Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and it occurs to me that during The Beatles’ unprecedented reign in the '60s there was really no previous band that the boys from Liverpool could look at for examples when it came to charting their own career moves. No career ‘template,’ if you will.
I suppose that is the price for blazing new trails.
With this in mind I was curious what kind of career advice Dopers would give to The Fab Four given the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.
I guess I’ll start with the obvious:
This was their album output from '63 - '70:
Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day’s Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles (The White Album)
Yellow Submarine
Abbey Road
Let It Be
13 classic albums in 7 years? And this doesn’t include, of course, the singles they released during this period. My advice to them? DON’T RELEASE EVERYTHING AS SOON AS IT’S FINISHED! An album per year, AT MOST!
Stephe96, I don’t understand why you would have them release less? Assuming that they still would break up in 1969, 1 album per year would mean that they would never have gotten past Revolver, wouldn’t it?
My advice, don’t let Ringo sing.
Bitch-slap John every once in a while.
More George.
Less garbage.
What I mean is, keep some good stuff on the shelf and maybe release an album each year or so. Then each of the Beatles could’ve spent time away to pursue solo projects, whatever…and maybe they would’ve stayed together longer and recorded more. It seems to me that the pressure to be constantly producing material played a part in their eventual break-up.
Sloooow down that album release rate. Mind you, this was a time when if you didn’t have a new song every couple of months, “the fans will forget about you!”
Make sure Lord Grade can’t knab your sheet music (only to sell it to Michael Jackson years later…)
If Paul still bitches and wants a “divorce,” kick him out of the band, hire Billy Preston and a couple of studio musicians and wait for Paul to get a little hungry. By “Venus and Mars,” he’ll come crawling back.
(Can you imagine “Band on the Run” as done by the Fab Four? Yowza!)
(1) Don’t let Phil Spector ruin Let It Be. Paul was right–Phil sucked. Sappy strings and goofy choruses. Yuck. LET IT BE, damnit.
(2) I agree with the “more George songs” people.
(3) Find a better manager after Brian dies. You four are lousy at it.
(4) Do the voices in Yellow Submarine yourselves. Don’t even think of taping Magical Mystery Tour.
(5) Get Billy Preston and Eric Clapton to sit in more often.
Otherwise, they’re the greatest band ever. Well, even with the above.