8 Beatles Songs that directly influenced Prog

When you have a band as popular as the Beatles, it's almost a given that they'd influence any genre of music. There's Jazz, Musak, Soul, and even Electronic covers of the music. However, Prog still owes a great debt to the Beatles in particular for using their fame to create rather than to cash in during the 1966-1969 era. By making daring decisions that could be heard by many, countless young minds turned to experimenting with Rock music. These songs in particular are worth a mention:

"Norwegian Wood" (On Rubber Soul)
This one is notable for the sitar. By his interest in Indian music, George Harrison introduced the west's youth to non western instruments for the first time. While Prog in Europe and North America didn't use all that much of this stuff, it did make it more acceptable for non typical rock instruments like the flute and violin to work thier way in.

"Rain" (Single)
The beginning of Backmasking on Record. Again, there's no overabundance of this in Prog, but it paved the way for further studio trickery.

"I'm Only Sleeping" (On Revolver)
This overlooked gem is the best example of a number of songs where The Beatles did something pop, but fairly progressive pop. The movements flow in a way atypical of 1966, and tore down more barriers.

"Tomorrow Never Knows" (On Revolver)
This trippy song is one of the best precursors for both prog and psychedelia. John Lennon showed here exactly what can be done with a little bit of fooling around with the 60's rock formula. Also heavily employs sound effects and other prog staples.

"Fixing a Hole" (On Sgt. Pepper)
See "I'm Only Sleeping"

"A Day in the Life" (On Sgt. Pepper)
The crowing moment of the Beatles' career. In this 5 minute epic, they accomplish what many bands can't do in 20. "A Day in the Life" more than any other song challenged to-be-prog musicians to dream big.

"I Am the Walrus" (On Magical Mystery Tour)
This one needs no explanation.

"Revolution 9"(On The White Album)
This tape collage was one of the first of it's kind (the actual first was "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet" by Zappa and the Mothers a good 2 years earlier). However, while Zappa remained a cult figure, the Beatles got this out onto the world stage. Lots of Krautrock follows similar patterns and ideas.