The Beatles' American Pop Journey: 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' to 'Sgt. Pepper' - Prof. Jem, Study notes of Music

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Unit IV Readings and Lecture Schedule Available On WebCt Unit III Exam Grades Available Later Today Attendance will also be updated

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The American experience

 “I want to hold your hand” Released on Capitol before U.S. tour  Brian Epstein booked the Beatles in November 1963 for the February 1964 Ed Sullivan Show  Beatles got “top billing” on the show.  “I want to hold your hand” reached #1 on the U.S. charts just before they appeared on the Sullivan show!

The Beatles on Sullivan

 Meet the Beatles! Album released in U.S.  Replaced by The Beatles Second Album as #1 3 months later  English and American albums differed in title and included singles; however all went to #  The Beatles were the new Elvis.

The Beatles Music Develops

 Reinterpreted American Rock and Roll  Blended diverse American Styles and repackaged it as British Pop  1960‐1964 The Craftsman Years  A successful formula  Juvenilia‐teenage love tunes  Narrow stylistic range  1964‐1966 Transitional Years  More novel songwriting  Increasing Importance of lyrics  1966‐ Experimental Years

“Norwegian Wood”

 Songwriters: John Lennon, Primary  Paul McCartney (contributed to middle 8)  1965, Album Rubber Soul  First use of the Sitar in Rock and Roll (Harrison)  Influenced by Ravi Shankar  Pronounced change in character from earlier music  An acoustic ballad  Influenced by Bob Dylan  In ¾ time (rare for Beatles)

“Yesterday”

 Another example of new stylistic approaches  Written by Paul McCartney  Features chamber string accompaniment

Tomorrow Never Knows

An Illustration of Stylistc Development between 1964 and 1966 Lyrics by John Lennon, drawn from the the Tibetan Book of the Dead An early example of Psychedelic Music

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club

Band

 Increasingly Complex Lyrics  First Time Complete Lyrics are printed on album jacket  Stylistic Eclecticism  Perhaps the most influential album ever made  The ALBUM AS ARTFORM  One complete artistic production  The first “concept album”  With this recording they invented the concept of the concept album

What is the psychedelic

movement?

 In short, it was concerned with exploring new ways people could experience the world  Another expression of counterculture  The prevelance of Drugs  Marijuana  LSD  Viewed as the “magic pill” that led to” higher conciousness”  Coincided with ambitious approaches to songwriting and recording