Jariel Rodriguez

Mrs. Cutner

British Literature

22 March 2019

Research Paper

The Beatles were one of the most influential music groups of all time, influencing pop culture

music, fashion style, and politics. The Beatles musical career is held at high regards and is

known worldwide. They created musical trends that are still followed to this day and set many

musical records. They created fashion trends and set standards for young individuals to have a

more polished look. They also used their influence and brought the attention of many fans to the

politics going on in the world at the time. The Beatles were heavily adored by many people

across the world for their messages of love and peace in their music, and because of this they

were able to influence the way people thought about world issues, dressed, and especially the

way music was created and shared.

Every story has a beginning, John Lennon and Paul McCartney met when they were teenagers in

Liverpool, England in 1957. Paul had given a display of his acoustic guitar skills and John asked

him to join his musical group called the Quarrymen. In the following year, George Harrison

joined John Lennon’s group. They would perform small shows at an English club known as The

Casbah club with Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best. John would try and create many different names

for the group but eventually found the right one and decided on The Beatles. The Beatles

continued to play local shows and in 1960 they had toured in Hamburg, Germany, meeting and
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partnering with Ringo Starr during the tour. After the tour, they returned to Liverpool to do

regular local shows for about two and a half years until their raise of stardom and popularity in

1962 when they received their first studio contract with Brian Epstein, who would go on to be

their longtime manager. Also in the year 1962 The Beatles created their first hit song known as

“Love Me Do”, hitting number 17 in the national music charts with an average success but the

song that truly contributed to making The Beatles famous is called “I Want to Hold Your Hand”

released in 1963, is the song that put The Beatles on the map. They gained plenty of attention,

including attention from some already known big stars such as Bob Dylan. Bob misheard the line

“I can’t hide” while listening to “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and heard “I get high”. So Bob

decided to share his marijuana with the Beatles which was their first encounter with the drug and

would go on to effect and forever change the course of their music. The Beatles went on to make

many hits and classics, many of which were number one records at the time. “The group racked

up a record total of 20 No. 1s, including such classics as "Hey Jude," "A Hard Day's Night" and

"Let It Be." The Beatles' impact on the Hot 100 was so huge, in 2015 they were named as the

top-performing act in the chart's history.” (Billboard) The Beatles were known for releasing the

most number one singles and for their amazing album sales as a band. “They've sold

approximately 106.5 million albums. The Beatles have had the most No. 1 singles in Billboard

Hot 100 chart history. The Beatles have had the most No. 1 albums on the Billboard top 200

albums chart.” (Fiorentino)

The Beatles took the world by storm and so did their fashion style, music style, and positive

message. They were able to bring people together with their music and at the same time

influenced the fashion of the world. The Beatles changed many societal norms by spreading their
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messages of love, peace, and hope in their music throughout the course of their career. “The

impact made by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr may forever

be impossible to explain but the fact that they altered the course of music and changed

sociological norms from fashion to morals to attitude cannot be denied.” (Flans 20) People

followed The Beatles starting with little things like hairstyles, and then eventually onto bigger

things like politics and issues on drugs. The Beatles sported a cleanly look which inspired many

fans and teens to adopt the same or a similar look. They rocked this clean black white suit look in

1964 and many bands followed in their footsteps and used the same look. Now, this clean suit

look became a norm and in turn, this gave way to a generation of young cleanly looking people.

They also popularized the mod top hairstyle and tight fit ankle length boots. In the psychedelic

era of 1967 to 1968, The Beatles popularized wearing bright colors, suits, button-up shirts, and

floral patterns. This style was new and never before seen for an artist and overall gave a fun

hippie style vibe many people followed and this created fashion trends that are still widely

accepted to this day such as the bright colors and floral patterns. “If the teenagers of today would

follow the good examples set by the Beatles-not hair-wise, maybe, but certainly in the way of

politeness, sense of humor and respect to others-tomorrow's generation would be greatly

improved." (Spizer) The Beatles not only influenced fashion and style, but they also influenced

the style of music and how it was created. The Beatles were the first musicians to use feedback

intentionally in pop music, in the song “I Feel Fine” of the album “Beatles’ 65” in 1964. Also,

the song “Eleanor Rigby” of the album “Revolver” in 1966 pioneered the idea that rock songs

did not have to end in the traditional drum kits and guitars to become a hit. The song “I Want

You (She’s So Heavy)” of the album “Abbey Road” in 1969 explored that idea that simplicity in
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a song can also have a deeper meaning or message. The created and explored many musical

concepts and developed them and now these sort of concepts are used currently in music all of

the time especially in current pop music.

The Beatles influenced and used music to teach people love and peace. The theme of love and

peace was frequently explored in their music and was embedded into the society because of how

far The Beatles audience reach was. The love and peace message was spread fast with themes of

drugs and melodic songs. The Beatles were able to bring people together and unite them as no

one else could. “Unlike artists before them, the Beatles had power over millions of people

worldwide. In 1967, for example, with the release of their Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

album, as one critic noted, it was the closest Europe had been to unification since the Congress

of Vienna in 1815.” (Whitehead) The Beatles were one amazing music group that pushed love

and peace which should have been pushed a lot more by many other musicians during the time.

The Beatles had such a successful music career, going from a group of regular British teenagers

to world-renowned idols in a span of ten years. They traveled the world going on tours and

performing. They shared their message with everyone they could while having their fair amount

of fun with their exciting lives and drugs which they used to create a lot of their famous albums

and hit singles. In their lives, they had many exciting experiences meeting and performing for

many fans but they not only met fans they met many famous music stars such as Bob Dylan,

Elvis, Queen, and more. They became apart of those many famous stars, and even George

himself realized this. George Harrison said, “Sunday Night at the London Palladium. That show

had the biggest stars in England. We felt comfortable on the show. I think we had enough

cockiness going in, and we’d had enough success.” (The Beatles 102)
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The Beatles were amazing, but every story has an end. The Beatles continued to make music

until 1969 when John Lennon privately told the other Beatles that he was leaving the group to

continue working and spending time with his wife Yoko Ono in their own band called “Plastic

Ono Band” and the public grew disheartened and gained a dislinking for Yoko Ono. John

Lennon’s split from the band was kept away from the public until 1970 when Paul McCartney

publicly announced that he was leaving The Beatles in turn ending the group. Sadly John was

murdered on December 8, 1980, and George passed away to cancer on November 29, 2001. Paul

and Ringo are both alive and well today. They made many hits together and became known as

the best selling band of all time, making hits such as “Abbey Road”, “Yellow Submarine”, and

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and even worked on music for movies “The title track,

Help!, is a stunning song...The single was an almost immediate Number One in Britain and

America, while the film soundtrack was the subject of enormous advance orders...it made history

by qualifying for an instant gold disc for sales.” (Tobler 60-61) The Beatles did what many

musicians and artists aspire to do and went down in history as one of the best bands ever.

The Beatles are one of the best selling bands ever and will stay that way for a long time. They

are one of the only bands to have changed societal norms such as fashion style. The Beatles

developed and pioneered music techniques that are still used to this day. They promoted the

message of love and peace to not only their fans but the whole world and really gained a massive

following. The Beatles brought people together with their melodic tunes, their positive energy,

and unique style. The Beatles sold more records than any other band in history and influenced

many people across the globe. The Beatles are one of the most influential music groups of all

time, influencing pop culture music, fashion style, and politics.

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Works Cited

Fiorentino, Anna. ​Portland Press Herald​. MEET THE BEATLES ALL OVER AGAIN; the

Band’s Music, Now Available on iTunes, is Gaining the Respect of a Whole New Generation.

March 6, 2019. <https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/277307043?>

Flans, Robyn. ​The Beatles Digest 2nd Edition​, Lola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 2003.

Spizer, Bruce. ​American History​. The Beatles Take America. March 6, 2019.

<https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/224072111?​> 

The Beatles. ​The Beatles Anthology​. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2000.

Tobler, John. ​The Beatles​, New York: Exeter Books, 1984.