I know! LOL - I miss those discussions so.

I love Sgt. Pepper and it is indeed, a great album. But, if you look at Modern Sounds then you say the beginning of genre-merging, which was still quite rare, particularly with country and soul/R&B. The purists still pretty much ruled the genres and wanted to keep that way. I think the influence was greater b/c of the genre-merging, which is so evident in music through the years after.

As for Sgt. Pepper, Paul McCartney has stated that he was influenced by Pet Sounds from The Beach Boys (let's just say, Brian Wilson). So, it wasn't groundbreaking in the sense that they had an overwhelming epiphany and created it themselves.

Let's discuss this further. I love the Beatles; however, I've noticed that when people throw up the Beatles as the end all and be all of music, they tend to not have strong arguments to back up what they say (not you, Hot Wax, just others I've debated music with). It's become so cliche to say they (and only them) had the greatest influence over music from the sixties on.

What do you think?


Tanya, The way I saw it and lived it, the Beatles were different and lead music and "attitudes in life" into a whole new era in the 60's and "us", who were kids back then are now leaders in world leading and teaching and living with that new cultured attitude in today's society. Think of the taboos of the past that are common place today because they aloud us to question and them and correct injustices just by saying a few simple words..."ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE" and the walls started to crumble down and our eyes and minds openned up for the first time in our lives, but not for all free lives. Yes their was Ray Charles, Elvis, and others that help change attitudes and the culture in America, but  the Beatles get the credit for changing the worlds attitude to human rights and the meaning of "A Free Mind and Body" and did it through the common interest of music. I personally think they were ''chosen" and used to do his work here on Earth, like the other "chosens" in our history he'll choose more as he needs them in the future.

It's not a cliche, it's a planted thought to be used for our benefit.

Hot Wax

Give Ray Charles's album the nod as Most Inspirational and the Beatles album Most Influential. I can't comprehend living my life in total blindness, but Ray performed beautifully with a strong passion, and also had to deal with prejudice and other personal issues, and yet was able to put out music that came from deep within his heart, specifically about love relationships and their ups and downs. The Beatles did this in their earlier albums but Sgt Pepper took you to a place you'd never been to before. They created and Ray related. You have 3 songwriters and 4 singers all putting their own imprint on the album. I remember being 11 years old when it released, my best friend called me over to listen to it. We sat in front of his record player and played it over and over, amazed at the music, the lyrics, the instruments, the vocals, and the images it was painting in my mind. I think that's the year I talked my parents into buying me an electric guitar for Christmas. The Beatles influenced in whatever they did at this time. We grew our hair long, we felt the need to be independant. Kind of like that scene from The Jerk with Steve Martin when he hears a song on the radio and it inspires him to go out and see the world. "if this is out there, think how much more is out there"

Give Ray Charles's album the nod as Most Inspirational and the Beatles album Most Influential. I can't comprehend living my life in total blindness, but Ray performed beautifully with a strong passion, and also had to deal with prejudice and other personal issues, and yet was able to put out music that came from deep within his heart, specifically about love relationships and their ups and downs. The Beatles did this in their eearlier albums but Sgt Pepper took you to a place you'd never been to before. They created and Ray related. You have 3 songwriters and 4 singers all putting their own imprint on the album. I remember being 11 years old when it released, my best friend called me over to listen to it. We sat in front of his record player and played it over and over, amazed at the music, the lyrics, the instruments, the vocals, and the images it was painting in my mind. I think that's the year I talked my parents into buying me an electric guitar for Christmas. The Beatles influenced in whatever they did at this time. We grew our hair long, we felt the need to be independant. Kind of like that scene from The Jerk with Steve Martin when he hears a song on the radio and it inspires him to go out and see the world. "if this is out there, think how much more is out there"


Yes, you said it best, Ray Charles was more "inspirational" and the Beatles "influential"...