Re: The Eternal Beatles Discussion Thread
It is my opinion that, aside from all four Beatles being great, George Martin had a lot to do with making them what they were on record.
I listen to any of the four on their solo albums, and something's definitely missing from the "sound." A crisp-ness is missing, something special that resided in the production that Martin provided.
For instance, I listen to Glass Onion, which is primarily a John Lennon record with little input from McCartney. The sound is "crisp" (I can't find a way to describe it another way). Then I listen to Lennon's solo work, and the sound is kind of "dulled." Producer Phil Spector can be blamed for most of it, in regards to Lennon (his 1980 album, Double Fantasy, was the best produced of all his solo work, IMO - maybe Mr. Douglas had something to do with it, since he helped co-produce it), but what about McCartney and Harrison?
McCartney's albums may sound better, but the songs are so wishy-washy - there's nothing that closely resembles Helter Skelter or even Got To Get You Into My Life, two songs that had balls!. I think McCartney got kicked in the balls after the Beatles disbanding.
Harrison's records are nice and "dulled" - again, while While My Guitar Gently Weeps is "crisp," nothing on his solo records comes close to sounding alive. Even Harrison himself lamented his own sound on the record (Give Me Love) Give Me Peace On Earth - he had recently listened to a record by Stevie Wonder, and loved the sound, and wished he could get that kind of sound, but could not.
I have no complaints about Ringo Starr records.
I wonder why none of the Beatles, aside from Ringo on the album Sentimental Journey, incorporated the talents of George Martin during their solo years.
