The Beatles :: Essay on The Beatles

The Beatles were an extremely popular and influential group in Rock n' Roll. My question is, "Why?" What drew thousands upon thousands of screaming fans to these four British musicians? Was it something in the sound of the instruments? Could it have been the bass beat, or maybe the guitar playing? What about their lyrics? They had a certain personality, too. Was that it? Let's look at each of these, and some other factors as well. What is the first thing you wonder when you hear something new on the radio? You wonder who sings it. The first thing you see when you pick up an album is who sings or performs it. Hmm? This suggests the power of a catchy title. Something out of the ordinary to catch the eye. Something misspelled, perhaps? The Beetles? No, The Beatles. What's in their name? In the words of Beatle John Lennon, "when you hear it, the name is little crawly things. When you see it, it's"beat" music." I think that's quite attractive to a record store browser, don't you? Of course, another thing that could catch a browsing customer would be the pictures on the album. The fronts of record albums are versatile that way because one can fit a lot on them. I have looked at the images on a few Beatles' records and, I must say, they are rather attractive and flashy. One particular cover that I was able to view is an album that went unreleased due to its picture. On the cover there is a photograph of The Beatles in a butcher shop with carcasses hanging around them; it certainly caught the eye. On another album, the boys were all dressed up in Spanish bullfighter uniforms that were gaudy enough to catch the eye of a blind man. The sounds that the ear hears in a song are without a doubt important to the person's opinion of that song. To examine the sound of the instruments, I played the Anthology music through a stereo with adjustable graphic equalizers. On a few songs, I isolated the bass, and therefore the bass beat, then the treble, which includes vocals and guitar, and finally, the background, which is mostly Ringo's drums. The first thing I noticed was a particularly catchy beat. It was generally quick and moderately heavy. This would seem to be easy to dance, or toe tap, to. I also listened intently to the guitar throughout the songs, especially the guitar solos. George Harrison plays solos in "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Money", that sound quick and surge forth with an ear catching sound.