In 1964 The Beatles visited the USA for the first time. Charles Mingus was not impressed

Charles Mingus criticised The Beatles for making money in the United States from music rooted in Black American blues, R&B and soul. His complaint, voiced during the band’s first US visit in 1964, raised questions about who benefited financially when Black musical traditions shaped the sound of hugely successful white performers.

Mingus argued that the group copied American music and sold it back to American audiences. The Beatles covered songs by Chuck Berry and Little Richard and recorded three Motown songs on their 1963 album *With the Beatles*. The article notes that they openly acknowledged their influences; Motown singer Smokey Robinson later praised them for doing so, though this did not change Mingus’s view.