The Beatles

The Beatles were an extremely popular and
influential group in Rock n' Roll. My question is, "Why?" What drew thousands
upon thousands of screaming fans to these four British musicians? Was it
something in the sound of the instruments? Could it have been the bass
beat, or maybe the guitar playing? What about their lyrics? They had a
certain personality, too. Was that it? Let's look at each of these, and
some other factors as well.

What is the first thing you wonder
when you hear something new on the radio? You wonder who sings it. The
first thing you see when you pick up an album is who sings or performs
it. Hmm? This suggests the power of a catchy title. Something out of the
ordinary to catch the eye. Something misspelled, perhaps? The Beetles?

No, The Beatles. What's in their name? In the words of Beatle John Lennon,

"when you hear it, the name is little crawly things. When you see it, it's"beat" music." I think that's quite attractive to a record store browser,
don't you?

Of course, another thing that could
catch a browsing customer would be the pictures on the album. The fronts
of record albums are versatile that way because one can fit a lot on them.

I have looked at the images on a few Beatles' records and, I must say,
they are rather attractive and flashy. One particular cover that I was
able to view is an album that went unreleased due to its picture. On the
cover there is a photograph of The Beatles in a butcher shop with carcasses
hanging around them; it certainly caught the eye. On another album, the
boys were all dressed up in Spanish bullfighter uniforms that were gaudy
enough to catch the eye of a blind man.

The sounds that the ear hears in
a song are without a doubt important to the person's opinion of that song.

To examine the sound of the instruments, I played the Anthology music through
a stereo with adjustable graphic equalizers. On a few songs, I isolated
the bass, and therefore the bass beat, then the... [continues]

Read full essay