Urban Hat€monger ?

The Beatles in their matching suits & haircuts weren't much better.
This is how you do cool mid 60s style...

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Surell

I always thought the Beach Boys looked pretty baller on the cover of Summer Days, and in some of the photos from the Smile era. Later on, though, they all look scary depressed.

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neardeathexperience

In the mid 60s the Beatles had forsaken their costumes for black turtle necks and cord pants. Seen on the front of their Rubber Soul album.......

Urban Hat€monger ?

They still didn't look as cool as that.

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DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

Time for another contest!

For this next one I'll divide it up into multiple, related ones like I did for the early ballads.

This first of two compares the somewhat faster-paced Masterpieces. The second of the two will be "God Only Knows" vs "In My Life."

Contest #8A: Battle of the Late 1965-Early 1966 Mellow Masterpieces #1

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" - recorded Jan-April 1966


"Nowhere Man" - recorded October 1965


Here's an interesting way of looking at this - with the vocals-only tracks!

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" - this really does have the nicer vocals, but I suppose you could say that of most BB songs compared to the Beatles


"Nowhere Man"


And now the instrument-only tracks!

"Wouldn't It Be Nice"


"Nowhere Man"


My verdict: Wouldn't It Be Nice is a masterpiece arrangement, and the bridge is Otherworldly. But I really do like Nowhere Man's folksy feel. So I'll call it a tie.

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DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

Now to the slower-paced of the two pairs.

Contest #8B: Battle of the Late 1965-Early 1966 Mellow Masterpieces #2 - "God Only Knows" vs "In My Life"

"God Only Knows" - recorded March-April 1966


"In My Life" - recorded October 1965


This time I'll just add the vocals-only tracks.

"God Only Knows" - the coda of this is utterly, totally and completely u-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e


"In My Life"


My verdict: It's a tie!


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EDIT 10/31/13: After spending months wondering what I could pair "Good Vibrations" against, it just occurred to me either "Penny Lane" or "Strawberry Fields Forever" would be the most obvious ones. Not sure why I didn't think of that before. "Penny Lane" is an upbeat tune like GV so I'll use that in the match-up instead of Strawberry Fields.

Since I've already got a #9, and #8A and #8B above aren't really the same category as these tunes, I'll call this "Contest #Pre-9" instead of #8C.

Contest #Pre-9: Battle of the Late 1966-Early 1967 Upbeat Singles - "Good Vibrations" vs "Penny Lane"

"Good Vibrations"


"Penny Lane"


My verdict: This is a real tough one, but I go with Good Vibrations by a small margin.

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ToastedAndButter

the beatles.. might be a bit biased though but beach boys song annoy me lol

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DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

Contest #9: Battle of the Epic Late 1966-Early 1967 Social Commentary Songs - "A Day in the Life" vs "Surf's Up"

A Day in the Life - recorded Jan-Feb 1967


"Surf's Up" - recorded Nov 1966, possible early 1967 dates too.


If you're unfamiliar with Surf's Up, I'd recommend listening to it at least a couple times. It's got a steep appreciation curve. I've also put the lyrics below. Not quite as obviously a social commentary song, but maybe later I'll post a link discussing the meaning of the song.

Lyrics:

The diamond necklace played the pawn
Hand in hand some drummed along, whoa
To a handsome mannered baton (bygone, bygone)
A blind class aristocracy
Back through the opera glass you see
The pit and the pendulum drawn (bygone, bygone)
Columnated ruins domino

Canvass the town and brush the backdrop
Are you sleeping?

Hung velvet overtaken me
Dim chandelier awaken me
To a song dissolved in the dawn (bygone, bygone)
The music hall a costly bow
The music all is lost for now
To a muted trumpeter swan (bygone, bygone)
Columnated ruins domino

Canvass the town and brush the backdrop
Are you sleeping, Brother John?

Dove nested towers the hour was
Strike the street quicksilver moon
Carriage across the fog
Two-Step to lamp lights cellar tune
The laughs come hard in Auld Lang Syne

The glass was raised, the fired-roast
The fullness of the wine, the dim last toasting
While at port adieu or die

A choke of grief heart hardened I
Beyond belief a broken man too tough to cry

Surf's Up
Aboard a tidal wave
Come about hard and join
The young and often spring you gave
I heard the word
Wonderful thing
A children's song

Child, child, child, child, child
A child is the father of the man
Child, child, child, child, child
A child is the father of the man
A children's song
Have you listened as they played
Their song is love
And the children know the way
Na na na na na na na na
That's why the child is the father to the man
Child, child, child, child, child
That's why the child is the father to the man
Child, child, child, child, child

My verdict: Despite its huge popularity, I've never been a huge fan of Day in the Life. It's a good song, and I respect it for its epic scale and modular arrangement (though the BB's already did that several months earlier on Good Vibrations), but I've never thought it was a "great" song (both of the melodies in the two parts are "meh") - probably half the songs on Pepper alone I prefer more. Surf's Up can take a while to appreciate, but especially with that coda, it really has grown on me, so I'm voting for it in this contest.

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Surell

Damn this is hard. I'm one of the people who love that particular Beatles songs - it'd definitely have to be a top 5, and I'd probably say it exhibits their best songwriting - but "Surf's Up" is a masterpiece in its own right. There's not a song out there that sounds like it, it's got some cool little left turns, and, though it's so full grandeur, it's so very personal. Really, I wouldn't call it a social commentary song, but more of an observation on the inevitable aging process, on how we're always one step closer to misery and death or being brought down by life. Like the whole "Surf's up/aboard a tidal wave" idea; you think being atop a tidal wave is just where it's at, but really, it's just the predecessor to a great crash and a huge wipeout.

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DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

Contest #10: Battle of the "Baroque Pop" songs - "Caroline, No" vs "Fixing a Hole"

Lots of good contestants here, and hard to find close matches. This pair is just one possibility.

"Caroline, No" - recorded Jan 1966


"Fixing a Hole" - recorded Feb 1967


My Verdict: Caroline No is a great song, but I'll give the edge to Fixing a Hole.

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