Music With Staying Power

Have you ever wondered why some music just seems to have staying power? Like the energizer bunny, it keeps on going and going. Take the recent Grammy Awards for example. The Rolling Stones and ex-Beatle Paul McCartney were both nominated. Paul even gave his first live performance at a Grammy awards ceremony this year.

I remember the days when there was a constant debate raging over which group was the greatest- The Rolling Stones or The Beatles. These two super-groups reigned supreme. Many loyal fans took sides in this debate and were fully convinced that it was their favorite band which made the best music.

For me, it was simple. I loved the Stones, but the Beatles were by far my favorite group. Afterall, when the Beatles were beginning to see the effect their music was having on the kids of their generation (known as Beatlemania) the Stones were also charting with a song called, "I Wanna Be Your Man." But it just so happens that Lennon-McCartney wrote this song and gave it to The Stones as a favor. Later, when The Beatles masterful Sgt. Pepper album was released in 1967, The Stones released an album shortly after which many considered to be a copycat version of Sgt. Pepper.

Here is another interesting fact to consider. The Beatles stopped giving live perfomances after their concert at Candlestick Park in San Fransisco on August 29, 1966. They decided they wanted to spend more time in the recording studio and just make music. Many people thought they were crazy and would quickly lose their fan base and popularity if they stopped giving live performances. They didn't listen. What happened as a result? They kept cranking out hit songs and their popularity grew even more. The question that was constantly on everyone's lips back then was, "when are the Beatles going to give another concert?"

Now, this is not to take anything away from The Rolling Stones. After The Beatles officially broke up, The Stones became my favorite group for awhile. I spent a lot of time listening to their music and saw them in concert three times. I even got back stage once. But they never inspired me to think deeper about life, or to question why. The Beatles did. I began a spiritual journey in search of "Truth" (which I eventually found in Jesus) largely due to the impressions and impact which The Beatles had made on me.

Musically speaking, these two super-groups definitely had, and continue to have, staying power. I still get students young and old who want to learn their songs on the guitar. The recent Grammy nominations also reveal that the creative juices of Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones are still flowing and will probably continue to do so for some time yet. The lesson we can learn from this is that good music never dies. And I, for one, am really glad that Paul did finally "pass the audition."

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Kathy Unruh is a singer/songwriter and webmaster of ABC Learn Guitar. She has been writing songs and providing guitar lessons to students of all ages for over 20 years. For free guitar lessons, plus tips and resources on songwriting, recording and creating a music career, please visit: http://www.abclearnguitar.com

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