By R&B (138.238.41.128) on Friday, August 29, 2003 - 03:19 pm:

THIS IS SOMETHING THAT MY FRIENDS FROM THE UK CAN ANSWER FOR ME,WHEN I LISTEN TO SOME SONGS FROM THE STONES OR BEATLES I CAN'T DETECT THE BRITISH ACCENT,WHERE IS IT?

By Eli (65.43.157.102) on Friday, August 29, 2003 - 03:36 pm:

If you listen closely to the Beatles, you CAN hear the Liverpudlian accent, at least I can.
It's probably because of the amount of time that I have spent in the UK.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.32) on Friday, August 29, 2003 - 03:38 pm:

There is no such thing as a British accent! You can have an English, Scottish, Irish or Welsh accent (with regional variations of each), but there simply isn't a "British" accent.

When the Beatles first visited the US they were asked why they sang "with an American accent" when they were English. They replied that they didn't. The boys were Scousers (from Liverpool) which meant they were Northerners, who used Northern vowels. So, they would sing "Dance" not "Dahnce" and "A wanna hold your hand" not "I want to hold your hand."

Very few British singers use English pronunciation when singing, as "American" is the universal language of Rock'n'Roll/Pop music. Even Davy Jones - the English Monkee - sang using American pronunciation - listen to Daydream Believer as an example. One of the few exceptions is David Bowie, whom no-one could ever mistake for an American. Basically, singing Rock'n'Roll in "English" just doesn't work :o)

By R&B (138.238.41.128) on Friday, August 29, 2003 - 03:45 pm:

THANKS GUYS

By soulboy (213.105.224.4) on Friday, August 29, 2003 - 03:47 pm:

I Think the british accent is deliberately missing from a lot of those Beatles and Rolling Stones records, lets not forget they wanted to sound like they were American,it's what used to be called a transatlanic accent.Allthough a relatively small country,in the UK we have several different regional and national accents these are quite distinct in the case of londoners and liverpudlians.so i think that these bands made an concerted effort to mask their origins on record.

By Galactus (207.144.253.114) on Friday, August 29, 2003 - 03:55 pm:

Also remember what music influenced these guys.......good ol' American r&b!!

By Ritchie (62.254.0.32) on Friday, August 29, 2003 - 04:05 pm:

OK, let's try an experiment. Brits, imagine Stephen Fry singing Heartbreak Hotel.

(pause for laughter)

US buds, imagine the Queen or Prince Charles singing Tutti Frutti.

Just doesn't work, does it?

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Friday, August 29, 2003 - 08:17 pm:

Tewtee Frewtee...? No, it doesn't work.