Elton John became a global superstar in the early 1970s. He grew up in England and was present for Beatlemania’s rise and eventual fall. It was impossible to escape The Beatles, especially for those who lived in the U.K. and the U.S. Like many musicians, The Beatles influenced Elton John, and he remembers where he was and which song he listened to when he first heard the fab four.
Elton John said The Beatles revolutionized music during the 1960s
Elton John is a versatile artist because his music infused rock n’ roll with pop. Rock was popularized in the 1950s by artists like Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, but before that, pop music was what most people listened to. In an interview with LAD Bible, John explained that he mostly listened to pop in his youth, but everything changed when he first heard Elvis. Then, The Beatles came along in the 1960s and revolutionized the industry.
“Well, I grew up in the late 40s and early 50s, so there was no Rock and Roll. At that time, I was listening to Kay Starr, Johnny Ray, Guy Mitchell, Frankie Lane, Nat King Cole, and then, of course, it all changed when I heard ‘Hearbreak Hotel’ by Elvis Presley,” John explained. “Then Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis hammering the s**t out of the piano, that’s when I decided that I wanted to be like them.”
“Things changed so radically when Elvis came along in the 50s, socially as well as musically, and then when The Beatles happened in the 60s they even revolutionized things more, and musicians started to work with each other, and musicians from different genres would experiment with other,” he continued. “It was a wonderful time.”
The first Beatles song John listened to was ‘Love Me Do’
“Love Me Do” was the debut single of The Beatles. It peaked at No. 17 in the U.K. in 1962 but was a No. 1 hit in the U.S. when it was released in 1964. The single was the first hit for the band and popularized them in the U.K. In an appearance on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years, Elton John remembered being at a friend’s house when he first heard this Beatles hit.
“I remember being at school and my friend Michael Johnson came with a 45 and said, ‘I’ve just heard this band, they’re gonna be the biggest band in the world, and it was ‘Love Me Do’. I’ve listened to and said, ‘It’s not bad, it’s not bad’. I couldn’t see that they would be the biggest band in the world, and he turned out to be right. I think he was number four in the fan club. So he spotted them a mile off.”
The ‘Tiny Dancer’ singer says his favorite Beatles song is ‘We Can Work it Out’
While on BBC Radio 2, Elton John selected “We Can Work it Out” as his favorite Beatles song. The track was first released in 1965 as a double A-side single with “Day Tripper”. While it was never included on an album, it was a worldwide hit, reaching No. 1 in several countries, including the U.S. and the U.K. A cover version by Stevie Wonder popularized the song even more for a different audience.
‘We Can Work It Out’ is such a wonderful song,” John explained. “Stevie Wonder did an amazing version of it. I can’t even begin to think of how many people covered Beatles songs. There is so much I could have chosen. I was amazed when I was at Sain-Tropez playing at the Papagayo Club with my band Bluesology, ‘Revolver’ was out and it was a big part of my life. But I’ve chosen (‘We Can Work It Out’) because I just love the song.”
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