I came across this brief article via an acquaintance of a friend: Beatles versus the Stones: Who’s better?

Personally, I agree wholeheartedly with the last sentence.

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"The primary purpose of a liberal education is to make one's mind a pleasant place in which to spend one's leisure."
- Sydney J. Harris

The Kinks are good. I have some of their stuff in SACD surround.
Good stuff.
I bought the Beatles remixed CD set and they do sound better.
One day, they'll do the whole thing in SACD....

Beatles beat the Stones, BTW.

It's subjective isn't it?

Do you like green better than red? If so, on what?

Are we talking better music, lyrics, band, recordings?

Kinks.. not for me.. Stones? They coulda, woulda, but never quite did it for me. Only when Mick Taylor was with them
did they ever do anything that resembled 'quality' music. But 'quality' doesn't account for taste. Taylor was, IMO, the
one who brought the Stones near to the status of musicians.

Jagger: does he even sing? Other than Ruby Tuesday he more talks than sings..

Richards: well, he's distinctive, but hardly a world class guitarist. Very good at riffs though and that's what makes him Keef

Jones: unique,, added a 'somethig' layer to their music that was never there since.

Taylor: By far, the best proper musician in the band. It shows (for me anyway) in the songs they did while he was around.

Watts: did the job and is a pretty good drummer. A little bland but the music lends itself to that. I like him better when he
plays with others.

Wyman adequate bass.. no complaints. I like him better when he plays with others.

Wood:.. whatever.. can't name a thing he plays that's distinctive.



Beatles... changed the world of recorded music. One listen to the top 100 songs in 1961 versus the top 100 after 1964
is evidence enough that The Beatles changed the world of music. From being a self contained group, to the advances in
recording technology, they blew the world away. They wrote, sang and played their own stuff.. ground-breaking at the time.

Lennon: One of the best rock 'n' roll singers that ever lived. Twist & Shout and This Boy are prime examples.
When he chooses, no one can match his intensity. Terribly, criminally under-rated guitarist. I learned recently
from reading Geoff Emerick's book that he recorded his guitar track on I Feel Fine on an acoustic guitar..
The guitar that opens the song at the 10th fret, feed back and the riff.. all on acoustic.. which, as a guitarist, is amazing to me.

McCartney: hands down the bass player who broke the mold of what bass playing is. Isolate his bass lines sometimes.
He was also a decent drummer and good guitarist/piano player and great singer. His singing often overlooked because
of Lennon's other-world singing ability.

Harrison: I liked him..

Starr: While not technically a great drummer, he was and is a very musical drummer. Like Keith Moon only not so spazzy.
Each and every Beatles song had a different drum beat. Any Beatles song can be determined by the drum beat itself.
Not a show-off, not flashy, but beyond distinctive. Like many Beatles songs, Come Together and Ticket to Ride and not be
played without Ringos distinctive beat. They are the groove, the song in themselves..

Yes. The Beatles. Win.

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"Socialism needs two legs on which to stand; a right and a left.
While appearing to be in complete opposition to one another,
they both march in the same direction."

The Davies mocked both the Stone and Beatles in a subtle way but they were crazy genius.

I guess when I look at my collection, I have every last Kinks album, and only about 30% of the Stone and Beatles stuff....

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Ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quid loquantur.

I think the bass line of "Rain" is one of the few to which I find myself spontaneously thrumming with air guitar in hand...exquisite!

All I have time to say is: "Ditto!"

_________________
"The primary purpose of a liberal education is to make one's mind a pleasant place in which to spend one's leisure."
- Sydney J. Harris

Wow, Lemontin. Hit the nail on the head.

Harrison developed his slide guitar skills a little too late. Wonder what would have happened if he
had picked this up a little sooner.

Don't forget Lennons piano skills.

I know of only one song that The Beatles used a slide guitar on, and it was Lennon who played it, even though it was Harrison's song I believe.

Perhaps Harrison would have got to slide playing earlier if he would have pulled his head out of Ravi's butt.

_________________
"Socialism needs two legs on which to stand; a right and a left.
While appearing to be in complete opposition to one another,
they both march in the same direction."

I'd have to say the Beatles changed music forever, indeed. The Stones also influenced music dramatically. I personally like the Stone's better than I like the Beatles' fare... not to say I dislike the Beatles, and even at that, I like the Stone's early to mid 70's stuff way better than that before or after.



Paul was HEAVILY influenced by James Jameson of Motown fame, hands down the best bassist ever, IMO.



I forget if it was John or Ringo who commented that Benny Benjamin's snare hits sounded like he hit the snare "with a bloody tree" and that Motown influenced the Beatles... and music in general. "The Motown Sound" of the Funk Brothers' era indeed changed music perhaps more than the Beatles or Rolling Stones. Motown was already over the peak of the main hill when the Beatles came along, and it influenced American music as much as the Beatles influenced music in the UK.

Both the Beatles and the Stones were influenced by Motown, the Stones probably more than the Beatles.

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"And the one in the reeeear.... burned his driver's license!" - Johnny Cash

When John Lennon was asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world.. Mr. Acerbic replied:
He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles..

According to Jim Keltner (the 8 handed drummer), the 'best' drummer in the Beatles was none other than....


George...

At any rate, 'best' and 'best fit' are two very different things.
I'd take a musical drummer any day.

_________________
"Socialism needs two legs on which to stand; a right and a left.
While appearing to be in complete opposition to one another,
they both march in the same direction."

Lemontin's right, it's subjective.

I, personally, like the Stones better.

Here's my take:

Beggar's Banquet

Let It Bleed

Sticky Fingers

Exile on Main Street

Has any band ever released four albumns in a row that are better than that streak? My personal opinion, no.

But Lemontin's points are still valid and I think the Stones owe a lot on that streak of albumns to Mick Taylor. Of course, that streak may have more to do with Jimmy Miller than anyone else. No producer, had a better four albumn run with one band, IMO. Then again, George Martin would be the only one with a legitimate claim.

The Beatles wrote music that translates well to elevators. Its true...you can hear elevator music by the Beatles, not so the Rolling Stones.

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Which song, Lemontin?

jry,
Not sure what you're asking me, but the song Lennon played slide on is called "For You Blue" (maybe For Your Blues?).
Also not sure if it was ever on an album?

There used to be a video of this where you can see John playing slide.. not sure if it's still out there somewhere or not?

So apparently, I am not sure of much, other than John is playing slide on it.. and that John was criminally under-rated as a guitarist
in the Beatle years.

_________________
"Socialism needs two legs on which to stand; a right and a left.
While appearing to be in complete opposition to one another,
they both march in the same direction."

That is exactly what i was asking you. Thanks.

There are other Beatles songs with a slide guitar...

While my Guitar Gently Weeps is a quasi slide song, right?

jry, to my ears that is not a slide guiar.. BUT.. keep in mind one thing.. I HATE that song.

It wasn't until the original demo came out and I heard George's original that I learned to like the song.
But the version with Clapton playing is not something I'd ever care to hear again. No offense to Clapton.

_________________
"Socialism needs two legs on which to stand; a right and a left.
While appearing to be in complete opposition to one another,
they both march in the same direction."