Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

No, you're right , Sheena...I believe that was Kent's point: their raw talent was undeniable even from the beginning. After all, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" was fuelled by nothing more than alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and testosterone.

Hey, wait a minute...those are all drugs, too...

Well... in fact, anything can be called drug, Dane... even this forum is a drug of sorts for its members... see, i have to work now, and look what i'm doing...
But the thing is (back to the topic), IMHO, it's talent and real-life experience (of ANY kind) that lead the game... if somebody has no talent, no kind of "up" will make him a genius, and if he lives in his own small world, never sees what happens around, never takes care about it... i doubt he'll have anything to say in his songs...

I am so taken with The Beatles' music that I have managed to convince myself at one time or another that each song has redeeming features.

There is no question that there were many outstanding songs after Paul's 1967 declaration that they used drugs. Was anyone surprised?

Their songs did become more disjointed (oh dear) as time went on and certainly Abbey Road is a prime example. When you have only bits and pieces, string them together and create a new idea. It was brilliant.

Well said, brother...

If you start out a bit of an idiot (sorry about how unkind that sounds), it won't help to push a river of substances through your brain (I'm thinking of Ozzy, for some reason)...

Then there are undeniably talented songwriters whose bodies of work are pretty banal compared to that of the Beatles, owing to the fact that they never tried a more interesting 'eye-opener' than your average run-of-the-mill martini (Neil Diamond, anyone?)...

It's a bit of a generalization, but I think in most cases, you can't get to 'C' without adding 'A' and 'B'...

Some more "eye-openers" for you (not that i'm arguing of something): love, traveling (and every funny and every hard situation that goes with it), birth of a child, meeting new interesting people, troubles (yes, it's a part of our life, too), etc, etc... i don't mean drugs work worse, they're a part of "real-life experience", and i did smoke p.o.t (but then again, if i ever said i was a good girl, i was only kiddin'). But you see, some people's imagination is so wild the drugs are not really necessary to get them in the state which is being discussed...

You "talkin bout" me Sheena. How did you know that?

My mother always used to say I was naturally high. LOL

I'm not surprised (albeit i was actually talkin' about myself) - most of my friends are that way, in fact, the stuff only for fun, not to stimulate imagination which produces pictures considered to be "drug works" by itself!

'An imagination is a terrible thing to waste...'

The presence of chemical receptors in the human brain which respond only to the THC molecule indicates a strong probability that the plant species we call 'cannabis' has played a critical role in the evolution of the neocortex...a process which spans eons. The fact that 'modern' societies have seen fit to attempt to ban the use of this plant and its ancient association with our 'imaginations' is at least stupid, if not downright shameful.

But enough of my yakkin'...have another martini!

Dane ole buddy... I think your evolutionary theory is highly suspect. But the fact of the matter is that the pot that is around today is a whole lot stronger than the pot we all were puffing on in the late 60s and 70s... so much so it might as well be called something else.

Pot makes you stupid. Literally. It destroys brain cells. Having said that, I dont think that adults who choose to do that to themselves should be criminalized. However, I can promise you and whoever else might read this that you do NOT want to be the person who gives or sells the stuff to my 15 year old kid.... not if I find out about it.

But enough of my yakkin'... I havn't had a martini in years, but at band practice later today I will enjoy 3 "Milwaukee Ice" beers (not 2, not 4... 3 is just right for the 2 hrs of playing).... by the way, our "new" drummer crashed and burned before xmas (his own family crisis) and tonight we audition another one. Wish us luck... the band has been in limbo too long and we need to get back on track.

Good luck with the percussionist Kent. Have a beer for me too. I'll certainly hoist one for you.

Hey man...are you callin' me stupid? Pot does not either destroy those brain...um...thingies...

Suggested reading for those who might like to know more: "Marijuana Reconsidered" by Dr. X (whose identity was revealed after his death as the one and only Carl Sagan, lifelong pot smoker and world-famous stupid guy).

(I'll tell you one thing...if I had a fifteen year old kid, I'd be more worried about him gettin' into that "Milwaukee Ice"...)

Best of luck with your rehearsal and potential new drummer, Kent...if I were within driving distance I'd drop in and show you some real 'stupid' drumming...

It's OK Dane. Kent called me a lunatic (at least I think he did) on another thread. LOL

Imagine if I smoked pot as well what he would have to say about me.

Just kidding guys. Don't start getting out the map book and your 12 ga. shotguns.

The only thing I've got that could be characterized as a '12 ga.' is my bong...

'Lock-and-load', baby...

I'm in for beer... but if you have something better, Dane, just lemme know
Back to the Beatles, however... i've read one "theory" once that there's actually no "secrets" when it comes to songwriting, which means it's not something that can be taught, it's just more about "you either have it or don't have"... not quite agree with that, however, since if one doesn't work to improve his songwriting skills, they'd never develop into something that people admire. I'd rather doubt somebody could write his FIRST song which would compare to "Yesterday", for instance...

>>>Kent called me a lunatic

HA! I dont remember that ... but to quote Anthony Quinn in 'A High Wind in Jamaica' ... "Zac, you must be guilty of something."



As for the beer vs pot thing.... Naaaa, I dont buy it. Pot, especially the strong stuff thats around nowadays, is far more destructive. IMHO, of course. But like I said... toke away to your hearts content, I dont care ... just leave the kids out of it.