On this day in 1957, the most important meeting in the history of music occurred

Just off the top of my head (and in addition to being one of the most commercially successful bands ever), here are some Beatles accomplishments:

1. They were the first rock band to incorporate orchestral arrangements and instruments in their music.
2. They were the first to get very creative and innovative in the studio. They went from being a very good touring band to an even better studio band.
3. They invented the music video (a great PBS documentary The Beatles, in the late 1980s, pointed that out).
4. They were among the rock and rollers with a social conscience and their songs with a message go on and on and on (Imagine, Give Peace a Chance, Revolution, Back in the USSR, The Ballad of John and Yoko, etc).
5. I could be mistaken but were't they were first band to have their own independent label (Apple)?
6. They were the first band to record a documentary movie about themselves (Help).

I'm sure some others more knowledgable about the entire rock and roll scene could add a few things.

 

And it took only 66 years for their murderous, intellectually bankrupt, wretched, soul-stealing, mind-numbing system of government to melt like the Wicked Witch.

 

Hondo, don't look now but democracy ain't too far behind in melting down.

 

I've always considered Elvis's "Jailhouse Rock" scene from the movie of the same name top be the first rock video. Highly debatable of course.

As for their in-studio stuff, Buddy Holly was a very creative recordmaker for the time. You'll hear strings and other non-rock instruments in his songs. That stuff was recorded years before the Beatles made it and I think they've acknowledged the influence he had on their music.

 

Or Barth the cook. "D'I-I-I-I heard that!"

 

hmmmm.....this could get interesting.....

Not to downplay the Elvis influence, but I'm thinking Chuck Berry and crew could have melded the connection.

Hard to say what the music scene would look like today without their appearance, but without question, the Beatles were a gargantuan influence that directly affected what rock music was through the 60s and the 70s. We clearly would not be where we are today or have enjoyed the ride along the way without the mop tops.

 

And for those who didn't know it, Elvis spoke of homosexuality. Check this out:

Number forty-seven said to number three:
You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see.
I sure would be delighted with your company,
Come on and do the jailhouse rock with me.
Lets rock, everybody, lets rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin to the jailhouse rock.

Riddle me that one Elvis fans.

 

My mom wasn't even 1 on this day in 1957.

 

Hondo...No. 6 should be A Hard Day's Night.

Huggy, you're absolutely right about Buddy Holly and Lennon did acknowledge his influence.
Given the times, Holly was probably the most creative, innovative recordmaker in rock history...he just didn't live long enough for most people to know his true genius

 

Re: On this day in 1957, the most important meeting in the history of music occu

Help! was a documentary?

Help! begins when Ringo gets the sacrificial ring of a far Eastern cult, known as Kahili, stuck on his finger. While Kahili sets out to get their ring back, Professor Foot and Algernon, a pair of mad scientists, are also in pursuit of the sacred ring. The Beatles are chased throughout the world as both Kahili and the scientists fall over each other trying to get at Ringo and the ring.

 

No, Ifilus. A Hard Day's Night was the "documentary"

 

Great story in the RS 40th anniversary about the making of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and how it was the single most influential (collective) piece of music tying together everything the '60s were about.