Ringo said Paul was the workaholic. The other 3 were happy to relax, but Paul couldn’t stop writing and would call them into the studio to record with him.
Completely taken out of context. He said that after Brian Epstein died and Paul took over. The insane work rhythm was because they were young, hungry, and Epstein and Martin were very clever in making it seem like over working them was totally normal
Buying a Beatles record was like buying a magazine. The longest gap between records was the six months and nine days between Revolver and Strawberry Fields Forever.
@@danpierce8862 "Strawberry Fields Forever" was released with "Penny Lane" as a double-A-sided single in February of 1967. Sgt. Pepper was released in May of the same year.
One of the things to remember about their lack of traditional music knowledge was George Martin covered this for them when needed. it's still important.
@@crazyquilt Sorry sounded flippant considering there's not all that many strings outside Let It Be which I think was Phil Spector although Spector usually used an arranger I think
The insane work ethic was due to Paul. Ringo has stated this on numerous occasions. He states that we have Paul to thank for the # of records. They would have done 3 or 4 less without him pushing all the time.
Yes, good point; Ringo has said, "Paul was the workaholic." And John could do things with 'dispatch'. As John proved when he burst into the room and rifled off the intro piano to Obla-di Ola-da when the others were stuck.
"Let's get in the studio, lads." A big reason Lennon quit The Beatles was because he just couldn't keep up with McCartney's output. Paul wrote 3-4 songs to John's 1.
@@Falconlibrary I heard John say during an interview that Paul would call him up at the last minute and tell him "we are going into the studio" so John said, "I would have to whip up 30 songs in a hurry!"
The success of the Beatles wasn't just that they worked with flow (which they did), but that two (at least) insanely naturally talented writers met each other at the right time of their lives in the early days of rock and roll and had the freedom to experiment and let their talent shine.
The four of them grew up a 15 minute bike ride away from each other. How is that likely? George thought they were friends in another lifetime and were reincarnated into Liverpool.
I thought the same thing. The foremost element in the beatles is John's lyrical hability; he even suggested modifications in Paul's and George's lyrics. Besides, John could lead the pack, and hence, lead the social movement. Paul liked harmony (and so did George Martin), so they decorated what John sang. period If you have that, then you can flow or not; you can break some rules or not.
Even "Something" had lyric modifications by Lennon, this is not a minor issue. Paul, of course, has a lot of merit with excellent decoration habilities (so did George Martin), but seldom times did he write a great lyric 100% on his own, he always checked with Lennon.
Yes, they arrived at just the right time. If born 40 years later, Paul would be writing Broadway tunes or commercial jingles, George would be a studio guitar player, John would probably be writing electronic music and Ringo would be the maestro at the local side show. The odds were billions to one that the two greatest songwriters in the history of popular music would work together for over 10 years pushing each other to creative heights neither would be capable of without the other. Keith Richards said it best - putting Lennon and McCartney together didn't make them twice as good, it made them ten times as good.
Yeah Paul for sure. I think at the start they were both very competitive (Paul & John) but eventually John got lazy (Yoko didn't exactly help) whilst Paul got even more motivated and inspired
Ofc Paul would say “the Beatles were just a great band, nothing more nothing less”. He was on the inside, in the eye of the hurricane. He couldn’t know what it was like to listen to those records for the first time. Those songs were nothing short of magic.
I suppose being in the eye of the hurricane is a bit like the plot of Up In Smoke, in which Cheech and Chong were just trying to score a hit while unknowingly driving a large van made of processed marijuana!
They were hard workers even in their savage years (1960-63). According to Mark Lewisohn in his "Tune In" between january and march 1961, therefore, two years before the emergence of Beatlemania, "...inside just fourteen weeks, they’d rocked Hamburg for about 415 hours - like 276 ninety-minute shows or 830 half-hours - and every night tried not to repeat themselves. No one stopped to realize it, and there was no way of knowing anyway, but the Beatles had to be the most experienced rock group in the world, not just Liverpool. And Hamburg didn’t only multiply their repertoire, it toughened their voices, seasoned their characters, enriched their personalities and strengthened their stamina. Four months earlier they would have struggled to play more than a couple of hours, now it was a piece of cake. All the same, witnesses say they played every show with total conviction. The effect was incredible." No wonder why they achieved such a huge success in seemingly such a short period time. They'd already toughly built themselves up.
@@im1who84u That's an intersting point about Ringo being a better Beatle. I'd say he was a better drummer for the band in terms of his style and his creativity, Ringo had to create quickly (at short notice) during studio time, and he obviously created great stuff. I do feel sorry for Pete, the other Beatles didn't even do the dirty work of firing him but got their manager to do it (I think Paul has expressed regret about that to be fair).
What are the odds.. that two super creative musicians, both gifted writers, both great singers, both very good guitarists, both have similar tastes, both smart as hell, would live as kids within a mile of each other, meet and decide to work together and stay together for a highly productive ten years?
If it’s one thing the Beatle’s Get Back documentary shows, it’s that no matter how naturally talented you may think musicians are, good musicians work at their craft. For that reason, it’s one for the best docs out there on the creative process.
It seemed like overkill at first, being so long, but over time _Get Back_ shows the creative process. They'd come in with new songs and work at them, or dig up old ones ("One After 909"). They were a song factory. Then they disliked the result and went on to record _Abbey Road_. How many groups could shelve an album's worth of songs and just move on? The best part of the group was that they had to perform the song for the rest of the members. That "internal editor" was lost when they went solo.
Thank you SO MUCH for not using AI to narrate your video. You're a pleasant fellow with a kind narrating voice. The RUclips algorithm dropped your video in my feed tonight and it was the best 8 minutes online I've had all night. I've liked and subscribed. Thank you again.
AI will produce stuff which only AI will consume. And then AI will create charts of the most successfull stuff that AI has produced rated by AI ... and ignored by humans ... that WOULD be nice.
This entire conversation can be wrapped up easily with a quote from Lennon himself. ""When I was a Beatle, I thought we were the best fucking group in the goddamn world and believing that is what made us what we were."
Only 10 of the 14 songs from Please Please Me were recorded that day. The other 4 came from the 2 singles they released before. One true performance very few people talk about is the 13-hour recording session (from 6pm to 7am) in which they recorded a good chunk of Rubber Soul (5 songs : The Word, You Won’t See Me, Girl, Wait, I’m Looking Through You). Two weeks later, the album was on the shelves.
@@moosic2i my bad, it was just a way to say that the whole album wasn't really recorded in one day but yeah, amazing performance (even if it was the way to do back then)
Who else likes how straight-foward this video is? dude just cuts to the chase, quick and effective, without ever feeling rushed or lazy, just the right amount of words, the right rhythm, all in the exact amount of time, just like a Beatles song!
Synergy. Can't take away 1 of them, exactly why they were The Beatles. Perfect match in time, society and circumstance, ie cosmic magic. Never to be duplicated or even imitated again. Glad I saw Paul in concert last year, ridiculous.
0:29 The whole thing was NOT recorded in one day. 4 of the 14 tracks were their first two singles, recorded prior. 71% of the album was recorded on February 11.
@@xmathmanx they played 292 times at the Cavern between 1961 and 1963 alone...plus many gigs in Hamburg. Then in the fame period they did regular world tours for 3 years solid. I'd say that was enough especially when you see the level of fandom that followed them.
@@xmathmanx It certainly is....I've done loads of gigs in my time and I've always found as much as I enjoyed it, it was always physically tough too. A lot more goes into gigging than people realise. Of course you are doing what you love, but it can be hard work too at times. I think the Beatles got fed up with live work because of all the hassle that went with it and they couldn't hear themselves which is always a pain
@@daveythehand4964 John, Paul and then George were together in 1957. Ringo, who was already well known to them arrived in 1963, Just before the first album recording.
I’ve worked with Ken Scott, who began working with the Beatles from 67 onwards (he can be seen at the mixing desk in the clip of All You Need Is Love). His first day & session at Abbey Road in 1964, age 16 (making tea), was for the song A Hard Days Night, which he said was finished a in little over two hours. Normally a Beatles single at the time was recorded in 90 minutes, so an A & B side in a three hour session, but AHDN involved percussion overdubs and splicing the intro chord and outro onto the main track, so took a little longer. But two hours? Most bands take a day to get the drum sound now. Mindbending how fast these guys worked on those early tracks.
One thing that really stood out to me watching the Get Back series and the restored version of the Let it Be movie was how little concern there seemed to for isolation or controlling spill in the studio. With the bulk of everything being recorded live, no separate vocal booth or drum room, no gobos separating the musicians. I don't think anyone even wore cans, they just had a couple of big monitors on stands in the room. It seems they prioritised setting up in a manner that allowed them to work comfortably for extended periods, able to freely throw ideas around. All in stark contrast to the clinical, almost laboratory conditions most records are made in today.
They knew music theory. They knew what chords combines with what riffs and licks. You dont have to read the notes on the staff to know how music works.
Most of the music world operates without written music. Just the classical and commercial western music bits of it. Plato noted that people who didn't read or write usually have much better memories than those who do.
7:32 Same goes for Steve Miller. After his "The Joker" album was a huge hit, his producer told him to learn music theory. Steve was ready to try, but the producer changed this mind, saying, "Wait, I know plenty of people who know music theory who can't write half as well as you can already, so forget that advice." Steve did and sighed with relief going on to make other classics like "Jet Airliner" and "Fly like an Eagle." It's like someone may know how to talk, but not write.
Roy Orbison is my favorite example of clueless genius. His ignorance of music theory gave him a freedom from formula check out the song “In Dreams” for proof. This song eschews the typical ABABACAB form in favor of the non-repeating ABCDEFG!
Paul's amazing melodic bass line makes the song. same with Come Together. Play those songs without the bass and they are totally different (lesser) songs.
John may have been the "basher" in the group, but he often didn't know exactly what he wanted. They spent over 50 hours in the studio on "Strawberry Fields Forever." It paid off because it's one of the Beatles' best songs. But it's proof that they didn't always work quickly. I would say the "finish things" part of your statement is more important than working quickly. You don't want to work so slowly that you overthink, but everyone has a different path to getting art done. And different songs might require different methods. Radiohead have been known to record 5-10 different versions of a song over 10 years.
Strawberry Fields was very very technical for that time, it's true that nobody knew what the final song would sound like, ideas for production were introduced as it went along. The tech aspect would have been very slow to do with what they had then. I think the brass was Geoge Martin's idea.
To say that they didn’t know much is misleading. Paul had grown up with a bandleader as a father and absorbed the sounds of classic Tin Pan Alley and dance band songs. They all steeped themselves in the sounds of Rock and Roll, analysing and borrowing for their own material, and in Hamburg they played music from every era and genre of popular music, for 6 hours a night. Perhaps they couldn’t read and write music, but they certainly knew their stuff.
yeah, it's very misleading. Music is structured sound. This is just a presentday classical musicianship bias. They aren't trained how to compose or improvise anymore, and they focus only on reading & interpreting written music to a virtuosic level. The Beatles' training is more like jazz training and probably not dissimilar from the old classical musicians training in the 1700s where they focus on connecting sound and ear and mind.
David, thanks for your thoughtful insights and commentary. I was in high school and college during most of their recording career. What captivated my friends and I was the constant evolution of The Beatles. I remember going back to college after the summer break in 1966 and one of my buddies had a new copy of Yesterday and Today. He put it on the record player and we sat mostly in silence through the first side astounded at how different it was from Rubber Soul. Drive My Car, And Your Bird Can Sing, with that killer guitar intro. The Beatles were our conductors of life in the late 60’s.
Another interesting thing about the Beatles is they released singles that were not put on the albums such as Penny Lane and Strawberry fileds forever. They release them whilst making albums to keep the public interested. I am a great believer that you don't do things because you think people will like them you do it because you like it and hope that others will. That's originality.
They did it because of pressure from the record company for product and a belief at the time that they would be ripping off the fans if they put singles on albums by forcing them to pay for the same songs twice. I think there was some regret for this policy later, particularly leaving Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane off SPLHCB.
@@steveconn In the UK that was certainly the case. I think it was the custom in the US to include singles on albums. The first track on their first Capitol album was the single "I want to Hold Your Hand". Picking another artist, the biggest US hit in 1963 was "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs (5 weeks at #1). Their next album was SUGAR SHACK.
I'm 55. I sometimes go years without putting any of my Beatles albums on but then I do and it transports me to being a little kid in the 70s while my parents played those albums. It never loses it's glimmer, never gets old and always has that affect on me. Great videos btw, just discovered you. Subbed.
Above all you have to state that Paul is goddamnly insane in its own means. I saw him on River Plate stadium just about a week ago and I couldn't not believe that a man on his 80 would give a tremendous 3hs show with all of his and their best songs ever recorded plus both dance, play another 6 instruments and cheer with the crowd (also covering foxey lady on stage, just mindblowing). I cannot comprehend it and never will. Long live him and all the beatles forever
The PLEASE PLEASE ME lp included both sides of their first two (previously-recorded) singles, so the album wasn't actually done in a day. That doesn't diminish the band's tremendous accomplishment, but it is important to stay true to history. Keep up the good work.
As stated at the beginning of this video, recording an album in a day or two was normal for most artists at that time. Spending weeks and months in the studio started about1966-67.
@@jiminycrintNo, Love Me Do wasn't recorded that day. Ringo's version of Love Me Do was recorded a week before Andy White's version. Ringo's version was actually the single that had already been released, and the Andy White version ended up on the Please Please Me album.
@@michaelharrington75 - oh my word, you’re right! So what was all that in the anthology about Ringo turning up and not being allowed to play. Martin made it sound as if he’d never met Ringo before he hired Andy White. I only ever owned the Red album which contains the White version so I thought that was the single (according to Wikipedia the White version was released as a single as the 2nd pressing - the plot thickens)
5:10: and in fact, She Said She Said HAS a perfect drum sound! The drums on that track are killer! It’s big, bigger even than Bonham & Page’s best recording efforts for big drums (classic example: When the Levee Breaks). It especially shows up on the original mono mix.
I feel you not only conveyed the essence of the Beatles' method of working, but exemplified it in how you so simply and clearly presented it here. Excellent! Thank you!
Paul wasn’t just the driving force of the Beatles, he was also the most influential when it came to the “sound” that people tend to associate with the Beatles which becomes even more evident when you listen to the solo careers of each of the four after the Beatles. Only Paul’s stuff tends to sound the most like a Beatle’s song when you listen to it.
That was when Paul wasn't yet married, John got married in the middle of Beatlemania and practically wrote all of A Hard Day's Night alone, he worked as much as Paul in those years, George was not allowed to include more songs, not even when he reached his peak of composition between 1969 and 1970. Ringo says that because he didn't write songs like the rest.
I am always baffled by the idea that music theory is actually telling you what you can or what you can't do, and therefore it is a liberation to have no formal training. Of course this is not how music theory works at all, unless it is gravely misunderstood or mistaught. Music theory is actually a descriptive field of study, not a prescriptive one. Much like the theory of gravity is not ordering you to fall when you jump (and therefore not knowing about gravity would make things easier in life beacuse you can fly), it is merely describing what happens when you jump. I second your point about flow though, and that overthinking is a major problem in music production. So while knowing things does rarely ever hurt you, it is always good to know when to be or not be obsessed with detail.
Swagger plus Rock and Roll, equals human played music, I love it. The fact that a bit of ruggedness and a mistake here or there, make it human and all the more listenable for it. Love that Malcomb - ACDC, deletes the thirds because of the high volume. He strips the chords back to a more minimal version, and its better for it. The Beatles inovated so very much, that folks like Malcomb and Angus could come after them. They revolutionised music, whilst providing the soundtrack to my life! What more can you say but thank you.
@@colnuttall9035 I agree! It's often the left-field-ideas that make room for new sounds and ideas and progress. Doesn't mean "music theory" would keep ypu from any of that though.
But, music theory does tend to focus mostly on the description of music that is hundreds of years old. To write in that style you do have to follow the music structures. And, I think it tends to neglect the more recent harmony used in the 20th century. Less astute students may misunderstand this to be prescriptive.
@@km6206 well, in order to understand the structures of modern music, it surely helps to have studied the basics first. Noone ever said that theory should end with the basics. It's more like studying history: in order to really understand 2023 you need to look at the past for context and background. Of course music theory doesn't end in 1900 or in 2023 for that matter. I think that a lot of this kind of complaining really says "studying the basics is hard and tiresome, so I will proclaim that it is entirely unnecessary".
Ahhh this finally makes sense. I can’t read or write music either. I can play other people’s music mostly by watching and listening. His bit about only remembering what is good explains why I can never remember anything I come up with on my own 😂😂
"Flow" comes from having that magical, God given talent that lets you actually be a musician. But that doesn't mean somebody is a songwriter - a lot of guys can "shred" but they couldn't write a truly good song/composition if they tried.
Enjoyed this! I would say that their EMI album contracts meant they were working under some time pressure. Also, they had George Martin and a team of pioneering studio engineers who were translating the creativity onto record. Excellent content:)
Seeing those four guys sitting in a room together just having a chit chat; I wonder if they knew what an impact they were having. They left such a huge indelible mark on music, life and culture~✨
hey Davey, i subd to your channel because: 1 - you asked me to 2-you have been cranking out vids SINCE 2011 !!!! AND 3- you shared some very new , original info and history about Beatles in a way that helped anyone who loves to create (art)
By the time the Beatles recorded "Please Please Me" they were a KICK-ASS live band. They knew songs like the back of their own hands and they had a talent like nobody else EVER had!
Wonderful video. It actually adds something to the Beatles discussion. You'd think everything had been said about that band but you introduce the theme everyone who wants to be a rock star doesn't want to hear: to be successful you have to work hard. Well written, narrated and edited.
@@Bluepilled-c5tbut if they hadn't "sold out" would we have sgt peppers? The white album?, the money they made and put into the studio for high quality production helped them to further advance and make some of the most timeless pieces of music ever, it's a blessing and a curse they "sold out"
When the Beatles were coming up. Rock music was evolving the sky was the limit. If you worked hard, Which is another thing the Beatles hold the record for most live performances regardless of genre. They had played approximately every night of the year From 1960-1964 and that’s Before they came to America. They were motivated and inspired And they were able to work in a state of the art studio With an accomplished musician/producer George Martin. The advantages the Beatles had was significant.
The Get Back documentary gives a good look at how they did it- chop wood, carry water. George said he never practiced. I think they tried so many options per song that all they did was practice.
I think there is a strong current on imbalance going on. The work it required to make it at the level they did was an all-hands-on-deck affair. It must be stated also that John wrote an estimated 15% more of their original songs, and started the group. His song quality was more consistent as well. It was also easier to push a group that had stopped touring, and pushing was mostly about getting in the studio. But hell, despite the fuss, it's the Beatles. They did it as a team, and it was golden.
Yeah, one of the strangest feelings was watching the Peter Jackson documentary about the Beatles and seeing some of these amazing songs that just were so deep and so powerful and had such a resonating feeling with me my whole life are actually just kind of splotched together.
Of course The Beatles knew chords. They were an accomplished performance group before recording. You don't just stick your fingers anywhere on a guitar neck, hope for the best, and produce some of the best sounds of that era. Lyrics are often scribbled down without chords, so you don't forget them. But a song only has a handful of chords that can be easily remembered. John and Paul, after working on a song, would show the chords to George; there's lots of evidence of this. Paul also had formal piano lessons as a child but found them boring.
Beatles put all kinds of surprise chord changes in their songs which makes them stand out for originality. Bob Dylan said their chords freaked other musicians out at first. Working from r&b, rock&roll and Folk structures as a basis but making tasty ear candy leaping to melodic lines and chords so out of the ordinary. I want to hold your hand is an early prime example.
If you KNOW you have time for only a single take, you will perform that take infinitely better. Many of our greatest recordings in all genres are live takes. Orchestras are famously single-take practitioners.
Good point. Though this also makes me think of John Entwistle's famous first-take bass on The Who's "The Real Me". Entwistle thought his first take would never be used, so he played a "busy" version just for his own amusement. Everyone loved it and it became the official take.
Hamburg was the making of them. They learned to be musicians and deal with hostile crowds. This is where they Beatles came of age. Tough cookies and talented beyond reproach ! Love 'em.
you got a sub partly because you asked so creatively, partly because i love the beatles, and partly because this video is fantastically made, very high quality content, thank you! your voice is so soothing to listen to:)
They all worked insanely hard. John's percentage of actual songwriting is higher than Paul's. But even that doesn't matter. The group as a whole was mystic.
Thank you, David Hartley. I just wrote a book and did a youtube. My goal was two books, two youtubes. Now I will work on music, so thank you for this channel. And Mr. Beato's channel is excellent, although I have ten years of piano, theory has not been learned for me, so thank you.
Loved this!! 2 comments about it too - 1: This reminds me a lot of another one of my other favorite artists, Jean Basquiat. The dude worked within his own flow, and didn’t really let anyone else define it. Both the Beatles & him also worked within a LOT of limitations, and very often improvised, which I feel are both HUGE assets to creativity. When you’re limited and are forced to work with what you have, you go to drastic measures to find new, innovative routes of invention. 2: I feel like this same process is also equally effective within our own lives - I’ve found personally that when I work with the flow and with what I have, and push myself to “break my own rules” (or what I’ve set as my personal limitations in what I can reach as a person) it’s very often then when I find myself changing, because you’re working with yourself, and working with something new. We can’t progress without letting ourselves & pushing ourselves in unfamiliar directions y’know?
The Beatles put out quite a bit of stuff, and it was incredibly impressive. From 68 to 70 they put out 4 great albums, no small feat and i am sure putting a stop to all the touring by ‘66 helped them do that. But if high quality output is impressive, during those same years Frank Zappa put out 9 great albums, and was constantly touring throughout (he also produced all those albums as well). In fact Zappa put out another 6 or so albums from 71 to 73, while touring and releasing a movie AND he has thrown off a stage and was hospitalized for a number of months during all that Not to diminish the Beatles efforts in the least, but I do hear how prolific the Beatles were, but during that same time period Zappa was putting out even more stuff, of extremely high quality and it doesn’t seem to get mentioned very much
there may have been two discs in the album, but the name itself refers to the whole project as an 'album'. if you look up their discography, it lists the White Album as a single release, not two. this is some kinda hair you are trying to split and I am unsure why. nothing i posted was wrong
Zappa had a more diverse crew to work with, the Beatles were mostly 4 guys messing around in the studio most of the time (McCartney mostly being the only work centric while the other 3 slacked off), 1 producer, and 2-3 engineers at most came in helping the album process
This resonates with me. I have a day job, but perform 3 original songs every month at open mic in Folkestone. I have to steal time, work quick and complete. My artist name is Mairk. Thanks for an amazing video.
Paul's dad was a musician too and so I think he understood the music business. Paul's dad was a fireman, but he was a musician as well. Working class lads.
I've been a life long Beatles fan since 1962. And yes they were diligent, when they worked, but dont forget they had a lot of hollidays and time off too. Ordinary folk dont get that. However I am grateful for the body of work they left us. It is magnificent ! They were in the right place at the right time, and they had the goods to back up what they said. Brilliant ! On a trivial note, I was born 52km from Penny Lane and share the same birthday as Paul McCartney. Other than that I play guitar and will never be as brilliant as any Beatle, but its something to aspire to. But Ive built some cool buildings in my time and had some fantastic adventures.
actually such a great video, was completely packed with information that made the video feel like it was 3 minutes long and 15 all the same time in the best way
Its just the way things were back then. Maybe there was less distraction in the world, because people like Dean Martin and Frank Zappa were releasing 3 or more albums a year and touring non-stop.
Dean Martin had other people help him in writing songs, Zappa knows music theory and surrounds himself with people who could write as fast as he is. The Beatles mostly fumbled in the studio and made songs that they deem good enough, they have no formal music training, the most they had was their guitars and references to music they've listened to, and the experiences they had during their gruelling hamburg days, and yet they still managed to crank out 13 successful albums
I believe this is engrained in the modern music industry, because now every song is super eq’ed, super cut, super processed and mastered super loud! In fact, the studio process involves first recording the takes then walk away to let the mixer and mastering engineer do their job! Then and only then is the song ready to impress!! This is a disconnect between the sound and vision the artists originally envisioned, versus the super processed package that is delivered to the fan. We just have to reach a middle ground! Let’s talk facts: I’ve seen mixing engineers produce an AMAZING sounding piece, but in the daw! “Oh I just brought 220 hz down -2 db, oh I just added a clipper. Oh I just created a send track with reverb”. Andy Wallace, Joey Sturgis, so far all these big names overproduce every piece of music they touch!! They sound amazing, yet it doesn’t take away it’s OVERPRODUCED! This has a 2 fold effect: new artists want that sound, because they need to compete with these magical ethereal ( yes mastering and mixing have that effect on you ) musical pieces! So not only are the current artists trapped in this costly recording and mastering process, the new artists think that is the way to go so no one is seeking to go another new way to capture the soul of the intent of the musician, as well as make it sound polished! This all started with the famous “wall of sound” method of recording, place many microphones in the room instead of just one. This way the recording has every “musical angle” of the room, as if you were there in the room with the musicians!! So where does that leave the souls and passion of the music? TO BE CONTINUED…
Something that concerns me about Rick Beato's channel, although it's really great, is that young people starting a musical journey may think you have to know all the theory in order to write. As Paul points out at the end of this video, the Beatles didn't know much theory at all and couldn't write or read music. They used unusual chords because they didn't know what chords were meant to be in a key. As a long-time songwriter I'd say to people starting out. Maybe learn as far as what Keys are, but just play what sounds good and write.
I disagree. They understood music structures (music theory) by ear. I don't think they really use anything that can't be found in Tin Pan Alley and jazz. You don't need to read or write to understand music.
@@km6206 Bob Dylan said the Beatles chords were "outrageous" and that he knew they were signposting the direction of music the moment he heard them. He may have been talking about songs like She Loves You which has strange use of chords in a couple of sections like: G She says she loves you Em And you know that can't be bad Cm Yes she loves you D And you know you should be glad The key is G which makes the Cm an unusual chord, borrowed from another key.
@@songlove7777 I don't think that's unusual. The Cm comes from G minor. Classical music uses that too (but it often raises the 5th of Cm to give you C Eb Ab instead of C Eb G - the neapolitan chord, which the Beatles also have used). The Eb pulls stronger by half-step to the D note in the D major chord compared to the E in C major (C E G). That half-step movement sounds good. The old pop song 'I Got Rhythm' has a minor IV chord too although it goes back to I (so, it goes like C7 to Cm to G) instead of V like in this Beatles song. Classical music also uses this progression from minor IV back to the major home key chord. The Beatles probably had heard this in whatever old songs they knew and just put it in their own songs. I don't know much about Bob Dylan, but maybe he only listened to rural folk music which doesn't have borrowing from a nearby minor key? Maybe he just needed to listen to more pop music from the cities like Bing Crosby or Doris Day?
Beatles were my masterclass of music as a teen in the 90s when I first learned guitar. To this day, I still lean on what I learned from them. You can never go wrong learning from best, but you can't be your best if you don't make the best music you can possibly make.
i never knew this. that's super interesting. fun fact: the first cassette tape i ever bought with my own money (back in the late eighties) was revolver. she said she said is still my favorite beatles song to this day. did you know that it stemmed from a conversation john had with peter fonda on a private plane where fonda said, out of nowhere, 'i know what it's like to be dead'? it freaked john out super hard and, according to john, made the rest of the flight torture.
@@charliebures4032 lmao, peter fonda is what i meant to type, but i was still listening to the video, they must've said 'paul' right when i was typing that and i just typed what i was hearing. totally thought i wrote 'peter'. :) i'm 95% sure it was on a plane with fonda, i read the story in a special 'beatles top 100 songs' issue of rolling stone (i think, it may have been entertainment weekly, but i'm pretty sure it was rolling stone'). unless they got it wrong in there, but i vividly remember that they quoted john saying it was the worst plane ride of his life because fonda wouldn't stop talking about an acid trip he had where thought he was dead for a day or two. i may be wrong, but i'm pretty sure my initial comment was correct. i do remember hearing about a conversation with the byrds influencing a different song, though.
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Ringo said Paul was the workaholic. The other 3 were happy to relax, but Paul couldn’t stop writing and would call them into the studio to record with him.
You can see why. If you don't get that song down while it's still fresh in your head, you could lose it.
Thats proven when you see all the post albums Paul has made, he made all the beatles albums and the others beatles solo albums combined
That was when he was not yet married, John got married in the middle of Beatlemania. Also, ethics only applied to his songs.
Makes sense why he also thought one of the album's was out of tune. Classic imposter syndrome.
Completely taken out of context. He said that after Brian Epstein died and Paul took over. The insane work rhythm was because they were young, hungry, and Epstein and Martin were very clever in making it seem like over working them was totally normal
Buying a Beatles record was like buying a magazine. The longest gap between records was the six months and nine days between Revolver and Strawberry Fields Forever.
Wow! I never knew that!
@@robertwoodpa6463 Singles to fill the gaps
Nope, sgt pepper was released between those two.
@@danpierce8862 "Strawberry Fields Forever" was released with "Penny Lane" as a double-A-sided single in February of 1967. Sgt. Pepper was released in May of the same year.
@@danpierce8862 Nope, “Strawberry” in February, “Pepper” in May. There’s never been an easier time to check your facts.
One of the things to remember about their lack of traditional music knowledge was George Martin covered this for them when needed. it's still important.
Those strings aren't going to arrange themselves!
@@crazyquilt Wasn't just strings, The producer isn't just stood their going play boys.
@@flemit35 I was agreeing with you. Strings were just the example I threw out.
@@crazyquilt Sorry sounded flippant considering there's not all that many strings outside Let It Be which I think was Phil Spector although Spector usually used an arranger I think
This is key.
The insane work ethic was due to Paul. Ringo has stated this on numerous occasions. He states that we have Paul to thank for the # of records. They would have done 3 or 4 less without him pushing all the time.
I expected this to be mentioned somewhere in a video with this title.
Yes, good point; Ringo has said, "Paul was the workaholic." And John could do things with 'dispatch'.
As John proved when he burst into the room and rifled off the intro piano to Obla-di Ola-da when the others were stuck.
They should have had on 3-4 albums.
"Let's get in the studio, lads."
A big reason Lennon quit The Beatles was because he just couldn't keep up with McCartney's output. Paul wrote 3-4 songs to John's 1.
@@Falconlibrary I heard John say during an interview that Paul would call him up at the last minute and tell him "we are going into the studio" so John said, "I would have to whip up 30 songs in a hurry!"
The success of the Beatles wasn't just that they worked with flow (which they did), but that two (at least) insanely naturally talented writers met each other at the right time of their lives in the early days of rock and roll and had the freedom to experiment and let their talent shine.
The four of them grew up a 15 minute bike ride away from each other. How is that likely?
George thought they were friends in another lifetime and were reincarnated into Liverpool.
I thought the same thing.
The foremost element in the beatles is John's lyrical hability; he even suggested modifications in Paul's and George's lyrics. Besides, John could lead the pack, and hence, lead the social movement.
Paul liked harmony (and so did George Martin), so they decorated what John sang. period
If you have that, then you can flow or not;
you can break some rules or not.
Even "Something" had lyric modifications by Lennon, this is not a minor issue.
Paul, of course, has a lot of merit with excellent decoration habilities (so did George Martin), but seldom times did he write a great lyric 100% on his own, he always checked with Lennon.
Whatever the reason, l seriously thank God for the music the Beatles gave us, it's timeless!❤
Yes, they arrived at just the right time. If born 40 years later, Paul would be writing Broadway tunes or commercial jingles, George would be a studio guitar player, John would probably be writing electronic music and Ringo would be the maestro at the local side show. The odds were billions to one that the two greatest songwriters in the history of popular music would work together for over 10 years pushing each other to creative heights neither would be capable of without the other. Keith Richards said it best - putting Lennon and McCartney together didn't make them twice as good, it made them ten times as good.
Paul is the reason… I saw him in concert in 2023, he took only one sip of water in 3 hours!
Yeah Paul for sure. I think at the start they were both very competitive (Paul & John) but eventually John got lazy (Yoko didn't exactly help) whilst Paul got even more motivated and inspired
Dude needs a temporary secretary
That’s not good.
John was the driving force in the first half of the Beatles career.
That is not advisable.
Ofc Paul would say “the Beatles were just a great band, nothing more nothing less”. He was on the inside, in the eye of the hurricane. He couldn’t know what it was like to listen to those records for the first time. Those songs were nothing short of magic.
Like fr, i wish i could experience the feeling of listening to their songs for the first time again!
And even earlier John Lennon said: ”The Beatles were just a band that made it very, very big, that's all”.
I suppose being in the eye of the hurricane is a bit like the plot of Up In Smoke, in which Cheech and Chong were just trying to score a hit while unknowingly driving a large van made of processed marijuana!
Isnt their music overtayed? What makes thek better or more specialmthan so many other good artists?
@@leif1075 Use you ears. Properly.
They were hard workers even in their savage years (1960-63). According to Mark Lewisohn in his "Tune In" between january and march 1961, therefore, two years before the emergence of Beatlemania,
"...inside just fourteen weeks, they’d rocked Hamburg for about 415 hours - like 276 ninety-minute shows or 830 half-hours - and every night tried not to repeat themselves. No one stopped to realize it, and there was no way of knowing anyway, but the Beatles had to be the most experienced rock group in the world, not just Liverpool. And Hamburg didn’t only multiply their repertoire, it toughened their voices, seasoned their characters, enriched their personalities and strengthened their stamina. Four months earlier they would have struggled to play more than a couple of hours, now it was a piece of cake. All the same, witnesses say they played every show with total conviction. The effect was incredible."
No wonder why they achieved such a huge success in seemingly such a short period time. They'd already toughly built themselves up.
Poor Pete Best. He was really screwed over, regardless of how much better Ringo was.
@@SteveRyan1965 It has been said that Ringo wasn't necessarily a better drummer, but that he was a better _Beatle._
Maybe that's why youngsters don't have much to say these days ( and I don't mean lyrically )
@@im1who84u That's an intersting point about Ringo being a better Beatle. I'd say he was a better drummer for the band in terms of his style and his creativity, Ringo had to create quickly (at short notice) during studio time, and he obviously created great stuff. I do feel sorry for Pete, the other Beatles didn't even do the dirty work of firing him but got their manager to do it (I think Paul has expressed regret about that to be fair).
@@HermeticWorlds Point taken.
The fact that this video is short and sweet seems true to spirit of the topic at hand
What are the odds.. that two super creative musicians, both gifted writers, both great singers, both very good guitarists, both have similar tastes, both smart as hell, would live as kids within a mile of each other, meet and decide to work together and stay together for a highly productive ten years?
And could GET ALONG!!
One other example...Simon and Garfunkel.
Yep,and Paul knowing George from getting on the school bus,it’s as if fate decided to put them all together,mind blowing.
@@mikemiller1878 does not seem relevant to me : Paul Simon is a creative writer, Garfunkel isn't.
Divinity in action? ❤
If it’s one thing the Beatle’s Get Back documentary shows, it’s that no matter how naturally talented you may think musicians are, good musicians work at their craft. For that reason, it’s one for the best docs out there on the creative process.
They were mining for songs :)
Genius:
10% inspiration, 90% perspiration
It seemed like overkill at first, being so long, but over time _Get Back_ shows the creative process. They'd come in with new songs and work at them, or dig up old ones ("One After 909"). They were a song factory. Then they disliked the result and went on to record _Abbey Road_. How many groups could shelve an album's worth of songs and just move on? The best part of the group was that they had to perform the song for the rest of the members. That "internal editor" was lost when they went solo.
Thank you SO MUCH for not using AI to narrate your video.
You're a pleasant fellow with a kind narrating voice.
The RUclips algorithm dropped your video in my feed tonight and it was the best 8 minutes online I've had all night.
I've liked and subscribed.
Thank you again.
Me too, except morning not night!
OMG right, these AI narrations are getting pretty bad, it seems like rather than getting better they get worse!
i agree . great fellow Brit voice for narration 😀
AI will produce stuff which only AI will consume. And then AI will create charts of the most successfull stuff that AI has produced rated by AI ... and ignored by humans ... that WOULD be nice.
Exactly. We need to boycott all AI "narration." It needs to be stopped ✋️
This entire conversation can be wrapped up easily with a quote from Lennon himself.
""When I was a Beatle, I thought we were the best fucking group in the goddamn world and believing that is what made us what we were."
Only 10 of the 14 songs from Please Please Me were recorded that day. The other 4 came from the 2 singles they released before. One true performance very few people talk about is the 13-hour recording session (from 6pm to 7am) in which they recorded a good chunk of Rubber Soul (5 songs : The Word, You Won’t See Me, Girl, Wait, I’m Looking Through You). Two weeks later, the album was on the shelves.
Wow, I don't think I've heard about that. Five of my favourite songs too... thanks for that bit of info.
"only 10" ? That's still amazing.
Plus on the same day, they had a few run-throughs of Hold Me Tight, which they gave up on so they put it on hold for the second album.
@@moosic2i my bad, it was just a way to say that the whole album wasn't really recorded in one day but yeah, amazing performance (even if it was the way to do back then)
With the beatles
Who else likes how straight-foward this video is? dude just cuts to the chase, quick and effective, without ever feeling rushed or lazy, just the right amount of words, the right rhythm, all in the exact amount of time, just like a Beatles song!
Synergy. Can't take away 1 of them, exactly why they were The Beatles. Perfect match in time, society and circumstance, ie cosmic magic. Never to be duplicated or even imitated again. Glad I saw Paul in concert last year, ridiculous.
0:29 The whole thing was NOT recorded in one day. 4 of the 14 tracks were their first two singles, recorded prior. 71% of the album was recorded on February 11.
Let’s not forget all the live gigs and films in that short period too.
Hardly any gigs
@@xmathmanx they played 292 times at the Cavern between 1961 and 1963 alone...plus many gigs in Hamburg. Then in the fame period they did regular world tours for 3 years solid. I'd say that was enough especially when you see the level of fandom that followed them.
@@Hammerman48 is it hard work playing 2 or 3 gigs a week in your home town? Seems like just doing your job to me, certainly not as hard as most jobs
@@xmathmanx It certainly is....I've done loads of gigs in my time and I've always found as much as I enjoyed it, it was always physically tough too. A lot more goes into gigging than people realise. Of course you are doing what you love, but it can be hard work too at times. I think the Beatles got fed up with live work because of all the hassle that went with it and they couldn't hear themselves which is always a pain
@@Hammerman48 ok, I don't regard doing my job as hard work , it's just work, the work ethic is foolishness in any case
0:11 The Beatles were together for seven years. K-pop idols sign contracts to remain a group for seven years, and then, they are disbanded.
They were together for longer obviously, but 7 years is the span of their popular discography. They had been playing since the late 50s
@@daveythehand4964
John, Paul and then George were together in 1957.
Ringo, who was already well known to them arrived in 1963, Just before the first album recording.
Wasn't it '62?
@@CEOBrien agreed. But they played with Pete best in Germany before ‘62. As I’m sure you’re aware
The world knew the BEATLES for 7 wonderful years, however they had been together for much longer, so of course finally they had to seperate .
I’ve worked with Ken Scott, who began working with the Beatles from 67 onwards (he can be seen at the mixing desk in the clip of All You Need Is Love). His first day & session at Abbey Road in 1964, age 16 (making tea), was for the song A Hard Days Night, which he said was finished a in little over two hours. Normally a Beatles single at the time was recorded in 90 minutes, so an A & B side in a three hour session, but AHDN involved percussion overdubs and splicing the intro chord and outro onto the main track, so took a little longer. But two hours? Most bands take a day to get the drum sound now. Mindbending how fast these guys worked on those early tracks.
One thing that really stood out to me watching the Get Back series and the restored version of the Let it Be movie was how little concern there seemed to for isolation or controlling spill in the studio. With the bulk of everything being recorded live, no separate vocal booth or drum room, no gobos separating the musicians. I don't think anyone even wore cans, they just had a couple of big monitors on stands in the room.
It seems they prioritised setting up in a manner that allowed them to work comfortably for extended periods, able to freely throw ideas around. All in stark contrast to the clinical, almost laboratory conditions most records are made in today.
He thought Pete was a good drummer
People today think the Beatles were a pop boy band, their music will be listened to in 100 years just like Mozart’s.
Watch the movie "Yesterday". Think it's on Prime. Such a good movie.
@@MelissaR784boo
@@harveypark17 You didn't like the movie?
who..... says this??????
i've never heard anyone from Gen Z with this kind of opinion bruv
@@infocheckorg me, sausage.
They knew music theory. They knew what chords combines with what riffs and licks. You dont have to read the notes on the staff to know how music works.
Most of the music world operates without written music. Just the classical and commercial western music bits of it. Plato noted that people who didn't read or write usually have much better memories than those who do.
Yeah, Paul McCartney discussed his admiration of Bach with Rick Rubin.
Reading music is only good if you want to be a human player piano.
preach!
@@Smokey_da_Bearthat said, playing other people's music can give you insight if you can als improvise.
7:32 Same goes for Steve Miller. After his "The Joker" album was a huge hit, his producer told him to learn music theory. Steve was ready to try, but the producer changed this mind, saying, "Wait, I know plenty of people who know music theory who can't write half as well as you can already, so forget that advice." Steve did and sighed with relief going on to make other classics like "Jet Airliner" and "Fly like an Eagle." It's like someone may know how to talk, but not write.
Roy Orbison is my favorite example of clueless genius. His ignorance of music theory gave him a freedom from formula check out the song “In Dreams” for proof. This song eschews the typical ABABACAB form in favor of the non-repeating ABCDEFG!
Doesn't change your point at all, but FYI Jet Airliner was written by Paul Pena
Good shout out to Peña. Steve Miller is / was incredibly talented and unique… incredible vocalist , his harmonies are fantastic
They not only wrote songs for their group..but their leftover ideas were given to others! Amazing.
Which were more often than not, number ones
"I Wanna Be Your Man " for The Rolling Stones
Unlike most, songs were never an issue for the Beatles. George released a triple album soon after the split.
Ringo put out 10 albums and nothing was expected of him 🤣
@@slavaukraini404 All the rejected songs during his Beatles day. Just flushed them out on that one album ("his description though not eact.")
She Said She Said is my favorite Beatles song especially because it just sounds so perfectly beatle-esque.
Paul's amazing melodic bass line makes the song. same with
Come Together. Play those songs without the bass and they are
totally different (lesser) songs.
That was the one song that Paul didn't play on . He had a big fight with George
John may have been the "basher" in the group, but he often didn't know exactly what he wanted. They spent over 50 hours in the studio on "Strawberry Fields Forever." It paid off because it's one of the Beatles' best songs. But it's proof that they didn't always work quickly. I would say the "finish things" part of your statement is more important than working quickly. You don't want to work so slowly that you overthink, but everyone has a different path to getting art done. And different songs might require different methods. Radiohead have been known to record 5-10 different versions of a song over 10 years.
Strawberry Fields was very very technical for that time, it's true that nobody knew what the final song would sound like, ideas for production were introduced as it went along. The tech aspect would have been very slow to do with what they had then. I think the brass was Geoge Martin's idea.
You are an expert, right?
Paul was probably tripping when he thought it was out of tune. Probably had a panic attack!
To say that they didn’t know much is misleading. Paul had grown up with a bandleader as a father and absorbed the sounds of classic Tin Pan Alley and dance band songs. They all steeped themselves in the sounds of Rock and Roll, analysing and borrowing for their own material, and in Hamburg they played music from every era and genre of popular music, for 6 hours a night. Perhaps they couldn’t read and write music, but they certainly knew their stuff.
Absolutely.
yeah, it's very misleading. Music is structured sound. This is just a presentday classical musicianship bias. They aren't trained how to compose or improvise anymore, and they focus only on reading & interpreting written music to a virtuosic level. The Beatles' training is more like jazz training and probably not dissimilar from the old classical musicians training in the 1700s where they focus on connecting sound and ear and mind.
Yes! I think, Jim Mack’s Jazz Band was the name?
David, thanks for your thoughtful insights and commentary. I was in high school and college during most of their recording career. What captivated my friends and I was the constant evolution of The Beatles. I remember going back to college after the summer break in 1966 and one of my buddies had a new copy of Yesterday and Today. He put it on the record player and we sat mostly in silence through the first side astounded at how different it was from Rubber Soul. Drive My Car, And Your Bird Can Sing, with that killer guitar intro. The Beatles were our conductors of life in the late 60’s.
Another interesting thing about the Beatles is they released singles that were not put on the albums such as Penny Lane and Strawberry fileds forever. They release them whilst making albums to keep the public interested. I am a great believer that you don't do things because you think people will like them you do it because you like it and hope that others will. That's originality.
They did it because of pressure from the record company for product and a belief at the time that they would be ripping off the fans if they put singles on albums by forcing them to pay for the same songs twice. I think there was some regret for this policy later, particularly leaving Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane off SPLHCB.
Recording tradition in general then was not to put singles on albums.
@@steveconn In the UK that was certainly the case. I think it was the custom in the US to include singles on albums. The first track on their first Capitol album was the single "I want to Hold Your Hand". Picking another artist, the biggest US hit in 1963 was "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs (5 weeks at #1). Their next album was SUGAR SHACK.
Also an added plus. They did put strawberry fields. Penny lane on MM tour album.
@@roberttalbot6397 They were also put on the Blue album in the 70's.
I'm 55. I sometimes go years without putting any of my Beatles albums on but then I do and it transports me to being a little kid in the 70s while my parents played those albums. It never loses it's glimmer, never gets old and always has that affect on me.
Great videos btw, just discovered you. Subbed.
Above all you have to state that Paul is goddamnly insane in its own means. I saw him on River Plate stadium just about a week ago and I couldn't not believe that a man on his 80 would give a tremendous 3hs show with all of his and their best songs ever recorded plus both dance, play another 6 instruments and cheer with the crowd (also covering foxey lady on stage, just mindblowing). I cannot comprehend it and never will. Long live him and all the beatles forever
The PLEASE PLEASE ME lp included both sides of their first two (previously-recorded) singles, so the album wasn't actually done in a day. That doesn't diminish the band's tremendous accomplishment, but it is important to stay true to history. Keep up the good work.
Very true. But 10 songs in a day is still CRAZY.
As stated at the beginning of this video, recording an album in a day or two was normal for most artists at that time. Spending weeks and months in the studio started about1966-67.
They did re-record Love Me Do that day (probably to keep Ringo happy as George Martin had used session drummer Andy White on the single version).
@@jiminycrintNo, Love Me Do wasn't recorded that day. Ringo's version of Love Me Do was recorded a week before Andy White's version. Ringo's version was actually the single that had already been released, and the Andy White version ended up on the Please Please Me album.
@@michaelharrington75 - oh my word, you’re right! So what was all that in the anthology about Ringo turning up and not being allowed to play. Martin made it sound as if he’d never met Ringo before he hired Andy White.
I only ever owned the Red album which contains the White version so I thought that was the single (according to Wikipedia the White version was released as a single as the 2nd pressing - the plot thickens)
5:10: and in fact, She Said She Said HAS a perfect drum sound! The drums on that track are killer! It’s big, bigger even than Bonham & Page’s best recording efforts for big drums (classic example: When the Levee Breaks). It especially shows up on the original mono mix.
It’s such a unique drum pattern that I can’t even air drum to it! Those fills are so abstract, which is perfect for a song about an acid trip.
I feel you not only conveyed the essence of the Beatles' method of working, but exemplified it in how you so simply and clearly presented it here. Excellent! Thank you!
"Paul is the driving force of The Beatles. Without him, maybe we would only have 3 or 4 albums." - Ringo
Paul wasn’t just the driving force of the Beatles, he was also the most influential when it came to the “sound” that people tend to associate with the Beatles which becomes even more evident when you listen to the solo careers of each of the four after the Beatles. Only Paul’s stuff tends to sound the most like a Beatle’s song when you listen to it.
@@NelsonStJamesTrue, but his solo stuff is third-best, behind George's and John's.
@@sinatra222 I don't agree
@@sinatra222RAM wipes any john's solo album btw
That was when Paul wasn't yet married, John got married in the middle of Beatlemania and practically wrote all of A Hard Day's Night alone, he worked as much as Paul in those years, George was not allowed to include more songs, not even when he reached his peak of composition between 1969 and 1970. Ringo says that because he didn't write songs like the rest.
Such a well-crafted video. There's a certain flow to this video!
"Flow". Yes! Well said.
Their bond, success and fun helped fuel their ethic and creativity and vice versa.
Possibly the best commentary I’ve ever heard about the Beatles! Bravo!
Thank you for including video and audio clips of your sources!!! That’s what made the video great for me.
I am always baffled by the idea that music theory is actually telling you what you can or what you can't do, and therefore it is a liberation to have no formal training. Of course this is not how music theory works at all, unless it is gravely misunderstood or mistaught. Music theory is actually a descriptive field of study, not a prescriptive one. Much like the theory of gravity is not ordering you to fall when you jump (and therefore not knowing about gravity would make things easier in life beacuse you can fly), it is merely describing what happens when you jump.
I second your point about flow though, and that overthinking is a major problem in music production. So while knowing things does rarely ever hurt you, it is always good to know when to be or not be obsessed with detail.
Swagger plus Rock and Roll, equals human played music, I love it. The fact that a bit of ruggedness and a mistake here or there, make it human and all the more listenable for it. Love that Malcomb - ACDC, deletes the thirds because of the high volume. He strips the chords back to a more minimal version, and its better for it. The Beatles inovated so very much, that folks like Malcomb and Angus could come after them. They revolutionised music, whilst providing the soundtrack to my life! What more can you say but thank you.
@@colnuttall9035 I agree! It's often the left-field-ideas that make room for new sounds and ideas and progress. Doesn't mean "music theory" would keep ypu from any of that though.
But, music theory does tend to focus mostly on the description of music that is hundreds of years old. To write in that style you do have to follow the music structures. And, I think it tends to neglect the more recent harmony used in the 20th century. Less astute students may misunderstand this to be prescriptive.
@@km6206 well, in order to understand the structures of modern music, it surely helps to have studied the basics first. Noone ever said that theory should end with the basics. It's more like studying history: in order to really understand 2023 you need to look at the past for context and background.
Of course music theory doesn't end in 1900 or in 2023 for that matter. I think that a lot of this kind of complaining really says "studying the basics is hard and tiresome, so I will proclaim that it is entirely unnecessary".
The Beatles are just forever legends. I love them all so much.
Outstanding pinnacles of Western popular music.
Ahhh this finally makes sense. I can’t read or write music either. I can play other people’s music mostly by watching and listening. His bit about only remembering what is good explains why I can never remember anything I come up with on my own 😂😂
"Flow" comes from having that magical, God given talent that lets you actually be a musician. But that doesn't mean somebody is a songwriter - a lot of guys can "shred" but they couldn't write a truly good song/composition if they tried.
This video's enthusiasm is infectious. I've loved the Beatles for 35 years but it's great to remember why.
Enjoyed this! I would say that their EMI album contracts meant they were working under some time pressure. Also, they had George Martin and a team of pioneering studio engineers who were translating the creativity onto record. Excellent content:)
I love the analogy of a musical photograph. What a great way to explain this sonic snapshot
Seeing those four guys sitting in a room together just having a chit chat; I wonder if they knew what an impact they were having. They left such a huge indelible mark on music, life and culture~✨
It's nice to hear that the album I always liked most, "Revolver", is considered to be one, if not the greatest album of all times.
Art is the struggle between craft and creativity/inspiration.
goes to show they were and still are the one of the greatest band of all time
hey Davey, i subd to your channel because:
1 - you asked me to
2-you have been cranking out vids SINCE 2011 !!!!
AND 3- you shared some very new , original info and history about Beatles in a way that helped anyone who loves to create (art)
Yes
They are the only band that has a special place in my heart. Their music is woven into the story of my life.
By the time the Beatles recorded "Please Please Me" they were a KICK-ASS live band. They knew songs like the back of their own hands and they had a talent like nobody else EVER had!
Wonderful video. It actually adds something to the Beatles discussion. You'd think everything had been said about that band but you introduce the theme everyone who wants to be a rock star doesn't want to hear: to be successful you have to work hard. Well written, narrated and edited.
The Beatles were punk rock before there was punk rock
Until they sold out
I think that would be the Stooges
@@Bluepilled-c5tbut if they hadn't "sold out" would we have sgt peppers? The white album?, the money they made and put into the studio for high quality production helped them to further advance and make some of the most timeless pieces of music ever, it's a blessing and a curse they "sold out"
absolutely fucking not
Mate The Velvet Underground and Nico came out the same year as Sgt Peppers. Get real
When the Beatles were coming up. Rock music was evolving the sky was the limit. If you worked hard,
Which is another thing the Beatles hold the record for most live performances regardless of genre. They had played approximately every night of the year
From 1960-1964 and that’s
Before they came to America. They were motivated and inspired
And they were able to work in a state of the art studio
With an accomplished musician/producer George Martin. The advantages the Beatles had was significant.
The Get Back documentary gives a good look at how they did it- chop wood, carry water. George said he never practiced. I think they tried so many options per song that all they did was practice.
If you listen to Ringo Starr he always says that the Beatles have so much great music is because of Paul’s work ethic. Thank you to all the Beatles
I think there is a strong current on imbalance going on. The work it required to make it at the level they did was an all-hands-on-deck affair. It must be stated also that John wrote an estimated 15% more of their original songs, and started the group. His song quality was more consistent as well. It was also easier to push a group that had stopped touring, and pushing was mostly about getting in the studio. But hell, despite the fuss, it's the Beatles. They did it as a team, and it was golden.
This is an excellent video. So much insight provided in such a short time. Very well done .... thank you.
Yeah, one of the strangest feelings was watching the Peter Jackson documentary about the Beatles and seeing some of these amazing songs that just were so deep and so powerful and had such a resonating feeling with me my whole life are actually just kind of splotched together.
Kubrick was the opposite of someone who worked in flow. He overthought every decision. Either can work… if you’re talented enough
the warm light you have in the bottom right is so nice. the way the light bounces off of the surroundings is very chill.
This is one of the best videos I’ve seen on RUclips about The Beatles. Well done! 👍
Of course The Beatles knew chords. They were an accomplished performance group before recording. You don't just stick your fingers anywhere on a guitar neck, hope for the best, and produce some of the best sounds of that era. Lyrics are often scribbled down without chords, so you don't forget them. But a song only has a handful of chords that can be easily remembered. John and Paul, after working on a song, would show the chords to George; there's lots of evidence of this. Paul also had formal piano lessons as a child but found them boring.
Beatles put all kinds of surprise chord changes in their songs which makes them stand out for originality.
Bob Dylan said their chords freaked other musicians out at first. Working from r&b, rock&roll and Folk structures as a basis but making tasty ear candy leaping to melodic lines and chords so out of the ordinary.
I want to hold your hand is an early prime example.
It was 20 years ago today
Sgt Pepper taught his band to play...
Excellent take on how they worked together! And refreshing to hear intelligent commentary.
If you KNOW you have time for only a single take, you will perform that take infinitely better. Many of our greatest recordings in all genres are live takes. Orchestras are famously single-take practitioners.
Good point. Though this also makes me think of John Entwistle's famous first-take bass on The Who's "The Real Me". Entwistle thought his first take would never be used, so he played a "busy" version just for his own amusement. Everyone loved it and it became the official take.
I really like your work; you talk of 'flow' while the whole video demonstrates your own mastery of it. Great channel. Well done.
On one of their early Hamburg trips they played 70+ nights in a row; and not just a set or two, any where from 4 to 6 hours plus.
Hamburg was the making of them. They learned to be musicians and deal with hostile crowds. This is where they Beatles came of age. Tough cookies and talented beyond reproach ! Love 'em.
After that, recording an album in a day is child''s play.
Speed was a big reason why they managed to do that.
@@addeman02 It wasn't only truck drivers that ran on speed 😊
@@gordonely3591 Who said otherwise?
you got a sub partly because you asked so creatively, partly because i love the beatles, and partly because this video is fantastically made, very high quality content, thank you! your voice is so soothing to listen to:)
It was really Paul's insane work ethic. Ringo has admitted as much.
They all worked insanely hard. John's percentage of actual songwriting is higher than Paul's. But even that doesn't matter. The group as a whole was mystic.
Thank you, David Hartley. I just wrote a book and did a youtube. My goal was two books, two youtubes. Now I will work on music, so thank you for this channel. And Mr. Beato's channel is excellent, although I have ten years of piano, theory has not been learned for me, so thank you.
It also helps to be a musical genius... Especially when you have 4 in your band...
Well, 2.35 or so.
2.75
Ringo and George individually are better than any 10 "pop stars" of today. Not nostalgia, just a fact.
Uh sorry but Anderson .Paak > Ringo
Ringo is still great but that comment is pure bait
Those Liverpool boys managed to stay together, learn their craft, and the results were incredibly amazing.
The Beatles were a miracle.
Fantastic Job David. Been a fan of the Beatles my whole life. Now I'm a fan of you. ❤
Very nice vid. There’s something to be said about spontaneity and capturing the feeling.
Loved this!! 2 comments about it too -
1: This reminds me a lot of another one of my other favorite artists, Jean Basquiat. The dude worked within his own flow, and didn’t really let anyone else define it. Both the Beatles & him also worked within a LOT of limitations, and very often improvised, which I feel are both HUGE assets to creativity. When you’re limited and are forced to work with what you have, you go to drastic measures to find new, innovative routes of invention.
2: I feel like this same process is also equally effective within our own lives - I’ve found personally that when I work with the flow and with what I have, and push myself to “break my own rules” (or what I’ve set as my personal limitations in what I can reach as a person) it’s very often then when I find myself changing, because you’re working with yourself, and working with something new. We can’t progress without letting ourselves & pushing ourselves in unfamiliar directions y’know?
The Beatles put out quite a bit of stuff, and it was incredibly impressive. From 68 to 70 they put out 4 great albums, no small feat and i am sure putting a stop to all the touring by ‘66 helped them do that. But if high quality output is impressive, during those same years Frank Zappa put out 9 great albums, and was constantly touring throughout (he also produced all those albums as well). In fact Zappa put out another 6 or so albums from 71 to 73, while touring and releasing a movie AND he has thrown off a stage and was hospitalized for a number of months during all that
Not to diminish the Beatles efforts in the least, but I do hear how prolific the Beatles were, but during that same time period Zappa was putting out even more stuff, of extremely high quality and it doesn’t seem to get mentioned very much
I liked Zappa,especially Joe's Garage and Billy The Mountain.
One of those albums was The White Album, a double album. So there were five.
Who?
there may have been two discs in the album, but the name itself refers to the whole project as an 'album'. if you look up their discography, it lists the White Album as a single release, not two.
this is some kinda hair you are trying to split and I am unsure why. nothing i posted was wrong
Zappa had a more diverse crew to work with, the Beatles were mostly 4 guys messing around in the studio most of the time (McCartney mostly being the only work centric while the other 3 slacked off), 1 producer, and 2-3 engineers at most came in helping the album process
There will never be another Beatles, they were unique
You're forgetting their constant 8 hours nights in Hamburg that they did every night for months!!!!
This resonates with me. I have a day job, but perform 3 original songs every month at open mic in Folkestone. I have to steal time, work quick and complete. My artist name is Mairk. Thanks for an amazing video.
Paul's dad was a musician too and so I think he understood the music business.
Paul's dad was a fireman, but he was a musician as well. Working class lads.
Your Beatles documentaries are well put together, David. You articulate things well, too. Keep up the good work!
I've been a life long Beatles fan since 1962. And yes they were diligent, when they worked, but dont forget they had a lot of hollidays and time off too. Ordinary folk dont get that. However I am grateful for the body of work they left us. It is magnificent ! They were in the right place at the right time, and they had the goods to back up what they said. Brilliant ! On a trivial note, I was born 52km from Penny Lane and share the same birthday as Paul McCartney. Other than that I play guitar and will never be as brilliant as any Beatle, but its something to aspire to. But Ive built some cool buildings in my time and had some fantastic adventures.
actually such a great video, was completely packed with information that made the video feel like it was 3 minutes long and 15 all the same time in the best way
There's a million things that I can say about the Beatles but I'm just gonna say, Twist and Shout sounds absolutely fine regardless of John's illness.
It sounds better
You've got a talent for this kind of video essay, please keep it up!!
Its just the way things were back then. Maybe there was less distraction in the world, because people like Dean Martin and Frank Zappa were releasing 3 or more albums a year and touring non-stop.
Dean Martin had other people help him in writing songs, Zappa knows music theory and surrounds himself with people who could write as fast as he is.
The Beatles mostly fumbled in the studio and made songs that they deem good enough, they have no formal music training, the most they had was their guitars and references to music they've listened to, and the experiences they had during their gruelling hamburg days, and yet they still managed to crank out 13 successful albums
I believe this is engrained in the modern music industry, because now every song is super eq’ed, super cut, super processed and mastered super loud! In fact, the studio process involves first recording the takes then walk away to let the mixer and mastering engineer do their job! Then and only then is the song ready to impress!!
This is a disconnect between the sound and vision the artists originally envisioned, versus the super processed package that is delivered to the fan. We just have to reach a middle ground!
Let’s talk facts: I’ve seen mixing engineers produce an AMAZING sounding piece, but in the daw! “Oh I just brought 220 hz down -2 db, oh I just added a clipper. Oh I just created a send track with reverb”. Andy Wallace, Joey Sturgis, so far all these big names overproduce every piece of music they touch!! They sound amazing, yet it doesn’t take away it’s OVERPRODUCED!
This has a 2 fold effect: new artists want that sound, because they need to compete with these magical ethereal ( yes mastering and mixing have that effect on you ) musical pieces! So not only are the current artists trapped in this costly recording and mastering process, the new artists think that is the way to go so no one is seeking to go another new way to capture the soul of the intent of the musician, as well as make it sound polished!
This all started with the famous “wall of sound” method of recording, place many microphones in the room instead of just one. This way the recording has every “musical angle” of the room, as if you were there in the room with the musicians!!
So where does that leave the souls and passion of the music? TO BE CONTINUED…
Nice work and editing, greetings from Tijuana, Mexico
There are a lot of videos on the Beatles and this is really good. You captured some really important points often missed.
Something that concerns me about Rick Beato's channel, although it's really great, is that young people starting a musical journey may think you have to know all the theory in order to write. As Paul points out at the end of this video, the Beatles didn't know much theory at all and couldn't write or read music. They used unusual chords because they didn't know what chords were meant to be in a key. As a long-time songwriter I'd say to people starting out. Maybe learn as far as what Keys are, but just play what sounds good and write.
I disagree. They understood music structures (music theory) by ear. I don't think they really use anything that can't be found in Tin Pan Alley and jazz. You don't need to read or write to understand music.
@@km6206 Bob Dylan said the Beatles chords were "outrageous" and that he knew they were signposting the direction of music the moment he heard them. He may have been talking about songs like She Loves You which has strange use of chords in a couple of sections like:
G
She says she loves you
Em
And you know that can't be bad
Cm
Yes she loves you
D
And you know you should be glad
The key is G which makes the Cm an unusual chord, borrowed from another key.
@@songlove7777 I don't think that's unusual. The Cm comes from G minor. Classical music uses that too (but it often raises the 5th of Cm to give you C Eb Ab instead of C Eb G - the neapolitan chord, which the Beatles also have used). The Eb pulls stronger by half-step to the D note in the D major chord compared to the E in C major (C E G). That half-step movement sounds good. The old pop song 'I Got Rhythm' has a minor IV chord too although it goes back to I (so, it goes like C7 to Cm to G) instead of V like in this Beatles song. Classical music also uses this progression from minor IV back to the major home key chord. The Beatles probably had heard this in whatever old songs they knew and just put it in their own songs. I don't know much about Bob Dylan, but maybe he only listened to rural folk music which doesn't have borrowing from a nearby minor key? Maybe he just needed to listen to more pop music from the cities like Bing Crosby or Doris Day?
Their output from what I consider their peak - 1964 to 1966 - is absolutely astounding in both the quality and the quantity.
LOL, that is funny, because they peaked first with Pepper, again with the WA and again later with AR! 😀
Their first album was made in twenty minutes. The second took even longer.
Tea.
@@206Vin I think it was the trousers.
@@piggyroo100 I'm spending a year in bed as a tax dodge.
@@cbw06Che Stadium & Fidel Arena
Beatles were my masterclass of music as a teen in the 90s when I first learned guitar. To this day, I still lean on what I learned from them. You can never go wrong learning from best, but you can't be your best if you don't make the best music you can possibly make.
Actually Paul doesn't play on "She Said She Said". He had an argue with Ringo and left the studio. J, G and R finished it themselves.
i never knew this. that's super interesting. fun fact: the first cassette tape i ever bought with my own money (back in the late eighties) was revolver. she said she said is still my favorite beatles song to this day. did you know that it stemmed from a conversation john had with peter fonda on a private plane where fonda said, out of nowhere, 'i know what it's like to be dead'? it freaked john out super hard and, according to john, made the rest of the flight torture.
Auto correct Peter Fonda,and wasn't it at a party with the Byrds in LA?
@@charliebures4032 lmao, peter fonda is what i meant to type, but i was still listening to the video, they must've said 'paul' right when i was typing that and i just typed what i was hearing. totally thought i wrote 'peter'. :)
i'm 95% sure it was on a plane with fonda, i read the story in a special 'beatles top 100 songs' issue of rolling stone (i think, it may have been entertainment weekly, but i'm pretty sure it was rolling stone'). unless they got it wrong in there, but i vividly remember that they quoted john saying it was the worst plane ride of his life because fonda wouldn't stop talking about an acid trip he had where thought he was dead for a day or two. i may be wrong, but i'm pretty sure my initial comment was correct. i do remember hearing about a conversation with the byrds influencing a different song, though.
Thought was the state of flow..... except when it came to Steely Dan.
that's a typical Beatles story, couldn't play together, - you see they had terrible work ethics...
"Thought is the enemy of flow!" Ooooooooooo, far OUUUT mannn!🌺🌹🌻
Great work man, love your channel
Fascinating video, Thank you very much for sharing this. I was nine when I first discovered the Beatles in 1964