There was an editorial in the Sunday L.A. "Times" comparing the Stones to the
Beatles.

That’s hogwash.

I love the Stones.  Everything from every lick on "Let It Bleed" to "Memory
Motel".  But they’re a band, the Beatles were icons.  No, the Beatles were GODS!

What people don’t realize is true artists have something in their DNA.  I
won’t say they do it effortlessly, it’s just that they’re ABLE to do it.  They’ve
got extra parts, extra insight.  Which is why executives taking over the
music is laughable.  An executive CAN divine what is great, what resonates, but an
executive can’t CREATE!

It’s kind of like athletics.  You can practice all you want, but do you have
the GIFTS?

And I thought Michael Jordan’s playing was jaw-dropping.  And John Elway was
poetry in motion.  But their performances were different from creating
something out of thin air, pulling an idea nobody else sees out of the atmosphere
and cobbling together a song on instinct.

I made a mistake.  Paul McCartney sings "What You’re Doing".  I can split
hairs here, and say how Paul is almost doing John’s act, singing with deep-set
emotion, but I’d rather just go to "Drive My Car", which randomly came up in my
iTunes library before I got e-mail informing me of my faux pas.

How the executives at Capitol Records could leave the intro track off the
American version of "Rubber Soul" I’ll never know.  I guess record execs are
ENTITLED to creative decisions, but that doesn’t mean they always make them with
wisdom.

The English "Rubber Soul" has got a completely different vibe.  The American
"Rubber Soul" is depressed.  It’s a downer.  Whereas the English version is
full-bodied.  Because the tone is set instantly, with Paul’s "Drive My Car".

One of the reasons the Beatles are superior to the Stones is they had TWO
singers.  Both of whom could truly sing.

There’s a playful sexiness to Paul’s vocals that John Lennon can’t touch. 
John is cerebral, whereas Paul’s letting it all hang out.  Actually, that’s
what’s wrong with his modern day tours, his giddy goofiness.  But when we first
saw it, back in the sixties, when he wasn’t yet an icon, when he still had
something to prove as opposed to resting on his laurels, it was endearing.

It was like we had the leaders of rival high school gangs competing for our
attention in the same damn band.  It’s no wonder they grew apart.  In real
life, people like this don’t hang together.  The thinker and the straw that stirs
the drink, the life of the party.  They’re always trying to ONE UP each other.
Vie for our attention.

So, mea culpa.  Paul McCartney sang "What You’re Doing".

But I still stand by "Every Little Thing".

And what we learned back in ’64 was that everybody had their favorite moptop.
I’m not mad if you don’t feel the same way as me…