I always liked it; maybe not in my top 100 list of Beatle songs but I always found an appeal in it right from the highly recognizable opening piano chords. It hasn’t worn well over the years but had they put it out as an official single in 1968 it would have been top three, at least. It still sits great on The White Album.
It’s an interesting thought. There is a reason Grateful Dead, Beach Boys and Rolling Stones are such legends, it’s because they never broke up like most bands do. A lot of great 60s bands might have gotten as big as the Dead if they had stayed together. Instead all those SF split up and never got the mojo back even when they tried to reunite. I understand the Fabs had to get out of being the Fabs to save their sanity. But if they had taken a break and got back together they would have made some wicked funky albums, no doubt. Just how they might have progressed thru the glam, singer-songwriter, prog, you name it they likely would have incorporated it into their stuff. And then we wouldn’t have had to have weak stuff like Sometime In NYC or Red Rose Speedway, or any number of Ringo albums, or Gone Troppo or Cloud Nine. Instead we would have collaborative band records with more editing and choice efforts. When yer yer own boss quality can take a backseat. If only…
Doesn't really matter anyway...I was replying to someone who was suggesting, I think, that if The Beatles did other forms, us cultists wouldn't like it...they used metal and reggae as examples....so whether you think those two fit the bill or not doesn't seem really to matter....us cultists like everything they did no matter the style....and clearly both Helter Skelter and Ob La Di Ob La Da are way different than She Loves You. As are many other Beatle songs. What is the first metal song? Who qualifies (no pun)? And what makes it qualify? Just curious.
As the link suggests, that would be one of the earliest examples of psychedelia, which can be viewed as a precursor to space rock, but they're not one and the same. Despite their occasional interest in science fiction, I don't think of the Byrds as space rock at all. I'd say the same about Hendrix, with the notable exception of "1983"/"Moon, Turn The Tides. . .". The most notable purveyors of space rock (Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, Gong) were British/European, not American, but the Beatles were generally more focused on songcraft than freeform atmospherics, so I can't really imagine them going this route in the 70s.
To answer the question - The Beatles always had their ears to the ground, and were adapting to changing tunes and styles - always in their own unique way. So yes, they would have continued to evolve, and innovate.
You make a solid point but I disagree with the implication that longevity in and of itself is an ingredient for legendary status. Had any of the bands you mentioned not played a note (as bands) past the late seventies, their status as legends would possibly be even greater than it is given their ongoing “existence”.
I've said it before, but I guess it needs to be repeated. The Beatles were not the first to use feedback, sitars, tape manipulation and other various studio effects. They were the first to take them to the top of the charts.
The Beatles got more popular than any other band without staying together longer. As for most bands that lasted longer, there were a lot of changes of lineup, that happened with the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys. However, I do know of one rock band (U2) where the lineup has remained the same since their pre-fame years, their lineup has remained the same for over 40 years. They were the first to use artificial double tracking and they were, as far as I know, the first western act to use tempuras and saragnis.
The Beatles weren't able to expand into "free-form atmospherics"...no. They never achieved or maybe never even sought soaring expansiveness. We'll have to agree to disagree on what I believe is the soaring and expansive nature of Eight Miles High.
Of course Buddy Holly is a legend whose life and career was tragically cut short. I know he was unusual for the time being both a performer and a songwriter but could you expand on this? What are his innovations?
Only partially true. We know The Beatles didn't do everything first but it has been established that they were the first to use feedback intentionally on a pop record and the first to use a sitar and probably some other Indian instruments in western pop music. They were often the first in pop music (not just to the top of the charts) to use things originally innovated in more avant-garde areas of the arts too. Some innovations were also actually by themselves and their producer/ engineers too.
