Re-Meet The Beatles!

The upcoming and very welcome reissue of the Beatles' canon Sept. 9 in digitally remastered form is an inspiring event -- and, to borrow the words of President Obama, presents us with a "teachable moment" about one of the unspoken prejudices that still plague us. We have rightly refuted racism, sexism and ageism. But still rampant in society is the pointless notion that judges the value of a work by when it was created as distinct from its inherent value. I call this foolishness "dateism."

This can be blamed primarily on the entertainment industry's obsession with the youth market and its misperception that the young will only like things that are new -- this in the face of overwhelming evidence that what today's savvy kids are drawn to does not necessarily carry an expiration date. Try telling a teenager that he/she shouldn't be listening to Hendrix or Zeppelin. This especially applies to the Fab Four's music.

For the work of the Beatles -- like all great creations, from Shakespeare's plays to Dickens' novels to Beethoven's symphonies -- should be appreciated for its intrinsic qualities and not whether it seems "old-fashioned" or mired in "nostalgia."

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Comments

[Winning09]

I'm down with this but will the Beatles finally be on iTunes?

[SamEllison]

I remember the sixties,
people were telling us the
same thing about Sinatra.

These are two things from history I wouldn't mind seeing repeated!

[thebirdstheword]

are we talking about the same entertainment industry that was been pushing woodstock down our throats for FORTY YEARS? why that one-out-of­-a-trillio­n festival concert has been immortalized is beyond me. where's the love for lollapalooza 3?

the beatles were obviously a great band, but not really any better than the stones, who or kinks. take away george martin, and a lot of the songs become fairly pedestrian.

[Martin Lewis - Huffpost Blogger]

"take away george martin, and a lot of the songs become fairly pedestrian­."

Which is why several songs written by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison - performed by other artists without the production skills of George Martin are among the most recorded of all time...

While some of the earlier-period Beatles songs do not rank above the very best songs in history - the compositions and recordings from the Rubber Soul era onwards place them at the very top of the creative pantheon. Something acknowledged by most critics and consumers alike.

There are always some folks who are not quite able to grasp it. But that's okay...

[thebirdstheword]

which songs are those? have the beatles been covered more than the kinks? probably not.

i'm not saying that the beatles weren't good, if you read my post. i said that they are one of many good british groups of the sixties, and to put them above the stones, who or kinks, in my opinion, comes more from the hype that they have received over the years, as opposed to a technical difference in talent levels.

and the beatles had a mini-mutiny against martin before the magical mystery tour album- they wanted to sound more "real" and less produced. and guess what- they hated the results.

to the contrary, i think i can grasp the situation a little better than you- it's just that i'm not falling for the hype. i think there were a lot of great bands in the sixties, not just one and a bunch of copycats, as you suggest.

[S1m0n]

I can't believe that it's been 25 years since the National Organisation for the Advancement of Time first promised us we could end the sixties in our lifetime.

...But still no end in sight. Just say NOW!

[django707]

The Sixties ended in the fall of 1980 when Ronald Reagan was elected President and John Lennon was assassinated.

[SarsenBluestone]

Just to let you know, NAFTAT was started by three guys, two of which are very good friends of mine (although one is now deceased) who are Beatles fans.

[luckynewman13]

IThe Beatles. The greatest artistic force--of any kind (music, literature, film, etc.)--wit­hin the 20th century.