The Beatles' influence on popular culture
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The Beatles' influence on rock music and popular culture was—and remains—immense. Their commercial success started an almost immediate wave of changes—including a move from U.S. global dominance of rock and roll to UK acts, from soloists to groups, from professional songwriters to self-penned songs and to changes in fashion.
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[edit] The music
[edit] Recording
The Beatles´ albums used stereo panning (other albums were mixed in mono). The stereo panning featured rather unconventional placements of sounds in the stereo field (such as placing the bass all the way to the left—when it had been considered a rule to keep the bass centered). Other artists and producers did not copy this but did use The Beatles' technique of panning instruments and vocals from one side to the other. They also used tapes played backwards, distortion, filters and unconventional musical instruments, which were often copied by others.
[edit] Instrumentation
George Harrison was the first musician in a sixties pop group to make use of the sitar. The instrument was soon used by many other bands, such as The Rolling Stones, Love and Donovan—the latter being taught to play the instrument by Harrison himself. Ravi Shankar (who taught George Harrison the sitar) performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
[edit] Album format and covers
Prior to The Beatles' influence record albums were of secondary consideration to singles ("45s") in mass marketing. Albums largely contained "filler" material (unexceptional songs) along with one or two hits. The Beatles rarely incorporated singles as part of their albums, thus defining the album as more important.
The covers of With the Beatles, that featured the four band members' faces half-darkened with shadows, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White Album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be have been copied by everyone from Tom Petty (You're Gonna Get It!), The Simpsons, The Muppets Sgt. Floyd Pepper (Meet the Mupples), the Red Hot Chili Peppers, (The Abbey Road E.P.), King Crimson (Starless and Bible Black), and Gorillaz (Demon Days).
[edit] Photos and music videos
In the middle of the 1960s the Beatles began filming promotional music videos for their songs, which they sent to television programmes, instead of appearing in person.
"Strawberry Fields Forever" was made in 1967. It used many techniques previously only seen in experimental film, including intricate jump-cuts that rapidly alternated between night and day, reversed film and other avant-garde devices. These techniques were later copied and the use of such film and videos started the (now common) practice of releasing a video clip to accompany singles.
[edit] Fashion
[edit] The mop-top haircut
The Beatle haircut, also known as the mop-top (or moptop) due its resemblance to a mop, is a mid-length hairstyle named for and popularised by The Beatles. It is a straight cut - collar-length at the back and over the ears at the sides, with a straight fringe.
Prior to the mop-top, perhaps the most popular young men's hairstyle was the "Duck's Ass", which was a haircut style popular during the 1950s. It was also called the Ducktail, or simply DA.
As a schoolboy in the mid '50s, Jürgen Vollmer had left his hair hanging over his front one day after he had gone swimming and kept it that way. John Lennon is quoted in The “Beatles Anthology” as follows: “Jürgen had a flattened-down hairstyle with a fringe in the back, which we rather took to…” In the fall of 1961 Vollmer moved to Paris. Paul McCartney (in 1979) said in a radio interview: “…We saw a guy in Hamburg, whose hair we liked. John and I were hitchhiking to Paris. We asked him to cut our hair like he his." McCartney also wrote in a letter to Vollmer in 1989: “…George explained in a 60s interview that it was John and I having our hair cut in Paris which prompted him to do the same…We were the first to take the plunge.” [1]
Due to the immense popularity of The Beatles, the haircut was widely imitated worldwide between 1964 and 1966. Their hair-style led toy manufacturers to begin producing real-hair, and plastic, "Beatle Wigs". [1] Lowell Toy Mfg. Corp. of New York was licensed to make "the only AUTHENTIC Beatle Wig." There have been many attempts at counterfeiting, but in its original packaging this wig has become highly collectible.
In the movie "A Hard Day's Night", George Harrison is asked in an interview, "What would you call that, uh, hairstyle you're wearing?" George replied, "Arthur."
Mikhail Safonov wrote, in 2003, that in the Brezhnev-dominated Soviet Union the fashion to mimic The Beatles hairstyle was seen as extremely rebellious. Young people were called "hairies" by their elders, and were arrested and forced to have their hair cut in police stations. [2]
[edit] Suits
In the early Beatle-mania years, the Beatles would occasionally wear black, and then later grey, Edwardian collarless suits.[1] [2] These suits (instead of leather trousers, plaid shirts and slacks) became extremely common for new bands to wear after 1964.
[edit] John Lennon's Hat
The style of hat worn by John Lennon and his wife Cynthia on the Beatles' tour of the USA in 1964 was adopted widely by both men and women.
[edit] Drugs
During the summer of 1967, Paul McCartney admitted to a reporter that he had used LSD. Prior to 1967, LSD was available legally in the United States as an experimental psychiatric drug.
On 19 June, 1967, he was filmed talking about the responsibility of reporters to not print anything negative that could influence popular opinion. The interview was broadcast in Britain later that evening, [3] and publicised the use of drugs in the 60s media.
[edit] Cover versions
[edit] Famous cover versions
Although the list of people that have covered The Beatles songs is long, the following all had hits:
Stevie Wonder covered "We Can Work It Out", and Earth, Wind & Fire recorded "Got to Get You into My Life", although the biggest hits were "With a Little Help from My Friends" by Joe Cocker, (who completely revamped the original song and late used as the theme song for the TV show the Wonder Years) and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by Elton John.
Frank Sinatra also covered "Something", by Harrison, even though he once famously said (at a live concert) that it is "My favourite Lennon and McCartney song."
Joe Cocker changed "Friends" from an easy-listening tune that Ringo had sung, [3] to a 12/8 blues/rock song. [4]The Beatles heard it before its release, as the producer was uncertain as to how they would react to such a radical overhaul of one of their tracks. All The Beatles agreed that it was a great version. (Wet Wet Wet also recorded the same song - the original version - but changed it slightly.) [5]
John talked about people covering their songs in May, 1966: "Lack of feeling in an emotional sense is responsible for the way some singers do our songs. They don't understand and are too old to grasp the feeling. Beatles are really the only people who can play Beatle music." [4]
[edit] Jimi Hendrix
On June 4, 1967, the Jimi Hendrix Experience played their last show in England, at London's Saville Theatre [6], before heading off to America.
The Sgt. Pepper's album and single had just been released days prior, and two Beatles (Paul McCartney and George Harrison) were in attendance at the show, along with a roll-call of UK rock stardom: Brian Epstein, Eric Clapton, Spencer Davis, Jack Bruce, and pop singer Lulu.
Jimi opened the show with his own rendition of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", which he had learned in the few days leading up to the show. Harrison and McCartney were extremely impressed by this, and especially because it was played on the Sunday after the release of Sgt. Pepper the previous Friday. Paul McCartney had publicly endorsed Hendrix for months, before Hendrix broke into the UK music scene. [7]
There is an audio clip available of Hendrix playing Day Tripper, with lead vocals from what sounds like The Beatles, [8] although it has never been confirmed that they actually recorded together.
[edit] Keith Moon
In 1976, Keith Moon of The Who covered The Beatles' When I'm Sixty-Four for the soundtrack of the documentary “All This And World War II“, and sang backing vocals (with many others) on All You Need Is Love [9]. Moon also covered In My Life on his album “Two Sides of Moon”.
Moon once approached The Beatles table at a London nightclub. "Can I join you?" he asked. "Yeah, sure," said Starr, (as he pulled up a seat for Moon). Moon then said, "No, can I join you?!" (Meaning that he wanted to join the band.) Ringo replied with, “No, we’ve already got a drummer.” [10] The last photo of John and Paul together was owned by Moon.
Keith Moon's final night out was as a guest of Paul McCartney at the preview of the film The Buddy Holly Story. After dinner with Paul & Linda McCartney, Moon and his girlfriend - Annette Walter-Lax - left the party early and they returned to his flat in Curzon Place, London. He later died in his sleep. [11]
[edit] Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers recited the lyrics of "A Hard Day's Night" [12] (1965 - UK # 14) in a "shakespearian" voice, (in the style of Laurence Olivier playing Richard III) with minimal backing music.
He deliberately changed the tempo and dynamics of the original lyrics to make them comical. He left definite pauses between words, such as:
"But when I get home to you... I find the things that you do... will make me feel (pause) alright."
This was re-issued in 1993, and reached Number 52 in the UK Top 75 Singles chart. He covered several other Beatles hits, including "Help!" and "She Loves You".
Sellers had casual friendships with George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Harrison told occasional Sellers stories in interviews, and Starr appeared with Sellers in the anarchic movie, The Magic Christian (1970), whose theme song was Badfinger's cover version of Paul McCartney's "Come and Get It". Starr also gave Sellers a rough mix of songs from The Beatles' White Album. The tape was auctioned, and bootlegged, after his death.
[edit] TV
[edit] Absolutely Fabulous
The hit UK TV show Absolutely Fabulous, is better known as "Ab-Fab", and they filmed a whole episode with Robert Lindsay, who played a fictional tape engineer who used to work at Abbey Road during the time that The Beatles worked there.
The Ab-Fab episode was based on finding the "lost tapes" of The Beatles (Schmoozin' - 28 Nov 03).
The supposed Lost Tapes of The Beatles were never really lost; they are just a collection of BBC recordings that accumulated over the years in its archives. They have recently been released on CD.
A long scene was filmed in the Abbey Road number two studio:
Joanna Lumley, OBE, FRGS (born May 1, 1946 in Srinagar, Kashmir, India) pressed the record button by mistake on the reel-to-reel recorder, whilst she was looking for a second bottle of champagne in the control room and Jennifer Saunders (born July 6, 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire) unknowingly sang over the tapes, and they were lost forever.
This episode also starred Elton John, who was invited to a party to celebrate the finding of the tapes. He was invited because he had worked with Lennon, but was not invited for that reason. He was expected to "tinkle the ivories" (play piano) in the background, to which he strongly objected. This was one of Elton´s rare forays into the acting world.
Robert Lindsay played the tapes at the party, and after realising that they were lost forever, he promptly collapsed on the floor.
[edit] The Beatles - animated series
The Beatles was an American animated television series inspired by the band's success. ABC aired this show on Saturday mornings during the late 1960s. The band members distanced themselves from the programme's production except for the use of their songs.
[edit] The Rutles
The Rutles was a parody of The Beatles, [13] created by Eric Idle (from Monty Python) and Neil Innes (from The Bonzo Dog Doo-dah Band). George Harrison would later produce Life of Brian.
This fictional group is best known for its mockumentary TV film about The Rutles in 1978, entitled All You Need Is Cash (often referred to as The Rutles). Its promotional line was, "The musical legend which will last a lunchtime."
[edit] The Simpsons
In the 14th season of The Simpsons — the episode "Bart of War", which was originally aired on 05/18/03 — has Bart and Millhouse breaking into Ned Flanders' house when chasing after their fly-on-a-string and stumbling into Ned's private collection of Beatles memorabilia.
The items in Ned´s collection included the following: A DIY book titled Learn Carpentry with the Beatles (with John Lennon on the cover saying 'I'm fixing a hole ... in my drywall!'); a poster advertising 'Beatles Shampoo'; a set of drums like the ones Ringo Starr played; four mop-top wigs; a Beatles Junior Guitar record; a Beatles metal lunchbox; a Beatles mug; a Yellow Submarine standing cardboard cut-out; a Mop-Top-Pop featuring the flavors 'John Lemon,' 'Orange Harrison,' 'Paul McIced Tea' and 'Mango Starr'; a photo of The Beatles (autographed); figurines of The Beatles; The Beatles' Ed Sullivan Show suits; knee-high Beatles figures; a Beatles wastepaper basket; a movie poster for A Hard Day's Night; a Blue Meanie doll; a Help! movie poster; a Help! advertising display with gloved hands that reads "Help Is Here"; a turntable; a juke box; a Beatles-themed pinball machine; an assortment of framed Beatles LP covers; a gold record; a park bench; an electric guitar; a Peter Max–style poster of John Lennon; and bobble-head dolls.
Bart later takes a drink of a 'John Lemon' flavored can of Mop-Top-Pop and sees a psychedelic transformation of Milhouse through John Lennon's career; from the early years of a suit and mop-top to the "Sergeant Pepper"-era uniform to a more rebellious hippie-look with grannie-glasses to the controversial Rolling Stone magazine cover with a nude John Lennon next to Yoko Ono.
After going through the psychedelic phase, Bart quotes : 'Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye' from "I Am The Walrus" from The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour album.
After Bart and Millhouse total The Beatles' room, Ned and Homer have a conversation, at one point saying:
Homer: "I never knew you were such a Beatles fan."
Ned: "Of course I am! They were bigger than Jesus. But your boy went ´Yoko´ and broke up my collection."
This is a reference to the infamous 'We're bigger than Jesus,' quote of John Lennon and the common belief that the separation of The Beatles was due to John Lennon's relationship with Yoko Ono.
The season five opening episode, "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", is a parody of the career of The Beatles. In this episode, Homer, Skinner, Apu, and Barney belong to a group called the Be-sharps, which rapidly rises to the top. There are numerous references to The Beatles, such as Barney dating a Japanese singer (a parody of Yoko Ono), and the Be-Sharps claiming they were bigger than Jesus. It ends with them singing on the rooftop of Moe's bar. The episode even includes a cameo by George Harrison, who meets Homer, and later appears in a limo while the Be-Sharps sing on the rooftop, remarking that "It's been done."
The three living Beatles - since 1990 - recorded their voices for the show. Ringo appeared on Brush with Greatness, Paul and Linda McCartney on Lisa the Vegetarian, and George on the Homer's Barbershop Quartet episode. The John Lennon song Mother appeared in one episode, thus all the Beatles have made a vocal appearance on the Simpsons.
(Further information: List of guest stars on The Simpsons)
[edit] Film
[edit] That Thing You Do!
Tom Hanks wrote and directed the film, and it was seen as a copy, or an obvious homage/tribute to, The Beatles, albeit from a USA viewpoint. Hanks wrote himself into the script as the manager of the band. His appearance in the film strongly resembles Brian Epstein. Apart from the music being very similar to that of The Beatles, there are several references to The Beatles, such as the names of the band: the "Oneders" (pronounced as "The Wonders") and "The Heardsmen" — "Misspelt, just like The Beatles". Song: That thing you do Tom Hanks' character said that the Wonders would invade the UK (referring to the British invasion of the USA).
Asked how he would sell That Thing You Do! if he were a theatre owner, Hanks said,
"Well, I'd utilize my name somehow — you know, that megalomaniacal writer/director/actor! I would try to pretend there's something called Wondermania that is sweeping the country, and say, here they are, in all of their rip-snortin', rock 'n' rollin', foot-stompin', hand-clappin' glory — live and well, in their first action movie!" [14]
Hanks spent a lot of time and money on the film, but it was not a commercial success.
[edit] Beatlesque
Beatlesque (pronounced /ˌbi:təl'ɛsk/) is a term used to describe rock and pop bands and musicians who were influenced by The Beatles and make music that is very similar. New bands are promoted as being "The next Beatles" or "The new Fab Four", and members of the media refer to musical acts as being "Beatlesque".
[edit] Badfinger
Badfinger: Recorded the Paul McCartney composition "Come and Get It" in much the same way that Paul McCartney (who wrote it) recorded the song as a demo. George Martin, Geoff Emerick, Chris Thomas, and Mal Evans, who all worked heavily with The Beatles, also worked with Badfinger (all but Martin produced them). Badfinger was sometimes accused of being too derivative. The band released their records on The Beatles' Apple Records label.
No Matter What is Lennon-inspired. George Harrison also worked with Badfinger - not only producing much of their music but also contributing the slide guitar solo on the song "Day After Day".
[edit] Bourgeois Tagg
Bourgeois Tagg released its debut album in 1986. They broke up a few years later after Bourgeois joined his friend and fellow Sacramento-based pop musician Charlie Peacock as a dedicated Christian. Both artists now concentrate on Christian themes.
Bourgeois Tagg's best-known recording was, "I Don't Mind at All", which featured a typical Beatles´ melody, and used a string quartet. Another song - "Waiting for the Worm to Turn" - used two lead vocalists.
[edit] Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick: The quartet had a hit called, "I Want You to Want Me", which was originally recorded in 1977, for their album "In Color", although the version from the band's 1978 album "At Budokan" subsequently became better known than the original. (Words and music by Rick Nielsen). The song reached the top 10 on the U.S. charts.
John Lennon fell in love with the song, and even had them play on his album at the time (Double Fantasy). Yoko Ono later removed them from the finished tracks, but their contributions were restored in recent releases.
[edit] ELO
Electric Light Orchestra: The band, formed by Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan (the remaining members of The Move) in 1970, used cellos and violins to give their music a "classical" sound. This was an idea Roy Wood initially had while with The Move, to take rock music in a new direction, although no doubt inspired by The Beatles with their late sixties piece "I am the Walrus". They used heavy cello accompaniment, descending picked chords, and horns on their first hit, "10538 Overture".
ELO once recorded a tribute song called, "Beatles Forever", but it is unavailable, as Lynne was reportedly embarrassed by it. "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" (on The Mike Douglas Show) with a quartet and horn section is very Lennon-like. The lyrics inlude the line, "I saw the ocean´s daughter", which is a play on the name of Yoko Ono, whose name means "Ocean child". [15]
Frontman Jeff Lynne later produced George Harrison's Cloud Nine album, worked with him on the Traveling Wilburys albums, and completed Harrison's final work Brainwashed. Lynne also produced the new songs for The Beatles' Anthology.
[edit] Julian Lennon
Julian Lennon is the son of John Lennon. The songs, Valotte", "Saltwater", and "Too Late for Goodbyes" are all Beatlesque. The song "I Don´t Wanna know", features Julian and his band dressed up as The Beatles. Julian also covered "When I´m 64", which was originally sung by Paul McCartney.
There was wild media speculation that a Beatles reunion might take place with Julian Lennon in his father's place, even though neither Lennon nor the remaining Beatles ever endorsed the idea, and the remaining Beatles denied that there had ever been any truth in the reports. (Anthology).
[edit] Oasis
Oasis have often cited The Beatles as a strong influence.
Oasis have covered numerous Beatles songs during their career. The first was a live performance of "I Am The Walrus", first released on the 1994 single "Cigarettes & Alcohol" and later released on the B-sides compilation The Masterplan. Since then they have released studio covers of "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and "Helter Skelter". Noel Gallagher himself performed "Help!" on some of his 1998 acoustic sets. [5].
Noel has also been involved in a number of collaborations of Beatles songs, beginning in September 1995 with "Come Together". The song was recorded with Paul McCartney and Paul Weller under the guise of The Smokin' Mojo Filters and was recorded at Abbey Road and released on the HELP album. In May 1996, Noel and his brother Liam were guests on a live cover of "Day Tripper" at an Ocean Colour Scene" gig. In 1999, he provided acoustic guitar for Claire Martin's cover of "Help!". In September 2000, he sung and played guitar on performances of "Tomorrow Never Knows" (with Johnny Marr and Cornershop) and "All You Need Is Love" (as part of a group finale) as well as backing vocals and acoustic guitar on a cover of "I'm Only Sleeping" with the Stereophonics. These three performances were part of a John Lennon tribute show, performed at Sir George Martin's Air Studios, and broadcast on Channel 4 in September 2000. In August 2002, he was recorded singing parts of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" during a soundcheck for a live performance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien show. Noel also performed Strawberry Fields Forever on November 2006, with Gem Archer and Terry Kirkbride, for a charity gig at Koko in Camden, London.
Oasis have also occasionally slipped in small parts of Beatles songs in live performances. They have regularly ended live performances of "Whatever" by singing parts of "Octopus's Garden". Bits of "Got To Get You Into My Life" found their way into a couple of October 1995 performances of "Round Are Way". A riff based around the vocal melody of "Tomorrow Never Knows" was intergrated into an extended intro for live performances of "Cigarettes & Alcohol" in 2000 and 2001.
Their temporary drummer Zak Starkey is the son of Ringo Starr.
Noel Gallagher sat on a panel - in 2004 - to decide on the most influential of pop artists to be included in the UK Music Hall of Fame, and was quoted as saying "They (The Beatles) inspire me more now than they did when I was a kid and are still the greatest." [6]
[edit] Tears For Fears
Tears For Fears: The song "Sowing The Seeds Of Love" [7], is heavily influenced by The Beatles, circa 1967. The song "Shout" owes its sound to John Lennon's first solo album Plastic Ono Band. The newest album (as of 2005), Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, [8] is self-consciously Beatlesque throughout.
[edit] The Knickerbockers
The Knickerbockers had a Top 20 hit in early 1966, with "Lies" [9]. The song is most famous today for being very similar to songs by The Beatles. The All Music Guide remarks that the song is "justly regarded as the most accurate early-Beatles imitation." Their later songs copied other bands, like the Beach Boys, and The Four Seasons.
[edit] The Monkees
The Monkees: [10] Specifically created by US television to replicate the style and music of The Beatles, at the height of Beatlemania, following the success of A Hard Day's Night and Help!. At the peak of their success, the Monkees sold out the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined, selling over 35 million records, and having 4 consecutive number 1 albums in the year 1967 alone. Many dub the craze as 'Monkeemania', as the remarkable teenage craze had not been seen since the peak of Beatlemania. Although, much controversy has been put down by the "Pre-fab" four, as the public believed they did noy play their own instruments. (Which has now been proven to be a falsehood, aside from their first two LP's.)
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Miles. p77.
- ^ Mikhail Safonov Friday August 8, 2003 The Guardian
- ^ McCartney on TV
- ^ Flip Magazine, May 1966
- ^ Help!
- ^ Noel Gallagher
- ^ "Sowing The Seeds Of Love"
- ^ Tears for Fears - Everybody Loves a Happy Ending
- ^ Lies
- ^ The Monkees on TV
[edit] References
- Miles, Barry (1998). Many Years From Now. Vintage-Random House. ISBN 0-7493-8658-4.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Have you Heard The Word - The Fut
- Article Analysing the ways that the Spice Girls' success mimicked that of The Beatles
