I think Gladwell is a great writer, but he kind of misses the point.

The Beatles weren't known for their musicianship, they were known for their song-writing, and that didn't have a lot to do with them playing in Hamburg.

Lennon was great, McCartney was great, but Lennon & McCartney was/is simply unmatched.

^ They didn't become known for their songwriting until years after they became popular. Also, there are very few examples of good songwriting in those early songs (first 3 albums).

If you're trying to tell me that a song like "She loves you" became popular because of its great lyrics, you must be insane. For example:

She says she loves you
And you know that can't be bad.
Yes, she loves you
And you know you should be glad.

In the beginning the Beatles was, among other things, best known for their catchy melodies, which incorporated a lot of harmonies and a steady rhythm section. The most important reason they played so well together, both on stage and in the studio, was that they had a lot of practice at it. One random fact; their first album "Please Please Me" was recorded in less than10 hours, so they obviously were great musicians and used to playing together. It wasn't until later (around the release of Rubber Soul" in 1965) that their lyrics really started getting excellent.

He's not even knocking their songwriting or their musicianship, merely pointing out that they were not sudden musical (or lyrical) geniuses. It took a lot of work. And, like most great artists, they sucked early on.

>> ^rasch187:
^ They didn't become known for their songwriting until years after they became popular.


What, are you stoned again?

They were popular almost immediately when they got Epstien and came to America. They had some good covers, but all of their great songs were originals.

And even you must understand that a song is more than just its lyrics.

Gladwell is saying that the Beatles weren't prodigies because they spent so much time playing in Germany. I like Gladwell, but maybe he doesn't realize that there were a lot of bands all around Europe doing almost the exact same thing.

Lennin and McCarthy were absolutely prodigies, and the two of them together were dynamos.

The Beatles are proof of human alchemy: you mix the right people together, you get explosive results.

And I am shocked...shocked! that you can't see that, rasch.

Moving this video to jacobrecker's personal queue. It failed to receive enough votes to get sifted up to the front page within 2 days.

*beg

Sending this video to Beggar's Canyon to plea for a little attention - beg requested by original submitter jacobrecker.

it was just a different scene... the beatles were the first boy band.

they had the right stuff.. talent + marketability.. and the game has never been the same.

mccartney looks about half dead now but maybe he just has massively great chronic.