The Beatles singlhandedly killed the "great folk scare" that was riding the wave since the Kingston Trio's Tom Dooley. Up until the Beatles, the Trio were the biggest thing on Capitol records and acoustic guitars far outsold electrics. Yes, the Beatles "coming out" is also the 40th anniversary of the death of folk music as a popular force in music.

At the time, I was saddened by this and as a young teen, did not realize how tastes, trends, and times change. As it turns out, I grew to appreciate the Beatles once I started hearing their catchy melodies with song chords that were easy to emulate. No group or act has ever had such a profound impact musically or cuturally as they have had.