The album “no one believed The Beatles would ever top”, according to Pete Townshend
Virtually all artists of the 1960s were out to change the world, but nobody altered the landscape of music and popular culture quite like The Beatles. Their influence over the music and art of the decade was unparalleled, and artists everywhere would look to the Fab Four as a continued source of artistic inspiration and motivation. Even the wilder, more energetic rockers, such as The Who’s Pete Townshend, could not help but bask in the expansive excellence of John, Paul, George, and Ringo.
While The Who never fostered anything close to a rivalry with The Beatles, the two bands did represent vastly different parts of the British rock scene back in the 1960s. Townshend and the gang were the defiant, rebellious voices of Britain’s angry post-war youth, entrenched in the mod subculture and amphetamine-fueled all-night dances. Meanwhile, the ‘Mop Tops’ were the archetypal pop band of the era, riding high at the top of the charts and amassing a colossal mainstream fanbase. That is not to say, however, that The Beatles were not wild in their own right.
After bursting onto the scene with loved-up pop songs, the band began to search for something much deeper and more profound. With the help of psychedelic substances and a trip to India, the group eventually landed upon a groundbreakingly original sound, with which they would forever alter the world of pop music. Albums like Rubber Soul and Revolver reflected the rapid development of The Beatles, but it was 1967’s Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band which best signified this bold new era for pop and rock music.
Inevitably, Sgt Pepper’s became one of the most iconic records of the 1960s, influencing everybody from Jimi Hendrix to Miles Davis. To many, the album reflected the future of music, featuring an over-arching narrative between tracks and seeing the band take on alter-egos completely separate from the global superstars that the Fab Four had become.
“Every time I listened, I heard something new, but I wish I could say I heard something important.”
Pete townshend
Pete Townshend was similarly influenced by the record, writing in his memoir, “The shock-wave it caused challenged all comers; no one believed The Beatles would ever top it, or would even bother to try.” Whether or not The Beatles actually did top Sgt. Pepper’s is up for the fanatics to debate over, but their later records, like Abbey Road, certainly furthered their profound sense of artistry and artistic development.
“For me, Sg. Pepper and The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds redefined music in the 20th century: atmosphere, essence, shadow, and romance were combined in ways that could be discovered again and again,” The Who guitarist wrote in Who I Am. “Neither album made any deep political or social comment, but ideas were not what mattered. Listening to music had become a drug in itself.”
Despite the revolutionary power of these albums, Townshend claimed that The Beatles’ magnum opus did not provide much in the way of future inspiration: “Every time I listened, I heard something new, but I wish I could say I heard something important. These two great albums indicated the future but passed on no tools, codes, or obvious processes that would lead to a door. I ached for more than just a signpost pointing to the future, which is what these albums were to me.”
Townshend might not have identified the inspirational power behind Sgt Pepper’s, but it certainly left a mark on the songwriter. The very same year the record hit the shelves, The Who came out with their postmodern masterpiece The Who Sell Out, which is undoubtedly indebted to the revolutionary power of The Beatles’ output.
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