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# The Beatles/Talk

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Can someone please explain to me why the page "Beatles" was just created to redirect to "The Beatles," when no page links to "Beatles" to begin with? --Koyaanis Qatsi

No page links to "Beatles" now because I changed all such links to "The Beatles" an hour ago.

I see. Apologies. Yes, I can see your path now. --<hangdog>KQ</hangdog>

The question is not what pages currently link to, but what would another Wikipedian expect the page title to be? If I were editing some page that happened to mention the Beatles, I would put "Beatles" in brackets without a second thought, because that's what I'd expect to be the link. --LDC

Hm. I guess that's more common than I thought then. I don't see why, though. I wouldn't link "Graduate" in case someone came along wanting to read about Benjamin Braddock.... --KQ

I would expect "Beatles" as well, and was tempted to canonicalize all "The Beatles" to "Beatles". However, an Unnamed Encyclopedia Not In The Public Domain uses "The Beatles". And, our expectations notwithstanding, what is the name of the band?

Maybe then it is good to keep "Beatles" as a redirection, to catch future accidental links.

"The Beatles," certainly. I'll restore the redirect. --KQ

"....the band was on the verge of splitting by the release of [/The? White Album]?, with many tracks recorded by the band members individually." This was not the way I remember it described in a biography I read of John Lennon, or in a book I skimmed through which had the lyrics in English on one page and in Spanish on the opposite page, with bits of trivia scattered throughout. Each of those said that by that time, most of the tracks were recorded with two of the four, and none of them with only Lennon and McCartney. The biography said that Lennon and McCartney did record together, along with George and Ringo, when Eric Clapton came in to perform lead guitar for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"--the other Beatles weren't taking the song seriously, and Harrison brought Clapton in so they'd shape up. (Clapton performed a similar trick for The Cream's "Badge.") This avoidance of each other was continued through the rest of the recording, but by the time of Abbey Road it was done by each member recording his part individually and the bits being tracked together at the end. Anyway I would just put all this in the main entry except I can't find those two books to verify (I read them in 1994). If someone else can (or can verify by some other source), then by all means go ahead. --Koyaanis Qatsi

What was the quote John Lennon's about Jesus? I'm pretty sure it was "bigger than Jesus," not "more popular." I can't track it down, however.... -- PaulDrye

It was John Lennon's, yes. Always one to say exactly what he thought, and damn the torpedos. Interesting trivia is that he had Hitler on his wish list for the Sgt. Pepper's cover but Hitler didn't make the "final cut" since it was just after the aforementioned comment; with fundamentalists out making Beatles LP bonfires, they decided it wasn't in their own best interests to invite more controversy for awhile.

The full quote is:
Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that, I'm right and will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus Christ now. I don't know which will go first, rock n roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. Its them twisting it that ruins it for me. (London Evening Standard, March 4, 1966) GWO

Ok then. Apologies.

"Also note: The early Beatles albums were originally released as monaural recordings. They were later remastered as artificial stereo with vocals on one side and music on the other side, much to the disgust of fans. The CD's of those early albums restored the original mono."

--None of mine did, including Sgt Pepper's and Abbey Road; I had them all except Beatles for Sale and The Yellow Submarine, but I bought them in the early 90s so the mastering on them may have changed. It wasn't obvious when listening to them on a small CD player, but it was on one with the speakers on separate sides of the room. I'm not sure I felt disgust so much as incomprehension.

Listening to "Baby you can drive my car" off Rubber Soul now, I hear Paul, rhythm guitar, the bass, and the drum set and tambourines (but not the cowbell) on the left, and John, George, piano, a cowbell, and lead guitar on the right. Oh, and the bass is on the right too, but not nearly as loudly as on the left.

Rubber Soul was recorded in stereo, and I don't count it as an early album

"I'm looking through you" has rhythm guitar, Paul's lower registers on vocals, drums, tambourines, and bass on the left; Paul's higher registers and John are on the right, as well as the handclaps and lead guitar; the bass is there too but not loudly. So but since maybe you don't consider Rubber Soul an early album (and certainly no one thinks Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road are), I've put on Please Please Me. I'm seeing the same thing there but to a much lesser extent; it's still the case that it's in artificial stereo: the lower registers are on the left; the higher are on the right, though it's not as dramatic as on the other, with certain instruments only being on one side. I think that statement about restoration to mono should be greatly qualified. That is, it is the case that at least some early printings of the CDs had the grievously artificial stereo, and that after complaint it was reduced to a moderately bad stereo. Maybe that's what you meant all along? --KQ

I can't speak for other countries, but the UK CDs are now actual, genuine mono. Maybe elsewhere they still use the reprocessed masters GWO

Do you consider Help! an early one? "It's Only Love" has the bass on the left but not the right and the lead guitar on the right but not the left. I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm just trying to understand. Maybe I should leave the revision of it in your hands; I'm becoming a bit confused about how to phrase it both accurately and concisely. --KQ

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