In the eyes of many, The Beatles are one of the most influential bands of the 20th century. They have influenced me in my everyday life and so many great musicians in the past 50 years. This fact alone, makes it hard to imagine that they were once influenced by someone else. While doing some research, I found various artists that influenced them through the beginning of their careers until the very end. In the following paragraphs, I will be sharing with you a few of the artists I thought to be the most influential to The Beatles extremely successful career and why I thought them to be so influential.
In their youth, The Beatles were avid followers of early forms of Rock and Roll. Skiffle was a popular form of music in post war Britain in the 1950s that was a mix of folk, country, and blues. Ringo Star, Richard Starkey, actually started his own group in 1957 known as The Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group. This form of music seemed to be the beginning of Ringo and the rest of The Beatles love of music. While John Lennon was in the Liverpool College of Arts, he grew to hate the conformity that surrounded him. His loath of conformity lead John to seek asylum in Rock and Roll. Paul McCartney’s love of music came early on thanks to his multi-talented musician father who had his own band. Last, but not least, George Harrison’s admiration for rock came to him in the form of an epiphany. One day, while Harrison, 13 or 14 at the time, was riding his bicycle around his neighborhood when he heard Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” playing from a nearby house. George was awestruck and captivated by his first encounter of Elvis.
The Beatles found influence for their music through many artists, but the earliest influence for most of The Beatles w...
... middle of paper ...
...here many inspirations throughout their 10 years together as a group, they would not be seen as one of the most influential bands of all time as they are today.
Works Cited
Buskin, Richard. "The Influence of Elvis Presley on John Lennon." John Lennon. HowStuffWorks.com, 3 July 2007. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Hall, Russell. "The Making of John Lennon: Eight People Who Profoundly Influenced the Late Beatle as a Songwriter." The Making of John Lennon: Eight People Who Profoundly Influenced the Late Beatle as a Songwriter. Gibson, 21 May 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Tranquillo, Armando. "Chapter 2: Rock and Roll Pioneers." The Beatles: A Magical History Tour. Miami: Big Toe Songs, 2012. . Print.
Miles, Barry. Paul McCartney: many years from now. New York: H. Holt, 1997. Print.
Fine, Jason. Harrison by The Editors of The Rolling Stone. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002. Print.
The Beatles are known, respectively, as the fathers of modern pop music. After their first #1 hit “Please Please Me” was released in 1963 the Beatles were set in motion to become one of the most influential groups of musicians to ever rock our world. With over forty-nine records, 37 #1’s, and thirty- four number one albums (the highest amount of any band in history), there is no denying that they made a monumental ripple in the musical world. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr surprisingly all come from humble beginnings in a town that, until their superstardom, was barely noticed on the map. Liverpool, being kn...
Joe Cocker’s cover of a not as well known song by a mega popular band (popularity and well known status of the Beatles), combined with the timing of the world (counterculture, experimentation, not so rigid roles) and his own talent and personal twist on “With a Little Help from My Friends” (everything he changed about the song), helped Joe Cocker rise to success that he might otherwise not have found without the indirect help from the Beatles.
The Beatles and the Beach Boys are two of the most recognized, well-known and most popular musical acts of the 1960’s right through to the 1970’s. I will be focusing on the group acts rather than solo performers such as John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison of the Beatles, who took their own stylistic approach to their music after the Beatles’ separation. Each group’s arrangement and use of instruments classify them as part of the overall associated sound and typical subject matter of songs in the 1960’s, yet remain different enough to distinguish between each group’s desired sound.
Clydesdale, Greg. “Creativity and Competition: The Beatles.” Creativity Research Journal: EBSCO HOST (2006): Vol 18 Issue 2, p 129-139, 11p. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.
A major person that the Beatles has influenced was an artist named Kurt Cobain (widely known as the singer of Nirvana). Another short example of someone that was influenced by the Beatles was Gene Simmons (singer and bassist of KISS). Not only Artists but people were influenced by the words in the Beatles music to start fighting for rights of people. During the Vietnam war John Lennon would talk about how the world should come together and fight for peace. This came up to the song (Imagine) sung by John Lennon. The Beatles had a popular hairstyle that young teen boys got called “Mop-top”. Usually young teens wore this style of hair and it was highly mocked by adults. Clothing they wore eventually became popular to both male and female listeners. An example where the highly known glasses that John Lennon would wear called teashade glasses but are known now from people as “John Lennon glasses”, these glasses were round shaped shades. The influence of The Beatles on the people may seem small but it created a huge effect on fashion now, and on how people view the
For instance, multiple notable performers who came after Elvis claim that his music has influenced them in some way (Amidon 1). A few of these artists include The Beatles, Cher, Mick Jagger, and Rod Stewart (Amidon 1). In fact, rock and roll has even impacted musicians from the more modern aspect of the music industry including Nickelback, Eminem, and Green Day (Edelman 7). Therefore, Elvis has left a lasting impression on rock and roll along with its musicians. Not only did Elvis Presley impact the world throughout his life, but he still continues to do so in death.
Bob Dylan is an important icon whose music continues to influence rock music even six decades later, despite after several top forty hits, not one being a number one hit. His music has inspired many iconic musicians like Johnny Cash and The Grateful Dead (nj101.com) . What Bob Dylan brought to rock music back in the sixties can be heard in today’s music.
Martin, Marvin. The Beatles: The Music Was Never the Same. New York: F. Watts, 1996. Print.
During the 1960’s, a very famous band came about, they were called The Beatles, they became the best known group in popular music (Ebsco Host). In the beginning of The Beatles career, they were called “The Quarrymen”. “The Quarrymen”, originated at John Lennon’s high school, when he became entertained by rock and roll in the mid-50’s. In 1960, “The Quarrymen” changed their name to “The Silver Beatles”. However, soon after they dropped the “Silver” and became just “The Beatles”. (All Music) In “The Beatles” career, they had much success, it was believed that this success came from their creative lyrics, their harmonic vocals, and their friendly personality. It also helped that they were one of the first groups to include more original music on their records than covers of songs written by other people. (All Music)
One would think his music would be heard among today’s teenagers and young adults. However, the current teenage generation and the generation before it idolizes bands like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, groups Chuck Berry directly influenced. Rolling Stones and The Beatles seem to be everywhere in 21st century culture. This is proof Chuck Berry has been not only instrumental but also highly underappreciated. To know Chuck Berry, one must know his early life, his influence, and the way he uses many different genres in his music.
John Lennon had reached remarkable success and fame as a member of The Beatles. He, along with McCartney had written some of the most popular songs of their generation; “All My Loving”, I Want to Hold Your Hand” “We Can Work it Out” and “Come Together” are just a small...
...nd the permission that The Beatles gave to those who followed was a tremendous one. The generations that followed The Beatles continued their legacy and we are still living in their echo, but through innovation and revolutions of our own we are changing the music everyday. I believe that there won’t be any band that will come close to The Beatles and their invasion of the world. I know that I can personally thank The Beatles for their contribution, because without them I wouldn’t have the music that I have today.
The Beatles wrote hundreds of songs throughout their long career and many of which had the same main ideas in them. Those two ideas seem to standout in most of their songs, and they are the ideas of peace and love. They were so passionate about these two ideas especially world peace, that they became avid participants and leaders in the anti-war movement, against the War in Vietnam. It seemed strange ...
The popularity of the Beatles proves time and time again to be nothing short of eternal. Like any great works of art, the Beatles’ records carried and still do carry an ageless brilliance that continues to captivate new generations of listeners. Their records are still heard heavily today on the radio, continue to sell in immense quantities, and are forever remembered through the covers done by pop and rock artists in present day.
Sussman, Al. "Lennon's Legacy." Beatlefan Nov. - Dec. 1997: 12-13. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.