Entertainment For Lively Minds
The Quiet Ones
George was always my favourite Beatle. Partly because he was the youngest and hence closest in age to me, partly because he looked so damn cool in the picture on the reverse of my sister’s mid-70s reissue of Hey Jude (they made it a hit, you know).
Mostly though, I think it was because he was the Quiet One. I was a bit quiet too – I liked my music and my books - and so I identified with him. Later too, I also felt more affinity with those more in the background – John Paul Jones say, or Richard Wright. I'm sure there are a few more examples you could name.
So were you like me, happy in the shadows? Or were you up front in your heads, with the alpha males and females, as John and Paul, Roger, Chrissie or Jimmy?
- More from Pilleus Jr.
- Login or register to post comments
-
Wasn't he
quiet because he was such as miserable sod with a permanent chip on his shoulder about being 'the new boy'?
Or is that uncharitable ? I'm sure Lennon's pitiless sarcasm would make being quiet the easiest option
He was the youngest,
but Ringo was always 'the new boy'.
Harrison could (and did) stand up to Lennon
- arguably, that's how he got into the group in the first place.
It was always going to be difficult for anyone to write alongside the mighty Lennon/McCartney especially if, as George did, they had to actually learn how to write songs in the first place. Throw in George's lifelong quest for spirituality and his almost immediate desire to retreat from the monster that was Beatlemania and it's perhaps no wonder that he ended up being considered 'quiet' in comparison to the gigantic egos of John and Paul.
Didn't want
to retreat from the money though...
Always wanted to do the
Always wanted to do the backing vocals myself - less pressure and a lot more fun.
Woo Woo!
John Entwistle
I think this is from Q:
"Died of a cocaine-induced heart attack in the company of a prostitute at the age of 57. And he was the quiet one."
There's also Jim Shepard's excellent short story "Won't Get Fooled Again". A brief history of The Who told from point of view of The Ox. It's in the collection "Love And Hydrogen".
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Hydrogen-New-Selected-Stories/dp/1400033497/r...
John Deacon?
Then again anyone would seem quiet next to Sir Frederick of Mercury. He wrote "Another One Bites The Dust" - perhaps their best song. And he had the good grace not to get involved in that tawdry thing with Paul Rodgers.
My understanding is he doesn't have anything to do with
any of the former members or the management other than via his accountant.
Seems to have cut himself off from the music industry and gone into quiet requirement - and good luck to him.