Would the Beatles Autotune Their Songs?

There is this movement against the music of today because recording companies help write the songs, auto-tune the musicians' voices and place creative parameters on those who record.  There are purists who hate today's music factory that pumps out song after song that are written with the help of professionals, tuned so that off notes are pitch and beat perfect, adjusted to sound better, and sung by some pretty face or faces.

This is contrasted with the past writers and singers like the Beatles who were considered purists who never did these things.  But let's look at the facts:

THE PRODUCTION OF THE MUSIC

The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein made them wear nice matching outfits and told them to bow at the end of every performance.  He helped give them a friendly image for the public.  That image was a far cry from who they were and what they looked like when they performed in Germany and in England before they became famous world wide.

When the Beatles' manager (Brian Epstein) found what was perhaps the only record company (EMI records) that would record them (Rock and Roll was considered to be a dying form of music), EMI had George Martin work with them as their producer. 

George was sometimes called the "fifth Beatle" for his role in helping to produce, bring in new instruments, and influence the music of John, Paul and George.  Is this all that different than today when young bands are helped out by their record companies to help sell more records?

WHO WROTE THE SONGS?

When the Beatles began, they covered a lot of Blues and Rock songs.  Their first 3 albums had a lot of songs that were written by other people.  Today's boy bands are not all that different in this respect.

AUTO-TUNING

Finally, the Beatles did in fact have their own form of auto-tuning.  Technology would not permit them to change their voices as much as it can be done today, but they pushed the technological limits of the day when it came to retouching their voices and their instruments.  When they recorded, they slowed recorders down so they could comfortably reach notes outside of their vocal ranges and play piano and guitar at a tempo they could master.  When the recorders were reset to the original speed, their voices were higher and their instrumental speed was faster than they could ever accomplish in real life.

CONCLUSION

I love the Beatles and do consider their voices, talent, and accomplishments unmatched by any other group since them, but the purists need to back off a bit.

There is a lot of good talent out there today, and by being so anal about purity and the past, we miss out on some new surprises.

I do want to mention one other observation.  I find that there is a certain age in our lives that music has the most influence on us.  I think its roughly 12 years old to early 20s.  Whatever you listen to and are drawn to then becomes the dominant sound (not the only sound) you will be drawn to for life.  I grew up with the English Invasion of Rock and Roll, and I love it more than any sound that has ever come since then; but I try to remain open to a new generation of talent and am surprised with a few awesome songs that surface, even some that are noticeably auto-tuned.