walking upstream…
The Beatles
sourcesWikipedia
Four lads from Liverpool absorbed American rock and roll, girl-group pop, and music-hall whimsy and handed the world back something unrecognizably new every eighteen months. Lennon and McCartney's songwriting partnership set the template for pop composition itself, while the band's restless studio experimentation rewired what a rock record could sound like. There is scarcely a corner of popular music since 1963 that doesn't carry their fingerprints.
the sound in question
1963
I Want to Hold Your HandThe Beatles
walk the tributaries ↓
Chuck Berry1950s · Rock and roll / Rhythm and blues
The Beatles played at least fifteen different Chuck Berry songs in their early live sets, and Lennon called him a rock and roll poet — Berry's rhythmic guitar language is baked into their earliest original songs.
listen: upstream & here
1958
Johnny B. GoodeChuck Berry
1963
I Saw Her Standing ThereThe Beatles
listen forListen to Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" next to the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" — McCartney has said he lifted that song's opening bassline straight from a Chuck Berry record, and you can hear the same rolling, insistent rhythm underneath both.
Little Richard1950s · Rock and roll / R&B
Paul McCartney built his rock-and-roll screaming voice on Little Richard's records, and that gospel-honed shriek became one of the Beatles' signature vocal tricks whenever they wanted to cut loose.
listen: upstream & here
1955
Tutti FruttiLittle Richard
1965
I'm DownThe Beatles
listen forPlay Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" next to the Beatles' "I'm Down" — that's McCartney doing his best Little Richard holler, chasing the same wild, unrestrained energy over a pounding piano-rock groove.
Buddy Holly1950s · Rock and roll / Rockabilly / Pop
The band's very name nods to Buddy Holly's Crickets, and McCartney has said Holly is why he and Lennon started writing their own songs in the first place rather than just performing other people's.
listen: upstream & here
1957
That'll Be the DayBuddy Holly
1962
P.S. I Love YouThe Beatles
listen forCompare Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day" with the Beatles' "P.S. I Love You" — both favor plain-spoken, hook-driven verses over a light, economical guitar-band arrangement, the self-contained songwriting model Holly pioneered and the Beatles ran with.