Graycap23 said:

Any one and everyone who followed the Beatles after seeing the success that they had put some time into understanding what and how they went about their business. That is just common sense, but the level of influence is minimum in my opinion. The Beatles made simple music for the masses. It's just simple for me. This topic is tiresome at this point.

If you believe the Beatles influenced folks making Blues, Funk, R&B, Soul, House, Trance, etc........that is on you. My EARS and knowledge of music suggest otherwise. That is not meant as disrespect to you, that is simply my opinion.

If you listen to the early Beatles recordings, yes, they are "simple", because they were emulating and were influenced by the pop and rock and r&B music that came before them- Elvis, Buddy Holly, Smokey Robinson, the Isley Brothers, Girl Groups, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Little Richard. But as time went on, their music became more complex, and they ventured far out of the mainstream. Have you heard "Revolver" or "The White Album" ? Do you know "Tomorrow Never Knows" or "A Day in the Life" or "Within You Withou You" or "I Want You" or "Happiness is a Warm Gun" or even "Hey Jude" (at the time the longest single ever released)....or even someting like "Revolution #9" ??? The amazing thing was that such challenging music WAS also massively successful (which is probably a comment on that era as opposed to the current day, where the biggest hits are usually the simplest, and where people think Nicki Manaj and Kanye West actually have talent....)

SeventeenDayze said:

MickyDolenz said:

Being an icon and being known are 2 different things. You said The Beatles are not known in Africa like nobody there has heard of them.

So would you say that the Beatles are more loved in Africa than Michael Jackson?

Actually one of the biggest non-African stars in Africa for many years was...country star Jim Reeves ! Go figure that one out ...

My opinion is the Beatles are one of the greatest bands of all time.There's no need to analyze or debate it.Either you like them or you don't.

even Prince was influenced by the Beatles in some ways.

jjhunsecker said:

Actually one of the biggest non-African stars in Africa for many years was...country star Jim Reeves ! Go figure that one out ...

Garth Brooks seems to be known in Malawi

I can't believe this is even a serious topic. It seems like it was made because someone is upset that the Beatles were bigger than certain black artists.

unknowncheese said:

I can't believe this is even a serious topic. It seems like it was made because someone is upset that the Beatles were bigger than certain black artists.

If you have something to contribute to the conversation that's sincere by all means do so. No one is "upset" about anything. What exactly do you mean by "bigger than black artists"? Why is it hard for SOME of you to admit that the Beatles fame was because they imitated black music? I can't believe some of you just can't admit this. But, many of you are QUICK to post a bunch of videos of black artists doing cover songs as if the Beatles weren't first influenced by black artists themselves. How ridiculous. This question is whether or not the Beatles impacted MUSIC (not the business side but the MUSIC itself).

jjhunsecker said:

Graycap23 said:

Any one and everyone who followed the Beatles after seeing the success that they had put some time into understanding what and how they went about their business. That is just common sense, but the level of influence is minimum in my opinion. The Beatles made simple music for the masses. It's just simple for me. This topic is tiresome at this point.

If you believe the Beatles influenced folks making Blues, Funk, R&B, Soul, House, Trance, etc........that is on you. My EARS and knowledge of music suggest otherwise. That is not meant as disrespect to you, that is simply my opinion.

If you listen to the early Beatles recordings, yes, they are "simple", because they were emulating and were influenced by the pop and rock and r&B music that came before them- Elvis, Buddy Holly, Smokey Robinson, the Isley Brothers, Girl Groups, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Little Richard. But as time went on, their music became more complex, and they ventured far out of the mainstream. Have you heard "Revolver" or "The White Album" ? Do you know "Tomorrow Never Knows" or "A Day in the Life" or "Within You Withou You" or "I Want You" or "Happiness is a Warm Gun" or even "Hey Jude" (at the time the longest single ever released)....or even someting like "Revolution #9" ??? The amazing thing was that such challenging music WAS also massively successful (which is probably a comment on that era as opposed to the current day, where the biggest hits are usually the simplest, and where people think Nicki Manaj and Kanye West actually have talent....)

Did you really put Kanye West and Nicki Minaj in the same sentence? Kanye is really talented. Not sure he's a musical "genius" as some in the industry have said but there's no denying he's very creative.

EmmaMcG said:

In terms of influencing younger people to become musicians I think the Beatles had a big impact due to the fact they were VERY popular. They were everywhere so it stands to reason they influenced young people of the era. As for having a big impact on the sound of music that followed, I don't think they had THAT big an impact because a lot of music the Beatles did wasn't new or original so the young musicians at the time who were encouraged to get into music by The Beatles had their sound influenced by the black acts that influenced the Beatles. Unfortunately there was a lot of great black singers at the time doing this music who didn't get airplay precisely because they were black. The Beatles were fans of "black music" and when they did it, they were popular. I think had the world been more enlightened the black acts would have been more popular and the Beatles would have been seen as just another RockNroll band. As a side note, I must confess that having listened to every Beatles album, I really struggle to see what the big deal is. Honestly, I think they're one of the most overrated bands of all time. John Lennon and George Harrison was better solo.

I agree. I think it's obvious that their music helped define their generation but in terms of originality, their earlier music was basically copied from Little Richard, The Isley Brothers, etc. There are people in this thread (and of course in this country) who have a big problem with acknowledging this as fact. There's nothing wrong with the fact that they were fans of black music and of course no one can predict what will happen once a band is created and an album is released but it would be really silly to assume that the Beatles success wasn't a direct result of them copying black artists. There are a lot of music critics who have said the Beatles were overrated so you're not the only one who thinks that. I don't think the musical sound of the Beatles had the same longevity and cultural significance that music such as James Brown did. After all, James Brown's music gave birth to hip-hop. That's an entire genre of music influenced by James Brown. The Beatles didn't do that.

Shawy89 said:

Yes, anybody who says otherwise clearly has no idea how far these guys went...

They impacted the music as an art and as a form of entertainement.

Helter Skelter was probably the first "heavy metal" song even if it wasn't labeled as such at the time it was released.

Revolver, Sgt Pepper, Rubber Soul were albums that defined a whole era of music, let alone the fact that those albums saw The Beatles explore new heights musically, lyrically and sonically. (Even if The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds was essential in establishing that sound that was a hybrid of baroque music, psychedelic rock, chamber pop...etc, yet, The Beatles done it best)

Basically, when you talk about the 60's and the counterculture of the 60's, you had to talk about black people's rights movements, JFK's assassination, Cuban war, Moon landing AND The Beatles' arrival in America.

Good points but would you say that the Beatles impact was mostly within that generation alone though? What I am getting at is this....beyond the 60s and early 70s did the Beatles continue to impact music? Can you point to any modern artists of today that are clearly copying The Beatles? I can't think of any off hand. But, I can think of many artists of today who are still clearly influenced by Michael Jackson and I think 50 years from now there will still be artists influenced by Michael Jackson. I think when it comes to long term impact, there's no question that the Beatles can't touch Michael when it comes to that.

hausofmoi7 said:

I find it interesting to see which artists are popular and listened to in countries where there is censorship and where music marketing and hype does not reach the audience. In those places the Beatles are not so popular,listened to. Chris DeBurgh is huge in Iran. Michael Jackson still well received and huge without marketing.

It's interesting how some people in this thread are pretending like Michael's music and impact was above and beyond the Beatles....I wonder why.

SeventeenDayze said:

EmmaMcG said:

In terms of influencing younger people to become musicians I think the Beatles had a big impact due to the fact they were VERY popular. They were everywhere so it stands to reason they influenced young people of the era. As for having a big impact on the sound of music that followed, I don't think they had THAT big an impact because a lot of music the Beatles did wasn't new or original so the young musicians at the time who were encouraged to get into music by The Beatles had their sound influenced by the black acts that influenced the Beatles. Unfortunately there was a lot of great black singers at the time doing this music who didn't get airplay precisely because they were black. The Beatles were fans of "black music" and when they did it, they were popular. I think had the world been more enlightened the black acts would have been more popular and the Beatles would have been seen as just another RockNroll band. As a side note, I must confess that having listened to every Beatles album, I really struggle to see what the big deal is. Honestly, I think they're one of the most overrated bands of all time. John Lennon and George Harrison was better solo.

I agree. I think it's obvious that their music helped define their generation but in terms of originality, their earlier music was basically copied from Little Richard, The Isley Brothers, etc. There are people in this thread (and of course in this country) who have a big problem with acknowledging this as fact. There's nothing wrong with the fact that they were fans of black music and of course no one can predict what will happen once a band is created and an album is released but it would be really silly to assume that the Beatles success wasn't a direct result of them copying black artists. There are a lot of music critics who have said the Beatles were overrated so you're not the only one who thinks that. I don't think the musical sound of the Beatles had the same longevity and cultural significance that music such as James Brown did. After all, James Brown's music gave birth to hip-hop. That's an entire genre of music influenced by James Brown. The Beatles didn't do that.

: http://www.whosampled.com...pled/?sp=1

many hip hop groups have sampled the beatles recordings

Come Together (1969)

Eleanor Rigby (1966)

and many etceteras. check it out.

THE FIVE BEST SONGS THAT SAMPLE THE BEATLES

: http://www.houstonpress.c...es-6499083

1. Wu-Tang Clan, "The Heart Gently Weeps"

2. Beastie Boys, "The Sounds of Science"

3. RZA featuring Cilvaringz, "You'll Never Know"

4. Animal Collective, "Unsolved Mysteries"

5. MF Doom feat. MF Grimm, "Tick, Tick...

oh, and

<<-------- it will save you valuable time and embarassment.

SeventeenDayze said:

It's interesting how some people in this thread are pretending like Michael's music and impact was above and beyond the Beatles....I wonder why.

It's interesting that some people can constantly make up theories about a "Beyoncé conspiracy" but not write one sentence about why rock is seen by some blacks as "white music" in the USA.

MickyDolenz said:

SeventeenDayze said:

It's interesting how some people in this thread are pretending like Michael's music and impact was above and beyond the Beatles....I wonder why.

It's interesting that some people can constantly make up theories about a "Beyoncé conspiracy" but not write one sentence about why rock is seen by some blacks as "white music" in the USA.

You keep generalizing black people and I'm getting sick of it. Have you met all 33 million of us in this country? How many black rock artists aren't promoted by their label? How many black rock singers are out there doing this kind of music? You have no problem blaming black people for not "calling it black music" but you can sit here and DENY AND IGNORE that the Beatles routinely and repeatedly copied black music and it was the foundation of their success.

ask any artist within any form of music and chances r they mention the beatles...

SeventeenDayze said:

MickyDolenz said:

It's interesting that some people can constantly make up theories about a "Beyoncé conspiracy" but not write one sentence about why rock is seen by some blacks as "white music" in the USA.

You keep generalizing black people and I'm getting sick of it. Have you met all 33 million of us in this country? How many black rock artists aren't promoted by their label? How many black rock singers are out there doing this kind of music? You have no problem blaming black people for not "calling it black music" but you can sit here and DENY AND IGNORE that the Beatles routinely and repeatedly copied black music and it was the foundation of their success.

[Edited 2/20/16 11:04am]

MickyDolenz said:

SeventeenDayze said:

It's interesting how some people in this thread are pretending like Michael's music and impact was above and beyond the Beatles....I wonder why.

It's interesting that some people can constantly make up theories about a "Beyoncé conspiracy" but not write one sentence about why rock is seen by some blacks as "white music" in the USA.

^^^ This gif you post cracks me up every time.

woohoo

[Edited 2/20/16 11:29am]

SeventeenDayze said:

You keep generalizing black people and I'm getting sick of it. Have you met all 33 million of us in this country? How many black rock artists aren't promoted by their label? How many black rock singers are out there doing this kind of music? You have no problem blaming black people for not "calling it black music" but you can sit here and DENY AND IGNORE that the Beatles routinely and repeatedly copied black music and it was the foundation of their success.

Point out where I denied anything. If I know who one of The Beatles engineers is, then obviously I know about their influences. I mentioned in another thread that George Harrison & Paul McCartney were fans of ukuele player George Formby. I also made a thread about George remaking Got My Mind Set On You by soul singer James Ray and put both versions in it. I even said in this thread that Led Zeppelin was more known than Howlin' Wolf, one of the blues acts they actually copied from. Anyway, the race of rock bands are irrelevant. You can tell the generally popularity of an act by looking at the Billboard charts. Hootie and The Blowfish was a really popular group with a black singer, but they had little if any presence of the R&B chart. The kind of white acts that usually got big R&B hits were people like Hall & Oates, Average White Band, Wham!/George Michael, Teena Marie, & Michael McDonald, who were all R&B/soul/funk based. They were not rock or blues based like Stevie Ray Vaughn or Eric Clapton.

SeventeenDayze said:

I think with facebook and social media, the current & next generations will basically be aware of many legends in the making.

Take David Bowie for example, dude was only known in the UK & some parts of the US, his death made him more famous in many other countries..

NorthC said:

SeventeenDayze said:

Shawy89 said:

Yes, anybody who says otherwise clearly has no idea how far these guys went...

They impacted the music as an art and as a form of entertainement.

Helter Skelter was probably the first "heavy metal" song even if it wasn't labeled as such at the time it was released.

Revolver, Sgt Pepper, Rubber Soul were albums that defined a whole era of music, let alone the fact that those albums saw The Beatles explore new heights musically, lyrically and sonically. (Even if The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds was essential in establishing that sound that was a hybrid of baroque music, psychedelic rock, chamber pop...etc, yet, The Beatles done it best)

Basically, when you talk about the 60's and the counterculture of the 60's, you had to talk about black people's rights movements, JFK's assassination, Cuban war, Moon landing AND The Beatles' arrival in America.

Good points but would you say that the Beatles impact was mostly within that generation alone though? What I am getting at is this....beyond the 60s and early 70s did the Beatles continue to impact music? Can you point to any modern artists of today that are clearly copying The Beatles? I can't think of any off hand. But, I can think of many artists of today who are still clearly influenced by Michael Jackson and I think 50 years from now there will still be artists influenced by Michael Jackson. I think when it comes to long term impact, there's no question that the Beatles can't touch Michael when it comes to that.

Oh, Tame Impala is an australian band that is BASICALLY influenced by The Beatles, just take a listen to Canyons Sunrise Reprise and you'll see what I'm talkin about. Beach House, Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Coldplay..

Plus, MJ himself was influenced by The Beatles and was a big admirer of Paul McCartney (as you know Paul is arguably one of the first to ever sing pop as in the pop MJ sang). So is Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Dylan, The Eagles, David Bowie, The Police...etc. (Everyone I mentioned covered at least a song by The Beatles or has a song that is similar to something that was already done by them).

Shawy89 said:

duccichucka said:

when people approach a recording artist's album expecting to hear one grand and cohesive artistic statement as opposed to just a collection of singles, this is due to the Beatles and their approach to recording an album and using it as a veritable medium for {recording} art.

This post seems to have been forgotten, but it's the truth. Artists making albums that have any unifying themes (that includes R&B artists too) are influenced by the Beatles whether they realize it or not.