Musical artists and traditions that shaped the sound of a song
John Lennon's three most-cited musical influences in his Beatles songs: Blues influence (15), R&B influence (15), Bob Dylan influence (14).
| # | Value | Songs | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blues influence The music uses blues materials: twelve-bar form, dominant-seventh vocabulary, bent or flattened notes. | 30 | 16.5% |
| 2 | Classical music influence European concert-music conventions, orchestration, or form. | 22 | 12.1% |
| 3 | Indian music influence Indian classical scales, drones, or instruments shape the writing. | 20 | 11.0% |
| 4 | Psychedelia influence Psychedelic aesthetic – exotic instruments, studio effects, drug-imagery. | 14 | 7.7% |
| 5 | Motown influence Detroit soul rhythm-and-arrangement style. | 12 | 6.6% |
| 6 | Everly Brothers influence Don and Phil Everly's close-harmony duo style. | 9 | 4.9% |
| 7 | Country influence The arrangement borrows from country music: twang, pedal-steel bends, a shuffle or two-step feel. | 8 | 4.4% |
| 8 | Avant-garde influence Experimental art-music ideas – tape music, chance, sound collage. | 8 | 4.4% |
| 9 | Gospel influence African-American gospel-church idiom. | 6 | 3.3% |
| 10 | Baroque influence Baroque-era European art-music – Bach-style counterpoint, harpsichord, ornamentation. | 6 | 3.3% |
| 11 | Little Richard influence Little Richard's piano-pounding rock-and-roll energy and falsetto whoops. | 6 | 3.3% |
| 12 | Ska influence Jamaican offbeat-accented dance rhythm, a precursor to reggae. | 3 | 1.6% |
| 13 | Ray Charles influence Soul and R&B pioneer blending gospel, blues and jazz. | 3 | 1.6% |
| 14 | Elvis Presley influence The founding rock-and-roll star's rockabilly drive and vocal style. | 3 | 1.6% |
| 15 | Goons influence The MUSIC borrows from The Goon Show: sped-up voices, sound-effect gags, deliberate silliness in the arrangement. | 3 | 1.6% |
| 16 | Beach Boys influence Brian Wilson's Beach Boys harmony and arrangement craft. | 3 | 1.6% |
| 17 | Fleetwood Mac influence Peter Green-era British blues band of the late 1960s. | 2 | 1.1% |
| 18 | Boogie-woogie influence Up-tempo blues piano style built on a rolling left-hand ostinato bass. | 2 | 1.1% |
| 19 | Nat King Cole influence Smooth jazz-pop crooner and pianist of the 1940s-50s. | 2 | 1.1% |
| 20 | Wilson Pickett influence Hard-driving Southern soul singer ('In the Midnight Hour'). | 2 | 1.1% |
| 21 | The Who influence British mod and hard-rock band's power-chord aggression. | 2 | 1.1% |
| 22 | Stax influence The Memphis soul label's punchy, horn-driven R&B sound. | 2 | 1.1% |
| 23 | Bobby Parker influence Guitarist-singer whose 'Watch Your Step' riff shaped several Beatles guitar figures. | 2 | 1.1% |
| 24 | Skiffle influence Late-1950s UK folk-blues fad – washboard, tea-chest bass, acoustic guitar. | 2 | 1.1% |
| 25 | Del Shannon influence Early-1960s pop-rock singer known for dramatic minor-key melodies. | 2 | 1.1% |
| 26 | Roy Orbison influence Roy Orbison's operatic, dramatic vocal arrangements. | 2 | 1.1% |
| 27 | Delbert McClinton influence American blues harmonica player who coached Lennon's harp style on 'Love Me Do'. | 2 | 1.1% |
| 28 | Shirelles influence Early-1960s girl group whose songs the Beatles covered and echoed. | 1 | 0.5% |
| 29 | Isley Brothers influence R&B/soul vocal group, source of the 'Twist and Shout' arrangement. | 1 | 0.5% |
| 30 | Carl Perkins influence Sun-Records rockabilly guitar style. | 1 | 0.5% |
| 31 | Byrds influence Jangly 12-string Rickenbacker guitars and folk-rock vocal harmony. | 1 | 0.5% |
Book
The Beatles: Complete Scores
Hal Leonard
Sheet music
Musicnotes – Beatles Piano/Vocal/Guitar
Musicnotes
Book
All the Songs
Margotin & Guesdon
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