The Beatles were the most impactful band of their time because of their effect on American popular culture, the enduring impact they had on how music is made and produced, and the motivation they give to artists in the modern era.
Before the Beatles, no other band made quite the cultural impact like they did. Even in modern times, there is yet to be a band as influential as the Beatles were. One major act of the Beatles was bringing lesser known practices from around the world, to America. The new ideas ranged from hair to meditation. Young adults would even experiment with drugs in order to be like their new idols. While explaining how the Beatles created a frenzy, David M. Haugen, author of The Beatles recalls “Young people dressed like them, talked like them, took drugs because they did and adopted Eatern spirituality because they took a short-lived liking to a ‘giggling guru’ called the Maharishi”(172). Young people are influenced easily. So when the Beatles came to America, the younger generations received them, hesitant at first, and then with open arms. During the 1960’s, the U.S. was mourning President John F. Kennedy’s death as well as fighting the Vietnam war. People, mostly the young ones, were looking for something uplifting and different to hang onto.
The Beatles’ carefree way of living appealed to many younger generations. Soon, teenagers were sporting long hair and talking about meditation practices that were only seen before in other continents. The Beatles took hold of a grieving nation’s culture and turned it into something never seen before. Their effect not only took hold of the 60’s, but has lasted into the present. James E. Miller of Encyclopædia Britannica wrote about how the Beatles’ contributions to culture are still present today. He said, “The afterglow of Beatlemania may have disappeared but the iconography of an era of youthful tumult had been reverently preserved for posterity”(Miller). Beatlemania refers to a time of intense fan frenzy during the Beatles’ career. This happened in the 1960’s and although the original hype has worn off over time, some of it still remains. According to Daniel Bukszpan of CNBC “almost half of the streaming is coming from people under the age of 30.”. As can be seen, the Beatles have just as much an appeal now as what it was back in the 60’s. They seemed to embody an eccentric decade and give a new meaning to living care free.
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Culture was not the only aspect of life that the Beatles impacted. Music during their era was constantly changing. Different genres, styles, and instruments were being used by bands in order to become relevant. Before the Beatles, many bands were described as clean cut with uncontroversial songs and performances. Enter the Beatles with their long, shaggy hair and funky music. They originally played a style of music called “beat music” that was reminiscent of “American rock and roll”(Miller). Their musical talent was praised among many. The Beatles wanted to bring something new and exciting to a country that had only seen cookie cutter boy bands before. During that time period, musical artists did not write or play their own instruments in their songs. The Beatles did both, once again changing the course of musical history. They wrote their own songs based on what they felt needed to be put into a song. John Lennon wrote songs about love for his wife, Yoko Ono, something that another person could not have written for him. One of their most popular songs, Eleanor Rigby, was written about a gravestone seen by Paul McCartney. He made up a story about a person he didn’t know and it ended up becoming a hit(Mullen). Along with not writing their own songs, they also played the instruments in them. They used guitars and drums to give a different feel to their music.
Eventually, they started experimenting with exotic instruments such as flutes and Indian sitars(McGasko). These factors made their music different and somewhat inviting to newer generations. Their use of different styles and lyrics drew many people in too. Joe McGasko of Biography wrote about ways that the Beatles changed culture in America by “incorporating multiple genres and or cultures into one album and still making it flow like a piece of art.” The Beatles were known to experiment in many aspects of life. Drugs, style, and their music. The previously popular clean cut music became a thing of the past when the Beatles came to America. They originally experimented with “skiffle, a jaunty sort of folk music popular in Britain”(Miller). From there, the innovation never stopped. James E. Miller praises the Beatles’ music when saying
At the same time, the original songs the Beatles wrote and recorded dramatically expanded the musical range and expressive scope of the genre they had inherited. Their close vocal harmonies, subtle arrangements, and clever production touches, combined with an elemental rhythm section anchored by Starr’s no-nonsense drumming, created new standards of excellence and beauty in a form of music previously known for amateurism. (Miller)
The Beatles created music that no one had experienced before but that apparently no one could get enough of.
The Beatles could not have made this big of an impact without influencing some well known artists of modern times. Dave Grohl, lead drummer for Foo Fighters and founder of Nirvana attributes most of his musical talent to the Beatles. He talked about how the Beatles inspired him as a child when he said, “When I was young, that’s how I learned how to play music – I had a guitar and a Beatles songbook. I would listen to the records and play along. Of course, it didn’t sound like the Beatles, but it got me to understand song structure and melody and harmony and arrangement”(Mastropolo). Grohl grew up with no musical education or coaching. The Beatles’ soundtracks helped one of the best drummers in the music industry become what he is today. Grohl said that the late Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, admired the Beatles and the simplicity of their music(Mastropolo).
Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys also used the Beatles as a muse for one of his most famous songs. The Beach Boys, a band that is said to be one of the most influential of the 1960’s(Mastropolo), gained some inspiration from the Beatles. Brian Wilson said the exotic instruments and creative lyrics inspired the selection of instruments they used for Pet Sounds(Mastropolo). This song was one of their biggest successes and seeing that the inspiration came from the Beatles is no small coincidence. Changing the music industry seemed to happen naturally for them. Breaking the mold of music at that time was accomplished by them through experimentation and personality. These factors contributed to the Beatles influencing many more musical artists from present times.
The Beatles hit milestones during their career. They appropriated previously taboo practices and styles in America. Their long hair and nonsense style appealed to younger generations. When they would travel to other countries, they would always bring back something new to introduce to the easily influenced American youth. When it came to music, they normalized originality in songs by writing their own songs and playing instruments for the different songs. Long gone was the plain boy band when the Beatles came to the music industry wanting to experiment with every genre and style. This resulted in the inspiration of modern artists that are popular now. Many figures in music now are or have been guided in some way by the Beatles. In conclusion, because of their influence on American popular culture, their enduring effect on how music is created, and the inspiration they bring to modern musicians, the Beatles are the most impactful musical group of their time. The Beatles were so successful because they not only sold music, but also sold a legacy. They influenced a whole generation in the 1960’s and are still impacting new generations to this day.
