5 Classic Rock Bands Every Beatles Fan Should Listen To
The Beatles outshine a lot of classic rock bands. Despite this, there are several other classic rock bands that deserve love from Beatles fans. John Lennon even called one band “Son of Beatles.”
5. The Electric Light Orchestra
The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon includes a radio interview with John from 1974. In it, John decided to play a certain song. “We’re going to play Electric Light Orchestra, from last year,” he said. “‘Showdown,’ which I thought was a great record, and I was expecting it to be No. 1, but I don’t think UA [United Artists] got their fingers out and pushed it.
“And it’s a nice group,” he added. “I call them Son of Beatles, although they’re doing things that we never did, obviously. But I remember the statement they made when they first formed was to carry on from where The Beatles left off with ‘[I Am the] Walrus,’ and they certainly did.”
4. Oasis
During a 2021 interview with Music News, Oasis’ Noel Gallagher discussed the Fab Four’s influence on Oasis. “They mean everything to me,” he said. “They’ve definitely got the best tunes … hands down. In my record collection they’ve got the greatest tunes by far.”
Gallagher said The Beatles’ impact extends well beyond Oasis. “They influenced everybody who influenced everybody else, who influenced everybody that came and went,” he opined. “Their influence is absolute. I don’t know a single guy playing the guitar or writing songs that wouldn’t cite The Beatles as an influence.”
3. The Monkees
The comparisons between The Monkees and The Beatles are almost too obvious to make. Both groups started in the 1960s, had misspelled animal-themed names, started out making bubblegum pop, went psychedelic in 1967, and broke up in 1970, only for the members to work together sporadically over the next few decades.
Now, there are some classic rock fans who feel The Monkees aren’t worthy of reverence for being too manufactured. Those fans should sit down, leave their preconceptions behind, and listen to tracks like “Randy Scouse Git” and “Porpoise Song.” There’s a lot of artistry there.
2. The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys had a similar arc as The Beatles as well, with some critics going so far as to call them “America’s Beatles.” While The Beatles and their individual members regularly had hits from the early 1960s until the late 1980s, The Beach Boys’ success was more spotty. Regardless, they made some of the greatest pop hits of all time, and some of their more obscure works are definitely worth revisiting.
1. The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones’ rivalry with The Beatles was once so great that some fans would root for one against the other like they were football teams. While those days are over, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles will always get compared to one another.
After all, The Beatles proved they could make blues-rock songs like The Rolling Stones and The Rolling Stones proved they could make psychedelic pop like The Beatles. In addition, the two bands came to represent a certain era of musical history in the minds of millions.
