The Beatles were by no means the first to make the music they did, but they were certainly early. As singer-songwriters, The Beatles were unusual at the time because they wrote their music, and it turns out they took inspiration from one country singer in particular: Buddy Holly.
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Now, many artists claim they write their own music, whether it's true or not. But, back when The Beatles were about, it wasn't that common. But they were doing something new and different and wanted to break the mould. The group penned their own tunes.
Speaking in Anthology, John Lennon looked back on their decision to be their own band with their own style. "One of the main things about The Beatles is that we started out writing our own material. People these days take it for granted that you do, but nobody used to then."
Buddy Holly drove the Beatles to write for themselves. "John and I started to write because of Buddy Holly. It was like, 'Wow! He writes and is a musician." His success, unique country sound, and determination to keep his music unique drove The Beatles to do the same.
Buddy Holly Remained An Inspiration For The Beatles
Despite The Beatles being British Rock and Roll, Buddy Holly still influenced their sound and artistic outlook. Their differences were only surface-level, and their aspirations were the same. "Buddy Holly was completely different; he was out of Nashville, so that introduced us to the country music scene," Paul McCartney remembered.
At the time, the music scene was changing day by day. The psychedelic sounds of The Beatles were developing, and the Rock 'n' Roll country sounds of Buddy Holly were taking the US by storm. Fellow revolutionaries of the modern music world were rubbing shoulders and rubbing off on each other.
The Beatles even went on to cover a number of tracks by country musician Buddy Holly. The song recorded by the band named 'Words of Love' was originally a Holly one. However, the group covered it and made it their own in homage to the man who inspired them to write for themselves.
