zekelo wrote:
> 
> For those of us who are true students of the Beatles music, one of the first
> things we did when we became serious about collecting was to seek out the
> original versions of songs the Beatles covered...or at least the versions
> that influenced the Beatles.  They weren't always one and the same.  If you'
> ve ever heard the Isley Brothers' version of "Twist and Shout"

...which was itself a cover of the Top Notes' 1961
release. The Isleys improved it though, IMHO.

> ...it's easy to understand the Beatles' affection for '50's R&B.

For a number of us---already radio listeners in the
early nineteen-sixties---it seemed as though the Beatles
were actually paying tribute to artists we'd already enjoyed for
several years already. It was as if we shared a
particular type of fan mentality. The Marvelettes,
Smokey Robinson, Mary Welles, Marvin Gaye, Buddy Holly,
the Everly Bros...it was really quite amazing what the
Beatles chose to cover, and how much of it had been part
of our regular top-40 radio fare.

> The genius of the Beatles, of course, is that they were able to
> take songs by other artists and essentially make them their own.  The songs
> that immediately come to mind are "Please Mr. Postman", "Money" and "Long
> Tall Sally"..all of which blow away the originals.

To my ears, the Fabs complement the originals rather
than "blow away" their predecessors, which is quite a
different thing. I never get tired of hearing Barrett
Strong's "Money", but John's vocal on the same song
brings something extra and vibrant to it. Neither song
overshadows the other; they enhance each other.

> Yes, the Beatles did indeed steal ideas from other artists.  And
> before ya'all start with the flame throwing, keep in mind that Lennon
> himself admitted as much in his later interviews, although he always used
> the word "pinched," which is the British slang equivalent of "stole".

Perhaps, not being a musicologist, Lennon was harder on
himself than he needed to be. "Borrowing" from earlier
sources is a time-honored tradition. Bach borrowed (or
re-scored) Vivaldi; Respighi "stole" from Tielman
Susato; and Vaughan-Williams appropriated a tune from
John Playford...nothing wrong with it! In fact, it kept
alive the memory of earlier tunes.
 
> For instance, some of you probably know that "Do You Want to Know a Secret"
> was a direct rip-off of a song sung by Snow White in the Disney movie...

I wouldn't call this a "rip off" in any sense of the
word; neither did John. He acknowledged that he was
inspired by a Disney song in the film, but the melody
and words of "DYWTKAS" are not at all plagiarized.

> ..."Run for Your Life" owes its origin to Elvis' recording of "Baby, Let's
> Play House".

Again, owing its origin to another song is not akin to
stealing. :-)

>  But there's much more.  George's ethereal guitar riff in "If I
> Needed Someone" was taken almost directly from the Byrds' "Bells of Rhymney"
> .

The notes are arranged differently in each song; I
suspect this is a case of influence and admiration, more
correctly. George and the Byrds had a great mutual
admiration society going, as you know, and freely
admitted it at the time.
 
> And then there's Lennon's million-selling single "I Feel Fine" which at the
> time..despite the trite, throwback lyrics..boasted one of the most
> imaginative and innovative guitar riffs up to that time.  Or so we thought.
> Wrong.  John sheepishly admitted once in an interview that it was a direct
> rip-off of the riff in Bobby Parker's "Watch Your Step".  If you've ever
> heard Parker's recording, you can't help wondering how John escaped a
> lawsuit. 

I can't agree with you. I've heard "Watch Your Step",
which sounds (to me) to be more closely related to
"Leave My Kitten Alone" than "I Feel Fine" is related to
"Watch Your Step"; since John was a fan of both "Step"
and "Kitten", it's not surprising that both songs may
have inspired "I Feel Fine". 

But inspiration isn't necessarily theft, and I think
that's an important point to make. 

Note also the interesting guitar lick in Bobby Parker's
"Step" just before he begins his vocals; doesn't that
riff show up in "Day Tripper" too? But just the riff....

> I suppose the explanation is that Bobby Parker was.even at that
> time..a fairly obscure R&B artist, so that no one even realized it.

Johnm acknowledged his debt to R&B artists, freely and
openly. He even pointed out that "Watch Your Step"
derived from Ray Charles' "What'd I Say", which was also
a big favorite of Lennon's.

> Of course, the Beatles didn't always manage to escape lawsuits.  Lennon's
> "Come Together" crossed that fine line between "borrowing" and
>  "plagiarizing"..in this case from Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me".  Same
> with Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" which upset to no end the publishers of the
> Chiffons' "He's So Fine".

These are the only two cases I know where the Fabs
overstepped the boundaries of compositional love and
erred into unintentional larceny. Most of the time they
achieved a wondrous balance between the music that
influenced them and the music they themselves generated.
The result was something wholly new...and look how many
musical generations the Beatles have themselves
influenced!

The Fabs didn't build their enviable reputation by being
melodic and lyrical brigands. They were supreme at
creative synthesis. That's not piracy. That's art at
work. It's what the Beatles did better than anyone! 

-- 
"One thing I can tell you is you got to be free."
-------------------------------------------------
saki@ucla.edu