The Beatles were great as the guiding force of the Movement. They experimented in ways that broadened music beyond rock that was the primary music for younger people.  Ballads like "And I Love Her" are fantastic.

But they had a short career.  The Stones have been Rock for decades.  They still put out great stuff.

I can't agre more about groups like Led Zep.  A handful of good songs, but you don't see hear their music every day around the world.  The bootlegged Stones records I have seen from Damascus to Leningrad - I am old enough to remember both records and Leningrad - speak of their range and scope.

I agree and the Stones used the  blues that came from the blacks in America

to separate souls is Don McLean's "Oh My, What A Shame."

"They were married, in the old church yard,
and they promised to be true to each other,
no matter how hard their lives might be.

But, like meteors that fell through moments parallel, they were soon to cross, and on different plots of earth they both did fall,
though their lives had really not been hard at all.

Oh my, what a shame, no one's to blame, it just happened that way, and there's nothing you can say when two people say good bye. Oh, my."


And of course there "Bob Dylan's Dream."

"With haunted hearts through the heat and cold, we never though we could get very old.
We though we could sit forever in fun,
but our chances were really, a million to one.

Well, let's see. As far as Lyrics, go Neil Young writes at  an eighth grade level "Hello cowgirl in the sand - is this place at your command" - yeah that took a lot of thought.  Does he have any songs that an eighth grade could not write in 30 minutes?

    You may not be familiar with music theory but I can tell you  the great bulk of his catalog are songs composed with major and minor chords -garage band simple. By the time of Sargent Pepper, McCartney understood music theory and was composing on the piano - the later songs reflected a full harmonic vocabulary.

      As far as musicianship goes, Neil Young's rhythm guitar playing is about on the level of Bob Dylan. His lead work is so basic you can pick out the leads by ear. Except for the period when Nils Loftgen played with Crazy Horse, the guitar work for those guys was not much better.

    No comparison to George Harrison or Keith Richards at all.

     It is fair for you to say you personally prefer Neil Young but on any objective basis, he is not remotely on the same level.

A pox on your Willie, Willie

Black Sabbath & The Ramones better than Steely Dan ? Willy, that's the dumbest thing you've ever said--which is considerable !  I'd wish GaG would weigh in on this-----LOL !

Becker & Fagen ( the geniuses that make up Steely Dan ) were summa cum laude lit graduates from Bard College------can you say that about
drunken puppy killer Ozzy Osbourne?-----LMAO !

The intellectual music cognescente love SD for their brilliantly symbolic lyrics; maybe SD's lyrics are above your head, WW.

Btw, " Steely Dan" is taken from Wm Burrough's  "Naked Lunch"---it refers to a dildo.
Something you can identify with, Willy-----

-- Modified on 8/28/2010 9:42:35 AM

Beatles were childrens band,good childrens band .most there songs were simple  rhymes like Dr Zeus.George Harrison guitar made the beatles.beatles also copy other bands.
Eric Clapton better guitar,better songs, more feeling in soul than beatles.
Allman brothers,rambling man,tied to the whipping post,midnight rider,
Bruce springstein, Born in the U.S.A
Roy Orbinson, Pretty woman
James Brown..Papas got a new bag,I feel good
Buddy Holly
Paul@ John most songs sound like third grader rhymes.a few good songs they did make.
here is Paul song without help .

Don't go jumping waterfalls
Please keep to the lake.
People who jump to the waterfalls
Sometimes can make mistakes.
And I need loveYeahI need loveLike a second needs an hour
Like a raindrop needs a shower.
YeahI need loveEv'ry minute of the day
And it wouldn't be the same
If you ever should decide to go away.
And I need loveYeahI need loveLike a castle needs a tower
Like a garden needs a flower.
YeahI need love...Don't go chasing polar bears
In the great unknown.
Some big friendly polar bear
Might want to take you home.
And I need loveYeahI need loveLike a second needs an hour...
YeahI need love...
Don't run after motor cars
Please stay on the side
Someone's glossy motor carMight take you for a ride
.And I need loveYeahI need loveLike a castle needs a tower...
YeahI need loveSaid I need loveLike a raindrop needs a shower
Like a second needs an hourEv'ry minute of the day...Don't go jumping waterfalls
Please keep to the lake

John lennon number 9  Luck of Irish
John and Paul would not be famous without George Harrison  guitar and George Martin leadership.

Mari,
I've been a musician since I was 8 years old. I understand theory pretty damn well. If you were going to grade quality of music by how technically savvy the musician is, then you'd have to say that best rock band in the world is fucking Dream Theater.

While I appreciate technical skill, if it's applied without emotion and vision, then it's fucking worthless. That's what made Tchaikovsky such an amazing composer. He had all three.

Neil Young helped to revolutionize so much in music. From folk to rock to grudge to punk. Yeh, the guy wasn't the best poet, and he played sloppy, but he played kick ass songs with everything he had. That's the mark of a great song writer and performer.

Pria, you bet your ass, Sabbath and the Ramones were better than Steely Dan. The only way anyone would think the opposite, would be for them to have been with a vagina, which explains more about you then I want to know.  

And while I always appreciate a reference to any of the Beats, the fact that they named their band after a dildo I think proves my point. :P