Beatles: Impact on Rock N’ Roll
Impact On Rock N’ Roll
Perhaps music can be considered to be one of the most universal things in the world. Notably, music since the 1960s have been greatly shaped by one of the most monumental music figures in the history of the world, The Beatles. Before the Beatles became a prominent figure in music, the most popular genres of music were all forms of jazz. The Beatles alone were the main influence in bringing rock n’ roll in the music spotlight and still continue to do so to this day. They were said to “be even be even bigger then Jesus” to quote the humorous and often controversial John Lennon.
The Beatles were a pop-rock band that originally formed in the 1960s. The band was formed in Liverpool, England, with the four main members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The band did not originally have Ringo Starr as its drummer and only added him in 1962 when a conflict arose in the recording studio which called for the dismissing of their pervious drummer. The Beatles came to fame in the UK in November 1962 with their single “Please Please Me” which reached #2 on the charts there. Three months after the release of their first single the band released their album of the same title.
At this time, the band was noticing that their fan base was prominently made of teenaged female fans. As The Beatles became more well-known as the band in the forefront of rock n’ roll, a phrase came about that described them. It was called “Beatlemania” as the frenzy surrounding the group could only be compared to that of a mania. All the emotions they brought up in many people ran the spectrum. Some would feel extreme love while others found the music very offense and condemned the band. It was this very control that they had over the people that helped boost the band into fame unseen before.
Soon after the Beatles’ rise to fame in their own country, their catchy tunes started to spread across the Atlantic Ocean to America. The band’s first US chart-topper was “I Want to Hold Your Hand. ” The song became popular when several popular New York City radio stations began to play it in their evening rotations. Around the same time was when their record company decided that it would be good to start merchandising t he band. It was a huge success. Then in 1964, the Beatles made their first historic visit to America. They were greeted by a mass of fans at the airport. They Beatles had never before experience such a reeting. Along with the mass of fans came the FBI, who closely watched the band. Then they had their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show; a popular pop music show of that time. It was all uphill from there. It would be an understatement to say that The Beatles forever changed music. Everything from live performances to recording techniques to style of fashion and more were historically impacted by this band. They would go on to shape and influence millions of band to follow in the many years to come. But not only in their musical craftsmanship did they shape the world, but also in the profound message their music held.
The Beatles set records for live performances. They were the first band to have a concert live at a stadium. Their first stadium concert was at Shea Stadium in New York and a total of 55,600 people attended this historical event in pop culture. To add to the substantial impact of this concert, the tickets to the event sold out in a short 17 minutes. This would become the biggest testament to their iconic status. When the Beatles recorded their music, they looked at their songs quite differently than other contemporary recording artists of that time.
At that point in time, most singers were only concerned with releasing singles as opposed to full albums with all good songs. The artists would record one or two chart-topping hits and write and record filler songs for the rest of the album. The Beatles on the other hand, would rarely include their singles on their full length albums. This required their standard of song to not be filler, but to be of high quality for all of their fans to listen to. This obviously proved to work for them, because the Beatles became the highest selling band in the history of the music industry.
Not only did the Beatles impact music with their influence, they also had a huge influence on the popular fashion styles of the time period. Popular fads that arose with the rising popularity of the Beatles were the “mop-top” haircut, the wearing of their famous collar-less suits, pointed boots, and John Lennon’s famous rounded glasses, which to this day are commonly referred to as, “John Lennon’s glasses. ” The themes in the Beatles songs tended to drift towards the distant dream of peace, love, and happiness.
This sparked my interest, because I, along with most others in the world would love to be surrounded with only these things. When I listen to the Beatles, I feel happy and sing along and lose any worries I may have had before I started listening. They bring of sense calm and joy which has touched millions throughout the years, all the music has been released. I’ve had a passion for music my whole life, and as a teenager in 2008 to be listening to a band that first gained its popularity in the 1960s, this has to show that they were making music that transcends time and barriers.
The Beatles music is commonly linked to politics, freedom, and life in the free world. They mentioned an overthrow of communism in some of their songs such as, “Back In The USSR” and “Give Peace a Chance. ” In doing this, they achieve a level beyond that of mere recording artists. They helped set some groundwork on how a musician can not only impact music but the society in which they live. And how using their influence is a responsibility entrusted upon them. At the same time, there were riots that were said to be caused by the Beatles’ music.
A British rock fan magazine of that time observed that the reason for the violence was that the Beatles “symbolized the rebellion of youth. ” While these riots are basically the opposite of peace, the Beatles wanted it known that their music was meant to inspire revolution in a mostly positive way. War is a common issue in the United States and the rest of the world. The Beatles music represented the war-free world they wanted to see. They hoped that people would see this and understand. They wanted everyone to “give peace a chance”, especially considering the turbulent times in which they lived.
To this day, songs of this influential band are placed in movie soundtracks, covered by popular artists of the day, and used in commercials and advertisements to represent peace-related issues that correlated with their lyrics. Being such a conscience band, controversy had to follow. In 1966, John Lennon made a comment on Christianity dying and how “the Beatles were now bigger then Jesus”. This naturally caused massive backlash with the religious conservatives. They became enraged on how John so careless and callously brushed aside their religion.
Almost immediately did the public respond; they burned Beatles albums and even bulldozed them. Under intense pressure from the media and of course the record label John issued a public a apology for the comment in a attempt to calm the people. Even as now as of November 2008, the Vatican has forgiven John for the comments he made, chalking it up as merely “a boast by a young man grappling with sudden fame”. The Beatles and everything that goes with their franchise has incredible popularity and the world would be a different place without their impact.
They helped shape an entire generation of followers. They sang of peace, love, and the psychedelics that had to do with their time. But the Beatles music cannot be contained in that time. It has spurred onward and lived strong in the old and young of today. Without music, the world falls silent; and without the Beatles’ impact, music would not have been changed forever.
References
- “List of best-selling music artists. ” Wikipedia.
- “The Beatles’ influence on popular culture. ” Wikipedia.
- “The Beatles. ” Way of Life.
