I read my review of the Beatles in this short entry and just smirk a little bit. While the facts are correct, I really knew nothing about the Beatles. I’ve listened to some of their songs but that was the extent. In the past two days I’ve spent hours reading through the history of the Beatles music. The start of the book focuses primarily on the music with the personal, business and everything else secondary. It’s fascinating how much I can enjoy reading about a topic when I’m not forced to do so. Plus in 2011, you can learn in a complete, all encompassing way that wasn’t available a decade ago. I have all of the Beatle’s albums and music on a hard drive. While I read through the years (63-70) of producing albums, I’m simultaneously listening to each album. When the book describes certain songs and what to listen for, I have the ability to hear exactly what they are referring to. Plus the book makes references to other artists (whose music I also have) and I can listen to that as well. I’ve developed such an appreciation for this band that I was starting to develop an emotional attachment. To be alive during this period of time had to be such a spectacle and there are so many stories that come along. The Beatles shaped music to what it is today. No other band will influence music like the Beatles.
Traveling album to album and listening to the development of their music is really something that I’ve enjoyed thoroughly. How the simplicity of the lyrics on Please Please Me and With The Beatles compared to their later works on Revolver and Abbey Road is truly worth experiencing. Plus understanding how their first few albums were put together in a matter of weeks compared to as long as they wanted once they achieved success. It all plays into their sound that they were producing at that time. Learning about the greatest group that ever lived seems like something that I’ll be able to hold with me for the rest of my life. It actually makes me want to learn about other historic groups like, Bob Dylan, the Stones and Led Zeppelin. One of the funniest things that I took away was that their name “the Beatles” is a pun with the word beat that I was just completely overlooking. I feel much more satisfaction from learning about the Beatles than I do watching the entire Soprano’s season. It makes listening to current day artists hard to appreciate. The Beatles are the creme de la creme and no one else comes close.
You’ve inspired me to change my Pandora station to the Beatles today.