Along with being the first band to create music videos for their songs, they would also be the first band to be seen by millions of people around the world. Technology was improving at the time and in 1967 the first live international satellite television broadcast was aired. It was entitled Our World. This broadcast would feature several acts including a musical number by The Beatles. In this broadcast they would perform their new song “All You Need Is Love” making them the first band to be globally televised live. It is estimated that over 400 million viewers tuned in to that program.
Now that we’ve looked at their performances, let’s take a look at what the band was doing musically. When the Beatles were in the recording studio they were always experimenting and trying to come up with new sounds and techniques. One of their new sounds was found completely by accident. John Lennon leaned his guitar against his amplifier and had walked away to discuss what they had been working on. Suddenly the guitar’s “A” string began to vibrate and make noise through the amp which was left on. This feedback was an interesting sound to the band and so they worked to purposely reproduce the sound on tape. It was then used as the opening for their song “I Feel Fine”.
Another innovation of theirs was also found by accident. According to John, he mistakenly put the tape reels of their recording in the machine backwards. When he pushed play he liked what he heard. John asked if it could be recorded that way and of course it could be. So this first use of backwards music, or back masking, can be heard toward the end of the song “Rain” when the first line of the song is repeated in reverse. They would continue to use this effect on later albums as well.
The Beatles were not only influenced by accidents in the studio but also by the sounds created by other instruments. George Harrison had been introduced to Indian music by a friend. After becoming interested in the music, he purchased a sitar which is an Indian stringed instrument. One day while working on a song, the band felt that it needed a little something. George then brought out his sitar and began to pick out the correct notes to the song and now the beginning of the song “Norwegian Wood” contains the first use of sitar on a pop album. George continued to use the sitar and then other Indian musicians on such songs as “Love You To” and “Within You, Without You”.
As we’ve seen, the Beatles performances were major spectacles which ultimately led to their historic work in the studio. Also, the band’s music was evolving with their use of experimentation while recording. Now when we talk about the Beatles music we must also talk about its popularity, the third aspect of their influence on bands today. The music they were producing was new and exciting to younger listeners. This helped contribute to their success both in Britain and America.
There were many bands that had a lot of success in Britain. However, once they decided to bring their act over to America they were not as successful. The Beatles would change that. They were the first band to be successful in both countries. Not only that, they were the first band to have a number one song in both Britain and America simultaneously. That song was “A Hard Day’s Night”, the title track to their first movie.
The band continued to churn out one hit after another. An example of their hit making success happened on April 4, 1964 when they were the first band to occupy the top five spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Interestingly, one week later they were the first band to have a total of 12 songs on the billboard chart at one time. Neither of these feats has been matched since.
Not long after this immense success in the charts there would come another first for the band. In 1966, after calling it quits from touring, Paul McCartney had the idea of creating an album that would be about a fictional group of musicians. He thought it would be an interesting idea to send the album out on tour so the band could stay home and work on recording new material. And so, in June of 1967, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was released. This would mark the first creation of what is known as a concept album. This is where all the songs on an album work together to form a single concept. In this case the record is of a band giving a concert for the listener.
Since The Beatles first came on the scene in the early sixties there have been many people that have tried to follow in their footsteps. Some of them have had success themselves while others were never heard from again. As you have heard, The Beatles were great innovators in the music world. This was achieved in their music, in their performances, and also in their popularity. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more that they have done to become as famous as they are. Many of the techniques they used in recording their music are taken for granted today. What were once accidents in the studio for them are now easily duplicated on record with modern technology. When we think of modern rock music we must surely thank the Beatles for their contributions, because without them, much of the music we listen to today would not be around for us to enjoy.
by
markalpan (student)
