The innovative music of the Beatles captured the love of millions and became one of the most influential music groups of all time, a musicologist told students Wednesday.
The band’s strikingly complex and meaningful lyrics simultaneously attracted scores of fans while pushing the boundaries of pop music, said musicologist and Boston University professor Jeremy Yudkin.
About 20 students and faculty gathered in Mugar Memorial Library’s Richards-Roosevelt room to learn more about the Beatles’ illustrious career.
The Beatles had 20 number one hit songs in the United States alone, while creating a fan base that spanned generations and countries, Yudkin said.
“The immense talent, perfect timing, hard work and captivating music of the Beatles made them an unstoppable force in the 1960s and beyond,” he said.
Yudkin argued that the Beatles were unique in the musical world, being one of the first pop groups to write their own music and enrich their compositions with new complexity and intensity.
“”Rubber Soul’ introduced themes of death and bitterness not present in their music before,” Yudkin said. “Songs like “Girl,’ written by John Lennon, set the album apart with lyrical sophistication and maturity.”
Listeners everywhere appreciate the quality of Beatles music, without needing to understand the unusual harmonic shifts and backbeats, Yudkin said.
“The reason a performance grabs you is because the performer really means it,” he said. “The Beatles also became popular due to their endearing qualities of camaraderie and cheekiness.”
Yudkin said nearly every song on “Please, Please Me” was recorded in one day, live and extraordinarily raw in comparison to today’s standards of production. The group soon stretched the sound of pop music with new techniques in production from their long-time producer George Martin and introduced new instrumentation, like the sitar.
He said the richness of the music scene increased in 1965, with artists such as the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, who influenced and were influenced by the Beatles.
The infamous relationship between Lennon and McCartney generated both intense rivalry and friendship, he said. McCartney’s musical style of optimism and buoyancy contrasted sharply with Lennon’s sardonic lyricism and more complex arrangements.
“As songwriters, the creative synergy between them was so productive,” Yudkin said. “But this kind of fame is deadly.”
The band members went their separate ways at the conclusion of the ’60s, freeing themselves from group fame but not the lure of music.
“It’s only really highly creative people who can only look forward and not back,” he said.
BU music librarian Holly Mockovak was one of many lecture attendees to reflect on the cultural phenomenon of their childhood.
“The Beatles were one of the few popular music experiences I sought out, and I loved them,” she said.
Exhibitions coordinator Perry Barton said he thought the discussion was a great tribute.
“The very first album I ever bought was “Meet the Beatles’,” he said.
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