The British Invasion

• records spread throughout Europe and were especially loved in England– Brits loved the early Blues, R&B, Rockabilly

and Rock artists– Many formed their own bands but few were

heard outside of their local areas

The British Invasion• Skiffle Music – Rockabilly died out in the

US but stayed popular in England in Skiffle Music

• Humorous• Chunky guitar• Muted• Originated with homemade instruments

– Herman’s Hermits • “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter”

• The Quarrymen (later called The Beatles) played Skiffle music.

The British Invasion

• The Mersey Beat– Named after bands from Liverpool which is located

beside the Mersey River– A fusion of styles

• Doo-wap• Rhythm & Blues• Skiffle

• Gerry & The Pacemakers– “Ferry Cross the Mersey” an anthem of the Mersey

Beat sound• The Silver Beatles (later The Beatles) played the

Mersey beat

Liverpool, England

The Mersey

British Blues• American Blues influenced the British sound

– British Blues covers seemed new

• The Searchers– Named after a John Wayne Western film– Obsessed with all things American– “Needles & Pins” – written by Sony Bono

• The Kinks– Followed the intensity and power of Little Richard– Their early recordings are distorted due to their poor

record player– “You Really Got Me Going” – 1st hard rock recording

British Blues• The Animals

– Not sweet and catchy but gritty– Emotions are up-front

• “Boom Boom” – cover of John Lee Hooker blues song• “House of the Rising Sun” – Cover of Leadbelly blues song

• A group of boys from Liverpool come on the scene– The Quarrymen lead by John Lennon play cover

tunes and music inspired by their idols• Buddy Holly• Bill Haley & the Comets• Little Richard• Skiffle music• The Mersey Beat

The Quarrymen

• John Lennon -16, Paul McCartney -15 attended Quarry Bank High School– The Quarrymen– Paul invited his school mate George

Harrison - 14 to join the band– 1960 Quarrymen line-up

• John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stewart Sutcliff, Norm Chapman (drums)

– Late in 1960 they become the Silver Beatles• An homage to Buddy Holly and the Crickets• A play on the word “beat”

• The Cavern Club– A cellar below a warehouse in Liverpool

• Where Brian Epstein first saw the group

• The Beatles strengthen their skills in Hamburg, Germany– They adopt their bowl hair cuts and refine their image

• 1962 Beatlemania hits– “Love Me Do” & “P.S. I Love You” are the first songs to enter the

top 20 hit list in the U.K.• 1963

– “Please, Please Me” their first No. 1 hit anywhere ♫

• 1963 The Beatles hit the U.S. charts with their no. 1 hit “I Want to Hold Your Hand”

• February 7, 1964 The Beatles land in NYC to crowds of screaming fans– Their music is already a hit in the U.S.

• 1964 “Can’t Buy Me Love” 1st Beatles song to top both the U.K. and U.S. charts

Beatlemania• Hysteria over everything the band did• 1964 for their 1st U.S. show their song “I Wanna Hold Your

Hand” had only been on the charts at number 1 for one week– Thousands of teens gathered at the airport for their arrival– 50,000 applied for seats at the Ed Sullivan show

• The auditorium seats only 700

– U.S. DJ’s played Beatles songs non-stop, pausing only for “Beatles time” and “Beatles temperature”

Beatlemania• 70 million people saw their first appearance on the Ed

Sullivan show in 1964– Only 190 million people in the U.S.– Only 54 million people in the U.K.

• The Beatles did what no other British group had done: They cracked and eventually dominated the American pop rock scene

• Elvis Presley had placed 9 singles in the Top 100 in one week

• The Beatles surpassed this on March 28, 1964 with 10 singles in the Top 100.– By April there were 14 singles in the Top 100– The first week of April, 1964 the top 5 pop hits were all

Beatles songs

• 1965 The Beatles 2nd U.S. tour– 1st major arena concert– Shea Stadium– Over 55,000 in attendance

• No stage monitors• They couldn’t hear their own music

• Much of The Beatles early success can be attributed to their innovative manager Brian Epstein– Beatles Rock movies

• A Hard Days Night• Help!• Magical Mystery Tour• Yellow Submarine

• As record producer for The Beatles, George Martin brought innovation and classical elements to their music– “We Can Work it Out” 1965 – multiple

meters

• Two important albums come out in 1965– Help! – August 1965

• Contains the most covered song in all of R&R history “Yesterday”

– Rubber Soul – December 1965• The first Beatles album with all original songs

• Rubber Soul– Their lyrics become more introspective– Heavy folk influence

• “Norwegian Wood” – a darker mood

– The tracks are not pop oriented like previous albums

• “Run for Your Life” about a dark side of love

– The album cover was the first to not have the Beatles name on it

• 1966 in an interview for DATEbook, a teen magazine, John Lennon was quoted as stating:– “…the Beatles were more popular than Jesus…”

• Actual quote: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that. I’m right and will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus Christ right now.”

• Only the last sentence made it into the press.

• The Brits were used to John’s sarcasm and the comments didn’t arouse much interest

• U.S. audiences were outraged– Over 30 radio stations banned Beatles records– Protest marches– Record-burning– Death threats– Brian Epstein tried to explain it away

• John Lennon’s apology:• “I wasn't saying whatever they're saying I was saying. I'm

sorry I said it really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I apologize if that will make you happy. I still don't know quite what I've done. I've tried to tell you what I did do but if you want me to apologize, if that will make you happy, then OK, I'm sorry.”

• For many reasons The Beatles decided to stop touring and focus on recording in the studio– August 29, 1966 – The Beatles last live

concert• Candlestick Park in San Francisco• It lasted only 33 minutes

• This album changed the perception of the rock album from a collection of songs to an art form– Part of the reason a college course can be offered

in rock

• One of rock’s first concept albums – 1966/67– All songs relate to a concept, theme, story, feeling

or images– Sgt Pepper’s has 2 primary concepts

• concert theme• Relationships

• Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Innovations:– Back masking – using backwards sounds– An orchestra– Audience heard throughout album– Various animal sounds– 1st gate-fold album cover– 1st lyrics on the back– Extensive studio effects

• Echo, reverberation, tape loops, reverse tape effects

SGT. PEPPERS

• The Cover art earned a Grammy• It contains many of the Beatles heroes & world figures:

– Mae West, Marlon Brando, W.C. Fields, Bob Dylan, Carl Jung, Karl Marx, Edgar Allen Poe, Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carol…

• Wax Beatles (old style) on left look down at cemetery flowers

• More track innovations:– “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” –

complex meter changes 6/8 & 4/4• Beatles claim it is not about LSD• Lennon gives credit to Lewis Carol –

Drug user

– “Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite” – lyrics taken from an old Victorian circus poster owned by Lennon

• Special effects by George Martin include sound recordings of carnivals and fairgrounds.

• “A Day in the Life”– Some claim it is the Beatles’ best song

ever.• Lyrics came from the newspaper• Theatrical & operatic thematically

• The illusion to drug use in the album led the BBC to ban many tracks

• “Sgt. Peppers (reprise)” at the end of the album seals the concept album much like bookends– The reprise is harder-edged rock

A Day in the LifeI read the news today oh boyAbout a lucky man who made the gradeAnd though the news was rather sadWell I just had to laughI saw the photographHe blew his mind out in a carHe didn't notice that the lights had changedA crowd of people stood and staredThey'd seen his face beforeNobody was really sureIf he was from the House of Lords.

I saw a film today oh boyThe English Army had just won the warA crowd of people turned awaybut I just had to lookHaving read the bookI'd love to turn you on

Woke up, fell out of bed,Dragged a comb across my headFound my way downstairs and drank a cup,And looking up I noticed I was late.Found my coat and grabbed my hatMade the bus in seconds flatFound my way upstairs and had a smoke,and Somebody spoke and I went into a dreamAh

I read the news today oh boyFour thousand holes in Blackburn, LancashireAnd though the holes were rather smallThey had to count them allNow they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.I'd love to turn you on

• Critical Acclaim:– Sgt. Peppers was very well received

immediately upon its release– In Rolling Stone magazines The 500 Greatest

Albums of all Time, Sgt. Pepper’s is listed as number 1

– “It took 129 days to record, between autumn 1966 and spring 1967, and it changed the world.” Chris Jones for BBC Review, April, 2007.

Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields

• Recorded during the Sgt Pepper sessions but released as singles– Appeared later on The Magical Mystery Tour– “Strawberry Fields Forever” unique for its use

of a Mellotron• A tape based sampler• Gives a psychedelic quality to their music

Tragedy hits the Beatles

• In 1967, at only 33 years old, long time Beatles manager Brian Epstein dies suddenly in his sleep– Recorded as an accidental drug overdose of

alcohol and sleep aids– Heart attack

• This shakes the Beatles past a point of recovery

The White Album

• Released in 1968• Relations between the members are tough

– Open conflicts

• The White Album– Not titled originally– Double album – rare– Seems fragmented as if by 4 individuals rather than a

group– Fans either loved or hated it - not many in between

The White Album

• In 1969 Charlie Manson instructed his “followers” to commit a series of murders to prominent Hollywood individuals

• He claimed the lyrics to many Beatles songs, including “Helter Skelter” spoke to him and instructed him to organize this violence

• The White album has never really escaped its association with these murders

Let it Be• Recording began in Jan, 1969 but the members

could not get along to complete it• They began recording their best selling album,

Abbey Road• Let it Be was reworked and release in 1970 after

Abbey Road– Roof top performance

• Last time the Beatles would ever play together in public

• Abbey Road• The members

reunited once more for their best selling album

• Harrison recognized as a significant writer– “Something”– “Here Comes the

Sun”

• The album held the no. 1 position for 11 weeks

SomethingSomething in the way she moves,

Attracts me like no other lover.Something in the way she woos me.

I don't want to leave her now,You know I believe and how.

Somewhere in her smile she knows,That I don't need no other lover.

Something in her style that shows me.I don't want to leave her now,You know I believe and how.

You're asking me will my love grow,I don't know, I don't know.

Stick around, and it may show,But I don't know, I don't know.

Something in the way she knows,And all I have to do is think of her.

Something in the things she shows me.I don't want to leave her now.You know I believe and how.