Beatles vs. Stones

The Monkees didn't write their hits (Boyce and Hart wrote a lot of stuff, as did other pro songwriters at that time) or were trusted to play much of anything on the records (except singing) until later in their "post TV" career that generally sucked. Nesmith was a good writer and musician anyway.

The Beatles had more creativity crammed into a relatively short time than anybody before or since, and the Stones were and are a great R&B band with undeniable charisma and style and great rock and roll...I saw the original band with Jones in 1966 and they killed. Still do.

The Beatles.

Both bands started around 1962.  The Beatles ended in 1970.  The Stones are still going (sort of) but almost everything they have produced since the early 70s is vaccuous.  So we should compare largely their respective 60s outputs.

Seen like that, the contest is perhaps closer for many of us.  The Stones music in that period is mainly of high quality.  But certainly not in the Beatles' league.  I was there and lived it.

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. 

They are two different type bands, and I’ll paraphrase Paul McCartney as told by Keith Richards in his biography; the Beatles are a vocal band and the Stones more instrumental. In any case, I enjoy them both, more so the Beatles because that’s what I heard the most when I was very young. Both great bodies of work. 

The Beatles were undeniably a great band. That said, Sway.. Monkey Man.. the entirety of Exile on Main Street... Just absolutely filthy music from the gut. The way rock and roll should be.