Beatles vs. Stones

@cd318 Akin to the Beatles in Get Back is the video of the The Stones in the studio working on Sympathy For The Devil.  Starting out as an acoustic ballad and slowly turning into the near violence that is, IMHO, the greatest rock & roll song even written.  

@cd318 While watching Get Back. I noticed several times they had the Stones Beggars Banquet LP in the studio with them, among others.  

While I love them both, and they are the soundtrack of my youth, the Glimmer Twins get more time on my system.  There is no denying the genius of Lennon/McCartney as songwriters but the Stones have an edge to their music their Beatles could not match (exceptions for sure).  When Mick & Keith started to hit their stride with Beggars Banquet, they moved into a musical realm that set them apart.  For starters, Sympathy For The Devil is the greatest rock & roll song ever written.  Lyrically unmatched then or now.  The near violence in Keith's one note (😂) guitar solo is stunning to this day.   Then to name just a few more: Sister Morphine (thank you Ry Cooder), Moonlight Mile, Gimme Shelter, You Can't Always Get What You Want..........   It's really an Apples to Oranges comparison but if I had to choose the collected works of only one of the two bands, it's always going to be the Stones for me. 

And that's what I love about this site.  A simple question was asked and @bdp24 decided a short novella was called for, but kind of forget to answer the question. 🤣  I shouted out who killed the Kennedys, well after all, it was you and me.    

There seems to be a common thread to a lot of postings, being the "older" music is better music, citing The Everly Brothers, early Beach boys etc.... as being the real creative stuff.  I would submit that this is pure nonsense and just a bad case of "back in the old days" syndrome.  Not only has most every form of pop/rock music progressed and improved with time, but many, if not all the the greats, produced their best music in the later part of their careers.  Be honest and tell me which sounds better on your current system and you would really rather listen to:

Abbey Road or Revolver

Exile on Main Street or Out of Our Heads

Guitar Shop or Beck-Ola

Come On In This House or any previous Junior Wells LP

Damn Right I Got The Blues or any previous Buddy Guy LP

Freedom or Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Hard Again or any previous Muddy Waters LP

Young Lions and Old Tigers or Take Five

Time to accept that while the older music is great, in most every case the advancement in recording technology, experience and skills of the musicians etc,,, means the later stage recording far exceed the early discs.  IMHO 

@curtdr  Of course it's all personal taste when it comes to music, but I never understood why the "critics" continue to list Revolver as the greatest (or in the top 3) pop/rock LPs of all time.  I will admit that Taxman could be the greatest political commentary ever put to rock music.  "My advice to those who die, declare the pennies on your eyes".  That line still kills me.  But.......  listening to the groove laid down in "Come Together", or the brilliant use of two channels, and the vocals in "Because"....  I still use that track to show off my system.  Kills every time.  Revolver is a good record.  A couple uses of new techniques, but...........it's no Abbey Road.  IMHO 😁

@larsman Ha Ha. the British have so many sayings that are not understood this side of the pond.  I'm guessing you would also miss the reference to "spend a penny"?  With Taxman, Harrison also references then Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Conservative Party leader Ted Heath over the tax rate of 95% that was being imposed on high income earners.  Taxman is simply a great song.  

@larsman Spend a penny means to go to the toilet, especially a public toilet. One usually is said to be going to spend a penny. The expression is derived from the fact that public toilets were installed in the United Kingdom in the mid-1800s that required a penny to be unlocked.

On Bob Dylan's Tempest LP, song Roll On John, he sings the line "Another bottle's empty, another penny spent".  A little tip of the hat to Lennon's home country.  😁

Just watching the 3 hour (?) documentary Get Back.  Going to take a few evenings to get through it.  Billy Preston just joined them in the studio.  For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, I highly recommend you spend some time with it.  Fascinating to watch in real time as some of the most iconic songs are created out of thin air.  McCartney just strumming the bass like a six sting as George & Ringo look on, waiting for Lennon to show up.  Paul is just mumbling to himself and suddenly you start to hear the slightest inkling there's something going on.  George stops yawning and picks up a guitar.  Ringo adds some rhythm with hands and feet.  And there it is out of nothing, the embryo of a classic.  It's takes a few days to put flesh on the bones but it's something to watch.  

@tylermunns  I have to believe there was a lot of mutual respect between all those guys, if not outright friendship.  McCartney/Lennon were, IMHO, a little further ahead of Jagger/Richards in their songwriting.  The first Beatles LP was +/- 3 years before the Stones.  

@unreceivedogma  I stand corrected.  Guess you really can't trust anything you read on the internet.  🤣

@unreceivedogma  Yes, but I was thinking along the lines of when they started at a writing team and suggesting Lennon/McCartney were out of the gate a bit sooner.  Once Jagger/Richards started to hit their stride with Beggars Banquet, there was not looking back.  IMHO, their work from Beggars though Exile, equals the best of the Beatles.  Different style of music, more soft rock vs hard rock, but both collections have stood the test of time and that's what really speaks to the quality of the songs.