The Beatles: A Brief Account of

Weeks 1-5

Richard Crawford: A History, Americas Musical Life -

The Rise of Rock and Roll
Up until 1965, jazz was the only popular music genre deemed worthy of critical commentary. Then
recordings became a means of assessing the historical relevance of popular music performances.
Post WW2, popular music not only entertained the south of America but also provided a source of
self identity for them. Ethnicity, locality, class and age played important roles the popular music
sphere; fore mostly the growing influence of the American teen on the music marketplace. Neglect
from parents in post war years made teens feel isolated, therefor the rise of the superstar was born
as disillusioned youths idolised celebrities for a sense of belonging.
1950s key popular teen culture included: Catcher In The Rye, actors including Marlon Brando (The
Wild One) and James Dean (Rebel Without A Cause) portraying the rebellious youth.
Feelings of angst, confusion, repressed sexuality, a lack of adult role models lead to searching for a
sense of belonging. (eg Nowhere Man)
The ever increasing commodification of music through both sheet scores and personal audio
copies. Frank Sinatra was a major catalyst in the idolisation on musicians, and then later Elvis
Presley.
Goes on to discuss the influence of race in music.

Donnelly: Postwar Britain

Gives an in-depth account of the political situation in Britain post 1945. The Britain that Churchill
had lead to victory in war was economically stabilised by the 50s and by the end of the decade was
increasingly affluent. At this time, the word teenager came into common use. While adults were
focussed on rebuilding the economy and maintaining an image of the perfect Britain, the teens felt
ignored and insignificant therefore were looking for new idols.

Laing: Six Boys, Six Beatles

The Beatles were born during the conflict years of WW2. John was permanently reminded of this
by his middle name, Winston until he later changed it to Ono. Many everyday items remained
rationed in post-war years until the mid 50s. This included American guitars. Johns favourite radio
show, The Goon Show, had its roots in anarchic humour.
George was the only Beatle who's family home was not marred by divorce or death, al the other
members had an unconventional home life.
The groups families religion was a mix of Irish Catholicism and Ulster Protestantism much like the
usual make up of Liverpool at the time who's descendants were Irish ship builders etc. All of the
boys came from a fairly lower-middle class background. All of the group, apart from Ringo went to
grammar school following the 1944 Education Act but both George and John left early to find work
as like many working class kids, found it difficult to adapt to the educational environment.
Teddy Boy culture.
Skiffle: The Quarrymen and their transition into the Beatles

Inglis: Beatles and Bob Dylan, Popular Music and

Society

Synergy, Reciprocity
Brian Epstein: These boys are going to explode, I am completely confident that one day they will
be bigger than Elvis Presley.
The groups other idols included Little Richard and Buddy Holly.
1964 saw the US British Invasion lead by the Beatles following their appearance in the Ed
Sullivan Show which had an audience of 70 million. This marked the start of global Beatlemania.
At this same time Bob Dylan had become a phenomenon with his finger on the pulse of the
American youth.
Goes on to discuss he intertwining of both the Beatles and Dylans competitive careers as well as
the impact of marijuana on both artists.

Bradby: Beatles Girl Group Discourse

The following is taken directly form the article:

The years 19631964 saw both the peak of popularity of the girl groups and the rise of the Beatles
to world fame. The Beatles themselves were explicit about their love of girl-group music and its
influence on their early sound. They included five covers of girl-group songs on their first two LPs,
and the Chiffons were in the line-up at their first concert in the USA, in February 1964.
Frith and McRobbies 1978 argument that the Beatles epitomized an interesting process of
feminization that rock underwent in the late 1950s and early 1960s:
 [The Beatles] music articulated simultaneously the conventions of feminine and masculine
sexuality, and the Beatles own image was ambiguous, neither boys- together
aggressiveness nor boy-next-door pathos. (Frith and McRobbie 383)

She Loves You responds very directly to the most active and transgressive articulation of girl-
group discourse, and that it does so in a way that is dictated by that discourse. The song itself
acknowledges this in the line She told me what to say. One of the most successful songs of all
time represents men as actually saying to each other what women wanted them to.

Scheurer: Beatles Brill Building

Beatlesque and the phenomenal influence of the Beatles but the article questions what this
entails.
Aldon Music started by Don Kircshner and Al Nevins employed the likes of Carole King and Niel
Diamond as song writers. Phil Spector was amongst others who created the Brill Building sound
with songs including To know him is to love him, an example of the classic AABA song form.
The emphasis was on a singable, easy melody, an expanded harmonic vocabulary with tightly
controlled energy.
The article goes onto discuss in more depth the key song-writing features of the early golden rock
and roll age.
The Beatles were greatly influenced by the work produced by both Tin Pan Alley and the Brill
Building. They performed many overs of the greats at the start of their career including, Chains
and Keep Your Hands off my Baby. Their own early records on Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club
and up to Abbey Road never stray far from the AABA song form. Arguably they wrote some of the
catchiest melodies of all time, which may have formed a major part pf their success, especially
early in their career. Eight Days a Week and A Hard Days Night mark the start of their exportation
of both melody and harmony.

Price: American Style Beatles

Taken directly from the article:

The talents of the Beatles, both collectively and individually, reveal a remarkable knack for
absorbing a range of influences successfully-from American main- stream pop and Bob Dylan's
lyric content to influences as far afield as Beethoven and Hindustani ragas. The rapid maturation of
their music, from simple adolescent anthems to carefully crafted studio creations with lyrics of
substance, parallels the successful cultivation of their initial popular image as clean-cut, uniformed
boys to the eventual public emergence of their true individual personalities, which ultimately led to
the demise of the group.
Beginning in 1960 they also appeared in seedy dives in Hamburg, Germany, working long hours
for low wages. They often played seven nights a week, usually for six or more hours a night.
Without doubt these conditions contributed greatly to their development as songwriters and
performers.
Chuck Berry had become an idol for British rockers. Berry was, in reality, far from being "in the
tradition of the great blues singers"; he himself cites mainstream popular singers as his primary
influences. As an African American, he worked with bluesmen out of practical necessity, but his
move into teenage rock and roll was a calculated plan for financial success in a mainstream
popular market.
John Lennon has been quite specific about the influence of Bob Dylan's lyrics on his work.
According to Lennon, "I started thinking about my own emotions.... Instead of projecting myself into
a situation I would try to express what I felt about myself which I'd done in my books.