The singer Cat Stevens said was as important as The Beatles: “He represented a new dawn”
Look, we’re well into the 21st century now, and people still haven’t stopped talking about The Beatles. If anyone wants to try to proclaim that they’re no longer relevant, they’re immediately and rightfully going to be shut down by those who still firmly believe that nothing of equal significance has existed since.
Now, they’re certainly not alone in being an act that rose to prominence in the 1960s, who have retained a decent to astounding level of notoriety for over 60 years. In terms of popular music, the 1960s are arguably the first decade where you’ll be able to find something in every year that vaguely resembles contemporary music, and given how it was the period where official charts came into full swing in the UK and US, it’s hard to look at pop music from the period as being anything but groundbreaking.
Having said that, is there anyone who truly tests The Beatles in terms of having maintained an overwhelming sense of popularity, whose music is as ubiquitous, and who is referenced to quite the same degree in modern culture?
In terms of bands, one might argue that it’s only The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys who rose at the same time as them who still have a preserved relevance, although this is possibly aided by their longevity and continuation as a group. Many of the other groups who came into existence during the 1960s are still looked upon fondly, but can’t reasonably claim to have outperformed the indomitable Scousers.
When it comes to solo artists, there are perhaps a few who can contest the Beatles’ dominance, given how many of the rock and roll icons who had continued working after their peak in the 1950s were still being referenced, and how Motown produced countless performers who challenged the Fab Four for the top spot in the charts on many occasions. However, songwriter Cat Stevens, who would only come to prominence at the start of the 1970s, has a rather compelling argument that one particular artist manages to match them.
With a style more broadly influenced by traditional folk music, Bob Dylan is perhaps the individual who has come closest to matching the level of significance that The Beatles established for themselves, and in a 2017 interview with The Quietus, Stevens expressed his belief that for anyone else of a similar musical inclination, Dylan was the most important figure to aspire to be.
“Bob Dylan obviously turned the wind around for many of us, almost like The Beatles did, making it possible to not have to be a smoochy crooner,” Stevens argued. “Here he was in a black suit, representing a break from the establishment, and everybody in my generation just wanted to say and do the same thing, removing the shackles of the past.”
He continued, highlighting how it wasn’t just his efforts from a musical standpoint that were influential, but how his socio-political lyricism was without precedent. “He represented a new dawn for the protest movement,” Stevens proclaimed, “which was extremely important for my generation.”
It’s hard to argue with the idea that Dylan was just as important as The Beatles, and you could possibly argue that he’s even more significant to others. However, despite the broad scope of influence he may have had on other musicians, there aren’t quite as many Dylan songs that people are going to instantly be able to identify and sing along with, and as far as making pop music with timeless appeal goes, The Beatles were the undisputed kings.
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