The Beatles

The Beatles began as rock ‘n’ roll students: Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Motown, girl groups, country, show tunes, whatever could survive a long night in Liverpool or Hamburg. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr turned that apprenticeship into a songwriting unit with unusual speed and range.

Their early records define Merseybeat and power the British Invasion. By the middle of the decade they had also changed the job description of a rock band: write the songs, shape the arrangements, use the studio as an instrument, and make albums that listeners treated as works rather than containers for singles.

Their importance in this graph is connective. Through them, rock ‘n’ roll, Merseybeat, British Invasion pop, psychedelia, folk-rock influence and later album rock all touch.