And to take this down a whole new demented road of pointless internet arguing, let me give you music school experts a little perspective...
I never cared for Frank Sinatra. When I was younger, I thought he was some old irrelevant lounge singer who got lucky. But as I studied the history of music, I realized just how much of an impact this old irrelevant lounge singer had on music and culture. Before he came along, big band singers were called the "boy singer" or "girl singer." They would meekly go up to the mic, sing their little song, and sit down while the band played an instrumental. The conductor was the big cheese, and the singer could have been anyone who could carry a tune because they were there to see the conductor and his band.
But Frank took over the stage like nobody before him. He had a charisma that was undeniable, and when he went up to sing his little song, you couldn't watch anything but him. It wasn't long before the singers started doing what he did and became the focus, not the conductor. And he was one of the very first high profile white singers to work with and sing songs written by black musicians, and through him, white people in America were introduced to the concept of cool that would never have heard of it otherwise, and his acceptance of them went a long way toward white America's growing acceptance of people other than themselves. So while I still think of him as a good but not great singer (I'm more of a Tony Bennett fan), there's no denying the huge musical and cultural impact the man had.
Same with the Beatles. They took all their favorite influences (including Frank Sinatra) and mixed them into a music totally unlike anything ever heard before. It had elements of all of it, but when it was poppy, it still rocked hard (for its day). Listen to huge pop acts right before the Beatles like Fabian and Bobby Rydell and see if they even came close. And they were the first band to have the musicians as personalities. In all other bands before, there was one member focused on and the rest were sidemen. But the Beatles were the first band you knew the drummer's name as readily as the lead singer's. And take a look at all the rock and pop music that's come since and you'll see a lot of roots back to the Beatles to this day. You'll see a lot of roots to Frank Sinatra, too. Sure, there are lots of other influences out there, but the hugeness of the Beatles and Frank Sinatra can't be denied, just like the influence of Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Chuck Berry, and the musicians of Motown can't be denied.
This little personal insight may not mean anything to you all right now, but in the future, when you decide to get past the "I don't like it so it can't be important" stage and look a little deeper into it, and you start to realize the impact the Beatles had, I hope you send me a thank-you note
Great post and +1. Sinatra also had a HUGE impact on jazz instrumental soloists, since his phrasing and delivery were so unique.
Just as the young guys typically fail to see the 'big deal' with some of this old stuff, as an older guy, I try to work very hard to appreciate, understand, and incorporate the newer stuff that's out now that I don't particularly care for (all the different versions of rap, hip hop, etc., for example).
It's good to look back a bit if you are a player starting out, and to also force yourself to 'understand' and incorporate the stuff going on now if you are an older coot like me but still trying to work and stay relevant as a side-man in the business!
