The Beatles are Building a New Sound (1966)

 

The Beatles are Building a New Sound

By Judith Simons

London Express Service

June 27, 1966

    The Beatles are busy producing a new sound. The other day, as a crucial point in their progress, their latest record, "Paperback Writer", is their first since 1963 that has not gone straight to the top of all the charts. They talked about their aims.

     For the past two months, they have been working 14 hours a day, five days a week on their new LP, the longest they have ever spent recording those vital 12 to 14 songs. John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the songwriting team, told me about their new sound. "Unlike our previous LPs", said Paul, "this one is intended to show our versatility rather than a haphazard collection of songs. We use trumpets, violins, and cellos to achieve new efforts.

     "George Harrison has written three of the tracks. On past LPs, he has never done more than two, and Ringo sings, or rather talks, a children's song. This is all part of our idea of being up to date and including something for everybody.

     "We have tried to look forward; we don't intend to go back and reverse ideas of 20 years ago."

     I met the Beatles at the BBC studios, where they made their first live appearance on TV since last August. Only a handful of fans turned out to greet them, but the world's most idolized foursome showed no signs of dismay, nor has the sale of 150 million discs in just over three years blunted their ambitions to produce their best.

     Said John Lennon, "One cannot say that our basic approach has changed, but there is one thing about our new LP: there won't be many people copying our ideas. The sound is harder to emulate, although we still have the same lousy voices!"

     Lennon and McCartney are objective when one might expect them to be defensive about the not-so-successful " Paperback Writer". Paul said, "The idea was thought up because my Auny Mil said we should not do songs about love all the time." John added, "Frankly, it's not one of our best songs, but it was the only one we had ready for the record release date."

     Nobody can tell if the Beatles are going to continue on lines that will maintain their popularity until their new record is heard, and so far, no release date has been set forth in this country. They started as copyists of the American Negro Blues and evolved a flair for brilliant harmonies, expressing a brash and moral message, as in "All My Loving" and "She Loves You". 

    Later, they mellowed "Yesterday," "I Love Her", and "Michelle" showed deeper and wider musical influences. These are noted by critics of serious music, and as Paul said yesterday, "Even Beethoven got ideas from other people."

     What now? The Beatles could be on the verge of another revitalization of the pop scene if their new LP lives up to the expectations. But to say at the summit, new freshness and vitality are needed. Is this more than their joint creative talent can supply, or will the Beatles do it yet again?