The Beatles : The Rock Band Of The 1960s

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arrive, you were only waiting for this moment to be free" - The Beatles

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

Laurie Dickinson has served as the Music Theory Chairperson at the Boston University Conservatory of Music. In this article, Dickinson takes an investigative look into the rhythms of Hughes’s poetry. Although many people know Hughes was deeply inspired by jazz music, Dickinson uses many of Hughes’s works, including five of Hughes’s lesser-known pieces.

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.

Before researching, I already knew a lot about the Beatles. I knew that the band was made up of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. They started the famous "British Invasion" of the 1960's on American pop/rock music, and they started a craze that

     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.

1963 proved to be the beginning of the Beatles phenomenon with the release of their hit “Please Please Me”. This hit topped the British charts early in 1963 and remained there for 30 weeks (Unterberger, 2005). The Beatles continued evolving rock by adding a unique style of their own and continuously trying new ideas and adding a new flare to their music. Each of the albums showed a progression of the artists.

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

There have been many people, known as artists, who have tried to change the world through their art. “Art” can be paintings, music, dances, sculptures, literature, or photography. There are many ways to communicate and express ones feelings but The Beatles did it through their popular music. Although they didn’t focus on changing the world of politics or try to protest through their music they have songs that focus on those exact two things.

Perhaps the most celebrated and most known musical group ever known "The Beatles" changed the way the world viewed rock music for generations to come. Comprised of four members; John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, "The Beatles" rose to stardom in England. With hits such as "Love me do" The Beatles quickly grew a fan base in the United Kingdom. By the mid-1960s the Beatles were taking the world by storm and leading the British invasion of the United States ' music industry. Till this day the Beatles ' music is still being played around the world today.

The Beatles were one of the most influential music groups of the rock era. They were able to conquer and influence pop culture with their music. Initially they affected the post-war baby boom generation of Britain and the W.S. during the 1960s, and later the request of the world. Certainly they were the most successful group, with global sales exceeding 1.3 billion albums. During the sixties, The Beatles using revolutionary ideas in their music inspired a generation of young adults across the globe to look at life from their perspective.

Their second release, Please Please Me, rose to number one in the British singles chart and their commercial success thereafter was continuous. The group’s tours of Britain in 1963 created an unprecedented excitement, known as "Beatlemania", which was reproduced in the USA when, on 9 February 1964, they appeared on national television singing their fifth single I Want To Hold Your Hand to an estimated audience of 70 million, an event unanimously identified by social commentators as a turning-point in postwar American culture. In the months after this breakthrough, the Beatles dominated the American singles charts, at one stage occupying the top five positions, a feat unheard of before and since.

the Beatles. And they had to go to Germany to do it. In order to

The Beatles are known to many as one of the greatest bands of all time. Their music has

Believe it or not, on January 1st of 1962, the group known as The Beatles flunked their audition at Decca Records in London, England. The label’s executive, Dick Rowe, brushed them off like they were nothing. He simply stated that “guitar groups are on the way out.” Little did Rowe know, The Beatles would soon conquer modern society and alter the course of pop and rock music. There have been no other entertainers in the history of music that has been so popular, influential, or as groundbreaking as The Beatles. In the early 1960’s, their popularity was often called “Beatlemania,” as thousands of screaming fans would crowd their concerts and sing-along with the Fab Four. They sold over 600 million albums internationally and had 20 Number One hit singles – a Billboard record that has yet to be broken. The band took over the entertainment media with music videos and films, but also influenced sociocultural, political, and fashion movements throughout the sixties and seventies. From experimenting with several different genres to incorporating classical elements into their melodies, The Beatles still reigns as one of the most creative and successful bands several decades later. Today, fifty years later, The Beatles and their music are still engraved in the hearts of many.