The Rolling Stones or The Beatles?

[Jenson71]

Two of the best bands in music history...

Which one you like better? And what songs from either side give them the edge?

[KCWolfman]

Originally Posted by Jenson71

I voted Rolling Stones...

Songs that give them the edge:

Let's Spend the Night Together
Sympathy for the Devil
You Can't Always Get What You Want

Under My Thumb
19th Nervous Breakdown
Paint it Black

[KCWolfman]

Originally Posted by KCWolfman

Under My Thumb
19th Nervous Breakdown
Paint it Black

Oh, and Mother's Little Helper.


As old as they were, they put on a pretty good show in Tampa for the Steel Wheels Tour about 15 years ago. Living Colour opened for them and they really set up Mick.

[KcMizzou]

Paint it Black is one of my all time favorites. But I'd still have to go with the Beatles.

[Ebolapox]

I like some of the stuff the stones did, but it's the beatles by a mile

-EB-

[Baby Lee]

I really like classic Stones. But put me on the no-brainer list when it comes to picking the Beatles. And it comes down to this; the Stones are great at being the Stones, much in the way that AC-DC is AMAZING at being AC-DC and The Band was PERFECTION at being The Band. But the Beatles set the pace for the entire evolution of popular music. Starting out by raising the bar for the clean-cut high energy love song [I wanna hold you hand], progressing to catchy story telling [Bungalow Bill, Rocky Racoon] moving into the pre-punk riffs [Revolution], and rounding things out with world-weary, yet anthemic, almost universal works that I think is their best stuff [Let it Be, Hey Jude]. I guess basically, I think that the Beatles could, if pressed have done a decent job of emulating, even pushing, the artists in most sub-genres [rockabilly, hard rock, blues, punk, anthem rock, etc.], but nobody could emulate, let alone push, The Beatles.

I saw her standing there
I wanna hold you hand
In My Life
Can't Buy Me Love
Eleanor Rigby
Across the Universe
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness if a Warm Gun
Helter Skelter
Revolution No. 1.
I want you [she's so heavy]
Come Together



Ohh. . .


And I can't forget the two songs/lines that have always brought a tear to my eye, from the first time I heard them, to this moment as I type them.

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary calls to me
Speaking words of wisdom, Let it Be.

I'm in love for the first time
Don't you know it's gonna last
It's a Love to Last Forever
It's a Love that has no past.

2 of the 3 best lines in music history [along with the chorus of 'he stopped loving her today'].

[andoman]

Beatles running away. Stones are alright, but not good enough to have a spot in my music collection. But I've got to say, Arrowhead hasn't been the same since they stopped playing "Start Me Up" on kickoffs. Ironically, I'll change the radio station if that song comes on, as I would most Stones songs, because I know I'll find something better on.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by SDChiefsfan

The Beatles??? 2-1???



What a bunch of fuggin' puzzies.

"I wannnnnnnaaaaaaa hollllllllllllllldddddd yourrrrrrrrr hannnnnnnnnndddd!"
"I wannnnnnnaaaaaaa hollllllllllllllldddddd yourrrrrrrrr hannnnnnnnnndddd!"

OK kiddies...time for a Blowfish rant.

Comparing the Beatles and Stones is like comparing Beethoven and Mozart. Both are indispensible to the history of rock n roll. Both started out as skiffle groups, basically bands you'd hire to play at a party. Both were influenced by black american blues music (Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Joe Turner) and by Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry. The early difference between the Beatles and Stones was the Beatles were mop topped pretty boys and relatively safe (I Wanna Hold Your Hand) while the Stones were the ultra cool dangerous bad boys (Let's Spend the Night Together).

Beatles: John Lennon was the balls and brains of the band; Paul was the cute one, George the spiritual one and Ringo the comic relief.

Stones: Mick was the showman and the bravado, Keith the bad ass dangerous one, Charlie Watts the human metronome, rock solid rhythm section.

The Beatles had an immediate influence on contemporary artists of their time. Beatles songs were covered by mainstream artists like Bing Crosby, Ray Charles, Mitch Miller, etc. So their songwriting skills were embraced by square society early on. They were pioneers in studio experimentation. They used unusual instruments (harpsicord, sitar, fluglehorn) added full orchestras for background, played with backward masking and stereo effects. They were the first band to make headphones popular. Sgt Pepper is widely considered the most important rock album because of these reasons.

The Stones embraced other musical styles of their era - they covered blues ("Little Red Rooster" & "King Bee"), Motown ("Just My Imagination" & "Aint Too Proud to Beg"), Country ("Dead Flowers" & "Honky Tonk Woman"), ballads ("Angie" & "Wild Horses") and influenced the development of other off shoots of rock, such as heavy metal (You can't have heavy metal without "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" or "Satisfaction") and Reggae (Jagger and Peter Tosh-"Walk and Don't Look Back"). They did the most to lead their fans towards appreciating other musical genres.

BTW: the four food groups of good rock are: Beatles, Stones, Led Zepp, & The Who. Its what you need for a healthy balanced rock n roll diet.

Whew...I'm done raving now. I've been on Nyquil for five days straight and its starting to show!

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

BTW: the four food groups of good rock are: Beatles, Stones, Led Zepp, & The Who. Its what you need for a healthy balanced rock n roll diet.

The four food groups of 'rock' is The Who, AC-DC, Aerosmith and Pearl Jam.
The four food groups of Pop is The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, and Radiohead.
The four food groups of delta blues is The Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Band and Clapton.

[redbrian]

Gblowfish is quite correct that you are comparing apples and oranges.

Are we judging these bands strictly on the music produced by the band or on artistic endeavors by all the members of the group or on a specific genre within music?

From my point, based on an the pure American Rock genre (read heavy blues influenced), the clear winner would be the Stones.

The Stones stayed truer the form, while movinging the genre forward (the Blues Based American rock song) far more than the Beatles.

I would also take the Who and the Kinks over the Beatles, in this genre.

[fbodyman]

March 31, 1964 - The Beatles hold the top five slots on Billboard's chart:
(1) Can't Buy Me Love
(2) Twist and Shout
(3) She Loves You
(4) I Want To Hold Your Hand
(5) Please Please Me

about 20 #1 songs in 6 years.

The Beatles..not even close.

[redbrian]

From a musician stand point once again the Stones would be the hands down favorite.

Drummer Stones
Bass Stones
Lead Guitar Stones
(although Harrison was the best musician the Beatles had)
Vocals Beatles
(I’ll give the nod to McCarthy and Lennon on this although Mick was an excellent blues/rock singer, however the very best British blues/rock singer would have to be Van Morrison)

[Mr. Kotter]

I concede; apparently, I must be stupid. I thought the Stones would win this, going away.

I have no doubt the Beatles were more influencial. But "better" than the Stones? Wow, that literally floors me.

Hey, wait a minute; maybe it's just because you guys are a bunch of really old *****s?

[memyselfI]

I voted Stones simply because I've seen them live five times and have 30 some odd of their albums. But I don't like them more than the Beatles or think they are better...they are different and yet very much the flip side of the same coin. I've seen McCartney live once with free tickets I got at Ward Parkway Mall. He didn't even sell out...it was rather sad.

The Beatles and Stones were yin/yang of the early British invasion. They certainly laid the ground work for the evolution of rock that would follow. I love them both but they are hardly the best, IMO.

If I never heard another of either of their songs I would miss it but my soul would not yearn for them as it would for some other bands...(Zeppelin, YES)

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by SDChiefsfan

Hey, wait a minute; maybe it's just because you guys are a bunch of really old *****s?

We may be old, that's true. We'll see how YOU feel when Eminem opens his theater in Branson ten years from now!

[Mr. Kotter]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

We may be old, that's true. We'll see how YOU feel when Eminem opens his theater in Branson ten years from now!

Damn, that puts it into perspective, I guess.