The British Invasion: The Beatles and the Stones

            During the rise of the counterculture of the 1960’s, rock groups from England looked across the sea for success in America.  Among these groups of the “British Invasion,” were both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  Both the Beatles and the Stones were groups who had established themselves in their home country of England before "invading" the United States.  Both groups had their roots in African American blues mainstreamed into popular music by 1950’s rock and rollers such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Buddy Holly.  In addition, both groups were instrumental in bringing rock music to the rise of the counterculture in the mid to late 1960’s.  However, that is where the similarities end.   

            The Beatles were a musically and artistically talented group of working class boys from Liverpool.  Instability existed in the lives of both John Lennon and Paul McCartney from an early age.  Lennon’s father disappeared when he was young, so he was shuffled off to live with an aunt because his mother’s waitress job did not provide enough stability to raise young John.   John was just a teen when she died which permanently affected his life.  John had anger issues having been abandoned by both of his parents at a young age but the circumstances helped him creatively display his emotions through his music.  McCartney’s mother also died when he was a teenager, but Paul’s home life was more stable than that of the Lennon family.  Paul was more concerned with the loss of income when his mother died than the emotional loss that John felt.

            The Beatles’ early music, although synthesized from the American rock and rollers of the fifties, stressed simple lyrics and enhanced vocal harmonies.   Although they covered American artists, they were able to add their own sound, changing the cover to interpret it with their own spin.  They also achieved success with their own compositions as all members of the Beatles were very creatively artistic.  Beatles music re-energized American rock music after the lull experienced by the loss of Elvis to the Army, Chuck Berry to prison, Little Richard to the seminary, and Buddy Holly to his early and tragic death.  The Beatles' music was happy, hopeful, simple, and fun in a time when America was mourning the death of President John F. Kennedy.  The Beatles emphasized love and hope when it was needed most.  Furthermore, the Beatles were quite seasoned professionals by the time they entered the American mainstream music scene, having toured England, Sweden, and Germany.  The Beatles had extraordinary management with Brian Epstein promoting their entry into the United States, causing a pop explosion known as Beatlemania, making the transition into the American music scene a smooth and successful one.

         The Rolling Stones, on the other hand, were from the middle class section of London and were afforded better upbringings including time at University for most of the members.  The Stones formed after the Beatles and were arguably not as talented in their early years.  They did not perform any of their own compositions not yet having developed a style of their own.  The Stones made their mark on London by copying the style of American blues artists, actually imitating them rather than creatively infusing the black blues into their own style.  They were also not as successful as the Beatles in Europe, mainly staying in London’s club scene and not venturing out into the touring circuit that encompassed the Beatles' success.  The Stones also lacked the managerial and promotional talents that Brian Epstein had afforded the Beatles and thus their first introduction into American mainstream music was a failure.  Their management was smart enough to assess the damage and creatively re-image the Stones as an anti-Beatles group turning them into the “bad boys” of rock music.  This image appealed to the teens’ rebellion against parental authority which was a main theme in the arising counterculture.  The Stones also infused their male chauvinistic attitudes into their music, especially appealing to the teen males.  Mick Jagger and Keith Richards did eventually compose songs for the Stones, which were drastically more successful than their earlier attempts at covers, and they kept these themes  of rebellion and chauvinism within their songs.  Although not as commercial as the Beatles, the Stones were instrumental in bringing the blues sound back to American music and the Stones songs became anthems of the counterculture movement in the 1960’s.

          Both the Rolling Stones and the Beatles were great bands of their time for different reasons.  The Beatles were commercially appealing and very successful in their American invasion bringing rock back into American music and hope back into the lives of the American youth after the tragedies of 1963.  The Stones were instrumental in vocalizing the themes of the counterculture through their music.  Both groups were influenced by the psychedelic sounds of the drug culture in the later 1960’s and both groups were able to grow musically as needed to continue their success.   It is unfortunate that the Beatles were so talented individually that they could no longer work artistically as group and broke up in 1970.  Ironically, the Beatles break-up coincided with the end of the decade, and the end of the counterculture. The Beatles break-up appropriately signified the end of an era.