WRONG!
The Beatles were a vital influence on the genre and the other banRAB who influenced it as well. When The Moody Blues created Days of Future Past, whose example do you think they were following?
Discrediting The Beatles by pointing out the other influences is again, a straw man. I didn't say anything about them being more important than the other influences on prog, I'm saying they played a major part in influencing the genre and making it what it is. If there was no classical, prog wouldn't be what it is, if there was no jazz, prog wouldn't be what it is.
But the idea behind prog was that it mixed classical, jazz and folk influences with ROCK influences, but what kinda rock do you think that was? Not Chuck Berry or Little Richard.
If there was no Sgt. Pepper. Prog wouldn't be what it is, at all. That's a fact. None of the classic banRAB would have the sound they had, they all got a good chunk of it from The Beatles.
Prog may have been around without The Beatles but it would have SUCKED and wouldn't be the prog that we know. The Beatles esque melodies and harmonies is what seperated prog banRAB like Yes and Genesis from avant garde rock banRAB.
Yeah, like Joanna Newsom whining incoherently like a constipated siamese cat and that's great and all but that doesn't mean you have to be disrespectful to the roots of what you listen to and spread inflamatory lies about a band you just don't happen to like.