Via Marginal Revolution, a blog entry about the monetary value of the Beatles/Macca.
I haven't really talked about the Beatles lately, but I've been on a kick, precipitated by my reading of Bob Spitz's The Beatles. It's a comprehensive history of the Beatles, and I really enjoyed it. I even learned some things I didn't know, and that's pretty amazing, when you consider the fact that I've voraciously read every single Beatles book I could get my hands on since I was a teenager. My iPod actually has Beatles tunes on it again, and I've been devoting some head time to figuring out why I cling to the Beatles.
I will say, furthermore, that I realized while reading Spitz's book that I've never really been in the practice of listening to Beatles' songs in context, by which I mean: I don't consider all the other album releases in 1967 when evaluating the greatness of Sgt. Peppers or whatnot. I've got a basic music timeline in my head that spans from the early sixties to now, and I'm usually able to figure out where bands belong, what songs are contemporaries, and so on. Interestingly, the Beatles exist in a time warp in my head, and don't live on that general music timeline. They have a timeline all their own. Possibly this is because I believe that the Beatles might just be the most important musical group ever, or I possibly believe that because I've sequestered them in my head. Either way, it was somewhat of a shock to read Spitz, because he's constantly making comparisons, pointing out which contemporaneous groups were doing. I forget, essentially, that Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles were making music at the same time. (You can discount the Stones in all of this mumbo-jumbo, because I'm always aware of what the Stones are doing relative to the Beatles [historically, anyway], and I'm always, always sure that the Beatles are five million times better and more important. It's a form of Beatle-mania induced prejudice, and I've sadly made no inroads to curing myself of it. Down with Mick!) Regardless, I've also never thought that the Beatles were (sort-of) still a group when Woodstock went down, which is stunningly stupid of me, and also proof of how separate those two timelines are in my head. I can't decide if I like the Beatles less or more for finally putting the two timelines together, and knowing where the Beatles fit, but I suspect that eventually, I'll say something like, "Fuck it, the Beatles are the best EVER." Blind love is like that.
Have you heard that the next Cirque Du Soleil will feature Beatles tunes...it is the only show that has officially been granted permission to use the tracks.
Posted by: Scott | June 21, 2006 at 09:01 PM