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Chapter 6
The British Invasion (1964-1966)
Outline
I. Musical roots in Britain
a. Skiffle music
i. Artist Lonnie Donegan
II. The Beatles
a. Liverpool, England
b. The Merseybeat style
c. Early success factors
i. The Hamburg experience
ii. The Cavern Club appearances
iii. Mersey Beat newspaper
iv. The Ed Sullivan Show
v. Manager Brian Epstein
vi. Producer George Martin
vii. Their personal good humor and charm
viii. A sudden string of international hit singles
III. Beatles Producer George Martin
a. Studied classical music
b. Assistant head of EMI subsidiary, Parlophone Records
c. Became, at 28, the youngest head ever of an EMI label
d. First producer to be awarded knighthood by the British Crown
IV. Beatles success in the U.S.
a. Promotion
i. The Beatlemania phenomenon
b. Albums
c. TV appearances
d. Film, A Hard Days Night
e. Concert tour
V. The Rolling Stones
a. Bad boys
b. Success factors
i. Manager Andrew Loog Oldham
ii. Image and notoriety
iii. #1 hit single, “I Can’t get No Satisfaction”
VI. Contrasting musical styles
a. The Beatles
b. The Rolling Stones
c. Maturing styles
VII. The Kinks
a. Power chord
b. Distortion guitar
i. Precursor of heavy metal
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VIII. The Who
a. London gangs provide identity models
i. Mods and Rockers
b. Onstage destruction of instruments
c. Limited U.K. and U.S. chart success
d. Tommy—1969 rock opera
i. First rock and roll band ever to perform at the Metropolitan Opera
House in New York
IX. Other popular British groups
a. The Animals
b. Herman’s Hermits
c. The Zombies
d. The Yardbirds
i. Starting point for guitarists Beck, Clapton, and Page
X. Popular individual performers
a. Petula Clark
b. Dusty Springfield
c. Donovan
XI. Elements of U.S. antipathy to the British invasion
a. Some failed to grasp irony
i. John Lennon’s Christianity remark
ii. Rolling Stones’ contrived bad boy image
b. Kinks banned for four years by the AF of M
c. Some critics ‘hijacked’ information to support an agenda
XII. Post-Invasion American bands
a. Gary Lewis and the Playboys
b. Paul Revere and the Raiders
c. The Monkees
XIII. The end of the British Invasion
a. 1967, the Summer of Love
i. an Anglo-American musical blend
Suggested Activity
1. Skiffle; British folk/pop music. Lonnie Donegan’s skiffle music is Dixieland jazz–
based rather than folk-based. His rhythms are faster and the musicianship is a bit more
advanced than folk music. Folk music is typically sung to guitar accompaniment. Skiffle
adds drums. Compare Guthrie’s “Do Re Mi” to “Rock Island Line” by Donegan. The
young members of the Beatles began their performing careers in skiffle bands.
2. VIDEO: View excerpts from “A Hard Days Night”—this black and white,
documentary-style film provides an excellent introduction to the Beatles early in their
career.
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3. The Beatles. Important pieces fit together to make an effective team: Manager Brian
Epstein, producer George Martin, and important appearances on American TV on the Ed
Sullivan Show. Additionally, the band members, when challenged by Martin, began
writing better songs. SEE: Suggested Listening; all three of the songs demonstrate the
Beatles’ attention to writing beautiful melodic lines.
4. The Rolling Stones. SEE; Suggested Listening. “Fade Away” and “Carol” are lively
covers of American songs. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was their self-written
breakthrough. It established a formula that they use to this day: a guitar riff introduces the
song, then the drums enter, then the vocal begins.
5. The Who’s rock opera Tommy caused a lot of excitement. But their sound was
established earlier by their signature, “My Generation.” The stuttered vocal is a subtle,
insider reference to the speech of a gang member who had taken too many illicit uppers.
Turning the rock group format on its head, the lead breaks are played by bassist John
Entwhistle instead of the guitar. The thrashing drumming style of Keith Moon is very
busy but surprisingly fitting. Guitarist Pete Townshend plays guitar in a rhythm role and
so avoids getting in the way of the other players. The onstage destruction of instruments
began innocently, then became a feature of their shows. Art college graduate Townshend
considered it ‘performance art.’
Chapter 6 – Suggested Listening
Artist
Song / iTunes Preview
Representative Style
Lonnie Donegan
“Rock Island Line”
Skiffle, a popular British
folk music style; early
Beatles
Beatles
“She Loves You”
Early hit
“I Want to Hold Your
Hand”
Early hit
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“A Hard Days Night”
Title song of their feature
film
Rolling Stones
“Not Fade Away”
Covers of American R&B
on their early albums
“Carol”
“I Can’t Get No
Satisfaction”
Written by Jagger/Richards
Kinks
“You Really Got Me”
One of the first uses of
power chords, later a heavy
metal staple
The Who
“My Generation”
Early hit; addresses British
teen identity and peer
pressure
Herman’s Hermits
“I’m Into Something Good”
Pop variant of British
invasion style
The Zombies
“Time of the Season”
Pop/rock style
The Yardbirds
“Over Under Sideways
Down”
Scorching lead guitar by
young Jimmy Page (Led
Zeppelin)
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Petula Clark
“Downtown”
Brit Pop for mainstream
consumption
Dusty Springfield
“Son of a Preacher Man”
Near-sighted English girl
with a stunningly soulful
voice
Donovan
“Sunshine Superman”
An authentic artist; his
collaboration with producer
Mickey Most yielded
several hits
“Mellow Yellow”
Paul Revere and the Raiders
“Kicks”
Gimmicky Revolutionary
War soldier costumes and
onstage comedy; Dick
Clark Productions tours
The Monkees
“Last Train to Clarksville”
An effort to re-create the
Beatles in a boardroom;
solid songs by Boyce and
Hart; hit comedy TV series