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from Part V - The Beatles as Sociocultural and Political Touchstones
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2020
As the jet engine whine fades in and begins to fall in pitch, mimicking the descent of a landing plane, the band starts chugging away on a classic Chuck Berry-inspired rock riff. In many ways, the opening of the Beatles’ “Back in the USSR,” from the 1968 White Album uncannily parodies the band’s arrival in the USA some four and a half years earlier. In February 1964, they were flush from the musical conquest of their British homeland, and stepped off the plane in New York to the roar of over 4,000 shrieking, sobbing, excited fans – nearly all of whom had skipped school to be there to greet the invaders from across the Atlantic. By that point, the band had its first No. 1 single in the USA, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (a song that, like “Back in the USSR,” begins with a strong rush to the dominant V chord for four measures before settling into a similarly propulsive riff).
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