III. Artists ↑

5. The Beatles

Link: Thebeatles

The Beatles were to rock music what Louis Armstrong was to jazz. Both artists began by studying and thoroughly assimilating artists that had come before. By doing so, they essentially created their respective art forms, by combining what had previously been isolated characteristics of individual artists into cohesive approaches to music. And they both went on to symbolize and advance their respective art forms, having such monumental influences that it would be impossible for any later artists to be untouched by their work.

The Beatles began by studying a broad set of musical influences, including early Rock and Roll, Blues, Rhythm & Blues, Country & Western, girl groups, Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, and Broadway show tunes. They went on to exemplify and solidify all of the aesthetic elements of rock music discussed in this book.

First on the list of The Beatles’ many talents were the songwriting skills of Lennon and McCartney. Unlike most of their contemporaries, they were not content to simply throw three chords together and cobble together a melody. They took the songwriting craft very seriously, and as a result, their compositions were often covered by other recording artists, in vocal and instrumental forms. Their songs were varied, with each effort standing on its own as a unique achievement.

Next on the list of their gifts were their voices. John and Paul both had wonderful singing voices: expressive, controlled, flexible and attractive. But all four of them could sing to some degree, and their harmonies and multi-layered vocals were hallmarks of their style. Again, as with their compositions, the uses they made of their vocals were many and varied, with differing arrangements on every song.

The Beatles also had a seminal bonding between the group’s members. As Ringo recalls:

There were some really loving, caring moments between four people: a hotel room here and there — a really amazing closeness. Just four guys who really loved each other.

Ringo Starr, as quoted in The Beatles Anthology

This closeness had practical benefits for their art. It allowed them to work together intimately, stepping outside of their roles as individual songwriters, singers and musicians, to come together as a cohesive whole.

Perhaps their strongest talent, especially in the context of a rock aesthetic, was their ability to find the perfect expression of each song in the studio. While many rock groups took a loose, bluesy, improvisational approach to their music, the Beatles took a more formal, structured approach to their recordings. Every element of a track was worked out to perfectly blend with and complement the other elements of the song. In this sense they were like painters. Every sound on a track was like a brush stroke placed on canvas by a master: existing for its own sake, but also for its relationship to all the other components of the work, ultimately achieving a perfectly balanced whole. The Beatles were probably the rock group that best captured the spatial nature of rock music, its existence in two dimensions: length and depth. Every musical element was perfectly formed and positioned as part of this two-dimensional landscape. As Paul McCartney commented in a recent interview, after re-listening to the Beatles hits that made up the 1 compilation: “The main thing I thought as a craftsman was how well structured the songs were — that there was nothing that shouldn’t have been on them, and you couldn’t have put one extra thing on.” (McCartney 2001)

The easiest way to understand this element of their art is to listen to practically any recording of a Lennon and McCartney tune recorded by someone else, and then compare it to the original recording released by The Beatles. Other recordings retain the beauty of the original compositions, yet no matter how well intentioned, sound flat by comparison. This is because they are missing an entire dimension of the original recording: the drumming, the bass patterns, the rhythm guitar, the vocal arrangements. For The Beatles, these other elements were not mere window dressing, not just ornamentation added to the underlying composition — these were essential elements of their art. In this regard, Ringo and George, while not prolific songwriters or frequent singers, were essential to The Beatles’ music. Both were versatile musicians in that they were able to play in whatever style best supported the material being recorded, subsuming their personal styles into the demands of the work at hand. At the same time, they both had keen abilities to add something unique and wonderful to each song, adding to and complementing the other musical elements.

Another element that contributed to the Beatles’ music was their awareness of a broader expanse of artistic endeavor. John had gone to art school, and produced writings and drawings. The Beatles often attracted, and hung out with, artists and students. As Paul indicates below, art was part of who they were.

We were always slightly studenty. We used to make fun of the other bands who weren’t. I received a poetry book once, in Hamburg: Yevtushenko. A girlfriend sent it to me…. The point was that we had a book of poetry; it was part of our equipment. It was part and parcel of what we all liked — art.

Paul McCartney, as quoted in The Beatles Anthology

Finally, what also separated The Beatles from many of their lesser contemporaries was a relentless desire for discovery and experimentation. They were never content to stop at a particular plateau and set up camp — as soon as they had explored a new territory, they were ready to push on to something new. They were the Lewis and Clark of rock music, forever wanting to find new frontiers.

Having heaped all this praise on the Fab Four, I need to also point out a few of their limitations. First, their lyrics were neither deep nor subtle. As lyricists, they were skilled artisans, but lacked inspiration. Yet this was not a critical failing in the context of their other artistic ambitions. More than perhaps any other serious rock artist, their message was in their music. If their lyrics were mostly just endless variations on the ups and downs of love, then this was because the underlying theme of their music was the importance of attraction, of strong positive feelings, of love in the broadest sense. This theme was visible in their relationships to each other, to their fans, and to their music.

Another limitation was their lack of any real feel for jazz, or for instrumental virtuosity in general. As they progressed beyond simple rock and roll, they became increasingly dependent on George Martin, their producer, and classically trained musicians orchestrated by Martin, to augment their musical palette. Yet again this was not a critical limitation, given the nature of their aesthetic goals. While in other groups an instrumental solo might be valued on its own merits, as an interesting, unusual or talented musical display, within the context of The Beatles each musical part had value only for its relationship to the whole, as part of the larger artistic effort. And for this purpose, the musical talents of The Beatles were more than adequate.

The evolution of The Beatles’ recorded output from 1963 to 1969 not only gave focus and meaning to this particular group’s musical efforts, but to all of rock music. Because of their unequaled commercial, cultural and aesthetic stature, they were able to act as leaders for the rock community during their recording career. While this evolution resulted in distinct differences between recordings produced at different phases of their career, each phase has its own virtues, and almost all of their recorded work is worth repeated listening.

It should be noted that British album releases during the Beatles’ career were often different from their American releases in terms of how the tracks were packaged into records. On the British releases, the Beatles’ music was released on a combination of singles, EPs and LPs, with little to no duplication. In contrast, the American releases included no EPs, and tracks released as singles were generally included in albums as well. When the Beatles’ catalog was released on CD, and later on streaming services, the British packaging was used as the model, since this was the truest to the group’s original intentions.