Beatles in the "Psychadelic" era

by **Ram1** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 2:34 pm

Hey guys. What are some of your favorite Beatles songs from their "psychedelic" period? (66-67) Of course, in my opinion, the two major ones are Strawberry Fields and Lucy in the Sky. Although I obviously love Paulie, I think John was the master of the surreal, psychedelic songs. Although most people credit Strawberry Fields as the beginning of that whole period, I really have to say it was actually Tomorrow Never Knows. That was kind of like the first taste of what was to come. Oh, and I also have to say Walrus. Always been a fave, and of course another John composition.

by **Ram1** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 2:34 pm

Hey guys. What are some of your favorite Beatles songs from their "psychedelic" period? (66-67) Of course, in my opinion, the two major ones are Strawberry Fields and Lucy in the Sky. Although I obviously love Paulie, I think John was the master of the surreal, psychedelic songs. Although most people credit Strawberry Fields as the beginning of that whole period, I really have to say it was actually Tomorrow Never Knows. That was kind of like the first taste of what was to come. Oh, and I also have to say Walrus. Always been a fave, and of course another John composition.

by **Ram1** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 2:52 pm

Correction. Now that I think about it, I think the "first taste of what was to come" actually goes back as far as when George first introduced the sitar on Rubber Soul. And then with the Rain single the folowing year. I don't know, it's really hard to tell because it was all a progression.

by **Len** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 3:13 pm

I think "Help" already showed signs of where The Beatles were headed. Both John and Paul got more and more into different types of music, other than the straight forward rock 'n' roll and ballads they were doing before that. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away and I've Just Seen A Face are pure folk. And of course there's Yesterday, with its string quartet.
But the strongest sign they were going into a more surreal area, was the lyrics on Help (even though it was more John than Paul on Help who wrote the more abstract stuff).

"Can you take me back where I came from?"

by **Ram1** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 3:42 pm

Hmmm..I don't see how the lyrics to Help are very surreal.

by **Len** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 5:58 pm

Not so much surreal, but they were clearly steering away from the stuff they did before that. Both John and Paul got more into playing with words on that album. The lyrics got a lot more personal and introspective (John's certainly did - just consider the title track). Musically they also started to take some bigger leaps on Help.
I think that album was certainly a stepping stone to bigger and better things for them.

"Can you take me back where I came from?"

by **Ram1** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 6:59 pm

I agree. But I think the biggest stepping stone or "turning point" was Rubber Soul.

by **Len** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 7:20 pm

I Absolutely agree. It was also their first album without any cover songs, so it was a change in more ways than one.

"Can you take me back where I came from?"

by **Brains** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 7:57 pm

I think there weren't any coversongs on A Hard Day's Night either...

by **Ram1** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 9:52 pm

Nope, no cover songs on A Hard Day's Night