This is the best post I have ever read on the SDMB! Thank you.
But guess which is the most streamed Beatles song in the digital era, and also the first song from the 60s to surpass 1 billions streams on Spotify? Here Comes the Sun
It’s a bit of an old-fashioned thing to describe George as a much lesser songwriter than Lennon & McCartney. Towards the end of the Beatles, George wrote the best songs, and the most enduring songs, and his first solo record was the best solo record any Beatle ever did.
The same goes for Ringo. He was “the fourth most talented Beatle”, but the perfect drummer for the band, elevating many a song with his tasteful drumming, and a perfect Beatle.
You probably should have stuck the word “arguably” in there. Those claims are opinions, although not unreasonable ones.
But the thing is, in the beginning, George was a much lesser songwriter than Lennon and McCartney. He was younger and slower to develop as a songwriter, and so it makes sense that those who were following the Beatles from early in their career got in the habit of thinking of George as not as songwriter on the level of L&M.
Well, as there are zero measuring methods for song quality, I consider descriptions such as ‘best’ or ‘worst’ inherently subjective.
And the most-streamed Beatles song is George’s.
That’s a bit like Lennon’s ‘it can’t get much worse’ sentiment. I’d prefer to frame it with McCartney’s ‘getting better all the time’ optimism: George was a brilliant songwriter, but he was often overshadowed by the prolific Lennon-McCartney partnership. The Yin and Yang of their dark and light, pessimist and optimist dynamic was the alchemy that produced much of their musical magic. It’s a shame George wasn’t brought more often into their inner circle of songwriting mastery—I believe the Beatles’ catalog could have been even closer to perfection if he had been.
And I absolutely agree that Ringo was the perfect drummer for the Beatles—he had impeccable timing, was always in the pocket, and added just the right touch to their songs. Bringing in someone like Keith Moon or Buddy Rich might have been technically impressive, but it would have altered the essence of their music. Similarly, if George had leaned into shredding on lead guitar, it would have felt out of place in the Beatles’ sound.
George was a terrific composer, but even he acknowledged that his early efforts were a bit clumsy and awkward, with the occasional passable to good one that made it on an album. He also acknowledged that watching how Lennon and McCartney created was an education for him that greatly contributed to his growth as a songwriter.
Hard to argue with that last comment. Can you imagine what you’d learn about songwriting just being in the room with those two as they worked their magic?
I’m not embarrassed at all. I will eagerly proclaim that Leftoverture was the first album I ever bought with birthday money at 10’years old when it came out. I love the whole thing. Owned and enjoyed several Styx albums. Overall I think that era Kansas holds up better than Styx but I enjoy both when they came on. And later Kansas had Steve Morse briefly so that’s a big plus.
Remembering this discussion, I had to laugh when this video showed up in my YouTube feed: “They DOMINATED the 80s with 15 BIG HITS…But 40 Years LATER-They GET NO RESPECT!–Professor of Rock”
Yeah - I golf w/ a guy who’s a bit of a rock guitar snob. I asked him whether Prince was any good or all flash, and he directed me to that clip. Me, I lack the expertise to truly discern betw flash and true artisanship, but that looks alright to me.
I do like some of their songs, but overall they just don’t interest me. And I’m not into Elvis, either. But of course, they are the greatest band ever.
Steve Miller Band. Big in the 70s, I think. Unpleasant to listen to, and the themes were kinda offensive (dang, I just murdered someone, what a hassle).
I have never liked Fleetwood Mac. 
I’m not really keen on Abba, either. (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is one of my favorite movies, tho.)
Which version 
? This just came up in the classic rock thread, but there are a lot of eras to Fleetwood Mac. The early blues/rock band ( aka the Peter Green era, with Danny Kirwan, Jeremy Spencer + the perpetual rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood & John McVie). The brief Kirwan-Spencer era (plus Christine McVie from here on out). The Kirwan-Bob Welch era, then the later Bob Welch era. Then finally the best known mega-platinum Buckingham-Nicks era (I’ve always liked that last version - I think McVie and Buckingham’s voices work well together) and its later derivatives.
Probably no one but a fraction of classic rock fans, and a fair number of serious Mac fans, have more than a passing knowledge of any of the band’s output prior to Buckingham and Nicks joining.
Exactly! That’s why God created pedants like me! So we can club this minutiae into the brains of others. It’s holy work!
Despite their many classic compositions (Mood Indigo, Satin Doll, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, It Don’t Mean a Thing, etc. etc.) I have never particularly enjoyed listening to Duke Ellington’s band. They sound kinda bland and dated to me.
On the other hand, I can listen to Basie all day. It helps that he had people like Lester Young, Billie Holiday, and Jimmy Rushing on board.
I kinda like the singles, but I’ve found the Steve Miller phenomenon hilariously odd for a long time. His Greatest Hits record is one of those discs that just never stopped selling, like Bat out of Hell or Dark Side of the Moon. When I went to uni in 1991, it seemed like everyone arrived in residence in September with that best-of, and if they didn’t, they were issued a copy along with the student handbook and an ashtray for their room. Then three months later, you couldn’t walk down the hall without hearing Nevermind and Achtung Baby blasting out of the dorm rooms, but t’was the spirit of the age. The following summer, I was hanging with a friend who was just heading into freshman year, and I was telling him about the weird Steve Miller omnipresence, when a total stranger standing in front of us in line for Beavertails whipped around and said “Oh my god, that’s so true! University fucking runined Steve Miller!” Glad to know I wasn’t imagining it.
I went to college around the same time and had the exact same impression – every dorm room had that GH disc. I think I got mine from BMG record club.
Let alone the black Metallica album, RHCP Sex, Magik,… and PJ’s Ten and The Black Crows …
fwiw, at this time there was no Steve Miller around (UIUC), but quite a bit of Margaritaville and Van M’s Brown Eyed Girl