Beatles vs. Stones

@bigtwin - That was then (I don’t think I’d even heard of anyplace in England besides London and Liverpool), this is now - I’ve since become a Britophile over the past 4 or 5 decades with mates scattered about through England and Scotland, and quite in tune with British English and expressions, and rhyming slang. I’ve also been over for visits many a time, and like to take trains to different places. In for a penny, out for a pound! 😁 But where was the reference to 'spend a penny'? That's not coming to mind....

61,

You have some kind of citation for that? I'm not buying it. I am a passably good blues harp player and there is no way the same player is heard on the early Beatles "Please Please Me" or "Love Me Do" (John Lennon) and on "Honest I Do" or "King Bee" (Brian Jones). Totally different technique and sound. Likewise Keith’s biting leads on "Time Is On My Side" vs. George’s Carl Perkins C&W twang. Rereading your post, I guess I fell for the sarcasm trap...I hope!

Two observations:  (1) the Beatles wrote the Stones' first big hit, I Wanna Be Your Man; (2) Mick Jagger was a complete phony.  He was raised in London,, attended the London School of Economics, and both of his parents were teachers.  He totally faked a Scouse accent.  There is no comparison:  the Beatles wrote better songs, sang better, played their instruments better, and sold more records: 

Beatles: 183 mil  McCartney solo: 45 mil. Lennon solo: 29 mil.  Harrison solo: 10 mil. 

Total Beatles plus solo: 263 mil. 

Stones:  240 mil. 

@larsman Spend a penny means to go to the toilet, especially a public toilet. One usually is said to be going to spend a penny. The expression is derived from the fact that public toilets were installed in the United Kingdom in the mid-1800s that required a penny to be unlocked.

On Bob Dylan's Tempest LP, song Roll On John, he sings the line "Another bottle's empty, another penny spent".  A little tip of the hat to Lennon's home country.  😁

I’m not so much into provenance, originality or other scholarly aspects of art & music as I am with the sheer emotional involvement a goodly piece of art or music can send my way. Yeah, it’s always nice to have your cerebral cortex tickled, but baser instincts have always ruled the day for me.

Then again, how many repetitions of  the One-Four-Five chord progression can a fella’ take?