Overview

Before The Beatles landed on American shores in February 1964 only two British acts had topped the Billboard singles chart. In the first quarter of 1964, however, the Beatles alone accounted for sixty percent of all recorded music sold in the United States; in 1964 and 1965 British acts occupied the number one position for 52 of the 104 weeks; and from 1964 through to 1970, the Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, the Dave Clark Five, the Animals, the Kinks, the Hollies, the Yardbirds and the Who placed more than one hundred and thirty songs on the American Top Forty. In The British Invasion: The Crosscurrents of Musical Influence, Simon Philo illustrates how this remarkable event in cultural history disrupted and even reversed pop culture’s flow of influence, goods, and ideas—orchestrating a dramatic turn-around in the commercial fortunes of British pop in North America that turned the 1960s into “The Sixties.” Focusing on key works and performers, The British Invasion tracks the journey of this musical phenomenon from peripheral irrelevance through exotic novelty into the heart of mainstream rock. Throughout, Philo explores how and why British music from the period came to achieve such unprecedented heights of commercial, artistic, and cultural dominance. The British Invasion: The Crosscurrents of Musical Influence will appeal to fans, students and scholars of popular music history—indeed anyone interested in understanding the fascinating relationship between popular music and culture.

Full Product Details

9780810886261

Table of Contents

Reviews

Spearheaded by the Beatles, British musical performers dominated the American pop charts in the middle 1960s. Philo analyzes this phenomenon in a chronological account of popular music on both sides of the Atlantic starting with World War II through the 1980s. After an introductory survey of pop music in Britain during the 1950s, the Beatles dominate the narrative. Other successful early Invasion groups are briefly discussed, but the emphasis is on the musical and cultural impact the Beatles had on American music. American artists Brian Wilson (the Beach Boys) and the Byrds are covered, as is The Monkees TV series. The book discusses how important the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night (1964) was in spreading British influence. In 1967, the British Invasion shifted into a psychedelic phase (Pink Floyd, Cream) and then to an American roots-inspired sound. The political and social turmoil of the late Sixties was reflected in influential albums such as the Rolling Stones's Let It Bleed, the Who's Tommy, and the Beatles's Abbey Road. By 1970, new acts-Led Zeppelin, the Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, and Elton John-prevailed ... [T]his is a popular social history ... VERDICT Beatles fans and baby boomers who listened to the music of the 1960s will find this title appealing. Philo offers a fresh consideration of the British impact on American music during this period and beyond. Library Journal I've read countless books about The Beatles, about their fellow British Invasion (aka Beat Era) acts, and about the sixties from both musical and socio-cultural points of view. To say that the overall topic interests me is grand understatement. So I was intrigued when I learned of a new book called British Invasion: The Crosscurrents of Musical Influence. Having some familiarity with other works from the book's publisher (Rowman & Littlefield), I suspected that British Invasion wouldn't be a pop-culture, general readership tome; no, I fully expected it to lean in a more scholarly direction. And that would be fine by me. Author Simon Philo is a British citizen who - as he relates in the book's introduction - first traveled to the USA many years ago. That inaugural visit lit a fire within him to better understand the ways in which British music of the 1960s influenced American music and culture. What an interesting idea, I thought: many books have looked through the lens from the opposite end, charting how The Beatles (and others) were influenced by such things as (a) the film The Girl Can't Help It, (b) Bill Haley's UK tour, and (c) records brought to Britain by merchant seamen landing at Liverpool docks (though this last one has been - if not debunked - shown to have happened much less often than many music chroniclers have claimed/guessed). But considering how the music of The Beatles and other British groups influenced American music at the time (as opposed to in the grand scheme of things) is a topic that hasn't been done to death. So Philo's book is welcome. In the earliest chapters - truth be told, the best, most insightful ones among the book's 150-plus pages - Philo outlines British pop music history, and he does so in a manner that places skiffle and trad jazz (the two biggest pre-rock musical sensations in postwar England) in their proper context. Philo displays a deep understanding of these forms and how they fit into the big picture... Philo does a commendable job of outlining the American cultural scene into which The Beatles sprang in early 1964, debunking a few myths of his own (namely, that the country was in a deep depression post-JFK, and that The Beatles single-handedly rescued American consciousness from that malaise)... From there, Philo's analysis is astute, and he makes all manner of useful connections... That final third of British Invasion is actually the part in which Philo's keen observations are the most significant. He discusses the Britishness of the Monterey Pop Festival; touches on the (discussed-ad infinitum) contrast between the Woodstock and Altamont festivals, and then breezily discusses the relationship between UK and American music from the mid-1970s onward. But he then jumps back to his own personal story circa 1981, neatly stepping over punk and new wave. As scholarly works go, British Invasion is good on the merits (Philo strives to make as many original points as he possibly can, and nearly always hits the mark)... There's enough straightforward analysis to make the required few hours spent with British Invasion most rewarding. Musoscribe

Spearheaded by the Beatles, British musical performers dominated the American pop charts in the middle 1960s. Philo analyzes this phenomenon in a chronological account of popular music on both sides of the Atlantic starting with World War II through the 1980s. After an introductory survey of pop music in Britain during the 1950s, the Beatles dominate the narrative. Other successful early Invasion groups are briefly discussed, but the emphasis is on the musical and cultural impact the Beatles had on American music. American artists Brian Wilson (the Beach Boys) and the Byrds are covered, as is The Monkees TV series. The book discusses how important the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night (1964) was in spreading British influence. In 1967, the British Invasion shifted into a psychedelic phase (Pink Floyd, Cream) and then to an American roots-inspired sound. The political and social turmoil of the late Sixties was reflected in influential albums such as the Rolling Stones's Let It Bleed, the Who's Tommy, and the Beatles's Abbey Road. By 1970, new acts-Led Zeppelin, the Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, and Elton John-prevailed ... [T]his is a popular social history ... VERDICT Beatles fans and baby boomers who listened to the music of the 1960s will find this title appealing. Philo offers a fresh consideration of the British impact on American music during this period and beyond. Library Journal

Spearheaded by the Beatles, British musical performers dominated the American pop charts in the middle 1960s. Philo analyzes this phenomenon in a chronological account of popular music on both sides of the Atlantic starting with World War II through the 1980s. After an introductory survey of pop music in Britain during the 1950s, the Beatles dominate the narrative. Other successful early Invasion groups are briefly discussed, but the emphasis is on the musical and cultural impact the Beatles had on American music. American artists Brian Wilson (the Beach Boys) and the Byrds are covered, as is The Monkees TV series. The book discusses how important the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night (1964) was in spreading British influence. In 1967, the British Invasion shifted into a psychedelic phase (Pink Floyd, Cream) and then to an American roots-inspired sound. The political and social turmoil of the late Sixties was reflected in influential albums such as the Rolling Stones's Let It Bleed, the Who's Tommy, and the Beatles's Abbey Road. By 1970, new acts-Led Zeppelin, the Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, and Elton John-prevailed ... [T]his is a popular social history ... VERDICT Beatles fans and baby boomers who listened to the music of the 1960s will find this title appealing. Philo offers a fresh consideration of the British impact on American music during this period and beyond. Library Journal Philo's analysis is astute, and he makes all manner of useful connections. Musoscribe Anyone who enjoys music and wants to learn more about the history of rock and roll will certainly glean lots of information and new knowledge from British Invasion: The Crosscurrents of Musical Influence...Overall a well researched book, filled with tons of statistics that any pop culture fan will eat up. A bit of a heavy volume for the average reader but I recommend it to all music fans just the same. Scared Stiff Reviews

Author Information

Simon Philo is Head of American Studies at the University of Derby. He has written numerous articles and chapters on transatlantic popular culture.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available