I love the Beatles and recognize their impact. But to say there was rock and roll before the Beatles as if Elvis wasn't a massive international thing is downplaying it, as if it was this underground phenomenon. The members of the Beatles themselves (or the Rolling Stones) all talk about what influence Chuck Berry and Elvis were. In fact, from the view of "rock'n'roll" I don't think the Beatles influence matches Elvis. Their real influence was bigger later with their experimentation and studio wizardry.
I was even thinking about the Rat Pack, you know Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc. and their antics. The Beatles were very much in that lineage. So this idea that they showed up on Ed Sullivan and wowed the world with their new nonchalance that had never been seen before is not an accurate view of the situation.
As you say, two things can be true. The Beatles were important and influential and were a defining sound in the 60s. And the kind of changes (and relative impact) that happened in the 60s have happened many times in the past and many times since. It isn't some singular moment in the cultural history of humanity.
My favorite band of all time is Led Zeppelin. A large number of their songs especially in the early albums were heavily influence by black blues artists or so close that they later had to give songwriting credits to the original black artist.
Elvis also sang lots of blues songs originally created by black Americans.
Not just influenced, Led Zeppelin stole tracks from black musicians.
Even worse (in my opinion), is Eric Clapton, who stole so much music from black musicians, and then went on to disparage them and go on racist rants about who he wants in his country. Even worse when you see how he gave and received praise from artists like Jimi Hendrix.
I was even thinking about the Rat Pack, you know Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc. and their antics. The Beatles were very much in that lineage. So this idea that they showed up on Ed Sullivan and wowed the world with their new nonchalance that had never been seen before is not an accurate view of the situation.
As you say, two things can be true. The Beatles were important and influential and were a defining sound in the 60s. And the kind of changes (and relative impact) that happened in the 60s have happened many times in the past and many times since. It isn't some singular moment in the cultural history of humanity.