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Beatles live 1964

Red Rocket

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For anyone else who loves seeing these old live performances when rock was young - enjoy!

go to http://www.apple.com/the-beatles/concert/

This is what Bob Lefsetz has to say about it -

"Ringo's a revelation!

Somehow, the Beatles coming to iTunes has become a business story, but that band was always about the music. The mania came after. The sheer joy of playing in a group, of living your life for music, not money, was the genesis. Watching this film you can see right through the images all the way to the U.K., where the sons of soldiers picked up instruments to fight their way out of drudgery and boredom. That's the power of music. It can make you forget your circumstances. And if you're really good, it can create a world you couldn't even envision when you first started to play.

Beatles on iTunes? No big deal. Typical Fab Four. Leaders in their day, followers ever since.

Except that's not the real story. The Beatles wanted to be on iTunes. It was an EMI problem. Castigate Guy Hands all you want, but by putting Roger Faxon in power, a deal could finally be made.

Is there a lot of money to be made?

Of course not. Just like when the Beatles first formed. They didn't know they'd go on to be some of Britain's richest citizens. Hell, you can't get that rich playing music anymore. If you're all about the bread go to Wall Street, be a banker, or go work for the corporation, being two-faced and conniving to ascend to a platform wherein you can rape and pillage and make double digit millions. But it won't be fun. And each and every one of those so-called winners would trade everything they've got to be up on stage with these guys.

That's what's wrong with the mainstream media. They miss the story. So busy talking about Steve Jobs and EMI and Apple they didn't focus on this Washington, D.C. concert that's part of the hype. FOR FREE!

Don't say Steve Jobs never did anything for you.

Go to iTunes. You're confronted with a big black box that says "The Beatles". And in the upper right-hand corner, you're gonna see a little box that says "Watch The Concert". Click on that RIGHT NOW!

Stay tuned through the voice-over. It's lame. But the images are cool.

And then you get to the gig.

Security is not wearing yellow windbreakers, they don't look like they're on steroids and will beat you to a pulp. It's a positively civilized affair, with the Beatles on a low riser in the middle of the hall.

And that's when you see them move their own equipment. You can call it humble. I'll just tell you this is what a musician does. He SCHLEPPS! Talk to anybody who plays live for a living. Sure, if you're a household name you've got roadies, but everybody below that level is lifting amps into a van or a trailer, or if you're just starting out, a car. And you set up your gear at the gig yourself. And until you truly make it, you have no monitors. You play by your wits.

The fact that these cats can get it so right, barely able to hear themselves, is amazing.

But what's really amazing is their ability to play. George picking out the leads. Paul on the bass. Our dear departed John bouncing up and down with his legs spread. If you didn't imitate that look, you weren't alive, or you were blind.

McCartney shvitzing. Music, when done right, is a workout.

And speaking of workouts... This film should put to rest any guff about Ringo's ability to play the drums. He's the anchor, he's the powerhouse, and he's railing and flailing and pounding that big bass drum. You can have a lot more equipment, but you've only got two hands and two feet.

And when they bring the mic up to him and he sings "I Wanna Be Your Man"...

Or how about George singing "Roll Over Beethoven"?

But stay until the very end. When Paul rips apart "Long Tall Sally" to such a degree he trumps Little Richard. Not that either he or Richard would agree, but watch with your own two eyes.

This was the beginning. This was the genesis. This was where it all began.

In America.

But for the Beatles it started years before. They had a dream. They played shitholes. They didn't have rich parents. They didn't expect to make a record a week after they formed and have it be a hit. They just played and played and played until ability was not a question and they could focus on showmanship.

And what's truly amazing in this movie is the audience is irrelevant. This is a gang, having a blast. They're not playing for the media, they're having a lark. A serious one. They don't want to mess up. But it's truly shocking that they're so on at what many today would consider a secondary gig. I mean who's paying attention in D.C?

But we were all paying attention. Because nothing we ever heard before came out of the speakers like "I Want To Hold Your Hand". There was an energy and a confidence and when these guys do the "oos" and all the other initial Beatle tricks/trademarks/cliches your head will explode. Just watch the audience... Oprah never got this reaction.

Everybody's sitting there, with their Brownie cameras and programs. They've spun the LP at home. They know all the words.

Not that Paul is aware of this. He's got no context. He's explaining.

But we already knew.

That our lives would never be the same."
 

g6120

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Jan 17, 2009
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Great stuff :3zone

Ive got that complete concert on dvd and remember that Sunday night in 1964 Febuary 9th when they were on the Sullivan show . They arrived in America on the 7th of Febuary and they changed the music and the culture around the world .

There is not a single musician that day on that has not be influenced one way or another by this band . They changed the world as we know it today .

Had a opportunity to meet Paul after a concert a few years ago and he was just about as down to earth as you can get .
 
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Red Rocket

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Had a opportunity to meet Paul after a concert a few years ago and he was just about as down to earth as you can get .

Cool story. You can see in this concert that Paul is really enjoying the crowd. Ringo too.
 

g6120

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Ya your right , Shea Stadium was another and when MCcartney was singing Im down Lennon was having the time of his life on that piano just banging away at it .


Some of their songs turned out better live than in the studio and one comes to mind was rock n roll music and another Dizzy Miss Lizzy .

There some others as well Live in Paris was another good one but I could go on and on .

I grew up in the 50s & 60s and remember waiting for the next new Beatles lp to come out they were always different they did not stick to one sound formula even if the lp was successful they always moved on to new phases of music .

Two prolific song writers you dont see often in the same group and there was Harrison who was great as well .
 

Red Rocket

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You're right, songwriting in the 60's - 70's was pretty special. For those who weren't there it is still great to discover this era. Most people I know hate the current wasteland of modern music. But thanks to youtube we get to revisit old faves done by the original bands, see bands we've never heard of before, and learn some 'new' songs to add to the repertoire.
 

g6120

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I dont know its like back in the 50s & 60s the cars for instance were all unique but very distinctive classic and so was music .

Today cars all look much this same cant really tell one from the other not unique or distinctive they are all a mishmash and so is most of the music today .
 

au_rick

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the irony of the Beatles coming to iTunes is many fold

The way I remember it is that Apple Computer had to get dispensation from Paul McCartney to be able to distribute music in the first place as Apple Records (set up by the Beatles) pre-dated Apple Computer and had one over Steve Jobs when he wanted to regiseter "Apple" as the name of his company.
Steve Jobs agreed that they would not enter the music disribution business way back then and so when iTunes started up Paul took Apple Computer to task for an undisclosed out of court settlement.
 

Wisertime

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Funny how it took them so long to get started, mainly because Ringo's set was facing the wrong direction.
 

dylanR

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Jan 21, 2011
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Great concert i love watching early Beatle performances, i wish i could hit a thank you button for this thread. THe love of music is really what's important, and The Beatles really were innovators and great musicians, i wouldn't have the balls to sing long tall sally with no monitors to a packed house.
 

Red Rocket

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Hey Dylan! Yeah, it takes many hundreds, thousands, of hours playing together to reach that point. I think Bob L. nails it in his commentary. And now we have come full circle, because recorded music is, for all intents and purposes, free. Acts have to change how they think in order to capitalize on their talent, because they can't rely on CD sales. Even the concept of the album is pretty much dead, its all about singles now. I think Bob Lefsetz is essential reading for anyone in the business (and he is free).
 

dylanR

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Hey Dylan! Yeah, it takes many hundreds, thousands, of hours playing together to reach that point. I think Bob L. nails it in his commentary. And now we have come full circle, because recorded music is, for all intents and purposes, free. Acts have to change how they think in order to capitalize on their talent, because they can't rely on CD sales. Even the concept of the album is pretty much dead, its all about singles now. I think Bob Lefsetz is essential reading for anyone in the business (and he is free).

The record industry and popular music confuses me now a days. I'm fairly young (21) and most my peers never have the patience to listen to albums all the way though and they seem to not care for musicianship anymore. Hell i think I'm an old man trapped in a kid's body my main method of listening to music is on vinyl (more often than not i prefer albums in mono) , my friend came over once and asked me if i could skip tracks to the last song on the record :rofl

It's scary world for those of us who want to be professional musicians, it's a world that's hard enough to get into without having to play the hollywood game too.

But i digress, I'm a huge Beatles fan if my avatar didn't already announce it, and the band inspires me in so many ways
 

Red Rocket

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I like your Macca avatar Dylan, when was that taken? As for the music biz, you definitely should read Lefsetz. If you're really intd, I could send you some special blogs he's done about growing and maintaining a fan base.
 

dylanR

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I like your Macca avatar Dylan, when was that taken? As for the music biz, you definitely should read Lefsetz. If you're really intd, I could send you some special blogs he's done about growing and maintaining a fan base.

Thanks man, i think it's a white album era picture, but that's just a guess, my avatar on MLP is one of him playing a casino. I'm a huge macca fan, and I've been told I look like him (honestly, not trying to sound arrogant) Yeah I'd be really interested in reading those blogs, you still have my e-mail address right?
 

Red Rocket

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Thanks man, i think it's a white album era picture, but that's just a guess, my avatar on MLP is one of him playing a casino. I'm a huge macca fan, and I've been told I look like him (honestly, not trying to sound arrogant) Yeah I'd be really interested in reading those blogs, you still have my e-mail address right?

sorry I must have lost it, please drop me a line and I'll reply
 

Red Rocket

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I'll reply here, for the benefit of others who may also be int'd. go to http://lefsetz.com/, archives, "Today's Music Business Paradigm" is a good one to start with http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2010/12/17/todays-music-business-paradigm/

"Breaking It Down" from August 2010 is good too.

see also: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2010/08/05/fame-vs-artistry/
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2010/08/01/the-power-of-twitter/

and
Sex, Drugs And Bon Jovi


Also, read his posts about Spotify, Bandcamp, Topspin.
An artist also should want to build his audience thru Twitter and Facebook. Imagine if, in 1964-1966 you could have had access to Lennon, McCartney, Jagger, Dylan, etc thru Twitter! How awesome that would have been. An artist nowadays can go direct, cut out the media-spin bullshit and access fans directly. Showing your humanity is a vital part of building your brand. As Zappa said, art is creating something AND selling it. Also, an artist nowadays can be more creative in ways to raise money, i.e. have a CD release party at a hall, give out the CD's free, make it an event, and make the money selling other things like shirts, caps, the food and beverages. One smart artist I know of has a guy who travels to all his gigs and records each gig; then when the crowd is leaving they can buy the concert as a memento already loaded onto a thumb drive. This guy does 250 gigs a year, all over the world. http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2010/09/20/e-mail-of-the-day-27/

There are lots of other good ways to make money as an artist and you don't have to go the loathesome route of acts like Bon Jovi, (who is really screwing his own audience for the quick buck). IMHO, the music industry now is not about the big label or radio airplay as much as it is about building buzz the hard way (but at the same time having more control). The bottom line is, the Beatles did it because they loved music and had to express themselves musically. So a modern-day musician/artist needs to have the kind of drive it takes to do it, not for the money or fame, but for the love. Fans have infinite choice, how are you going to hook them and keep them stuck? By playing by fan rules, by making it about fans, giving back constantly.

If you only want to read one short piece, for a great read by a real band, something every person with any ambition should read, see email of the day from Oct. 11, 2010 here http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2010/10/11/e-mail-of-the-day-28/
 
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