I've been listening to a lot of Stealers Wheel/Gerry Rafferty/Joe Egan recently. Probably one of the best bands of all carrying The Beatle banner and preserving "the sound" and "the feel" of Beatledom. How about it? Who are the best Beatle-esque bands/artists who are non-Beatles? I'll give you one more. "Lies" by The Knickerbockers. Best Beatle sounding single ever ... not actually performed by The Beatles?
Klaatu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaatu_(band))
The Knack (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knack) also had some similarities.
Quote from: JOYCEfromNS on January 10, 2016, 01:06:59 PM
Klaatu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaatu_(band))
The Knack (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knack) also had some similarities.
Right. I remember that, as part of the marketing strategy, they tried to have folks think that Klaatu actually
were The Beatles. Heck, weren't they Canadians? :ohmy:
The Knack had some similarities, mostly based on the album cover, but they didn't really sound that much like them.
Listen to the clips from "Jeff Lynne's ELO: Alone in the Universe" (new)
Link (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015O7BOU8?ie=UTF8&keywords=jeff%20lynne&qid=1452475016&ref_=sr_1_1&s=music&sr=1-1)
Badfinger.
You might laugh, but I will follow the lead of the Tuner podcast and state that One Direction's "Olivia" has a whole lot of Beatles in it. And they get the crowds of screaming girls.
Here's the evidence:
http://www.tuner.show/episodes/2015/11/22/5-if-i-needed-some-one-direction
A fellow FAWMer (February Album Writing Month participant) keeps a great blog on Beatles songwriting tips called "Tickets to Write". If you want to write in the fashion of the Beatles, it's a pretty great resource: http://beatlessongwriting.blogspot.com/p/tickets-to-write.html
Split Enz?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NduGJ0F5sdI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmQlBfxh4Us (especially the chorus)
Quote from: L07 Shooting Star on January 13, 2016, 10:05:47 PM
Split Enz?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NduGJ0F5sdI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmQlBfxh4Us (especially the chorus)
Sure and the little brother's band, Crowded House, would be in the mix, as well.
I tuned to an "oldies" radio station the other day and happened to catch a familiar song about halfway through. Wow, I had myself a real senior moment trying to remember who the heck was singing. Had me thinking Beatles for a moment as it sure had that feel and sounded a lot like John Lennon singing. Nope, turned out to be the Bee Gees. "Lonely days, lonely nights, where would I be without my woman..."
Of course, Elton John did a lot of Beatle type music. How about Big Star? Also one of the best "unknown" bands around. There's a great documentary on them on Netflix. No One Can Hurt Me. Well worth a watch.
I think "Beatlesque" is a pretty broad thing. Think of the variety and changes from early Beatles up thru Sgt. Pepper and beyond. Same was true of another northern England band of the same period. I've been on a Hollies kick lately. Searching youtube, I've found songs I never heard before, many are covers or songs written by others that they put their definitive stamp on. With Allan Clarke, Graham Nash and Tony Hicks their vocal blend was awesome. They recorded at the Abbey Road studio at the same time the Beatles were there.
Bobby Elliot on drums was always interesting and tasteful, paired with Eric Haydock and later Bern Calvert on bass the foundation was always solid. Tony Hicks makes me scratch my head when I watch him play. It makes sense when you hear it but he has a strange (unique?) playing style. He came up with some great musical hooks as lead guitarist. Love it!
A couple live clips...
I Can't Let Go
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK671sO5pe0
Look Through Any Window
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqL-J7k8rHY
This one isn't a live clip but I think it shows the influence of Sgt. Pepper with the way the piano intro sounds as well as the rest of the recording. Clarkes vocal phrasing and the Hollies harmonies are excellent here.
Pay You Back With Interest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llq4VU8Cl9A
Just for fun, they do a Chuck Berry tune on the TV show Shindig. As a spoof, Graham throws in the first four words of "I Feel Fine"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZUNPOjjs3w
I love The Hollies. You left out Bus Stop. Graham Gouldman wrote some great songs for them and another Beatlesque band called 10cc. :thumb
Yes, Bustop is a gem from start to finish. If it's on the radio, my hand is reaching for the volume knob automatically! I didn't want to list too many songs on the post but yes I was tempted! If you haven't heard "Yes I Will" lately, pull that one up. Their harmonies are so good.
When they recorded Carousel at Abbey Road a film crew was there and recorded the session. You can find that clip on youtube as well. I can spend hours searching for music clips like that.
Lucky for us, Shindig performances were live instead of lip synced. So great to see these bands playing their songs live and sounding great with no modern effects BS.
For me, "Stop, Stop, Stop" and "Look Through Any Window" exemplifies the Hollies.
As for Beatle-esque bands ..... Early Bee Gees ...."in My Own Time" ..... In fact, we speculated at the time that BeeGees stood for Beatles Group.
Quote from: Walkerman on February 11, 2016, 08:19:56 PM
For me, "Stop, Stop, Stop" and "Look Through Any Window" exemplifies the Hollies.
As for Beatle-esque bands ..... Early Bee Gees ...."in My Own Time" ..... In fact, we speculated at the time that BeeGees stood for Beatles Group.
Sure. Bee Gees before they became a disco band were totally Beatles-lite. More McCartney than Lennon, however. They lacked the sneer. Quite a few bands could come up with the Paul, pop side of the Beatles, add some 12 string to do some Harrison but few could manage both the pop side and the cutting edge of Lennon's style. And none of them had Ringo! :beer
Quote from: ducktrapper on February 12, 2016, 08:21:10 AM
Sure. Bee Gees before they became a disco band were totally Beatles-lite. More McCartney than Lennon, however. They lacked the sneer. Quite a few bands could come up with the Paul, pop side of the Beatles, add some 12 string to do some Harrison but few could manage both the pop side and the cutting edge of Lennon's style. And none of them had Ringo! :beer
The Beatles don't get proper respect for their musicianship. Especially George and Ringo. I was watching a McCartney and Wings concert and I noticed something I had never seen before. Paul uses a pick when he plays bass ..... on every song they played.
Quote from: Walkerman on February 12, 2016, 08:08:49 PM
The Beatles don't get proper respect for their musicianship. Especially George and Ringo. I was watching a McCartney and Wings concert and I noticed something I had never seen before. Paul uses a pick when he plays bass ..... on every song they played.
Yep, I've noticed that too. But after all, he's a guitar player who got stuck with the bass and made the most of it. I'm always amazed that people don't recognize that Ringo is one of the great drummers. As for George? My man! :beer
How about a few more? And solo artists, as well.
The Odds
The Records
Aimee Mann
Michael Penn
Teddy Thompson
Freedy Johnston
The Smithereens
Elliot Smith
Matthew Sweet
Check out Todd Rundgren's Deface The Music..... :winkin:
"I Just Want to Touch You"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ldLwavOp6E
My favorite rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps with Harrison, EJ, EC, Ringo and Phil Collins...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsD3W02JcQs