We have so much for which we should thank The Beatles that it’s impossible to narrow it down to one thing. How about we start with the notion that popular music might be a much duller construct without them? Because they restlessly pushed ahead instead of settling for what they’d previously done, they shattered all the boundaries of what listeners could expect.
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Let’s focus on five times when The Beatles discovered and/or created innovations they then added to their tracks, and marvel at just how fearless they were.
The Fade-Up in “Eight Days a Week”
This track was originally considered as a song for The Beatles’ second film (originally titled Eight Arms to Hold You before being changed to Help!). On the surface, it’s a pretty straightforward up-tempo rocker which utilized one of Ringo Starr‘s unorthodox idioms for a title. But the band decided that they’d do something a little different to start the song. Instead of just kicking into the music at full volume like most songs did, they instead faded up the intro, reversing the process of a fade-out at song’s end. It made the moment when John Lennon tears into the lyrics that much more exciting.
The Feedback in “I Feel Fine”
In some cases, the innovations The Beatles utilized in their songs were happy accidents. But they deserve credit for being fearless enough to include them. In the case of “I Feel Fine,” the song easily could have begun with George Harrison‘s rockabilly-style guitar riff. But while the band was recording, someone accidentally leaned one of their guitars against a live amp, creating a squall of feedback that shocked and intrigued them. They asked producer George Martin if he could help them recreate something like that for the opening of the song. It probably wasn’t the first time feedback was utilized in a rock song, but it certainly brought the practice to the mainstream.
The String Quartet in “Yesterday”
Paul McCartney has often told the story about how he dreamed the music to “Yesterday” and had to be convinced that he hadn’t stolen the melody from another song. Once he decided to proceed with the track, he needed lyrics, since his placeholders were based on the very unromantic title “Scrambled Eggs.” Finally, after settling on the regretful words, he brought it in for recording. Producer Martin couldn’t imagine this delicate song being recorded with electric guitars and drums. It was decided that McCartney on acoustic guitar and vocal would be backed with a string quartet, a decision that indirectly opened the floodgates to rock musicians adding classical instrumentation to their songs.
The Backwards Vocals on “Rain”
Released in 1966, “Rain” usually ranks extremely high when people list the finest Beatle B-Sides. Featuring a cool psychedelic vibe and incredible drumming by Starr, the song benefits from the group’s spirit of experimentation. For one, they played the rhythm track at a blistering pace, then had it slowed down in the studio, creating a kind of stretched-out effect. Even more notable was the appearance of what must have sounded at the time like gibberish Lennon lyrics, which were actually his vocals from a different part of the track played backwards. A few years down the road, many Fab Four fans purposely played the records backward looking for hidden messages, but that’s a whole other story.
The Tape Loops on “Tomorrow Never Knows”
When you think of The Beatles’ recording innovations, it’s important to remember that they did them all without the help of digital processing. Everything was done manually, which makes the wild melange of sounds found on songs like “Tomorrow Never Knows” even more impressive. At one point in the song, there appears to be a gaggle of maniacal birds swooping down to peck the track to death. This effect was created by McCartney adding different tape loops and then manipulating them in the mixing process. The Beatles would use tape loops a few more times in their career, most notably with the circus sounds on “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”
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