Band Compare/Contrast the Beatles and the Rolling

Band Compare/Contrast

The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are two of the most popular and prolific bands that emerged during the British Invasion of the 1960s. While they became popular around the same time, each band had a unique style and sound. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones helped revolutionize music by introducing audiences to music they had never heard or experienced before.

The Beatles consisted of John Lennon and George Harrison on guitar, Paul McCartney on bass, and Ringo Starr on drums (Szatmary, 2000, p. 103; The Beatles, n.d.). As The Beatles began to hone their sound, their manager, Brian Epstein, felt that it was also necessary for the band to have a distinct image. Initially, The Beatles adopted a rocker look that was heavily influenced by their American rock-n-roll heroes, which included Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Johnnie Ray, Frankie Laine, and Bill Haley (Szatmary, 2000, p. 104). However, Epstein felt that this image was too controversial and wanted to change their appearance to make them "more palatable to the general public" (Szatmary, 2000, p. 105). Epstein transformed The Beatles from greasy rockers to clean-cut young men complete with their signature mop-tops, tailored suits, and black boots.

In order to successfully promote the revamped Beatles, Epstein consulted other professionals within the music industry in order to get them signed to a record label and to begin promoting them. Almost every record label in England rejected The Beatles, yet they were able to overcome this obstacle to become one of the most internationally known and lauded bands of all time.

On the contrary, The Rolling Stones are the antithesis of The Beatles, even though they come from similar backgrounds. The first Rolling Stones line-up was established in 1962 by Brian Jones and included other musicians such as Tony Chapman, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Dick Taylor (Szatmary, 2000, p. 117; The Rolling Stones, n.d.). The Rolling Stones were also greatly influenced by American music, however, unlike The Beatles who were influenced by rock-n-roll, The Rolling Stones were influenced by American blues music. Jones initially intended to bring these musicians together to create R&B music, but the more that they played with each other and injected their influences into the music, the more The Rolling Stones moved towards adopting a blues-driven rock sound.

Once The Rolling Stones formally adopted a specific sound, they, like The Beatles, needed an image makeover to match their sound. In order to successfully revamp their image, The Rolling Stones consulted with Andrew Logg Oldham, one of The Beatles' former publicists. Oldham helped to create a "raunchy, crude, offensive image that contrasted sharply with the reputation of the Beatles" (Szatmary, 2000, p. 117). Not only did The Rolling Stones' dark, blues-driven music contrast with The Beatles' upbeat pop tunes, but their image also reflected their rebellious nature, which was very much subdued in The Beatles.