The Beatles (band): Difference between revisions

{{quote|''And in the end''

''The love you take''

''Is equal to''

Four'''The Beatles''' are an obscure British band, made up of four lads from Liverpool -- [[John Lennon]], [[Paul McCartney]], [[George Harrison]], and [[Ringo Starr]] -- who released some albums in [[The Sixties]], and are credited by many for changing the face of rock music, while; for others they were at least major pioneers of the new style of pop rock, and a major force of [[The British Invasion]]. For many people, they are also the face of [[The Sixties]]. Which is not bad work, really.

''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (album)|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' is considered by many critics to be the greatest album in history and is credited with really changing the way people listened to pop music; it also has one of the most parodied and homaged album covers in the history of music. The simpler image on the cover of ''Abbey Road'' of [[Abbey Road Crossing|the band walking in near-lockstep across the street]] is a close competitor for most homaged cover, as is the half-shadowed band portrait that was used on the British album ''With the Beatles'' and its American equivalent/[[Macekre]] ''Meet the Beatles''.

The Beatles were the first band in history to make music video equivalents to their own songs, which every musician does now. They played themselves in three fictional films: the [[Mockumentary|pseudo-documentary]] ''[[A Hard Day's Night|A Hard Days Night]]'' (1964), the [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] parody ''[[Help!]]'' (1965), and the critically-panned surrealist television film ''[[Magical Mystery Tour]]'' (1967); they were also the subject of the [[Documentary]] film ''[[Let It Be]]'' (1970). Their [[Celebrity Toons]] equivalents starred in two very different [[Band Toon]]s, each with a distinct set of character designs for the Fab Four. [[The Beatles (animation)|Their wacky 1965]] [[Animated Series]] was the first made-for-TV cartoon based on a real band (or any real people), and therefore both the [[Ur Example]] and [[Trope Maker]] for [[Celebrity Toon]]. Meanwhile, the 1968 feature ''[[Yellow Submarine]]'' brought kid-friendly psychedelic imagery to the masses.

{{tropenamer|The Beatles are the [[Trope Namers|Trope Namer]] for:}}

{{creatortropes|The Beatles provide examples of the following tropes:}}

* [[Call Back]]: In the middle of "Carry That Weight" they break into a new verse of an earlier '"'Abbey Road'' track, "You Never Give Me Your Money", then they switch back to "Carry That Weight".

** For the technically-minded Beatles fans and music recording geeks, there is the handy, epic tome ''Recording The Beatles"'' by Brian Kehew and Kevin Ryan, a thoroughly exhaustive 540-page book chronicling the techniques, recording equipment, and studio-owned musical instruments used by the Beatles during the making of their music. The hardcover deluxe-edition book, available via Curvebender publishing, will set you back a good $100.00.

* [[Evolving Music]]: "Revolution 1" was initially recorded as a single, despite being a loping, ten-minute blues number that morphed into a chaotic sound collage. The Beatles decided to put this version aside, and instead recorded "Revolution" for the single - a faster, harder-rocking version of the same song. "Revolution 1" eventually appeared on ''[[The White Album]]'' with its first four minutes standing alone, and portions of the bizarre ending incorporated into the separate "Revolution 9."

*** Sean unfortunately has decided to imitate his parents in his own [https://web.archive.org/web/20100822082516/http://www.thetripwire.com/news/2009/09/10/sean-lennon-rips-off-john-lennon/ pretty creepy way]. (Link NSFW).

* [[Jukebox Musical]]: Three [[All The Tropes:There Is No Such Thing as Notability|of note]], not counting ''Yellow Submarine''.

** ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band|Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' (1978) --: [[All-Star Cast]] fantasy that tries to wrap a storyline around Beatles songs and characters in them, as a vehicle for popular acts of the time: Peter Frampton, the Bee Gees, Alice Cooper, etc. While Aerosmith's take on "Come Together" and Earth Wind & Fire's cover of "Got to Get You Into My Life" are well-regarded, this movie also gave us George Burns singing "Fixing a Hole" and Steve Martin performing "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". The silly story and frequent poor match-ups of songs to situations render it all [[So Bad It's Good]] ''at best'', and it was a major flop.

** ''LOVE'' (2006) --: This is the only one of the three that [[wikipedia:Love (Cirque du Soleil)|actually involved]] the Beatles, and it's not a standard example of the trope, but a [[Cirque Du Soleil]] show. This live theater super-production (in a specially-built showroom at the Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas) sets the company's trademark acrobatics and dancing to remixed versions of the group's original recordings, creating a metaphorical telling of their career and impact. The development of this show became the subject of the documentary ''All Together Now''.

** ''[[Across the Universe (film)|Across the Universe]]'' (2007) --: Director Julie Taymor brings us a movie that uses cover versions of Beatles songs to recount the love lives, political exploits, and other adventures and misadventures of 1960s youths. Very much a [[Love It or Hate It]] experience.

** "Helter Skelter" is a different sort of [[Last-Note Nightmare]], as it finishes with Ringo throwing his drumsticks across the room and ''screaming'' "'''I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!!'''" The version that wound up on the ''[[The White Album]]'' was the 18th take of the day. That explains the blisters.

** The disonnantdissonant swirling effects at the end of "Blue Jay Way".