Music Banter - View Single Post

NYSPORTSFAN · 09-15-2012, 04:42 PM

I have been reading this thread and it's a pretty interesting thread but as much as I love both groups I easily side with the Beatles. Way before Pet Sounds musicians were commenting about the Beatles melodies and odd chord progressions from 1963.

The closest album that sounds like Sgt. Pepper is not Pet Sounds nor Freak Out but Revolver. Sgt Pepper, IMO is the progressive Revolver the songs are longer; many of the songs change time signatures, really more reliant exotic instrumentation. Most of the songs on Sgt. Pepper segue into each other in a suite like form which was unlike anything from a commercial album.

Pet Sounds reduced the electric guitar to a supplementary instrument but the Beatles also did this on many of the tracks on Revolver. For example on "Eleanor Rigby" is in Dorian Mode back with just a string octet and counter melodies on vocals. "Tomorrow Never Knows" is full odd sounds from live loops, samples, altered vocals and drones from Indian instruments. The only time you hear any electric guitars is a backward solo. "Love You To" barely has any guitars and it's basically World Music meets Psychedlia. This is so far removed from Pet Sounds.

Then again on Revolver the Beatles show how diverse they were than the Beach Boys by not completely going away from rock music either. "Taxman" with it's hard edge guitar sound meets funk is a full six months ahead of Hendrix, "She Said She Said" and the twin guitar sound of "And Your Bird Can Sing".

I am not knocking the Beach Boys musicians like the Byrds, King Crimson, The Rolling Stones and Pete Townshend either formed or were influenced to write there own music largely because of the Beatles. Even a group like the Velvet Underground were influenced by certain Beatles namely "She Said She Said".

If you want to know where early Pink Floyd got a lot of their ideas well it was from Syd Barrett listening intensely to Revolver. The odd sounds and psychedelic lyrical themes on Piper were largely derived from songs like "Tomorrow Never Knows", "She Said She Said" and a Syd Barrett favorite "Yellow Submarine".

The Beach Boys had great vocal harmonies but the Beatles were no slouches in that department but when it came to lead rock vocals Lennon and McCartney trounce the Beach Boys.

09-15-2012, 04:42 PM	#437 (permalink)
NYSPORTSFAN Groupie Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 28	I have been reading this thread and it's a pretty interesting thread but as much as I love both groups I easily side with the Beatles. Way before Pet Sounds musicians were commenting about the Beatles melodies and odd chord progressions from 1963. The closest album that sounds like Sgt. Pepper is not Pet Sounds nor Freak Out but Revolver. Sgt Pepper, IMO is the progressive Revolver the songs are longer; many of the songs change time signatures, really more reliant exotic instrumentation. Most of the songs on Sgt. Pepper segue into each other in a suite like form which was unlike anything from a commercial album. Pet Sounds reduced the electric guitar to a supplementary instrument but the Beatles also did this on many of the tracks on Revolver. For example on "Eleanor Rigby" is in Dorian Mode back with just a string octet and counter melodies on vocals. "Tomorrow Never Knows" is full odd sounds from live loops, samples, altered vocals and drones from Indian instruments. The only time you hear any electric guitars is a backward solo. "Love You To" barely has any guitars and it's basically World Music meets Psychedlia. This is so far removed from Pet Sounds. Then again on Revolver the Beatles show how diverse they were than the Beach Boys by not completely going away from rock music either. "Taxman" with it's hard edge guitar sound meets funk is a full six months ahead of Hendrix, "She Said She Said" and the twin guitar sound of "And Your Bird Can Sing". I am not knocking the Beach Boys musicians like the Byrds, King Crimson, The Rolling Stones and Pete Townshend either formed or were influenced to write there own music largely because of the Beatles. Even a group like the Velvet Underground were influenced by certain Beatles namely "She Said She Said". If you want to know where early Pink Floyd got a lot of their ideas well it was from Syd Barrett listening intensely to Revolver. The odd sounds and psychedelic lyrical themes on Piper were largely derived from songs like "Tomorrow Never Knows", "She Said She Said" and a Syd Barrett favorite "Yellow Submarine". The Beach Boys had great vocal harmonies but the Beatles were no slouches in that department but when it came to lead rock vocals Lennon and McCartney trounce the Beach Boys.