The Beatles were an English rock band from Liverpool that released twelve albums between 1963 and 1970. They had seventeen No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart and twenty No. 1’s on the US Billboard Hot 100. With global estimated sales of 600 million units, they are the biggest-selling musical act of all time. […]
Billy Preston (1946–2006) was an American R&B singer and keyboardist who released 24 albums between 1963 and 1986. After multiple teen-prodigy soul-jazz albums, his profile soared as a fifth Beatle on their 1969 hit “Get Back.” His fame peaked with the 1972–74 R&B crossover hits “Outa-Space,” “Will It Go Round in Circles,” “Space Race,” and […]
Paul McCartney (born June 18, 1942) is an English pop-rock singer, bassist, and songwriter from Liverpool who rose to fame as one-fourth of The Beatles, which he co-founded in 1959 with songwriting partner John Lennon. Between 1963 and 1969, they recorded eleven proper studio albums and spearheaded the British beat and psychedelic booms. McCartney debuted […]
Thought experiment: correlate each class of ’77 UK punk/new wave act to their class of ’64 British beat antecedent (or correlate the ’64 beat act to their ’77 doppelganger). I offered ten comparisons for consideration (A–J). Explore the parallels and similarities that distinguished each pair from their respective kin. Class of ’64 vs. Class of […]
Everyone knows the first British Invasion of 1964, spearheaded by The Beatles and codified as a movement by The Dave Clark Five. They opened the US charts to UK acts that ranged from Mersey-lite Northerners (Gerry & The Pacemakers, Herman’s Hermits, The Hollies, The Searchers, Freddie & The Dreamers) to rough/edgy Londoners (The Rolling Stones, […]
What did each of these albums bring to the table in rock’s transformation from Beat through psychedelia and the subsequent emergence of suite-driven symphonic progressive (Genesis, ELP, Yes) and orchestral pop (ELO, Alan Parsons Project, Klaatu). The period from 1966 to 1968 was a pivotal moment in rock history, as the “Beat” era of three-minute […]
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth proper UK studio album by English pop/rock foursome The Beatles, released in June 1967 on Parlophone/Capitol. Tracklist: A1. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (2:02) A2. “With a Little Help From My Friends” (2:44) A3. “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” (3:30) A4. “Getting Better” (2:49) […]
The Beatles is the ninth proper studio album by the The Beatles, released on November 22, 1968, on Apple Records. The album is alternately known as the “White Album” due to its nondescript white cover. Tracklist: A1. “Back in the U.S.S.R.” (2:45) A2. “Dear Prudence” (4:00) A3. “Glass Onion” (2:10) A4. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” (3:10) A5. […]
Abbey Road is the last-recorded but chronologically penultimate studio album in the Beatles catalog, released in 1969 on Apple Records. Tracklist: A1. “Come Together” (4:16) A2. “Something” (2:59) A3. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (3:24) A4. “Oh! Darling” (3:28) A5. “Octopus’s Garden” (2:49) A6. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” (7:49) B1. “Here Comes the Sun” (3:04) […]
