It is not really possible for later generations to understand the central and dominating place that The Beatles had in British cultural life through the middle and late 1960s. And this can never be replicated because it was due to a particular and transient phase in society and technology.
So, in this sense The Beatles are (for Brits, anyway) so much the number one pop group, that whoever is number two (and that is not at all obvious) is so far behind as for there to be no competition.
And by my evaluation, The Beatles released a large number of very good singles, in many styles, across several years - as well as a fair bit of dire and dreary, pretentious stuff - especially in their later years.
But also by my evaluation, Not One of The Beatles singles was what I would regard as first rate*.
Which is an interesting combination!
Here we have what I regard as the number one band of all time, yet a band that never (IMO) released a first rate track!
A few examples of my first rate singles for that general era include Gimme Some Lovin by the Spencer Davies Group, Silence is Golden by the Tremeloes, Knock on Wood by Eddie Floyd, Daydream Believer by The Monkees, Long Shot Kick de Bucket by The Pioneers, Liquidator by the Harry J All Stars...
Many of these groups were, more or less, "one hit wonders" - never again attaining the same heights.
This provides a clue.
Pop music is - at its best - an almost accidental, but at any rate irreproducible-to-order, product of an ephemeral combination of youth, talent, and inspiration - attuned with a cultural moment.
Most of the long-lived and culturally significant bands and artists - no matter how musically talented and productive of good quality - never released what I would evaluate to be a genuinely first rate single: Elton John is a clear instance.
Also; despite The Beatles, the 1960s was Not the peak of pop music in Britain: that came afterwards, in the late 70s and early 80s.
21 comments:
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was an iconic single
A somewhat parallel case is Charles Dickens -- generally understood to be the greatest English novelist despite no one of his novels being incontestably great.
This post got me thinking of what the greatest pop songs of the sixties were, which was harder than I'd expected. It turns out that "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)" by the Everly Brothers and "Cool Water" by Marty Robbins were both fifties songs, while "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" by the Temptations wasn't released until the seventies. The only first-rate sixties pop songs I was able to think of (besides "Daydream Believer," which you already got) are "Sloop John B" by the Beach Boys, "Something in the Way She Moves" by James Taylor, and "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell.
I remember reading somewhere the opinion that "A Day in the Life" was the greatest pop song ever recorded -- because of course the Beatles were the greatest group, and Sgt. Pepper was the greatest Beatles album, so it had to be something from that album. I think the conclusion is self-evidently absurd despite the arguable truth of the premises.
Prudence dictates that I be succinct, yet allow me to testify that no more than a couple of hours before checking in on your blog I was musing about how the Beatles, due to their many tuneful pop songs and despite being a rock and roll band, had such appeal that it went beyond the infamous sixties generation of youths to occasionally delight even their parent cohort. In essence, I was entertaining the idea of the Beatles' massive reach. Whether the thought be true or not, it is at least parallel to your post, and thus a kind of synchronicity.
But let me adduce 'Something,' released as a single in late '69. Is it not first-rate?
@Phil G - Well, for me it isn't even sencond rate, and I can only speak for myself.
@WmJas - We have pretty different taste in pop, but I would agree with Sloop John B, and a few other Beach Boys (early ish).
@Wade - A good single, but not great (for me).
Which Beatles songs besides singles would you count as first rate, if any?
@Owen - None, but I don't know everything they released on LP.
'Most of the long-lived and culturally significant bands and artists - no matter how musically talented and productive of good quality - never released what I would evaluate to be a genuinely first rate single: Elton John is a clear instance.'
I don't like them too much but what do you think in this regard of The Bee Gees and ABBA?
Incidentally, since I mentioned 'Something,' and since I had to google it in order to know whether or not it was a 'single' (which I assumed was a specific limitation of the original post), I failed to discern that it was released as such fifty-seven years ago this very day in the U.S.A.--October 6, 1969.
@Owen - Not the BeeGees, but at least a couple by ABBA off the top of my head - Dancing Queen and Take a Chance With Me.
@WmJas - Another example to compare with Dickens is Terry Pratchett.
I would imagine the Beatles had at least twenty first-rate songs. But I would definitely be lobbying for A Day in the Life, In My Life, Get Back, Come Together, and a few others.
Not that I think I have any taste in music.
That's super-weird!
I'm not from that generation and I'm not British, so I never cared too much for the Beatles (and John Lennon's single career was annoying -- Paul McCartney's a bit better).
But I do think that the mid-70s until mid-80s was the real peak of British pop/rock music. And this almost independently of what specific subgenre you liked -- there was seemingly something for everyone. But it all ended by the late 80s when a more manufactured and less interesting style started to emerge, and also by then the center of pop music moved definitely to the US and no longer Britain.
(Not that I am a specialist in pop music or care much about it these days -- it's just an impression. But it could simply be that I grew up listening to bands from the 1970s and 80s and so naturally consider them more important...)
The Beatles' first-rate single is Siouxsie and the Banshees' cover of "Dear Prudence". I'm being totally serious when I say it's the creepiest song I've ever heard (in a very good way) and among the 20 best pop songs I've ever heard. Somehow Lennon's psychedelic meandering is transformed into the most intense sense of foreboding I've ever heard.
It moves me notably more than any track performed by the Beatles, so I guess I'm agreeing with Bruce's thesis.
As somebody invoked the divinity ABBA, I am compelled to note that Dancing Queen is my canonical Platonic form of the perfect pop song. To my ears, there are at least five separate first-rate melodic hooks in that song, and every flourish, every fill, is just perfectly calibrated to maximize pop pleasure. In Heaven, next to The Book of optimally elegant mathematical proofs posited by Erdös, lies a Book of Pop with Dancing Queen on page 1.
"The Winner Takes It All" is also first-rate, although its profound sadness limits its audience. It still makes me cry regularly after 30 years of listening to it.
@Jonathan - A similar derivation is Start by The Jam, which I would say is first rate, and is built on a riff taken from The Beatles. The Jam were HUGE in the UK, but never crossed the pond - like a fair bit of the very best of British such as Madness.
Totally Agree about Dancing Queen, and the lyrics are also right up there. Can't listen to that one without my eyes filling, it is so absolutely perfect of its kind.
But ABBA were (like Madness, Blondie, or The Beach Boys) a major pop group with several first class singles, which is what would be expected from a major group - but The Beatles are the surprise exception.
@Jonathan - I find Blondie's Atomic to be natural but antithetical pairing with Dancing Queen - not so "perfect" but extraordinarily creative, bold, lyrical and with astonishing use of rhythm.
https://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/2018/11/blondie-atomic-for-your-beautiful.html
Aside; the last mainstream single (also in this "epic" mode) that I found solidly first rate was another one-hit-wonder - Titanium by David Guetta/ Sia.
i don't know about singles or first rates, but to my ears these songs are all very beautiful and worthy of being saved when the armageddon comes: Eleanor Rigby, Norwegian Wood, I'm Only Sleeping, Here There and Everywhere, For No One, Fixing a Hole, She's Leaving Home, I Am the Walrus, Strawberry Fields Forever (my favorite of all, probably), and Blackbird.
Have you heard Sia's album "Some People Have Real Problems"? She had a brief moment as a very moving soul singer before flattening her sound into mainstream pop. Her songs with Zero 7, especially "Destiny" and "Distractions" from the (classic electronic) album "Simple Things" are also very special. You'll hear the talent of her unique voice/style better in these songs than in Titanium.
I love this thread, but my favorite part is Dickens as the literary Beatles- how true! I like nearly every Beatles song but only Yesterday and Here Comes the Sun stand out, the latter because it was sung to me as a lullaby as a child. I grew up amongst “serious music people” and they were always great admirers of the Beatles as songwriters (though not as musicians).
Most pop though is solidly in the “I don’t get it” category for me, as much as I enjoy having it explained to me. If it’s about music that produces a certain sense of peppy fun, then for me the number of pop songs that even exist is extremely small and Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money is on the short list, but if “pop” is defined literally as a certain threshold of popularity (or intention to be popular) then the category is too broad to be musically definable. But since I only really like a subset of Prog Rock and most New Wave, I accept that I am unqualified to judge these things!
Back in the ̶U̶S̶S̶R̶ 2010's with this number of comments.
I reckon Television's Marquee Moon is a song that never achieves the greatness promised by the first 30 seconds. Not uncommon for me to find uncluttered intro's the most appealing part of a song as I don't have much of an ear.
Your output continues to astound me, thanks.
Thanks for that list of songs, Dr. Charlton. Some of them I hadn't even thought about or heard for many years. I added them to a playlist to enjoy during my commute :-)
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