The relationship between Paul and John
John Lennon and Paul McCartney were not two opposing personalities, but above all complementary, since they were magnificently integrated in terms of composition and expression: two artists born to compose, experiment and do research together.
Paul has often been described as romantic, melodic and pop, almost as if to underline his opposition to a political, avant-garde and rock John, but the reality is more complex and multifaceted than the clichés.
Paul, while John was increasingly absorbed by his family dimension, attended art exhibitions, concerts of contemporary music and avant-garde performances.
He spent much more time in his friend's/rival's studio refining his melodies and playing with the then limited technological possibilities of Abbey Road, preparing himself, for example, the disturbing loops of Tomorrow never knows.
He was also interested in politics, the environment and everything that stimulated his voracious curiosity; he revealed, to a more attentive ear, all his love for rock (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Live and let die) and for Motown soul (Got to Get You into My Life).
George Harrison
Often overshadowed by the healthy rivalry between his two friends/enemies Paul McCartney and John Lennon, George Harrison, the most reserved and enigmatic former Beatles, has not only been an excellent guitarist, but also the author of some of the most memorable tracks of Fab Four.
How can we not remember the masterpieces Something, Here comes the sun or While my guitar gently weeps, the latter realized together with his friend and rival in love Eric Clapton?
Revolver was the first album of the Beatles that opens with a song composed by George Harrison, author of three tracks (only the White Album has more), the corrosive Taxman, in which he irrigates the premier Mr.Wilson, guilty of having raised the tax rates.
Love you to has the horizontal structure typical of Indian music, where the exotic sound of tablist Anil Bhagwat stands out, while I want to tell you is more rock and western, confirming all his qualities as an electric guitarist.
Fascinated by Indian sound and spiritualism, Harrison has managed to break away from the Beatles' heavy legacy with two extraordinary albums, the monumental triple album All Things Must Pass of 1970 and the legendary Bangladesh concert of 1971, conceived with his friend Ravi Shankar.
George Harrison died of cancer at the age of 58, on November 29, 2001, at the Ringo Starr villa in Beverly Hills. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the sacred Indian river, the Ganges, according to Hindu tradition.
Ringo Starr
Ringo, who was recently in Italy on tour, is seen by many simply as a good musician, whose greatest merit was to be in the right place at the right time. Error.
Richard Starkey has created a way of playing drums, especially in some fills and grooves always depending on the song, which has been copied by thousands of epigones (think of Dave Grohl, Nicko McBrain, Terry Bozzio and Kenny Aronoff).
When he joined the Beatles (based on George Martin's idea) he was the most famous and quoted musician in Liverpool, without him, the real glue of the band thanks to his humanity and his natural sympathy, fundamental to defuse the streaks between first women, the Beatles would probably have dissolved 4-5 years before that nefarious April 10, 1970.
Moreover Starr was the first musician to have the intuition to record the drums with the microphone near the drums or inside the box, the first to put blankets in the box (the so-called mutes) and the first to bring to the general public the use of the handle of the sticks matched, ie identical for both hands, he was a left-handed who sounded almost from the right.
Ringo launched the tendency to keep the stool very high, to interact visually with the other musicians, he made the Ludwig brand of drums legendary and he always showed impeccable timing, avoiding virtuosity for its own sake and long solos that would not match the Beatles' songs, of which he was the hidden director behind the skins.
George Martin, the fifth Beatle
In the sixties, the technologies were not even remotely comparable to those of today, but the creativity of the band made up for the technological gap, thanks mainly to the talent of George Martin, praiseworthy in his ability to translate into music the brilliant insights of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
George Martin, arranger, pianist and confidant of Fab Four, has created since the second half of the sixties a world of sounds that left astonished his American competitors, who also had more technological means available. The Beatles' songs represented the state of the art, with which all the artists, sooner or later, had to deal.
To be continued in the next part