Beatles Essay, Research Paper
When people hear the name “The Beatles” most people think of lead singer,John Lennon. However, the role of Paul McCartney is often overlooked. Itwas McCartney, not Lennon who was the driving force behind the Beatles. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were in many bands together before the forming of the Beatles. In 1962, along with Ringo Starr andGeorge Harrison, they formed the rock group known as “The Beatles”. Thegroup featured a modern rock that was new and popular during the periodwith John and Paul composing and doing the leads on most of the songs.They were backed by George on rhythm and bass guitar and Ringo on drums.George and Ringo also assisted on backing vocals. When they first began playing, the main influence inside the band wasJohn Lennon, who had an uncanny ability to compose songs at a momentsnotice with an inspiration that others missed. He pushed the members ofthe band during their touring years and was able to achieve the bestpossible results from the group. The band began playing in a Music Hall style that is very effective for the audiences but was lacking on their albums. Togetherwith Paul, John began to evolve the band. As the years began to pass, theband was obviously beginning to grow musically. They had moved fromsimple lyrics like “Love me Do” to harshly aware reflections of life intheir home country in “Eleanor Rigby”. There were attempts, some moresuccessful than others, to incorporate the other Beatles into the ideastage. George Harrison made this leap successfully with such tracks as “Iwant to tell you”, “TAXMAN”, and the psychedelic “Love you to”. Ringo wasfeatured in the humorous “Yellow Submarine” As the group matured, theircreativity began to rely more on the effects and manipulations that theywere able to produce in the studio. The Beatles agreed to end theirtouring career after an American tour of large halls that they failed tofill. It was around this time, that John Lennon began to search forhimself. He began using any means that he thought might help him connect.This era was marked by the Beatles visits to the Maharashi Mahesh Yogi,and the beginning of heavy drug use . As Lennon began to use LSD ingreater and greater quantities, the other Beatles began to have moreand more influence in the production of the albums. Lennon began tobecome almost reclusive, and often delayed recording sessions. By the timethat they were recording Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967,Lennon would simply propose songs and themes, and McCartney was left toexecute the plans and tie together whims. They began to make demands ofthe crew: Beatles songs were quite simple in the early days, you couldn’tplay around with them too much. But by 1967 we were building soundpictures and my [George Martin] role had changed-it was to interpret thepictures and determine how best to get them down on tape. Paul wasfine-he could express what he wanted, the sounds he wanted nted to have. ButJohn…would make whooshing sounds and try to describe what only he couldonly hear in his head, saying he wanted a song to ’sound like anorange’. As soon as the Sgt. Pepper album was underway, Paul McCartneycame up with the idea of actually creating a band and performing thesongs as that band. They took the Idea from there and Sgt. Pepper’sLonely Heart’s Club Band came into existence, never to see the outside ofstudio 2 at Abbey Road. They spent nearly a year recording various tracksfor the album and John’s state of mind was steadily declining. In 1969when they issued Abbey Road it was no longer difficult to distinguishbetween the writings of Paul and John . John was producing works like “Iwant you (she’s so heavy)” which had the lyrics:
I want you so bad it’s driving me mad She’s so heavy6 And the more musical and thoughtful work of McCartney, such as “GoldenSlumbers” which was almost a lullaby: Once there was a way to get back homeward Once there was a way to get back home Sleep pretty darling do not cry And I will sing a lullaby Golden slumbers fill your eyes Smiles awake you when you rise Sleep pretty darling do not cry And I willsing a lullaby7 The writing of the material on The Beatles8 seemed more balanced asLennon began writing more cogent songs, and collaborating on asong-by-song basis with McCartney. Their songs varied from a slow balladin McCartney’s “Blackbird” to the bizarre and intriguing “Revolution #9)by Lennon. Yet McCartney was needed to control Lennon when he recordedthe original version of “Sexie Sadie” with the verse: You little twat Who the fuck do you think you are Who the fuck do you think you are Oh, you cunt.9 Fortunately McCartney prevented the track from proceeding any fartherthan rehearsal. He ended up suggesting that the song take a moresympathetic note and, eventually, Lennon agreed. During this time, onealmost constant presence in the recording studio was Yoko Ono, John’swife. This was against an unspoken code amongst the Beatles not to allowwives and girlfriends into the studio. Yoko had a large affect on John,almost completely altering his style, and inspiring such songs as “I wanther (she’s so heavy)” and “Revelation #9″. Many of the other songs thatYoko and John created were rejected by the group, but her presencechanged John’s behavior and performance. The Beatles final album togetherwas Let It Be released in 1970. The album was not in any way spectacularand exhibited many of the traits that are associated with the Beatleswriting. The title track, “Let It Be” is one of the most famous tracksrecorded by the group. The music on the album was a last chance effort tokeep the group together, and although the album was well received, it wasnot what the group had in mind. The Beatles did not make anotherrecording after that date, though there were rumors of the groupreforming until the shooting of Lennon in 1980. One of the most obvious indicators of the heavy hand that was often kept on Lennon is the progress of his band which he formedafter the breakup of the Beatles. The Plastic Ono Band was an onlymoderately successful group that took the popular psycedalia a few stepsto far and lost most of its popularity. Lennon attempted to entertheater, but it was quickly obvious that he was no actor. He lived abizarre and drug ridden life secluded in his apartment with his wife YokoOno and his son. Both he and his wife were reported to have seriousheroin addictions and were often said to be high in the presence ofvisitors. After the breakup, McCartney launched a moderately success-ful solocareer. He has released many recordings both in the United States andabroad. His most recent accomplishment was the “Liverpool Oratorio” whichis no small feat considering that McCartney never learned to read music.The songwriting styles, the studio records, and the individual careersall show that there was a very large influence in the group, and in themusic, by Paul McCartney. Equal to Lennon in the beginning, butsurpassing him at the conclusion of the relationship. Two key factorsthat probably caused this are his affection and infatuation with YokoOno, and the heavy use of hallucinogenic drugs. On some occasions, bothof those factors may have given Lennon inspiration for his music, butthey greatly reduced his control and influence in the band. Bibliography Bates, Norman “The Beatles Recording Sessions” Harmony Publishers Londonc. EMI Records Ltd. 1988 The Beatles Abbey Road EMI Records Ltd. 1969 _____ ____ The Beatles Let it Be Capitol Records 1970 ___ __ __ The Beatles Revolver EMI Records Ltd. 1966