The Beatles and Pink Floyd: A Comparison of Two English Bands in the 1960s

Running head: ROCK & ROLL: HISTORY & ANALYSIS
ROCK & ROLL: HISTORY & ANALYSIS
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Author Note

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ROCK & ROLL: HISTORY & ANALYSIS
Introduction
The Beatles and Pink Floyd are considered two of the most recognizable English bands in
the history of English music. Both of the bands began in the same era and dominated the rock
music industry even till this day. In the 1960s, the rock music industry was flourished with all
sorts of talented musicians. It is at this era, two of the greatest bands featured some of the
greatest musicians emerged. This discussion is about the achievements of these two bands, The
Beatles and Pink Floyd and their contribution to music in the years of 1967-1968. Both of the
bands had four main fronts’ men and each one of them equally contributed to their respective
roles.
The Beatles
The Beatles was undoubtedly one of the most famous English bands of all time. They
were formed in Liverpool in the year of 1960s with the team of John Lennon, Paul McCartney,
George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The band mainly focused on skiffle, bear and the rock and roll
beats from the 1950s, which were combined with ballads, hard rock, Indian music and other
genres. In their era, Beatles created music with much more depth than any other band. The two
front men, Paul McCartney and John Lennon were integral to the genre of pop music that they
brought in the form of art (Cohen, 2017). This tour was also made into a film where the songs
performed were identically titled LP including five tracks from the recent single made by the
band. However, despite there were problems that were present in the band, they continued to
create the album and it was labeled one of the best albums of the last century. The issues with the
band further escalated when Lennon brought Yoko Ono to the recording studios who were an

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ROCK & ROLL: HISTORY & ANALYSIS
avant-garde artist (Jones, 2017). There were rules that the band were not allowed to bring their
girlfriends to the recording studio however, there were changes after that. Despite the
negativities during recording, the band started to understand the start of the break-up of the
Beatles.
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English band that was formed five years after the formation of the
Beatles. Just like them, they were from the United Kingdom, England. Unlike the Beatles, the
band focused on progressive and psychedelic music that made them unique from any other bands
that were present at that era. In the year of 1967, the band created the album of The Piper at the
Gates of Dawn that brought the band into spotlight. In the same year the band went through a
major setback when Barrett left due to deteriorating mental health issues due to high usage of
psychedelic drugs (Francis-Landau, Durrett & Klein, 2016). After Barrett’s departure, the band
kept of performing many psychedelic cover on various songs. By the time, it was the 1968 and
the band was under the lead of Gilmour and Waters who brought forth jazz and blues into the
mix. All the four members of the band tried the same technique that Barrett initially applied
however, they kept their composure on stage. Floyd was heavy influenced from Pink Anderson
and Floyd Council from whom they derived the name for the band.
Comparison - Artists
George Harrison vs. David Gilmour

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ROCK & ROLL: HISTORY & ANALYSIS
Both of them are the considered to be two of the greatest lead guitarist of rock history.
However, both of their styles are completely different from one another. Harrison’s work is more
of a varied and flexible, as he did not go with the fast play-style or flashy elements. It was
basically rhythm with innovative capo that shorten the strings on his acoustic (Sís, 2014). Even
as a songwriter, he developed distinctive style that had non-resolving tones with chord arpeggios.
His trademark guitar “Rickenbacker 360/12” was a 12 stringed that had low eights paired with
one octave apart that had high four paired unison.
David Gilmour on the other hand, is characterized by the style of blues influenced
phrasing with bends and sustains in an expressive manner. His melodic sense draws a huge
inspiration from the works on Hank Marvin and Eric Clapton that was mainly progressive. He is
often compared to guitar legends such as Jimi Hendrix and Van Halen. Gilmour’s iconic guitar
“The 0001 Strat” is a model of the Fender Stratocaster that is his signature guitar. He has used it
to cover many Pink Floyd classics.
Therefore from the above discussion it can be said that both of the guitarist were a major
contribution to not only the band but also the rock industry. Harrison’s flexible style adapted
music from different genres including rock. His style changed overtime whereas Gilmour began
with the element of jazz, blues and progressive. Harrison was obviously better at rhythm and
songwriting as he was clearly more experienced in the study of music. He took his time to study
international music from India as well to provide a diverse knowledge and experience for himself
and his followers. Gilmour on the other hand was totally into rock music. He was better at guitar
solos and leads however, he did not explore the other genres of music unlike Harrison.
Comparison - Songs