It’s not often that you can talk about the history of music, and not mention one of the most influential bands in history, The Beatles. In the sort period between 1962-1970, they would not only change the course of music history, but perhaps cultural history. To understand the importance of the Beatles, and their time, you have to understand the events that were going on. At the time of their explosion on the scene, you had the recent assassination of President Kennedy, and the escalation of the conflict in Vietnam.
Through the mid to late 60’s, the Beatles set global record sales records. Each of their 13 albums would reach #1, and they would accumulate 20 #1 singles on the Billboard charts in a 6-year span. When the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, it ushered in a phenomenon known as “Beatlemania” in America. In fact, the Beatles were so successful that for one week in April, 1964, they held all five of the top spots in the Billboard singles chart, a feat that had never been accomplished, and has never been repeated since. The Beatles would try their hand at filmmaking in 1964, with the release of “A Hard Day’s Night”, a film about a typical day in the life of the Beatles. It would be hailed by both critics and fans alike.
Many say that the height of Beatlemania hit on August 15, 1965, when the Beatles played in front of over 56,000 people at Shea Stadium in New York. It was the largest single concert to that point, and started the era of “stadium rock.” The Beatles would enjoy unprecedented record sales, and continued to pile up #1s through the year. The Beatles would make a second film, titled “Help” which was about the Beatles traveling to exotic locations around the world, all in the quest to remove a ring from Ringo’s finger. It too was hailed as a success, and it seemed that the Beatles could do no wrong, that was about to change.
In 1966, things took a turn for the worse for the Beatles. The pop music that everyone had fallen in love with, suddenly turned more psychedelic, with the release of “Revolver.” Combine that with fallout from controversial statements by John Lennon, and that made 1966 a very trying year for the Fab Four. Lennon, while talking to Maureen Cleave, a journalist in Britain, made the comment that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Lennon was finally forced to apologize days later in Chicago that the comments were taken out of context, but the damage had been done. Across the American South, there were massive “Beatle burnings” where people that were offended by the statements, would burn their Beatles memorabilia in a large public bonfire. This would also be the final year of touring for the group, as they found it more and more difficult to play the songs they were recording, due to technical restrictions of the live equipment at the time, and that it “just wasn’t fun anymore.” So on August 29, 1966, the Beatles would give their final live performance at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
Through the fall of 1966, the Beatles parted ways, and started exploring their own paths. John Lennon would film the movie “How I Won The War” in Spain, George would travel to India to explore Transcendental Meditation, Paul would write music for others, and Ringo would travel to Greece. They would all pool their experiences that fall into the studio in the Winter of 1967 to record their most ambitious album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Over weeks of recording, they wanted to make an album that would stand the test of time, and many now consider it their finest work. It included many tricks, and on “A Day In The Life” an ensemble was used to create a orchestral crescendo, and would end with a long, drawn out piano note. Finally on June 1, the album was released in the U.S., and went straight to #1. The Beatles would take a break after these exhausting sessions, and travel to Bangor, Wales to meet with a group about Transcendental Meditation, but while they were there, their manager from 1962, Brian Epstein, was found dead in his home of an apparent overdose of pills. This would leave the group without management for the first time since 1960. From this point forward, the Beatles had to manage themselves. In the fall of 1967, the Beatles would start their own record company, Apple, to sign then unknown artists, and promised that no demo would be just thrown away, and they were inundated with requests from every artist of every type.
Later in that year, the Beatles would film “Magical Mystery Tour,” a critical and commercial flop, their first unsuccessful project. They would also travel to India, where many of the songs for their upcoming album would have their starts. This album, which was originally supposed to be two separate albums, but merged into one, would start to show the strains of fame on the band. “The Beatles”, or more commonly known by its album cover, “The White Album”, saw the band starting to fight to get songs included, and even saw Ringo leave the band temporarily, only to come back days later, greeted with flowers on his drum set. The album, which was released in November, went to #1, and the album itself showed the variety of influences that were pulling the Beatles apart. Late in 1968, an animated feature starring the Beatles, and based on an earlier song, “Yellow Submarine” was released. With very little actual contribution from the band, other than some music, it was well received.
1969 would see the beginning of the end of the Beatles. They would open the Apple Boutique, but would soon go out of business due to management issues. Then there was the recording sessions for an album called “Get Back”. These sessions were filmed for a proposed movie about the Beatles recording an album, but became more about watching the group break apart. Added to the tension was the fact that most of the scenes were filmed in a cold and empty building, due to the fact that their normal studio at Abbey Road, was too small to accommodate the film crews. Several times through the movie, there are loud arguments over small details in a song. Added to the tension of the sessions as well was the inclusion of Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s second wife, who came into the studio starting with the White Album sessions, and was there all the time, even when pregnant.
The project was eventually shelved, and the Beatles wanted to go back to Abbey Road, and “record like they used to.” In a blistering pace, the Beatles produced an album that was a return to their more productive days, with more of a rock feel. “Abbey Road” would be the final album recorded by the group and was released in late 1969. The band would once again go back to the album still titled “Get Back”, and in one last hurrah, the Beatles would play atop the Apple Studios on Saville Row in London. This would be the last live appearance by the Beatles as a group. In late April, the music world was turned upside down when Paul McCartney would release his solo debut, “McCartney” only two weeks before the final Beatles album was to be released. The album, now titled “Let It Be” was now a swan song to the band.
Throughout the 70s, there were rumors of the band reuniting all over the world, but none materialized. When John Lennon was murdered in December 1980, it put all reunion talks to rest. The remaining Beatles, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, would reunite in 1995 to record two demos that Yoko Ono had given them to record, those would be “Free As A Bird”, and “Real Love”, and would be released on Anthology 1 & 2 respectively in 1995 and 1996.
Over the years, numerous best of albums have been released, all showing the musical genius of The Beatles, and all selling incredibly well. It’s a testament to the longevity of their music, and the fact that now a new generation listens to the music, and enjoys it, means that their music will live on for many years to come.
. Now I just need to buy my Stanley Cup shirt(s), a shot glass, a pennant, dvd…etc. Yes, I really need to do a bit of shopping.
. I’m just going to sit back and relax.
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