The Beatles place in Prog History

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   Were the Beatles Prog? 

That's like asking if God's a Democrat or a Republican. He's above all that and so are they. Not saying that they are God Almighty, but they are certainly gods of all rock and roll. Remember, rock was dark and without substance, then came Elvis who took it from dark to light. Then came the Beatles who expanded the genre and saw that it was good. Where the Beatles went, rock followed. Everybody and I mean everybody at the time waited to see what direction the Beatles would take music next. Hendrix, Zappa, Beach Boys, Jagger, LZ, Tull, Yes, Dylan, Doors, Paul Simon, Elton John, not to mention the country western, jazz and pop stars, they all took their cues from the Beatles. Make no mistake: no Beatles, no Prog. They taught the world how far rock 'n roll could go. Ask the giants of prog what they thought of the Beatles. Ask Jon Anderson, Ian Anderson, Robert Fripp, Frank Zappa (if he were alive). They will tell you the same thing I've already said. They were gods. True, there were embryonic awakenings of prog with other bands at the time in remote places under obscure names, but nobody with the name power of the Beatles who had the ability to pioneer and experiment with every type of music and have it commercially successful. And thats how the Beatles (unbiet known to themselves) started prog: by borrowing sounds from everything and every type of music and experimenting and having commercial success. It must be remembered that without commercial success most music by the modern era would die a premature death. So when you're taking about the Beatles take your shoes off proggers your on holy ground. 

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