![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/The-Beatles-Pink-Floyd-Split-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
(Credits: Far Out \/ Apple Corps \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n
Wed 25 March 2026 7:37, UK <\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to quantify the sheer volume of influence The Beatles<\/a> have exerted over the British public and beyond during their 60 years in the limelight. <\/p>\n Not only do you have the plethora of songs John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr wrote and recorded together, but the countless bands they inspired too.<\/p>\n It is perhaps the band\u2019s greatest achievement that their influence can be seen exponentially growing over the decades. On the odd occasions that their inspirational moments are deemed to be over-hyped or undercooked, the group are soon picked back up and heralded as pioneers of pop, originators of the culture and the kind of band that can be found in every single piece of modern music to this day. <\/p>\n One such band that may come as a surprise was the incredibly gifted musicians who comprised Pink Floyd, the leaders of acid-rock and the forefathers of prog-rock. The Floyd was once invited into the studio to see the Fab Four record, and they were instantly inspired by one song to have a serious influence on their own debut album.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 1967, and EMI have signed a brand new experiential band from London who, after various name changes, are called Pink Floyd. Led by the psychedelic stylings of Syd Barrett, the Floyd had a growing reputation for being the men at the forefront of the new acid-rock movement that was hitting Britain in waves. While there\u2019s never much of a summer to speak of, there was certainly a lot of love swinging around London at the time.<\/p>\n Given the opportunity to put out a debut record, Pink Floyd were working in the now-famous Abbey Road studios. Walking into the famed studios must have felt like a real move up towards the peak of pop music. That feeling must have multiplied tenfold when they were given the opportunity to sit in and watch The Beatles work on their song \u2018Lovely Rita\u2019<\/a>. The band were in the middle of recording for Sgt. Pepper and were arguably in their experimental peak.<\/p>\n Pink Floyd\u2019s drummer Nick Mason remembers, \u201cIt was such a great moment for us. We were recording our first album in Abbey Road \u2013 we were in studio three recording The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,<\/a> and down the corridor, The Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper\u2019s.\u201d But it was one song that would inspire the band to add to their own sound.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd there was an invitation to go and visit the gods on Mount Olympus, and they were recording \u2018Lovely Rita\u2019 at the time,\u201d Mason continued, \u201cso it\u2019s a sort of reminder of a really, sort of pivotal moment because actually, without the Beatles, we probably wouldn\u2019t have existed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Lovely Rita\u2019 is a typical Paul McCartney song<\/a> of the time as it manipulates the ideas of real-life into an untold story. It not only allows a little bit of extra whimsy in the tale but also allows Macca\u2019s concept to flourish. It\u2019s a known technique Lennon once called out as highly inspirational to his own songwriting. When asked about the song he replied: \u201cThat\u2019s Paul writing a pop song. He makes \u2019em up like a novelist. You hear lots of McCartney-influenced songs on the radio now. These stories about boring people doing boring things\u2013 being postmen and secretaries and writing home.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, \u2018Lovely Rita\u2019 was written about parking attendants and has a degree of truth to the proceedings, despite McCartney\u2019s protestations. \u201cThere was a story in the paper about \u2018Lovely Rita\u2019, the meter maid,\u201d a relatively new idea in Britain around 1967. \u201cShe\u2019s just retired as a traffic warden. The phrase \u2018meter maid\u2019 was so American that it appealed, and to me a \u2018maid\u2019 was always a little sexy thing: \u2018Meter maid. Hey, come and check my meter, baby.\u2019 I saw a bit of that, and then I saw that she looked like a \u2018military man\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Sometime later, Meta Davies claimed to have been the woman behind the song and the spark of Macca\u2019s inspiration after giving him a parking ticket in St John\u2019s Wood. Speaking to Steve Truner for Hard Day\u2019s Write, Davies recalled: \u201cHis car was parked on a meter where the time had expired. I had to make out a ticket which, at the time, carried a 10 shilling fine. I\u2019d just put it on the windscreen when Paul came along and took it off. He looked at it and read my signature which was in full, because there was another M Davies on the same unit.<\/p>\n \u201cAs he was walking away, he turned to me and said, \u2018Oh, is your name really Meta?\u2019 I told him that it was. We chatted for a few minutes, and he said, \u2018That would be a good name for a song. Would you mind if I use it?\u2019 And that was that. Off he went.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s something McCartney has often refuted, claiming, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t based on a real person but, as often happened, it was claimed by a girl called Rita [sic] who was a traffic warden who apparently did give me a ticket, so that made the newspapers. I think it was more a question of coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n What wasn\u2019t a coincidence, though, was the effect the song had on Pink Floyd or, perhaps more accurately, witnessing the song be created had on Pink Floyd. During the recording, The Beatles made a host of sound effects for the track using various groaning, sighing and screaming noises to get their desired sound. The band played paper and combs and added some cha-cha-chas all to grab the attention and promote experimentation.<\/p>\n Many have drawn direct links between these sounds and the ones that would feature on Pink Floyd\u2019s album The Piper At The Gates of Dawn, especially in songs like \u2018Bike\u2019 and \u2018Pow R. Toc. H\u2019. But the album Sgt. Pepper was another huge draw, too, paving the way for the band\u2019s success, \u201cSgt. Pepper\u2019s was the album that absolutely changed the face of the record industry,\u201d Mason suggested.<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/David-Gilmour-Pink-Floyd-1970-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>Credit: Alamy<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/The-Beatles-Sgt.-Peppers-Lonely-Hearts-Club-Band-1967-Far-Out-Magazine.jpg\")
<\/a>(Credits: Album Cover)<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/faroutmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/far-out-magazine\/img\/google-discover.svg\")
<\/a> The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n