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Zep fans hate the beatles for being better.

Its the inferiority complex that keeps on giving. :thumbsup:

How's it going "Big Klu?" I hope all is well with you. I don't know about that my friend! If LED ZEPPELIN can pay their highest regards and respect to THE FAB FOUR, why not our fellow ZEPPELIN fanatics? Have a great day and ROCK ON!

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  • 2 months later...

i bought the newly remastered etc -rubber soul when i bought the -them crooked vultures cd, cause i heard alot about how good they sounded on the radio and thinking it would be good to listen to along with some new music. yeah it sounds great and i bought -please please me and let it be a week later. i'm not going to rebuy the cds i have though, cause they sound good to me and as -ringo starr jokingly said in a tv interview, they will probably release another 10.1 version in eight yrs or whatever.

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A place haunted by Lennon's murder

By Bob Greene, CNN Contributor

December 6, 2009 9:03 a.m. EST

(CNN) -- Maybe if you're a New Yorker, you grow accustomed to the sight.Maybe if you live in the city, it becomes just another part of the Manhattan landscape.

But if you're from somewhere else, visiting, and you're not expecting to encounter it. . . .

Well, you sense that you've been in front of this building before, even though you never have. You feel it before you fully see it.

So it was, early on a recent afternoon, that I was walking east on 72nd Street, approaching Central Park West.

I glanced to my left.

To say the building is spooky is perhaps too easy. Yet everything about it -- the high gables, the balustrades, the gas lanterns burning even in the daytime, the black iron gates leading into the open interior courtyard -- seems purposely designed to give off an aura of portent.

Possibly that impression is merely retrospective -- most likely, when the massive residential building was constructed well over a century ago, the desire was simply to erect a place of urban elegance. And perhaps to the people who live there now, it looks only like home.

When the 1968 movie "Rosemary's Baby" was filmed, and the exterior of this building -- the Dakota -- was chosen as the site of the eerie tale, the die may have been cast. For anyone who ever saw the movie, the temperature drops a few degrees as soon as those walls come into sight.

Yet it is what happened here 29 years ago this week that draws curious visitors still.

I heard a voice behind me.

"Is this where. . .?"

A young woman was asking her friend the question.

"Yes," the friend said, not needing to hear the rest.

Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxxx shot John Lennon to death next to those courtyard gates on the night of December 8, 1980, as Lennon was returning to his home inside the Dakota. Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, had spent the evening at a recording studio known as the Record Plant, working on a song called "Walking on Thin Ice." As they neared the entrance to the Dakota just before 11 p.m., Xxxxxxx, who that same afternoon, at the same entrance, had asked for and received an autograph from Lennon, waited with a gun.

Lennon never had a chance. He would be pronounced dead at the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center. His public life had been somewhat quieter since the breakup of the Beatles; although many of his admirers around the globe were aware that he had become a resident of New York, relatively few knew exactly where in the city he lived. On the night of the murder, though, as the news of his death quickly spread, so, too, did photographs and live television images of the Dakota. The building on that night became synonymous with heartache, with senseless loss, with joy extinguished..

And here -- as in the waning days of 2009 you find yourself standing on this block without having planned it, as you look at the building you have never before seen with your own eyes -- is what strikes you:

To anyone in this city, in this country, in this world, who is younger than 32 or 33 years old, the memory of Lennon is of a man who has always been dead. The murder was past tense by the time people who are now that age first became aware of his name.

The Dakota, in its own way, may be, to them, like Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., or the triple underpass in Dallas. A place where something terrible happened, yes, but something terrible that happened in history, not in the recollected narrative of their daily lives.

I crossed the street called Central Park West and stepped onto the pathway to the park itself. A little girl, around five years old, was coming out of the park with her parents. They obviously had been talking about Lennon, for she said to them:

"Is that where he's buried?"

As if approaching Grant's Tomb. Her father said to her:

"No, he was killed there. I don't know where he is buried."

And they crossed the street, toward the Dakota.

The array of John Lennon merchandise for sale by vendors at the entrance to the park -- photos, drawings, postcards -- is understandable from a purely commercial point of view, but is jarring nonetheless near the shadow of the building where he died. It may not be intended as a sign of disrespect, and maybe the sight of this, too, is something to which people who live in New York have long ago become accustomed.

Just inside the entrance to the park is the famous Strawberry Fields, named in his memory. The main gathering point is the mosaic with, at its center, the single word: "Imagine."

One sign near the mosaic announced that the playing of musical instruments is not permitted, but on this day a man sat on a bench facing the mosaic and strummed a wooden acoustic guitar. As he played the song "In My Life," he sang, with a wavery voice, the words:

"There are places I remember. . . ."

On Tuesday, as the anniversary of the murder arrives, perhaps the mood will be solemn in Strawberry Fields. But on this day, at least on this hour of this day, it was intermittently lighthearted. People sprawled on their backs on top of the mosaic, grinning and spreading their arms and legs in "Hard Day's Night" or "Help!" quasi-Beatles poses. Friends with cameras knelt near them, trying to angle the lens upward at a severe enough degree to include the looming vision of the Dakota in the shot.

There was a little informal line as people waited their own turn to pose on the "Imagine" mosaic. The man with the guitar sang:

"But of all these friends and lovers. . . ."

Another snap of another camera.

". . .there is no one, compares with you. . . ."

Twenty-nine Decembers ago, a man on 72nd Street wanted only one thing:

To get home for the night.

Edited by SteveAJones
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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got sgt.pepper a few days ago. Their (generally)upbeat and vocal/harmony based short tunes are a cool change from Zeppelins (generally) bluesy/rock guitar riff based long songs. Of course I still love Zepp twice as much, though.

Edited by Page-ist
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Pete Best-The "Handsomest" Beatle who made bandmates jealous

TheBeatlesdm_468x311.jpg

Paul, John, Pete Best and George: The Beatles

WhenPete Best was ousted as the Beatles drummer by Ringo, he attemptedsuicide - before finding happiness as a pin-striped civil servant. Nowhe's back with his own band, his own fans ... and finally getting hishands on some of the Fab Four's cash...

For morethan 40 years, the name Pete Best has been synonymous with the notionof the man who so nearly had it all. One day he was the drummer withThe Beatles; the next he wasn't. On the very brink of fame, the otherthree band members ditched him. And he never saw it coming.

And yet there is not a trace of bitterness.

RadioMerseyside presenter, Spencer Leigh, wrote a book chronicling Best'sfiring, suggesting that the other members, McCartney in particular,were jealous. During the Teenagers' Turn showcase in Manchester,Lennon, McCartney and Harrison walked on stage to applause, but whenBest walked on, the girls screamed. Best was surrounded at the stagedoor afterwards by attentive females while the other members wereignored after signing a few autographs. McCartney's father, JimMcCartney, was present at the time and admonished Best by saying: "Whydid you have to attract all the attention? Why didn't you call theother lads back? I think that was very selfish of you". McCartney'sfather later encountered the dismissed Best in The Cavern Club when aBeatles' gig was being recorded for the ITV series Know the North, andsaid: "Great, isn't it? They're on TV!" Observers reported that Bestsaid nothing, and quietly left. Martin was shocked that Epstein hadsacked Best: "He seemed to be the most salable commodity as far aslooks went. It was a surprise when I learned that they had droppedPete. The drums were important to me for a record, but they didn'tmatter much otherwise. Fans don't pay particular attention to thequality of the drumming".

petebest.jpg

'What'sthe point in saying, "I should have been this", or "I could have beenthat?" ' he says simply. 'That's yesterday. Forty years ago. What'simportant is what's happening today and tomorrow. When you realizethat, you get on with it.'

All of which, of course, is true.Understandably, however, it took him a little time to realize it and'get on with it'. The moment Best's life changed was when, coming offstage at Liverpool's Cavern Club on the night of August 15, 1962,Beatles' manager Brian Epstein asked him to pop into his office thenext morning.

The drummer naturally assumed the meeting would beto talk about some business matter. After all, the group was on thecusp of stardom, a fame which was already starting to sweep acrossMerseyside. But when he arrived for the meeting with Epstein, Bestquickly saw that the manager was nervous. Finally Epstein came to thepoint. The other Beatles had decided they no longer wanted him in theirband. He was being sacked. Ringo Starr was to replace him. In a moment,all Best's dreams disappeared. He was cast out. In shock, he went homeand cried. From that day, not one of the other Beatles ever contactedhim again. Nor has he tried to contact them.

"We were cowards," Lennon would say many years later. "We got Epstein to do the dirty work for us."

petebest_ii.jpg

1961: Cavern club with Pete on drums

bestsmall.jpg

1960-62: Publicity Photos, The Beatles

Duringthe early years, Stuart Sutcliffe was the Beatles bassist and Pete Bestwas their drummer. Sutcliffe left the band in 1961 to pursue an artcareer but died the next year from a brain hemorrhage. Best continuedwith the band until August of 1962. To be pushed out of any job ispainful. But this wasn't any job. Best then had to watch as The Beatlesbecame the biggest show business attraction the world has ever known,while his career with his own new little group went in ever-decreasingcircles.

By the mid-Sixties he was so low he tried to commit suicideby gassing himself, only to be saved by his mother and brother, Rory.'They gave me the most sensible talking-to I've ever had in my life,'he remembers.

'They asked me what the hell I thought I was doing,saying that committing suicide was what people would expect me to dobecause of what had happened.

But I had a beautiful wife and daughter to consider. Was I going to leave

my daughter without a father?

'WhenI came to my senses, I wasn't ashamed of what I'd done, but realizedonly then what it would have done to my family. I vowed I'd never doanything like that again.'

Already the seeds of his life without TheBeatles had been sown, not least by his wife, Kathy, whom he'd met atan early Beatles gig in Aintree.

From behind his drums he'dwatched her dancing and admired her from afar. They got together at thefirst Beatles fan club party at the Cavern in 1962. That was, he says,the best day of his life. 'If she hadn't been the type of person Ithought she was, she could have walked away from me when I wasn't aBeatle anymore,' he says.

'But she just said: "Pete, it's you I want. Not a Beatle."

Hisbiggest surprise, though, must have been the release of The BeatlesAnthology in 1995, when early demo recordings made by the group withBest on drums went on sale for the first time. Suddenly, three decadeson, he was eligible for royalties. Exactly how much he received hewon't say. When asked if he's rich, he agrees. 'In many ways, but I hada comfortable life before that happened. I always provided and Ibrought up my family safe and secure.'

Today, the 67-year-old Best is a happy man - with good reason.

Today,of the three Beatles who sacked him, only Paul is still alive. Does heregret the decades of silence between them? "We're not getting anyyounger," he says. '"We know what we've done and we're not going tothink any worse of each other if we had a chat now. God bless us, itwas all 40 odd years ago.'

Reported by RAY CONNOLLY, London Evening MailPete Best Official Website: http://www.petebest.com/

Theymarried the following summer when She Loves You was topping the charts,and are still happily together nearly 44 years on with fivegrandchildren from their two daughters.

Shortly after hissuicide attempt, Best decided to give up on his stumbling career inmusic. But although he'd got good O-levels, and had once consideredbecoming a teacher, he now found he couldn't get a job. 'Employersalways thought that, once bitten by show business, I'd be off againwhen some manager with a big cigar and check book turned up. Theywouldn't give me a chance.'

So, in 1968 (the year when TheBeatles were dallying in the Himalayas with meditation and theMaharishi at the very peak of their fame), their former friend anddrummer found himself doing shift work in a bread factory, filling vanswith sliced bread. 'It didn't worry me in the least,' he chuckles. 'Iwasn't at all ashamed. It was good, wholesome, manual work. I wasproviding for my family and their security. That was all that mattered.'

Ayear later, fancying a change, he went to the employment exchange andended up being given a job in the employment exchange! 'When I gothome, I told Kathy I was going to become a civil servant.'

'You'd better buy a suit then, hadn't you?' was her response.

Hestayed a civil servant for 20 years, rising steadily through thesystem, doing a steady nine-to-five job. 'I was very proud of myself. Iachieved success in a different way, helping people get jobs and thenbeing in charge of retraining programs.'

All the time he stayed away from his drums.

One day, his daughters said: 'Dad, there's a girl at school who says you used to be a Beatle. Is that true?'

Intent on living his new life, he'd never told his two daughters.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: http://www.claycoles...m/PeteBest.html

Edited by zeppphead
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  • 3 months later...

I absolutely ADORE The Beatles. If I had been alive back when they were active and had the opportunity to see them, I would have smacked all the girls who were screaming so loudly that no one could hear. It's THE BEATLES! Shut up and listen, you goobers. Also, what is the deal with fainting? How are you supposed to appreciate George Harrison's adorableness if you're not conscious?

Anyway, over the past little while, I feel like I've begun to like them as much as I like Zeppelin. Rubber Soul is my favorite Beatles album, While My Guitar Gently Weeps is my favorite tune (Norwegian Wood, In My Life, Michelle, and I've Just Seen a Face round it out), and I am convinced that George was the best songwriter ever. You will not sway my opinion on that. I LOVE his solo stuff, and he was just a sexy man. Ringo's actually my favorite, though. He was in Caveman, which is the best film ever. How it didn't win Oscars, I will never know. He was also hilarious in A Hard Day's Night.

And I SO want to see Paul McCartney live. I don't care how old he is. If I was a middle aged lady, I'd totally take him out for a cup of coffee. My name's Michelle and I totally imagine he's singing it to me. :P

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I absolutely ADORE The Beatles. If I had been alive back when they were active and had the opportunity to see them, I would have smacked all the girls who were screaming so loudly that no one could hear. It's THE BEATLES! Shut up and listen, you goobers. Also, what is the deal with fainting? How are you supposed to appreciate George Harrison's adorableness if you're not conscious?

Anyway, over the past little while, I feel like I've begun to like them as much as I like Zeppelin. Rubber Soul is my favorite Beatles album, While My Guitar Gently Weeps is my favorite tune (Norwegian Wood, In My Life, Michelle, and I've Just Seen a Face round it out), and I am convinced that George was the best songwriter ever. You will not sway my opinion on that. I LOVE his solo stuff, and he was just a sexy man. Ringo's actually my favorite, though. He was in Caveman, which is the best film ever. How it didn't win Oscars, I will never know. He was also hilarious in A Hard Day's Night.

And I SO want to see Paul McCartney live. I don't care how old he is. If I was a middle aged lady, I'd totally take him out for a cup of coffee. My name's Michelle and I totally imagine he's singing it to me. :P

Finally, someone else who hates the screaming girls! Despicable, aren't they? Concerts are for enjoying music, which in the Beatles' case was some of the best(if not the best)music in the world! Not only that, but the screamers take the edge off the Beatles' seriousness, and add to the argument that they are not as great as they were/are. The fans made the Beatles seem like a hyperboled pop group, which is far from the truth.

And George is underrated; he was a great songwriter and guitarist. Ringo is adorable and a great drummer for what he did with the band.

My next Beatles mission: see Paulie in the flesh.. :shifty:

Edited by pagemccartney95
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  • 1 month later...

^^^ Sorry, I hadn't checked this in ages haha. Yeah, the screaming girls deserved to be promptly smacked!

And OMG, OMG, OMG... I just got tickets to see McCartney in Salt Lake City! I have absolutely no idea why someone as awesome as him would want to do a show there, but I live in southern Idaho, so it was the perfect opportunity for me to old guy swoon! I cannot believe I get to see him. I am freaking the hell out, I am! =)

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A place haunted by Lennon's murder

I didn't want to copy the entire article posted above, but, I'll NEVER understand or get over the fact that John Lennon was shot to death. Never.

It'll just be one of those things that will never make any sense to me. Everytime I think about it or read an article about it I always have the same initial mental response to it.........."who in hell would want to shoot John Lennon and why".

Makes no sense.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Unseen Beatles photos on view at UC Berkeley

Sam Whiting, Chronicle Staff Writer

dd-beatles06_ph_0502504528_part6.jpg

"They were all improvising and fooling around. Immediately before this, John had run forward shaking his fist, pretending to be angry. This is the instant after that." This photo is included as an oversize print in the book.

copyright Stephen Goldblatt

For 40 years, Stephen Goldblatt lugged around a box of film negatives. He never showed anyone until he happened to meet Ken Light, who runs the documentary photography program at UC Berkeley. Goldblatt mentioned that he had once been a photographer in London before becoming a cinematographer.

Oh, and not to make a fuss about it, but he'd spent two days on an exclusive photo shoot with the Beatles.

Light recalls Goldblatt telling him, with typical English understatement, "They're sitting in this cabinet, and no one else has seen them." He also recalls his own overstated reaction: "You have what?"

Goldblatt hadn't looked at the contact sheets in the seven years that he's lived in Northside, Berkeley. But Light, an adjunct professor of journalism, got right into it.

To read the remainder of the article click here.

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Anyone else besides myself take a look at the newly unearthed photos mentioned above? I'm guessing not or someone surely would have commented on this one:

dd-beatles06_ph_0502489268.jpg

"This is them playing John is dead. It looks so serious, but you remember when Paul is dead? They were making a joke of it. Seconds before and after this they were screaming with laughter at themselves."

Photo: Stepen Goldblatt

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I recently received the The Beatles in Mono box set as a gift. Mono, stereo, it doesn't make a difference, The Beatles were on a different level than every other band.

Jahfin,

Thanks for posting those pics. I need to go back and look at them all.

Added note: awesome photos.

Edited by JethroTull
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I've Been a Zepp Fan Since Day 1.

Then like 10 years ago I first heard the Beatles, they blew my mind.

My opinion, if it matters, is that Zepp is the DIRECT offspring of the Beatles.

The Beatles recorded "Helter Skelter" on the Day Zepp. started on LZ1.

They use similar recording ideas too.

They were also both the top rated band of their era.

Well, overall here's my top 10 bands

10. Blue Oyster Cult

9. Jimi Hendrix Experience

8. The Rolling Stones

7. Rush (gotta love 2112)

6. Aerosmith

5. The Beach Boys (Come on guys! Pet sounds is incredible!)

4. Wings

3. Queen

2. Led Zeppelin

1. The Beatles.

Notice that almost all the bands on the list came AFTER the Beatles.

That Just shows the revolution in music the Beatles caused.

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