American Popular Culture and the Beatles

Through engaging scholarly essays written by various authors, American Popular Culture and the Beatles illuminates the synergetic relationship between American popular culture of the 1950s and 1960s and the iconic rock band The Beatles. In Part I of the collection, students learn how the emergence of rock and roll in the United States brought about a cultural and musical shift that paved the way for The Beatles. Thought-provoking essays explore why teenagers were so drawn to rock and roll, how American performers elevated the rock and roll genre, and how American music provided a strong foundation for the creation of The Beatles. Part II examines the impact of American rock and roll on Britain in the 1960s, with special emphasis on the appropriation of American music by British artists. Dedicated readings explore the evolving attitudes toward the American South via musical trends, the emergence of skiffle music, and how British rock and rollers also paved the way for The Beatles. The final part explores the influence The Beatles had on American popular culture, speaking to the band's meteoric and unexpected rise to fame, the hysteria and obsession that fueled Beatlemania, and the group's relationship to counterculture and the revolutionary ideals of the late 1960s. American Popular Culture and the Beatles is an ideal textbook for courses in music history and popular culture.