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The Beatles Were ‘the Worst Musicians in the World,’ Quincy Jones Says


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Is QJ just getting old and senile? Now I know the Beatles were not the caliber of musicians that the high end jazz players Quincy worked with but that's what made it all work. Players in QJ's world would have never got the sound of the Beatles. No way. I think the guy may have missed a course of meds.

 

 

Quincy Jones isn’t done trashing his colleagues in the music world, it seems.

 

Fresh off of his sharp-tongued take down of Taylor Swift, the legendary producer took aim at the Fab Four in an interview published by Vulture, deeming the Beatles “the worst musicians in the world” and “no-playing motherf—ers.”

 

Asked what his first impressions of John, Paul, George and Ringo were, Jones didn’t hold back, declaring that “they were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherf—ers.”

 

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Quincy has earned my respect over the decades. I tend to think he's feeling his age and/or he's slipping into his dotage. He's certainly entitled to his opinions' date=' no matter the cause. His views now don't alter my respect for his past work.[/quote']

 

Yep and I totally agree with you, the man is a legend. I just think it is very poor form to come off like that.

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Yep and I totally agree with you, the man is a legend. I just think it is very poor form to come off like that.

 

It is.

 

QJ has earned the right to respect for his music - but maybe not for his opinions of other peoples' music

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The "putting down other musicians because they aren't good enough players thing" is only funny until someone puts down someone you admire, isn't it?

 

My guess is QJ's reply to "his players never would have gotten that sound" would be something along the lines of "why would I want to get that sound"? Or something along the lines of responses we see here by all us great musos in say...oh...I dunno...the Spice Girls thread?

 

It's all relative. And opinions are like buttholes. And all of that.

 

Plus QJ is 84. I'll probably be saying a whole lot of stuff I bit my tongue about when I was younger if I ever manage to live that long too.

 

In other words. "meh"

 

 

 

 

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Perhaps he was illustrating the point that, although the lads were not schooled or 40 year veterans at the time of Beatlemania, they were very sucessful and gave us songs the world will sing for generations to come.

 

That being said, I can uderstand how some of the players who were schooled and/or 40 year veterans at the time may have harboured some resentment.

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The "putting down other musicians because they aren't good enough players thing" is only funny until someone puts down someone you admire, isn't it?

 

My guess is QJ's reply to "his players never would have gotten that sound" would be something along the lines of "why would I want to get that sound"? Or something along the lines of responses we see here by all us great musos in say...oh...I dunno...the Spice Girls thread?

 

It's all relative. And opinions are like buttholes. And all of that.

 

Plus QJ is 84. I'll probably be saying a whole lot of stuff I bit my tongue about when I was younger if I ever manage to live that long too.

 

In other words. "meh"

 

 

 

 

I remember an old saying: If you don't have something nice to say about someone then keep your mouth closed. You just need to suck it up QJ and keep it to yourself. No one is going to admire you for saying that, even your jazz buddies. JMHO

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Even if you love the Beatles, you gotta like this story though....

 

And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it. I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo (Jones arranged a version of “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” for Starr’s 1970 solo debut album Sentimental Journey, which was produced by the Beatles’ frequent collaborator George Martin.) had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on

. He couldn’t get it. We said, “Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.” So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, “George, can you play it back for me one more time?” So George did, and Ringo says, “That didn’t sound so bad.” And I said, “Yeah, mother****************er because it ain’t you.” Great guy, though.
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I remember an old saying: If you don't have something nice to say about someone then keep your mouth closed. You just need to suck it up QJ and keep it to yourself. No one is going to admire you for saying that, even your jazz buddies. JMHO

 

Largely agreed. Which is why I personally try to limit such comments. (Unless maybe it's about Rush. :D )

 

Although I doubt QJ cares much about what people think of his comments anymore. Which is why he said this now rather than 20 years ago. Old age will do that.

 

But like I said... this forum is filled with threads of people much less talented and successful than Jones slagging on other musicians and people in the business.

 

Kind of ironic to come HERE with complaints that someone should only say nice things about other musicians.

 

No one was upset when he was slagging Taylor Swift. But he says something about the precious Beatles and suddenly he should keep his mouth shut if he doesn't have something nice to say?

 

Hmmmm...and hmmmm...

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While I don't necessarily agree with everything Q said in that interview, I sure as heck can't disagree with this:

 

 

Is there innovation happening in modern pop music?

 

Hell no. It’s just loops, beats, rhymes and hooks. What is there for me to learn from that? There ain’t no f**king songs. The song is the power; the singer is the messenger. The greatest singer in the world cannot save a bad song. I learned that 50 years ago, and it’s the single greatest lesson I ever learned as a producer. If you don’t have a great song, it doesn’t matter what else you put around it.

 

 

As I've said many, many times, the song is king. If you don't have that, you don't have anything.

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Here's something he said appropo for this forum:

 

It’s Trump and uneducated rednecks. Trump is just telling them what they want to hear. I used to hang out with him. He’s a crazy mother{censored}er. Limited mentally — a megalomaniac, narcissistic. I can’t stand him

 

"I used to date Ivanka, you know,"

 

​​​​​​​ "Yes, sir. Twelve years ago. Tommy Hilfiger, who was working with my daughter Kidada, said, 'Ivanka wants to have dinner with you.' I said, 'No problem. She's a fine motherf---er.' She had the most beautiful legs I ever saw in my life. Wrong father, though."

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Aside from Paul, he's not far off. But then, he's missing what made them so magical to begin with. They were layman musicians in the spectrum of musical knowledge: chops, technique, etc.... (listen to the "Deconstructed" thread again :freak:)

 

But, put them all together, the sum was greater than the parts - much greater.

 

And 3 of them could write songs in their sleep better than QJ could his entire career. They were writing Blackbird, Quincy was writing the theme from Sanford and Son. :freak:

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Aside from Paul, he's not far off. But then, he's missing what made them so magical to begin with. They were layman musicians in the spectrum of musical knowledge: chops, technique, etc.... (listen to the "Deconstructed" thread again :freak:)

 

But, put them all together, the sum was greater than the parts - much greater.

 

And 3 of them could write songs in their sleep better than QJ could his entire career. They were writing Blackbird, Quincy was writing the theme from Sanford and Son. :freak:

 

He was also asked what he FIRST thought of them.

 

He wasn't asked how he judged their musical legacy now. Or how he felt about them now as songwriters.

 

The Beatles were looked down upon by a LOT of 'real' musicians at the time. And their success didn't initially make them any more appreciated for their musicianship. The Beatles, more than anyone probably, taught the world that "musicianship" is something that goes beyond the technical skills of being able to read, master an instrument, etc. But until that lesson was taught? No. They weren't particularly well-regarded by "players".

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He was also asked what he FIRST thought of them.

 

He wasn't asked how he judged their musical legacy now. Or how he felt about them now as songwriters.

 

The Beatles were looked down upon by a LOT of 'real' musicians at the time. And their success didn't make initially make them any more appreciated for their musicianship. The Beatles, more than anyone probably, taught the world that "musicianship" is something that goes beyond the technical skills of being able to read, master an instrument, etc. But until that lesson was taught? No. They weren't particularly well-regarded by "players".

 

True. Which is also maybe why they inspired generations of guitar playing rock musicians. Everybody figured, "jeez, if these guy can do it, I certainly could too." ;D

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Back when I was obsessed with being Ynwie J. Lynch-Van Halen, I would have loved the vindication of having Quincy Jones join me in throwing shade at what I considered a massively overrated band. But I gotta admit the sheer breadth of their catalogue alone is worthy of respect. For every Beatles song that's not your cup of tea, there are probably five that'll at least have you tapping your feet. There are different ways of appreciating music, and one that is more common among musicians is by way of awe. I think we can dismiss stuff that doesn't inspire it. But it's probably at least as valuable to produce music that just gets the dopamine flowing regardless of how impressive it is.

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While I don't necessarily agree with everything Q said in that interview, I sure as heck can't disagree with this:

 

 

Is there innovation happening in modern pop music?

 

Hell no. It’s just loops, beats, rhymes and hooks. What is there for me to learn from that? There ain’t no f**king songs. The song is the power; the singer is the messenger. The greatest singer in the world cannot save a bad song. I learned that 50 years ago, and it’s the single greatest lesson I ever learned as a producer. If you don’t have a great song, it doesn’t matter what else you put around it.

 

 

As I've said many, many times, the song is king. If you don't have that, you don't have anything.

 

That's what made The Beatles great - the songs.

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True. Which is also maybe why they inspired generations of guitar playing rock musicians. Everybody figured, "jeez, if these guy can do it, I certainly could too." ;D

 

Probably. But, like both QJ and Phil said---it's all about the song.

 

If the Beatles never got past their cover versions of others' hits and their first few singles, I doubt we'd be talking about them today anymore than we talk about Herman's Hermits. And no one would be hiring any of them for studio work. Even Paul. I love their energy on "Twist and Shout" but I seriously doubt anyone listening to it at the time was saying "call me up that guitarist...I GOTTA have him on my record!"

 

But yes: they wrote great songs and had just enough of the right measure of vocal and playing abilities to make them work the way they needed to work.

 

One thing about rock bands: too much musicianship can sometimes ruin the mix. I remember a guy I used to play with years ago once asking "what if instead of George, Jimi Hendrix had been their guitarist???"

 

Never would have worked. He'd likely have ruined those songs and there would have been too MANY big talents in the room. Bands need supporting players and sometimes that support has to come in the form of "I'm a great songwriter, but my guitar playing kinda sucks".

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Aside from Paul, he's not far off. But then, he's missing what made them so magical to begin with. They were layman musicians in the spectrum of musical knowledge: chops, technique, etc.... (listen to the "Deconstructed" thread again :freak:)

 

But, put them all together, the sum was greater than the parts - much greater.

 

And 3 of them could write songs in their sleep better than QJ could his entire career. They were writing Blackbird, Quincy was writing the theme from Sanford and Son. :freak:

 

Can't believe you just dissed the Sanford and Son theme song.

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