During the late sixties, some people said that the British saved rock and roll. If true, what did they save it from?
The impact that some British bands had, both on music and society, during that time it was sometimes tough to tell myth from reality. One of the most commonly held beliefs, is that the arrival of the British Invasion in America “saved” rock n’ roll from near extinction. Rock music was in a lot of danger because so many from that original group of artists were no longer around.
Would the post-invasion U.S. styles of garage bands and the blues revival bands have become popular without the popularity of the British bands?
Some bands like The Beatles and The Kinks inspire many musicians even 50 years later. The problem with this world is that every single time we try to pick something out to study we find that it's tied to everything else... So if you think about it we all influence each other. The Kinks, The Beatles or the Rolling Stones were influenced by American bands and in return created a new style of their own which influenced American bands.