FOUR decades ago, four men released one of the most definitive albums of their careers. The White Album by The Beatles has since been recognised as one of the top 10 greatest albums of all times. It had a cover that was minimalist in the extreme - designed by pop artist Richard Hamilton; it had a plain white background, with no text except the band’s name on it. But the music was definitely ‘maximalist’. In its 1968 review of the album; The Rolling Stone said the album “contains every part of extant western music through the all-embracing medium of rock & roll”.

A large part of the album was conceived while the Fab Four were in India, staying in Rishikesh with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Originally meant to be a getaway vacation from work, the trip led to some of the most fruitful song-writing sessions for the group the composition of songs like Julia, Mother Nature’s Son and Blackbird. Sexy Sadie, in fact, is about the rumoured advances the Maharishi made on actress Mia Farrow, who had accompanied The Beatles.

Forty years after India influenced The Beatles to come out with the seminal work, it’s a good time to examine how relevant they are to Indian musicians right now. Music composers, from Anu Malik to RD Burman, owe some of their inspirations to the Beatles. Examples abound, like Dekho ab to from Jaanwar which is influenced by I want to hold your hand to Tumko sirf tumko from Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi inspired by Norwegian Wood.

Riju Dasgupta, bassist with Mumbai band Workshop says, “The Beatles are like the Bible of all popular music. Just like Catholicism and various forms of Protestantism came out of the Bible, various genres of music have emerged from the Beatles.” Mihir Joshi, RJ and front-man of popular Mumbai band, The Works, is a self-confessed Beatles fan. “I don’t think there’s a single musician right now, anywhere in the world, who isn’t influenced by them,” he says, “I know of many Indian bands which have covered, if not anything else, at least Come Together.”

Indian rock veteran Nandu Bhende says the reason why The Beatles are so popular in India is because their music is very melodic. “Indian music is melody-based, and so is The Beatles’ music. In fact, many serious rock ‘n’ rollers look down upon them because they feel their music was not ‘masculine’ enough; it didn’t have the rawness that rockers demand.”

However, Pratyush, guitarist with Systemhouse33 and Joy & The Ice Creams begs to differ. “Most Indian bands are heavily into metal and there’s a tendency these days to look down upon the legendary band.” Pratyush is himself a fan, but he feels that the reason the group no longer appeals to young Indians is because their sound was pure rock ‘n’ roll. “There were no distortions and no heavy guitar riffs,” he explains.