Post by paulclarkson on Jan 14, 2006 13:05:03 GMT
The Sixties was probably the most exciting, inventive and colourful decade of the last century. Fashion went from very plain to very colourful. Hair certainly got longer, the permissive society certainly got more permissive and the teenager gained more freedom.
What about the music though? The start of the decade saw artists such as John Leyton, Cliff Richard and Adam Faith in the hit parade. It was the era of the solo singer sometimes backed up by a group. Specialist songwriters in Tin Pan Alley composed songs. Artists went to the recording studio and were given songs to sing, it was rare for an artist to give any input except just to sing the song. In Liverpool there was a change happening, the Mersey Sound was bubbling under. The Beatles were working their apprenticeship in Liverpool and Hamburg. A change was about to come.
When the Beatles finally got their record deal, they produced a few singles that were enormously successful as were their first two LP’s. If the Beatles had come to a halt at that point then I believe the rest of the 60’s would have been very different. Most groups or artists over the past 40 years have not had an acclaimed album until maybe their 3rd or even 4th album. David Bowie did not find universal success until Ziggy Stardust, Pink Floyd had to wait until Dark Side of the Moon. The Beatles were no different, the singles of 1963 made sure they were a successful group but could they follow up or even surpass ‘Please Please Me’ and ‘With The Beatles’?
Over the years I have had people ask me if the Beatles were “just in the right place at the right time”. My simple answer is always “no”. The Beatles were the best in their field and I believe this is proved by the quality of songs on their 3rd album ‘A Hard Days Night’. To me this was THE album that took everything onto a different level. All of the songs were written by the Beatles and every one of them, if released as a single, would have made the top 10. This is where the Beatles showed their true calibre. Tin Pan Alley and The Brill building in America were worried. Here were these four lads from Liverpool, who couldn’t read a note of music, producing some of the best music of the time.
Other groups were producing some excellent singles, lets face it the Beatles weren’t at number 1 all the time but it was the quality of the songs on their albums that made them stand out from the rest. Was there a great secret? Not really, a verse, a chorus, middle eight, another chorus, that’s all it was but they did it magnificently. When you look back we were only 4 years into the decade and this musical revolution was only 2 years old, the Beatles had taken music a long way in such a short time. Other groups were inspired to write their own songs too, after all, if the Beatles could do it……
What about the music though? The start of the decade saw artists such as John Leyton, Cliff Richard and Adam Faith in the hit parade. It was the era of the solo singer sometimes backed up by a group. Specialist songwriters in Tin Pan Alley composed songs. Artists went to the recording studio and were given songs to sing, it was rare for an artist to give any input except just to sing the song. In Liverpool there was a change happening, the Mersey Sound was bubbling under. The Beatles were working their apprenticeship in Liverpool and Hamburg. A change was about to come.
When the Beatles finally got their record deal, they produced a few singles that were enormously successful as were their first two LP’s. If the Beatles had come to a halt at that point then I believe the rest of the 60’s would have been very different. Most groups or artists over the past 40 years have not had an acclaimed album until maybe their 3rd or even 4th album. David Bowie did not find universal success until Ziggy Stardust, Pink Floyd had to wait until Dark Side of the Moon. The Beatles were no different, the singles of 1963 made sure they were a successful group but could they follow up or even surpass ‘Please Please Me’ and ‘With The Beatles’?
Over the years I have had people ask me if the Beatles were “just in the right place at the right time”. My simple answer is always “no”. The Beatles were the best in their field and I believe this is proved by the quality of songs on their 3rd album ‘A Hard Days Night’. To me this was THE album that took everything onto a different level. All of the songs were written by the Beatles and every one of them, if released as a single, would have made the top 10. This is where the Beatles showed their true calibre. Tin Pan Alley and The Brill building in America were worried. Here were these four lads from Liverpool, who couldn’t read a note of music, producing some of the best music of the time.
Other groups were producing some excellent singles, lets face it the Beatles weren’t at number 1 all the time but it was the quality of the songs on their albums that made them stand out from the rest. Was there a great secret? Not really, a verse, a chorus, middle eight, another chorus, that’s all it was but they did it magnificently. When you look back we were only 4 years into the decade and this musical revolution was only 2 years old, the Beatles had taken music a long way in such a short time. Other groups were inspired to write their own songs too, after all, if the Beatles could do it……