The Beatles

One of the things in my (not-so) humble opinion that makes the Beatles so special— and that a lot of younger folk don’t quite understand— is that everything the Beatles did they did “without a net.” No one— repeat— NO ONE— had done what they did on the scale that they did it, before them.

What I mean is that most bands are derivative— you hear them, and you say, “Oh, they sound like the Allman Brothers,” or “They sound like “Aerosmith,” or even “They sound like the Beatles.” But with the Beatles— they actually didn’t sound like anyone before them, because no one had done what they did up to that point.

Sure, there were big acts before them, and we know that they inspired John Lennon and Paul McCartney: Elvis, Jerry Lee Louis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley— just to name a few. But they were not like the Beatles, with what they started as, and what they became. You could say that technically they “derived” from the music that came before them, but you would be hard-pressed to point to a specific act.

So next time you hear a “Boomer” talking

about the Beatles, add the above thought process into your mix, and you will come out of the discussion having shown respect to the most original band in rock-n-roll history.

© Ray Cattie