Haven't listened but found this read engaging Substack Reads: The power of a Beatles song, cab driver portraits, and what makes thunder thunderous
The technology: All they had was a demo cassette tape John recorded while playing the piano that Yoko found in her garage in the 90s. They worked on it, but couldn't do much with it. Flash forward to now. Peter Jackson was aware of AI technology that could perfectly separate John's voice and his piano playing. Paul, Ringo. and Giles Martin, son of George Martin took over. It really is pretty amazing they were able to do this. It is now charting #1 in the UK and setting a record...60 years 6 months from their first UK #1 to this one. It went from #42 to #1 in one week.
The Rolling Stones have and always will be the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Only solidified by the release of “Sweet sounds of heaven” THIS YEAR. I can’t get over how good that song is. Mick’s vocals. Keith’s guitar. Gaga’s vocals. Stevie Wonder’s keys. Best original song the stones have released since Start me up.
The Beatles....better music, better musicians, better singers, better band. The Rolling Stones are top 5, however. "The Billboard statistics are actually overwhelming for The Beatles compared with The Stones (or anybody else). The Beatles spent 132 weeks at #1 on the album chart, and that’s about double the next highest artist, Elvis Presley. Taylor Swift is a not-too-distant third. The Beatles had 20 #1 singles, The Stones had 8. The Beatles had 19 #1 albums, and The Stones had 9. One way The Stones surpassed The Beatles is that they stayed together! That means they charted 37 albums over the years, and that’s the impressive reason they earned the #2 position on the top artists list. The Beatles vs The Stones was always a rivalry between friends, and in the end, they both won in their own ways. By the way, the only artist to make this list in a group and as a solo artist is Paul McCartney." Top Artists Of All Time…Beatles vs Stones!
I won’t argue that the Beatles are a better “band.” Not the best “rock & roll” band. They are pop rock. I give zero shits what any of the billboard records show.
I recognize your personal qualifiers. There certainly is an argument to be made without such a narrow definition of “Rock and Roll” music, however. There is no band in history that has the quality of songwriting, musicianship, vocal ability, and just overall diversity of songs as The Beatles. It’s not even close imo. The Beatles are the absolute gold standard.
Very well said. If the Beatles tribute band Rain and ever comes to a venue near you, they are well worth the ticket. I've seen them at least a half dozen times and will keep going. Rain - A Tribute to the Beatles - RAIN - A Tribute to the Beatles
As a follow-up to my post above, my examples also leave out The Beatles being on the forefront of music production & recording techniques. The cumulative is just overwhelming imo.
To me, it's really impossible to try to compare the Beatles and the Stones, primarily because of difference in longevity. I'm not sure when the 'world's greatest rock and roll band' label was put on the Stones, but I don't think I heard it until a big tour sometime in the early '70s. And they kept going. And going. The Beatles barely made it into the '70s before breaking up. They didn't play a concert after 1966. Think about that. It seemed to me that in the '60s, the Stones were huge. But they weren't the Beatles. Everything the Beatles did, everything they released was news. They were the innovators.
I think a significant number of music historians would disagree with that opinion. The term “Rock and Roll” wasn’t always so narrowly defined. In fact, The Beatles sound was absolutely considered rock and roll, and at the very forefront of the sound. I can appreciate your opinion on that matter. And, certainly, as music has evolved, and more diversity has been introduced into the system, rock and roll has become more narrowly defined. There are simply more subcategories to place music into now. But, by what I think are historically, widely recognized standards, The Beatles are absolutely rock and roll. I love these type of debates, though. I would give up exposure to any other mediums of artistic expression in a heartbeat, as long as I could always listen to music.
Note that was before he heard the stones. He said this about the stones and I couldn’t agree more. There is little surprise that to Dylan, the Stones are “the greatest rock and roll band in the world and always will be”.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young would make my personal top 5, but I suspect you wouldn't include them. Live at Farm Aid 2000
