The other day was Ringo's 70th birthday. There was an article in the paper that stated that the Beatles are timeless.


Ringo turns 70

EDUARDO PORTER The New York Times - Published: July 8, 2010

Ringo Starr is turning 70 on Wednesday. It feels as though youth itself is now 70 years old.

I wasn’t yet 6 when the Beatles played their last live performance atop the Apple Corps building on Savile Row in London, January 1969. They split four years before I got my first Beatles album. Still, I can keep track of my teenage years by Beatles songs I happened to be enthralled with at the time. Forty years after the Beatles broke up, my 6-year-old son is learning to play “Eleanor Rigby” on the piano.

Not only are the Beatles the best-selling act of all time, but everybody has done their songs, from Jimi Hendrix to David Bowie to Elton John. “Strawberry Fields Forever” has been covered by Aimee Mann and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs of Argentina. The Brazilian band Os Mutantes sneaked the guitar solo from “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” into its hit “Ando Meio Desligado.” Sesame Street’s songbook includes “Hey Food,” and “Letter B.”

In 2001, the compilation album “1” was the best-selling album in the United States and Britain. “It’s beyond an obsession. It’s an ideal for living,” Noel Gallagher of the 1990s British-pop band Oasis once said. “With every song that I write, I compare it to the Beatles.”

It is somewhat odd that the musical tastes of today’s youth are still linked closely to a band that released its last album when the parents of today’s teenagers hadn’t even met and music still came on vinyl. When Ringo was born, the median life expectancy in the United States was only 63. More than half the 20-somethings who paid $4.50 for a ticket to their last concert in Candlestick Park in 1966 are dead by now.

Maybe the famously self-centered boomer generation into which the Beatles poured their music never grew up. Like no generation before, boomers crafted identities out of tastes for music, dress and politics. As we moved into middle age, we brought along the Beatles and passed them on to our kids.

Wherever it comes from, there is some unique quality about what the Beatles had to offer. It’s not as good as eternal youth, but it is a close second. To me, their music does not sound any older than when 64 was a much longer way off. Maybe this is what we mean by timelessness. It’s turning 70 while remaining 24 at the same time.


Eduardo Porter is an editorial writer for The New York Times.


I am sure that everyone on this board, no matter how old you are, know much of the Beatles music. For me, many songs reminds me of certain times in my life-and most of them were many years AFTER the Fab Four broke up. For instance:

-Let It Be reminds me of the first place I ever lived and a dream I once had. (Long story).
-Yellow Submarine reminds me of 1st & 2nd grade. We used to sing "We all live in a yellow school bus" on our way to and from school.
-We sang Penny Lane & 8 Days A Week in chorus in 7th grade.
-I Want You (from Abbey Road) reminds me of when I was 16 and babysitting in the late 70s.
-A Day In The Life reminds me of high school (not sure why it just does). 
-The entire White Album reminds me of when I was dating Carlos. (He made me a copy of it and I listened to it A LOT.)


I'm sure there are many more. What Beatles songs played a role in your life?



Cat

I listened to lots of Beatles music in the 70s, and more so when I bought the double red and double blue albums. (the one where the inside cover shows that blond kid inside the fence when everyone else was outside. How'd he get there?)  More guys at school thought John was the coolest, and the girls liked Paul.

I didn't have any **Special ** memories like you did, more general memories like hanging out with friends and listening to the Beatles, over and over again. My favorite songs are "Yesterday" and "Help" and "Here comes the sun"

The Beatles are timeless, their songs are generally simple and beautiful, back when people knew how to sing  songs.
I had all their albums, and have most CDs. In the caption in my high-school yearbook, it was written that I'd spend lots of money to see them reunited and was the biggest Beatles fan at school. (yearbook done before John's death)
Love the Beatles...

I listened to lots of Beatles music in the 70s, and more so when I bought the double red and double blue albums. (the one where the inside cover shows that blond kid inside the fence when everyone else was outside. How'd he get there?)   More guys at school thought John was the coolest, and the girls liked Paul.

I didn't have any **Special ** memories like you did, more general memories like hanging out with friends and listening to the Beatles, over and over again. My favorite songs are "Yesterday" and "Help" and "Here comes the sun"

The Beatles are timeless, their songs are generally simple and beautiful, back when people knew how to sing  songs.
I had all their albums, and have most CDs. In the caption in my high-school yearbook, it was written that I'd spend lots of money to see them reunited and was the biggest Beatles fan at school. (yearbook done before John's death)
Love the Beatles...



My yearbook mentioned John.


Several years back, Carlos & I went halves to get the entire collection of CDs-these are the 13, not any of the Greatest Hits or Anthology. Since then, I have been wanting to pick a day and just play ALL of them (in order of course) one right after the other. But, so far, I haven't done it.



Cat

My yearbook mentioned John.


Several years back, Carlos & I went halves to get the entire collection of CDs-these are the 13, not any of the Greatest Hits or Anthology. Since then, I have been wanting to pick a day and just play ALL of them (in order of course) one right after the other. But, so far, I haven't done it.



Cat

How about early 2014, Beatles 50th anniversary on Ed Sullivan?

How about early 2014, Beatles 50th anniversary on Ed Sullivan?



Good idea.



Cat

I was born long after Beatlemania was over, but I was in time for the end of Wings.

Even in the 80's, the Beatles were still popular, landing a 1982 Top 40 hit with 'The Beatles Movie Medley'.  As well, a Matthew Broderick lip synch in a little known 1986 film (lol) sent 'Twist and Shout' back into the Top 40.

Hard to pick just 1 fave song, but in a sort of related note, my favourite Beatles cover song is still 'Strawberry Fields Forever' by Candy Flip from 1990.  Another good one was 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' by Jeff Healy Band, also 1990.

Sir Paul is opening on new Hockey stadium in August.  Tickets are sold out and probably would have been too rich for my blood anyways.

Aside from the usual nursery rhymes and lullabies, the first songs I remember are Beatles Songs.  "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Hello, Goodbye," "Eleanor Rigby," "I Dig a Pony" just to name a few.  My parents and their friends, then in their early thirties were enamored with the Fab Four.  The Beatles appealed to my father more than most popular music (as did Zappa) for their intellectual prowess and musical chemistry.  

I don't think much about my childhood when I listen to the Beatles.  It's not nostalgic for me because there's always something new to hear.  There's always something you realize you never noticed, whether it's in the chord structure, the lyrics, the arrangement, or the instrumentation.   Once again, I hear Zappa through the same lens.  Yes, you can hear through a Lens if you take the Mickey Mouse tabs.

Lennon and McCartney also had an interest in the musique concrete movement, which was mostly tape music in those days.  "Revolution Number 9" is an example of this interest.  It's not the best tape music piece I've ever heard (Ingram Marshall's "Cortez" from 1972 is), but it's a great one.  Zappa also used tape music and musique concrete techniques on pieces such as "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music" and "Return of the Son of Monster Magnet."

There are beautiful sentimental songs I love by the Beatles, such as "Hey Jude," "Blackbird," and "Yesterday."  Here they've got Frank Zappa beat.  Zappa's satire could make you think, but never grip your heart the way "The Long and Winding Road" does.  I am in a minority who admit to liking what Phil Spector did to that song.  
:-Andrew Johnson was waiting in the wings.  Americans were still held hostage in Iran.  The economy was going into the ditch.  It was already a nervous time.  We didn't need a cracked-up kid like Mark David Chapman to blow Lennon away!
>:(

What has always impressed me the most about the Beatles is how they evolved from teeny boopers into really mature musicians, how their music kept growing and branching in different directions, and how they both reflected and directed the mood of the times. 

I can't really say I have any favorite songs, since I really like the entire body of their work, but some that have already been mention ed do stand out.

Aside from the usual nursery rhymes and lullabies, the first songs I remember are Beatles Songs.  "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Hello, Goodbye," "Eleanor Rigby," "I Dig a Pony" just to name a few.  My parents and their friends, then in their early thirties were enamored with the Fab Four.  The Beatles appealed to my father more than most popular music (as did Zappa) for their intellectual prowess and musical chemistry.  

I don't think much about my childhood when I listen to the Beatles.  It's not nostalgic for me because there's always something new to hear.  There's always something you realize you never noticed, whether it's in the chord structure, the lyrics, the arrangement, or the instrumentation.   Once again, I hear Zappa through the same lens.  Yes, you can hear through a Lens if you take the Mickey Mouse tabs.

Lennon and McCartney also had an interest in the musique concrete movement, which was mostly tape music in those days.  "Revolution Number 9" is an example of this interest.  It's not the best tape music piece I've ever heard (Ingram Marshall's "Cortez" from 1972 is), but it's a great one.  Zappa also used tape music and musique concrete techniques on pieces such as "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music" and "Return of the Son of Monster Magnet."

There are beautiful sentimental songs I love by the Beatles, such as "Hey Jude," "Blackbird," and "Yesterday."  Here they've got Frank Zappa beat.  Zappa's satire could make you think, but never grip your heart the way "The Long and Winding Road" does.  I am in a minority who admit to liking what Phil Spector did to that song.  
:-Andrew Johnson was waiting in the wings.  Americans were still held hostage in Iran.  The economy was going into the ditch.  It was already a nervous time.  We didn't need a cracked-up kid like Mark David Chapman to blow Lennon away!
>:(



I don't remember the outpouring of emotion when John was murdered (unlike Michael Jackson), but I do remember that I shed a tear.



What has always impressed me the most about the Beatles is how they evolved from teeny boopers into really mature musicians, how their music kept growing and branching in different directions, and how they both reflected and directed the mood of the times. 

I can't really say I have any favorite songs, since I really like the entire body of their work, but some that have already been mention ed do stand out.



Like you say, they did mature but I do like the fact that each one of them brought their own creativity to the group. As you listen to each song in their later albums, you can distinguish which one was dominated in the writing, orchestration, etc. of each song.



Cat

I don't remember the outpouring of emotion when John was murdered (unlike Michael Jackson), but I do remember that I shed a tear.


Cat

I do. Many buddies of mine went downtown to a candle light love-in the evening of December 9th. I had a dentist appointment that actual morning, when everyone found out he was killed. As I sat in the waiting room, I listened to all the others talk about the Beatles and listened to their songs on the radio.

As I waited and waited, suddenly my dental hygienist ran out to reception and cried out "I can't work anymore today, I just (expletive) found out Lennon was killed. I have to go see my shrink now", and she left.  I went to school after my appointment and many of my friends came over to me and hugged me or patted me on the shoulder as if I had just lost a family relative...

It's one of the days I remember well.

My poor sister had to go to school on the verge of tears.  While she was there a jock yelled at her "Hey, I'm John Lennon!," and pantomimed a man getting shot.  Pretty sick.

There were candlelight vigils across the country for John Lennon.  It was more shocking than Michael Jackson because Lennon was returning to the spotlight when he was cut down by an assassins bullet.  The truth about Michael Jackson is the difference between pop cultural icon versus cultural icon.  Lennon was the latter.  Lennon was emblematic of a generation's statement in favor of peace, love, understanding, and personal freedom.  Lennon was at worst innocuous, in spite of what Nixon and Hoover thought.

The Beatles are a great study in human synchronicity.  The functioned as a band far better than any of them managed to do solo in or in later collaborative efforts. 

I pick "Revolver" as the best example of this synchronicity. 

In later albums such as "The Beatles" (aka. "The White Album"), Abbey Road, and Let It Be, there were bigger budgets and way more overdubbing.  Thus, the group were allowed to write solo or in collaboration with one or other band members (or Yoko) and still come up with something all four Beatles could agree on as album material.  Even my favorite, "Revolution Number Nine."
:)

My poor sister had to go to school on the verge of tears.  While she was there a jock yelled at her "Hey, I'm John Lennon!," and pantomimed a man getting shot.  Pretty sick.

There were candlelight vigils across the country for John Lennon.  It was more shocking than Michael Jackson because Lennon was returning to the spotlight when he was cut down by an assassins bullet.  The truth about Michael Jackson is the difference between pop cultural icon versus cultural icon.  Lennon was the latter.  Lennon was emblematic of a generation's statement in favor of peace, love, understanding, and personal freedom.  Lennon was at worst innocuous, in spite of what Nixon and Hoover thought.

The Beatles are a great study in human synchronicity.  The functioned as a band far better than any of them managed to do solo in or in later collaborative efforts. 

I pick "Revolver" as the best example of this synchronicity. 

In later albums such as "The Beatles" (aka. "The White Album"), Abbey Road, and Let It Be, there were bigger budgets and way more overdubbing.  Thus, the group were allowed to write solo or in collaboration with one or other band members (or Yoko) and still come up with something all four Beatles could agree on as album material.  Even my favorite, "Revolution Number Nine."
:)



I think that was because in 1967 they founded Apple Records which meant they had creativity freedom-and could move away from the cookie-cutter bubblegum stuff they wrote in the beginning. Not saying that the bubblegum stuff they wrote in the beginning is bad-I do love a lot of their earlier stuff. It is just their later stuff was totally different than what was produced in those days.



Cat

The Beatles were a little out of my time-frame sadly, but by the time I entered my teens, I was making up for it big time...so much so that, like Frank above, I was considered something of a Beatles nut at school, much to the bemusement of my friends at the time!

At Christmastime 1980, I became the proud owner of a complete stack of Beatles LPs (my main present that year, no less!), although somewhat spoiled by Lennon's murder not a few weeks beforehand...

Remember that day well...I was actually 'woken up' to the news as the event occurred in the dead of night British time...

I think a lot of my schoolfriends thought I was gonna be in some kind of mourning, but I think sheer disbelief was the mood of the time...

I think that was because in 1967 they founded Apple Records which meant they had creativity freedom-and could move away from the cookie-cutter bubblegum stuff they wrote in the beginning. Not saying that the bubblegum stuff they wrote in the beginning is bad-I do love a lot of their earlier stuff. It is just their later stuff was totally different than what was produced in those days.



Cat


The living legend status, the big money, and the psychedelics defined the later Beatle era.  For the most part, it did each one good being on his own to discover what he will.  However, what suffered was the strict group cohesiveness.  This is the difference between "Revolver" and "Let it Be."

The living legend status, the big money, and the psychedelics defined the later Beatle era.  For the most part, it did each one good being on his own to discover what he will.  However, what suffered was the strict group cohesiveness.  This is the difference between "Revolver" and "Let it Be."

The cohesiveness began to disappear just before recording the White Album ( and during/after their trip to India).

I usually lump Rubber Soul and Revolver together, they have similarities. My favorite part of a Beatles album was Abbey road, side 2.

The cohesiveness began to disappear just before recording the White Album ( and during/after their trip to India).

I usually lump Rubber Soul and Revolver together, they have similarities. My favorite part of a Beatles album was Abbey road, side 2.



I have a special kinship to Abbey Road. It was my very first Beatles album and probably my favorite (or at least in the top 5).



Cat

My favorite part of a Beatles album was Abbey road, side 2.


I normally tend to shy away from their later stuff, most of it is too self-indulgent...but the 'medley' sequence is something else completely!

Considering the fractousness of the band at this stage, the fact that they could churn out something like this was nothing short of astounding!

I normally tend to shy away from their later stuff, most of it is too self-indulgent...but the 'medley' sequence is something else completely!

Considering the fractousness of the band at this stage, the fact that they could churn out something like this was nothing short of astounding!

I read that after 1968, there were sings the band was splitting apart, so they wanted to make 1 more great album, together. I believe Abbey Road side 2 is evidence of greatness. (except for "Her Majesty" LOL!)

I read that after 1968, there were sings the band was splitting apart, so they wanted to make 1 more great album, together. I believe Abbey Road side 2 is evidence of greatness. (except for "Her Majesty" LOL!)



It seemed like by that time every one of them was so rich he could go live on one of five continents any time it pleased him.  They were all too focused on the greatness of their art as discrete artist, and not concerned enough with keeping the cohesion of the Fab Four intact.

This was still the same band that sang "She Loves You," yet they were all so different.  If one of he Beatles went on to make music I would really like, it was going to have bot be John.  "Double Fantasy" was a pop music album, sure, but I think Lennon would have done some curious music in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Together they managed to reshape pop music.  Apart they managed to play the same pop music.

It seemed like by that time every one of them was so rich he could go live on one of five continents any time it pleased him.  They were all too focused on the greatness of their art as discrete artist, and not concerned enough with keeping the cohesion of the Fab Four intact.

This was still the same band that sang "She Loves You," yet they were all so different.  If one of he Beatles went on to make music I would really like, it was going to have bot be John.  "Double Fantasy" was a pop music album, sure, but I think Lennon would have done some curious music in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Together they managed to reshape pop music.  Apart they managed to play the same pop music.

The Beatles got older, had girlfriends, wives ( or both ), priorities change from when you are 20 to 30 years old. They had lives to lead...and going on tour everywhere for a few years (early 60s until Aug 1966) together, I'd probably get sick of the guy on the next bed too!

I agree, I imagine ( no pun intended) John (and Yoko) would have co-written some curious/interesting music in the 80s