markus heuger's
beabliography

Beabliography

Summary 0106

Heinonen, Yrjö (1997), "The Beatles as a small group. The effects of group development on group performance." Paper for the European Seminar in Ethnomusicology, 15-19 October 1997, Jyväskylä (Finland). Published In: Yrjö Heinonen, Tuomas Eerola, Jouni Koskimäki, Terhi Nurmesjärvi and John Richardson (eds.), Beatlesstudies 1. Songwriting, recording, and style change. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä (Department of Music, Research Reports 19), 1998, 89-116.

The aim of the paper is to apply the small group theory to the development of the Beatles. Small groups have been studied mainly in social psychology (especially in group therapy). One of the leading models in this field is the life-span model, which assumes that a small group goes through several (usually 3-7) distinguishable but overlapping stages. Here the following five stages are distinguished: (1) group formation, (2) group integration, (3) work group, (4) group differentiation, and (5) group termination. The development is assumed to be caused by changes in group dynamics occuring between the members of the group as well as between the group and the larger organizations it works with.

Methods

The sources consisted of interviews of the members of the Beatles and their contemporaries, standard biographies, handbooks, and descriptions of the recording sessions. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in processing the data.

Results

The career of the Beatles was divided into five developmental periods: the pre-Beatles period (1957-60), the Hamburg-Cavern period (1960-62), the Beatlemania period (1962-65), the experimental period (1965-67) and the post-Epstein period (1967-70). During 1957-60 the group, first called the Quarrymen, was an amateur band. The line-up was in constant change but the core of the Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison — emerged in the Quarrymen days. During 1960-62 the group, now called the Beatles, became a professional band performing mainly in Hamburg and Liverpool (Cavern). The line-up was: Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe (1960-61), and Pete Best. In the end of 1961 Brian Epstein became their manager and the Beatles signed a recording contract with EMI in 1962. Best was replaced by Ringo Starr. During 1962-65 there was a clear division of labour within the group as well as between the group and Epstein/the EMI staff. The basic line-up was: Lennon (rhythm guitar), McCartney (bass), Harrison (lead guitar) and Starr (drums). Lennon and McCartney wrote the songs, either separately or together. The songwriter usually sang lead in his own songs. Epstein negotiated the live-performances, broadcastings (radio and TV), tours, and films. George Martin produced the records with Norman Smith as the recording engineer. Epstein and Martin expected the Beatles to release three singles and two albums during every year — which happened. The result of all this was called Beatlemania. During 1965-67 the fixed division of labour changed. There was no basic line-up anymore: new instruments were introduced and session musicians were used to play strings, brass or woodwinds (sometimes also Indian instruments). Instead, there were three songwriters (Lennon, McCartney and Harrison). Now the Beatles contributed more to the whole recording process (they were present also during the mixing). George Martin produced still the records but now he also wrote the arrangements for the session musicians. The roles of the recording engineer (Geoff Emerick) as well as the 2nd engineer (Phil McDonald) became stronger. The result was not less than the birth of what has later been called "art-rock". On the other hand, the end of public performances in 1966 had weakened the role of Epstein. During 1967-70 a catastrophe was followed by another catastrophe. Epstein died in 1967 and there was no manager until 1969 when Allen Klein took his place. The Beatles was not a team anymore — rather they were four independent musicians, each of them writing and singing their own songs, using the others as if they were session musicians. There were constant conflicts. The contribution of the EMI staff became weaker. George Martin did not produce the last album ('Let It Be') — the project was first given to Glyn Johns and eventually to Phil Spector. The recording engineers came and went. The Beatles disbanded in 1970.

Discussion

The career of the Beatles corresponds with the life-span model of small group development as follows: the pre-Beatles stage (1957-60) — group formation, the Hamburg-Cavern stage (1960-62) — group integration, the Beatlemania stage (1962-65) — work group, the experimental stage (1965-67) — group differentiation, and the post-Epstein stage (1967-70) — group termination. As a conclusion it is stated that the life-span model of small group development applies very well to describe and explain the development of the Beatles as a small group.