The British Invasion, that is the musical one, picked up full steam when the Beatles arrived in New York from England in February of 1964. The Fab Four and many of the first wave of English and Irish rock and roll bands were greatly influenced by African American music—R&B and blues, in particular, The early albums of The Beatles all contained songs that were originally done by American artists.
The young Motown label in Detroit gave the Beatles a few songs for their early album repertoire. Barrett Strong's “Money” was the first record on a Motown label to hit the charts. The Beatles also recorded Smokey Robinson's “You Really Got a Hold on Me.”
Another Fab Four Motown pick was “Please Mr. Postman,” first recorded by The Marvelettes.
Although theirs wasn't the first recording of “Twist and Shout,” it was the Isley Brothers’ version that inspired the Beatles.
Other R&B songs recorded by the Beatles included:
“Mr. Moonlight” by Dr. Feelgood and the Interns.
“Anna” by Arthur Alexander
“Long Tall Sally” by Little Richard
Chuck Berry's “Roll Over Beethoven”
“Baby It's You” by the Shirelles
Wilbert Harrison's “Kansas City”
There were a lot of other R&B songs on early Beatles albums, including “Rock and Roll Music,” “Chains,” and “Devil in Her Heart.”
Listen in again next time and I'll sample some original R&B songs recorded by other English and Irish bands of the British Invasion.
Listen to the segment, above.
