In my blog post for the week, I want to talk about the evolution of rock and roll. Some people question the development of rock and roll with in the spectrum of pop music and as a genre. When rock started really first developing as a distinct genre, there were still questions as to what defined rock and roll. Quite frankly, this question is still being asked today. Some will define rock and roll and to others, rock and roll is simply a feeling and you know it when you hear it. When we think of the most influential artists of the beginnings of rock and roll, artist like Elvis, The Beach Boys, and The Beatles come to mind. I personally believe that the musical development of The Beatles is a good reflection and representation of Rock and Roll and the growth and branches of the genre itself. When The Beatles first became a hit they were singing classic rock and roll songs that have that typical rock and rock style of the time. Songs that have this style include Love Me Do and Twist and Shout. At the time of these songs, The Beatles sound was mellow and not as experimentational. Soon after you get songs like Hard Day’s Night. Within the first 4 of the Beatles albums they get a hold on rock and roll and had it as their own. In Srgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts club band, The Beatles started to experiment with their sound more and in doing so, they ultimately started to develops the genre. In SPLHCB and Revolver, the influence that The Beatles had on Rock and Roll was significant, but I don’t necessarily think they changed the genre as a whole, but instead, gave the genre branches. After influential songs like Yellow Submarine and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, sub-genres like psychedelic rock were able to develop. As the Beatles come out with new albums, songs emerge, like Come Together and Something, for example, that are direct reflections of modern indie-rock. There are also classics like Let It Be that influence the development of Rock Ballads in the 70’s, 80’s and it even has influence with today’s artists. Sam Smith’s, Stay With Me, has a similar feeling and that is a song from the late 2000’s. The experimentation of the Beatles music was crucial to all music that was too follow. There music was ahead of it’s time and you find elements of their melodies and stylistic choices in songs from all decades and genres since the end of the band. The Beatles’ songs are still played, sung, and covered by so many different individuals today. 40 some years later, The Beatles are still very relevant. I don’t think that the branching out of the genre of rock and roll hindered the genre in anyway. If anything, rock and roll as a genre grew and blossomed and gave influence to enough artists that we can call a lot of their music and similar sounding songs, pop.