The Beatles

I was on vacation for two weeks without my computer;so no audiogon. I thought I would check back to see if there was anything worth responding. Cornfedboy: that was a funny, funny post;loved it. To the point: I took about 20 of my Beatles' CDs along on vacation, listened very carefully. I wanted so much to "get it". There were fun songs, sad songs, even meaningful songs. But in the end they do absolutely nothing for me except bring back fading memories from my youth. By the way, the 1963 Plymouth was not mine but my brother's friend(and it did have all that I stated and more;my car was a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T with the right bells and whistles). OK so what; we all had AM radios with tiny 3" speakers listening to music to pass the time away on those hot summer nights. So what if the Rolling Stones or the Animals got us out of the boredom more than the Beatles. Hey what songs of the Summer of '66 do you relate to? Does anybody remember any of the great garage band songs like Psychotic Reaction by the Count Five or Dirty Water by the Standells. Remember Hey Little Girl by Syndicate of Sound? Does anybody remember(or care) Mitch Rider and the Detroit Wheels? The Garage Bands of America emulated either the Rolling Stones Animals or Yardbirds. Why:easy to play, aways fun, throwaway songs, always about bravado, getting the girl, lamenting her loss, etc. laughable stuff, always a good guitar(or organ)hook, and cynical or world weary vocals(even though they were probably still in their teens/early twenties). OK, let my go out on a long thin limb again and say that the greatest teenage angst song of the 60s was "Gloria" written by Van Morrison and played by every bar band, high school rock band, and covered by the Doors and Jimi Hendrix(guitar fireworks). Besides if you wanted serious rock/popular music then try listening to Bob Dylan.

Hey Shubertmaniac that '63 Plymouth Fury wasn't named "Christine" was it? Nice post.

Tubegroover: Speaking of car radios; have you ever had the opportunity to listen to a tubed one from the 50s/early 60s with reverb? Try it sometime. You will never go back to solid state car stereo again. Elvis never sounded better.

I probably did in my Dad's old 1950 Mercury but I wasn't listening to sound quality just along for the ride in those long days gone bye bye. I do however remember reading in an auto magazine several years back about some guy that had over 50K(!!) invested in a tubed car audio system that won some kind of award for sound quality. In car audio it seems to be more about db's; it you can exceed the db level of a jet engine at maybe 10' your on the right track. Hell I can sometimes hear (feel is a better word) that bass thump from god knows where when I'm listening to my own stereo with the windows closed and I have thermal pane windows and a very well insulated house.

Welcome back Schubertmaniac. We will never agree on the Beatles ('n that's alright), but I'm with ya on other 60's/Brit/garage bands you mentioned. What I remember best about 1966 (I was a freshman in high school) was how cool it was to be glued to the radio, any radio. Almost every song dancing through the airwaves sounded great - hooks, riffs, harmonies and teenage love/angst/joy. I love the "Nuggets" compilations and still have the original LP compiled by Lenny Kaye. Have a happy new year.