The Beatles performance Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass says “changed my life”
The influence of The Beatles knows no bounds. Since the Fab Four secured their nickname in the 1960s, penning some of the greatest songs of all time and carving out the music industry as we know it, thousands of artists have followed diligently in their footsteps. From their celebrated contemporaries, such as Bob Dylan, to more unexpected names like Lady Gaga, The Beatles have inspired generations of songwriters across genres, and Tenacious D is no exception.
If we were charting the most unlikely artists to have been inspired by The Beatles, the name Tenacious D would certainly appear on the list. The project was first devised by School of Rock star Jack Black and musician Kyle Glass in the early 1990s, fusing their shared love for rock music with their comedic leanings. Their works comprise Chris Isaak covers, metal tunes about metal, and a tribute to the greatest song in the world.
Amid their silly lyrics and raucous riffs, it might seem difficult to find the influence of Paul McCartney’s tender songwriting or Ringo Starr’s drumming style. Still, the influence of The Beatles is somewhere within their music, as it had a particularly formative impact on Gass in his youth. During a chat with Music Radar, the Tenacious D star shared his enduring love for the band.
While naming the records that changed his life, Gass picked out two Beatles releases and declared, “Seriously, dude, I don’t care if you say I’m not allowed to pick The Beatles again”. His first pick was 1964’s Meet the Beatles, which he recalled both him and his brothers getting “obsessed with”. He was particularly taken by a live performance the band delivered, though he was barely a toddler at the time of watching.
“I’m 56 years old, dude,” he remembered, “I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show when I was four years old and it changed my life.” It’s an experience that is not limited to Gass. When The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show back in 1964, they cracked America and incited the worldwide phenomenon that would come to be known as Beatlemania.
Beyond a four-year-old Gass, millions of people around the world were left in awe of the talent of the Fab Four. If they weren’t already on track to become the biggest band of all time, they were now. Four years later, Gass’s love for them was unwavering. He included their self-titled record, also known as The White Album, as another record that changed his life.
“This reminds me of a real crazy time of my life and it was such an intriguing musical odyssey,” he explained, “So it has to go in”. He shared his admiration for the mix of sounds on the record, ranging from “hardcore electric” to “strange acoustic interludes,” before shrugging, “I think I was starting to do drugs at that point. It was the perfect marriage there!”
It makes sense that Gass admired the weirder facets of The Beatles’ discography. Although the work of Tenacious D is a far cry from McCartney’s touching songwriting, they certainly seem to have borrowed from the band’s penchant for experimentation and innovation. As one of the most well-known bands in the comedy genre, they have secured their own strange legacy in the industry.
