Songwriting Band

On another thread started by Godzilla regarding the Essential Beatles,
I noticed that only one of the 46 songs listed was NOT written by the
Beatles (Twist and Shout). Were the Beatles the first band/group to
compose their own songs? As I recall, the normal way things were done

afcpeters...

They're often credited with that, but it's not really true. Buddy Holly
wrote his own songs for the Crickets, for example, and Bill Haley was
also a songwriter. Artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo
Diddley, Roy Orbison, etc., were songwriters. These and others
influenced the Beatles to write as well as perform.

In the late '50s and early '60s, after the earliest days of rock &
roll, the pendulum had swung back towards professional writers
providing hits for artists. The Beatles revived the trend of artists
writing for themselves; the impact of them doing so was so great
because 1) they were so good at it; 2) they were so successful at it;
and 3) the stylistic change they ushered in opened the door for newer
writers.

back then was to have songwriters/composers (like Leiber/Stoller,
Goffin/King, Bacharach/David, etc.) write the songs for the singers and
bands/groups to perform. (It wasn't until later that Carole King and
other songwriters started performing their own songs.)

This was another example of how the Beatles were trailblazers in the
music world. The Rolling Stones followed the Beatles' lead in writing
their own songs.

To me Lennon/McCartney has a nice ring to it even though I know Paul
wrote some songs mostly by himself (the same with John). I guess it's
because I'm used to seeing it that way and I feel comfortable with it
that way. McCartney/Lennon just doesn't look right and when I see just
one name listed (for their post-Beatle output), I feel a
sadness/emptiness because it reminds me of the fact that the Beatles
broke up. It was such a magical time - my wonder years - that I'll
always remember with the wide-eyed innocence of a child.

godismycodependent...

I think Chuck Berry was the biggest, and possibly the first, major rock
act to write the bulk of his material.