Contributions of The Beatles!


The Beatles were...

1.) One of the first bands to give credit to their major influences ie.
Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Eddie Cochrane, etc.

2.) The first major band to use the trio of guitars; lead, rythem, and bass
along with drums.

3.) The first band to wear their hair below their ears, hardly ever cutting it
they made long hair among men popular all over the world.

4.) The first band to incorporate woodwind instruments, violins, and
symphony orchestras into their music.

5.) The first band to have all positions in the top ten filled with their songs at one time.

6.) The first Rock and Roll band to have over 50,000 fans attend a single concert.

7.) The first Rock and Roll band to incorporate exotic instuments, such as the sitar, into their recordings.

8.) The first band to record all the words to their songs on the back of an album cover.

9.) The first band to allow each of its members to sing lead on any given song.

10.) The Beatles made facial hair popular among Rock and Roll musicians and young men everywhere.

11.) The Beatles, along with their producer, George Martin, did away with the long outdated 4-track
recording techniques and introduced higher track recording than had ever been attempted before.
These recording techniques are still used to this day and was a major development in sound recording.
Until then, recording of music was essentially a performance recorded on tape. The Beatles made
it possible to record each sound seperately and then combine them on one single format.

12.) The Beatles introduced "Psychedelic" and "Acid" Rock and by doing so, influenced fashion, music, and
lifestyle everywhere, forever changing how we dress and think.

13.) The Beatles were the first to introduce backward tracking on a song called, "Rain". This was way before
Jimi Hendrix ever thought about it!

14.) The Beatles created the first music videos ie. Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane which were called,
"Promotional Films".

15.) The Beatles were the first band to include posters and cut-outs with their albums.

16.) The Beatles produced the first double album ever released by a Rock and Roll band or anyone for that matter.
"The White Album"

17.) The Beatles were the first to produce a vinyl LP that was not "Black". "The White Album" officially titled,
"The Beatles" was produced originally on "white" vinyl.

18.) The Beatles were the first Rock and Roll band whos members composed over 90% of their material themselves.
At a time when most musical groups had record company composers write their material. Because of this,
most groups write their own material to this day.

19.) The Beatles wrote The Rolling Stones VERY FIRST Number #1 hit, "I wanna be your man."!

20.) The Beatles were the first band to create their own record company,

"Apple Records".

21.) The Beatles were the first band to publicize their belief in the legalization of marijuana.

22.) The Beatles were the first band to openly experiment with LSD.

23.) The Beatles were the first band to have some of its members arrested for
Drug possession.

24.) The Beatles were the first band to openly experiment with alternative
forms of religion such as "Indian Mysticism" and "Transcendental Meditation.

25.) The Beatles were the first band to publicly denounce certain forms of Religion.

26.) The Beatles were the first Rock Band to produce a full length, animated film
featuring themselves. "Yellow Submarine".

27.) The Beatles were the first band to incorporate odd sounds, gibberish, and non-sensical
phrases into their recordings.

28.) The FIRST true HEAVY METAL recording was "HELTER SKELTER" found on "The White Album",
influencing such future artists as Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Tyler of Aerosmith, and Axl Rose
of Guns -N- Roses. Unfortunately, it also influenced CHARLES MANSON during the
HELTER SKELTER murders.

29.) The first song over 4 minutes long to ever be played on the radio was "Hey Jude".
Previously, Radio Stations would not play a song if it was over 3.5 minutes in length
without severly shortening them.

30.) The Beatles were the first band to speak out against the Vietnam War. Although it's
not widely known, it was John Lennon who coined the phrases,"Make Love, Not War" and
"Give Peace A Chance". The latter is actually a song title.

31.) The Beatles were the first musical group to be honored by it's
nation with that nation's highest award.
The MBE,
"The Most excellent order of the British Empire" was awarded to all four
Beatles but, John Lennon returned his to protest Britain's involvement in the Vietnam conflict.

32.) The Beatles were the first Rock and Roll band to ever break up by having to go to court to legally
sever business relations from each other. "I WANT A DIVORCE!", John Lennon proclaimed.


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