Book contents
- The Beatles in Context
- Composers In Context
- The Beatles in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Part I Beatle People and Beatle Places
- Part II The Beatles in Performance
- Part III The Beatles on TV, Film, and the Internet
- Part IV The Beatles’ Sound
- Chapter 16 Abbey Road Studios
- Chapter 17 Producing Sound Pictures with Sir George Martin
- Chapter 18 Rock ’n’ Roll Music! The Beatles and the Rise of the Merseybeat
- Chapter 19 Positively Bob Dylan: The Beatles and the Folk Movement
- Chapter 20 “Listen to the Colour of Your Dreams”: The Beatles Writ Psychedelic
- Chapter 21 Getting Back
- Chapter 22 On the Record! (Dis)Covering the Beatles
- Part V The Beatles as Sociocultural and Political Touchstones
- Part VI The Beatles’ Critical Reception and Cultural Legacy
- Further Reading
- Index
Chapter 21 - Getting Back
from Part IV - The Beatles’ Sound
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2020
- The Beatles in Context
- Composers In Context
- The Beatles in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Part I Beatle People and Beatle Places
- Part II The Beatles in Performance
- Part III The Beatles on TV, Film, and the Internet
- Part IV The Beatles’ Sound
- Chapter 16 Abbey Road Studios
- Chapter 17 Producing Sound Pictures with Sir George Martin
- Chapter 18 Rock ’n’ Roll Music! The Beatles and the Rise of the Merseybeat
- Chapter 19 Positively Bob Dylan: The Beatles and the Folk Movement
- Chapter 20 “Listen to the Colour of Your Dreams”: The Beatles Writ Psychedelic
- Chapter 21 Getting Back
- Chapter 22 On the Record! (Dis)Covering the Beatles
- Part V The Beatles as Sociocultural and Political Touchstones
- Part VI The Beatles’ Critical Reception and Cultural Legacy
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
The Beatles – which is to say John Lennon and Paul McCartney – dabbled in songwriting individually, prior to their joining forces in the Quarry Men in 1957. Paul had famously composed a ditty called “I Lost My Little Girl,” a skiffle-styled number that may have been influenced by the recent death of his mother when he was fourteen. John less famously wrote a song of which no record exists, titled “Calypso Rock.” In both instances, the two aspiring tunesmiths employed current styles as models for their compositions. (Calypso, embodied by Harry Belafonte, was a popular musical style in the USA and UK, coinciding with the nascent – and more popular – skiffle and rock ’n’ roll eras.) It was quite natural for aspiring songwriters to draw upon styles of the day that drew their interest, distinct from the prevailing pop and jazz sounds.
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- The Beatles in Context , pp. 217 - 229Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020