Battle of the Songwriters: Bob Dylan vs. The Beatles

[bobthedrummer]

Poll question: Battle of the Songwriters: Bob Dylan vs. The Beatles

Bob Dylan influenced The Beatles, enough said?

Vote your choice though.

[Drunken Girlfriend]

1. Bob Dylan wins,despite the popularity of The Beatles

Although I am a huge Beatles fan,my vote was for Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan might have been into the drugs like the members
of The Beatles,but he was always able to write good tunes.

The Beatles have a lot of songs that were very well written,
but a lot of them are pure and utter shit,probably due to the
fact that they were constantly stoned on L.S.D,and
other hallucinogenics.'Yellow Submarine',need I say more? lol

[bobthedrummer]

2. I concur, and welcome to DU Drunken Girlfriend!

:fistbump:

[Drunken Girlfriend]

3. Thank you

Thank you for the kind reception.:)

[bobthedrummer]

4. I'm posting from Green Bay WI, we had a thaw, are you in Ontario?

[Drunken Girlfriend]

5. Re:Location.

Oshawa Ontario,about a half an hr away from Toronto.

[bobthedrummer]

7. Glad you agree that Dylan is the better songwriter-and you've got Neil Young and Max Webster as

citizens that wrote great songs.

I don't get to The Lounge much anymore. Nice meeting you.
:hi:

[greenbriar]

6. was talking with my 17 year old about "I am the Walrus"

she just laughed and said she wanted what they had when they wrote the song...hehe

[Drunken Girlfriend]

8. Re:The Beatles

LOL.That is funny.

'I am the walrus' was another Beatles song that I am
not too fond of.

[bobthedrummer]

9. When I was seventeen I was memorizing "Desolation Row"

:smoke:

[Radical Activist]

10. Yes. And the Beatles didn't write the line

Anyone not being born is busy dying.

[LSdemocrat]

27. Then again there's something to be said for combining artistry and popularity

I tend to think it's a bigger accomplishment to achieve popularity and a high degree of artistic brilliance than to achieve a very high degree of artistic brilliance, but due to inaccessibility, for whatever reason, have work that is, and will only ever, be appreciated by aficionados or a small percentage of the public. I'm not saying that Dylan is terribly obscure, but no one's going to win a popularity contest against the Beatles.

Also, I believe I've read somewhere that "Yellow Submarine" was intended mainly as a song for kids, although I could be entirely wrong about that.

[Danger Mouse]

11. Easy. Bob Dylan is a better songwriter. The Beatles were better musicians.

[Condem]

13. Disagree, Danger.

The Beatles couldn't write music. All from the ear. Dylan was a helluva songwriter but so were Lennon and McCartney. Toss up.

[Danger Mouse]

15. I was thinking in terms of lyrics.

[Condem]

16. Danger, I'm a Lennon fan.

Should Have Known Better. I'm Only Sleeping. Tomorrow Never Knows. Apples and oranges compared to Dylan but the thing is, Dylan flew over to film a video with Lennon. Respect.

[Danger Mouse]

17. I love Lennon's lyrics, as well.

Take 'Girl' for instance. Early Beatles, yet very effective and moving lyrics.
I still go with Dylan, though. :)

[Condem]

19. Well, Dylan did introduce them to The Real Mary Jane.

Of this, we are thankful.

[bobthedrummer]

20. Both Lennon and McCartney acknowledged that Bob influenced them and their music too

:smoke:

[Condem]

22. If authors are to be believed, bobthedrummer

John made Ringo try it first.

[bobthedrummer]

18. In the real historic world that's quite a reach even for Beatlemania

what a load...
:thumbsdown:

[Condem]

31. As far as Dylan having influence on the Beatles, maybe..

Not nearly as much as Buddy Holly, however. You're saying Lennon isn't the writer Dylan is?

[bobthedrummer]

34. John Lennon, "A Spaniard In The Works"; Bob Dylan, "Tarantula", "Don't Look Back"-Lennon was clever,

but he didn't have the supreme faith of Bob Dylan-and this was further complicated by the acid and alcohol "moral hazards" in the structure of the reactionary sixties that Lennon sank deeper into as a targeted political figure, among other roles and expectations assigned as the Apple Corps was looted and the Maharishi smoked hash oil and chanted:"Love. Love. Love." while side one of The White Album played...

Dylan has faith that Lennon lacked, it's still in his works. Does that describe the difference, or merely add fuel to a flamewar?

The majority of members that voted, they voted for BOB DYLAN as a better songwriter than any of The Beatles.
That says it better than I ever could.

[Condem]

36. I'm probably guilty of a little subconscious bias, bob

Saw Dylan just over four years ago. The worst show I've ever experienced. I'm sure it factored in my decision.

[Robeson]

12. Ooooohhh, we've got a horse race. As it currently stands, the Beatles are edging...

...6 to 5. Can we get FiveThirtyEight.com on this?

[Lyric]

14. Dylan, no contest.

[EastTennesseeDem]

21. Dylan never impressed me. At all.

I love "Tangled up in Blue", "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", "Blowin' in the Wind", and I admire a few others. That being said, the logic for the reputation some of his most legendary work escapes me. When I hear "Like a Rolling Stone", I think to myself, "You know, I could come up with better and more meaningful poetry than that".

I know the Beatles thought he was God, so I won't attack him too harshly, but take, by comparison "A Day in the Life". Or "Revolution". Or "In My Life". Or "Let it Be". Or "Happiness Is a Warm Gun". That stuff exudes brilliance lyrically and musically.

[harmonicon]

23. no point in comparing

While both were sort of "rock and roll", they were working in different areas. Also, The Beatles were 3 song writers, so trying to compare becomes even crazier.

[bobthedrummer]

24. That's why Skinner told all of us that DU polls are meaningless

look out-I'M A WHACK JOB!
:bounce:

[Condem]

25. Two, harmonicon.

Harrison developed late. In my opinion, not up to Lennon and McCartney. Ever.

[harmonicon]

26. doesn't matter

If you say "The Beatles" you have to accept The Beatles. You can't say, "who's better, this or that, but not 1/3 of one of them - that 1/3 doesn't count." George Harrison wrote some damn fine songs too - He, Lennon, McCartney, and Dylan all have written songs of differing qualities of suck. Out of those 4, I would say the one with the best batting average, so to speak, is Lennon, but that wasn't the question.

[Sky Masterson]

28. Dylan wrote a better Lyric

The Beatles were better vocalist.
They are both good in their own way

[Lady Effingbroke]

29. Dylan.

[Mendocino]

30. Dylan was more of an original.

He was not without influence, Woody Guthrie being foremost. But he,(Dylan) created something far more personal. I believe The Beatles owe more to those who came before: Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, The Everly Brothers and Dylan himself.

To me Dylan is the kind of character that Faulkner or Steinbeck could have created, brought to life. The Beatles, brilliant as they were, just fall a bit behind.

[Jetboy]

43. Woody Guthrie is the character from a Steinbeck novel- an

Okie living in Cali during the Great Depression. Dylan is the better songwriter, but Hard Travellin' to Dylan means a lear jet while to Woody it meant a boxcar. Dylan had a solid midwest childhood, wandered to NYC as a teen and has been a pampered rock star ever since. Woody lived the life Dylan only wrote about from fancy hotels. All four Beatles had a tougher pre-fame life than Dylan. Still, Dylan is the best songwriter there ever was.

[bobthedrummer]

44. Lots of disinfo in your post too, Jetboy, but glad you hear the difference in writing skills...

[Jetboy]

45. What did I write that is disinfo? I've read books on all of the

subjects of my post. To me it is the gospel truth but I guess you learn something new every day!

[bobthedrummer]

46. A lot of the characterzation of both Dylan (pampered rock star) and Lennon/Ono

are stereotypes and, moreover, popular music mythology. John Lennon was murdered outside The Dakota-no one speaks for him, his work both as a Beatle and his various projects (Plastic Ono Band) owes a debt to Bob Dylan, who is still performing-regardless of all else--and why bother with a comparison to the work of Sir Paul, which largely SUCKS.
That'll get more books published to read from all the self-desribed "insiders" like "Magic Alex", lol.
:smoke:

[Mendocino]

58. Woody may have gone west in a boxcar,

but lived a stars life while doing radio in LA. Moved to NY and lived on Central Park West. He spent time in fancy hotels and also walked skidrow. But I don't think the point here was to decide who was more "authentic". It was about The Beatles and Dylan.

[RadiationTherapy]

32. When I want to pretend I am smart: Dylan

When I want to pretend i am happy: Beatles

When I want to see women shaking their cute butts: Beatles

So...Beatles!

[graywarrior]

33. Not fair, not fair, not fair

But of course, it's Dylan.

[no name no slogan]

35. Brian Wilson

:hide:

[graywarrior]

39. Oh yeah!

[ghostsofgiants]

48. I was grocery shoopping last night and "Good Vibrations" came on...

Amidst the usual lame shit you'd hear playing at a grocery store. Made my night, haha.

[argyl]

37. Dylan's best work was 35 years ago.These days he looks and sounds like an animatronic rat.

[bobthedrummer]

42. LOL, consider "Lovesick"...

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

54. A friend of mine says if Dylan has the sleazy mustache on the album cover

it's a hint that it's going to be a dud. All pre-mustache stuff, however, is worth a listen.

[johnnie]

38. Love both

But both were also influenced heavily by Buddy Holly, so it is a wash regarding influence.

Dylan wrote some great lyrics, but he took a lot of his music from Guthrie. The Beatles explored deeper arrangements and took lyrics further in later years. Even if those "later years" were two years.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

40. Bob

One of the highlights in "The Jimi Hendrix Movie" is an interview segment with one of Jimi's ex-girlfriends-slash-hangers on, Fayne Pridgon, in which she recounts...kind of amused, kind of annoyed...the story of how Jimi would pull anyone and everyone aside and strong-arm them into listening to Bob..."You've GOTTA hear this!"

:rofl:

The U.S. equivalent or touchstone for The Beatles, as songwriters, would be the "Brill Building Pop" craftsmen & women of the 60s, the hitmakers like Neil Diamond, Carole King (with her husband at the time, Gerry Goffin), Boyce & Hart (Monkees), Neil Sedaka, etc.

They specialized in quick, tasty, radio friendly pop bites, and we need to remember one thing about The Beatles. Their early songs were tentative, primitive, and they heavily borrowed from their heroes ("I'm Down" is still the greatest Little Richard hit never recorded by Little Richard)...

While they had the good fortune to be paired with a producer of skill and taste (George Martin), their real goal in the early-to-mid 60s was to "Conquer America," also known as make a truckload of money and get laid as much as possible. Nothing wrong with that, but that hardly qualifies them as "songwriters."

Bob had...and still has...his influences.He obviously followed in the footsteps of Woodie Guthrie, just as The Beatles followed Elvis, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins...

...but Bob worked toward finding his own voice, very early in the game. While he undoubtedly loved the fat-assed royalty checks that came in from classic Bob albums like "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde On Blonde," I always had the feeling that he was doing whatever pleased Bob...if it pleased others, great.

The Beatles were a phenomenon, a pop band, a rock band, and songwriting was a big part of it. Bob was (and is) a poet-slash-songwriter, and that's 98% of what he is, just like the human body is made up of 98% water...ya know?

:toast:

[bobthedrummer]

41. A kick for neglecting Lieber-Stoller as Brill Builiding assets

:patriot:

[Skittles]

47. Beatles, by far

[bobthedrummer]

49. Scoff, scoff...

Why?
:shrug:

[Skittles]

50. I just like their songs much better than Dylan's

I have always found Dylan way overrated

[bobthedrummer]

51. I like The Sneaker Pimps, PJ Harvey and The Fixx-all of whom sound better than the fab four...

:hide:

[Skittles]

52. scoff, scoff

:rofl:

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

53. Beatles, easily - Dylan tarnished his legacy with crap from 1970 to present

and is a massive sell-out

Beatles solo work is mixed : harrison fared best, Lennon had his ups and downs, say what you want abour Paul, but he had some good ones , even Ringo had "It Don't Come Easy"

So I give the win to them

[Mendocino]

55. Knocking on Heavens Door,

Forever Young and Tangled Up In Blue: Crap?

[kwassa]

56. No one was more influential than Dylan

and the Beatles were influenced by him, as well as everyone who came after him, simply in terms of what songwriters could write about. Dylan changed the entire game.

[Deja Q]

57. Devo

:P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c86TAbudJEk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyNU_sXiFTU