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Trying to summarise the legacy of The Beatles is like attempting to run a marathon with out coaching: it’s over earlier than it even begins. It turns into tempting to view the band as a standalone entity, neglecting to take into accounts the whole lot that got here earlier than and adopted after. According to Cat Stevens, nonetheless, that is the exact great thing about the phenomenon.
It’s tough to start out originally of The Beatles’ trajectory with out wanting on the shoulders on which the Fab Four stood. Prior to Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison’s revolutionary tackle rock ‘n’ roll, there have been many stars that pioneered separate areas, like rhythm and blues, folks, classical, pop, and numerous others.
Throughout the Fifties, the artists who hinted at an early iteration of the rock style had been those who infused it with all the sides that made rhythm and blues interesting. Although these sensibilities existed lengthy earlier than Elvis Presley commanded the highlight, these components had been symptomatic of the instances, with acts like Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and lots of extra forging a extra intrinsic reference to blues and rock that sounded extra upbeat and thrilling than ever earlier than.
This implies that the arrival of The Beatles marked a major turning level in well-liked music that drew collectively numerous genres, like blues and rock, leading to a sound that drew individuals from all walks of life. According to Cat Stevens, whereas some could view this as merely a repackaging of older, unique materials, that is what made The Beatles stand out.
During an interview with Gold Radio, the musician elaborated: “[The Beatles] were being fed by the blues. All the kinds of sounds that were coming across from the States, all the new singles that were coming into Liverpool port, they were listening to all of this stuff. I was listening to a lot of that stuff in the discothèques and R&B was just massive.”
He continued, explaining that The Beatles “combined that with the Mersey sound”, leading to “unbelievable” and “strong” music.
Discussing particular songs crafted by the Liverpool quartet, the musician factors to at least one particularly that prompted a notable explosion throughout the UK music scene. “I think ‘Twist and Shout’ broke all of the sound barriers when John [Lennon] broke that wall down,” Stevens mentioned. “And that was it, we were through.”
Deemed probably the most necessary rock singles in historical past, The Beatles’ model of ‘Twist and Shout’ was an important bridge between earlier rhythm and blues contributions and their new imaginative and prescient for modern rock ‘n’ roll. It additionally demonstrated a rawness to the band’s tackle well-liked music, offering a sure degree of simplicity and pleasure that got here to be emblematic of early ’60s tradition.
