indexed_doc en utf8 The Beatles The greatest artists of the vinyl era http://Scratch/ak19/gs2-diffcol-7Mar2023/collect/Multimedia/tmp/1678163045_1/beatles_essay.html http://Scratch/ak19/gs2-diffcol-7Mar2023/collect/Multimedia/tmp/1678163045_1/beatles_essay.html import/wordpdf/beatles_essay.doc url tmp/1678163045_1/beatles_essay.html beatles_essay.html beatles_essay.doc beatles_essay.doc WordPlugin 14533 beatles_essay Word _icondoc_ doc.doc doc.doc Supplementary HASH7fc157cffb3218fa23ca4b 1678162980 20230307 1678163045 20230307 HASH7fc1.dir doc.doc:application/msword: <h1> <a name="RTFToC1">The Beatles The greatest artists of the vinyl era </a></h1> The Beatles are the greatest artists of the vinyl era, and possibly the greatest popular music artists of all time. Rock music was still in early days at the time when The Beatles began recording in the early 60s, and they were therefore able to make a large difference in the way that rock music was shaped. They broke many new grounds with both their music and styles, and created a previously unheard of mass hysteria in fans, often referred to as Beatlemania. During their time together the released many singles which topped the charts, and many albums which crossed a variety of styles. The Beatles were a phenomenon in popular music. What they did for popular music, and their enormous worldwide popularity have never been seen repeated by any other group. Although many other groups existed which were also enormously popular, none had quite the same combination of musical talent, nor accomplishments that the Beatles achieved. The group was only officially together between 1959 to 1970, but in this time they managed to achieve what most groups could only dream of. They set many new standards in both music and recordings, and their effect on society was enormous. The Beatles phenomenon began in 1962, when four guys from Liverpool in England, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, released their first single in Britain, called `Love Me Do.' `Love Me Do' reached the top 20 in the music charts in the UK, but it wasn't until later that year when the single `Please Please Me' was released, that the phenomenon known as Beatlemania began. `Please Please Me' reached number 2 on the UK pop charts. During this time, a classical music critic from the London Sunday Times declared them "the greatest composers since Beethoven." Beatlemania was enormous. Women would scream at the sight, and even mention, of the Beatles, and men would wish they were one of them. Never before or after in the history of popular music has their been such a large united following of a popular group, then that of The Beatles. The Beatles eventually stopped performing in live concerts, as the deafening screams from the crowd were too loud to play over, and the hysteria of the crowd was unsafe for all involved. Therefore, they concentrated their creativity in the music studios. In 1964, two years after first appearing in Britain, the group travelled to America, where they appeared on the popular American television program, the `Ed Sullivan Show'. They took America by storm, and began to spread Beatlemania all over the world. Before The Beatles, American Recording Companies did not take British pop seriously. Even The Beatles were not taken seriously at first, and their earlier American released singles were released through independent recording companies. The success in America of The Beatles paved the way for more British groups to make their mark in America. This began the era known as the `British Invasion.' Pop groups from Britain began to follow The Beatles' success, and began to take over the American music charts. Popular and largely successful groups, such as `The Rolling Stones.' were part of this British Invasion. The success of The Beatles can be credited musically to the Lennon/McCartney song writing team, who created the diverse style of songs recorded by The Beatles during their time, and to the innovative management of Brian Epstein. During their time together they managed to have 45 Top Forty chart hits in America alone. Their biggest achievement in the charts was during the week of April 4, 1964, when they occupied all of the top five positions in the `Billboard' music charts. This achievement is one that is more then likely never to be repeated by any other group again. 20 of their singles reached the number one position in the American charts, which was even greater then Elvis who had 17 songs reach number one. Their early music was influenced by the American Rock-n-Roll artists of the 50s, such as Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry, and by the style of music popular in the 20s and 30s called Tin Pan Alley. Their particular style of rock was fairly unique when they began. The Rock-n-Roll styles and artists popular in the 50s, were starting to lose their flare as they became older, and rock at this time was said to be in `dire straits.' When The Beatles came onto the pop scene with their fresh new type of Rock, it was just what the public were looking for. There was nothing else like them around at the time, which was a large reason for their success. They helped shape the type of music created during the rest of the decade. Over the years they changed their musical style as they became more experimental in the recording studio. They created their music in ways that had never been attempted before, and the end result were more sophisticated albums that were more lyrically based and had a wide range of musical styles and sounds. The experimentation with music, was then copied by other musicians, such as Bob Dylan, which in effect created many varying styles of rock music throughout the following years. The image of The Beatles was another major part of their success. Their manager, Brian Epstein, originally dressed them in `dapper collarless gray suits' to make them appear more friendly to the audience. When Beatlemania took hold, boys copied their dress style, and their mop-top haircuts. This look became the fashion of the time, and a must have for any serious male fan. Their album `Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band,' was the first rock concept album ever made, that is, it had a theme which ran throughout the whole album. It set new standards for studio recordings, and showed that rock musicians can use creativity and artistry in their music. A mould was also broken in that no songs were released from this album as singles, as the album was designed to be heard in full from beginning to end. This concept was later followed by many other groups, and is still used today. The Beatles also produced the first music video clip, that was more then just pictures of the band playing the song. The clip was a reflection of the song, played out in specially designed images and movie sequences. This clip was for the song `Penny Lane.' They also made a few movies based on their music, and acted in them. They were not the first group to make a movie, but it was still an accomplishment to do so. These movies included `Yellow Submarine', `Magical Mystery Tour,' and the documentary style movie `Hard Days Night.' On April 10, 1970 the group formally announced their split when Paul McCartney announced his departure. Each member of the group went on to pursue solo careers, each of varying success. After their split, fans kept trying to push for a Beatles reunion, however it never occurred. Hope of a reunion was lost after John Lennon was murdered by a crazed fan in December, 1980. The amount of media attention that surrounded John Lennons' death was enormous. His death made front page news all over the world, and caused much heartache and shock for fans. The Beatles contribution to popular music was credited when they were inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. They also won the Grammy Trustees award in 1972. In 1995, the remaining members of the group released a retrospective album of their music called the `Anthology.' It included a previously unreleased track written by John Lennon before his death, called `Free as a Bird.' The remaining members of the group recorded this song during 1994, and released it as a single from the `Anthology' album. This album became one of the fastest-selling albums of all time, which shows that even 25 years after their split, the fans still wanted more. The legacy of their popularity can still be seen today, as new generations of fans discover The Beatles, and old fans never forget the them. Thousands of books have been written about the group, and millions of albums have been sold around the world. There are still monthly magazines published about the happenings of the remaining members, and much memorabillia still being traded. Movies have even been made about Beatlemania and the early days of the group, such as `Secrets,' along with spoofs of their success such as `The Rutles.' No other group in the history of popular music can ever claim the same amount of worldwide success, nor amount of innovation in music that The Beatles could. This is why they are the greatest artists of the vinyl era, and the greatest artists in the history of popular music as we know it. <ol> <li><a href="_httpsamepagelink_#RTFToC1">The Beatles The greatest artists of the vinyl era</a></ol>