The Beatles impact the world

Background of study

The Beatles are quite possibly the single most influential band that ever lived. They emerged into a music world that thrived off of conformity, and everyone was trying to be like everyone else. Because there was no room for extreme creativity, artists made their living off of music written by people who were paid to write, and did covers of other artists songs. The Beatles changed all that, and set the foundation for the musical world that dominates today.

Purpose of Study

This paper studies how the Beatles, arguably the most popular and influential band of the 20th century, changed throughout its career. Given the magnitude of influence the Beatles's had on the music scene during the 1960s and 1970s, the paper can also be seen as a biography of rock during those decades as well. The paper offers a year-by-year analysis of the Beatles, from their beginnings in 1957, when John Lennon started the Quarrymen. The paper offers critiques of songs and albums, explaining how each they represent what was going on with the band and its members.

Hypothesis

Though popular music has changed considerably in the decades since the Beatles' demise, their music continues to reach and inspire new generations of listeners.

Discussion

The impact of the Beatles has often been noted but cannot be overstated. The “Fab Four” from Liverpool, England, startled the ears and energized the lives of virtually all who heard them. Their arrival triggered the musical revolution of the Sixties, introducing a modern sound and viewpoint that parted ways with the world of the previous decade. The pleasurable jolt at hearing “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” - given the doldrums into which rock and roll had fallen in recent years - was comparable to the collective fever induced by Presley's “That's All Right (Mama)” and “Heartbreak Hotel” nearly ten years earlier.

The Beatles' music - with its simultaneous refinement (crisp harmonies, solid musicianship, canny pop instincts) and abandon (energetic singing and playing, much screaming and shaking of mop-topped locks) - ignited the latent energy of youth on both sides of the Atlantic. They helped confer self-identity upon a youthful, music-based culture that flexed its muscle in myriad ways - not just as music consumers but also as a force for political expression, social commentary and contemporary lifestyles.

Landing on these shores on February 7, 1964, they literally stood the world of pop culture on its head, setting the musical agenda for the remainder of the decade. The Beatles' buoyant melodies, playful personalities and mop-topped charisma were just the tonic needed by a nation left reeling by the senseless assassination of its young president, John F. Kennedy, two months earlier.

The long journey resulting in the mob scene that greeted the Beatles' arrival at Kennedy Airport began in Liverpool. In 1958, John Lennon formed a skiffle group called the Quarrymen. Lennon was raised on Fifties rockabilly and was especially partial to Elvis Presley and Gene Vincent. He met a similarly rock-smitten schoolkid ...