We Can Work It Out

Thomas Brothers' Help! is an odd book.  It's about the magic of collaboration in music, which is already sort of a strange subject, and then he confines his discussion to Duke Ellington and The Beatles.

Now there are some similarities between the two--both came to a new type of music and expanded its vocabulary, and were perhaps the greatest acts in their genre--but aside from that they wouldn't seem to have too much in common.

The Ellington half of the book surprised me.  I always assumed he was a great composer, but Brothers, while he admires Duke, calls him out.  He claims Ellington took riffs and tunes and arrangements from his own people--Bubber Miley, Johnny Hodges, Billy Strayhorn, etc.--and often took all the credit himself.

Ellington could arrange it and edit it and so on, but Brothers gives you the impression as a tunesmith on his own, he wasn't that impressive.

The Beatles I'm more familiar with, but Brothers has his own take.  Whereas some fans try to claim songs for John or Paul or George, Brothers emphasized how they affected each other, and created something greater than the sum of their parts. (Plus they had other collaborators, such as George Martin.)

Of course, John and Paul famously both took official credit for all the songs they wrote, even though it was often mostly the work of one.  But Brothers says what should be noted is how they influenced each other.  All the members of the Beatles brought in numerous influences which were mixed into the pot--John inspired by Dylan, Paul by Brian Wilson, George by Ravi Shankar, to mention some obvious examples.

And Brothers goes album by album as the Beatles grew out of the rock and roll tradition and then changed it with Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper all the way to Abbey Road.  At the start, John and Paul write nose to nose, but even when they wrote alone, in the studio, all the band members had their say.

According to Brothers, however, McCartney was first among equals.  The others recognized he had the most musical skill, and so let him push them in certain directions.  He also had more energy, making sure things were moving ahead.  John would often come up with new song ideas that would revolutionize rock music--"Tomorrow Never Knows," "A Day In The Life," "Strawberry Field Forever," "I Am The Walrus" and so on--but it was Paul who would take these basic ideas and push them in new directions, guaranteeing a memorable recording.

It's a fair way to look at the band.  They all contributed something special, and could step up when needed (like junior partner George providing "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun" on Abbey Road).  Perhaps the best evidence for this is when they went their separate ways.  They continued to make good music, but it was rarely as magical.