Beatles, Elvis, and Bob Dylan - The Ultimate Threesome (Jeff Batts)
The Beatles and Elvis Presley came at an ideal time to exploit the sexual loosening of America. In one of the prompts, it is contended that American society was sexually conservative at this time. I don't necessarily know if I agree with that. I think that in the years before the British invasion, our culture had already been loosening the belt on sexual inhibition. The Kinsey report showed that America was a lot more perverse than most would like to admit. These covert sexual undertones were ready to boil over, and these acts provided the necessary heat to unleash an intense sexual backlash against the old guard.
Elvis was a homegrown icon, and there's definitely no arguing that he triggered a wave of activity that made parents cringe. His hip swinging and facial expressions were apparently enough to make girls faint. The Beatles were, according to Ehrenrich (525), enough to make girls wet their pants. The provided a means and an excuse for girls to lose themselves. They provided the suggestive music and movements, and the public ate it up. I am not totally convinced that Bob Dylan was intended to be a sexual icon though. In comparing Elvis/Beatles to Bob Dylan, the overall focus of their songs seem to be different. While the Beatles focused on romance with songs like '8 Days a Week', 'I Want to Hold Your Hand', and 'She Loves Me' (among MANY others), they sang about optimistic love. Elvis, on the other hand, still had sexually charged lyrics and actions, but he focused on downsides of romance. 'Heartbreak Hotel', for instance, talks about how painful relationships can be.
Bob Dylan's music seemed to be more politically charged. The only song of Bob's that I'm familiar with that openly concerns women is 'Lay Lady Lay'. Songs such as 'Hurricane' and 'Like a Rolling Stone' seem to focus on political aspects. Dylan was not known for his hip swaying, good looks, or lip sneer. He was known more as a poet and a lyricist than a sexual icon. Therefore, I would contend that that the Beatles and Elvis took advantage of an underlying sexual society, and that Bob Dylan came and grabbed a completely different audience - one that was fed up with the wars and political unrest.
Oh, and for the record, the best Beatle was Paul.
Jeff Batts