The Beatles Journey To America Essay

The Beatles are one of the most innovative rock bands of all time. They have not only changed the way rock and roll is looked at, but also the way that the music is recorded. They have influenced the artists of the 60s and the 70s, and also many generations later and to come. Originating from Liverpool, England, the Beatles, or the Fab Four, consists of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Topping the charts in ’63 with “Love Me Do,” and bringing in the highest rated viewing in history while performing on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles are definitely a band that broke the sound barrier of rock

In the early 60s, Britain was known in America for essentially the Queen and tea. However, that all changed in February of 1964 when the Beatles touched down on American soil for the first time. Their first hop across the pond was no ordinary endeavor, as most British boy bands or performers had a hard time making it in the states. However, their venture to visit The Ed Sullivan Show ultimately changed America’s future. From that point forward, Americans began on their journey to find hope and expression through the Beatles’ music and their influence. In present day America, it is hard to imagine a day that passes by without the media mentioning the British Royal Family, the famous British supermodel, Cara Delavigne, or the British pop band, One Direction. However, most of these British obsessions wouldn’t be as prevalent in America today if it weren’t for the Beatles appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show or the pop culture phenomenon that ensued thereafter. If one thing is for certain, the Beatles invasion into the U.S. masked ambivalent socioeconomic affairs in the early ‘60s and accelerated the change in American pop culture.

For thousands of years, music has been influencing people in extraordinary ways. The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band should not be mistaken as an ordinary album. Without a doubt, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an incredibly innovative album, stands as the most influential album of all time; it stands as a true masterpiece. People all around, especially artists, were influenced greatly by the innovations the album brought to the world of music. Many people have said that from the moment they heard the first track of the album, it was life changing. Like the first falling domino tile of a domino show, June 1, 1967, would mark the start of the influence of many generations of music to come. The album helped popularize concept albums, in which songs are connected to a theme, which would inspire many musicians to do the same. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was a psychedelic rock album; a manifestation of life in the 1960’s. This genre of rock is home to the work of numerous artists who were influenced by the album’s use of this style of rock. The hours of work put into by the Beatles to create this album surpassed those of any of their albums. Not only that, it altered the way music was recorded by creating their own recording techniques. Surely, these recording techniques and tactics were used by future artists in their work which then led to the creation of legendary music. Sgt. Pepper’s opened the gate to innovation; an album whose impact on

In 1967, The Beatles released and the album that would change the way people looked at them as a band and as music as a whole. ‘ 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band ' ' was The Beatles eighth studio album and took them 5 months to complete. At the time of the release, hippie culture was prevailing and this year is widely remembered as the summer of love. Long hair, recreational drug use, and psychedelic rock music come to mind when quizzed on stereotypes of the decade, but was it all flowers and peace – or did the ‘Summer of Love ' have a dark side? The group battled with inquisitions about their usage of the drug LSD, which seemed

The Beatles were more than their music. They influenced the lives of millions of people unlike any musicians before them. They were the first and most popular band in one of the most important music movements in American history, the British Invasion. The year 1964 was the year both the British Invasion and “Beatlemania” came to America and forever changed the landscape of music in the United States by introducing the genre of pop, as it is today. The Beatles changed the rules of music. Many things that are considered normal now were pioneered by the Beatles such as: creating compilation albums, expressing their views on world happenings through the media, musicians in movies, and even mass media advertising. The beatles

According to "The Beatles-A Biography", their biggest year was 1964 when they conquered the biggest record market in the world - America (1). The group became symbols. America was mourning the death of President John F. Kennedy and the Beatles appeared on the scene to bring them fun and excitement, ending their mourning ("The Beatles-A Biography" 1).

The Beatles had been touring virtually nonstop since they came to America. The band decided to call it quits after their 1966

The Beatles started as an English skiffle group in the late 1950s. By the time they reached their peak popularity, the term “Beatlemania” was coined to explain the frenzied obsession with the group. A former associate editor from Rolling Stone drew a comparison between the Beatles and Picasso, calling them “artists that broke through their time period to come up with something that was unique and original.” Throughout their discography, the Beatles have time and time again released music that both broke musical trends and engrossed the masses. They have held an “unprecedented top five spots on the

The United states has always met with great success in exporting their own popular music to Europe. However, the impact that the Beatles had on our country started the beginning of what Star and Waterman call an “aggressively reciprocal process” (Star and Waterman, pg 255). Which is true because the Beatles’s debut on the Ed Sullivan Show was a huge success 73 million Americans watched their first appearance on the show. After wards, British invasion groups took America by the storm. “The Beatles’ arrival in America in 1964

In the 1960’s British artists took their modified edition of rock and roll, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and shared it with America. This concept would end up being acknowledged as the British Invasion. The British Invasion is the movement where bands from the United Kingdom became popular in the United States. It involved the virtual control of AM radio and the record industry in the United States by British artists, particularly the groups who had confirmed to be experts at recycling the American rhythm and blues and rockabilly songs of the 1950’s (Burns 2004). This movement is described as one of the most fascinating aspects of rock revolution that stimulated young American audiences by a second-hand version of American music traditions and filtered through British sensibilities (Winkler 1988). Due to The Beatles’ heavy influence on American music culture, it is still debated whether or not they were the greatest band of all time. There are many theories as to why America supported and embraced The Beatles’ success. The focal point shifted from the aftershock of John F. Kennedy’s death towards The Beatles and their rising popularity. This phenomenon changed the idea of rock and roll, as well as other

As someone who grew up in Europe and came to America with my family in 2004, my introduction to new American popular music was not as organic as it was to actual Americans. What I was exposed to came from movies and TV shows that made their way over and eventually what I was able to gather as the Internet became more widespread. My parents were introduced in the same way, mostly by TV and movies but the chronology was often confusing. There was no sense that the Beatles came after Elvis and what events these songs could be linked to. They simply existed as fun

Beatlemania broke out in Britain in late 1963 with the release of the songs “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” with each single selling over a million copies (Unterberger, 2005). The “British Invasion” in the United States began in late 1963 when Capitol records first released “I Want to Hold Your Hand”. In a short time the song was at the top of the record charts. Many would say that Beatlemania officially occurred in the United States when the Beatles made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 (Unterberger, 2005). It didn’t take long for their popularity to soar in the U. S. with best-selling singles and albums. This dominance of the music industry was unparalleled by any artist at the time and probably even today.

As well as music, The Beatles made a lot of influence is society. They challenged the rules in a way no one had done before—they broke the boundaries between what was normal and acceptable and what was not. Everybody did the same things, and acted by the same standards. At the time, for men in society, wearing long hair wasn’t very common and totally acceptable. But The Beatles changed that perspective in society, managing to make the long hair style in men very fashionable and conventional, as well as their taste in clothe—even though they were constantly criticized. All though the public sometimes criticized their freedom of speech regarding style, the Beatles opened up their own store, the Apple Boutique, in London. They also made available the possibility of buying

     From the sounds of Elvis many other important bands of the sixties were inspired, even people a thousand miles away from America. One of these important bands was the Beatles. The Beatles took the rock sound and added more lyrical and musical complexity to the sound. The Beatles were the starters of the “British Invasion” in 1963 when they released “I want to Hold Your Hand” (Kallen, 2012, 31). After their first single they had immense success with other hits such as “She Loves You” and “Woooo!” The Beatles continued to reinvent their music on the various other albums throughout the sixties delving into complex, heavy existential concepts and psychedelic elements, becoming the most relevant influence for modern rock.

Everyone, Americans and Europeans alike, have heard-of, if not grown off of, a generation and culture started by an ensemble of four shaggy-haired Liverpool musicians that the world went mad over; no one can deny that no greater event impacted today's pop culture than "Beatlemania". But not everyone has heard the story behind the Beatles, who were they? How did they become the band and how did they make it big? What's the story of their struggle?