We know the Beatles were in many pioneering the music industry they were in and a lot of the contemporary artists would look to them to see what was the newest thing in music.
Can we name all the ‘firsts’ that the Beatles came up with or strongly associated with?
I’ve heard they were the first rock/pop act that literally had to stop touring, in that their albums became impossible to reproduce live; you can’t do “A Day In The Life” without a full orchestra, and even if you could it’d be missing the prerecorded vocal track gimmicked up for a distorted ‘echo effect’.
Calling fishbicycle and Biffy the Elephant Shrew - this is clearly their thread to weigh in on.
There are a number of dimensions where this could be answered and it really depends on how you define “first” - there is a BIG difference between being truly first and being the first to popularize or the first to establish a standard that is assumed to this day.
For instance, the Beatles were nowhere near the first to write and record their own songs, but they were the ones that established that as the standard that is “expected” of artists to this day. Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and the Beach Boys (and hundreds of others) wrote their own stuff, but the Beatles made it the expected approach.
Same with various studio innovations - were they the first to use sitar in a Western recording? Not sure, but they popularized it - along with the Stones and Paint It, Black. Also tape looping - they weren’t the first, but they were the first popular band to do it.
There are a number of studio innovations that the Beatles were unquestionably first with - e.g., flanging, wiring a Leslie rotating speaker for vocals, etc. - lots of studio techniques along those lines.
As for the arc they took creatively - moving from boy-band pop moppets to deeply respected artists that made the LP the artform for popular music until the advent of mp3s - again, there is a big difference between being literally the first vs. the ones that blew the doors open, but the Beatles are the reason that these things have lingered in our consciousness…
They were the first rock and roll group to have no “leader” in the traditional sense. It wasn’t John Lennon And The Beatles, or Paul McCartney And The Beatles; all four were, in theory, equal.
The Beatles were the first mainstream artists to intentionally include feedback on a recording (“I Feel Fine”), to run a lead vocal backwards (“Rain”) or to record vocals through a Leslie speaker (“Tomorrow Never Knows”). They were the first to record using direct injection (plugging an instrument directly into a recording console rather than miking it through an amplifier).
The Beatles (or rather their engineers) invented artificial double-tracking, a system allowing a performance to be recorded onto one track, while simultaneously being recorded onto another track after a small delay, producing a thick, choral effect. This was in response to John Lennon’s complaint about how tedious it was to have to re-record all his lead vocals. ADT went on to be a standard technique in the record producer’s repertoire.
The Beatles were the first rock act to rigidly separate their singles from their albums. Most albums — particularly rock albums — were seen by the record industry as devices for making consumers buy the same material twice: first as a single, then on an album. When the Beatles had a single due, they made a point of writing original material for both sides. (This rule was not strictly adhered to WRT the Beatles’ movie soundtracks, and it was abandoned in 1969 when Allen Klein released “Something” as a single from Abbey Road.)
I’ve always viewed The Beatles as innovators rather than inventors.
I don’t think that’s the way in which it happened. They stopped touring because they couldn’t even hear themselves play at concerts any more. And the fans certainly couldn’t hear the music either. (Small amplifiers in the mid-60s.) What’s the point in all the bus trips, flights, travel, living in hotel rooms, eating in hotel rooms, etc. if no one can hear your music?
After they decided to stop touring they realized they could experiment in the studio and come up with all sorts of sounds they didn’t have to try and reproduce on stage. They were the first true studio band because of this.
They were the first to include an album’s lyrics on its sleeve (Sgt Pepper’s.)
I’ve heard I Want You (She’s So Heavy) called the first heavy metal song, and Tomorrow Never Knows called the first dance track, but those are very much opinions and YMMV.
I’m not sure if they were the first to release a music video in the sense that they are known today, but the movie *A Hard Day’s Night * certainly helped pioneer and popularise the concept.
That’s a good point—the Beatles probably were the first act to use original promotional videos to promote new singles.
That’s also sometimes said about Ticket to Ride because of the backbeat.
The Beatles also pioneered close-micing the snare drum to bring it more prominently into the mix. They weren’t the first to do this, but they were the first to use it effectively in a way that not only helped define the band’s signature sound, but helped changed the way drums are recorded.
I’ve also heard TNK described as the first acid rock song.
They were the first big band with long hair. It was a big deal.
Weren’t they the first band to use a Moog synthesizer? (On “Abbey Road”)
Really nice list of innovations going. You guys have got all the important ones. What’s left? They were, as far as I know, the first group to make a Christmas record every December for their fan club, that was otherwise unavailable. And they’re still unavailable from Apple.
George Martin, Norman Smith and Geoff Emerick were the real innovators here. Everything you hear The Beatles doing for the first time musically went through these guys first. When the group wanted an effect that they could only vaguely describe, the engineers would commission the staff technicians to come up with something, if they couldn’t achieve it themselves. They were instrumental in developing the techinque of track-bouncing. They used it in ways that Les Paul probably hadn’t thought of when he came up with multitrack recording. George Martin was unparalleled as an arranger, and without his input, many Beatles records might not be near as interesting.
It’s most usually said of “You Really Want Me.”
I believe they were the first band with a “concept album.”
It’s most usually said of “You Really Got Me.”
I believe they were the first band with a “concept album.”
I think The Monkees beat them to it with “Star Collector” and “Daily Nightly”.
I’ve heard Zappa and the Mothers of Invention beat 'em to it, but that once again the Beatles were the first to really explode with one.
Out-big Jesus.
The Beatles were the first Rock ‘n’ Roll act to win an Academy Award.