While The Beatles Always Had George Martin

Elton John Can Be A Master Of The Sleight Of Hand. The Arrangements Make It Seem Like There Are Substantial Melodies Underneath The Tracks - But Almost Nothing Demands Repeated Listenings. Similarly, He Always Sounds Like He's Singing Up A Storm, But His Voice Glosses Over The Material, Reducing Most Things To An Uninteresting Sameness.

As A Performing Group, The Beatles Began By Playing Old Rock Favorites, For Dancing, To Tough Audiences In Liverpool And Hamburg. When They Began Writing Seriously, They Discovered That They Couldn't Compose In The Early American Rock Tradition.

The Modern Recording Studio, With Its Well-trained Engineers, 24-track Machines And Shiny New Recording Consoles, Encourages The Artist To Get Involved With Sound. And There Have Always Been Artists Who Could Make The Equipment Serve Their Needs In A Highly Personal Way - I Would Single Out The Beatles, Phil Spector, The Beach Boys And Thom Bell.

The Stones Were Always Exemplary Of One Of The Best Of All Rock Qualities: Tightness. They Have Always Been Economical, The Opposite Of Ornamental. Having A Very Clear Idea Of What They Wanted To Say They Could Go Into A Studio And Make It All Up On A Three Minute Cut.

'dance To The Music' Was Just Sly Stone Being His Natural Crazy Self Right From The Beginning. The Man Was An Original And His First Am Hit Was Nothing If It Wasn't The Example Per Excellence Of The Sly Stone Music Machine.