Hayden Hall
MUH2019
9/5/14
The Beatles and The British Invasion The only successful invasion to happen on America’s soil was the British Invasion of the early 1960’s, and thankfully it was a beneficial one to the United States at that. The tide of new music that was the British Invasion housed one of the music industry’s most influential groups, which was The Beatles. They established themselves in Liverpool, United Kingdom in 1960 and started out doing covers of songs, some of these being American songs, but their real success began when they started writing their own music. The British Invasion included several other influential bands such as The Who, the Rolling Stones, the Dave Clarke Five, the Hollies and much more but the Beatles were undisputedly the most influential band of these music groups. The United States was so receptive of the Beatles and this British Invasion for a multitude of social reasons, and this reception led to the birth of a
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The rest was pure Tin Pan Alley, or maybe Leiber and Stoller: a slick song about innocent love written with two bridges and a single verse to connect them. And like many early Beatles tunes it had no lead singer per se, instead putting McCartney and Lennon’s twined harmony voices to the fore, with Lennon having a slight edge in the mix.” (Gibson)
Along with how the Beatles wrote their song with an American style in mind, they wrote for the youth as well about “innocent love”. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” connected with the younger generations, and with how young the Beatles were their success convinced American teens that they too could start up their own bands and have a shot at being just as successful. The Beatles helped kick-start a generation of young musical entrepreneurs to enter the rock and roll genre.
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
had the pair not wrote this for them and gave them the early push they
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
Beatlemania was all the rage trend of buying Beatle's merchandise and products. After the exposure of the Beatles' TV appearance, the group's popularity rose enormously everywhere in the world (Stokes). They brought the love of British rock and roll to the American public, and soon after them, many other British groups became famous in the United States. It is sometimes called "The British Invasion" at a hard time. The Beatles became famous during the time of the Vietnam War, and they used their lyrics to express their political, social, and spiritual beliefs to an audience that was against the war (Romanowski 59).
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.
The Beatles The Beatles have had a huge impact on music throughout history, selling more than 600 million records, they are the best selling band worldwide. The band still continues to sell more records each day, but at a slower rate than when they were at their peak of popularity. The music the band wrote influenced many aspiring artists, and inspired many to create music of their own.
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
When the Beatles hit it big, the amount of fans they had was incredible. Their manager seemed to know what he was doing and got them with Sullivan who really helped raise their ratings and the first ten years of the Beatles in America is when they really became big. The journey the group was about to go on was just beginning though. The British invasion exploded from here and started many trends as
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
One of the most influential groups of the 20th Century—the Beatles revolutionized rock and roll into what we know it as today. Not only were they great musicians, they wrote and composed each of their songs. The band proved to be popular and exciting causing mass hysteria at each of their public performances. The “Fab Four’s” talent was so great that the phenomenon was termed “Beatlemania” in Britain and eventually erupted in the United States being called the British Invasion of the Beatles (Britannica Online, 2005).
the Beatles. And they had to go to Germany to do it. In order to
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.
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
America in the 50’s and early 60’s was a conservative country having recently been involved in World War II and the Korean war, and now facing the rising tide of communism. Americans were missing that little bit of excitement in their lives and people were very inhibited. They needed an outlet to let their suppressed feelings out. Then came four lads from England that would soon shock the world, who called themselves the Beatles. The Beatles in the 1960’s positively impacted America by changing the music industry and American youth culture, so that young people became more politically involved, freethinking, and independent. The Beatles legacy continues to affect society today by giving the young people a voice to be heard and influencing the way they live and view society today.
‘Which British Invasion?’ would be the first question that needs to be answered. Britain is very well known for historical invasions, but this one is undoubtedly more civil than one might expect, since it refers to British music history. In the mid-1960s, an event that is referred to as ‘The British Invasion’ took place. Rock and pop music produced in the United Kingdom became increasingly fashionable in the United States. In the limelight were ‘The Beatles’, ‘The Rolling Stones’, ‘The Kinks’ or ‘The Who’.