When I was a youth and found myself in a music store, I would head straight for the rack that started with the letter “B” for The Beach Boys and The Beatles. Today, if such music stores existed, my search missions would still be for The Beatles, and perhaps Billie Eilish, Black Sabbath and the Black Keys.
As it would turn out, the brilliant Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys was a bass-playing pianist, vocalist, songwriter and producer. He had a melody-oriented ear, as Paul McCartney does. McCartney is the most successful songwriter in history and is a fellow bass-playing pianist, vocalist and songwriter who was with The Beatles (of course). The two were mates and friendly competitors in awe of each other.
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Melody oozes from McCartney’s veins, pores and follicles.
After I was done in “B,” I would head to “R” for The Rolling Stones. Pretty cool.
And to “W” for The Who and then “L” for Led Zeppelin, “S” for Supertramp, and “Q” Queen for some harder music, and more melody, harmony and guitar shenanigans. Bonzo had a delicious swing and could pound, hard. Canada’s Rush — a prog, and hard rock band of great virtuosity were Beatles fans.
“C” was good because it meant finding Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), who repeatedly brag that they sold more albums than the Beatles did in 1970. Maybe in America, but certainly not globally. Nonetheless, I do enjoy CCR.
It was pretty typical musical diet for a kid born in 1966.
Later, I would head toward Van Halen, and Black Sabbath, both inspired by The Beatles.
I always harboured a quiet but genuine respect for Joni Mitchell until about 1990, when I loudly embraced her music. And then there is Simon and Garfunkel.
Mitchell and Paul Simon loved The Beatles. Both brilliant songwriters and lyricists. So was Bob Dylan who crossed The Beatles’ path many times capped by playing in The Traveling Wilburys with Beatle-fans Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and former Beatle George Harrison. Roy Orbison was in The Traveling Wilburys too. He toured with The Beatles in 1962 and embarrassingly was shoved to the opening act from headlining. They watched him write, ‘Oh Pretty Woman on the back of the bus.
Lynne fronted The Beatles 2.0 during the 1970s with the very successful Electric Light Orchestra. Lynne would go on to produce The Beatles Anthology and George Harrison albums.
The greatest
The Beatles are the greatest musical event in modern history. Before the last century, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was likely the greatest musical happening and perhaps continues to be, so, roll over Beethoven.
Rollover Gershwin Brothers (who inspired McCartney), The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Prince, and The Artist formerly known as Prince, Michael Jackson, and Taylor Swift. Tell Tchaikovsky the news.
I like to imagine the Russian composer Tchaikovsky would have covered Back in the USSR. Let me hear your balalaikas ringing out.
Why have I assumed the privilege to write about The Beatles, when so much has already been said about them?
I am a Beatlemaniac and have enjoyed their music since 1970. That was the year they broke up. I was age four. The first listen to Hey Jude was so good, it was confusing. The timbre, tone, and delivery of the vocals were something I could not and still, to this very day, have difficulty explaining.
The studio recording is less than perfect as many of The Beatle’s recordings are. Their music sounded human, cool, and hip; coolwhip.
Are cool and hip two different things? I say yes.
Recently, Diana Krall, the great jazz pianist from Nanaimo, Canada, was asked what motivated her to start playing. She said at age four she heard Hey Jude. Actually, she did not say she heard Hey Jude, she played the vocal melody on the piano as the answer to the question, in other words, you do not need words to know.
Try unhearing a Beatles song in the grocery store — good luck with that.
Krall is two years older than I am. So, she heard Hey Jude when it first came out. Thank you to The Beatles and in this case specifically, Paul McCartney, we have the gift of Diana Krall.
Krall played on the recording of My Valentine, a jazz song written and performed by McCartney. So did, Joe Walsh, Ringo Starr’s brother-in-law and former Eagles and Funk 49 band member; a big Beatles fan.
Tip of the iceberg
Billy Joel often talks about The Beatles. Here is another hit-making jazz pianist who loved the band. Joel’s highest-charting songs borrow from The Beatles. He played Back in the USSR when he played Moscow’s Red Square, the first rock concert in the iconic venue.
One of Canada’s most successful bands The Guess Who wanted to be exactly like The Beatles, so much so, that Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman “co-wrote” songs as Bachman-Cummings, much like Lennon-McCartney. The Beatles set that trend, starting early with the Rolling Stones. Before The Beatles, the players did not write the songs and the songwriters did not perform.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were gobsmacked when John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote a song right in front of them and gave it to them to record. It was, I Wanna Be Your Man, which became a minor hit — their first.
Then it was all Jagger-Richards after that.
Richards was fascinated by the band, even though he was good friends with the four members.
Billie Eilish, one of the most popular singer-songwriters today (in partnership with her brother Finneas) was inspired by many artists, especially The Beatles. She said so.
She was born when McCartney was age sixty. That is retirement age, although, now at eighty-two, he continues to release new music and tours and has openly said that he will never retire.
The list of musicians inspired by The Beatles is too long to print.
Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Peter Frampton, Aretha Franklin, Usher, U2, Tina Turner, Barbra Streisand, Toto, Stone Temple Pilots, Rod Stewart, Elvis Presley, and Elton John to name a few more.
Elton John changed his name from Reginald Dwight to Elton “John” after John Lennon.
The song Yesterday has been covered over three thousand times. It is the most covered song in music history. Gaye’s version is McCartney’s favourite cover.
The Smithereens, Ed Sheeran, Frank Sinatra, Scorpions, Leo Sayer, Wilson Pickett, Ozzy Osbourne, and Oasis.
Oasis fashioned themselves after The Beatles to the point of obsession and derivativeness. Likewise, Canadian band Grapes of Wrath created a sound based solely on George Harrison’s persona. Another Canadian band The Odds fashioned themselves mostly after McCartney, especially his bass sound.
McCartney’s bass sound is one of the most ripped things in music.
Just listen to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album — a classic, but John McVie borrowed heavily from McCartney.
The Kinks, The Byrds, Peter and Gordon, The Dave Clark Five, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Badfinger are bands — of many — who sound like The Beatles.
Some bands found success once they became more Beatle-like. For example, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a funk, rap, and hard rock band, but mostly funk, dirty funk. But they hit the motherload when guitarist John Frusciante started to write melodic music. He is a big Beatle fan.
The album Californication released in 1999 was their first global monster hit. It received Grammy nominations for Best Rock Album and Best Vocal by Duo or Group.
Nirvana covered The Beatles, as did Alanis Morisette, Anne Murray, Barry Manilow, Judy Collins, Billy Preston, Nina Simone, and Helen Reddy. The Smithereens are another band that existed — with original music — as a modern version of The Beatles. But they covered them too.
Aerosmith, Kiss, Beyonce, 10CC...
James Taylor had a long and successful career as a singer-songwriter, he covered them too. Eric Stewart from 10CC collaborated with McCartney in the early 1980s. As did Wonder and Jackson. Later Costello would collaborate and write minor hits with him.
Soundgarden and Bruce Springsteen covered The Beatles. Jack White.
Kanye West and Rihanna partnered with McCartney on a hit single called Four Five Seconds.
John Lennon’s look with long straight hair and granny glasses is one of the most recognized styles and was copied by many, including the lead singer of the Black Crowes, Christopher Robinson, as does Ozzy Osbourne.
They were outliers
In the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, he writes about some of the most successful people and how they got there.
Opportunity, timing, help, being born at the right time and working at least 10,000 hours to hone the craft are correlating ingredients.
Between the Quarrymen, Johnny and the Moondogs, the Silver Beatles, and The Beatles playing in Liverpool and Hamburg up to 10 hours a day, the four musicians paid their dues, as it were. By the time they hit the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, they were already popular in England, followed by Europe and Scandinavia two years prior.
In the six years they were globally active as a four-piece band, they toured for just two, from 1964 to 1966 — they were done with the live element by the time America had heard of them. They had already worked their 10,000 before those two arduous years. And 10,000 more followed in the studio, where the history-making magic came from.
It is fascinating that in 2024 their music is still truly relevant and dominant. Streaming services are delivering on-demand “old music,” more than contemporary music, led by The Beatles.
The Berlin Philharmonic, Elvis Costello, Shirley Bassey, Joe Jackson, Cindy Lauper, Linkin Park, Sarah Vaughan, and The Bee Gees.
The Bee Gees wanted to be The Beatles, then they wanted to sign them onto their label. The brothers Gibb ended up being one band that achieved Beatles-level success for a brief period, during the late 1970s with the Saturday Night Fever album.
Frampton and the Bee Gees starred in a movie called Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was a disaster, but they were such big fans — they just had to play in the musical.
Frampton would play on a Harrison solo track.
Dionne Warwick, George Michael, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, and his former bandmate Phil Collins and The Foo Fighters.
Dave Grohl, who is essentially the Foo Fighters and former drummer of Nirvana has said that without The Beatles, he would not be a musician. He also said, “From one generation to the next, The Beatles will remain the most important rock band of all time.”
Mick Jagger has said it is impossible to explain the level of success that The Beatles achieved. He would know.
Jazz great Count Basie loved The Beatles and dedicated an entire album to them. Lena Horne, Herbie Hanco*ck and Jaco Pastorius…
Good lord, Pastorius was an unearthly bass player.
When I was twelve, I authored an essay and was charged with reading it to my classmates from the front of the classroom. I wrote it about The Beatles. It was my only A+ during Grade 7, 46 years ago.
Now, when I rifle through the albums on YouTube or elsewhere on the internet, I start with the letter “B” for The Beatles. Sometimes I search for Billie Eilish, The Beach Boys, Black Sabbath and Bach. Also, “M” for Motörhead. Even Lemmy Kilmister loved The Beatles and was a bass player and principal songwriter for his metal band.
It is impossible to fully explain the broad-reaching effect that The Beatles have had on music, culture, style, art and technology in the studio. Pro Tools, the go-to software for producers is based largely on what engineer Geoff Emerick and producer George Martin were doing to answer the demands of the four Beatles for sounds and techniques to satisfy their desire to improve writing, sonics and playing.
Sorry, I lied in the sub-heading, I did stray and mention studio advancements.
The Beatles were the greatest musical happening in modern history. Their sounds will endure like Bach, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. And thanks to The Beatles, we were exposed to Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins, who were all on the decline until The Beatles Big Bang exploded in 1964.
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