Who's the brain behind The Beatles?

Well, all I really meant was that Paul was the best face, so to speak. Not necessarily the most prominent, but probably the person most instantly associated with the Beatles. Actually, now that I think about it, that could easily have been John too.

Edited by Tarquin Underspoon - September 23 2009 at 16:23

This thread has gone to hell and back before I even knew it existed. So much so that I'm not sure that my answer will be appropriate, since it has nothing to do with Satan, the occult, conspiracies or Billy Preston.

lol..u guys r mean..vaaary...

demonbasher wrote: Brains behind the beatles most likely satan the devil because they dabbled in the occult and sunworship and their buddy was big withch and warlock aleister crowley. look at sargeant peppers lonley hearts band front cover left rear. and here comes the sun video you see the sun being worshipped. and alot of their music was based on eastern mysticism another by product of satan aleister crowley teaching. Helter skelter? its nasty music

WTF?!?

demonbasher wrote: Brains behind the beatles most likely satan the devil because they dabbled in the occult and sunworship and their buddy was big withch and warlock aleister crowley. look at sargeant peppers lonley hearts band front cover left rear. and here comes the sun video you see the sun being worshipped. and alot of their music was based on eastern mysticism another by product of satan aleister crowley teaching. Helter skelter? its nasty music

She's Leaving Home is mostly Paul's (although Mike Leander of G*ry Gl*tt*r fame did the orchestral arrangement as George Martin was busy). I think Lennon contributed part of the chorus.

SonicDeath10 wrote: It's also a matter of historical record that Paul wrote almost every song on Sgt. Peppers and that his whimsical style was way more inline with Sgt. Peppers and Magical Mystery Tour. I think who the "leader" was isn't really what I'm talking about. I'm talking about who was "the brain" i.e. the main musical thinker of the band. That is Paul.

The notion for the record came initially from Paul, but to say he "wrote almost every song on Sgt. Peppers" is incorrect.    

- Sgt, Pepper's - Paul
- A Little Help from My Friends - evidently a collaboration from a progression by Paul with a melody from John
- Lucy in the Sky w/ Diamonds - obviously a John concept and arrangement, perhaps some help from Paul
- Getting Better - Paul with notable help from John
- Fixing a Hole - Paul
- She's Leaving Home - a true collaboration
- Mr. Kite - John with help from Paul
- Within Without You - George
- When I'm 64 - Paul
- Rita - Paul
- Good Morning - John
- Peppers reprise
- A Day in the Life - primarily John

this means McCartney wrote 6 of the 13 cuts (I don't count the Reprise as it's the same bit), the rest written by John, George or were true collaborative efforts. 






Edited by Atavachron - September 16 2009 at 00:31

SonicDeath10 wrote: Cesar Inca wrote: Paul was the individual genius behind the collective genius. It is not necessary to be as existentialist as Lennon nor as introspective as Harrison to be a man with a bigger musical depth. Very well stated. People who dislike Paul because he's "shallow" are like the people who disliked Mozart for being shallow when compared to Beethoven.

it's not whether one likes or dislikes Paul, it's who was the brain-- John formed the band [Quarrymen] in 1957and was the undisputed leader as late as 1967, that's a matter of historical record.  After Brian Epstein died in '67, I suspect Paul started handling more of the managerial and conceptual duties and became a leader figure

This is hard but I went with McCartney. It's silly to get into a territorial pissing contest over who was a better pure songwriter: Lennon or McCartney. They were so damn close. I chose McCartney because he really pushed the band far ahead in the Sgt. Peppers days (the songs are mostly his) and he composed and arranged all of his own material. John couldn't really arrange his material much beyond basic guitar, bass, and drums. This isn't a huge problem, but it is a huge blow against him. Some of his songs, the bare melody and lyrics are so much better than Paul's. But Paul, George, and George had to arrange his ideas for him. Happines is a Warm Gun was put together by George Harrison: it was just three songs that John couldn't finish otherwise. And later, of course, listening to their solo work, Paul composed, arranged, and produced all of his own stuff. John couldn't do that. This may seem like a petty way for Paul to win, but it's the only way for me to decide as they are about equal as songwriters. While John never wrote something as lame as some of Paul's crappiest love songs, Paul never did anything as embarassing as John's experimental albums. Or if he did, he did a lot less of it...