The Beatles Win

Well, it's the last day of the first official LRHS poll, and it looks like the Beatles are the clear winner. I kinda thought that would be the case. The question was which of these groups would you most like to have seen in concert during their heyday. The Beatles received 6 votes, Elvis and The Who each got 3 votes, and Hank Williams, Sr. got one vote. Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and the BeeGees got no votes.

I didn't vote. It was too hard. I couldn't decide. There were problems with all the choices.

I love the Beatles, but I have seen video footage of their US shows, and if I had been there, I would have hated it. There was just a bunch of screaming, and you couldn't hear the music. I saw Paul McCartney on a solo tour and he was great. I saw Ringo as well. He used to do these "Ringo's All-Starr Band" tours. He was "meh" but he was a Beatle, so that's something. I regret never seeing George. He's my favorite Beatle. Anyway, I don't know, maybe I would have picked them if it meant seeing them in the VERY beginning at the Cavern, before Beatlemania. Or on the roof during Let It Be. But not at those wild screamy affairs.

I have also seen the Stones and I saw the Who twice. The Stones put on a great show, and sounded really amazing, especially for a bunch of old guys. The Who was great the first time I saw them and terrible the second time. I would have liked to see them with Keith Moon. At the first show, they did a big tribute to him which was very cool and touching. At the second show, a few years later, they all seemed to be in really bad moods, Pete in particular, and they were just noisy. I think the early Stones shows were probably much like the Beatles ones...lots of screaming, and riots on top of that. Not really my scene.

I saw Robert Plant and Jimmy Page separately on solo tours. Plant was great. Page was good, but it was a crazy show. We were up very close to the stage, and you could see how much damage the years of drugs had done. There was the great Jimmy Page, standing right above us playing Stairway to Heaven, but the whole time he was "motor-boating" his lips and drool was spilling out everywhere. Pretty sad.

I obviously never saw Hank, but would have LOVED to. Such genius. So sad. I'm glad he got a vote. Was that you, Kev?

I was too young to see Elvis when he was alive. I'm sure he put on a pretty spectacular show, though. I have seen Elvis COSTELLO a number of times. He's always great.

I just put the BeeGees on there to see what would happen. I like the BeeGees OK, but I bet their concerts were boring beyond belief.

When I was in England, I spent quite a bit of my time doing various pilgrimages. I went down to Brighton to see where the Who filmed Quadrophenia. I went to Edith Grove to see where Mick, Keith, and Brian lived when the Stones were just starting up. I went up to St. John's Wood to Abbey Road Studio (picture above, from 1991.) ( Funny, I just realized that twenty years ago today I was living in London. I'd been there for five days, and I was sick as a dog with a terrible cold. Wow. Time flies. I'm OLD). I also went to Liverpool for a weekend to do a whole Beatles tour. It was so great. I got to go to all their houses, Penny Lane, the Cavern, Strawberry Fields, etc. So cool, especially for such a big fan.

Anyway, I don't know who to vote for. Not the BeeGees. Not Led Zeppelin. Otherwise, it's a toss-up.

So, congratulations Beatles!
And I'm off to make barley soup and think of a new poll.