In the space of just 7 short years, The Beatles were able to produce some of the most inventive music ever. To achieve this, they also needed to work unlike anyone else. / davidhartley94
Buying a Beatles record was like buying a magazine. The longest gap between records was the six months and nine days between Revolver and Strawberry Fields Forever.
@@danpierce8862 "Strawberry Fields Forever" was released with "Penny Lane" as a double-A-sided single in February of 1967. Sgt. Pepper was released in May of the same year.
One of the things to remember about their lack of traditional music knowledge was George Martin covered this for them when needed. it's still important.
@@crazyquilt Sorry sounded flippant considering there's not all that many strings outside Let It Be which I think was Phil Spector although Spector usually used an arranger I think
The insane work ethic was due to Paul. Ringo has stated this on numerous occasions. He states that we have Paul to thank for the # of records. They would have done 3 or 4 less without him pushing all the time.
Yes, good point; Ringo has said, "Paul was the workaholic." And John could do things with 'dispatch'. As John proved when he burst into the room and rifled off the intro piano to Obla-di Ola-da when the others were stuck.
"Let's get in the studio, lads." A big reason Lennon quit The Beatles was because he just couldn't keep up with McCartney's output. Paul wrote 3-4 songs to John's 1.
@@Falconlibrary I heard John say during an interview that Paul would call him up at the last minute and tell him "we are going into the studio" so John said, "I would have to whip up 30 songs in a hurry!"
The success of the Beatles wasn't just that they worked with flow (which they did), but that two (at least) insanely naturally talented writers met each other at the right time of their lives in the early days of rock and roll and had the freedom to experiment and let their talent shine.
The four of them grew up a 15 minute bike ride away from each other. How is that likely? George thought they were friends in another lifetime and were reincarnated into Liverpool.
I thought the same thing. The foremost element in the beatles is John's lyrical hability; he even suggested modifications in Paul's and George's lyrics. Besides, John could lead the pack, and hence, lead the social movement. Paul liked harmony (and so did George Martin), so they decorated what John sang. period If you have that, then you can flow or not; you can break some rules or not.
Even "Something" had lyric modifications by Lennon, this is not a minor issue. Paul, of course, has a lot of merit with excellent decoration habilities (so did George Martin), but seldom times did he write a great lyric 100% on his own, he always checked with Lennon.
Yes, they arrived at just the right time. If born 40 years later, Paul would be writing Broadway tunes or commercial jingles, George would be a studio guitar player, John would probably be writing electronic music and Ringo would the maestro at the local side show. The odds were billions to one that the two greatest songwriters in the history of popular music would work together for over 10 years pushing each other to creative heights neither would be capable of without the other. Keith Richards said it best - putting Lennon and McCartney together didn't make them twice as good, it made them ten times as good.
Yeah Paul for sure. I think at the start they were both very competitive (Paul & John) but eventually John got lazy (Yoko didn't exactly help) whilst Paul got even more motivated and inspired
Ofc Paul would say “the Beatles were just a great band, nothing more nothing less”. He was on the inside, in the eye of the hurricane. He couldn’t know what it was like to listen to those records for the first time. Those songs were nothing short of magic.
I suppose being in the eye of the hurricane is a bit like the plot of Up In Smoke, in which Cheech and Chong were just trying to score a hit while unknowingly driving a large van made of processed marijuana!
They were hard workers even in their savage years (1960-63). According to Mark Lewisohn in his "Tune In" between january and march 1961, therefore, two years before the emergence of Beatlemania, "...inside just fourteen weeks, they’d rocked Hamburg for about 415 hours - like 276 ninety-minute shows or 830 half-hours - and every night tried not to repeat themselves. No one stopped to realize it, and there was no way of knowing anyway, but the Beatles had to be the most experienced rock group in the world, not just Liverpool. And Hamburg didn’t only multiply their repertoire, it toughened their voices, seasoned their characters, enriched their personalities and strengthened their stamina. Four months earlier they would have struggled to play more than a couple of hours, now it was a piece of cake. All the same, witnesses say they played every show with total conviction. The effect was incredible." No wonder why they achieved such a huge success in seemingly such a short period time. They'd already toughly built themselves up.
@@im1who84u That's an intersting point about Ringo being a better Beatle. I'd say he was a better drummer for the band in terms of his style and his creativity, Ringo had to create quickly (at short notice) during studio time, and he obviously created great stuff. I do feel sorry for Pete, the other Beatles didn't even do the dirty work of firing him but got their manager to do it (I think Paul has expressed regret about that to be fair).
What are the odds.. that two super creative musicians, both gifted writers, both great singers, both very good guitarists, both have similar tastes, both smart as hell, would live as kids within a mile of each other, meet and decide to work together and stay together for a highly productive ten years?
Thank you SO MUCH for not using AI to narrate your video. You're a pleasant fellow with a kind narrating voice. The CZcams algorithm dropped your video in my feed tonight and it was the best 8 minutes online I've had all night. I've liked and subscribed. Thank you again.
AI will produce stuff which only AI will consume. And then AI will create charts of the most successfull stuff that AI has produced rated by AI ... and ignored by humans ... that WOULD be nice.
Only 10 of the 14 songs from Please Please Me were recorded that day. The other 4 came from the 2 singles they released before. One true performance very few people talk about is the 13-hour recording session (from 6pm to 7am) in which they recorded a good chunk of Rubber Soul (5 songs : The Word, You Won’t See Me, Girl, Wait, I’m Looking Through You). Two weeks later, the album was on the shelves.
@@xmathmanx they played 292 times at the Cavern between 1961 and 1963 alone...plus many gigs in Hamburg. Then in the fame period they did regular world tours for 3 years solid. I'd say that was enough especially when you see the level of fandom that followed them.
@@xmathmanx It certainly is....I've done loads of gigs in my time and I've always found as much as I enjoyed it, it was always physically tough too. A lot more goes into gigging than people realise. Of course you are doing what you love, but it can be hard work too at times. I think the Beatles got fed up with live work because of all the hassle that went with it and they couldn't hear themselves which is always a pain
Ringo said Paul was the workaholic. The other 3 were happy to relax, but Paul couldn’t stop writing and would call them into the studio to record with him.
Although all of them saw what was going on around them culturally I think Paul really saw the big picture artistically... the possibilities presented by new technologies and the new attention to production in the studio. No coincidence his bass playing took off during Rubber Soul and the studio-centric part of their experience. He was inspired the most by that, and understood the amazing opportunity that he and John had as a songwriting team, I believe. A shame he (as well as John and George Martin) seemed to be a bit blinded to the emergence of George's songwriting.
I’ve worked with Ken Scott, who began working with the Beatles from 67 onwards (he can be seen at the mixing desk in the clip of All You Need Is Love). His first day & session at Abbey Road in 1964, age 16 (making tea), was for the song A Hard Days Night, which he said was finished a in little over two hours. Normally a Beatles single at the time was recorded in 90 minutes, so an A & B side in a three hour session, but AHDN involved percussion overdubs and splicing the intro chord and outro onto the main track, so took a little longer. But two hours? Most bands take a day to get the drum sound now. Mindbending how fast these guys worked on those early tracks.
One thing that really stood out to me watching the Get Back series and the restored version of the Let it Be movie was how little concern there seemed to for isolation or controlling spill in the studio. With the bulk of everything being recorded live, no separate vocal booth or drum room, no gobos separating the musicians. I don't think anyone even wore cans, they just had a couple of big monitors on stands in the room. It seems they prioritised setting up in a manner that allowed them to work comfortably for extended periods, able to freely throw ideas around. All in stark contrast to the clinical, almost laboratory conditions most records are made in today.
Paul wasn’t just the driving force of the Beatles, he was also the most influential when it came to the “sound” that people tend to associate with the Beatles which becomes even more evident when you listen to the solo careers of each of the four after the Beatles. Only Paul’s stuff tends to sound the most like a Beatle’s song when you listen to it.
Another interesting thing about the Beatles is they released singles that were not put on the albums such as Penny Lane and Strawberry fileds forever. They release them whilst making albums to keep the public interested. I am a great believer that you don't do things because you think people will like them you do it because you like it and hope that others will. That's originality.
They did it because of pressure from the record company for product and a belief at the time that they would be ripping off the fans if they put singles on albums by forcing them to pay for the same songs twice. I think there was some regret for this policy later, particularly leaving Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane off SPLHCB.
If it’s one thing the Beatle’s Get Back documentary shows, it’s that no matter how naturally talented you may think musicians are, good musicians work at their craft. For that reason, it’s one for the best docs out there on the creative process.
Synergy. Can't take away 1 of them, exactly why they were The Beatles. Perfect match in time, society and circumstance, ie cosmic magic. Never to be duplicated or even imitated again. Glad I saw Paul in concert last year, ridiculous.
John may have been the "basher" in the group, but he often didn't know exactly what he wanted. They spent over 50 hours in the studio on "Strawberry Fields Forever." It paid off because it's one of the Beatles' best songs. But it's proof that they didn't always work quickly. I would say the "finish things" part of your statement is more important than working quickly. You don't want to work so slowly that you overthink, but everyone has a different path to getting art done. And different songs might require different methods. Radiohead have been known to record 5-10 different versions of a song over 10 years.
hey Davey, i subd to your channel because: 1 - you asked me to 2-you have been cranking out vids SINCE 2011 !!!! AND 3- you shared some very new , original info and history about Beatles in a way that helped anyone who loves to create (art)
The PLEASE PLEASE ME lp included both sides of their first two (previously-recorded) singles, so the album wasn't actually done in a day. That doesn't diminish the band's tremendous accomplishment, but it is important to stay true to history. Keep up the good work.
As stated at the beginning of this video, recording an album in a day or two was normal for most artists at that time. Spending weeks and months in the studio started about1966-67.
@@jiminycrintNo, Love Me Do wasn't recorded that day. Ringo's version of Love Me Do was recorded a week before Andy White's version. Ringo's version was actually the single that had already been released, and the Andy White version ended up on the Please Please Me album.
@@michaelharrington75 - oh my word, you’re right! So what was all that in the anthology about Ringo turning up and not being allowed to play. Martin made it sound as if he’d never met Ringo before he hired Andy White. I only ever owned the Red album which contains the White version so I thought that was the single (according to Wikipedia the White version was released as a single as the 2nd pressing - the plot thickens)
Enjoyed this! I would say that their EMI album contracts meant they were working under some time pressure. Also, they had George Martin and a team of pioneering studio engineers who were translating the creativity onto record. Excellent content:)
Ahhh this finally makes sense. I can’t read or write music either. I can play other people’s music mostly by watching and listening. His bit about only remembering what is good explains why I can never remember anything I come up with on my own 😂😂
Wonderful video. It actually adds something to the Beatles discussion. You'd think everything had been said about that band but you introduce the theme everyone who wants to be a rock star doesn't want to hear: to be successful you have to work hard. Well written, narrated and edited.
you got a sub partly because you asked so creatively, partly because i love the beatles, and partly because this video is fantastically made, very high quality content, thank you! your voice is so soothing to listen to:)
actually such a great video, was completely packed with information that made the video feel like it was 3 minutes long and 15 all the same time in the best way
I feel you not only conveyed the essence of the Beatles' method of working, but exemplified it in how you so simply and clearly presented it here. Excellent! Thank you!
Thank you, David Hartley. I just wrote a book and did a youtube. My goal was two books, two youtubes. Now I will work on music, so thank you for this channel. And Mr. Beato's channel is excellent, although I have ten years of piano, theory has not been learned for me, so thank you.
Hamburg was the making of them. They learned to be musicians and deal with hostile crowds. This is where they Beatles came of age. Tough cookies and talented beyond reproach ! Love 'em.
Super cool breakdown mate. Your channel feels like a pull back towards what makes music truly human. I’m a songwriter myself, guilty of limiting perceived perfectionism, which is precisely the enemy of flow. Breathe and strum and onwards
They knew music theory. They knew what chords combines with what riffs and licks. You dont have to read the notes on the staff to know how music works.
Most of the music world operates without written music. Just the classical and commercial western music bits of it. Plato noted that people who didn't read or write usually have much better memories than those who do.
Who else likes how straight-foward this video is? dude just cuts to the chase, quick and effective, without ever feeling rushed or lazy, just the right amount of words, the right rhythm, all in the exact amount of time, just like a Beatles song!
I am always baffled by the idea that music theory is actually telling you what you can or what you can't do, and therefore it is a liberation to have no formal training. Of course this is not how music theory works at all, unless it is gravely misunderstood or mistaught. Music theory is actually a descriptive field of study, not a prescriptive one. Much like the theory of gravity is not ordering you to fall when you jump (and therefore not knowing about gravity would make things easier in life beacuse you can fly), it is merely describing what happens when you jump. I second your point about flow though, and that overthinking is a major problem in music production. So while knowing things does rarely ever hurt you, it is always good to know when to be or not be obsessed with detail.
Swagger plus Rock and Roll, equals human played music, I love it. The fact that a bit of ruggedness and a mistake here or there, make it human and all the more listenable for it. Love that Malcomb - ACDC, deletes the thirds because of the high volume. He strips the chords back to a more minimal version, and its better for it. The Beatles inovated so very much, that folks like Malcomb and Angus could come after them. They revolutionised music, whilst providing the soundtrack to my life! What more can you say but thank you.
@@colnuttall9035 I agree! It's often the left-field-ideas that make room for new sounds and ideas and progress. Doesn't mean "music theory" would keep ypu from any of that though.
5:10: and in fact, She Said She Said HAS a perfect drum sound! The drums on that track are killer! It’s big, bigger even than Bonham & Page’s best recording efforts for big drums (classic example: When the Levee Breaks). It especially shows up on the original mono mix.
To say that they didn’t know much is misleading. Paul had grown up with a bandleader as a father and absorbed the sounds of classic Tin Pan Alley and dance band songs. They all steeped themselves in the sounds of Rock and Roll, analysing and borrowing for their own material, and in Hamburg they played music from every era and genre of popular music, for 6 hours a night. Perhaps they couldn’t read and write music, but they certainly knew their stuff.
Seeing those four guys sitting in a room together just having a chit chat; I wonder if they knew what an impact they were having. They left such a huge indelible mark on music, life and culture~✨
Paul's dad was a musician too and so I think he understood the music business. Paul's dad was a fireman, but he was a musician as well. Working class lads.
Beautiful video Very insightful and inspiring I have taken so many risks in my own music journey sometimes I feel like I am falling off a cliff. It's anxiety riddled process full of extreme experiments. It's nice to know a band like The Beatles also went through their own unique process. It's actually mind blowing.
The Beatles put out quite a bit of stuff, and it was incredibly impressive. From 68 to 70 they put out 4 great albums, no small feat and i am sure putting a stop to all the touring by ‘66 helped them do that. But if high quality output is impressive, during those same years Frank Zappa put out 9 great albums, and was constantly touring throughout (he also produced all those albums as well). In fact Zappa put out another 6 or so albums from 71 to 73, while touring and releasing a movie AND he has thrown off a stage and was hospitalized for a number of months during all that Not to diminish the Beatles efforts in the least, but I do hear how prolific the Beatles were, but during that same time period Zappa was putting out even more stuff, of extremely high quality and it doesn’t seem to get mentioned very much
there may have been two discs in the album, but the name itself refers to the whole project as an 'album'. if you look up their discography, it lists the White Album as a single release, not two. this is some kinda hair you are trying to split and I am unsure why. nothing i posted was wrong
Zappa had a more diverse crew to work with, the Beatles were mostly 4 guys messing around in the studio most of the time (McCartney mostly being the only work centric while the other 3 slacked off), 1 producer, and 2-3 engineers at most came in helping the album process
7:32 Same goes for Steve Miller. After his "The Joker" album was a huge hit, his producer told him to learn music theory. Steve was ready to try, but the producer changed this mind, saying, "Wait, I know plenty of people who know music theory who can't write half as well as you can already, so forget that advice." Steve did and sighed with relief going on to make other classics like "Jet Airliner" and "Fly like an Eagle." It's like someone may know how to talk, but not write.
Roy Orbison is my favorite example of clueless genius. His ignorance of music theory gave him a freedom from formula check out the song “In Dreams” for proof. This song eschews the typical ABABACAB form in favor of the non-repeating ABCDEFG!
Buying a Beatles record was like buying a magazine. The longest gap between records was the six months and nine days between Revolver and Strawberry Fields Forever.
Wow! I never knew that!
@@robertwoodpa6463 Singles to fill the gaps
Nope, sgt pepper was released between those two.
@@danpierce8862 "Strawberry Fields Forever" was released with "Penny Lane" as a double-A-sided single in February of 1967. Sgt. Pepper was released in May of the same year.
@@danpierce8862 Nope, “Strawberry” in February, “Pepper” in May. There’s never been an easier time to check your facts.
One of the things to remember about their lack of traditional music knowledge was George Martin covered this for them when needed. it's still important.
Those strings aren't going to arrange themselves!
@@crazyquilt Wasn't just strings, The producer isn't just stood their going play boys.
@@flemit35 I was agreeing with you. Strings were just the example I threw out.
@@crazyquilt Sorry sounded flippant considering there's not all that many strings outside Let It Be which I think was Phil Spector although Spector usually used an arranger I think
This is key.
The insane work ethic was due to Paul. Ringo has stated this on numerous occasions. He states that we have Paul to thank for the # of records. They would have done 3 or 4 less without him pushing all the time.
I expected this to be mentioned somewhere in a video with this title.
Yes, good point; Ringo has said, "Paul was the workaholic." And John could do things with 'dispatch'.
As John proved when he burst into the room and rifled off the intro piano to Obla-di Ola-da when the others were stuck.
They should have had on 3-4 albums.
"Let's get in the studio, lads."
A big reason Lennon quit The Beatles was because he just couldn't keep up with McCartney's output. Paul wrote 3-4 songs to John's 1.
@@Falconlibrary I heard John say during an interview that Paul would call him up at the last minute and tell him "we are going into the studio" so John said, "I would have to whip up 30 songs in a hurry!"
The success of the Beatles wasn't just that they worked with flow (which they did), but that two (at least) insanely naturally talented writers met each other at the right time of their lives in the early days of rock and roll and had the freedom to experiment and let their talent shine.
The four of them grew up a 15 minute bike ride away from each other. How is that likely?
George thought they were friends in another lifetime and were reincarnated into Liverpool.
I thought the same thing.
The foremost element in the beatles is John's lyrical hability; he even suggested modifications in Paul's and George's lyrics. Besides, John could lead the pack, and hence, lead the social movement.
Paul liked harmony (and so did George Martin), so they decorated what John sang. period
If you have that, then you can flow or not;
you can break some rules or not.
Even "Something" had lyric modifications by Lennon, this is not a minor issue.
Paul, of course, has a lot of merit with excellent decoration habilities (so did George Martin), but seldom times did he write a great lyric 100% on his own, he always checked with Lennon.
Whatever the reason, l seriously thank God for the music the Beatles gave us, it's timeless!❤
Yes, they arrived at just the right time. If born 40 years later, Paul would be writing Broadway tunes or commercial jingles, George would be a studio guitar player, John would probably be writing electronic music and Ringo would the maestro at the local side show. The odds were billions to one that the two greatest songwriters in the history of popular music would work together for over 10 years pushing each other to creative heights neither would be capable of without the other. Keith Richards said it best - putting Lennon and McCartney together didn't make them twice as good, it made them ten times as good.
Paul is the reason… I saw him in concert in 2023, he took only one sip of water in 3 hours!
Yeah Paul for sure. I think at the start they were both very competitive (Paul & John) but eventually John got lazy (Yoko didn't exactly help) whilst Paul got even more motivated and inspired
Dude needs a temporary secretary
That’s not good.
John was the driving force in the first half of the Beatles career.
That is not advisable.
Ofc Paul would say “the Beatles were just a great band, nothing more nothing less”. He was on the inside, in the eye of the hurricane. He couldn’t know what it was like to listen to those records for the first time. Those songs were nothing short of magic.
Like fr, i wish i could experience the feeling of listening to their songs for the first time again!
And even earlier John Lennon said: ”The Beatles were just a band that made it very, very big, that's all”.
I suppose being in the eye of the hurricane is a bit like the plot of Up In Smoke, in which Cheech and Chong were just trying to score a hit while unknowingly driving a large van made of processed marijuana!
Isnt their music overtayed? What makes thek better or more specialmthan so many other good artists?
They were hard workers even in their savage years (1960-63). According to Mark Lewisohn in his "Tune In" between january and march 1961, therefore, two years before the emergence of Beatlemania,
"...inside just fourteen weeks, they’d rocked Hamburg for about 415 hours - like 276 ninety-minute shows or 830 half-hours - and every night tried not to repeat themselves. No one stopped to realize it, and there was no way of knowing anyway, but the Beatles had to be the most experienced rock group in the world, not just Liverpool. And Hamburg didn’t only multiply their repertoire, it toughened their voices, seasoned their characters, enriched their personalities and strengthened their stamina. Four months earlier they would have struggled to play more than a couple of hours, now it was a piece of cake. All the same, witnesses say they played every show with total conviction. The effect was incredible."
No wonder why they achieved such a huge success in seemingly such a short period time. They'd already toughly built themselves up.
Poor Pete Best. He was really screwed over, regardless of how much better Ringo was.
@@SteveRyan1965 It has been said that Ringo wasn't necessarily a better drummer, but that he was a better _Beatle._
Maybe that's why youngsters don't have much to say these days ( and I don't mean lyrically )
@@im1who84u That's an intersting point about Ringo being a better Beatle. I'd say he was a better drummer for the band in terms of his style and his creativity, Ringo had to create quickly (at short notice) during studio time, and he obviously created great stuff. I do feel sorry for Pete, the other Beatles didn't even do the dirty work of firing him but got their manager to do it (I think Paul has expressed regret about that to be fair).
@@HermeticWorlds Point taken.
What are the odds.. that two super creative musicians, both gifted writers, both great singers, both very good guitarists, both have similar tastes, both smart as hell, would live as kids within a mile of each other, meet and decide to work together and stay together for a highly productive ten years?
And could GET ALONG!!
One other example...Simon and Garfunkel.
Yep,and Paul knowing George from getting on the school bus,it’s as if fate decided to put them all together,mind blowing.
@@mikemiller1878 does not seem relevant to me : Paul Simon is a creative writer, Garfunkel isn't.
Divinity in action? ❤
Thank you SO MUCH for not using AI to narrate your video.
You're a pleasant fellow with a kind narrating voice.
The CZcams algorithm dropped your video in my feed tonight and it was the best 8 minutes online I've had all night.
I've liked and subscribed.
Thank you again.
Me too, except morning not night!
OMG right, these AI narrations are getting pretty bad, it seems like rather than getting better they get worse!
i agree . great fellow Brit voice for narration 😀
AI will produce stuff which only AI will consume. And then AI will create charts of the most successfull stuff that AI has produced rated by AI ... and ignored by humans ... that WOULD be nice.
Exactly. We need to boycott all AI "narration." It needs to be stopped ✋️
The fact that this video is short and sweet seems true to spirit of the topic at hand
Only 10 of the 14 songs from Please Please Me were recorded that day. The other 4 came from the 2 singles they released before. One true performance very few people talk about is the 13-hour recording session (from 6pm to 7am) in which they recorded a good chunk of Rubber Soul (5 songs : The Word, You Won’t See Me, Girl, Wait, I’m Looking Through You). Two weeks later, the album was on the shelves.
Wow, I don't think I've heard about that. Five of my favourite songs too... thanks for that bit of info.
"only 10" ? That's still amazing.
Let’s not forget all the live gigs and films in that short period too.
Hardly any gigs
@@xmathmanx they played 292 times at the Cavern between 1961 and 1963 alone...plus many gigs in Hamburg. Then in the fame period they did regular world tours for 3 years solid. I'd say that was enough especially when you see the level of fandom that followed them.
@@Hammerman48 is it hard work playing 2 or 3 gigs a week in your home town? Seems like just doing your job to me, certainly not as hard as most jobs
@@xmathmanx It certainly is....I've done loads of gigs in my time and I've always found as much as I enjoyed it, it was always physically tough too. A lot more goes into gigging than people realise. Of course you are doing what you love, but it can be hard work too at times. I think the Beatles got fed up with live work because of all the hassle that went with it and they couldn't hear themselves which is always a pain
@@Hammerman48 ok, I don't regard doing my job as hard work , it's just work, the work ethic is foolishness in any case
People today think the Beatles were a pop boy band, their music will be listened to in 100 years just like Mozart’s.
Watch the movie "Yesterday". Think it's on Prime. Such a good movie.
Ringo said Paul was the workaholic. The other 3 were happy to relax, but Paul couldn’t stop writing and would call them into the studio to record with him.
You can see why. If you don't get that song down while it's still fresh in your head, you could lose it.
Paul's insane work ethic. John, Ringo and George said it themselves in various ways over the decades.
Although all of them saw what was going on around them culturally I think Paul really saw the big picture artistically... the possibilities presented by new technologies and the new attention to production in the studio. No coincidence his bass playing took off during Rubber Soul and the studio-centric part of their experience. He was inspired the most by that, and understood the amazing opportunity that he and John had as a songwriting team, I believe. A shame he (as well as John and George Martin) seemed to be a bit blinded to the emergence of George's songwriting.
@@hudahekizzy8402 well put, and I believe spot on.
I’ve worked with Ken Scott, who began working with the Beatles from 67 onwards (he can be seen at the mixing desk in the clip of All You Need Is Love). His first day & session at Abbey Road in 1964, age 16 (making tea), was for the song A Hard Days Night, which he said was finished a in little over two hours. Normally a Beatles single at the time was recorded in 90 minutes, so an A & B side in a three hour session, but AHDN involved percussion overdubs and splicing the intro chord and outro onto the main track, so took a little longer. But two hours? Most bands take a day to get the drum sound now. Mindbending how fast these guys worked on those early tracks.
One thing that really stood out to me watching the Get Back series and the restored version of the Let it Be movie was how little concern there seemed to for isolation or controlling spill in the studio. With the bulk of everything being recorded live, no separate vocal booth or drum room, no gobos separating the musicians. I don't think anyone even wore cans, they just had a couple of big monitors on stands in the room.
It seems they prioritised setting up in a manner that allowed them to work comfortably for extended periods, able to freely throw ideas around. All in stark contrast to the clinical, almost laboratory conditions most records are made in today.
He thought Pete was a good drummer
They not only wrote songs for their group..but their leftover ideas were given to others! Amazing.
Which were more often than not, number ones
Yup, some of them leftovers became career defining, number one songs for other artist.
"I Wanna Be Your Man " for The Rolling Stones
Unlike most, songs were never an issue for the Beatles. George released a triple album soon after the split.
"Paul is the driving force of The Beatles. Without him, maybe we would only have 3 or 4 albums." - Ringo
Paul wasn’t just the driving force of the Beatles, he was also the most influential when it came to the “sound” that people tend to associate with the Beatles which becomes even more evident when you listen to the solo careers of each of the four after the Beatles. Only Paul’s stuff tends to sound the most like a Beatle’s song when you listen to it.
@@NelsonStJamesTrue, but his solo stuff is third-best, behind George's and John's.
@@sinatra222 I don't agree
@@sinatra222RAM wipes any john's solo album btw
Another interesting thing about the Beatles is they released singles that were not put on the albums such as Penny Lane and Strawberry fileds forever. They release them whilst making albums to keep the public interested. I am a great believer that you don't do things because you think people will like them you do it because you like it and hope that others will. That's originality.
They did it because of pressure from the record company for product and a belief at the time that they would be ripping off the fans if they put singles on albums by forcing them to pay for the same songs twice. I think there was some regret for this policy later, particularly leaving Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane off SPLHCB.
Recording tradition in general then was not to put singles on albums.
If it’s one thing the Beatle’s Get Back documentary shows, it’s that no matter how naturally talented you may think musicians are, good musicians work at their craft. For that reason, it’s one for the best docs out there on the creative process.
They were mining for songs :)
Such a well-crafted video. There's a certain flow to this video!
"Flow". Yes! Well said.
The Beatles were a miracle.
Possibly the best commentary I’ve ever heard about the Beatles! Bravo!
Thank you for including video and audio clips of your sources!!! That’s what made the video great for me.
Synergy. Can't take away 1 of them, exactly why they were The Beatles. Perfect match in time, society and circumstance, ie cosmic magic. Never to be duplicated or even imitated again. Glad I saw Paul in concert last year, ridiculous.
John may have been the "basher" in the group, but he often didn't know exactly what he wanted. They spent over 50 hours in the studio on "Strawberry Fields Forever." It paid off because it's one of the Beatles' best songs. But it's proof that they didn't always work quickly. I would say the "finish things" part of your statement is more important than working quickly. You don't want to work so slowly that you overthink, but everyone has a different path to getting art done. And different songs might require different methods. Radiohead have been known to record 5-10 different versions of a song over 10 years.
If you listen to Ringo Starr he always says that the Beatles have so much great music is because of Paul’s work ethic. Thank you to all the Beatles
hey Davey, i subd to your channel because:
1 - you asked me to
2-you have been cranking out vids SINCE 2011 !!!!
AND 3- you shared some very new , original info and history about Beatles in a way that helped anyone who loves to create (art)
Yes
It was really Paul's insane work ethic. Ringo has admitted as much.
The PLEASE PLEASE ME lp included both sides of their first two (previously-recorded) singles, so the album wasn't actually done in a day. That doesn't diminish the band's tremendous accomplishment, but it is important to stay true to history. Keep up the good work.
Very true. But 10 songs in a day is still CRAZY.
As stated at the beginning of this video, recording an album in a day or two was normal for most artists at that time. Spending weeks and months in the studio started about1966-67.
They did re-record Love Me Do that day (probably to keep Ringo happy as George Martin had used session drummer Andy White on the single version).
@@jiminycrintNo, Love Me Do wasn't recorded that day. Ringo's version of Love Me Do was recorded a week before Andy White's version. Ringo's version was actually the single that had already been released, and the Andy White version ended up on the Please Please Me album.
@@michaelharrington75 - oh my word, you’re right! So what was all that in the anthology about Ringo turning up and not being allowed to play. Martin made it sound as if he’d never met Ringo before he hired Andy White.
I only ever owned the Red album which contains the White version so I thought that was the single (according to Wikipedia the White version was released as a single as the 2nd pressing - the plot thickens)
It's nice to hear that the album I always liked most, "Revolver", is considered to be one, if not the greatest album of all times.
Enjoyed this! I would say that their EMI album contracts meant they were working under some time pressure. Also, they had George Martin and a team of pioneering studio engineers who were translating the creativity onto record. Excellent content:)
Ahhh this finally makes sense. I can’t read or write music either. I can play other people’s music mostly by watching and listening. His bit about only remembering what is good explains why I can never remember anything I come up with on my own 😂😂
Wonderful video. It actually adds something to the Beatles discussion. You'd think everything had been said about that band but you introduce the theme everyone who wants to be a rock star doesn't want to hear: to be successful you have to work hard. Well written, narrated and edited.
This is an excellent video. So much insight provided in such a short time. Very well done .... thank you.
I really like your work; you talk of 'flow' while the whole video demonstrates your own mastery of it. Great channel. Well done.
you got a sub partly because you asked so creatively, partly because i love the beatles, and partly because this video is fantastically made, very high quality content, thank you! your voice is so soothing to listen to:)
goes to show they were and still are the one of the greatest band of all time
It was 20 years ago today
Sgt Pepper taught his band to play...
Excellent take on how they worked together! And refreshing to hear intelligent commentary.
I love the analogy of a musical photograph. What a great way to explain this sonic snapshot
actually such a great video, was completely packed with information that made the video feel like it was 3 minutes long and 15 all the same time in the best way
I feel you not only conveyed the essence of the Beatles' method of working, but exemplified it in how you so simply and clearly presented it here. Excellent! Thank you!
Thank you, David Hartley. I just wrote a book and did a youtube. My goal was two books, two youtubes. Now I will work on music, so thank you for this channel. And Mr. Beato's channel is excellent, although I have ten years of piano, theory has not been learned for me, so thank you.
Fantastic Job David. Been a fan of the Beatles my whole life. Now I'm a fan of you. ❤
This video's enthusiasm is infectious. I've loved the Beatles for 35 years but it's great to remember why.
Thank you for this wonderful video. I am always learning with the Fab Four
Very nice vid. There’s something to be said about spontaneity and capturing the feeling.
Great work man, love your channel
On one of their early Hamburg trips they played 70+ nights in a row; and not just a set or two, any where from 4 to 6 hours plus.
Hamburg was the making of them. They learned to be musicians and deal with hostile crowds. This is where they Beatles came of age. Tough cookies and talented beyond reproach ! Love 'em.
After that, recording an album in a day is child''s play.
Speed was a big reason why they managed to do that.
@@addeman02 It wasn't only truck drivers that ran on speed 😊
@@gordonely3591 Who said otherwise?
I loved watching this. Thanks ♥
Fascinating video, Thank you very much for sharing this. I was nine when I first discovered the Beatles in 1964
Sharp, direct, and intelligent video. Nice work.
Very well done and important video! Many Thanks!!
Great video David. Do more on The Beatles!
A really great insight into an iconic band, thank you.
Congo is on record saying, if it wasn't for Paul, they wouldn't have produced half the music they did.
Very well done, David.
thoroughly enjoyed that. great vid 😀
Super cool breakdown mate. Your channel feels like a pull back towards what makes music truly human. I’m a songwriter myself, guilty of limiting perceived perfectionism, which is precisely the enemy of flow. Breathe and strum and onwards
It also helps to be a musical genius... Especially when you have 4 in your band...
Well, 2.35 or so.
2.75
Ringo and George individually are better than any 10 "pop stars" of today. Not nostalgia, just a fact.
Uh sorry but Anderson .Paak > Ringo
Ringo is still great but that comment is pure bait
Very cool video. Thanks for doing this awesome.🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Inspiring. Motivating. Thanks!!!
Great little video Man!
The truth is kept from us : they had A LOT of help from others , there actually was a whole team around them contributing songs and arrangements.
They knew music theory. They knew what chords combines with what riffs and licks. You dont have to read the notes on the staff to know how music works.
Most of the music world operates without written music. Just the classical and commercial western music bits of it. Plato noted that people who didn't read or write usually have much better memories than those who do.
Fabulous quick explanation
The Beatles were punk rock before there was punk rock
Until they sold out
An emotional and rewarding video! Thank you.
Great little documentary piece, thankyou
Wow really great video
Thank you!
This is a fabulous video!
Who else likes how straight-foward this video is? dude just cuts to the chase, quick and effective, without ever feeling rushed or lazy, just the right amount of words, the right rhythm, all in the exact amount of time, just like a Beatles song!
Great video, explained the topic very well! Beatles forever!
Excellent video, interesting info and great insight.
This is a remarkable perspective (video) on the beatles, and an interisting explanation of creativity flow.
I am always baffled by the idea that music theory is actually telling you what you can or what you can't do, and therefore it is a liberation to have no formal training. Of course this is not how music theory works at all, unless it is gravely misunderstood or mistaught. Music theory is actually a descriptive field of study, not a prescriptive one. Much like the theory of gravity is not ordering you to fall when you jump (and therefore not knowing about gravity would make things easier in life beacuse you can fly), it is merely describing what happens when you jump.
I second your point about flow though, and that overthinking is a major problem in music production. So while knowing things does rarely ever hurt you, it is always good to know when to be or not be obsessed with detail.
Swagger plus Rock and Roll, equals human played music, I love it. The fact that a bit of ruggedness and a mistake here or there, make it human and all the more listenable for it. Love that Malcomb - ACDC, deletes the thirds because of the high volume. He strips the chords back to a more minimal version, and its better for it. The Beatles inovated so very much, that folks like Malcomb and Angus could come after them. They revolutionised music, whilst providing the soundtrack to my life! What more can you say but thank you.
@@colnuttall9035 I agree! It's often the left-field-ideas that make room for new sounds and ideas and progress. Doesn't mean "music theory" would keep ypu from any of that though.
Thank you for this 🙏
Excellent video ! Thank you - just subscribed.
Your video helped me to finish my music. Thank u.
This was insightful and satisfying.
Nice work and editing, greetings from Tijuana, Mexico
Awesome video!
5:10: and in fact, She Said She Said HAS a perfect drum sound! The drums on that track are killer! It’s big, bigger even than Bonham & Page’s best recording efforts for big drums (classic example: When the Levee Breaks). It especially shows up on the original mono mix.
Great video, inspired me creatively as a CZcamsr. Great work!
GOATED!! its because of all the touching, like how paul says its good to touch
great vid man!
To say that they didn’t know much is misleading. Paul had grown up with a bandleader as a father and absorbed the sounds of classic Tin Pan Alley and dance band songs. They all steeped themselves in the sounds of Rock and Roll, analysing and borrowing for their own material, and in Hamburg they played music from every era and genre of popular music, for 6 hours a night. Perhaps they couldn’t read and write music, but they certainly knew their stuff.
Absolutely.
Seeing those four guys sitting in a room together just having a chit chat; I wonder if they knew what an impact they were having. They left such a huge indelible mark on music, life and culture~✨
Marvellous video. Subbed!
Paul's dad was a musician too and so I think he understood the music business.
Paul's dad was a fireman, but he was a musician as well. Working class lads.
This is excellent! Just subscribed
Beautiful video
Very insightful and inspiring
I have taken so many risks in my own music journey sometimes I feel like I am falling off a cliff.
It's anxiety riddled process full of extreme experiments.
It's nice to know a band like The Beatles also went through their own unique process.
It's actually mind blowing.
Great video! ;) Thank you!
This is one of the best videos I’ve seen on CZcams about The Beatles. Well done! 👍
very thoughtful analysis of an important subject good shit
The Beatles put out quite a bit of stuff, and it was incredibly impressive. From 68 to 70 they put out 4 great albums, no small feat and i am sure putting a stop to all the touring by ‘66 helped them do that. But if high quality output is impressive, during those same years Frank Zappa put out 9 great albums, and was constantly touring throughout (he also produced all those albums as well). In fact Zappa put out another 6 or so albums from 71 to 73, while touring and releasing a movie AND he has thrown off a stage and was hospitalized for a number of months during all that
Not to diminish the Beatles efforts in the least, but I do hear how prolific the Beatles were, but during that same time period Zappa was putting out even more stuff, of extremely high quality and it doesn’t seem to get mentioned very much
I liked Zappa,especially Joe's Garage and Billy The Mountain.
One of those albums was The White Album, a double album. So there were five.
Who?
there may have been two discs in the album, but the name itself refers to the whole project as an 'album'. if you look up their discography, it lists the White Album as a single release, not two.
this is some kinda hair you are trying to split and I am unsure why. nothing i posted was wrong
Zappa had a more diverse crew to work with, the Beatles were mostly 4 guys messing around in the studio most of the time (McCartney mostly being the only work centric while the other 3 slacked off), 1 producer, and 2-3 engineers at most came in helping the album process
Art is the struggle between craft and creativity/inspiration.
Quite interesting video! Pivotal truths I’d never thought about - including the psyche meaning of prolific! 👍
7:32 Same goes for Steve Miller. After his "The Joker" album was a huge hit, his producer told him to learn music theory. Steve was ready to try, but the producer changed this mind, saying, "Wait, I know plenty of people who know music theory who can't write half as well as you can already, so forget that advice." Steve did and sighed with relief going on to make other classics like "Jet Airliner" and "Fly like an Eagle." It's like someone may know how to talk, but not write.
Roy Orbison is my favorite example of clueless genius. His ignorance of music theory gave him a freedom from formula check out the song “In Dreams” for proof. This song eschews the typical ABABACAB form in favor of the non-repeating ABCDEFG!