If John, George, and Paul Didn't Play A Ric, Would You?

[drumbob]

Yes, I would, because I was first influenced by The Byrds and The Who, then The Beatles.

[artisan4]

Yes, I discovered Rics via Pete Quaife, Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton.

I suppose these three were influenced by The Beatles to buy Rics. John was influenced to buy one by Toots Theilmans, George and Paul were influenced by John Hall. Maybe Pete was influenced by Chris Squire:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obitu ... 13875.html

[bassduke49]

I suppose these three were influenced by The Beatles to buy Rics. John was influenced to buy one by Toots Theilmans, George and Paul were influenced by John Hall. Maybe Pete was influenced by Chris Squire:

Well, now this "history" and who influenced whom is getting a little convoluted here.

First off, George and Paul were "influenced" by F.C. Hall who "gave" them new Rickenbackers; George got his 360/12 during their first tour of the U.S. in February 1964 (Ed Sullivan and all that). F.C. Hall (John Hall's father) was the CEO of Rickenbacker. Paul received his 4001S in the summer of 1965 (if I have that right), and I think John Hall said he was there when it was presented(?).

Chris Squire worked at Boosey & Hawkes in London and saw three Rickenbacker 4001S models come in to another branch of the shop (these would have been Rose-Morris model 1999 imports). He knew that John Entwistle and Peter Quaife bought two of them, and so Squire arranged to get his employee discount to land the third one for himself. This was probably in 1965, and although Squire may have been "influenced" by McCartney's bass-playing, it is unlikely that Squire would have seen PM with the Rick or even knew that PM had one at that time.

[bartyclue]

I liken this thread to good songwriting as it will always stand on its own, just as I believe these instruments do. Regardless of the Fab 3 using them, someone somewhere would have tried them, and realized them for what they are. Great freaking axes!

[artisan4]

F.C. Hall- thanks for the correction, that is who I meant. He worked to market the guitars to them, successfully. Don't know what you mean by 'convoluted'; marketing seeks to inflluence. McCartney and Harrison, as far as I know, were not influenced to use the brand by official or unofficial endorsements advertised by particular artists but rather by Mr. Hall providing the instruments to them. Reading the Quaife article made me wonder if Squire sold him the bass, and also if he was looking for the brand due to the popularity of The Beatles. A lot of British groups appeared with Rickenbackers after the Beatles became famous in Britain.

At any rate, Peter, Paul and Bruce got me interested in Rics via 'The Kinks Greatest Hits' and 'This is the Modern World'.

[jdogric12]

I can't believe no one has posited this yet:

If the Beatles hadn't played them, the company probably would have gone under long ago. There, I said it. Stone me.

To answer the OP: No. If the Beatles hadn't, then I'd likely have never seen Mike Rutherford use a 360/12v64 in the early 90's (recapturing his own early 70's sound).

Toots -> JL -> GH/PMcC -> prog -> me

[8mileshigh]

It was Paul Weller, McGuinn, The Ruttles and THEN The Beatles for me.

[Clint]

I can't believe no one has posited this yet:

If the Beatles hadn't played them, the company probably would have gone under long ago.

Well, that may be true but perhaps not. And having the Beatles play your instuments did not guarantee financial success. Look at Gretsch and Epiphone. On the flip side, at the height of Beatlemania, none of them played Fenders, but Leo did just fine.

I guess we could take this to the logical extreme and say, if it had not been for the Beatles, popular music could have gone in some different direction and the electric guitar itself could have become some kind of odd novelty item. But lets not even think about that!

[jdogric12]

none of them played Fenders, but Leo did just fine.

Yeah, because everyone else did!

Perhaps a safer, more thoughtful statement: If it weren't for the Smithereens, they may have nearly disappeared in the 80's.

And since the company is privately owned by a very wealthy family (and "old money" at that), it's not like they'd "go under." That would be ridiculous. But production would have dwindled much more than it did during those "slow" periods.

[Clint]

But production would have dwindled much more than it did during those "slow" periods.

Very true.

[Hotzenplotz]

Would I play a Rickenbacker without the Beatles? - Clearly: NO!

It was the sound and the look, that impressed me - endorsed by John Lennon.

All this jingle-jangle (not You, Paul!) does not interest me. But played rough with some slight overdrive - that's my cup of tea!

[woodyng]

Way back then,I had no idea Paul sometimes played a Ric bass. I was aware that John and George did from the Ed Sullivan shows. I thought they were cool looking German made instruments. i first noticed RIC basses from seeing Steppenwolf (further imprinting the idea these were German made in my mind) on the Smothers Bros. show,but it was definitely hearing Yes' version of the Beatles'' "every little thing",that made me go "Wait....that's a bass guitar making that sound...what is it,how is that possible? I mean i had already heard "my generation",but this was a really different sound and playing approach. Only to find out the bass player used a RIC to get that sound,and his name was Chris Squire. So it really was a Beatles origination on the influence that first drew me to RIC's.

[bartyclue]

I can't believe no one has posited this yet:

If the Beatles hadn't played them, the company probably would have gone under long ago. There, I said it. Stone me.

To answer the OP: No. If the Beatles hadn't, then I'd likely have never seen Mike Rutherford use a 360/12v64 in the early 90's (recapturing his own early 70's sound).

Toots -> JL -> GH/PMcC -> prog -> me

The company had been viable for 30 years prior to the Beatles. While they may not have become the company they are today, I'm pretty sure they would not have gone under. The instruments are too good for that to have happened.

[Hotzenplotz]

To make the best does not protect You! I could name a lot of brands that made the best at their time. Unfortunately their time is over.

If the best sells the most Rickenbacker must be muuuuuuuuuch bigger than Fender.

An in the 70s Rickenbacker was close to the end, BTW.

[Grey]

I can't believe no one has posited this yet:

If the Beatles hadn't played them, the company probably would have gone under long ago. There, I said it. Stone me.

Speculating on what may or may not have happened is a fruitless debate. I see you revised your statement a bit, but the only real question is wether or not all of the other musicians who got on stage with a Rickenbacker did so because of the Beatles. If not, it stands to reason they would have played one all the same, having decided to do so for different reasons.