British Invasion Influence

The British Invasion of the 1960s had a great impact on popular music, both in the UK and in America. In this week’s discussion, I will reflect on how the Beatles teen years affected their career, provide examples of the three phases of the Beatles artistic development, discuss how the Rolling Stones fit into the British Invasion and how both of these groups affected pop music.

When the Beatles were young teens, rock and roll had just begun to exert its influence in Britain as well as the United States. Elvis, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis were examples of this new music that British teens sought out. In the early years, the Beatles covered many American rock and roll songs by these pioneers of early rock. This affected their career because

The early years are considered the imitative phase. During this period they consistently covered the music of other artists. A good example is their cover version of “Twist and Shout” originally recorded by the Top Notes in 1961. Later came the emulative phase in which the Beatles wrote their own music, but one can hear early rock’s influence in these songs. “Love Me Do” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” are examples of songs from this phase. They transitioned to their innovative phase between 1964 and 1966. Examples of this period include the songs “Tomorrow Never Comes” and “Norwegian Wood”.

The Rolling Stones’ role in the British Invasion differed from the Beatles in a couple of ways. They brought back the image of the bad-boy which countered the image of other groups. They did not care what people thought about their dress or actions, and teens were happy to adopt this image to rebel against their parents. The Rolling Stones were also a major factor in reintroducing Americans to American rhythm and blues. They loved the blues and loved playing it. Britain experienced a blues resurgence in the 1960s, but America did not notice until the Rolling Stones and other British blues bands became