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Re: He is not, why make this junk up.

I think you give Martin WAAYYY to much credit. Tiddling knobs will only goes so far. After all, he didn't hand the Beatles sheet music of his owm composition to play. To my knowledge, and please correct me if I'm wrong, what the Beatles played was of their own invention. Did George Martin discipline them? Give them a work ethic? Help them understand studio production? Write a few measures of violin and brass here or there? Sure. But as Lennon himself put it, "George Martin didn't make the Beatles; the Beatles made George Martin."

With regard to McCartney, I have to disagree with you. I am not familiar with the particular bassist you mentioned, and I am sure he is quite good. But there is no "way to play" the bass guitar. McCartney's bass is notable because it is uncoventional: more melodic, more contrapointal. "Lucy" is a good example of this, though there are many. McCartney was also a very good lead guitar player (try "Maybe I'm Amazed"), a very accomplished acoustic guitar player, an halfway decent piano player, and a passable drummer. Was he a Clapton? A Segovia? Of course not. But as a bass player, he was superior; as a guitar player, darned good -- good enough to play lead in a lot of bands I've seen. Remember, I began by responding the the oft posited notion that the Beatles were DEFICIENT as musicians.

Starr, as a drummer, could be incredibly nuanced and facile. Again, I'll point to the beginning of "Something," where he and Harrison offer up an absolutely exquisite lead-in. Listen to the drum work on "Sexy Sadie" or "Savoy Truffle" and tell me there isn't a considerable musical imagination at work, as well as a superb command of his drum kit. Was he a Buddy Rich? Or even a Carl Palmer. Of COURSE not. But nothing could ever put me to sleep faster than one of these guys interminable drum solos, which, after a few minutes of notable pyrotechnics, would leave you either begging for mercy or heading for the men's room.

Now, I am not going to tout Harrison's technical abilities as a lead guitarist. As you say, his expressiveness may be "in the eyes of the beholder." I have seen Beck, Danko, Allman, BB King, Frampton, Howe and quite a few others up close and in person. I know, as you put it, that he may never have played a 16th note. And I think I know the difference between true technical brilliance and imitation technical brilliance. What's more, I certainly can't think of any long solos Harrison every recorded. Perhaps he just wasn't up to it. But again, there are some very distinctive, impressive licks in the Beatles cannon -- "Hey Bulldog" comes to mind. "It's all too Much" would be another. "Paperback Writer." "And Your Bird Can Sing."

I'm not going to deny your point of view. But I think power and originality of the Beatles music, and the great emphasis they placed on making albums in the studio as opposed to performing, makes it easy to overlook their merits and accomplishments as musicans.

For me, on Abbey Road in particular, the Beatles display a kind of maturity and musical touch that so many bands with so many more vaunted musicians never achieve. "Come Together," "The End," "She So Heavy," (by the way, how's Harrison's work on that cut in your estimation?) are absolutely stunning in their musicality and composition, from the standpoint of musicianship. And yep, Greg Palmer or Ginger Baker could have played the drums on these tracks with ONE hand -- but neither ever displayed quite the musical touch. Or perhaps I'm just seeing the whole world through psychedelic glasses.

Anyway, DUI, you seem to have a very strong basis for your assertion that Martin managed to pull of a grand illusion of sorts in making the Beatles look like much better musicians than they were. I'd like to hear more of your thinking on that topic, if you have the time to respond.

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