Abstract:
John Lennon’s songs show the recurrent influence of feminine voices, and this can be shown by musicological comparisons of Lennon compositions with earlier songs sung by women, which he was familiar with. Some of these resemblances have already been pointed out; others are discussed here for the first time. These influences derive almost entirely from one period (1960-1963) and are mostly US R&B/pop recordings, predominantly of the girl group genre. The chapter will focus on how these tracks influenced Lennon’s songwriting (he wrote in partnership with Paul McCartney, but it is possible to establish the balance of their contributions by reference to secondary literature, eg Miles 1997, Sheff and Golson 1982, MacDonald 2005).

Book Summary:
Popular Musicology and Identity paves new paths for studying popular music’s entwinement with gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, locality, and a range of other factors. The book consists of original essays in honour of Stan Hawkins, whose work has been a major influence on the musicological study of gender and identity since the early 1990s. In the new millennium, musicological approaches have proliferated and evolved alongside major shifts in the music industry and popular culture. Reflecting this plurality, the book reaches into a range of musical contexts, eras, and idioms to critically investigate the discursive structures that govern the processes through which music is mobilised as a focal point for negotiating and assessing identity. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, Popular Musicology and Identity accounts for the state of popular musicology at the onset of the 2020s while also offering a platform for the further advancement of the critical study of popular music and identity. This collection of essays thus provides an up-to-date resource for scholars across fields such as popular music studies, musicology, gender studies, and media studies.