4 - Culture: The Beatles as Artists

Summary

Were the Beatles artists? From this one question flowed scores more concerning the medium, genre, performance, composition, creation, reception, dissemination, evaluation and social context of popular music. The debate over the cultural value of the Beatles was consequently as vehement as it was significant. Cultural critics joined social commentators in seeking to divine the Beatles’ representativeness, importance and desirability. Lennon and McCartney’s early compositions received some critical acclaim, Sgt. Pepper sought to blur distinctions between high and low culture and the band members’ side projects forged links with the avant-garde. To accept the Beatles as artists, however, required critics to rethink their most ingrained assumptions about art and their own status as artists, critics and intellectuals. This chapter uses contemporary commentary, scholarship and fan literature to show that the rethinking process was contested and protracted. No consensus emerged. The claims made for the Beatles' artistry, which contributed to the wider discourse elevating ‘rock’ over ‘pop’, were countered by cultural conservatives intent on exposing the Beatles as kitsch. The Beatles’ detractors were not simply curmudgeons, killjoys and contrarians, but had good reason to believe their cardinal values to be threatened by the band and their assault on cultural hierarchies.