How the Beatles destroyed rock 'n' roll!

Want to sell a book about modern music? Call it How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll and watch the fun begin and the money roll in. That's what American author Elijah Wald has done. His alternative history of popular music begins with the "king of jazz", Paul Whiteman, who was one of the most commercially successful musicians of the 1920s. Whiteman replaced "African rhythm" with "European melody", says Wald, and became a star by doing so. Some 40 years later, writes Wald, the Beatles would do the same thing.

Wald, who grew up a big Beatles fan, argues that the band, by discarding their early Chuck Berry and Little Richard influences, created a musical division between "white" (rock) and "black" (soul, blues, hip hop) music that has continued to expand.

"The Beatles destroyed rock 'n' roll — turning it from vibrant dance music into a vehicle for white pretensions," he writes. These "pretensions" can be best heard in the band's "Yesterday", "an effetely sentimental ballad". For Wald, this and other similar Beatles songs opened the door for Billy Joel, Elton John and, ultimately, James Blunt today.