Why was Sgt. Peppers such a huge album?

[mani]

That's nothing! Apparently our not so lovable moptop was responsible for fathering quite a few little Maccas with smitten young ladies. Said young ladies were given paltry payments ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand pounds to sign away their right to sue for paternity. Nice guy eh? Perfect for family values and the Superbowl!

[drew]

Quote:Drew...where are ya Man? We need another link to the "tambourine man" saga! I'd like to read more about Mr. Jingle too. I think they would've been a pretty good band if they'd only stuck with it.I'm jamming with a new group this weekend, I wonderif I can get them to do a lot of Beatles' tunes with me.I'm sure Sgt. Pepper would approve.

[mani]

Gongchime!I read that link you posted. Really great article even if it does lose it a bit at the section on Implementation. Still, the person proposing the hypothesis was aware of those shortcomings himself.I found the idea of constraints fascinating. It's only recently I've really come to realize that without the imposition of a song format (i.e. music with lyric in a relatively verifiable structure) I can't write anything beyond the most basic of themes. I just get stuck. It's as though I'm lost somewhere along a timeline and don't know what came before or what comes next. The thing is, if I take the same core idea and work on it as a song, suddenly all these doors open up. I just know what to do and I don't even have to think about it. Well... most of the time!

[mani]

Yo Drew/Ringo!What Beatles songs would you play with a band? I've done a lot of their stuff solo but only played a handful of their songs with a full band. Amongst stuff I've done with a band are:'Glass Onion' Surprisingly fun to do!'Everybody's Got Something to Hide 'Cept For Me and My Monkey' Great fun to sing but it's the only tune I've ever done that made me consistently fluff my lead ins. I was the butt of many 'How do you know when a singer is at the door?' type jokes for a while!'Tomorrow Never Knows' Yep. Believe it or not. Damn good it was too!My fav cover I've done with a band though was The Stones '2000 Light Years From Home'. That's one hell of a song!

[ernstinen]

Some Beatle songs I've done with bands: Back in the U.S.S.RYou Can't Do ThatI Saw Her Standing ThereAnd I Love HerDizzy Miss LizzyTwist & ShoutShe Loves You (fun vocals)MoneyMicheleDr. RobertPaperback Writer (fun vocals)Get BackAnd Your Bird Can Sing (fun double lead guitars)Hey JudeLet It BeTicket To Ride(and of course)YesterdayI'm sure there were others, but I blew me friggin mind! One song I saw another band do that was great:Hey Bulldog! Very Fab!Ern

[gongchime]

Dear Mani,yeah my professors quoted Nadia Boulange as saying artists must have a form and a technique to place within it in order to communicate effectively. The book Composing music by William Russo also says that limitations open things up, its the blank page that is stifling.Gongchime.

[gongchime]

I think Paul McCartney has matured much more as a person since the "F^ck off" escapade. Its nice to be in the position to tell producers to go F^ck off. There isn't anything to say after that. Here's someone who knows what they're worth and is willing to communicate that as quickly and powerfully as possible.Had to do the same thing with my old man. Ha ha.Gongchime.

[hookstownbrown]

I read some of the article and came to a few conclusions...First, to attempt to delineate the creative process is a futile waste of energy. I read hundreds of words in that article that simply reinforced the few words that I just wrote.The creative process is ultimately restrained by the times -- the ability of the creator in conjunction with his or her musical exposure and the goals to which that creative individual aspires combined with that person's view of what a potential audience will find entertaining and, not to mention, the business aspect of people who determine what the listening public will want to hear.The structures and themes that a contemporary audience will most appreciate are well known. The formats can be dissected into their respective individual parts and those who have nothing better to do can hypothesize... Yes, certain numerical combinations of notes do, indeed, work... sometimes... in this era... Not necessarily the next era, though. There is no relativity involved in creativity, although that article suggests that there is.The fact is that creativity can be wildly imaginative and not follow the paradigms of cognitive reflex, but still become ground-breaking and accepted and make an impression on the listener -- provided the creative work is pure and strong enough. Creativity can also, however, follow the contemporary guidelines, and again, as long as the work connects with the audience for which it was intended, it should be considered as creative as any work.Should any creative work that evokes an emotion from a large enough audience be considered timeless? No. That article doesn't address timeless creativity. Why? Because what is considered a timeless creation is wholly subjective.If Bach or Mozart had the media distribution that we now have, they would have owned the hit lists... Back then.If Bach or Mozart were to breakout now, they would not even fill a medium venue.Creativity is very much related to the era.Tell Mozart we need an ABABCB format to reach an audience...That is what is preferred in this era to evoke a positive response from the largest possible audience.Creativity can only be defined within the current era. Creativity and the cognitive acceptance of it or even latent perception is subject to the simple models that are in place.I condensed that paper by thousands of wasted words...And I think they wasted a lot of grant money for their effort. Creativity and its perception can not be quantized. It has no boundaries and the minute we try to define it, someone will inevitably break the definition... M2

[gongchime]

I read lots of those kinds of articles and I have found them very helpful. Not as helpful as a real mentor however. I've never been the seat of the pants kind of person. Many people do that but not everyone. There are many valid paths to similar goals. Someone here said that if you want to be a brain surgeon, you don't just wing it. You study hard everything you can. Thats me.Gongchime.

[gongchime]

In situationist psychology, the environment determines a lot, including the actual dynamics of the system you find yourself in; hands on strings, member in a band, arranging parts on paper with a pencil. Its as if, in the course of experimenting with the parts, the instruments themselves teach you how to do it. In India they have a special day devoted to Saraswati where they cleanse and polish all the instruments and place them on the altar and give offerings in respect for what they have taught us and will teach us through the goddess of music Saraswati. In Indonesia the gamelan orchestra is considered to be equivalent or higher than a respected elder and so they never step over the instruments and bow very low to them while making offerings in an acknowledgement of their role in the community which is considerable. It seems the psycholgists are just now learning what the ancients always knew. Gongchime.