100 songs?!? That's insane!!!! There's no way anyone could ever learn to play that many songs!!! Well...I guess it's like anything. You learn one. Then you learn the next. And so forth. Next thing you know you have learned 100 songs...that's really only like 10 records worth of songs by the way.

Ok. That's fine. Imagine then you're a musician in the 1960s...you would probably know Bob Dylan and Chuck Berry songs or whatever and be able to jam on them in your garage.

I don't think it's insane, but it is impressive. 400 songs in a 3 week period is a lot. And the songs you're dismissing because they're well known classics now were not that in 1969.

You're free to be dismissive if you like. Beato is a Beatles fan boy, but he's also got a pretty good reputation for knowing music, and has a decent idea of what's impressive and what isn't just normal.

I think a crappy garage band might have trouble naming 400 songs, let alone playing them.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Most wedding bands have a repertoire that you work from. They play 20-25 songs in a night, and they mostly come from a list that you look at ahead of time, so they have a chance to dust them off. And they likely play mostly the same songs at every wedding, because everyone always asks for the same stuff.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

I don't know if they still do this, but there used to be a "Stump The Band" challenge

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Correct. Wedding bands can play that many songs. I would say wedding bands are a step up though. We don’t even bother to rehearse them as there’s really just not enough money/time. Leader sends out the charts and you show up in your mens warehouse tux and go. So…yeah…it‘s not an amazing feat to know that many songs.

Yep, I think even the E Street Band could do it.

To add to my point about wedding bands, for a “pro” band 400 songs isn’t that much. Remember, the Beatles were road warriors for years playing two 3-4 hour sets per day day in and day out. You do that a few times and suddenly you crave variety and learning new songs becomes needed and starts getting easier.

Paul says somewhere in episode two that all songs pretty much have the same types of chord changes, so learning new songs is really just getting to know the often simple changes. He is telling the roadie as he shows him some piano.

Another impressive feat is phish playing 13 days straight at Madison square garden without repeating a single song. That’s about 325 songs. There’s a recording of Metallica discussing this feat and they are like “holy shit!!!!! They played msg 13 days straight without repeating a single song?!?!? That’s fucking nuts!!!”

Meanwhile, my band knows about 20 at any given time but we’re so far from pro it isn’t funny.

👍

Wedding bands also aren't full of guys between the ages of 26 and 29 who don't make a living off of knowing a lot of covers.


I just looked up the song list from a friend of mine. He's got 1,200 songs on his list. He's also 45 years old and makes a living off of knowing a lot of songs (not to mention it's easier for a solo act to know that much......plus I believe he reads lyrics and chords off of an Ipad).


The point being (and I think you and are in in agreement), sure, there are lots of people out there that know lots of songs. I don't think Beato meant this to THE defining piece as to why the band is so good, but rather, in addition to the 300 songs (with a ton that climbed the charts) that they wrote and recorded, they ALSO knew 100s and 100s of covers, which should be impressive for an original act still in their 20s.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
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Just finished the first episode. Amazed at watching the talent these guys have. I'm not even worthy to comment on that. But love how much fur these guys are wearing and Linda is just extraordinarily cute!

I'm actually amazed at how uncomfortable their clothes look.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
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Halfway through episode 2.

Paul McCartney looks like a really chill guy to hang out with. The other 3 seem socially awkward or something, especially Lennon. Is it just me? Ringo seems like just a goofball, might be fun to hang with him but the other 2 don’t do it for me at all.

Just finished.

It was long and slow, but insightful, with a big payoff at the end.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

👍

He also came across the worst of all four of them. He was the most bossy and demanding but that seems to be about the only thing that kept them moving forward so not really a bad thing.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Me too. Wow. I still say that first hour of Episode 1 started slow but then...OMG. Once it got to John's Across The Universe and George's I Me Mine and...oh man...what a treasure this show is for Beatles music lovers! I will probably watch Episode 1 (the good part anyway) a few more times and save the other episodes for around Christmastime.

I agree.

But he also, IMO, seemed to come across as the real talent in the band, at least at that point in their careers.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
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I did develop a whole new appreciation for Paul from this. It still doesn't erase that he is responsible for the most God fucking awful Christmas song of all time.

I thought the hidden mic in the flower pot when Paul and John were discussing George leaving was interesting. John talking about how intense and demanding Paul could be. And John didn't always have the energy to stand up to it, so he would leave it to George.

Now that I’ve finished it, I have just a few takeaways.

Paul definitely seemed like the one who was trying to take on the role vacated by Brian Epstein. I wonder if he hadn’t died, if The Beatles would have stuck together a little longer.

Constantly impressed by the ability of these 4 guys to pick up any instrument and make music. My brother is a multi instrumentalist and he constantly impresses me as well. Watching George, who is ostensibly a guitarist, compose some really standout songs on piano, or Paul pick up George’s right hand Tele and play it upside down, etc. Awesome.

Watching how the guys all treated Linda’s daughter was really sweet. How they all seemed fine with Yoko being around, and supportive of her and John,… lots of stuff that humanized the group.

It’s almost impossible to overstate how important Billy Preston was to this music. There are a lot of tracks that just come alive when he starts playing.

As a little bit of a gear nerd, I love seeing all these famous instruments, in the hands of the musicians, sitting propped up against the wall, etc. Paul getting good tone out of that Hofner. John’s Casino. George’s painted Strat. The Fender amps instead of the chimey Vox amps they used earlier in their careers.

Lastly, it’s really impressive to watch a bunch of guys just sitting around, tossing ideas around, jamming, talking,…and then this iconic music comes out of it.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

And the fuzz face pedals if you look closely

I'm about halfway through episode 2. Towards the end of the first part, we get a few minutes of camera time with Dick James, who owned the majority of Lennon/McCartney publishing rights(Northern Songs, LTD.) I'd never seen footage with him before but he looks exactly like I would have expected; one of the 'suits' that cashed in like nobody's business when the band took off. He does get points for musical acumen: he got Paul/John and George and Ringo to sign away their publishing rights really early on and the consequences have been a thorn in Paul's side for the better side of six decades. But what's interesting about the cameo in the film is that his visit was the day George quits the band. George's % ownership of Northern Songs was very small and I don't think it's a secret he was pretty resentful(see his song 'Only a Northern Song'). In the film, George looked like he was trying to ignore Dick James until he left, then he's sitting on his mat by the drums looking pretty disengaged and then, BOOM..he walks out("See you in the clubs..").

Really getting some new perspective on the band's final year and a lot of the narratives I've read over and over through the years are apparently just not true at all or are at least overstated. Anyway, it's fun to talk about this stuff..

I was wondering who he was and what his relationship to them was, especially when Paul said "Maybe we should divorce?" And John (I think?) asked "Who gets the children?"
"Dick James!"

< laughter >

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

That rosewood telecaster.

I may have spent like 5 minutes reading the backstory of Paul's "BASSMAN" sticker