...the exact point at which it became required to love the Beatles in order to be a reasonably enlightened member of western civ. Not just like them enough for their catchy tunes and winsome ways and insouciant follicle arrangements, but believe that they were somehow the zenith of all music, the apogee of song, the toppermost of art. I agree there’s some brilliant stuff in there, some lovely tunes and new ideas. Compared to a Beethoven Sonata, though, it’s monkeys pounding on a xylophone.and - trust me - don't dare ask one of those beatle-worshipers about it.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
so do i
lileks wishes he knew:
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The British Library is a library, yes. But I surprised my wife by insisting we go there on my first visit, because I'd read about the Treasure Room and she didn't know about it. It is *one* room with unbelievable stuff in it -- starting with the last remaining manuscript of Beowulf, the Magna Carta and Shakespeare's First Folio. After a display of musical charts that starts with Handel and Bach and Beethoven and a few other giants -- *these* are the manuscripts; *this* i s their hand -- they showcase a fairly nice collection of Beatles manuscripts at the end.
And it *does* come off as something of a let-down, although those are John and Paul's original scribbles for songs on everything from scraps of paper to the backs of birthday cards.
I love their early, non-addled stuff, and even some of the addled stuff. Ground-shattering? Absolutely.
But Bach or Handel? Um.
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