I think it helps to have lived it in order to understand how big an impact the Beatles had and continue to have.They had a mass appeal even both my nans had a favourite (it was always Paul) but their talent ( as a sum of their parts ) was apparent across the generations.
I would have been 6 when the Beatles first became famous but I was aware something very special was happening. Lennon and McCartney as a pair wrote some fantastic music but they seemed to lose something without eachother in my view .
another point worth considering .. without the Beatles would the musical 'British Invasion' of the USA ever have happened ? .. I would say not
Impossible to say, Lincs.
They weren't the first British artist to get a number 1 in the US, that was ........
Acker Bilk!
or .. was it Vera Lynn ? .. whoever it was they hardly changed the US musical world, as did the Beatles et al
I know - it was tongue in cheek.
whatever, 'Stranger on the Shore' is pretty much a timeless classic and was the first British No1 on the 'Billboard' chart, i.e., the definitive voice since 1958 on best US sellers .. Vera in 1952 was a presumed chart topper in a time when there was no definitive proof of sales .. I sound very knowledgable, BUT a big hand please for Wiki for providing 90% of my info
My MIL, saw them live in London somewhere (can't remember where). A couple of weeks before the show, she left her purse, that had the ticket inside on a bus. Naturally, she was devastated but tried lost property in hope more than anything. It had been handed in and both the ticket and her money were both still in there. Doubt it would happen now.
She's also got all their autographs. On a sheet of old paper and dedicated to her but still worth a few quid. She just keeps it in a drawer. I've got my eyes on them already!
I don’t want to hear about you having your eyes on your mother-in-law’s drawers!!
I got into The Beatles in my early teens when the "new romantics" and ska were at their height. Parents had the "Blue" album (xmas present from a relly but they never really listened to it) and so I completed the "set" by buying the Red one. At that time I was more into the early stuff & it wasn't until I started work & had enough money to start buying the rest of their albums that I discovered Sgt Pepper, Revolver & my all time favourite Abbey Road. I can never rate bands in order of favourites as things change depending on my mood, but The Beatles are in my top 5 along with Led Zep*, The Stones, Pink Floyd and The Doors. So many good songs & looking forward to watching Get Back just to see the craftsmen at work.
* Was going to start a thread about how this month is the 50th anniversary of the release of Led Zep 4. One of THE best albums ever recorded......and dare I say that Stairway is not the best track on there, not even 3rd best !!
Agreed.
'When the Levee Breaks' for me. But I don't think 4 is their best album!
We digress though! As cultural icons and societal changers The Beatles are unsurpassed. Lennon and McCartney are also up there with the greatest song writers, lyrically, and especially melodically.
I was six when they had their first hit, and it helped to have a sister three years older so I got into the music even at that tender age. But I was always Stones over Beatles (I was Blur over Oasis as well!).
We must be around the same age. My sister was five yrs older. I sang Beatles songs (and others) with a friend on a step looking over the school playground. It’s impossible to convey to people today how exciting it was when a new Beatles single came out, when you were pre teen. It did feel like the world was changing and it felt like they were the cause somehow. No band can follow that really, no matter how good they are. I’ve written a blog about those early years, and how when it came to actually having the money to buy my first LP (in 1969), choosing Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats, rather than the Beatles, despite not having a clue who he was.
I remember singing Beatles songs in bed at night when I was 6/7 and can clearly recall my mum coming in to my room to tell me to stop as I was singing 'She Loves You' at the top of my voice about an hour after I should have been asleep!
It wasn't just The Beatles that changed everything - The Stones, The Kinks, The Who and Small Faces were, for me, the nap hand of game-changers. But it was the fab four that were the catalyst.
Happy, happy days.
P.S. Electric Warrior (T.Rex) was the first album I bought with my own money!
Mine was Gasoline Alley by Rod Stewart. Had bought singles before then but laying out £1.50 on an album was quite a landmark.
It's the story of how they end up playing at a posh boarding school (Stowe) just on the cusp of their breakthrough. There was even a recording made. The link below is from the BBC's Front Row.
Lennon had feet of clay big time. Like a lot of people who can produce brilliant work, on a personal level they can be at the very least questionable. I find it helpful to consider the work separately to the person, but that doesn’t always happen, Gary Glitter being a good example. Very few people are near perfect both personally and in what they create, and as I say I believe John Lennon is a good example of that.
Lennon had feet of clay big time. Like a lot of people who can produce brilliant work, on a personal level they can be at the very least questionable. I find it helpful to consider the work separately to the person, but that doesn’t always happen, Gary Glitter being a good example. Very few people are near perfect both personally and in what they create, and as I say I believe John Lennon is a good example of that.
So your point is that not everyone is perfect? Im going back to bed, I need to lie down after that unexpected news.
Yes that is exactly my point. Although there are some people who can walk the walk after they talk the talk. I wouldn’t say that about John Lennon though.
I remember being in Primary School when John was killed. The Head called a special assembly and actually cried on stage whilst announcing it.
None of us knew who he was even if we knew some of the lyrics to yellow submarine.....
There are two celebrity deaths that had me in tears when I first heard. John Lennon was the first, I was 23 at the time and sobbed like a baby.
The second was waking up to the news of Muhammad Ali's passing, although that was to a great degree expected based on the news the previous day.
This picture popped up on my Facebook this morning, I thought you'd like it, @bobmunro
That woman in the background isn't happy about something!
Actually, none of them look very happy with the possible exception of Ali. I think someone's dropped a huge silent stinker in that room. The woman at the back clearly thinks it's the cameraman.
Yes that is exactly my point. Although there are some people who can walk the walk after they talk the talk. I wouldn’t say that about John Lennon though.
Are you saying Lennon didn't create anything?, bit confused.
To really understand The Beatles phenomenon you had to be there and of a certain age to really understand it. I was 14/15 when Love me Do was released. I distinctly remember to this day going to Sealeys electric shop suppliers on the corner of Brownhill Road and Verdant Lane SE6 and ordering it…..Mrs Sealey (god bless her), served me and came out with a classic comment. ”Oh, they won’t get far with a name like that.” Happy days! 🤭
Yes that is exactly my point. Although there are some people who can walk the walk after they talk the talk. I wouldn’t say that about John Lennon though.
Are you saying Lennon didn't create anything?, bit confused.
I believe he created exceptionally wonderful music. I simply wish he didn’t have the cruel streak that made him publicly humiliate disabled people, nor oppress women. Imagine if he hadn’t done those things.
Yes that is exactly my point. Although there are some people who can walk the walk after they talk the talk. I wouldn’t say that about John Lennon though.
Are you saying Lennon didn't create anything?, bit confused.
I believe he created exceptionally wonderful music. I simply wish he didn’t have the cruel streak that made him publicly humiliate disabled people, nor oppress women. Imagine if he hadn’t done those things.
If a musician's final ever public concerts are charity gigs to raise money for disabled children; if one of his last singles was a plaintiff wail expressing and shedding a light on the suppression of women; and if his last album was a shared release with his wife, and tells the story of a renewed love, from the point of view of a redeemed character; then, don't you think this would be a worthy means of remembering him? Sometimes it's good to judge people on what they do while they're alive, rather than by what the Daily Mail can drag up about them thirty-five years after they're murdered.
I am glad that he tried to redeem himself. As I said, it is such a shame that so many greats have feet of clay and that my wish that they didn't is a simple one.
John Lennon will not be remembered for centuries as a paragon of virtue (they don't exist - part of the human experience is to be imperfect) - he will be remembered for his music.
All of the greats (like all of us) seem to have feet of clay. Recognition of what they created is valid, but we must be careful if tempted to sanctify.
Why? You sanctify God all the time on CL. After all, The Beatles are like the gods of music to many of us. They may be 'false gods' to you but many of us would say that there is no 'true god.'
Maybe you should be careful, if tempted, not to preach.
All of the greats (like all of us) seem to have feet of clay. Recognition of what they created is valid, but we must be careful if tempted to sanctify.
Why? You sanctify God all the time on CL. After all, The Beatles are like the gods of music to many of us. They may be 'false gods' to you but many of us would say that there is no 'true god.'
Maybe you should be careful, if tempted, not to preach.
I sanctify God all the time on CL? I think you're confusing me with somebody else.
Firstly, people generally were more ignorant of disabled people back then. You have to put into context of the times. Secondly - disregarding point one - he was young and did it just once. Yes, it was stupid but I bet he looked back at it with regret, especially once he became a parent.
I'm sure he was a racist as well, eh Seth? If he humiliated disabled people then surely he was a racist as well? Much like Fiona Bruce and brexiteers, and many people on this forum?
I'm sure he was a racist as well, eh Seth? If he humiliated disabled people then surely he was a racist as well? Much like Fiona Bruce and brexiteers, and many people on this forum?
I don't know if John Lennon was a racist. I think his appreciation of American black music and black music culture would suggest that he might not have been racist. Your use of the word 'if' is interesting.
All of the greats (like all of us) seem to have feet of clay. Recognition of what they created is valid, but we must be careful if tempted to sanctify.
Why? You sanctify God all the time on CL. After all, The Beatles are like the gods of music to many of us. They may be 'false gods' to you but many of us would say that there is no 'true god.'
Maybe you should be careful, if tempted, not to preach.
I sanctify God all the time on CL? I think you're confusing me with somebody else.
Yes, sorry. I was getting you confused with Valley of Tears.
He hardly humiliated disabled people. You make it sound like he actually wheeled some out onto the stage and took the piss out of them.
Does anyone who pulls this dirt out on Lennon ever ask themselves why there weren't hoardes of people from 'the disabled community' throughout the media stating how 'offended' they were?
Does anyone ask why the crowd weren't whistling or jeering?
Society was different then. You can't judge people and what they did in the past by today's standards. Even in the 80s kids at school did stuff like that and the teachers would say absolutely nothing. It just wasn't considered wrong.
Comments
I would have been 6 when the Beatles first became famous but I was aware something very special was happening. Lennon and McCartney as a pair wrote some fantastic music but they seemed to lose something without eachother in my view .
They were the perfect storm of their time
It's the story of how they end up playing at a posh boarding school (Stowe) just on the cusp of their breakthrough. There was even a recording made. The link below is from the BBC's Front Row.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001kpq1
Like a lot of people who can produce brilliant work, on a personal level they can be at the very least questionable.
I find it helpful to consider the work separately to the person, but that doesn’t always happen, Gary Glitter being a good example.
Very few people are near perfect both personally and in what they create, and as I say I believe John Lennon is a good example of that.
Although there are some people who can walk the walk after they talk the talk.
I wouldn’t say that about John Lennon though.
I was 14/15 when Love me Do was released.
I distinctly remember to this day going to Sealeys electric shop suppliers on the corner of Brownhill Road and Verdant Lane SE6 and ordering it…..Mrs Sealey (god bless her), served me and came out with a classic comment.
”Oh, they won’t get far with a name like that.”
Happy days! 🤭
Two of my heroes - thanks Chizzy.
I simply wish he didn’t have the cruel streak that made him publicly humiliate disabled people, nor oppress women.
Imagine if he hadn’t done those things.
As I said, it is such a shame that so many greats have feet of clay and that my wish that they didn't is a simple one.
Maybe you should be careful, if tempted, not to preach.
I think you're confusing me with somebody else.
Secondly - disregarding point one - he was young and did it just once. Yes, it was stupid but I bet he looked back at it with regret, especially once he became a parent.
Your use of the word 'if' is interesting.
Does anyone who pulls this dirt out on Lennon ever ask themselves why there weren't hoardes of people from 'the disabled community' throughout the media stating how 'offended' they were?
Does anyone ask why the crowd weren't whistling or jeering?
Society was different then. You can't judge people and what they did in the past by today's standards. Even in the 80s kids at school did stuff like that and the teachers would say absolutely nothing. It just wasn't considered wrong.
Do yaself a favour and listen to it. Admittedly not his best, but heartfelt protest music on several of the things you are hanging on him.
Cheers, thank me quietly later.