The Beatles

Brian Epstein

• Bob Wooler and My Bonnie by the Beatles

• Pride in his ability

• Decca, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes

• Stu Sutcliffe dies

George Martin and the Parlophone

• June 1962, Beatles audition

• Pete Best

• Richard Starkey and Ringo

The Heroes of Liverpool

• Radio, television and tour appearances

Beatlemania—American Style

• Real Rock ‘n’ Roll was not exclusively American music

• Ed Sullivan

I Want to Hold Your Hand

• Recorded in October 1963

• Opening a compendium of 50s Rock and Roll

• First two musical phrases demonstrate this

Beatlemania—American Style

• Mass popularity in America

• Top 5 April 4, 1964

• International popularity

• Lifestyle

• Drugs

• Third tour to the United States

The Middle Period: Experimentation

Yesterday

• Written January 1964 but recorded June 1965

• Pre-rock pop song

• Melody develops from a short, simple riff

• Six sections in AABABA pattern

• 32-measure AABA form

Yesterday

• McCartney’s singing• Simple acoustic guitar accompaniment

outlines a delicate eight-beat rhythm• String accompaniment updated• Gone is the nuclear rock band of 2 guitars,

bass and drums• Stronger connection between words and

music

Rubber Soul Drive My Car

Rubber Soul Drive My Car

• Cinematic

• Sexual tension

• Humorous possibility

• Accompaniment shows collaboration

• McCartney, all the details in place

Rubber Soul Drive My Car

• Otis Redding’s Respect

• No rhythm guitar

• Only chorus has solid chords (heard on piano)

• Sounds like soul music

Yesterday and Today

Revolver Eleanor Rigby

Revolver Eleanor Rigby

• Unprecedented topic

• Broke sharply with pop song conventions

• Detached delivery

• Time passes, without apparent purpose

Revolver Eleanor Rigby

• Musical setting as bleak as the words

• String octet (four violins, two violas, two cellos)

• String sound is sparse

Revolver Eleanor Rigby

• Chord progressions emulate rock accompaniment

• Static melody and harmony

• Repetitive rhythm of accompaniment

Revolver Eleanor Rigby

• Pop becoming Art?

• Classical-style string accompaniment

• Comparable to Schubert’s art songs

Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields

The Later Beatles: Revolution

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

• Verse creates dreamy state

• Lyrics contain numerous psychedelic images (marmalade skies)

• Music floats in waltz time

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

• Impression of a person in the middle of an acid trip

• Chorus is straight-ahead Rock and Roll

• Conveys normalcy

A Day in the Life

• Mundane vs. elevated consciousness

• Music with words vs. instrumental

A Day in the Life

Four Scenes

1. Lennon’s response to a man who dies in his car while, Lennon suspects, he was tripping

2. Lennon attending a film

3. Lennon in modern life—work is mundane and competitive

4. Lennon’s commentary on counting potholes

A Day in the Life

• Starts with soloist and guitar

• Other instruments layer

• Juxtaposed to massive orchestral block of sound

• Echoes of Pendercki’s Threnody for Victims of Hiroshima (1960)

A Day in the Life

• Well-known vs. obscure music

• Tasteful drumming: inventive bass lines

• Doubling of the tempo in the “Woke up” section

• Trills on “Laugh” and “photograph”

• Transition to the acid trip

A Day in the Life

• Melodic leap followed by trill blends seamlessly into orchestral texture

• Final chord

• An “OM”

• Striking ending

The White Album

Abbey Road

The “Death” of Paul and the Beatles Break-Up

• Back masking

• The Paul-is-Dead hoax

• By 1970, it was clear that the Beatles were each going separate ways

Summary

• Their influence on the music is undeniable

• Other influences

• Hard mainstream rock, avant-garde rock, psychedelic rock, symphonic rock, and light-hearted rock

Summary

• No longer was Rock simply fun music; it was serious

• Four directions

• John Lennon in the 1970s

• Superstitions

• Beatlemania end?