Do The Beatles Suck?

I have a friend who posted the question Do the Beatles suck on his blog a few months ago. I would offer the link to his blog but it is all about gambling and his poker obsession and I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in that.

Apparently, someone told him that the Beatles sucked and when he thought about it (after his initial shock) he decided that he couldn't name 3 songs that were good or that he wouldn't switch off upon hearing them. In a pinch maybe 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' but he reckons he would even quickly lose interest in that song as well.

Now, I must admit that I am shocked. I know there have always been 2 camps of people: Beatles fans and Stones fans. The 'good' boys and the 'bad' boys. Most people really love one and hate the other. Some (like me) really love both of them. But even the Stones people could probably think of at least 3 Beatles songs that they could listen to.

One thing I will admit is that they are totally over played (especially in America) and it is easy to get fed up with some of their more popular tunes. But recently I came across this: We Can Work It Out.

It is a compilation of Beatles cover versions referred to as Covers & Cookies of The Beatles. The disc was compiled by 4Hero and contains versions of tunes done by the likes of Al Green, Earth Wind & Fire, Ike & Tina Turner, Ramsey Lewis, Stevie Wonder etc... The first disc contains all the covers and the second disc is a mix of the tunes done by 4Hero.

The purpose of the compilation is to show that the Beatles were funky. Since the Beatles started playing music in the late 50s, they were huge fans of Little Richard (who was very funky) and tried to emulate his sound along with their favourite records from the early Motown years.

The suggestion is that if they started playing music in the mid 60s instead of the late 50s that they would have probably emulated James Brown instead. Because at that time he was the most rebellious and raucous person around and that is what they wanted to be. The liner notes state, "The Beatles were the chicken that laid the egg that was rock music, but the chicken was raised on the chitlins and corn of R&B, from which funk grew."

Maybe you agree with this theory, maybe you don't. But one thing is certain - this compilation is absolutely phenomenal and it will blow you away. It really gets the funk out.

Oh, and the Beatles do NOT suck.