Did the Beatles write all their own songs?

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neverfoundthetime
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Sat Apr 11, 2020 3:10 pm

We can blank out all the "conspiracy" stuff and still ask how was it the Beatles wrote all of that music. I acknowledge the points you made on the music, Walt, and the points Neil made in his vid. Its pretty much what I always have thought.

That the Beatles were John's band originally but became Paul's band with Sgt. Pepper, is probably not a contentious statement. Its a fascinating dynamic, John seemed to go of the boil and off the rails and Paul became a task master and obsessed with perfection and out put. I wonder what triggered that change. Drugs would be the first suspect and maybe previous trauma?
Hard work and drive does explain much of the success.

But I also wonder why Quincy Jones recently called the Beatles "non playing" so and sos?! I also picked up on Howard Goodall quizzing George Martin on the sophistication of the music, maybe insinuating GM had more of a hand in it than he was willing to admit?


unclewalt
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Sat Apr 11, 2020 5:10 pm

neverfoundthetime wrote:
We can blank out all the "conspiracy" stuff and still ask how was it the Beatles wrote all of that music. I acknowledge the points you made on the music, Walt, and the points Neil made in his vid. Its pretty much what I always have thought.

That the Beatles were John's band originally but became Paul's band with Sgt. Pepper, is probably not a contentious statement. Its a fascinating dynamic, John seemed to go of the boil and off the rails and Paul became a task master and obsessed with perfection and out put. I wonder what triggered that change. Drugs would be the first suspect and maybe previous trauma?
Hard work and drive does explain much of the success.

But I also wonder why Quincy Jones recently called the Beatles "non playing" so and sos?! I also picked up on Howard Goodall quizzing George Martin on the sophistication of the music, maybe insinuating GM had more of a hand in it than he was willing to admit?

I might have to watch a few swaths of that video just to see how insane it really is. I assume it must be off the rails. He doesn't seem to traffic in anything BUT conspiracy theories (note my non-use of quote marks there). I probably won't, though, because I don't want to give oxygen to the very stuff that's now threatening every life on the planet, and the future of democracy itself. The virus isn't a hoax, people! Just for starters.

Anyway, I'm no Beatles scholar, but that's generally true about Paul taking the leadership position. John's songwriting output didn't really drop off, though. I don't think. And I don't think it was "drugs," so much as just different personalities, and the way they handled fame. Paul was much more of a solid, middle-class type, and also I think much more of a pop craftsman (not that that means a better songwriter, necessarily). It seems to me that the more they wrote their own songs rather than trying to write them 50/50, the better off they were. The *input* they had on *each other's* songs was what made the magic. John and Paul were yin and yang, volatility and stability, and throwing George and even Ringo into the mix just made it that much more dynamic. And George Martin really was the fifth Beatle, yes! But they were still geniuses.

Bottom line, though: there has never been anything to indicate that the Beatles didn't write their own music, often with help, usually from Martin. Billy Preston had a major influence on a lot of "Let It Be," too. But it was mainly the Beatles. No band's activities have been more exhaustively documented. There's a creation story behind pretty much every single song, attested to by multiple people, or at least not disputed by anybody who was around. I believe YouTube charlatans might have in mind some objective other than simply informing people or furthering Beatles research.

Side note: I just happened to watch an interview with Ringo, where he said that John would give interviews, etc., and talk about "this great song of Paul's," or of George's, that they were working on and would be on the next album, and Paul never did that. It was magic in a bottle, but it couldn't, and didn't, last for very long. John was the same even just after the breakup-- like in that crazy 1970 interview he gave to Rolling Stone. He infamously didn't hold back on slagging Paul, but he also gave credit where it was due, honestly breaking down who did what on every song discussed. By contrast, Paul not very long ago mounted a public effort to have the writing credits reversed on songs he said he was more responsible for. I cringed when I saw that.

And speaking of that RS interview, let's enjoy this brilliant National Lampoon sendup, much of which is quotes from what Lennon said in it (warning: lots of screaming and bad language):



unclewalt
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Sat Apr 11, 2020 5:15 pm

This might be the best example of all of what I mean. One of my favorite Beatles cuts. They basically each wrote a song and then smashed them into each other like a couple of Mack trucks colliding head-on.



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neverfoundthetime
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Sun Apr 12, 2020 3:09 am

That National Lampoon video is a gem Walt, thank you!
The second vid illustrates your point on colliding songs nicely.
Justin Hayward's Question was a song where he ran two 8deas together and it worked brilliantly.
Conspiracy theories are a fact of our lives these days.
It can be used as a label, a cloaking device, to hide whole issues. A long time ago I lifted the lid on a couple of these and came out of it with knowledge I would otherwise not have, so I'm not phased by these things and have learned to look and learn or look and dismiss. I don't really want to discuss those things on TG forum.
It really is just about the music and the story of the Beatles for me.
Be well all!


thereshopeyet
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Sun Apr 12, 2020 6:30 am

Chris

Is it also true, you really wrote all the Moody Blues songs ?

:ohmy:


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neverfoundthetime
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Sun Apr 12, 2020 12:16 pm

Hey Dermot..... how did you guess? :)

Hope all is well in Blighty!


thereshopeyet
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Sun Apr 12, 2020 12:22 pm

. Image


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neverfoundthetime
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Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:51 pm

Yep, looks like it! :laugh: Glad you are in good form Dermot!


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