Freddie Mercury Tribute

In this article we're going to briefly review the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert which was held at Wembley's Stadium in London.

Freddie Mercury was not just the heart and soul or the rock group Queen, he was Queen. When he died from complications of AIDS on November 24, 1991, the world lost one of the truly unique and great singers.

When Queen first hit the scene in the mid 70s they had a cult following at best. Their music was quite different from anything that had come along until then. Their harmonic vocals, led by Mercury's over the top solos, made them a group that sooner or later had to get noticed. And while it took years for them to reach the peak of their popularity, once they made it they were one of the biggest groups of the era.

And then the world got word of Mercury's death and for all practical purposes, Queen was dead. In truth, until their recent team up with Paul Rogers, Queen had stopped performing and recording. But on April 20, 1992, Queen, with the help of some very talented musicians put on a concert to pay tribute to their fallen leader.

The concert, held at Wembley Stadium in London sold out its 72,000 tickets in just six hours. The concert was also broadcast live to over one billion people. The profit that they made from the concert was used to fund the Mercury Phoenix Trust which is a world wide charity organization to fight AIDS. This organization has been operating ever since.

The concert itself was actually announced and planned for at a February 1992 BRIT awards ceremony by Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor. At the time nobody knew who would play other than the remaining members of Queen which included May, Taylor and John Deacon who played his last performance as a member of Queen with this concert.

The lineup for this concert was quite impressive. Guest artists included Spinal Tap, Robert Plant, from Led Zeppelin, Roger Daltry, from The Who, David Bowie, who recorded the song "Under Pressure" with Queen, Elton John and even Elizabeth Taylor came by to give a speech.

The musical highlights could have made a greatest hits album alone. Many Queen favorites were played such as "Tie Your Mother Down", "Radio Ga-Ga", "Under Pressure", "Somebody To Love", "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions", and of course Queen's greatest hit of all, "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Other highlights and artists included Def Leppard, who sang "Now I'm Here" with Brian May, Gary Cherone singing "I Want It All", Seal singing "Who Wants To Live Forever", Ian Hunter and a host of others singing "All The Young Dudes", Lisa Stanfield singing "I Want To Be Free", and Elton John singing "The Show Must Go On."

The passing of Freddie Mercury has left a terrible void in the music industry. And while Paul Rogers is certainly a talented singer in his own right, he can't fill Mercury's shoes.

Nobody can.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Guitars

Guitars - Guitar Players And Their Axes

Everybody has their idea of what the coolest and best guitar to play is. Some people go with the Gibson Les Paul while others follow in the footsteps of the Beatles and go for the Rickenbacker. But what about the guitar players themselves and the guitars they used? What guitars DID the great guitar players use? Because there have been so many guitar players, we're only going to cover a few of them and their guitar of choice.

Let's start with somebody who really doesn't stick with any one type of guitar. A perfect example of this type of person would be Eric Clapton, who just happens to be one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Today, Clapton plays mostly a Fender Stratacaster. But throughout his career he has played a Gibson L-5, Martin 000-28EC, Gibson Les Paul (during his early years) and several Guild acoustic guitars.

Everybody knows the hard rock group Aerosmith, featuring lead guitarist Joe Perry. So what is Joe's guitar of choice? Joe is another one who has played several guitars including the Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratacaster. Joe definitely doesn't buy off the rack as one of his guitars goes for a whopping $3,999.

If you're familiar with the rock group Kiss, then you no doubt know Paul Stanley. If you're wondering what kind of guitar Paul Stanley plays, he made this quite clear in an interview when he was asked this question and responded by saying (in pure Paul Stanley style) "I can play any damn guitar I want. I choose Silverstone. The Guitars Are Great Playing, Great Sounding and Great Looking Guitars. These Are Today's Style. We Need More Kids Playing Music and Very Few Could Afford Signature Guitars Priced Over $1000. Silvertone Offers The Quality Any Guitar Player Would Be Proud To Own. I Guarantee It".

You heard it straight from Paul's mouth.

Not all musicians are so outspoken. However John Lennon was not one of those. Having once proclaimed that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus Christ, which didn't go over too well with anybody, thus leading to the burning of their albums, John Lennon was pretty much responsible for putting Rickenbacker on the map by playing only Rickenbacker guitars. Lennon had as many as five of these guitars in his brief life.

Jimi Hendrix, who is arguably the greatest guitar player who ever lived, played a number of guitars. The truth is, it didn't matter what Hendrix played. Nobody else sounded like him. But one thing that Jimi is not remembered for is probably one of the nicest things he ever did for anyone. Just before he died, he reunited with an old girlfriend who he married and gave a black Fender Stratacaster to. Now that is love.

For all the guitar players that have come and gone, there have been the guitars that they either made famous or made them famous, depending on who you ask (the guitar company or the artist himself). But one thing is for certain. For almost all of these great musicians it probably wouldn't have mattered what they played. It would have still sounded great.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Guitars

Jimi Hendrix is the #1 Rock

I've been in rock and roll all my life and I admit it's bit difficult to put Jimi Hendrix above Mick Jagger in terms of brilliant rock and roll stardom, but after watching several movies of both Jimi and Mick in concert, here's why I would do it:

1. BEST MUSICIAN

Jimi Hendrix was the only true genius in rock and roll. The word genius is highly overused and it's often applied to people who are extremely talented. I disagree with the dictionary when it equates genius with "exceptional intelligence", and what I think the word genius is supposed to refer to is a person who creates something that's new, and not only new, but significantly new, important, and somewhat of a milestone in human development. I call Albert Einstein the premier genius of the human race because the Theory of Relativity was a giant jump in the understanding of the way our universe operates and to this day, few people actually understand anything other than the bomb part. Jimi Hendrix was the genius of rock and roll because he was the only one who invented something new. It's almost impossible to do anything that's really new in the field of music because there are only eight notes in the Western scale so in a sense, all music is derivative. But Jimi invented guitar feedback and nobody before Jimi even thought about it. And Jimi took his invention one step farther. Until Jimi came along, all music since the time of Mozart and Beethoven has been built on chord structure and rock and roll music uses simple chord structure. Jimi actually used feedback alone to construct song structure in a few, but not all of his songs (i.e. Third Stone From the Sun). To this day, nobody has been able to do what Jimi did. In fact, Jeff Beck bought Jimi's strat at an auction and even the super talented Jeff admitted that he can't get the same sounds out of the very same guitar as Jimi got. With all due respect to Mick, he's a brilliant singer and one of the all time great rock and roll songwriters, but he's not actually a brilliant musician because he only plays rhythm guitar. I believe Mick would agree with me about Jimi being a genius guitar player because Mick was one of the first ones to discover Jimi when The Experience made their debut in the clubs of London. Along with John Lennon, Mick spread the word to the other British musicians about the new nova in the rock and roll sky.

2. BEST PERFORMER

It's a tie between Jimi and Mick. Call it a dead heat with one survivor. If Elvis was still breathing he'd be breathing down both of their necks and I probably will get flack from a whole lot of people for saying that, and even more flack from the know-nothing fans of Madonna, Prince (whoever he is these days) and Michael Jackson (not to mention Roberta FLACK). Certainly Elvis came first and Elvis was The King, but Jimi and Mick both had their own unique styles and neither one were heavily influenced by Elvis in terms of their performances. Mick was influenced by James Brown's dancing and only God knows who influenced Jimi's performance style because he was truly an original. Besides, Elvis moved on to acting and he starred in tons of below average movies - and now I'll really get flack! Unfortunately I won't get Roberta. But seriously, Mick deserves an award for putting on a great show every single time he appears, he did that right from his debut as a young man, and he's continued to do that as an old man. Jimi died as a young man. Both of them were sex stars on stage as well as off stage but watching Jimi on stage is nothing short of breathtaking. He had all the moves, he had the body of a black Adonis, he played his guitar with his teeth, behind his back, under his leg, and when he set fire to it at the end of his shows, he got down on his knees and prayed to the Guitar God who obviously listened to him. He wasn't a dancer like Mick, he was a mover and a shaker of women's "G" spots. People standing in front of his stage all had the same astounded expression on their faces as if to say, "I can't believe this guy! What galaxy did he come from?"

3. SONGWRITING TALENT

"And the Wind Cried Mary". Oh, Jimi, how poetic can you possibly be? So the galactic storm screamed "Jimi", and what hetero man in his right mind doesn't want that "Foxy Lady"? I suppose that a man who's in a "Purple Haze" might not be able to recognize one, and a man who's in a state of "Manic Depression" might not be able to get out of bed and do anything about it, but every time Jimi launches into Foxy Lady with his famous dissonant E chord my libido stands up and salutes. And every time I hear that all time classic feedback note in the middle of the song, it never fails to send shivers up my spine. Comparisons to other songwriters are superfluous. Jimi quite obviously wrote more than a few great rock and roll songs, he almost always had something important to say, and he always said it in a poetic way.

4. SINGING TALENT

As a professional rock and roll singer, it's hats off time to Mick. Oh, I'll get big arguments about that but people who would argue the point don't understand rock and roll singing. It's not about range, power, or technical perfection. It's all about emotion and style. Mick knows how to sing without necessarily using words. Like Robert Plant, he often uses sounds alone to express emotions. A case in point is "Going Home" on the Aftermath album which consists of 11 minutes of Mick having sex with a microphone. Jimi Hendrix was actually embarrassed by his own singing because as a great musician, he recognized and understood the great singers. In the recording studio, he was the master of guitar but he recorded his vocals over and over and over again until he got something that he could just live with. But I put Jimi in the same class as Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. These are great artists who were all perfectly capable of putting across their own unique songs in a way that nobody else can. I'm not a fan of Dylan's voice and when The Byrds recorded Dylan songs, they did a good job but they lack Dylan's sarcasm and his almost bored feeling with his own poetic brilliance. I'm a big fan of Bob Marley and I like his voice, but I recognize that he's not a great singer. It just so happens that I love Jimi's voice. I hear Bob Dylan's influence and I know that Jimi was a fan of Bob's voice and of his lyrics. But Jimi did something very unusual vocally and in the theater, it's called an "aside". Jimi had a wonderful habit of flipping off little spoken phrases, very often interrupting himself while he was singing and it came off as being totally COOL. When it comes to singers, people either like them or they don't and all I can say is that as a professional singer, Jimi's voice works for me big time. 5.

SEXUAL AURA

Every rock star has it. Jimi had too much of it for one man. I'm wildly hetero but I'm wowed by the sexual aura that surrounds Jimi on film. I was lucky enough to see him one time in person and I can testify that he was as HOT as it's possible for a human being to be in the flesh. There are an uncountable number of women who would be quite willing to testify about Jimi's abilities in the bedroom. So in conclusion, it's not necessary to be a great musician to be a rock star, just like it's not necessary to be a great actor to be a movie star. This should be self evident and there are way too many examples in both fields to start listing them. But Jimi was a genius guitar player, a unique and atomicly powerful performer, a great songwriter, a very good singer, a super nova sex star, and a world class personality on top of everything else. That's why I call Jimi Hendrix the Number One Rock Star of All Time.

Credit: Peter Cross is a former professional drummer and a singer/songwriter/producer/Web Master who was among the first to put music on the Internet in a downloadable format in 1996. His web site is very entertaining and at 206 pages, it may be the largest music artist web site on the Internet. You can find this article at: http://www.starcrost.com/entertainment/jimi.php and his home page at: http://www.starcrost.com where his copyright is displayed right above the “Greatest Rock Sites on the Web” designation.

Led Zeppelin is the #1 Rock and Roll Band of All Time

I've been in rock and roll all my life and I'm well aware that The Rolling Stones have been called the best rock and roll band. Don't get me wrong because I love Mick and the Stones, and the Beatles were my major musical influence, but here's why I think that Led Zeppelin is the best rock and roll band of all time:

1. BEST PLAYERS First of all, John Bonham was the best rock and roll drummer ever to walk the face of this planet, and that's an informed opinion coming from a former professional drummer. John played drums unlike anyone else ever did, still does, or ever will, and that fact is continually demonstrated in the astounding breadth and depth of his recorded work. He had complete independence in all four limbs, he slammed his drums harder than anyone else, and he did it with speed and total precision, never once dropping the beat. His beats were were innovative and creative, and John was never stuck in simple grooves. His fills were innovative, creative, complex, and technically brilliant, he knew when to keep it relatively simple (i.e. Kashmir), but he was always in the stratosphere of drumming. And to top that all off, John created a giant drum sound which is unique. It inspired a host of imitators who were able to imitate the sound of his snare drum, but only with a simple backbeat. At the time that Led Zep was formed, Jimmy Page could have gotten any drummer in the world to play with him, and he chose John. There's not one single drummer alive or dead who can begin to touch John's power, creativity, speed, precision, and technical brilliance. I've heard that Jimmy still feels the same way about John as I do. Secondly, Jimmy Page has always been one of the best rock guitarists ever, right from his earliest days as a session player and the beginning of his real public stardom in the Yardbirds. I believe that Jimmy is the most brilliantly prolific of all the great rock and roll guitarists. I suspect that Jimmy would agree with me that Jimi Hendrix was the one true genius of guitar because he came from another galaxy in terms of his sound and his use of feedback. But unfortunately, Jimi died and we will never know how much further he would have progressed. When I listen to Jimmy's solos using the violin bow, I get the urge to put him on the same pedestal as Hendrix and wonder which galaxy they both came from. As a songwriter, Jimmy used his superior ability to play lead guitar to create actual song structure.

Led Zep's songs use not one or two of Jimmy's incredibly powerful, complicated and unbelievably SEXY riffs in each song, but there are four, five or more riffs in some songs. Jimmy's riffs differ from each other within each song, and also from song to song. His lead guitar playing can be HARD and sexy, he can be sensitive and beautiful, and he can be technically brilliant, all in the very same song. Thirdly, John Paul Jones is a bass player who attained a level of brilliance comparable to Paul McCartney. Just like McCartney, John could play beautiful "melodic" bass (i.e. "Ramble On"), he could play as fast as it gets, but he also knew when to keep it simple and just hold down the bottom although I think he was incapable of doing that without utter sophistication. No one at all can touch those two on bass, and John also played consistently brilliant keyboards - piano, organ and synthesizer. The intricate way in which he wove his bass guitar playing into, through, and underneath Jimmy's guitar playing is nothing short of perfection itself. And last but not at all least, Robert Plant had an incredibly high vocal range, emotionally as well as in terms of octaves. Just like Dylan was for his own music, Robert's voice was perfect for Led Zep's music and there's no other singer who could possibly have fit in. As a professional singer, I'm knocked out by Robert's vocals on both a technical and an emotional level. Robert understood the concept of using his voice like a musical instrument, creating fascinating sounds without using lyrics. And Robert co-wrote with Jimmy too. A lot of the time you can't understand his lyrics and I've heard that was Robert's intent because just like Mick Jagger, all he cared about at that time was that you connect with the emotion and the energy in the totality of the music. But when you can get the lyrics (like in Stairway to Heaven, their tribute to Janis Joplin), you find a great piece of poetry. And on top of all that, Robert had the best "oooh yeahs" in the business!

2. CREATIVE SONGWRITING Hardly anybody has ever covered Led Zep songs for very good reasons. Their song structure is based on their vastly superior playing abilities and there's no one who can actually play what they played. I'm talking about songs that are not based on simple chords like all other rock and roll is. Jimmy and Robert based their songs on Jimmy's riffs and on his chordal tonalities that to this day stand alone as being unique. I'm also talking about length of songs that maintain a constant and intense high, up to 11 minutes in length without resorting to an overly repetitive chorus. I know from Robert's solo work after Led Zep that he also uses unusual tonalities in his writing, but even without actually knowing this I would have to assume that due to Jimmy Page being an erupting fountain of brilliant guitar work, the majority of the non-vocal music creation came from Jimmy. The Beatles certainly deserve abject worship for John and Paul's creative songwriting ability, no question about that. Certainly Mick and Keith wrote a slew of classic, historic and truly memorable rock songs, but the very nature of their comparatively simple rock and roll structure and basic similarity to each other in terms of using major and minor chord progressions, simple and basic rock and roll rhythms, and verse/chorus/bridge approach defines them as being less innovative when compared to Robert and Jimmy.

3. SUM TOTAL OF BRILLIANT WORK Here they outdistance The Stones because most of the Stones' albums have "fillers", which are songs that do not hit the same intense high that got slammed in all their best ones. However, I'd like to say that I don't think either Mick or Robert is capable of recording anything short of a brilliant vocal. The Beatles actually exceed Led Zep in terms of numbers of great albums that constitute a greater body of brilliant and uniquely innovative work that literally broke new musical ground with every single song they recorded. The Beatles were simply The Beatles, and they were the most creative rock and roll band ever, from being the best singers and songwriters ever right down to their individual charm and charisma. But without denigrating their gorgeous, sensitive and original style of playing, what they recorded is not the heavy type of rock and roll that either the Stones or Led Zep played. George, Paul and John were all brilliant and creative guitarists, but because they did not improvise on stage, they were not really master guitarists. I love and respect Ringo as both a person and as a very creative drummer who mastered the art of drum sounds. He has his own unmistakable Ringo style for both, but he's not really a master drummer in the sense of being able to play with great speed and dexterity. I'm talking about 9 Led Zep albums chock full of brilliant and intensely high songs - I don't know how many hours of great rock and roll listening that is. There's not a single weak track among all that work, and there's simply no question that they consistently broke new ground musically. Their debut album is still the best one of all time (including Cream's), and Coda, their "swan song" is equally perfect.

4. STAGE PRESENCE Led Zep was there when the concept of "rock and roll star" was still evolving. I will grant that the Stones at least deserve honorable mention as the best rock and roll band but it's mostly because of their impressive touring record and Mick's superstar stage presence with his ability to put on a great show every single time he appears. And he's still doing it at age 60 for goodness sake! My point isn't that Led Zep necessarily had the best stage presence, just that they did have a true rock star sexual aura. I could go on about Jimmy Page's abilities as a producer, and there are other aspects to their greatness like the length of time they were together without a change of band members. And the life they actually led as archtypical wild rock and roll bad boys equals the life led by the Rolling Stones in intensity, if not length.

Both bands are perfect examples on an artistic level of what I call FORM = CONTENT, which in this case means that these two rock and roll bands personified the rock and roll life. In conclusion, the above four categories do enough to fully qualify Led Zeppelin for my not-so-humble award. There will never be another rock and roll band to approach the stratospheric musical heights that Led Zep reached. The Recording Industry Association of America, who has the correct statistics, lists Led Zeppelin as the third best selling musical act/artist in history. The Beatles are first, with 166.5 million albums sold in the USA alone, Elvis is second with 117.5 million, and Led Zep is third with 106 million. I think it's very significant that those statistics are becoming geometrically times greater than the number of albums that they sold during their performance lifetimes. What has happened and is happening is that the young people of today are discovering them in droves because they are coming of age sexually and they recognize and connect with the most powerful musical example of that sexual power. They are buying their CD's, shirts, posters and other memorabilia. And frankly, I'm thrilled.

Credit: Peter Cross is a former professional drummer and a singer/songwriter/producer/Web Master who was among the first to put music on the Internet in a downloadable format in 1996. His web site is very entertaining and at 206 pages, it may be the largest music artist web site on the Internet. You can find this article at: http://www.starcrost.com/entertainment/ledzep.php and his home page at: http://www.starcrost.com where his copyright is displayed right above the “Greatest Rock Sites on the Web” designation.

Duran Duran - From Past To Present

When people mention music of the 80’s, there is one band name that almost always comes to mind…Duran Duran. Although the band has enjoyed success over nearly three decades, they are still referred to as an 80’s band due much in part to the success of their catchy singles and colorful music videos. Boasting chart-topping singles such as “Hungry like the Wolf”, Duran Duran has sold over 70 million records across the globe.


Keyboardist John Taylor and Nick Rhodes formed the band hoping to encompass the energy of the Sex Pistols while still incorporating elegance and dance grooves. At a party, they met up with Roger Taylor who was to become their drummer. Andy Taylor responded to a band audition and bagged the gig for lead guitar while John Taylor moved to bass. A former girlfriend of a band member began singing the praises of Simon Le Bon. Pretty soon, the band booked him as their lead vocalist. It was the beginning of a story that would take five band members on a road to fame as they paved their path through music history.


It was not an overnight success story for the five talented men who had such contagious tunes and a distinct sense of style. The fact that each of the young men was startling good looking certainly did not hurt their cause. As their popularity mounted, they found their faces splashed across the pages of glossy teen magazines. This exposure was probably one of the main reasons their career suddenly skyrocketed, taking them quickly to the top. Throughout the 80’s, Duran Duran treated us to chart-topping hits.


By the 1990’s, music trends were changing. Band members had pursued side projects in the previous years, and they saw that Duran Duran’s success had begun to wane. There is no denying that the band has seen its series of changes. Unlike some bands that have broken up entirely, Duran Duran never totally disbanded. Rocked by several line-up changes throughout the years, it was not until the early 2000’s that Duran Duran really piqued media interest when the core five members reunited to delight of fans. In 2004, they released the long-awaited Astronaut, but fans were disappointed to see Andy Taylor quit the band in October of 2006.


Although Taylor’s departure undoubtedly left its mark on the band, they are continuing to record their new album. Although the album is not expected to be released until mid 2007, fans and critics are already buzzing about what is coming next from one of the world’s most talked about bands.


In an era where music evolves from year to year, music enthusiasts have watched bands break apart often. As new artists appear on the scene, listeners are often skeptical that their newfound success will last. Today’s headliners are often yesterday’s news. So what is it about a band like Duran Duran that makes them weather the rocky times, stick together, and ultimately continue to do what they love doing? Fans say there is something about the passion in their music that is almost contagious. You can’t help but singing along. From the looks of things, we’ll be hearing a lot more from these talented guys in the future.

Nick Rauge writes on topics including duran duran news and duran duran wallpaper.
Nick Rauge is a long time fan of Duran Duran and the author of the website duran duran.

The Beatles are the Most Creative Band of All Time

BACKGROUND HISTORY:

The first musical bands originated in New Orleans among black musicians who have traditionally been the innovators. The first jazz record ever recorded was by The Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1917, and of course they were white because racism always rears its ugly head to hold black people back. But during the Roaring 20's, young white people couldn't resist the dance beat laid down by the black jazz bands.
Fletcher Henderson, a black man, became the first band leader to achieve national fame possibly because he featured Louis Armstrong on trumpet. Duke Ellington, a classicly trained musician, brought a level of style and sophistication to jazz that hadn't been seen before. But it wasn't until 1935 that jazz bands with a "swing beat" achieved national attention due to Benny Goodman who I think was the best clarinet player ever to blow air into that instrument. Benny also had the good sense and taste to bring the first great drummer, Gene Krupa, into his band. When rock and roll exploded into human consciousness during the early 1950's, black musicians like Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Smokey Robinson pioneered the way, but a white DJ named Alan Freed is believed to have coined the term "rock and roll".

The first real rock and roll record was "Shake, Rattle and Roll", written by Jesse Stone who was black and recorded by Big Joe Turner who was also black but it wasn't a hit. The first big hit rock and roll record was "Rock Around the Clock" written by James Meyers and Max Freeman of obvious ancestry, and that one catapulted Bill Haley and his Caucasian Comets to stardom. During the 1950's and early 60's, there were countless "do wop" groups, rock groups, singers and songwriters but until The Beatles hit the charts, there had been very few bands which contained talented songwriters. The vast majority of jazz and rock bands recorded songs written by songwriters who were not performers, with occasional exceptions like Duke Ellington and Buddy Holly.

As time goes on, it's increasingly clear that Lennon/McCartney songs are brilliant classics which will never be forgotten.

Now here's why The Beatles are the most creative band of all time:

1. BEST EXAMPLE OF FORM = CONTENT As I sit here writing this at the keyboard of my computer facing the unique and colorful Beatles poster in my bedroom, I'm aware that I have been directly and indirectly inspired by John Lennon's music as well as by the way he lived his life offstage. Squarely in front of me is a full color poster of all four Beatles standing in a heavenly-like flower garden at about the time of the Abbey Road album. Paul is angelic in his pink suit with a white laced shirt. John is enigmatic peering out from the background. George is charismatic staring directly into the camera from the lower right. Ringo is on the left with a stylish blue suit and his pink ruffled shirt.

I always wished I could dress like those guys but obviously there's a bit of a problem with a money differential there. Surrounding this gorgeous poster which I have never seen elsewhere are my 45 speed original Beatles hit records, including I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Please Please Me, Twist and Shout, Can't Buy Me Love, She's A Woman, Yesterday, and of course, Hey Jude. And surrounding all that is a chain of 1-1/2" long orange flicker flame lights which are the most beautiful and unique Christmas lights I've ever seen. I chose to decorate the wall directly in front of my work station this way because, as I've written elsewhere on this site several times, The Beatles were my major musical influence and having them on the wall in front of me inspires me to write web pages like this one.

I was also among the millions of people who were inspired by how The Beatles were actually living their off stage lives. The Beatles' music creatively stimulated millions of people to change the way they were living, and The Beatles behavior encouraged people to have fun by trying new life style experiences. That's what I call a perfect example of FORM = CONTENT. In this case it means that the creatively and masterfully varied music The Beatles were producing (form) embodied the real life styles which each of the four Beatles were living (content), together as a band as well as separately as unique individuals.

2. BEST SONGWRITERS This should be self-evident, but just because Paul McCartney has the title of the most popular songwriter in history doesn't necessarily make him the best songwriter in history. The qualities which do make both Paul and John the best songwriters in history go beyond writing the greatest number of catchy classic songs. "Catchy" means that their melodies and lyrics are instantly memorable. "Classic" means that they stand the test of time. But both Paul and John wrote very sophisticated melodies that moved beyond the simple groups of 2, 4 and 8 patterned phrases used by almost all other songwriters. John and Paul's melodies soared, floated, cascaded, dived and peaked with true dynamics, naturally following the syllabic lyric patterns - but not always. Sometimes the melodic and lyric patterns were independent of each other, almost counterpoint in nature, and as a songwriter, they never ceased to astonish me with their brilliance and originality. In the beginning, their lyrics were simple and their songs were simple love songs. But they soon began exploring new territory by writing about subjects that hadn't been covered before. Inspired by Bob Dylan, they wrote true poetry with feeling and depth, using evocative and unusual words. Rubber Soul marked the beginning of their evolution as mature songwriters, Revolver was a break-out album, and Sergeant Pepper was an historic landmark album in terms of new and innovative songwriting as well as production. Every song they wrote was significantly different from the last one even though each song had their unmistakable sound. Most songwriters are only average players on their instruments, but John and Paul are both sophisticated guitarists who were able to integrate their playing into their songs and even into their song structure so that the "licks" they played became as catchy a part of their songs as the choruses and verses. Blackbird and Dear Prudence are only two examples of songs which couldn't possibly be written by any other songwriter because of the guitar playing which forms an integral part of the song structure. In similar fashion, Lady Madonna is the best example of a great song which derives from the unique and beautiful bass part which only Paul could possibly have created. Average songwriters achieve the catchy quality by repeating a phrase endlessly or by beating a chorus to death. John and Paul found countless ways to be memorable without ever overly repeating something. The only time they repeated something over and over again for a long time was in Hey Jude, and what they chose to repeat is so gorgeous that one can only wish they had never ended the song. The Beatles were my biggest musical influence and I used to think, "If I could write just one song that's as good as John and Paul's worst song, I'd be happy." People tell me I accomplished that goal and they say one good example is John is Alive which is my sincere tribute to Sir Lennon.

3. BEST SINGERS Even Ringo could sing when he got a little help from his friends who lived in the yellow submarine. But to say that Paul and John are two of the best singers in rock and roll is to state the obvious. Combining John, Paul and George created the best harmony vocals the world has ever experienced. Even their two part harmonies were unusual, catching us all by surprise on their first hit record with the fast harmony melisma in the chorus of I Want to Hold Your Hand. John had a knack of placing a unique low harmony line underneath Paul's high melody line so as to form a second melody which created unusual harmony effects. He did that right from the beginning in the verses of She Loves You. Both Paul and John could blast out screaming rock and roll (i.e. Long Tall Sally and Twist and Shout), and both could break our hearts with touching, deep feeling ballads (i.e. Yesterday and Julia). There seems to be no end to their emotional vocal range, and John even explored the heights of vocal psychedelia in songs like She Said (Revolver) and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.

4. MOST CREATIVE PLAYERS Paul brought a new style of melodic playing to the bass guitar, reaching a new high of creativity on Sergeant Pepper with a level of sophistication never heard before. Many other musicians besides me recognize Paul as being one of the best bass guitar players ever. George is underrated as a lead guitarist by people with average or below average musical knowledge or ability, but most guitarists (including Eric Clapton) know better. George's strength is in melody, pure and simple. It would be difficult to find a George Harrison lead which is not melodic, and each of his leads has a strong beginning, a stronger middle and a well defined ending. In fact, that's Eric's definition of what makes a good guitar lead. George continually developed new guitar sounds for each Beatles song. John and Paul are also excellent guitarists and both recorded great leads as well as innovative rhythm tracks. All three of the Beatles guitarists may lack showy technical fireworks but they make that definition of guitar mastery irrelevant by overwhelming the senses with creativity, style, and pure melody. The exact same thing can be said about John and Paul's keyboard playing. Ringo may be underrated as a drummer by the public but he is not underrated by other professional drummers. Ringo mastered the art of drum sounds. No drummer has ever recorded so many different sounds on so many different sounding records. Ringo invented a new style of slow drum playing, epitomized on A Day in the Life and Strawberry Fields Forever. John said many times, "Ringo has the best back beat in the business" and the successful studio drummers understand why John was correct.

5. TOTAL CHARISMA A good definition of charisma needs to include "an unusual ability to influence people and arouse devotion" and "a personal attractiveness which enables a person to influence others". No musical group prior to or after The Beatles features true charisma emanating strongly from the entire group as well as separately from each member. The Beatles stunned the world with their photogenic quality, their charm, their bubbling and lovable personalities, their cuteness and their unique style. Even before The Beatles achieved fame, people in Liverpool were imitating their haircuts, the way they dressed, the way they behaved, and the way they lived. Such a simple subliminal message about smoking marijuana got communicated to all the hippies who were waiting to happen without actual words ever being spoken. The Beatles had a lot to lose by being explicit on that subject, but they successfully avoided trouble by keeping it very subtle while at the same time clear enough so that we all got it. The Fab Four kept changing their styles rapidly, almost with each album cover, and soon the message became one of explicit spiritualism. After visiting India, The Beatles introduced eastern mysticism and meditation to the Western world for the first time through the mass media. John's long saga with internal angst, drugs, spiritualism, politics, personal battles, and ultimately his marriage to Yoko played out like a movie the whole world got to watch in fascination. Paul's happy life with Linda, George's great focus on meditation, and Ringo's equanimity throughout were all perfect examples of the power, the truth, and the effectiveness of true charisma.

6. SEXUAL AURA Need I say it? Ask the millions of girls who were screaming and fainting at the very sight of them. "The Boys" didn't move like Elvis or dance like Mick, they just stood there shaking their "mop top" heads around, smiling, laughing, and looking gorgeous as they performed great music and that was it. On their first visit to America, some enterprising weirdo from New York City managed to cut up the hotel bedsheets The Beatles had slept on into 1" square pieces, and these things were actually sold to girls over the public airwaves by adult DJ's on the AM radio stations who should have known better. The Beatles phenomenon went way beyond the rock and roll sex star status that had been seen before. Teenage girls in uncountable numbers fell in love, their hearts to be trapped, their heart strings to be continually plucked, and ultimately, their hearts to be broken by the unobtainable object of their love. Worshiping a star from afar? Infatuation? Obsession? Not real love? For many of them, it was their first experience feeling love for a man/boy. Whatever it was, it was very real to all of them, and we all soon understood that The Beatles were The Real Thing. That's why I call The Beatles the Most Creative Band of All Time. They were The Real Thing. The Creative Zenith. The high point on the bell curve of musical history.

Credit: Peter Cross is a former professional drummer and a singer/songwriter/producer/Web Master who was among the first to put music on the Internet in a downloadable format in 1996. His web site is very entertaining and at 206 pages, it may be the largest music artist web site on the Internet. You can find this article at: http://www.starcrost.com/entertainment/beatles.php and his home page at: http://www.starcrost.com where his copyright is displayed right above the “Greatest Rock Sites on the Web” designation.