The Beatles vs. The Beach Boys

Beatles or Beach Boys?


  • Total voters
    279

jdsalinger

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I was crazy for the Beatles in my high school years. Maybe my own personal British invasion? I still credit them with opening my mind to artistic & experimental music.

I went through a Beach Boys phase in my early teens, but move on. I considered them a niche group and one-dimensional bubble gum pop. Cars & girls...yeah, we get it......

But lately, I've been exploring some deeper Beach Boys tracks and some Brian Wilson works. I'm getting blown away by the masterpieces I'm discovering. So melodic, intimate, artistic, original, slightly trippy without being overtly so.

I've read that Brian Wilson was stressed and neurotic about not being recognized as being on par with the Beatles. ( I'm sure the drugs had nothing to do with that ) A shame, though.

I was wondering where AK stands on Beatles vs. Beach Boys.
 
I was crazy for the Beatles in my high school years. Maybe my own personal British invasion? I still credit them with opening my mind to artistic & experimental music.

I went through a Beach Boys phase in my early teens, but move on. I considered them a niche group and one-dimensional bubble gum pop. Cars & girls...yeah, we get it......

But lately, I've been exploring some deeper Beach Boys tracks and some Brian Wilson works. I'm getting blown away by the masterpieces I'm discovering. So melodic, intimate, artistic, original, slightly trippy without being overtly so.

I've read that Brian Wilson was stressed and neurotic about not being recognized as being on par with the Beatles. ( I'm sure the drugs had nothing to do with that ) A shame, though.

I was wondering where AK stands on Beatles vs. Beach Boys.

I voted Beatles, but appreciate the Beach Boys as well, though I know only a fraction of their catalog. I've had Pet Sounds for years, but picked up Surf's Up and Holland in a LP collection I acquired. Then bought their Good Vibrations box set.

Can you name some albums or tracks that you especially liked?
 
In order of preference:

1. Pet Sounds
2. Revolver (UK release)
3. Magical Mystery Tour
(UK EP)
4. Rubber Soul

That's it for both of 'em.
 
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Really...

There's a comparison ?
Both bands were very close musically up until Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" and The Beatles "Rubber Soul", circa 1966. After that The Beatles REALLY took off whereas the Beach Boys totally fumbled, and never recovered. It's notable that neither band ever had any truly great instrumental virtuosos, they were just great pop song writers and singers who happened to be at the right place at the right time.

As far as comparisons go, what's even more unfathomable then a Beatles/Beach Boys comparison is that The Dave Clark Five were at one time considered to be on par with The Beatles. I don't dislike The DCF but even during The Beatles least inspiring early days they were still a better band then The DCF ever were.
 
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That is true...

The Beatles music progressed as the events in the 60's progressed !

Wish things were progressing now...

Even though Hendrix told us we'd never hear surf music again it's influence is heard routinely today on college radio. Sgt. Pepper? Squat. Nobody does Sgt. Pepper cuz it was a gimmick that the Beatles pulled off only because they were clever enough to get away with it and everybody drank the Kool-Aid that it was "progressive".
 
If I may indulge with a short story:

I have somewhat a different perspective to a question like this. I started listening to music seriously in the late '70s. Mostly Progressive Rock. So I was too young to know the Beatles' phenomenon and The Beach Boys' rise during their respective ascensions. I remember hearing a 45 of Day Tripper at a friend's house in the late '60s, probably when it came out. And my mom said every time Barbara Ann played on the radio I'd walk around singing, "Ba-Ba-Ba..." You get the idea. It wasn't until around 2000 that I bought my first CD of the Beatles, Rubber Soul. Bought it from a fella at work for $3.00 or something. I always liked Norwegian Wood. However, I bought a pressing of Abby Road and Love Songs from a buddy when I was in the Navy; I never played them. So these were my first two Beatles' pressings I bought, back in the '80s.

Fast forward to 2010. I'm anxious to get my Pioneer PL-630 back up and running. It hasn't maintained its speed in years. Very frustrating. So I get it fixed. I decide to play Abby Road (purple Capital). I can't get over how much I like this record. Off to the library to get every Beatles CD I can, make copies and the rest for me is Beatles' history. The Beatles are one of my five favorite bands of all time. I guess you could say I'm a Beatles' 'newbie'.

As to The Beach Boys. I found Surf's Up at a thrift. Didn't play it until one day after I cleaned it with my brand new Okki Nokki RCM. FIrst thought that came into my head was had I been listening to this without knowing who it was I never would've have answered, "The Beach Boys." Same thing, off to the library to get some Beach Boys. Surf's Up is my favorite so far by them. And I like Pet Sounds, too. No surprise.

I own the mono and stereo box sets by the Beatles and many more pressings outside the sets. I own a few records by The Beach Boys. I enjoy both, but the Beatles, for me, are simply on another level. I have much more Beach Boys to explore though, and I'm looking forward to it.

I choose the Beatles

S.J.
 
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Can you name some albums or tracks that you especially liked?

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This is the one I was listening to that prompted me to create the poll. Half the songs I was familiar with, but some experimental stuff on there too. It sounded really good on my main system. Deep tracks with some great, subtle effects, layering, details... My cat was on my lap. The sound quality was spooky on the horns and the cat probably thought there was someone in the room.

God Only Knows, In My Room, Heros and Villians, Sloop John B., Wouldn't It Be Nice, are a few examples of BB songs that I dig.

Pet Sounds is what got me to appreciate Wilson a little more. Got that album a couple of years ago.
 
they are not? :idea:

In the areas of jazz, classical, and pop, overall I'd say no. I can think of a few great contemporary jazz and classical players, but overall, I'd say those genres are not progressing. But I also think there is a lot music we don't get a chance to listen to with the present media system. I've heard some independent rock, that I like, that hasn't gotten any real commercial airtime. There's undoubtedly a lot of great talent that we don't get a chance to hear.
 
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Perhaps like many of us here, I was a young boy when both these bands rose to popularity. In the early days I related to, and preferred the Beach Boys, though I liked both bands a lot. The Beatles were a little scary, partly due to the crazy fan base and partly because of songs like "Strawberry Fields". When I first heard it, it sounded like nothing I ever heard before. And those two aspects are why I must vote the Beatles. They absolutely dominated music in their day; music consisted of them on the one hand and everyone else on the other. It is easy now, hearing their oh so familiar material to forget how revolutionary it was when it came out, and the influence it had on the world. But through the 60's it seemed that all we talked about was the Vietnam Nam war and what the Beatles might do next. Again, I love the Beach Boys, and they were "my band" back in the day. I wore out a copy of "Holland" back when it was an embarrassment to admit liking them. Life wouldn't be right if one couldn't listen to "Endless Summer" once in a while, and recall what it was like to have girls, cars and sun as one's top priorities. "Pet Sounds" was certainly capable of rivaling "Sgt. Pepper". But the Beatles, I believe, were on an entirely different level. They were not just musicians, they were artists at a very rare and elite level, artists who changed the world and who will be referenced in 100-200 years in the same breath as Picasso or FL Wright. Whether you like their music or not is irrelevant, it was their impact on music and the world that secures their place in history.

Or so I think.
 
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