IF THE BEATLES HAD NEVER EXISTED
Thanks
to history people can understand the importance of the past in nowadays life.
It is important to know and understand history because then we can understand
the world in which we live. Knowing the history can prevent people from making the
same mistakes they did in the past. One example of the importance of the
history is the Second World War. After this conflict the world learned that war
is not the way to solve problems. Also history helps people to understand the
societies of our days. One example is Spain. To understand the situation of
Spain nowadays you should know about the history of this country last century.
Another example is Germany, whose actual situation is marked by what happened
in the country during the last century and during the Second World War. On
music, history plays an important role. It’s impossible to understand the music
of one decade without knowing the music of the decade before. The popular
music, born last century, is a music that is constantly evolving so the music
made in one period specifically influences music of the next period. One clear
example of this is the most influential and most important group of all time,
the group that changed history of music and were a turning point in music: The
Beatles.
The
Beatles were a British rock or pop group from the city of Liverpool. It was
formed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. This
group appeared in music scene in the 60’s and were the biggest group of this
decade. The origin of this group is in 1957, when John Lennon founded a skiffle
group named The Quarrymen with some classmates from the Quarry Bank High
School.
This group was known in Liverpool the last years of the 50’s thanks to the
incorporation of Paul McCartney. On 1960 The Quarrymen received the opportunity
to go to Hamburg to play for some clubs of the Saint Pauli neighbourhood. In
this period in Hamburg is where we can start talking about The Beatles as a
group. Their musical career started in 1962 with the releasement of some
singles and his success started at 1963 with the releasement of his first
studio album named Please Please Me.
This
album had a big impact and it was the album that sent The Beatles to the top of
the UK lists, and where was the N.1 during 30 weeks. Please Please Me was also
the beginning of a 7 years period of success, Beatlemania and music. A period
were the Beatles released 13 studio albums and changed the history of music
until they broke up in 1970. Nowadays, George Harrison and John Lennon are dead
but the other two members of the group, Paul McCartney (78 years old) and Ringo
Starr (80 years old) are still making music and publishing songs or albums
despite his age.
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| The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969) |
The
Beatles were an unrepeatable event in the history of music. In only 7 years as
a group they have earned more money and success than every other group in their
whole career. Nowadays, more than 50 years after their last studio album The
Beatles are still well-known around the world and they still being important in
the life of a lot of people. The Beatles music was a unique musical movement
that changed music. In the 60’s, for the first time in the history we can talk
about rock and pop music thanks to The Beatles. So, what would have happened if
the Beatles never have exist? The Beatles were really influenced by rock and
roll, a musical movement that takes place between 1953 and 1959. This musical
movement ended because the best rock and roll artist like Little Richard, Jerry
Lee Lewis or Buddie Hollie stop making music for different reasons. The Beatles
wanted to continue with their way of making music despite what they were doing
wasn’t rock and roll, it was rock.
So,
if the Beatles had never existed, rock and roll would have been only an
American phenomenon with Elvis. Nobody would have followed his way of making
until the end of the 60’s with artist like David Bowie or maybe The Rolling
Stones. The Beatles were the protagonists of the British Invasion, a musical
movement that takes place since the appearance of The Beatles at the Ed
Sullivan Show. The British Invasion was the phenomenon when rock and pop music
from the United Kingdom became popular in the United States of America. Before
the Beatles the most of the rock and pop music was made in the USA but the
Beatles helped other British groups like The Animals or The Rolling Stones to
become popular in USA. So if the Beatles never have existed, British rock
wouldn’t have been popular and the British Invasion, probably leaded by The
Rolling Stones, could have not happened. As Mick Jagger, the vocalist of The
Stones
said: “His success in America broke down a lot of doors that helped everyone
else from England that followed.” So, maybe if The Beatles hadn’t existed,
groups like The Rolling Stones wouldn’t have been so successful.
The
first time of the history that we can talk about rock and not rock and roll is
with The Beatles. If rock or pop was invented years later by Bowie as we said,
maybe the greatest rock groups of the 70’s (Queen, The Police, Pink Floyd…)
wouldn’t have played rock if the Beatles had never existed. As we said The
Beatles were the most influential group of the history, this is because they
were the reason why a lot of the greatest musicians that followed found their
inspiration in The Beatles. One example is the English group Pink Floyd.
Paul McCartney with Dave Grohl and other members of Nirvana
They
were inspired by The Beatle’s studio albums like Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper’s
Lonely Hearts Club Band that are considered psychedelic albums. Pink Floyd is
the best psychedelic rock band ever, so, if The Beatles had never existed, they
wouldn’t have influenced Pink Floyd, which could have not played psychedelic
rock. A lot of great groups after the Beatles wouldn’t have existed if The
Beatles doesn’t exist. One example is Nirvana. Maybe Nirvana wouldn’t have
existed because Dave Grohl, the drummer, and Kurt Cobain, the singer, were
really influenced in their early days by The Beatles. As Dave Grohl says: “If it weren't for The Beatles, I would not
be a musician”.
Another
group that wouldn’t have existed is Black Sabbath. “I owe my career to the Beatles.” This is what Ozzy Osbourne, the
vocalist of the group said. Another group that is clearly influenced by The
Beatles are the Red Hot Chilli Peppers:
“The Beatles showed us that four
people could be one, as perfectly balanced as the four elements.” John Frusciante, the guitarist of
the group. Also Oasis wouldn’t have existed as the band’s leader Noel Gallagher
idolized The Beatles and the music he wrote was influenced by them. So, if the
Beatles hadn’t existed, all these bands wouldn’t have existed.
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| Noel Galhager and Paul McCartney |
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| Red Hot Chili Peppers dressed as The Beatles |
All in all, it is clear that The Beatles were a unique phenomenon that absolutely changed the music. What The Beatles have done is something unrepeatable. Years after The Beatles, the arrival of new band boys starts a lot of comparisons between this new group and The Beatles. But, as we can see, they are the most influential group of the history of music as we can see. If the Beatles had never existed, the music we have nowadays would be so much different without The Beatles. Without the contribution of The Beatles in music, the groups that followed could have not been so important. Without the Beatles, we may have not The Rolling Stones, Queen or Oasis. As we have seen, what The Beatles have done is still important years after they broke up.
Pau Samper Escudero
