Yesterday & Today: The Beatles as History

In November 2023---more than fifty years after dissolving and despite (at least) two dead members---the Beatles released another international hit single. What explains this seemingly immortal appeal? This class investigates the significance of the Beatles by studying not only the group itself, but also their broad stock of influences---Carole King, James Jamerson, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and more---their international reception, and the wider musical world of disappointing solo careers, knock-offs, spoofs, pastiche, and earnest influence. Using a variety of analytical methods, we will theorize the Beatles as a musical face of the post-War order and its vicissitudes. This course fulfills the Writing in the Major (WIM) requirement at 4 units only.