The Beatles and Me

One of my elementary school classmates borrowed a Beatles album from the public library and brought it in to music class one day. I'm almost certain it was a compilation album entitled Rock and Roll Music which was released in 1976. The music teacher let us listen to a song on the album. Although I don't recall which song it was, I fell in love with the Fab Four that day. 

 

 

Mrs. Drewes was a great music teacher. She let us experiment with a wide variety of musical instruments including drums, tambourines, cymbals, triangles, sand blocks, castanets, and maracas. Of course if you were the one who got stuck whacking a couple of sticks together as your contribution to the percussion section you felt kind of cheated and insignificant. 

I believe she sometimes played an instrument called an autoharp. I think she also had a wood guiro with notches you scraped. I wonder if she called it a rasp because I don't recall her using the word guiro although I'm sure that's what it was.

Sometimes Mrs. Drewes would play popular music for us. I remember her playing “A Fifth of Beethoven” by Walter Murphy. Perhaps she thought this disco instrumental adapted from the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was a clever way to introduce us to classical music.

I recall her once saying, “Don't tell me you don't like poetry. I know you all like music and music is poetry.”

More exposure to the Beatles would follow. 

Some third-grade classmates and I would sit around a record player each with our own set of headphones. The headphones were plugged into something called a jack box or distribution box so we could all listen to the record player at the same time without disturbing the other students. 

Patty introduced me to “409” by the Beach boys. The song began with a revving-engine effect. Patty informed me that 409 referred to the singer's car. Actually, I now know that the song describes a Chevrolet with a 409 cubic-inch engine. So, she was essentially correct. I really enjoyed that song.

I liked the Beach Boys. They were often singing about the youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance. 

Danny liked to listen to “Sheila” by Tommy Roe perhaps because we had a cute classmate named Sheila. 

Me and Sheila go for a ride

Oh oh oh oh, I feel all funny inside

Then little Sheila whispers in my ear

Oh oh oh oh, I love you Sheila dear

My classmate Sheila didn't care much for the Beatles as I recall. She'd only let us listen to the Beatles if we agreed to listen to their song “Got To Get You Into My Life.” 

I really liked that song as well. Only later did I find out Paul McCartney claimed he'd written it as an ode to marijuana. I was a bit dismayed upon learning about his ode to pot. I thought it was a love song – the special love for another human being. Oh, Sheila, if you'd only known.

Some of the guys became interested, almost obsessed, with the hard rock group KISS. I liked KISS too. Their signature song “Rock and Roll All Nite” is a kick-ass rock anthem. But, I continued to be more interested in the Beatles and the Beach Boys. While some friends were buying KISS albums I was buying a Beach Boys album and a knock-off of the soundtrack for the movie Grease with songs performed by the Kid Stuff Repertory Company.

I was also blessed with another opportunity to listen to the Beatles. I was blessed with the good fortune of having parents who owned a stereo with a turntable and an 8-track player.

My parents had an 8-track tape of Beatles music known as The Red Album. This was a compilation album spanning the years 1962 – 1966. I realize now that my parents had only one cartridge of a two-cartridge set. I believe we only had The Beatles 1962 – 1966 Part 2.

The song tracks were:

Michelle

I Feel Fine

Yesterday

You've Got To Hide Your Love Away

We Can Work It Out

Nowhere Man

In my Life

Drive My Car

Girl

Eleanor Rigby

Paperback Writer

Yellow Submarine

It was perhaps fortunate that we didn't have part 1. By only having part 2 available I was exposed to obscure songs like “Drive My Car” and “Paperback Writer” which are still two of my favorites. 

“Paperback Writer” is sung from the perspective of an author soliciting a publisher. It was the first #1 hit for The Beatles that was not about love. This was a song that led the transition from early Beatles style to later Beatles style, from love songs to opening up the subject of songs to a wider variety of subjects.

Paul's Aunt had been bugging him for months, challenging him to "Write a song that wasn't about love." So he wrote this just to shut her up. He said: "We always try to do something different. And this idea's a bit different. Years ago my Auntie Lil said to me, 'Why can't you ever write about a horse or the summit conference or something interesting? So I thought, 'All right, Auntie Lil. I'll show you."

By this time, The Beatles were about to cease touring and couldn't make many TV appearances to perform the song. This made it very difficult to promote the single, so they commissioned a film clip that could be shown on these programs in their stead, unwittingly creating one of the first music videos.

Poor Paul has a chipped tooth in the video because of a recent accident.

Paperback Writer Preview

I remember hearing "Stars on 45."  In fact, I think we had a copy of it in our home.

According to Wikipedia:

 

"Stars on 45" is a song issued in January 1981 by the studio group Stars on 45. In some countries, including the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, the band was credited as 'Starsound' and the medley itself was named "Stars on 45". Its official title in the US (as on the record and in Billboard) where it was credited to 'Stars on 45' was "Medley: Intro 'Venus' / Sugar Sugar / No Reply / I'll Be Back / Drive My Car / Do You Want to Know a Secret / We Can Work It Out / I Should Have Known Better / Nowhere Man / You're Going to Lose That Girl / Stars on 45". It is (to date) the longest titled song to ever chart in Billboard, and is conveniently shortened to "Stars on 45 Medley", or "'Medley' by Stars on 45". The reason for the long title was copyright requirements for the use of The Beatles' songs.

At a high school dance during my junior year, I believe my friend and I asked the DJ if he would play a Beatles song. 

“You guys like the Beatles?” he asked. He seemed surprised but pleased.

He played “Twist and Shout” for us. I have to admit I wasn't that thrilled with his song choice. It wasn't one of my favorite Beatles tunes at the time. I realize now that it was a good choice for a dance though. I've grown to enjoy it more over the years since high school. 

The song enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in 1986 after Matthew Broderick lip-synced to the Beatles' version of it in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Coincidentally, the Rodney Dangerfield film Back to School (released two days after Ferris) also featured the song, this one sung by Dangerfield himself and patterned after the Beatles' arrangement. The use in the two films helped propel the single up the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 23 late that summer.

I saw a couple of movies on television associated with the Beatles.  I saw 
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978) and The Birth of the Beatles (1979).

I've never actually seen A Hard Day's Night (1964) or Help! (1965).  What?  Don't worry.  I plan to watch them soon.

I'm not going to exaggerate and say the Beatles were the soundtrack to my youth. But, they were an important part of it. The popular music of the 1980s was more important and relevant to me as a teenager than the Beatles. And yet, when a friend and I were driving to an AC/DC concert the fall of my senior year we listened to a Beatles cassette on the way to our destination.

I became interested in dance pop, R&B, Chicago house, Latin freestyle, and hip-hop music in college. Nonetheless, I still had Beatles, Beach Boys, and Tommy James cassettes in my small cassette collection.

When The Beatles Anthology documentary was broadcast in November 1995, I was excited. Even though I was a Beatles fan, I didn't really know much about their history.

Learning how these young lads from Liverpool met was really interesting. It's rather amazing that four guys were brought together by chance or fate and became such a huge thing.

A family member gave me the compilation album Anthology 1 for Christmas that year. It was a pretty big deal for Beatles fans.

Did you know that the Beatles were originally known as the Quarrymen and then the Silver Beetles before finally becoming the Beatles spelled with an A? An art student named Stuart Sutcliffe was the original bass player until he left the band to pursue his career as a painter. Pete Best was the original drummer until he was replaced by Richard Starkey (professionally known as Ringo Starr).

Sutcliffe's girlfriend Astrid Kurchherr was credited with inventing the Beatles' moptop haircut.

 

Brian Epstein was a record store operator who had no previous experience managing a musical act. Nonetheless, after seeing the Beatles perform at the Cavern Club he asked to become their manager to which they eventually agreed.

Many record companies turned down the opportunity to sign the Beatles to a recording contract including Decca. 

"Not to mince words, Mr. Epstein, but we don't like your boys' sound. Groups are out; four-piece groups with guitars particularly are finished…The Beatles have no future in show business."

-- Decca Records Executive, 1962

Eventually Epstein met with producer George Martin who noted Epstein's confidence in the group. Martin agreed to sign them to the EMI Parlophone label.

Please Please Me was the group's debut album.

On February 9, 1964 the Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The rest is history.

Frank Sinatra had bobby-soxers swooning in the 1940s.

Elvis drove people mad with his gyrating pelvis in the 1950s.

But, the world had seen nothing like Beatlemania. 

"Beatlemania Besets Britain"

"Beatlemania Sweeps U. S."

The Beatles were a major component of the so-called British Invasion. The British invasion was a phenomenon that occurred in the mid-1960s when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom, as well as other aspects of British culture, became popular in the United States, and significant to the rising "counterculture" on both sides of the Atlantic. Pop and rock groups such as the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, and the Animals were at the forefront of the invasion.

As much as I love the Beatles, I have a more intimate connection to the so-called Second British Invasion which occurred during my high school years. The Second British Invasion refers to music acts from the United Kingdom that became popular in the United States from the middle of 1982 into late 1986, primarily due to the cable music channel MTV. While acts with a wide variety of styles were part of the invasion, it was mainly synthpop and new wave influenced acts that predominated. 

On July 3, 1982, The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" started a three-week reign on top of the Hot 100. The song got considerable boost from MTV airplay and has been described by the Village Voice as "pretty unmistakably the moment the Second British Invasion, spurred by MTV, kicked off".

One thing that stands out when I see the Beatles performing is how genuinely happy the guys seem to be performing together.

The Beatles had some cool guitars such as:

John – Lennon primarily used a Rickenbacker 325 Capri from 1960 until 1964. He purchased the guitar in Hamburg in its original natural finish and used the guitar extensively throughout the Cavern Club performances. In early 1963 he sent the guitar off to be refinished in its more popular black finish. This is the way the guitar appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show performance in February 1964.

Paul – McCartney custom-ordered a left-handed Höfner model 500/1 "violin" bass during one of the group's early residences in Hamburg.

George – Harrison started off in the Cavern Club days playing a black Gretsch Duo Jet. The Duo Jet was refurbished many years later and featured on the cover and album Cloud Nine. In mid 1963 he switched to a Gretsch Country Gentleman and a Gretsch Tennessean, both of which he played until around 1965.

I don't know much about guitars but those are some cool names.

 

 

 

Ringo Starr bought a set of Premier drums in 1960, but in June 1963 made the switch to a four-piece Ludwig set. The American-made drums were newly available in England, but the clincher for Starr was the Black Oyster Pearl finish of the Ludwig kit. He used four similar kits altogether, including two that he kept at Abbey Road.
 Did you know he and Paul were both left-handed?

The overall effect of Starr's drumming for the Beatles has received high praise from notable drummers. Starr commented: "I'm no good on the technical things ... I'm your basic offbeat drummer with funny fills ... because I'm really left-handed playing a right-handed kit. I can't roll around the drums because of that."

They inspired a cartoon series.

According to Wikipedia:

The Beatles is an American animated television series featuring representations of the popular English rock band of the same name. It ran from 1965 to 1969 on ABC in the U.S.

 

What if the Beatles had never existed? Without them paving the way, would there have been a British invasion? Would the Rolling Stones and the Kinks still have found an audience in America?

Would popular music have been the same without the Beatles contributions and without them pushing the boundaries and challenging and inspiring others?

So much has been said and written about the Beatles -- and their story is so mythic in its sweep -- that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating clichés that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans. To start with the obvious, they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era, and introduced more innovations into popular music than any other rock band of the 20th century. Moreover, they were among the few artists of any discipline that were simultaneously the best at what they did and the most popular at what they did. Relentlessly imaginative and experimental, the Beatles grabbed hold of the international mass consciousness in 1964 and never let go for the next six years, always staying ahead of the pack in terms of creativity but never losing their ability to communicate their increasingly sophisticated ideas to a mass audience. Their supremacy as rock icons remains unchallenged to this day, decades after their breakup in 1970.

- Richie Unterberger

Sure, not everyone is as enamored with The Beatles as I am.

 

But, I am happy and thankful that four lads from Liverpool named John, Paul, George, and Ringo came together and shared their gift with us.