The culture has never been the same again

If you really understand the counterculture of the Sixties, you’ll know that the freakout started to occur with Rubber Soul:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_Soul

Prior to that the Beatles had been just another popular (very popular) “act.” They made energetic teeny-bopper music; they were booked in all the standard clubs and on the standard TV shows; they wore the standard-performance narrow ties and show-biz-smart clothing. They had cute haircuts, nice harmonies, and Paul was really adorable.

With Rubber Soul they started to go in a whole other direction. They looked different, sang different, were different.

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The Beatles weren’t especially the leaders of the movement. It had been developing in a kind of subterranean way for a while. But their popularity made them especially influential. When they started to freak out, the alternative-ness and counter-ness started to get noticed. From that point forward there was a recognition that a very fundamental critique of mainstream culture was in the air.