This made me smirk:
Thinking specifically about the Stones, and where they went... Paint It, Black was only released within about a month of both Pet Sounds and Blonde on Blonde... and a few months before Spicks and Specks. Of that group of four artists... I think it's a legit toss-up in my mind between Dylan and the Bee Gees about which of those two ended up with the highest marks for evolving and pop culture impact after 1966.

A smidge???? Have you never heard of Jim Morrison????

Kidding of course. I know you know how egocentric he was. But around 68-69, I loved Riders On The Storm and Light My Fire.

Regarding Beatles vs. Stones, I was in a gospel quartet house, so envied those in houses where ANYTHING else was played. I think that “rivalry” probably started as a marketing idea, but would bet there was a lot of commonality in their fan base. I know I liked both.

Allow me to recommend a really fun BBC podcast from a few years back: A to Z of Punk. It used to be easier to simply download than it appears now to be... this old rss feed might do the trick. The same guys also did an A to Z of Psychedelia.

I woke up dragging a little this morning and decided to check out a couple of videos. Found one that changed my mood. They love to play, they play as good as anyone. One of my favorite live performances.

PLAY (Band-Maid)

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One of the Rock Wars matchups this week has a song by Sinead O'Connor. I've never listened to her very much but realized that song reminded me a bit of Melanie Safka. In 1970 Melanie wrote and released Candles In The Rain with the Edwin Hawkin Singers to commemorate her Woodstock performance (in the rain). Just reminded me of my favorite hippie, folkie singer. This is the extended version.

CANDLES IN THE RAIN (Melanie)

After John Lennon arrogantly announced that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus and the resulting backlash, this song was released.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xvr5l8s4YY

My mother still despises the Beatles mainly due to this quote. No amount of mollification by the music industry was ever going to repair that rift.

When I think of the Beatles, I think of the chorus of One Down 3 To Go

The Meatmen have been triggering Beatles fans for decades, and yes they do an updated version 2 down 2 to go. Not for everybody, cancel culture disapproves of the slurs, sorry in advance if I offended you with a 41 year old song.

I'm a big fan of John Lennon, in fact one third of my HCRealms name is dedicated to him, the other two are Lou Reed and Marc Bolan. I really don't think it was arrogance as much as it was truth when Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. If you look at the youth culture at the time, you'll see he wasn't lying. It was our parents who were outraged, hence, Doc Fates' mum's aversion.

I never got into the Meatmen. Just generally not the punk style I could get into. I preferred the Dead Boys, Clash, Damned, Stranglers, Adicts, etc. Bands like Sham 69 and Meatmen lost me. I like my angst bottled differently.

BUT, I would never censor anyone's lyrics. We had people at WB they wanted to Censor the publishing of Korn, but there were a lot of us that said we couldn't and shouldn't do that. If someone wants to buy it, by all means, let them. Put a Parental sticker on it and for those under 18, let their elders sort it out.

As for the whole Beatles, Stones, Who competition, I never really saw it that wat. I grew up loving all of them, and I'd even add in the Kinks, who seem to get left out of that conversation.

The Stones' early stuff with Brian Jones was phenomenal, but their best LP, IMO, was Exile on Main Street with Brian Jones. I'd put it up there with Pet Sounds, Revolver, Dark Side of the Moon, and Zeppelin IV. You can also pick your favorite Bowie album and put it in there as well.

The Stones migration though, from a band that was extremely fond of early American Blues roots music to songs like Undercover of the night, was just a normal progression of following trends. Had they still tried doing their original style of music, people would be claiming they never evolved. Personally, I like the Some Girls album and though it was the best of their latter period. It's hard to be in your 60s and still be defined by your music to a younger crowd and also an older more sophisticated crowd that grew up with you.

It's interesting how some people who were considered rebellious at one point suddenly become mainstream and targets at another point. Jimmy Buffet was shocked to discover he'd become mainstream fare. He'd always considered himself to be anything but family entertainment given how so many of his songs were about getting blankfaced drunk.

I didn't figure that Lennon "arrogantly declared" that but rather made an off-hand joke about the absolute freakin' frenzy around his band at that time. People didn't respond as well to off-hand jokes back then.

My favorite Quicksilver Messenger Service song. Unless you go into some extended prog rock songs I don't think you can find another song that goes as long before the lyrics kick in. The song has some seriously awesome guitar work from John Cipollina.. The song reaches nearly eight minutes before the vocals kick in,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVAOaFS8xOM

It's funny you shared Quicksilver, as I really was about to offer their music a few days ago. Couldn't decide which song or which iteration of the band, and other things kept getting in the way, so this was a pleasant surprise. Thanks!

I think their music has been described as the purest representation of the San Francisco scene of the late 1960's, early 1970's. I bought Just For Love shortly after it first came out, and believe Fresh Air may have been their only high charting hit. I still listen to many of their songs regularly. When I was nineteen, a recent college dropout working in a steel mill in Illinois, Quicksilver's Just For Love, Wishbone Ash's Argus, and Santana's Abraxas got me through lots of cultural adjustments. A nineteen year old long-haired hippie type from NC wasn't a common occurrence in a unionized Illinois steel mill. Fortunately, I was enough of a novelty (I think) that I was accepted and actually really enjoyed the hard work and friends from that time. Later I studied and earned a Master's degree, but still appreciate the early experience's of actually working for a living.

FRESH AIR (Quicksilver)

WHAT ABOUT ME? (Quicksilver) - A real hippie anthem. It seems that several QMS members spent differing amounts of time in jail, mainly for marijuana possession, so they seemed to know how things worked back then.

Mentioning Wishbone Ash. I bought their Live Dates album, and it was such a masterpiece. Generally considered one of the best live albums ever released. I especially like Phoenix and Pilgrim off the album.

This song wasn't on the album, and I always wondered why but apparently it is very difficult to perform, particularly for the vocalist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI8siqrW7TQ

They're still touring, and this much later song gets airplay on the radio station I listen to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ICUIaiyWrw