Thanks Trimmy. Really interesting. It's easy to dismiss them, but Goodall makes a very convincing case. Thinking back, they took me from trivia like Obla Di Obla Da to a stage where I was open to Cream, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd. Their White Album lost me. But unlike Colin I rejected the commercialness of Tamla /soul. But never the later deeper Beatles music, despite it being fashionable to do so. The sixties and seventies were important for me - classical/pop -> underground/rock -> folk and later back to blues and classical.
ELP did something similar, mixing rock and classical, but much later. They never had the same following and influence, though.
As chart toppers, but inventing and pushing they Beatles had a huge influence and I think Goodall makes this clear.