The Beatles vs. Bob Dylan

[Shuffle]

Figured this might be more interesting than Beatles vs. the Stones for the zillionth time. I don't remember this being done here (at least not for a while) but I may be wrong...

At the moment I'd say Bob Dylan but half a year ago it would've been The Beatles.

Edited March 5, 2009 by Soulseller

[Lithium]

The Beatles are ahead both objectively and subjectively on this one as well. I can't be bothered to write a longer post, I'm sure there are some people here who have much more interesting viewpoints on this than I do.

[Robo Axl]

Beatles. Lennon and Mccartney were better songwriters than Dylan, and Harrison wasn't far behind tbh. Bob Dylan is the superior lyricist but it really doesn't make up for how much more melodious and musically interesting The Beatles work was. Furthermore, Dylan's poor singing voice (yes, I know he conveys alot of emotion but he can't really carry a tune that requires any sort of range) has a detrimental effect on many of his songs, in my opinion anyway. Lennon/Mccartney on the other hand were both brilliant vocalists.

[nameless_girl]

The Beatles obviously sounded much more harmonious, but Dylan's particular brand of lyricism has always been enough to take my mind off technical aspects of the vocals and revel in the pure magic of the writing, so this is an absolute no contest for me.

[mr. orangestone]

Beatles are far superior in my opinion. Except maybe Ringo...

[feconroses]

Neither my cup of tea...but i voted for The Beatles.

[axlslash]

Dylan had better lyrics, and I prefer his sound. The only Beatles music that I listen to a lot is the really trippy out there stuff that they wrote while on acid. And who introduced the Beatles to acid? That's right. Robert Allen Zimmerman.

[Wild_Child]

I can't seem to get into the Beatles for some reason, but Bob Dylan on the other hand is, in my opinion, the greatest artist ever. Bob Dylan could very well be God himself.

[hans_moleman]

Beatles

[mr. orangestone]

Dylan had better lyrics, and I prefer his sound. The only Beatles music that I listen to a lot is the really trippy out there stuff that they wrote while on acid. And who introduced the Beatles to acid? That's right. Robert Allen Zimmerman.

no, he introduced them to weed.

[Lithium]

I think it was Peter Fonda who introduced at least George to acid. That's what "She Said, She Said" is about, you know.

[Shuffle]

I can't believe Dylan is leading

[dirtylenny]

I cant fuckin answer I honestly can't. I dunno, The Beatles i guess but fuck, was Dylan a fuckin powerhouse or what?!?! I love that fuckin boy, i think he's a fuckin genius...he's in a category all of his own, much like The Beatles really. I dunno, i can't really compare.

Dylan didnt introduce The Beatles to acid, The Beatles were introduced to acid by one of their dentists...he invited them round for dinner and slipped some into their tea. I think it was legal at that time and used by sorta middle class movers n shakers and they'd never tried it before and started tripping the fuck out...the dentist fella tried to get them to stay cuz he knew what the effects were like but they (Lennon i think mostly) thought he was tryna get them into some kinda weird orgy or something, he couldn't understand why they didnt want him to leave Anyway, they ended up leaving and George Harrison remember driving his car along at like....15 mph being really WOW-ed out by anything and everything and they went out to this club and all got into this elevator and pushed this button and a tiny little red light was on the display and in their acid-ed out haze they started freaking the fuck out cuz they thought the elevator was on fire? They explain the whole thing in The Beatles anthology and every other biography of theirs you read.

Anyways, by all accounts they got out and went to the club and, according to the descriptions they gave, they just had an overwhelming feeling of everything-is-cool-ness. Its actually the song Dr Robert thats about their first acid trip, She Said She Said is actually about this time they were on acid with Peter Fonda and ol' Petie was wandering around saying "i know what its like to be dead" and it freaked Lennon out cuz it was blowing his high, being a downer and everything.

But yeah, Dylan vs The Beatles? Oh, i dunno...no answer but in response to the people slagging Dylan off for not having harmony of melody, well im sorry but thats just complete bullshit, those songs he made were INCREDIBLY musical, just look at the way covers like All Along The Watchtower by Jimi James and Mr Tambourine Man by The Byrds pan out. Sure you can say that its BECAUSE they are alternate versions that the melodys come out but the basic structure has to be there to work with unless you completely change the fucking song in which case it wouldn't be the same fuckin song anymore (no duh!)

And his voice is great, its perfect, it does the job far and beyond what many can do and totally sees out the potential of his songs...i've never heard ANY cover of Dylans songs that match up to the original with the possible exception of Watchtower and even that just matches up, i dont think it betters it.

The guy has a fucking mastery of language that is second to none and to be honest, is almost out of place in rock n roll but somehow the bastard makes it work, stylistically he does folk, blues, rock n roll, country, gospel and he pulls em off with ease...he has a SERIOUS fucking ear for melody make no mistake about it, like The Ramones had an ear for melody but you dont hear it unless you come to terms with the fact that this is stripped down music and its simple and you have to understand it as such and anyway, the true beauty of all melody to my mind is the simplicity, its what keeps it in your head, sure you can have complex melodic patterns but its almost like welding shit to the basic foundation, the meat and potatoes of a melody.

In terms of being BETTER lyrically than any of The Beatles? hmmm...i dunno, put it this way, if anybody could do it it'd be Bobby Dylan. Whether he actually DOES it? In terms of my personal estimation in regards to how i respond to the music and what it means to me, i'd put em jussst about neck-a-neck. If you're asking me to be objective and compare every single aspect of what i know about em and stack em up and give you an answer, as much as it pains me to say it i gotta say ummm....ummmm...

No, i dont gotta say shit Yes i do, The Beatles, fuck it, yes, The Beatles but...Bobby Dylan is Bobby Dylan and you can't fuck with Bobby Dylan. (unless you're The Beatles ) Oh i dunno, i can't answer, fuck it...

And these vizzins of Juh-hannah..

Edited March 5, 2009 by dirtylenny

[Lithium]

Its actually the song Dr Robert thats about their first acid trip, She Said She Said is actually about this time they were on acid with Peter Fonda and ol' Petie was wandering around saying "i know what its like to be dead" and it freaked Lennon out cuz it was blowing his high, being a downer and everything.

That's interesting. I read that The Beatles were having a party in a rented house in LA and that there were a lot of Playboy bunnies and celebrities like Peter Fonda there, doing acid and whatnot, and that Fonda gave George some acid and George. I don't remember if it was George's first time, but it must have been one of his first times tripping on acid because he reacted very strongly to it, speaking about how he was going to die and whatnot. Pete replied to this that everything was going to be alright and that he knew what it was like to be dead, because he had been declared clinically dead and then revived after a motorcycle accident or something. Lennon heard the "... I know what it's like to be dead" part and flipped out.

[dirtylenny]

Its actually the song Dr Robert thats about their first acid trip, She Said She Said is actually about this time they were on acid with Peter Fonda and ol' Petie was wandering around saying "i know what its like to be dead" and it freaked Lennon out cuz it was blowing his high, being a downer and everything.

That's interesting. I read that The Beatles were having a party in a rented house in LA and that there were a lot of Playboy bunnies and celebrities like Peter Fonda there, doing acid and whatnot, and that Fonda gave George some acid and George. I don't remember if it was George's first time, but it must have been one of his first times tripping on acid because he reacted very strongly to it, speaking about how he was going to die and whatnot. Pete replied to this that everything was going to be alright and that he knew what it was like to be dead, because he had been declared clinically dead and then revived after a motorcycle accident or something. Lennon heard the "... I know what it's like to be dead" part and flipped out.

Thats basically it, i just hacked the story up a little cuz i couldn't remember the clinically dead bit It wasnt Georges first time though.

Edited March 5, 2009 by dirtylenny

[LightningBolt]

The Beatles. I could never get down with Dylan's music, and he doesn't have a very good voice, in my opinion.

[arnold layne]

Los Beatles.

[worldwideboss]

Dylan by a landslide.

[Randy Lahey]

I prefer Jimi Hendrix to both Dylan and The Beatles. The man is the greatest rock musician who ever lived.

[SpUd_Jr]

Jack Frost.

[AbominableHoman]

Bob Dylan by far.

[Midnight Rambler]

The Beatles. I prefer Townes Van Zandt to Bob Dylan.

[Rahul]

Bob Dylan ofcourse,I never liked Beatles anyway.Dylan's lyrics were much better than Beatles.Ya maybe his voice was not tht good but still most of the songs he sang were brilliant.I love Dylan,the man was a genius

[Guest deleted_19765]

Have to go with my heart on this one as well, although by all counts The Beatles are the greatest everything.

[Snake Eyes]

The Beatles.