O.K., I've just figured out what's going on here. I'm 49 yrs old and was 12 when the Beatles first performed on Ed Sullivan. I sat with my family in our basement rec room and was entralled, as were the rest of my family, even parents. The rest, as they say, is history. However... I do understand where Shubertmaniac is coming from. During the 2-3 years after Feb, 1964, pop and rock music just exploded with innovation, ideas, and excitement, the Beatles indeed being at the forefront of it. There quickly came a time when one chose sides, so to speak, and became either a Beatles fan or a Rolling Stones fan, and the disagreements were voluminous. I was a Stones fan (when I was 12-15 yrs old) and also a huge fan of the garage style bands such as The 13th Floor Elevators, Syndicate of Sound (the summer of '66 I fell in love with Crystal Yarlott to "Hey, Little Girl". I was then able to rely on the song when she dumped me a few weeks later.), the Woolies, etc. Now, we all have to remember what it was like being a young teenager, especially a boy, and how underdeveloped our thinking abilites were. The Beatles/Stones argument pretty much was split down the middle by sexes, guys for the Stones (and other type bands/music) and girls for the Beatles (and even early Simon and Garfunkel). However, as we all grew older and, hopefully, more musically mature, things changed. It wasn't until Revolver and St. Pepper's that I realized the Beatles were something beyond what I had ever imagines or thought about. By the time Abbey Road came out, I understood that this was music for my lifetime, transcending sex, age, and everything else. The Beatles are the greatest pop/rock band of all time and no one will ever surpass them. They join the ranks of those who will never be equaled in their art: Mozart, Beethoven, Bruce Lee (for the sheer visual beauty and his power of expression of his martial art), and Hendrix. These are people who will always be immitated but never surpassed or even equalled. The Beatles easily join those ranks. The fact that we are even having this very long discussion about them proves it. Now, I have to say I still love the great bands of the 60s; I too have all the Nuggets collections and just got from Amazon.com The Darlings of Wapping Wharf Launderette by The Small Faces. (I have one of the greatest garage band CDs of all time, Michigan Memories with "Persecution Smith" by Bob Seger and the Last Heard (sp), "In the Midnight Hour" by The Wanted, "Respect" by the Rationals, "Love's Gone Bad" by The Underdogs, and a bunch more. Too bad this things been out of print for 4-5 years. Anyway, I think it's a bit sad to be as old as we are and still fighting the battles of our confused adolescent egos that should have been abandoned and outgrown 30 or more years ago.
