It was 50 years ago today....

So what. Pop music, no more no less. Procol Harum´s debut 1967 and "Shine on Brightly" 1968 in particular with the very first true progressive rock epic music "In Held Twas in I" are serious pop/rock music, with true intelligent and psychedelic lyrics. To me, even when I still was just a kid, in 1967-68 Pepper sounded like silly children´s music. Lucy in the Sky with diamonds ... funny funny heh heh. Right.
The downfall is right there when they tried to be clever and intellectual but sounded quite corny most of the time. And Abbey is just dull, with the exception of brilliant "Something" not written by Lennon/McCarthy.

George Martin´s role in production is very important, he truly was the fifth Beatle and without him the end result would have been different. "Revolver" and "Rubber Soul" have real magic that they lost when they became "serious" musically. Innocent and very happy (pop) music, simple tunes like "Girl" are their finest hour. Of course, later they had their moments like Back in the USSR, they finest rocker. Heh, Sovjet Union. Very funny tune for us, our neighbor you see.

Lennon could only dream of songs like "A Whiter Shade of Pale" not to mention "A Salty Dog". Btw, the perfect pop music perfectly produced by class came from Sweden a few years later ... tunes like Ring Ring and SOS. And from Holland, Never Mary a Railroad Man, not to mention Venus.

In late 60´s people such as Gary Brooker & Co and Jimi Hendrix & Co created the very first attempts to serious and important rock music ... "Electric Ladyland" from 1968 is light years away from harmless pop music. Hendrix was/is a genius and way ahead of most pop musicians. These guys created new genres, new art. Symphonic Prog and Psychedelic Rock and the world was never the same.

I read somewhere that the "mighty" Beatles stopped to perform for audiences already in 1966 because they were tired of screaming fans, in the middle of Beatlemania ? Really. How stupid is that. Quite an insult to the fans. The most overrated music in history. I like their 1964-66 period, though. But never my cup of tea really.

Btw, for a pop band I´ve always preferred The Hollies because their songs were simple about love (girls) and their songwriting is very good. When pop music becomes too serious it kinda looses its magic, as a simple pop music.  
And Allan Clarke had a gorgeous voice, perfect for pop melodies. And great harmonies from Graham Nash, but that is another story.

Ignorance and prejudice never fails to surprise me. It´s always funny actually : )
Seems only me and Eric realize the brilliance of their 1965-66 albums, THE best pop albums from incredible 60´s ? Their pinnacle, all their other albums before and later are inferior, musically. As I already mentioned, White Album has it moments (well many inferior albums by almost any artist have its moments so nothing new under the sun).
Thank God exist different (musical) cultures. And I´m glad people like Eric knows a thing or two about pop (and rock) history ´cos has been there, so to speak.
Beatles or any other pop "icon" are just some other people´s fantasies, nothing more nothing less. Quite silly POP icons. Walrus, saw it on telly, I laughed at it as kid, I still do, another happy harmless tune. Likewise is We Can Work It Out, what a message, positive attitude, probably pop´s finest hour. And McCarthy is a great musician and a bass player. I never said they had´t influenced a number of musicians - who had´t who could possible have closed ears for FM radio in the 60´s ? Ridiculous. They just happened to be the first. All pop music is inspired from earlier artist, like we it not.
But luckily the best of them got their inspiration elsewhere. Classical music, serious music, the best music, Man´s finest achievement.
Before bands like Hendrix Experience, Procol Harum, (well Nice too and Beach Boys´ Pet Sounds in some extent, I admit) and The Moody Blues, exist popular music or even progressed rock´n´roll music, that you Eric are talking about. But here I´m talking about Progressive Rock Music, where Beatles is so often referred, took influenced from classical music and different musical cultures and blended them into rock´n´roll and finally created new rock music, very interesting music and true art, art at finest, the best in existence. You gotta realize that essential difference. Even so you seem to dis Hendrix in so many ways, which is just plain absurd. Don´t try to explain your strange behauviour, I coudn´ t care less.
Electric Ladyland, in particular is one of the very first Progressive Rock albums alongside Procol´s second and Ennio Morricone´s work, really. Not Pet Sounds despite its brilliance, it´s still pop music, not Frank Zappa his actually avant-garde(n) not true Prog. Prog Rock was invented in England, but not by Beatles, thank heavens.
Back to pop. Well, I´m glad you understand what ABBA is all about. Gorgeous pop tunes, huge hits worldwide. So silly, so cute and so good. Fantastic female singing and harmonies, nice and VERY HAPPY pop songs, never harmed anybody never offensive NO so damn booooring political feminist racist BS. The perfect Pop Product, from Sweden. That must be hard for Brits, I almost feel sorry for them. Almost. But Brits should not worry too much about ... also Sally Carr had nice legs and bottom : _)

Mapman says:

I am a huge long time fan of Procol Harum, Moody Blues, King Crimson, you name it late sixties early prog/art rock act, but you gotta realize non of that may have ever happened when it did without the Beatles.

That´s your fantasy and countless others´, quite strange statement.
In reality pop music was evolving all around in the 60´s, in Europe particularly in England, and in America. Progressive pop like Beach Boys and eventually Prog Rock would have emerged anyway, without Beatles somewhere, by other musicians of that time, sooner or later. And it did, 1968 and onwards. 
Carlos Santana fused latin dance music to blues and rock, and the Rock Fusion kinda a form of World Music was born, in USA.
Things tends to happen, it´s always just a matter of time.
Or not, like it was planned to form a hyper band HELP but that never happened. Hendrix was already disappointed with his current band and wanted to move on. He was a true pioneer in Prog Rock, starting from Axis: Bold as Love, 1967.
Or maybe he had joined jazz-fusion acts like Weather Report or something else, but that never happened, unfortunately. What a talent Rock lost. And what a manly voice, one of the very best and the best from Black Man IMO. Jimi, RIP and thanks for the Cosmic Music