the enduring appeal of the Beatles
I am amazed at how, 46 years after the fact, an exhibit of Beatles pics taken back in 1964 is having such a powerful impact on me and everyone else who seems to see them. The Beatles! Backstage & Behind the Scenes is a special travelling exhibit at the Manitoba Museum until April 11 and well worth the $5 admittance.
You’ll see 84 never-before-seen pics of the Fab Four’s first North American visit taken by LIFE photographer, Bill Eppridge, who takes us backstage for the Beatles three appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show: Feb 9 live from New York, Feb 16 live from Florida and Feb 23, 1964, a taped appearance.
There’s no question that part of the appeal of the exhibit can be attributed to the incredible photographic talent of Eppridge, who has managed to capture the charm, camaraderie and playfulness enjoyed by and between John, Paul, George and Ringo. The personalities of the lads sure comes through in these pics, and gave me a more profound insight into each of them. For me, it’s Ringo who really shines through.
We also learn a bit more about Beatles history. I didn’t realize (or had forgotten) that they had originally gone under the name of the Quarry Men, then the Beetles, then the Silver Beetles, which eventually morphed into the Beatles.
We see the excitement in the faces of the young female fans whose hysteria at the sight of the Beatles created the world of “Beatlemania.” We get a unique look at Eppridge’s fellow photographers with their box and Brownie cameras. We also get a behind-the-scene look at Ed Sullivan himeself, whose show ran from 1948-1971, and after a 23-year run, remains the longest running television variety show in history. The Ed Sullivan Show certainly was a staple in our household on Sunday nights and introduced me to many acts I otherwise would not have known.
Unfortunately, the pics are copyrighted, so you are unable to take pics of them, but for diehard fans, you can purchase a book containing copies of the pics. The Beatles! Backstage & Behind the Scenes is available for sale in the Museum Shop for $29.99.
And if you’re as lucky as I was, you’ll happen to visit when some fellow Beatles enthusiasts are willing to take the stage and sing and play along to your Beatles favourites using Wii Rock Band technology. Here’s the family of heart-throbs I caught on February 19th.
It’s hard to believe that kids so young are so familiar with music that is nearly 50 years old. But they told me that they love the Beatles and often play their music.
So what is it about the Fab Four? What has made them popular with three generations of music lovers?
Cirque du Soleil has their Beatles show, LOVE, currently playing in Vegas. See the Dec 14/09 posting on this blog for a link to that show.
Young kids are belting out Beatles music with Wii “Rock Band” (karaoke-style technology.) The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra will be presenting a Classical Mystery Tour (Music of the Beatles) May 7-9, 2010 that is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
So long after two of the Fab Four have left us and joined “Lucy in the Sky,” the appeal of the music — and the personalities of the individuals who created it — lives on.
I’ll leave the music to The Beatles and the kids of today who are doing a pretty good job emulating it, and I’ll just continue on being a “Paperback Writer.”
Very informative post. Thanks for sharing. To know more about the Beatles, you can visit here at Beatles Fans Unite. Join for free and vote for your favorite Beatles.
Mariellen Ward is travelling in India right now and sent these observations that she has asked me to share with you:
"I know about 'the Beatles ashram' in Rishikesh — apparently it has
gone to rack and ruin. But people still visit it as a pilgrimage site.
I was going to go last year, but I was feeling too un-energetic. Maybe
I will go there this year. I am going to Rishikesh next week.
I've actually read several accounts about their time there, and I tend
to believe Cynthia Lennon, who totally trusted the Maharishi. She
doens't beleive he misbehaved with any young English women. There's a rumour that the Beatles were kicked out of the ashram for drugs and
they floated that story about the Maharishi to cover their asses. But
I do beleive George was genuine. A couple fo weeks ago I went to a
small, by-invitaiton-only concert at the Ravi Shankar Centre here in
Delhi in honour of George's birthday on Feb 25. I was amazed and
delighted to see that Ravi and his daughter Anoushka were both in
attendance!
So, yes, the Beatles' trail is still visible ….
Thanks for the comment, Jesse, and welcome to the blog!
I find it interesting that someone feels you can only be a Beatles OR a Stones fan! I love them both. But maybe that's the Gemini coming out in me.
And I think all those "14-year-old girls" have now grown up and passed their love of the Beatles on to their kids and grandkids, because many youth of today seem to have embraced it just as their grandparents did.
Yes, the Beatles are still going strong. I recently completed a slew of band interviews for AOL's Spinner, and one of the stock questions they provided was 'Are you a Beatles or a Stones fan?'. I thought that this debate was old hat to these up and coming indie rock stars, but some had quite a bit to add to the conversation. You can read some of them here, http://www.spinner.ca/bloggers/jesse_ship
Let's not forget that The Beatle's core audience was 14 year old girls, and at the end of the day, it was just pop music.
I'll be damned if I know what makes the Beatles appeal to all ages, backgrounds, and generations. The simple melodies in the early records, complicated in those that followed. Beatles songs have a universality, that is when they're intelligible! My 17-month-old son is the latest fan. Because the music is just fun. Catchy beats and silly lyrics even hold appeal at such a tender age. Take Octopus's Garden, I am the Walrus, and Yellow Submarine, just for starters.
Thanks for that, Nate.
And for anyone who doesn't know Nate Hendley, he knows his Beatles stuff, and is the author of "John Lennon – Music, Myth and Madness" (part of the True British Amazing Stories series) that proudly sits on my bookshelf.
One of the Beatles Anthology albums contains what could be the earliest recording the band ever did. It consists of a tape recording, made in a bathroom of someone's home (good acoustics, don't you know?) and only features John, Paul and George–no drums.
The tape was made some time in the late 1950s, so the Beatles were still very much in the embryonic phase.
To my complete surprise, the tape was extremely good–what was almost shocking was how all the elements of "the Beatles sound" were already present (sans percussion)–Lennon and McCartney's intertwining vocal harmonies (Lennon rough and McCartney smooth), lots of echo and solid, steady, melodious lead guitar from George.
The lads already had "it"–the elusive mix of natural talent that separates good performers from sublime.
-Nate Hendley
Christine: Yes, loved the Travelling Wilburys. Definitely a unique sound.
Kathe: Interesting how once we start talking, we realize that we're all Beatles fans and hadn't known that about the others. You came so close to seeing the Beatles. I missed Elvis by one week (in Vegas.)
For all the Beatles fans out there, I'm happy to have been found by the folks who run the Beatles video blog at:
http://thebeatlesvideo.blogspot.com/
Definitely worth a look and listen! You can even have more than one playing at a time!
One of my favourite subjects too! Christine, that Beatles poster lovingly hung on your office wall is wonderful. And Doreen, I wish I could see the exhibit you've described with such affection.
I was a Paul girl, but I loved all the Beatles, and was devastated when John was killed. I don't know if I will ever forgive my parents for not letting me go when the Beatles played the Montreal Forum in Sept. 1964, but I certainly remember their appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. My darling daughter (19), who also loves the Beatles, gave me several of the remastered CDs for my last birthday. I think her favourite is Sgt. Pepper, which we always took on car trips when she was a child.
I was definitely a "John fan", and was devastated when he was killed. I was literally in shock for at least a day, and kept expecting the news to be different, even though I knew it wouldn't be. I appreciated George more as an adult, and love the stuff he wrote, and the stuff he did with The Travelling Wilburys (Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison et al).
I love trivia in general, and Beatles trivia in particular. I also love seeing photos that give insight into people's lives, as these seem to. I really do hope this exhibition comes to a gallery close to me.
Thank you for posting this, and telling us about it. Just one more of your wonderful eclectic pieces.
Wow, Christine! Reading your comment almost gave me goose bumps! I could really sense the passion you continue to feel for the Beatles. Thanks so much for sharing that, and for sharing so much of your knowledge about them.
I certainly am glad that Ringo ended up joining the group. Although I primarily ended up liking John as I was growing up and George once I was an adult, I've always appreciated Ringo's playfulness, and the travelling exhibit I saw at the MB Museum really let that side of Ringo shine through. If the exhibit comes anywhere near you, go see it!
Although Paul was never one of my favourites, I really appreciate his talent and dedication to his craft. I love what you say about him "honouring his past, and incorporating it into his present."
Thanks again for leading the discussion and sharing your insights.
The analytical writer in me says the Beatles have endured because of their timeless lyrics–mostly about love in one form or another, and their tight music. The fan in me says that the music is just so damn good, and the Beatlemania thing was so real that their popularity had to endure.
The Quarry Men was John's group that Paul and George joined in 1957 that evolved into the Beatles and then Ringo joined in 1962. Before Ringo, J,P,&G with Pete Best worked in clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg. They played for hours and perfected their craft. John Lennon once said, "We're a band, we're just a band that made it very, very big." When you look at what they produced in the time they were writing their own music, it is amazing. When you realize that they were doing that for just eight years, it's astounding the impact they had, and continue to have. They lyrics evolved from the very simple to the complicated and back again, and the music did the same. McCartney's stuff is not as good as what he had with Lennon, and he knows it, but it's still pretty good.
Would they have been the same band with Best instead of Ringo? No. His talent and personality didn't mesh with the rest, and fortunately people like Brian Epstein and George Martin recognized that. There was some intangible thing that these four "lads" had together. But they recognized when it was over and they left at the top of their game.
The music endures thanks to classic rock radio, the Cirque show (and CD), the Rock Band stuff, and the remastered sets.
The Beatlemania thing was real, and has tried to be duplicated, but can't be. It was an innocent time, and this was a fresh approach to so many things. I saw them perform in '65 and '66 and it was magic. I could hear them (barely), but more importantly, I SAW them–in the flesh. Of course they couldn't tour once they did their studio magic, but McCartney comes close with some of those songs thanks to the technology available to him. (I saw him in 2005–he honours his past, and incorporates it into his present.)
In Liverpool I picked up a poster called The Beatles Through The Years. It has photos and album covers that show their evolution. The early photos are the four together. The later ones are individual head shots–because they became more than the sum of their total.
I also went on The Magical Mystery Tour that goes around Liverpool. It was a great day that ended seeing a tribute band at The Cavern–the club where it all began for them.
I have my records, which I tell my sons is part of their inheritance. I have their remastered movies on DVD, and The Anthology Book ($100 well spent). I have the LOVE CD and one of the remastered ones (that album didn't survive.)
I still love the Beatles, for what they were, and what they will always be to be–the best band in the world.
Feb. 9, 2014–the world will be celebrating the Olympics in Sochi, Russia–and the 50th anniversary of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.