Beatle Genius

Beatle Genius

Big news: I have changed my opinion of the genius of the Beatles. I used to think that John and Paul were the true geniuses, with George and Ringo excellent but not at the same genius level. I now think that is wrong: George and Ringo were geniuses too! We need to distinguish genius from excellence or technical prowess. No one ever thought that John and Paul were genius-level musicians—either as instrumentalists or singers; what people thought was that they were creative geniuses, artistic geniuses. They had it. That indefinable magic. The look, the sound, the charisma. But so did the other two if you pay attention. George was a fantastic guitarist in his style, tone, and creativity; and he rocked. He could also sing great harmonies and stirring leads (e.g., Roll Over Beethoven, not to mention later classics). He also became a genius songwriter, as everyone now acknowledges. He looked and sounded great beside the other two. The three of them were incredible performers, in a class of their own. I don’t think anyone in the Stones or the Who were quite at George’s level, excellent as they are, let alone John and Paul. But what about Ringo—a genius? Now I speak as a drummer: I hereby assert that Ringo was also a creative genius as a drummer. He didn’t have the chops of Ginger Baker and many others, but I don’t think anyone thinks Ginger was a percussive genius—merely technically brilliant. Ringo, however, really gave a song what it needed; he hit the drums just right. His drumming in Twist and Shout is stupendous, but so it was in everything; I don’t know of a single weak drum part in a Beatles song (except those few played by Paul). Ringo was also a genius in his image: physically shorter, not as handsome, more modest and agreeable. He was the most loved Beatle. He sang With a Little Help from my Friends perfectly. So, the Beatles had four geniuses in the band, and I’m not sure any other band had any. Brian Wilson had some, so did Pete Townsend, maybe Steve Winwood—but no one shone as brightly as those four young men from Liverpool. They were incapable of junk and jointly revolutionized pop music. Their personalities alone lit up the world at a dreary time. And I say this as one who didn’t really love their middle period stuff (Rubber Soul, Revolver)—too experimental, not raw enough.