doubt that's accurate at all - the Beach Boys did blues-rock (Carl & The Passions' So Tough), proto-heavy metal (Student Demonstration Time) soul (most of "Wild Honey") avant-garde ("She's Growing Bald"), spoken word (whatever the name of the EP that was tacked on "Holland"), prog (the Big Sur trilogy), chamber pop (California Girls)

Do you ever feel like an automated responder in this thread?

Yes. Yes I do. :laughing:

"Student Demonstration Time" sounds like way late to the party blues rock and not all proto-metal. While the Beatles "Helter Skelter" proto metal, "Yer Blues" progressive blues and "I Want You She's So Heavy" were proto metal, progressive rock and blues all before Black Sabbath.

"California Girls" is sunshine pop not really chamber pop. The Beach Boys were flirting with avant garde on Smile and Smiley Smile to be obective.

I like the Beach Boys but in terms of diversity and presentation the Beatles were a notch or two of above the Beach Boys.

I was about to mention the same thing. "helter skelter" and "she's so heavy" were some pretty heavy songs.

It has always been kind of funny to me that the main Beach Boys thread on Music Banter is one for the discussion of comparing them to the Beatles. They'll never be able to shake that comparison...for better or worse.

I intend to give a few more Beach Boys albums a try in the short-term, which will hopefully get me more interested in them. I find Smiley Smile interesting, love Pet Sounds and think that Beach Boys Party! is kind of fun. Still...I don't even listen to Pet Sounds very often anymore. Just have never been enthralled by the band, I suppose.

Its inevitable really. The Beatles got the gold medal and the Beach Bods had to make to make do with the silver medal and they were very lucky to even get that.

It should be noted that The Beatles have been influenced by (just to name a few) early Rock and Roll artists like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, & Gene Vincent, Country and Folk Revival artist Buck Owens, Bob Dylan (respectively), Indian Music artistss namely Ravi Shankar, and yes even their contemparies like The Rolling Stones... and The Beach Boys. If The Beatles "got the gold" it was because they were standing on the shoulders of giants.

A lot of people that win gold medals, usually have a bit of luck to boot as well.

......and let us not forget that Bob Dylan the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones were also influenced by the Beatles.

It should be noted no music is 100% percent original and without influence. Those same people you mentioned were infuenced by other people also. It's more like IMO the pupil surpassed the mentors and went on to create music that is so unlike the basic blues/country roots of rock and roll or the typical pop music of the day.

Yet the Beatles in the end did their own thing something like a "Day in the Life" or "I Am the Walrus" brought together the classical orchestra, the rock band, and the technology of the studio, bringing together three disparate worlds: pop entertainment, avant-garde composition, and high-brow artistic sensibility is unlike anything the people you say were standing on the shoulders of giants. They surpassed them IMO and many people feel that way. Honestly I think Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley were great. In terms of influence since the Beatles broke through in the states in 1964 I would say the Beatles have influenced more musicians, songwriters and music producers substanially by a wide margin.