UK Pop in the 1960s

The Beatles
Most Influential band in pop music throughout the whole of britain, whose development linked to the changes of music taste in the 1960s. Instrumentation Vocals(John Lennon and Paul McCartney along with George Harrison and Ringo Starr), Backing Vocals from all the band members, Drums, Bass, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, 12 String Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Percussion, Sometimes included orchestral sections, electronic keyboards and experimental studio sounds.

Performance and Arrangement

Earlier songs in the career were based on Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues and Motown/ Soul Sounds It was an energetic and lively band creating those types of songs, with mainly sweet melodic tunes but less often they did rocky songs. The works later on throughout the Beatles career had diverse instrumentation, complex structures, and changing keys and time signatures. They also used SONIC EXPERIMENTATION- which recorded ambient sound of which they mixed in with the music. The recording of the arrangements used reverse tape which played sounds which had been recorded normally onto a tape and had literally just been reversed so you heard them the wrong way round. Also use of extreme reverb and delay settings and added phasing and flange effects. Instrumentation Vocals, Backing vocals, electric guitar, bass, drums, percussion; piano/keyboards, strings and horns at certain times.

Performance and Arrangement Largely influenced by the Chicago Blues and Chuck Berrys rock and roll guitar. Had raunchy vocals and blues-rock guitar which gave the songs a gritty hard sound. Verse-chorus-verse-bridge-solo song structure, though they have produced some more adventurous work at times. Key Facts and Terminology Rivals to The Beatles for the popularity in the mid to late 60s. Part of the British Invasion that enjoyed popularity in the USA at around that time.

Continued to write, record and perform successfully throughout the 1970s and 1980s and remain active today. Recordings

Released a huge number of albums, sometimes many in a year. Many were successful in reaching number one. Many highly acknowledged releases came in the late 1960s, throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. Successful Singles include in the 1960s:

1964: Its all over now, Time is on my side, Little Red Rooster 1965: The Last Time, Satisfaction, Get off my Cloud 1966: Lady Jane 1967: Lets Spend the Night Together Ruby Tuesday 1968: Jumpin Jack Flash 1969: Honky Tonk Woman

Some of The Beatles Albums

Please Please Me- The First Album (1963), With the Beatles (1963), A Hard Days Night(1964), BEATLES FOR SALE (1964), REVOLVER (1966), SGT. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), THE BEATLES or THE WHITE ALBUM (1968), ABBEY ROAD (1969).