Beatles songs pre Sgt. Pepper vs post Sgt. Pepper

User avatar
neverfoundthetime
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
Status: Offline

Wed Aug 14, 2019 7:39 am

Having just watched Yesterday, an amusing take on what the world would be like if almost no one had heard Beatles songs, I am wondering what folks think about the change in the Beatles music with the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band? I hope Neil chimes in big time on this as he will be pretty much an expert on the music itself. I am wondering, just what is so different in the Beatles' music pre-Pepper / post Pepper?
One thing stands out for me, it seems The Beatles became Paul's band with Pepper with Paul taking the creative lead and becoming, by all accounts, a workaholic. I loved Rubber Soul and Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's is/was certainly something else and ground breaking. But what are the changes in the actual music pre/post Pepper. Any takers?


User avatar
daryl
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 9:21 am
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Status: Offline

Wed Aug 14, 2019 8:41 am

What are the changes in the actual music? In a word I would say "maturity".

And the maturity began to show itself with Rubber Soul: If I Needed Someone, What Goes On, Run For Your Life were part of the early/immature stuff, while Girl, Wait, Think for Yourself, and In My Life were the start of the more mature stuff.

In addition the music moved away from the early sound of 3 guitars and drums to a more complex sound (almost orchestral in nature).


User avatar
neverfoundthetime
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
Status: Offline

Wed Aug 14, 2019 1:42 pm

Good point on the addition of more instruments and orchestration, Daryl. They went from a live band to a studio band after their last tour of the States, that's for sure. I was wondering about the structure of songs and how the music was constructed. I am also wondering why Paul seemed to take charge of the creativity of the band if indeed that's what happened.


User avatar
daryl
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 9:21 am
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Status: Offline

Wed Aug 14, 2019 2:50 pm

They were always looking for new and different sounds. For example, who else was playing the "comb" in their songs in 1967 besides the Beatles (Lovely Rita)? Paul, was definitely a perfectionist when it came to the studio. His bass playing came to the forefront and was much more melodic and interesting. Listen to his bass playing in "Think for Yourself", "With a Little Help from My Friends", and "Penny Lane". John was too into drugs to be bothered with working too hard on his songs. He was very impatient and simply wanted to get his song released. A great example of that is "Instant Karma", he wrote it in the morning, recorded it that afternoon, and released it the next day (of something real close to that). George was always throttled by Paul and John.

I'm sure Neil will have something to say about the song structures and instrumentations......


Post Reply Previous topicNext topic