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The Beatles (band): Difference between revisions
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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|Sgt Peppers 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|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|Band Toons]], 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]]. Meanwhile, the 1968 feature ''[[Yellow Submarine]]'' brought kid-friendly psychedelic imagery to the masses.
The band broke up in 1970 under [[Creative Differences|circumstances painful to think about]]. Everyone went on to solo careers. The dissolution was finalized in 1974, but Apple Corps (the Beatles' management company) was left intact. For perhaps fifteen years, few people saw any purpose for that...
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* ''The Beatles 20 Greatest Hits'' (LP and cassette only -- it was an inadequate [[Greatest Hits Album]] collection; out of print)
* ''Rarities'' (LP and cassette only; out of print. The song choices were different in the UK (released 1979) and US (1980) versions, since some songs (and song mixes) had been released in one country but not the other.)
* ''Love Songs'' (LP and cassette only; out of print)
* ''The Star Club Tapes'' (The live album that just won't go away)
* ''Live at the BBC'' (1994) (The first new compilation after Apple got its act together)
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* [[Ballad of X]]: "The Ballad of John and Yoko"
* [[Band Toon]]: As noted above.
* [[The Beat Generation]]: The name of the band was partially inspired by the Beats and Lennon in particular named [[Jack Kerouac]] as an influence. [[Allen Ginsberg]] later on became friends with the band, with [[Paul McCartney]] actually playing guitar on one of Ginsberg's albums.
* [[Bifauxnen]]: "Well you should see Polythene Pam/She's so good-looking but she looks like a man..."
* [[Bigger Than Jesus]]/[[Blasphemous Boast]]: The [[Trope Namer]] came from a John Lennon interview in which [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|he did NOT say]] "we're bigger than Jesus" but rather "we're ''more popular'' than Jesus now". Given the intensity of Beatlemania, that was a defensible statement. It still garnered a great amount of ill will from the kinds of people who weren't inclined to like The Beatles in the first place--mostly religious fundamentalist types from the American South. The protests that dogged The Beatles over their American tour played no small part in convincing them to give up touring for good.
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* [[Cash Cow Franchise]]: During the sixties and since 1989. A re-release by the Beatles is as newsworthy as a new release by [[U2]].
** [[Crack is Cheaper]]: Lowest "introduction" package is at least $250 for the [[Limited Special Collectors Ultimate Edition|2009 remasters box set]] (stereo<ref>Every album in stereo, whether it was originally mixed in stereo or not ([[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]], as some would say)</ref> or mono<ref>Every album originally in mono, a form which many consider purest to the group's intent. However, you don't get any albums that were originally in stereo</ref>--many aficionados will argue that you really need both) and DVDs of ''[[A Hard Day's Night]]'', ''[[Help!]]!'' and ''[[Yellow Submarine]]'' (which will demand quite some search as it hasn't been reissued since 1999). And you can damage your wallet even further (Books! The ''Anthology'' documentary! ''[[Magical Mystery Tour]]'' and other DVDs! ''The Beatles [[Rock Band]]''!).
** 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.
* [[Celebrity Toons]]: As noted above.
* [[Christmas Episode]]/[[Missing Episode]]: The Beatles sent flexidiscs with holiday greetings and [[Sketch Comedy]] to their fan club between 1963 and 1969, which were compiled onto an LP (also a fan club exclusive) in 1971. All these releases are long out of print. They've never been legally available to the general public, except for the first one, which is unlockable content in ''The Beatles: [[Rock Band]]''.
** An edited version of the 1967 message ("Christmas Time Is Here Again", the closest they ever came to doing an actual [[Christmas Songs]]) was, however, officially released as a B-side of the "Free as a Bird" single in 1995.
** [[wikipedia:Carnival of Light|"Carnival of Light"]] is an experimental track and [[Missing Episode]]. It's (probably) still floating around out there somewhere.
*** Paul McCartney apparently has the recording and keeps making noises about releasing it. George Harrison supposedly vetoed it when he was still alive, but a decade later and it's still nowhere to be found. With as many leaked studio sessions and bootleg albums as there are out there, it'a arguably one of the last truly rare Beatles recordings left.
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*** The second side of the ''Magical Mystery Tour'' LP is an earlier example of this, as was the ''Hey Jude'' compilation. Part of the problem was that American releases, in addition to be shorter than their British counterparts, tended to be centered around a popular single. Capitol generally refused to release an album that didn't include at least one hit single. EMI/Parlophone took the exact opposite approach, and few Beatles singles were included on their albums (at least not without substantial differences in mixing or arrangement, as was the case with "Revolution" and "Revolution 1"). Both the ''Past Masters'' disc and the US version of ''Magical Mystery Tour'' were released on CD in order that these tracks would be available on the medium in some form.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Gradually, as they earned more freedom to write songs not just for the money, became more jaded at the superficiality of fame and lust, and started using drugs. The definitive turning point was the single "Yesterday", which both dramatically went against their current image, and managed to be a great success. Their light and fluffy teen-pop image entirely dissipated after ''Rubber Soul'' came out.
* [[Days of the Week Song]]: "Lady Madonna" misses only Saturday.
* [[Dead Artists Are Better]]: John Lennon. While his musical accomplishments certainly can't be denied, he was a self-admitted [[Jerkass]] throughout his life. After his death, he was practically canonized from certain quarters. George also benefited from this following his passing.
* [[Dead Baby Comedy]]: The original, infamous "butcher" cover of the album ''Yesterday and Today''. Also, at a stop in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjXzTYExSLU Australia], there's a brief clip of them mockingly shouting "Deutschland uber alles!" at the adoring crowd, just to prove they could say or do just about ''anything'' and the fans would keep screaming.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: In [[Real Life]], all four of them were - their early press conferences consisted of approximately five smart-ass answers for every one serious answer to reporters' questions.
** They were from Liverpool, after all. It's in the water supply.
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* [[Fading Into the Next Song]]: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" → "With a Little Help from My Friends". Then the "Sgt. Pepper" reprise → "A Day in the Life". "Back In the U.S.S.R." → "Dear Prudence" on ''[[The White Album]]''.
** Also, the B Side Medley on ''Abbey Road'', aside from "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" → "Golden Slumbers". SCITTBW fades out completely before GS starts up.
* [[Fake-Out Fade-Out]]: "Hello Goodbye", "Helter Skelter", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Free As a Bird".
* [[Falling Bass]]: "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
* [[Fan Service]]: Pretty much the entire point of ''[[Help!]]!''
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* [[Five-Man Band]]:
** [[The Hero]]: Paul
** [[The Lancer]]: John. He was, however, pretty displeased about Paul assuming leadership of the band, since was he technically the one who started it.
** [[The Smart Guy]]: George
** [[The Big Guy]]/[[The Chick]] : Ringo
** [[The Obi-Wan]]: Brian Epstein
** [[Non-Action Guy]]/[[The Mentor]]: George Martin
* [[Flanderization]]: All of the Beatles were annoyed at the simplistic roles and stereotypes they were reduced to in the media as the 'Fab Four' (John the 'funny' one, Paul the 'handsome' one, George the 'quiet' one, Ringo the 'normal'/'dull'/'sad' one, etc).
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* [[Garfunkel]]: Ringo in public perception, though the band reported he was the one who kept them together.
** Furthermore, utterly [[Inverted Trope|inverted]] in reality. The other three had tried and failed previously to lure him away from his job with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, with whom he was already wildly popular in the local music scene. It wasn't until the Beatles had secured a record deal that they had something to offer him that he didn't already have. The record deal, incidentally, specified that the Beatles could ''not'' keep the erratic Pete Best as drummer. The Beatles literally needed Ringo more than he needed them.
* [[Generation Xerox]]: When John's oldest son Julian tried to make it big as a pop star, many people felt that he was trying too hard to imitate the style of his father.
** Hell, everything about Julian Lennon. Both he and his father were born to parents too young and immature to raise a child; both were pretty much abandoned by their parents (though Julian did still live with his mother); and then, by the time they had mended their respective relationships, both times the parent gets killed by someone else. And Julian looks like his mother, Cynthia, and sounds a lot like his father.
** His younger half-brother Sean did better, at least from an artistic POV. Sean's 1998 indie rock effort ''Into the Sun'' was different enough from not only Julian's more pop efforts, but also the works of [[Oasis (band)|a certain other band who played the same genre as him]] who were endlessly indebted to his father, that it wound up being very well received.
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** Capitol Records' "Duophonic" process, which artificially turned a lot of songs recorded in mono into pseudo-stereo. If you believe [[Wikipedia]], [[The Beach Boys]] and [[Frank Sinatra]] also underwent this particular form of [[Executive Meddling]].
*** You have every reason to believe Wikipedia. Capitol Records would take a mono recording, delay the right channel by a millisecond, play it through their famed echo chamber, and -- presto! -- fake stereo. Reportedly, Brian Wilson's father Murry ''preferred'' Duophonic, so much so that 8 of their albums were only available in mono or Duophonic.
* [[Greatest Hits Album]]: Several of them.
* [[Great White Hunter]]: "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill".
* [[Grief Song]]: "Let It Be" and "Julia" about Paul and John's mothers, respectively. "Baby's in Black" is about someone else's grief. "Yesterday" would be the most famous of quite a few "lost love" songs.
* [[Groupie Brigade]]
* [[Hello]]: Goodbye!
* [[Hidden Track]]:
** The weird cacophonous noise loop that comes after "A Day In The Life" on ''Sgt. Pepper'', if you count that as a song.
** "Her Majesty" on the end of the ''Abbey Road'' album. Possibly the [[Trope Maker]], being the first known song to be left at the end of an album after a period of silence, and without being listed as a track. (Later printings of ''Abbey Road'' include "Her Majesty" on the track list.)
** "Can You Take Me Back", the song fragment on Side 4 of ''[[The White Album]]'' (included at the end of "Cry Baby Cry" on modern CD tracks), which to this day doesn't even have an official title.
* [[Hot and Cold]]: Although male, John had a personality similar to this.
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** "I'm Down" is said to be the Beatles' rewriting of [[Little Richard]]'s "Long Tall Sally" (which they also covered).
* [[It Got Worse]]: For the band, after ''[[The White Album]]''. The music was still damn good, though.
* [[It Makes Sense in Context]]: John Lennon's "Bigger than Jesus" comment, [http://beatlesnumber9.com/biggerjesus.html which was part of a much larger article], and came about because he was reading about religion at the time. It got misrepresented in an American Teen Magazine, resulting in the infamous controversy.
* [[Jerkass]]: John. He mellowed in the '70s, but he was a ''dick'' in the '60s.
** He did have his share of jerkass moments in the 70s (or so I've heard).
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* [[Mythology Gag]]: The fact that the remastered albums and their [[Rock Band]] game were released on 9/9/09.<ref>"Number Nine... Number Nine... Number Nine..."</ref>
* [[National Health Service]]: Referenced in "Doctor Robert" (and also some of John's improv in their early work in Hamburg).
** Those glasses that Lennon made famous in the 1960s? Standard-issue National Health glasses.
* [[Never Learned to Read|Never Learned to Read Sheet Music]]
* [[New Sound Album]]: Pretty much every of one their albums from ''Rubber Soul'' forward could be considered one of these.
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* [[Oop North]]: They're from Liverpool, after all.
* [[Parody]]/[[Affectionate Parody]]: The song "Back in the USSR" is both a parody of Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA" and a decent imitation of the Beach Boys' distinctive "Surfing Sound".
** It's also suggested that it's a oblique (if not entirely affectionate) reference to Prime Minister Harold Wilson's "[[wikipedia:
* [[Performance Video]]: The Beatles were among the first to make music videos, and some of them are basically the band pretending to perform, such as the video for "Ticket to Ride."
* [[Please Select New City Name|Please Retain Old Street Name]]: Penny Lane in Liverpool is named not after the coin but after an 18th-century slave trader of that name. Were it not for the Beatles' song, it would have been renamed years ago.
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*** During the recording of "I'm Down" Paul self-criticised one of his takes as "plastic soul" (you can hear it in ''Anthology 2''). So ''Rubber Soul'' is actually a ''double'' pun.
*** Supposedly, Paul once overheard some black musicians using the term "plastic soul" to describe [[The Rolling Stones|Mick Jagger's singing]]. So the title might have also been a playful, in-joke [[Take That]] to the Stones.
** Another [[Pun-Based Title]] is ''Revolver''. [[What Are Records?|This one might take a second to figure out.]]
** Also, the name "Beatles" itself, though hardly anyone notices anymore, because everyone grows up knowing "The Beatles".
* [[Putting the Band Back Together]]: Fourteen years after John's death, the other three reunited for ''The Beatles Anthology''. During this time, Paul, George, and Ringo worked on fleshing out two of John's demos, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love".
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** Perhaps the ultimate case of [[Serious Business]] is the fact that John was murdered by one crazed fan, and George and his wife nearly stabbed to death by another.
** Speaking of whom, this trope is what he was really, genuinely talking about when he uttered the famous words destined to be taken out of context: "more popular than Jesus". Anyone who has heard more than that one sentence fragment of the interview will tell you that he was talking about what [[Serious Business]] the Beatles were becoming for the fans, to the point of absurdity, and how he was ''not'' comfortable with being taken so seriously.
* [[Shout-Out]]:
** The very name of the band was a Shout Out to [[Buddy Holly]] and the Crickets.
** The reference in "In My Life" to "lovers and friends/I still can recall/some are dead and some are living" is a Shout Out to Lennon's close friend and former bandmate, Stuart Sutcliffe, who died in 1962.
** "[[wikipedia:Elmore James|Elmore James]] ain't got nothin' on this baby!"
** "Julia"--guess what the Japanese for [[Yoko Ono|"ocean child"]] is?
** The cover to ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band'' is one of the most famous Shout Outs in history, filled with images of figures the Beatles regarded as significant. [[Wikipedia]] [[wikipedia:List of images on the cover of Sgt.
** "Martha My Dear" is a Shout Out to Paul McCartney's dog.
** "The eagle picks my eye/The worm he licks my bone/Feel so suicidal/Just like [[Bob Dylan|Dylan's]] [[wikipedia:Ballad of a Thin Man|Mr. Jones]]"
* [[Siamese Twin Songs]]: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "With a Little Help From My Friends".
** "Polythene Pam" and "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" were recorded together as a single performance. You can hear John Lennon saying "Oh look out!" right before the change.
* [[Silly Love Songs]]: Literally ''every last original song'' on their first ''five'' albums counts. Not that there weren't plenty later on; "Paperback Writer" was the result of Paul's aunt telling him to ''please'' find a new subject.
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* [[Single-Stanza Song]]: "Wild Honey Pie" and "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" off of [[The White Album]]; "Her Majesty" at the end of ''Abbey Road''. Also, "Can You Take Me Back", the [[Hidden Track]] between "Cry Baby Cry" and "Revolution 9".
* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: At the beginning of their career they were far down the idealistic side, and if "Here Comes the Sun" is any indication, they missed it at the end. The rest of their career is [[Your Mileage May Vary|open to interpretation on this point.]] But then that shouldn't be surprising.
* [[Smarter Than You Look]]: George felt that Ringo's second song, "Octopus' Garden", was this. He described it as accidentally deep and spiritual.
* [[Something Blues]]: "Yer Blues".
* [[Song of Song Titles]]: "Glass Onion" on [[The White Album]] name-checks "Strawberry Fields Forever", "I Am The Walrus", "Fixing a Hole", "Lady Madonna" and "The Fool On The Hill".
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* [[Step Up to the Microphone]]: Usually once per album for Ringo and twice for George. John and Paul's failure to allow George to grow out of this role, even after George had become their equal as a songwriter, was a key factor in the breakup of the band.
* [[Stop and Go]]: "I'm only sleeping...[Pause]...keeping an eye on the world going by my window..."
* [[Studio Chatter]]: Quite a bit, mostly from John, on ''Let It Be''. More on [[The White Album]], including the end of "Piggies", the beginning of "Revolution 1", and most famously Ringo's "I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!!!" at the end of "Helter Skelter".
** While never legitimately released, there's a widely-bootlegged (and [[Funny Moments (Sugar Wiki)|absolutely hilarious]]) 20-minute outtake from a session for the ''Rubber Soul'' track "Think For Yourself". You can hear it (in two parts) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4q48Foltjs here] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oibSx5miTkY here].
* [[Stylistic Suck]]: The intentionally awkward guitar solo in "All You Need Is Love".
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** The [[Paul Is Dead]] theories, all based on supposedly hidden messages on the Beatles album covers and song lyrics.
** The 1970s saw a lot of urban legends concerning the possible (secret) reunion of the band. The most famous example was the initially anonymous Canadian progressive rock band [[Klaatu]], whose vaguely "Beatlesque" sound fueled speculation that they were a front for a reunited Fab Four.
* [[Uncommon Time]]: The bridge of "Here Comes The Sun" rotates between 11/8, 4/4, and 7/8, and "Good Morning Good Morning" has completely screwed up verses. "Happiness is a Warm Gun" (from ''[[The White Album]]'') has alternating measures of 9/4 and 10/4 in one section. While the chorus of The Beatles' "All You Need is Love" is in [[Common Time]], the verses are all in 7/8.
* [[Unplugged Version]]: [[George Harrison]] recorded a well-known acoustic version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." It finally got released on ''The Beatles Anthology''.
* [[Vocal Tag Team]]
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