Guest Michael Rife
GuestForum Replies Created
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Hi;
I’ve tried to contact acts I know in the US to get feedback on their music. Some have replied the obligatory “Nice!” and some have not replied at all. I have also only heard them once on the air over here. It was on Peter Asher’s Sirius program called From Me to You. It is an hour program on the Beatles channel and that particular night it was either songs about females or covers by females. I think he played MLT’s “If I Fell”. After that nothing.
So, I keep sharing on FB their videos and hope that friends and musician friends pick up on it, but it has been quiet so far.
Mike
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The short answer is a resounding “Yes”!! Today’s music is very formulaic as implied by the video and musicians do not want to stray far from the formula. We were blessed to be around at the time of music in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Beatles basically took the US RnR and R & B music and put their own spin to it. When you compare their covers of some of the US R & B to the original, the Beatles cover is richer and louder and a little more complex. From there when they did their own music they experimented heavily with George Martin giving them advice on some of the instruments. After that musicians came out of the woodwork to perform music and their was an exchange of ideas on music, e.g., Beach Boys and Beatles rivalry, Dylan influenced part of Help and Rubber Soul, Byrds and Beatles using a 12 string Rick. After that when the Beatles quit and Simon and Garfunkle split music transitioned over to individual singer-songwriters, e.g. James Taylor, Carole King, Gordon Lightfoot. These individuals were around prior to 1970 but became more prominent during this time. Still they played good music and experimented some. After that came Disco and that’s where music lost me.
For the longest time I thought we (the generation from the 1960s and 1970s) were becoming like our parents. They said that their music was the best, i.e., Sinatra, et al, and that our music was basically noise. We are saying our music was the best and what followed was/is inferior. But, when you look at the sheet music of some of the songs from the 1960s and early 1970s, it is extremely complex and is as complex as music from the true Classical era (Beethoven, etc.) So, I’m not so sure it is a generational thing like what has occurred previously. Today’s music appears to be simpler and there is heavy use of “autotone” which forces the voice to be in key. The musicians of the 1960s/70s would likely not even consider using autotone. So…..yes our music is better and modern music is worse. Mike
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This is an odd one. I’ve seen the Kinks play this on YouTube and one time Dave was using a Telecaster and another time an ES-335. Can’t get much different than that in terms of guitars. Only thing I can think of in those cases was that when playing live they were lip-synching and pretend playing the instruments. But, they have changed up instruments before…….one time Ray plays a resonator on Lola…..another time a regular guitar (SG, I think). But, the beginning of Lola sounds more like a resonator. Mike.
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Hi all;
Not that I would answer for them……but I think we can find out more about each other as well if we answer this question. Also, I wonder if anyone else makes a distinction between favorite song/album and best. For example, my favorite Beatles song is one of the songs that started it all, i.e., “She Loves You”. I remember RnR before the Beatles and I actually have 45s for songs like “Hey Little Cobra” and “Sugar Shack”. Those are not necessarily bad songs but when I heard “She Loves You”, it was a musical style that I had never heard previously.
One little sidetrack…….I was listening to the Beatles channel on Sirius and periodically they have shows that last a half hour to an hour and on one show they were discussing why the Beatles were so different and made it so big in the US. One theory was that the state of US RnR was just kinda floundering around for the following reasons: 1) Elvis had gone to the army and when he came back he started to make the same movie over and over with one song from each movie that was a hit and each song was following the same formula; 2) Buddy Holly died in 1959 from the plane crash and it took away a major creative force from US RnR; 3) Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash (I know, he is mostly country) were facing either prison terms or were “blackballed” for various reasons; 4) In the music industry’s hope to recreate success, they were producing the Elvis clone’s (a few Frankies and others), but Elvis was unique. So, enter the Beatles and other English groups who took the RnR and R and B music from the US and put their spin on it. We are still feeling the effects of that new spin today. And to me “She Loves You” was the first one that sounded so different from what was in the US just prior to 1964.
OK.….so “She Loves You” is my favorite Beatles song but I believe their best song is “A Day In The Life”. I have distinct memories of listening to ADITL the first time on the old stereo. It was the last song on Sgt. Peppers and after taking all of the prior songs in, they top it with ADITL.
OK…the same thing happens to albums with me. I cannot really pick a favorite. It falls somewhere from A Hard Day’s Night album through Revolver. In the States we have an extra album in that mix that allowed Capitol to “true up” the changing of songs on the albums in the US vs. the rest of the world (Yesterday and Today) and I would count Yesterday and Today as a potential favorite. But, to me the Beatles’ best album is Sgt. Peppers.
I’d like to hear others’ thoughts on best versus favorite and what is their favorite/best if you have the time. Mike
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Thanks, Mr. Rudi. I noticed yesterday they were working. With something this big having that one small bug is very good. Mike.
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I apologize if this is over stepping boundaries but he said:
Sorry, I have problems with English, so I just want to know if you are preparing anything before? Who is not the Koncert, would be a music live stream super. So for example Kina Grannis sometimes does. What do you think darůber after?
And she said:
For the time being we have not planned live performances (we are still concentrating more on studio and video projects), but we have been thinking about live streams more often. So this is definitely on the plan sometime we will keep you informed!
Again I apologize if I over-stepped boundaries, but I saw the title and guessed it was something I have been thinking about and wanting as well. That is, a live stream concert from MLT to their fans. There could be one charge for Club members and a higher charge for others. It could be interactive with us communicating with whoever the engineer/soundboard person is. The only possible problem would be timing. If it happened in the evening in Liverpool, it would be afternoon on the east coast of US and early afternoon/late morning on the west coast of US. In Japan and Australia it could be very early in the morning the next day. So, the time of the show could be a problem.
Anyway, I would vote for this to occur, too. Mike
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I asked them this same question on FB some time ago. The answer they gave me was that they both try to sing the song and for whomever is works the best with sings the lead. Mike
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I have a slightly different worry which is being alleviated some with the recent rise in YouTube views and people joining the group. I was/am worried that their music is meeting a niche market which is not going to be here in the long-term (a little morbid, now). A lot of us are from the 1960s and really enjoy the music from the 1960s to about the mid 1970s. Our little aches and pains remind us that we are not getting younger. In other words……the road ahead is shorter than the one we’ve been travelling. So, this could mean that there is going to be a shrinking of part of their fan base over time and I am not sure that those behind us in age will appreciate good music. That is one thing I have worried about……but I believe that MLT already kinda has this one figured out. Mike.
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Well, someone above said that George wasn’t known for his technical chops and that may be true during their live shows……but if you listen to their early songs, George was copying note for note Chuck Berry and guitarists from the Country/Riverside CA school. So, in one RnR song you could hear from George…..Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, and Buck Owens/Chet Atkins. As for Ringo….he was not classically trained on the drums which worked to his advantage. His drumming on Day Tripper, Come Together, and other songs would not have been done by a classically trained drummer and that is a good thing. As always…..just my opinion. Mike.
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Hi all;
This one is an odd choice……..but what about Operator by Jim Croce? Mike.
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Hi all;
I play the guitar but I am nowhere near as good as the 3 Beatles or Lisa. As to who is better of those 4 it is a hard call. The argument for the Beatles is that they had to come up with the guitar pieces for their classic songs. The argument for Lisa is that she is just so technically sound by covering different styles. When she played Johnny B. Good, I was expecting her to duck walk on the stage because she was note perfect. So, I can’t choose. Mike
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Really a Gretsch Duo Jet!!! I have a Baby Jet and I cannot imagine a sound like that coming close to what you did on “You Really Got Me”. The Baby Jet should sound a little like the Duo Jet but it is really too “thin” for the sound you got.
Also, when I saw you were doing “You Really Got Me” and “White Room”, I was a little worried. “You Really Got Me” is the type of song that builds into a major guitar break and, in my opinion, Dave Davies really didn’t play it all that well (I know, I know…..I couldn’t do any better and likely much worse) but when you did the break it sounded better and more “organized” than when he did it.
When it came to “White Room” I was concerned because it has an iconic guitar piece to it and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. But, you played it very, very well (wah-wah and all). It sounds like over the years you have turned into one “bad” (in a good way) guitarist. I imagine it’s not easy taking on a Clapton piece. So, in the top ten which includes Jimi, Clapton, Beck, Page, SRV, Santana, Prince, and others…..they will likely have to make room for Lisa. Mike
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Yeah, he was using a Tele for the show and the recording video looked more like an SG…..shich makes sense for the sound. Mike.
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I would agree that they are probably not identical. When I look at their faces and try to exclude the hair color, I do see slight differences in their faces. But, it is true that when I look at their younger pics (around age 14) it is impossible to tell. So, I would fall on the side of being close to identical but not exact. Mike.
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Hi Tomas;
I agree. There are also other Bee Gee songs that would be good: Words, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, How Deep Is Your Love. Mike.
