Pete Best Leaves the Beatles

It strikes me that the word on Pete’s leaving the band got out pretty fast and the protests – with girls carrying signs and all — got organized awfully well for the time and place. Picketing wasn’t nearly as popular in 63 but it’s reported by reasonably dependable sources (Spitz) that they were picketing NEMS and the Cavern. Made me wonder if Pete’s mother, Mona Best, might have had just a little to do with it.
She’d been driving Brian crazy calling to give him advice and to complain about what he was doing with the band. She was convinced that Pete was THE member of the Beatles. Mona would have known the girls who were particularly Pete’s fans from the gigs the Beatles had played at the Casbah. Picketing, demonstrations complete with signs strike me as rather unlikely for a small collection of girl fans to come up with on their own. Mona may well have had a grudge against the other Beatles because of them choosing Brian to manage them when she had been thinking of herself as being their manager.

The Beatles as Musicians

The Beatles were not showy players. It was a time of singers, not of guitarists or drummers. Only in jazz was the quality of instrumentalists highlighted. While in live performance most rock and roll bands would include instrumental breaks it was more to give the rest of the band and the vocalist a chance to rest then to highlight the playing. The age of the guitar hero waited for Hendricks and Clapton. At the time, only George was actually recognized for his musicianship (frequently among the top ten “jazz guitarists” in the listings) and while as time has gone by both Paul and Ringo’s high reputation with fellow bassists and drummers has become generally known and appreciated. John is, understandably, still seen as the weakest player. In some ways he was but he did perform some notable guitar leads and the high quality of his work as rhythm guitarist seems never to have been adequately acknowledged.

George’s goal seems to have been perfection in the actual playing which he quite frequently achieved. It’s downplayed, indeed barely mentioned, that he was not quick to find licks for a new song and the others, including George Martin, worked with him pretty often. His later conflicts with Paul (which did have a deeper source) evidenced in him resenting any suggestions Paul might make in this regard. Paul obviously didn’t understand why George had become so hostile (exchange in Anthology during Get Back sessions) though from what Paul said you can certainly suppose he was attempting to be diplomatic. Creativity simply doesn’t come easily, or at all, to some people; creativity at the level of John and Paul is extremely rare and sets a standard impossible for others. It certainly isn’t a personal fault to lack somehow the brain connections that support creativity and in fact most humans, including me, do lack it.

Ringo is one off the most modest drummers in a world in which so many are wild extroverts – who are drummers because they want to make the most noise. Ringo saw his job in terms of what he song needed and some of his best work is so soft as to be almost inaudible (Day in The Life). I’m most impressed with the odd, sort of broken beat he uses particularly in a couple of John’s stranger compositions. I strongly suspect he could have come up with something appropriate for Yesterday if it had been necessary.

Paul, of course, took rock and roll bass from the instrument more or less played by the leader’s best friend or the fat wannabe rocker to an important role in the music generally. Taking inspiration from jazz bassists such as Keeter Betts and the piano bass lines of earlier rock and rollers (Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard) he both supported the rhythm and provided a contrast to the lead guitar that has since influenced all sorts of popular music.

Another point showing the level of the Beatles musicianship is the fact that they all played many instruments in addition to their primary. Although Ringo and George were very focused on their primary instrument, they both played piano and other instruments. Paul was the most versatile but all possessed the talent and interest to experiment with many others. The Abbey Road Studios certainly was an advantage there with many instruments available for experimentation. The Beatles level of musicianship may not have been the most important ingredient in their mystique but certainly it would have been difficult to support that mystique without skilled players.

Music and the Human Brain

While there has been a lot of research on the nature of the human brain in recent years–primarily due to MRI and other new methods of getting images from within the body–I haven’t seen much on how music affects us. There was something about heartbeat and drums – which has been well known for a very long time although not ‘scientifically proven”. Science also is saying that music affects all parts of the brain in contrast to most human activities that tend to affect specialized areas. They also believe that some music can aid infant development and can help students learn.

“Music researchers are finding correlations between music making and some of the deepest workings of the human brain. Research has linked active music making with increased language discrimination and development, math ability, improved school grades, better-adjusted social behavior, and improvements in “spatial-temporal reasoning,” – a cornerstone for problem solving.” http://www.amc-music.com/musicmaking/thebrain.htm

What I’m not finding is any papers on effects on brain, nervous system and emotions – preferably divided between pre- and early-teens, later teens and adults as well as males and females. I have the strong impression that music affects men and women differently. Thinking back over a lifetime of listening to music chosen by a male and conversation about music with males, it seems to me that they have a more intellectual approach to it, that the words are very important to them and that moving to the music is less important (essential) to them then it is to women.

It’s clear when following the Beatles music that while they began addressing young teens their music developed in a way that began to really catch the attention of older teens, young adult and even the occasional unprejudiced grownup. It’s also clear that girls do react differently then boys of comparable ages to being present at a Beatles performance. I am NOT saying that the boys are less enthusiastic, film clips in Anthology make it clear that there are a lot of males (and grown-ups) present and that they are thoroughly enjoying it, just differently.

We’ll have to wait for more research into the questions I’ve raised here and in my last post. I’ve sort of tacked on my thoughts about music, age and gender, but it’s not going to fit anywhere else. I’m sure that some of my readers will disagree and I’d like to encourage them to comment. While wiring people up to fancy machinery and sticking their heads into a MRI (or other) scanner provides a lot of solid information; I’m personally rather fond of personal accounts and other such informal data even though science doesn’t like to trust folks to have accurate perceptions about themselves.

Ringo Again

It seems to me that Ringo is underestimated and overlooked not only by fans but by the Beatles and their support people as well. I’m sure it began because Ringo had missed so much school and he certainly hadn’t been as much exposed to literature and ideas as even what George may have absorbed by being in a classroom. More important, Ringo simply isn’t the competitor the others are. While he clearly was as fast with a quip as the others, between being the newcomer and not needing to be in the spotlight he seems to have participated a lot less in their discussions. Then, too, I wouldn’t want to discuss philosophy, literature or things of that sort with John. I’ve known a number of quite intelligent people who just never needed to ask the sorts of questions philosophy doesn’t answer and I suspect that Ringo is simply one of them without being in the least simple.

Ringo seems to be and have been rather well in touch with himself and to be very intuitive. Reading Lewishon’s accounts of the first years recording sessions, I’m wondering if Ringo didn’t somehow have a lot to do with the ability to almost ‘read each others’ minds’ that they developed. When you listen to his drumming, just between his first session and the sessions for Meet The Beatles, the changes in the band as a whole seem to me to be inexplicable in terms of practice – besides the only practice they really got was on stage or just before recording! Whatever did it, the band was getting to that phenomenal point where they didn’t seem to be able to do anything wrong.

Ringo is the author of a number of lines upon which songs later hung. John was pleased to call them “Ringo’s malapropisms”. (“A Long Day’s Night” and “Tomorrow Never Knows” etc.) I’m not at all sure about that. They are too apt, too deep – I think he had a visceral understanding of the world we live in now where such statements might be made by Stephen Hawking. Do you suppose that he knew exactly what he was saying? I noted particularly his comment “you can’t try to be married, you just have to be married” as probably the best comment on an attempt at reconciliation I’ve ever heard. Not only are his news conference witticisms very apt, they also don’t put anyone down.