why are The Beatles so important to the history of music?
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They pioneered many recording techniques, crossed styles and defined genres. The often cited example is Paul’s guitar doubling. Where they doubled the mono track by offsetting it just a fraction of a second to emulate a rich stereo sound that had never been recorded before.
Before the Beatles music was mostly done by professionals who were trained to be musicians. There were songwriters and there were performers, but they were trusted “experts”. The songwriters wrote songs that were outwardly expressive, but, not introspective at all. The Beatles came along and with little to no experience, broke the mold and allowed anybody sitting in their bedrooms the inspiration and motivation to start bands and write songs about their own experiences and emotions.
The music varied in style and topic and all of a sudden, there was a musical revolution.
I liken this question to, “What if the Beatles had never existed?” and I’d like to answer it from that frame of reference. Without the Beatles, neither the boy band nor punk music genres get the groundwork for the mainstream popularity they have later on. As examples, that would mean no Souxsie and the Banshees, New Kids on the Block, Green Day, or N’Sync. You should see what happens when we pull Elvis out of history. He’s an even bigger linchpin in modern music’s roots than the Beatles because, without him, we don’t even have the Beatles.
– They influenced multiple generations of rock bands and even today bands copy what the Beatles did even when they don’t realize it.
– They were the first mega popular garage band, made of amateur players that for the most part had little formal musical training.
– Popularized the British music scene around the globe cracking the US dominance of popular music
– They influenced not only music, but also fashion, art, and later politics.
– Broke the labels mold. Prior to the Beatles the labels typically controlled everything about a band, much like the boy bands of today. The Beatles broke away, started their own label and controlled their own image, music, and songwriting setting the standard for rock bands moving forward.
– Which is ironic because in the beginning of their career they were also the archetypal boy band
– They popularized and pioneered much of modern recording techniques like double tracking and crossing styles and genres.
– Their mix of styles in turn influenced various other bands styles from pop, to rock, to heavy metal.
– The Beatles movies like Hard Days Night were the prototypes for Music Videos
– First act to play a large stadium, and to attract the audience to fill it
– Members became very political later in the career with John Lennon in particular being vocal about politics and the Peace and Love movement setting the stage for political bands and the influence modern celebrities and artists have in politics.
– The Beatles had an undeniable influence not only on music and the music industry, but also Western culture, fashion, and even politics
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