McCartney covered “That’s Alright (Mama),” (on a BBC radio show on July 2nd, 1963) but The Beatles covered far more songs from black groups to showcase on their LPs. While Elvis Presley and Eddie Cochran no doubt influenced The Beatles, the boys from Liverpool were just as much – if not more – appreciative of black artists like Chuck Berry, Arthur Alexander, and Barrett Strong.
They would spend hours in future manager Brian Epstein’s North End Music Store – what they affectionately called NEMS – not to buy records, but to absorb all music had to offer.Įarly rock and roll was largely “race music” – gritty and visceral – often only a few steps removed from blues numbers that had traveled up the Mississippi Delta. Records from the United States passed from seaman to teenager, and this old fashioned form of exposure transformed The Beatles from music starved teenagers to record store rapscallions. They were just four lads from Liverpool, albeit with tremendous interest in music, an interest which the port city more than ably supplied. Integral to The Beatles’ success was the sheer amount of music they played before they even made it big – from dancehalls in Britain to seedy nightclubs in Hamburg, armed with the advantage of playing little known numbers from “race music.”
However, it’s perhaps most important that they always had their own particular identity.
Yes, they were incredibly creative, fully embraced technical innovations, and managed to propel popular music into a more advanced form. The Beatles are often given the label of saving rock and roll, and usually for overblown reasons.