sitar ruined George as a guitarist.’)

A: I listen to Dave Edmunds, Albert Lee, Ry Cooder, Richard Thompson, and dozens of other better guitarists…”
non sequitur, red herring.

The fact that you,
a) issued these responses to a good faith question (‘how did playing sitar ruin George’s guitar playing?) with a blatantly dismissive tone and a baseless attack on my credibility, and
b) of course, not once actually answered my question (‘George said he didn’t play as much guitar in his late-20s as he did in his teens/early-20s’ is obviously not an answer to the question),
is evidence of insecurity and desperation.

I’ve been a professional, multi-instrumentalist musician (lead vocals, harmony vocals, lead guitar - I’m damn good, too - bass, and piano - plus, a band leader/arranger/musical director of multiple 3.5-hour-long shows of 15+-piece ensembles of 7-piece string sections, 5-piece woodwind sections to guitars, keys, bass, percussion and 5-part vocal arrangements) for over 20 years.

Not only has playing other instruments improved my ability in previously-played instruments, it is common knowledge that playing other instruments makes one a better musician.

The difference between the charmingly-melodic-but-somewhat-clunky-and-awkward playing of George’s early years (something tells me you’re not a guitar player) and the objectively-higher-proficiency playing that defines his late-‘60s-and-up playing is unmistakable to any actual guitar player.
I’d be willing to bet that 10/10 actual guitar players familiar with the Beatles/George would say the same.
As can see, there are several reasons why I felt compelled to ask you how it was possible that playing sitar “ruined” George’s guitar playing.
As you can see, one of us has simply asked a question, and the other one’s response was a baseless, inexplicable attack on the questioner’s credibility (for some reason), a complete avoidance of the question, and a voluminous stream of illogic.
As even you @bdp24 can see, I’m WAY ahead of you.

only Paul still active in music , right????????

@fac Ringo still tours with his All Star Band.

@tylermunns + 1

Then there is this: 

"George wanted most of all to be remembered as a gardener, one who ‘wrote one or two good tunes.’” - Olivia Harrison

@bdp24 the way you are trashing all 4 of them (but mostly 3) is painful and pathetic. I know we should try to be objective but e.g. Paul never stopping writing and recording music every decade and still going, as good as or way better than his contemporaries. 

No need to argue with me, I don't play any instruments, and I was never on a first name basis with Eric C. or Tom P.

I JUST  enjoy their music, written together, apart, rooftop, studio or whatever....

@stuartk "his" meditation garden in Encinitas is still a paradise to all who live nearby

@mikelavigne perfectly said! My all time favorite is Abbey Road and until I learned that Let It Be wasn't their last album I used to be confused. Their evolution heard through their albums is pure magic. 

The most interesting part of the movie to me is hearing George say that the best band he’s ever heard was that of Ray Charles. Levon Helm was of the same opinion.

@stuartk’s mention of George’s gardening is apt. George talked about not practicing guitar anymore after a certain point (i.e. when he picked up the sitar, from where came my comment about his interest in and focus on that obnoxious-sounding instrument---imo---ruining his guitar playing), and of not being motivated to keep progressing like his pal Eric was (not everyone agrees with that assessment of Clapton). Harrison’s guitar playing in The Beatles is a model of musical taste, of playing for the song. As I said, his solo in "Nowhere Man" is a very favorite of mine. That style of guitar playing unfortunately became passe in the latter half of the 60’s, ironically because of the rise in Rock music of the style in which Clapton himself played: Blues above all else.

But after The Beatles? George was indeed more interesting in gardening than anything else, including music. At least he went out well, The Traveling Wilbury’s being delightful. Actually, in his latter years it was ukulele George was playing, not guitar.

Ya know, Lennon was not shy of expressing his opinion of Harrison’s singing, which was rather brutal. I’d rather listen to George’s post-Beatles singing than Lennon’s, and yes I realize that is a minority opinion. In his defense, at least George didn’t call his wife "mother". Now THAT is pathetic.

@grislybutter 

Not sure what you mean. Are you saying there's a garden dedicated to Harrison within the SRF grounds?

@bdp24

There’s somewhat of a parallel in the life of John McLaughlin who became a dedicated student of, I believe, the vina (someone correct me if I’m mistaken). It got to the point where decided he had to drop the vina because he felt, deep down, he was a guitar player and that he was in effect "betraying" himself by allowing the vina to seduce him away from guitar.

Your "Blues above all else" assertion about Clapton makes me curious about your definition of Blues. Any min pent based soloing? It seems to me he was able play very melodically at times. Since the focus of this thread is the Beatles, I’ll point to Clapton’s solo on "Something" as a primary example. From my perspective, There are others as well, sprinkled throughout his discography. But, as I acknowledged,  our respective conception of "Blues" may differ. 

I'm no EC fan-boy. In the panoply of British guitar players, I'd place many above him. Still, I believe he deserves credit where credit is due. 

@stuartk I mean he was very involved with the development

@grislybutter 

Sorry to be so dense but my aging brain is not following you. I don't see how Harrison could've been involved in the creation/design of the Encinitas Center because that was built in 1937. Do you mean the smaller SRF Encinitas temple that was built much later? 

@stuartk 

I mean the garden and I mean he went there a lot and supported it financially. Whether he had any input into the garden ($, design, etc.) I don't know. I just imagine in a whatever vague, spiritual sense he did. I go there a lot but it doesn't mean I know a lot about it so feel free to correct or ignore me.

@stuartk: I became an instant fan of Clapton upon hearing Eric Clapton & The Powerhouse on the 1966 Elektra Records album entitled What’s Shakin’, the first time I had seen his name (I and those I knew didn’t yet know Clapton is heard on about half the songs on The Yardbirds For Your Love album, which we all loved. Neither his name nor picture appear on that album). What’s Shakin’ is a various artists compilation album featuring The Lovin’ Spoonful (front cover of the LP) and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (back cover), Clapton & The Powerhouse contributing three songs, including a 2:32 length studio recording of "Crossroads" (I prefer this version to the live Cream one).

I then followed Clapton into John Mayall’s band, Clapton’s guitar playing on Mayall’s debut stunning me. Before I knew it, Clapton had formed Cream, of whom I was a huge fan. I loved the first and second Cream albums, seeing them live on their first two U.S. tours. But as I have chronicled a few times (apparently to the chagrin of rpeluso ;-), that all changed in the Summer of ’69. Unbeknownst to me, the same happened to Clapton. His from hearing Music From Big Pink, which was way over my head in 1968. But by Summer ’69 I got it, and my musical taste underwent a radical change. I wasn’t much of a fan of Psychedelic music, which is why I found amusing how Atlantic Records President Ahmet Ertegun characterized Cream’s Disraeli Gear album when it was submitted to him: Psychedelic horsesh*t. ;-)

You can hear the change in Clapton’s playing in "Badge" (good song), the last Cream song I bothered listening to. Clapton disbanded Cream, and went off in his new direction, which was to my ears more musical. Up to that point a Blues purist, he opened up to other influences, including what can be called Country Blues. The Band didn’t fulfill Clapton’s ambition to be a member of that ensemble, but Delaney & Bonnie gave him a job as a sideman.

Clapton derailed his career a few times (post-Derek & The Dominos), but has kept at his craft his entire (so far) life. George Harrison for the most part didn’t. After being in The Beatles, that is completely understandable.

If this post strikes one as being done to make myself appear any certain way, oh well.

In the words of Lt. Gerard in the opening moments of the 1960's TV show "The Fugitive," when it comes to my opinion of Blues Breakers/Cream era Clapton all I can say is "I don't philosophize, I hunt."

I never considered myself a die hard Beatles fan though I remember seeing them on the Ed Sullivan show back in the day and of course have a fair number of their albums, not the early Parlaphones but the Blue Box, the Mono Box and a few others. One, which was a kick, was a certain German pressing of Die Beatles which was hard panned left and right. Rumor had it that the UK shipped Germany a copy of the raw two track transfer rather than the finished mix. It does have a wiiiiiiide sound.

I worked on a project some years ago involving a videotape of their first live concert appearance at the Washington DC Coliseum, which wasn’t really a concert venue, more like a basketball court. The band was set up on a small rotating stage that didn’t work, so stage hands had to rotate it manually. What blew me away was how in tune those guys were- no stage monitors, no ear pieces, and their harmonies were spot on. They were very tight too. At the time, they were still doing old rock and roll covers among some of their original songs.

I find the phenomenon of The Beatles fascinating as a cultural matter- it was really time and place, though they worked extremely well together as musicians. And I never found fault with the joint writing of Lennon and McCartney, though I found that their solo work tended to be too weird (Lennon) or too saccharine (McCartney) with a few exceptions.

They also seemed to have the right personalities to be celebrities at the time, again, maybe a matter of being in the right place/time.

I don’t listen to them much these days, but every once in a while I’ll pull out a record. There’s a Russian (Soviet era) compilation with a Taste of Honey that is surprisingly good, also from the early era as far as I know.

@whart: Bill, I find your summary of the solo writing of Lennon and McCartney right in line with my opinion. Let’s see if you too get attacked for not considering The Beatles above all criticism.

I saw The Beatles live in ’65 (at The Cow Palace in S. San Francisco), and was underwhelmed. I actually was more impressed with the opening act, Sounds Incorporated, a UK band with a horn section. Very exciting!

The Beatles live on the rooftop? Sorry, they just don’t sound very good. To me, at any rate. Of course by the time I saw that performance, I had already seen The Band live (and Procol Harum. And The Kinks. And Albert King. And Jeff Beck. And dozens more.). Absolutely no contest. ;-)

@bdp24 

Thanks for the background on your listening history with Clapton.

I recall reading one interview in which he described his musical taste as "schmaltzy".  Maybe that explains some of the post-Layla records?

 @grislybutter 

Ah, OK.  I really don't know anything about Harrison's relationship to SRF, other than seeing photos of him wearimg a Babaji button. I went down there several times for services in the mid 70's before they built the new temple. It's an inspiring place, for sure.

To answer the OP's question...when I found myself purchasing a couple of original 35mm slides of them in their heyday. What the hell do I need those for? They do look pretty good though, once I fixed them up in Photoshop. I guess I just wanted something unique that no one else owned.

I remember (having seen them on Ed Sullivan), buying 'meet the beatles', growing out my bangs (which I had to comb back whenever my parents were around). Whenever I left the house the first thing I'd do it fling my bangs down over my forehead...heaven forbid!

below are links to those photos I mention.

https://ibb.co/0fWkTgM
https://ibb.co/W2rL9cD

To answer the OP's question...when I found myself purchasing a couple of original 35mm slides of them in their heyday. What the hell do I need those for? They do look pretty good though, once I fixed them up in Photoshop. I guess I just wanted something unique that no one else owned.

I remember (having seen them on Ed Sullivan), buying 'meet the beatles', growing out my bangs (which I had to comb back whenever my parents were around). Whenever I left the house the first thing I'd do it fling my bangs down over my forehead...heaven forbid!

https://ibb.co/0fWkTgM
https://ibb.co/W2rL9cD

Putting "Revolution No. 9" on auto-repeat.

One night in the early 70’s I walked down to the Berkeley Tower Records and bought one each of all of the stocked Beatle albums.  I still have them, but haven’t really listened to them in decades.  I’ll have to pull a few and give them a listen.

A while back I invited my 18-year-old grandson over to listen to music.

Right off he said: “I don’t get The Beatles.”

i was visibly shaken, and it took a few moments to recover and remind myself that I love my grandson more than I love the Beatles.

Guess that makes me a die hard Beatles fan?

fyi- 60 minutes later he “got” The Beatles.

... to believe Sgt. Pepper’s was their best album?

I get that it was groundbreaking at the time -- I loved it when it first came out (I was eleven years old) -- but in terms of songwriting craft, a majority of the tunes are mere ditties dressed up in psychedelic regalia, hardly examples of their writing at its best. However, this doesn’t seem to matter to its legions of admirers. By this rubric, therefore, I’m far from a die-hard fan.

At this point, the White Album is the one I still list to the most, followed by Abbey Rd and Revolver.   

I've probably mentioned this a couple times on this website, but when I refused to agree that Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was not only the Beatles' finest album but the finest piece of music of all time, all my high school friends unceremoniously dumped me.

@edcyn 

So, you were thrown out of a cult -- maybe not such a bad thing, in the long run!  

Musical taste is a funny thing. For example, I've read numerous reviews on Amazon by folks who "love" Clapton. They disparage Cream, Blues Breakers and Derek & Dominos while loudly proclaiming "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight" to be EC's best work. Apparently they don't enjoy his guitar playing very much, given their rejection of those recordings that feature him at his best in this regard. What can we deduce, then -- that they like him mostly as a vocalist ? I do not comprehend but boy, are they passionate! 

Somehow this got on the most tiresome of tiresome things: Eric Clapton.

I get it.
“There but for the grace of God go I.”

I too could have been a Baby Boomer.
I too could have been brainwashed by the Baby Boomer Music Media Industrial Complex, that festering, fetid ideation and myth-making that brainwashed people into thinking Clapton was an exceptional guitar player.
He wasn’t. He was a bit above average, no better, no less.

Spare me your Jann Wenner regurgitations, i.e. “he brought the blues to the masses,” “he was a sincere, serious student of the blues” (a hilarious thing to say about learning a I-IV-V chord progression and peddling stock minor pentatonic licks - a person is a ‘student’ of such for a month after they begin learning to play guitar, and that’s all folks…it’s like saying a guy who still mans the fry station at McDonalds after 25 years is a ‘serious student of the fry station.’), or “Eddie Van Halen said, ‘(blank),’” or “(so-and-so) once said, ‘(blank),” or, for the love of Christ, spare me, “have you ever heard Riding With the King?” (sweet bastard…puke).

That’s cute and all that Rolling Stone told you he was #2 all-time (patently preposterous) after they deified him for 50 years prior, but he ain’t.

I’ve never been good at self-promotion.
If I had any sense, I would just photograph a spray painted message on a wall that said “TYLER MUNNS IS GOD.” Just get that puppy well-circulated, and I’d be in business.

Clearly people believe anything they read.
An observably bad, observably incompetent person with no credentials or qualifications of any kind, no credibly whatsoever when speaking on a particular matter, can go on TV and address the matter in question thusly:
“I’m the best, the smartest, I’m tremendous, I’m YuGe, no one knows more about (blank) than me, no one is better at (blank) than me…” and people just…believe the words.

I might have to stop by the hardware store tomorrow and pick up some spray paint…

@stuartk I share your assessment of “Sgt. Pepper.”  
The White Album, an album that contains compositions like, “Martha My Dear,” “Blackbird,” “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” “Julia,” “Dear Prudence,” “Cry Baby Cry,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Sexy Sadie,” “I Will,” “Mother Nature’s Son,” and emerged from the same sessions that produced, “Hey Jude” clearly constitute the Beatles at peak-level musical composition.  
That grouping of compositions (the compositions stand on their own, free of the showy, ‘look at all the crazy studio stuff we can do!’ adornments of ‘66-‘67, which are amazing in their own right) shows far greater consistency and depth in its plethora of harmonically and structurally sophisticated compositions (but still immediately accessible and immediately satisfying to the laymen - not an easy thing to accomplish) than previous or subsequent LPs.  
No other Beatles album had a dozen songs at that level, before or after.

You’re incorrect on the song, “Something,” by the way.

George Harrison played that guitar solo.

@tylermunns 

OK. My mistake. I was sure I'd read an interview with Harrison many years ago in which he said EC played it but evidently I must have imagined it!  

I agree with your assessment of the White Album.