Like the fact that I believe those who seek the truth... but I doubt those who find it.

Uh? Whaaa???

is that nation of ulysses?

also where did you hear that stuff about the beatles and beefheart? i'm a beatles and beefheart freak and never heard anything like that. the only thing i heard was that lennon was pretty upset over beatle bones n' smokin stones.

He made that up. Or copied and pasted from some wikipedia article, just like that MBV thing he posted a while ago. I'm a bitch, yes. Oh yes.

The Beatles definitely wanted to sign Beefheart to Zapple, i know that much. So i take it they were fans, even though the deal never actually came off.

hahaha

they wanted to put out the first Velvet underground album too. So what?

well they were probably fans of the velvets too then.

influential to whom?

if it's "who has been more influential to everybody but myself", the answer is clearly, the beatles.

if it's "who has influenced my personal tastes more", the answer's the ramones.

the beatles do nothing for me.

well, I take that back (sort of)... I liked them better once they found drugs, but even then I can't listen to Helter Skelter without picturing mop-topped bobble-heads.

Hahaha.

MadCapLaughs, look up interviews with Zoot Horn Rollo, he repeatedly mentions the Beatles and Hendrix being fans.

"Safe as Milk" was, upon its release, John Lennon's favorite album. With the original LP release of this album, a "Safe as Milk" sticker was featured, and there's a famous picture (famous to Beefheart fans anyway) of Lennon laying in his apartment on a couch and reading a magazine, with two "Safe as Milk" stickers on the doors of a cupboard in the background.

And so on and so forth.

When you get a chance, read some interviews at this site:
http://www.freewebs.com/teejo/

It's the best.

Saramkrop, I have no idea what you're talking about in regards to wikipedia and MBV. All I know is that wikipedia is wrong a lot, MBV suck a lot, and I usually know what I'm talking about.

Paul McCartney had to get Andy Warhol to fly over to London to get Nico out of his house before the vegetarian woman landed in the UK. This was just before the first VU album was released.

I think most people have said the Beatles.

that still doesn't make Beefhart more influential than The Beatles. If the interview is genuine.

I like Motorhead. I wouldn't like them staying at my house though.

this.

ah thank you sir! i will check it out as soon as im outta work and no longer feeling like killing myself.

When I discovered it, I spent hours and hours reading it. It's an amazing site... very informative. I learned so much. Like Don Van Vliet hates the Residents... but he and Zappa went to a Harry Partch concert and loved it... all kinds of interesting bits.

ASP, I meant when you plagiarised a MBV article and posted it like it was your own. Remember?

What is that picture of John Lennon meant to say? That he liked Beefhart?

On its own it doesn't, but he did say 'Safe as Milk' was one of his favourite albums. I reckon he was a fan.

He probably was. There wouldn't be anything anomalous about such a thing. That he wanted The Beatles to be more like him is total speculation. Weren't they fans of a lot of music to start with? Especially McCartney, who liked a lot more experimental stuff.

Yes. I've never said they were influenced by Beefheart, just that Lennon was a fan. McCartney was an Albert Ayler fanatic at the time Lennon was into Beefheart. I don't think there's much evidence of an influence there either. He did play George Martin some Ayler with the idea of incorporating some of it into the band's work but Martin put the block on it. Maybe the same thing happened with Lennon's Beefheart infatuation.

The Beatles for the win.

And Wikipedia agrees: The Beatles influence on rock music and popular culture was—and remains—immense. Their commercial success started an almost immediate wave of changes—including a shift from US global dominance of rock and roll to UK acts, from soloists to groups, from professional songwriters to self-penned songs, and to changes in fashion.

the beatles more or less invented the ALBUM. and they sold millions of records. you guys don't seem to get it doesn't matter if you like them or not. I fucking hate hitler, but that doesn't change that was one of the most, if not the most, influential person of the 20th century

Tell that to atsonicpark. I wasn't referring to you.

the ramones influenced much, but nowheer on the level of the beatles.

the ramones stole all their riffs from chuck berry anywayzzzz

the beatles influenced EVERY SINGLE ROCK BAND, from Black Sabbath (ozzy's favorite band) to MGMT

beatles haterz need to grow up.

This is the sort of writing that sometimes makes me think that most rock fans are mislead in their assimilation of rock music history more by what they read, rather than what they listen to. Unless with 'the Beatles influenced EVERY SINGLE ROCK BAND'' you are just kidding.

The Beatles influenced a lot of bands, not the overwhelming majority of them, though. The Beatles influenced a lot of good bands, and many more that are rubbish too. They are the most influential, that still doesn't mean they have to be regarded as the best by everyone, since personally their records leave me cold, save for the odd song. And I am not alone in this.

I like the Ramones too, not mad about them. I'd rather listen to The Byrds, much more of an influence on me, than The Beatles or The Ramones.

the ramones influenced thousands of bands that sound like them, but they had such a simplistic style that their influence doesn't leave punk rock so much.

the beatles had different eras and styles that all have influence. not only was there many bands back in the day trying to sound like them and look like them. but their influence is felt in bands who sound NOTHING like them. the way they put their melodies together, the flow of their albums etc. has been copied so much that you could hear a song that's been influenced by the beatles in 5 different ways and not even realise it.

i don't know where this information comes from but i heard that the beatles were the #1 most bootlegged artist in the world(believable)

people in zimbabwe listen to the beatles and get ideas from it.

basically, the ramones influenced a shitload of bands who sound like them, the beatles spawned a shitload of bands who sound like them AND influenced thousands of other artists who sound nothing like them.

Just to divert this a second - while I'm not disagreeing that Kraftwerk continue to be influential, I'm surprised that Herr Clone mentioned it. Because I think of Kraftwerk as the Beatles of dance music - y'know, hip-hop, techno, house, jungle, Happy Hardcore and other stuff is all of the 'Werk lineage. All stuff that I wouldn't necessarily associate with Herr Clone.

I don't get the Beatles, but it doesn't really bother me.

The point I was trying to make is that The Beatles haven't influenced every band for sure. And certainly not all the good ones.

I'd just like to point out that, in spite of the fact I don't get hardcore, or Americans, I personally consider NOU more influential on me than the Beatles. And that's without factoring shoes into the equation.

Oh, and the only time I hear the Beatles in other people's music is when people do a descending major 7th-5th on the rhythm guitar of bridges.

Same goes for The Velvet Underground. As much as I am a fan, I can tell they have had their fair share of crap influence on quite a bunch of bands.

Now VU I can only ever hear in Galaxie 500 and Loop and that sort of fey indie. I can never hear them anywhere else. Lou Reed, certainly, but VU very rarely.

It's outdated to think of a hegemony of bands that still hold the torch when it comes to influencing other musicians in this time and age.

“If all you need is love and money can't buy you love, then why are you asking us all to give you money? Because that's what you want? FOR DRUGS?”

Oscar Wilde on contradictory song lyrics

this why i said the ramones are more influential (but i believe Velvet Underground are more)

"The Ramones were an extremely famous Progressive Rock supergroup and mafia family. They're famous for their long compositions (most songs often surpassed 10 minutes) complex time signatures (13/8 or 33559/0 for example). The original line-up consisted of Joey on mellotron, Johnny on lead vocals and cowbell, Dee Dee on drums, Marky on guitar, and Cubby on bass and, occasionally lute. They formed a band in 1984 which eventually lead to a series of top selling records. Their music was extremely complex, comparable to neo-classical, but with obvious art-rock/avant-garde influences (All of the Ramones frequently stated that their favourite bands were King Crimson, Yes and Pink Floyd). All the members of the group are well known virtuosos: The guitarist's solos would often last 9 minutes, and in his prime, he was actually capable of playing 2 guitars, a bass and the drums simultaneously. They are responsible for the Boston Massacre".

No mention of The Rolling Stones yet? Lame thread.

do you mean The Who?