Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

There's this 3 cd box set that came out yesterday and I can't wait to get it. I think it's called British Invasion. I like the music from the 60's, mainly the British stuff, like Beatles, The Who, stuff like that. I work at Universal so I know all this cool stuff ahead of time. I guess if you guys also enjoy the same music, I thought I can let you know.
Enjoy!

Sounds good. Does it come with a history book, lots of photos, and all that?

This set came out on vinyl about 7-8 years ago. It consisted of 4 LPS.
I was going to digitize the LP's, but now I won't have to.
Thanks for the heads up Mary.

PS - There are tons of great songs included that everyone knows.

Is this the series that had "Pictures of Matchstick Men", by Status Quo, on it?

Thanks Mary. This will be a great series to have on CD. And yes a lot of folks "Who" wisit here are into 1960s music and the British Invasion. I trust the "Universal" Soldier is on this one.

I apologize. I just pulled out my copy of the LP from my record storage and took a quick look at it. It's called "Brit's Blitz". Sorry for any confusion in my previous post.
But it does have 50 original 60's recordings by our favourite British artists recorded between 1964 - 1971. Lots of great tunes.

There was a series put out by Rhino a number of years ago called "The British Invasion - The History of British Rock". I have Volumes 1 and 7. I don't think there were any Who songs on any of them, but a lot of good songs nonetheless, including my favorites "Have I The Right?" by the Honeycombs, and "Teenage Failure" by Chad & Jeremy (I remember them performing this one on Shindig or Hulabaloo).

Those kind of comps are usually a mixed bag. It´s better either to get comp cds of the groups (Animals, Them, Downliners Sect, early Stones, early Who, Kinks, Small Faces, Action, Manfred Mann, Mark Leeman Five, The Untamed, The Rockin´Vickers, the early Move, Searchers, Rattles, Mascots... uff!) or to get comps from some series like 'At Abbey Road' or 'Decca Freakbeat', 'Decca Mod', 'Decca R&B' or 'Doing The Mod, vol 1, 2, 3, 4 (from the 'Pye' vaults).
(By the way, if you like the sixties music and can read some spanish, visit www.popthing.com You´ll enjoy it!)

Miguel - My band (the Beatcombers) covers THREE songs by the Mascots!

Congratulations, Glenn! What an excellent taste! The Mascots (from Sweden) are fabulous. Sure you cover 'Words Enough To Tell You', right? A lost gem, isn´t it? Could have been placed in 'A Hard Day´s Night' BSO! I believe The Mascots were playing Ricks on that one.
Think I´ll start a new thread about this in 'Rickenbacker Artists'. Please, be sure to contribute if you have a minute!
Pleased to meet you, Glenn!

I was in Piero Scaruffi's website devoted to The History of Rock. I agree with Miguel on getting the comp CD's of the groups. Piero says the Beatles were over rated, and I agree (He rated their early albums 3 or 4 out of a possible 9 points). Like Elvis, they capitalized on the breakthroughs of others (at least in the early days) by making their music more palatable to the masses, turning decadent rock into pleasing pop, and defusing the danger seen in black music by many whites. Black guys had already done what Elvis did, but they weren't as marketable to whites. The Beatles were safer than the Stones, so they were more appealing to the teeny boppers and their parents. (Screaming teenage girls made up the largest audience when the Beatles premiered in America, but that's not who made up the majority of the audience at The Who or Rolling Stones concerts in England, nor at a Little Richard concert in America.) The Beach Boys did basically the same thing in America. ABBA from Sweden would do it again in the 70's. Rolling Stones, The Who, Animals, Kinks, Byrds, Captain Beefheart, The Doors......these were the groups that truly preserved the rebellious and inventive spirit of rock without putting commercial interests first. The Stooges, Frank Zappa, and Velvet Underground might not have been too appealing at that time to the masses, but it was they who spawned new genres later on, NOT the Beatles, Beach Boys, or Elvis.....in spite of their HUGE commercial successes.

I always thought of the British Invasion as the English Echo. The best groups like The Stones or The Who just took black American music and gave it an accent. Actually, they expanded on the core values of black rock n' roll that the white teen idols were watering down. No early black R&B artist was as vulgar and sleazy as Mick Jagger, or as animated and destructive as Pete Townshend, or as loud as Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce. Or on our side of the Big Pond, as poetic, mesmerizing and naked as Jim Morrison. But the Beatles and Beach Boys had better vocal harmony, you say? Go listen to the Hollies.

I never felt "invaded" by The Beatles, although I DID like them a lot. You have to get separate comp CD's of groups like Miguel said if you really want to get an "invasion" going on, or you will get a mixed bag of groups who politely knock on your door mingled with those that knock it down and trash the joint. The Beatles never drove cars into swimming pools or got banned from hotel chains worldwide like The Who did. I separate the Invaders from the Gentle Persuaders, but the people who make broad compilation albums never do. Does "Yesterday" belong on an album next to "Satisfaction"? You decide.

Biting my tongue...

Well, Phil I do believe The Beatles were innovators and even rebels. You should see what the press said about them back in 1963. I reckon that nowadays they might seem too 'pop', to 'light' to some people, but even The Stones couldn´t believe what they heard on the BBC when The Beatles appeared in 'Saturday Club', in 1963. It was so new that even the London R&B crowd were surprised. To me, The Beatles opened the door, everyboby else just followed The Beatles´path. Just my two pennies.

I can't see the Beatles as overrated. First of all ,it's not like the press loved them and they had no following. As far as a place in musical history, they drew a line and others followed. It's clear.

Were they the first to make music? No. However their influences shine loud and clear.To me another glaring difference between the Beatles and the others was their ability to compose.

BTW they're not my favorite band but, I do recognize their place in musical history.

Philco: Thanks for your interesting comments.

The climate of the 1960s was one of protest and at the same time one of acceptance ance with regard to many ways of thinking, including music.

It must be remembered that The Beatles had a few tunes on the rough side, "Yer Blues", "Helter Skelter", "Tomorrow Never Knows" and even "Revolution." There was an internal struggle for a decade between the perceived sweetness of Paulie and the rebellious Lennon. Just when you think you have a stereotype you have John releasing songs "In My Life" and Paul singing "Why Don't We Do It In The Road." Regardless of its position on the sweet-abrasive continuum, the Beatles made it work.

Would "Yesterday" fit on the same album as "Satisfaction?" An interesting question. In the same breath you "might well arsk" would "Lady Jane", "As Tears Go By" and "Angie" fit with "Satisfaction." The answer is yes as this was a time of great diversity in music.

Then there is the rough and tumble days of The Who, The Kinks, The Animals and The Doors, who respectively captured our attention with the abrasive likes of "I Can't Explain", "Well Respected Man", "Bring It On Home To Me" and Hello I Love You." These groups, and countless others, observed the Beatle model and borrowed from it, some using similar dress and hair styles, some using similar Rickenbackers, some even using original Beatle compositions. The Beatles raised the bar and made it clear that one of the keys to the top was original compositions.

It is indeed apparent that many of the British groups took original American material and repackaged it in a fashion that was more appealing that it was the first time around in the United States. Hence the "English Echo" as you have put forth. At the same time, however, these groups put their own spin on it, based on their unique development in the UK. The result was a wave of original material that the rest of the world, for any number of reasons, found appealing.

A thorough review of the music of the 1960s will reveal that each group had its own following of "teeny boppers." The Beatles were successful because of their original compositions and because they were the first to have a "really big shew." Great Britain, the United States and Ed Sullivan would never be same. The world would follow and here we are 40 years later using the Beatles as a bench mark to discussion modern music.

Your are right, The Beatles were safe. A safe bet to change the face of rock and roll forever.