Why DID the Beatles Get so Famous?

[Atshen]

Beatles threads always seem to turn into some kind of poop slinging fest...

'Cuz you know, writing good, catchy, timeless pop songs is sooooooooo easy...

 

[hrodbert696]

As far as luck goes; yes, there's such a thing as just being in the right place at the right time. But there's also such a thing as positioning yourself to be in the right place and time, and being able to capitalize on it and build from it when the lucky break comes. They weren't just sitting around twiddling their thumbs when suddenly the cosmos decided to put them in the spotlight, and they didn't sit in the spotlight twiddling their thumbs wondering how long it would last. There is an element of luck, where some get the break and some equally talented people don't, but it's not like it's merely random.

 

[ROGI]

IMHO lucky moments come and go all the time. If you work hard you'll get your moment. You just that you have to be smart enough to recognize it and be willing to do what it takes to make it.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

Same reasons anyone else does... right people, right place, right time, right circumstances, all lined up. There's a world of great musicians we never heard of, simply because those things didn't happen.

 

[MGR]

Not saying I endorse these videos, but they are another perspective on why they made it so huge.

 

[Richland123]

In addition to the many comments so far, The Beatles covered a wide variety of musical styles that appealed to a vast audience. They did rock songs, pop songs, country songs, ballads, off the wall songs, and more. After they achieved huge fame, they were able to get away with many experimental tunes as well as push the envelope both musically and technically. Since they were The Beatles, they received instant radio exposure for every single record they released. They bounced between musical styles on the same albums and from one single to the next. Their album tracks were just as well known as the singles. They also had many double sided hit singles. Of course, it sure did help that the songs were well written and produced; but, many were extremely different than anything else at the time. They achieved all of this in a very short time span as well. They went from Please, Please Me, I Want To Hold Your Hand, and She Loves you to Eleanor Rigby and Strawberry Fields Forever in a matter of a few years.

 

[GregC]

Few things on TB make me roll my eyes as much as when people slap the "boy band" label on the Beatles. They're clearly trying to drag them down to the level of the Backstreet Boys, Nsync, etc., which is preposterous. The latter groups were created largely by Lou Pearlman, who then set them up in houses and rehearsal spaces and taught them vocal parts and dance moves. Then they were shipped to Sweden, where Max Martin and his crew wrote (and played the backing tracks on) hit songs for them.

The Beatles, despite any nutty videos claiming otherwise , were essentially a self-realized band. They formed a group by themselves (though management did play a role in the sacking of Pete Best in favor of Ringo), honed their chops through years of hard work in dives, wrote their own songs, and played their own instruments. Does that really sound like a boy band?

 

[shoulderpet]

Because they were innovators, they had ideas that were ahead of their time.
The following is just a small list

Helter skelter - heavier than pretty much anything else around at the time

Tomorrow never knows - use of tape loops, some played backwards, uncommon at the time, Lennons voice recorded through a rotating organ speaker to get its vocal effect

Strawberry fields forever - use of reverse recorded instrumentation and tape loops and was created from the editing together of two separate versions of the song

A day in the life - 40 piece orchestra , 4 different recordings of which were overdubbed into a crescendo

There loads more examples i could give but alas my time is limited

 

[wrench45us]

The point about the drivel that was on the radio at the time cannot be overstated.
It was a very fresh and lively sound -- and those early records still sound pretty fresh.

and to the point immediately above -- they covered a very wide range -- the Beatles at the BBC was a revelation to me of just what a terrific cover band they were.
everything from gritty R'n'b to Broadway 'till there was you'

Playing all those styles soaked a lot of changes and songcraft into them -- esp playing 4 sets a night
and then they had the good fortune to work with George Martin

 

[MegaSwing]

In addition to being seasoned and road-tested performers at the time of their initial blast to stardom, the band sported not one, not two, but three of the best songwriters ever in the business. It was a perfect storm of nature, nurture, and opportunity.

 

[JMacBass65]

1 - timing
2 - talent

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

They had a bass player who broke ground with his use of melody, drive and harmony when playing. The lead guitar player was spot on and creative. The rhythm guitar player was the best in the business, and the drummer had the best sense of taste.

 

[shoulderpet]

They had a bass player who broke ground with his use of melody, drive and harmony when playing. The lead guitar player was spot on and creative. The rhythm guitar player was the best in the business, and the drummer had the best sense of taste.

Agreed on all the points above

 

[Snaxster]

1961. Go have a look around 1961, and see if you can find anything like this:



The Beatles got famous because they had a "new" sound, and it just so happened to be the sound the rock and roll world was looking for.

1961 Was the year Elvis did "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" Roy Orbison did "Cryin'," Gary U.S. Bonds did "Quarter to Three," and Patsy Cline did "I Fall to Pieces." The only "rock and roll" songs on the top 100 were "Runaround Sue," (Dion,) "Runaway," (Del Shannon," and "Little Sister," (Elvis.) While all of those songs are good rock and roll, they feel a lot like '50's rock and roll, and not like something new.

"My Bonnie" was a collaboration between the Beatles and a guy they had been performing with in Hamburg, Tony Sheridan. The recording was:

Tony Sheridan: vocals, lead guitar
John Lennon: backing vocals, rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: backing vocals, bass
George Harrison: backing vocals, lead guitar
Pete Best: drums


Harrison performed lead guitar on the recording, although Sheridan played the solo, which was later spliced in from a different take. Two edit pieces were also taped for the introduction, in English and German - the translation was by Bernd Bertie.

Following the recording, the group - minus Sheridan - recorded two songs of their own choosing: Ain't She Sweet and Cry For A Shadow.

Ain't she sweet has a great vocal by John Lennon, and a very definite sixties groove by the band.



Cry for a Shadow is the only credited Lennon/Harrison composition; a fairly cool instrumental, that again sounds little like the music of the time.



McCartney tells the story of what "My Bonnie" did for the then-struggling Beatles:

"A kid had gone into Brian's record store and asked for My Bonnie by The Beatles. Brian had said, 'No it's not, it's by Tony Sheridan,' and he ordered it. Then Brian heard that we were playing 200 yards away. So he came to the Cavern and the news got to us: 'Brian Epstein is in the audience - he might be a manager or a promoter. He is a grown-up, anyway.' It was Us and Grown-ups then." ~Paul McCartney.

John was 20 years old; Paul had just turned 19; and George was 18. Ringo was not in the band yet, and at the time, the Beatles had been playing out live music for four years; and for most of that year, and the previous, had been playing almost nightly, sometimes doing marathon gigs that went on for many hours.

Epstein packaged them, made the right connections, and got them on the radio, but if you look at their song output, it was more than Epstein that got them so big.

When "Please Please me" was released in March of 1963, it had Lennon/McCartney compositions "I Saw Her Standing There," "Please Please me," "Love me do," and their energetic cover version of "Twist and Shout." What else was going on in March of 1963 that had that sound?

By the end of that year, there would be all kinds of copycat bands, some forgettable; some genuinely good; some of which who had been the Beatles' contemporaries in the Mersey Beat scene; but none that would do what the Beatles did so easily: stayed slightly ahead of almost every single musical trend that would come for the rest of the decade.

So my Exhibit A for why the Beatles got so famous is "My Bonnie."

Feel free to expand.

It was because they

• stole from the best
• were great songwriters
• were hardworking and disciplined
• met and worked well with George Martin
• were in the right place at the right time.

 

[MegaSwing]

It's all a big ball of Wow!, really.

I remember Sir George Martin saying in an interview that had he known that Decca had just rejected them he would have not auditioned them.

 

[Marial]

Lennon and McCartney were pretty much the Rogers and Hammerstein of their time and genre. There were many things that helped them achieve the success they achieved, but great songs is the biggest reason.

 

[pedroims]

Great marketing and talent ( good product). Key components in order to be successful with the masses. Not only they wrote excellent music but they also knew how to sell it and sell themselves.

 

[tinman 1967]

My next door neighbor is from Liverpool originally, his uncle, he's about 75 or so , still lives there. He periodically comes to NY to visit. I asked him one time if he had ever seen them. Turns out that he saw them dozens of times. He also told me that they were the loudest hard driving most talented bar band he had ever seen. He knew that they were something really special even before they made it big ! He said. "Who knew what was about to happen?" But he was not surprised...

 

[SirMjac28]

Because of this game other than that I have no idea?.

 

[Michedelic]

There was a whole solar system of planets lined up perfectly for them to have happened they way they did, which is not to say that they didn't bring innate talent, songwriting smarts, charisma, and quirky/exotic personalities to the table. With their European perspective, they were on the outside looking in at all aspects of American pop culture, which the burgeoning teen populations all over the media-touched world were looking to for inspiration and entertainment. America, ironically, was too hung up with cultural/racial/political/religious problems to allow an atmosphere where musical artists, especially in the 'show-biz' sector, could combine diverse musical influences in their work(also, most singer-personalities at that time were not writing their own material). The Beatles were quite adept in mashing-up, sometimes all within one song, Chuck Berry guitars, girl-group backing vocals, Everly Brothers harmonies(that could be traced back to Appalachia), Celtic-influenced chord changes, with a dash of Bacharach style adult pop sensibility, powered by Ringo's blustering beat, which seemed to have traces of Latin and Big Band elements, but was far more driving. In the UK they were a hit as they were first original home-grown British rock'n'roll(Cliff Richards and his contemporaries were Elvis wannabe's; The Shadows, while I don't know how close in development they were to the Ventures, were only an instrumental band getting inspiration from Yanks like Johnny and the Hurricanes and Link Wray, perhaps a bit from Dick Dale). In America(and I'm surprised that it hasn't been pointed out yet)when they hit, they were an emotional release, lifting kids up out of the two-month plus bum trip of the JFK assassination aftermath, not to mention offering a fresh alternative to the sad, watered down stale dreck that "rock'n'roll" had become(sure, Motown was just developing, Brill Building pop was at it's peak, surf music was all the rage, but any of that was doomed to run out of steam before too long). The Fabs certainly cleaned house on all the greasy Philly Bobbies and Frankies.