again with the 10-year-old as an excuse, i've been downloading beatles, now that they're ituned. i put together a best from the beginning through revolver. i must say that my basic assessment remains unchanged, however. for british kids, they were a crack r&b unit in a revved-up pop vein that came to be called "bubblegum." and as the songwriting shifted and got more elaborate, they retained an extreme boyish charm. but that's sort of about it. i think 10-year-olds are a good audience: the beatles have a certain raffi-esque childishness: jane loves "good day sunshine," for example. or of course yellow submarine or magical mystery tour really are children's shows of some sort. in many moments, they rock just as hard as raffi, too. no artist who is as overwhelming a cultural presence as the beatles is not overrated. but the beatles are just insanely overrated. it's like you took the dave clark five and abased yourself before them as before a pantheon of pagan gods. there are definitely good songs, and there is a lot of self-indulgent, meaningless, or infantile jive. it's funny but it's way too late to re-narrate the music of the sixties: classics have to be accepted even if you are against their classic status, one of the most frustrating things about being a social, historical animal.
anyway i will also concede that this is pretty damn good stuff; the guitar solo is perfect: