Can I get some input from older Beatle Fans?

[dwinn]

I don't mean old, but mainly people that were teenagers when the Beatles were around.
First off, I'm 29 and became obsessed with the Beatles 10 years ago. I actually went backwards and first got into Let it Be, then Abbey Road, eventually loving every album. I still pop in most of the albums today, and lately have come to really loving and appreciating the earlier stuff a little more. The songs I find myself humming the most, or strumming on my guitar are songs like I'll Follow the Sun, and I Should Have Known Better.

My question to you guys is: How has your opinion changed about the band over the past 40 years? I think everyone knows how great they are now, and how much they have changed modern pop culture, but what was it really like during that time? Was it mainly young girls that were crazy about the band, and gradually musicians came around to appreciating them? Or did guys and girls alike really feel something new and exciting was going on? How did you feel about the band when they ditched the mop top look and started to become more experimental? It really amazes me that this group had the ultimate package going on: They were good looking, wrote perfect 2 minute pop songs, and were the biggest band in the world. Then, they did a 180, grew their hair out, grew mustaches, stopped touring, and basically did what they wanted to do, and became even bigger. It still blows my mind to this day.

Also, I wanted to ask if you still listen to the albums like you used to, or have you listened to the music so much that it is instilled in your head and you don't actually listen to it too much these days?

Sorry for the long, winded paragraph. But I could ask so many more questions. I'm interested to hear from some of you guys. Thanks for your time

[ric325v63]

I can try a little.......

I was 9 years old when I first heard them on the AM radio in December 1963. I heard "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and was stopped in my tracks. I had been listening to Beach Boys and surf music influenced by my older brother. Then the considerable hype started prior to their visit to the US in Feb. '64. There was a lot of radio air play through January and up to the Sullivan show. I was completely absorbed in waiting for the TV show. Even though there was lots of hype, their appearance surpassed the hype. I just resonated with the music, the sound of the guitars, the blend of the voices, the fascination with the tunes themselves, the engaging nature of the guys. From that point forward I followed everything they did musically. I couldn't afford to get every record as it came out but wanted to. I was listening to the music on the radio all the time and playing my records. You can't imagine the excitement with each new release because they never disappointed. Every release was interesting and filled with great music deep into each album. You always played the albums straight through. I remember when Rubber Soul came out - I went to my friend's house because he had it first and played it over and over again all day.

What always kept me interested all the time was the music and its variety. I did not go in much for the the "collectibles" at the time - it was the music. I remember things like the harmonies in Eight Days A Week which set the hair standing on my neck and the flip side guitar solo on I Don't Want To Spoil The Party. I did have the bubble gum cards for awhile but don't have them now - don't know what happened to them. All I have from the time is the records. You have to realize that exposure (besides the radio) was pretty much non-existent at the time - never on TV, no videos except very occasionally in the later years - little news in the media except in guitar magazines and fan magazines like Tiger Beat, etc. So, the limited exposure kept The Beatles from being "overexposed" which is way easy to do today.

I had not problem following them through the changes from 66 on to 69. Some folks did not like the changes - I just rolled with them and took them all in. Because of little in the news media it came as quite a surprise when the "official" announcement of the breakup occurred on 4/10/70. I had heard some rumors about John during the winter (after he had done Plastic Ono Band stuff) of 69-70 but was surprised by the end when it came. It was quite a blow. Following that I voraciously followed their individual paths which proved quite fruitful as all of them put out a LOT of good stuff in the 70s led off by George's masterful All Things Must Pass and Concert For Bangle Desh.

I still listen to the albums now though not as often. I have not got tired of the songs because they wear well and are still interesting. There are other famous songs and groups from the 60s (I had lots of other groups' records too) that I absolutely can not listen to anymore - I have heard some of them at least one too many times and turn them off when I hear them now.

My recent interest was renewed when I picked up guitar in earnest in the mid 90s and went about learning how to play many Beatles' songs. That gave me a whole new dimension and interest as I worked back through the catalog. So, actually I've taken two complete trips through first as a kid just listening and second as an adult learning the music on guitar.

I hope this helps from a first gen witness. It was as big as you imagine.

Jon

[kiramdear]

What a wonderful, well thought-out request. I've often wondered if young people were wondering about the Beatles in those terms, and if it was possible to make someone appreciate the depth of their impact over time.

Keep in mind that I was seven when they played Sullivan the first time. The world looked big to me already, naturally. I had already learned to dance Chubby Checker's twist and Elvis had already passed his prime, although those old great numbers were still pretty fresh. The Beach Boys were Surfin' USA and I was surfin' the sidewalks on my newfangled skateboard. Dylan was singing about times changing and JFK had just been shot in Dallas. We were looking to the youth music culture to restore some hope and fun to our nation - that was already its charge and scope. My older brothers were already taking from it the lessons they would need to survive the pace of social change that was about to pick up to breakneck speed.

The Beatles hit the ground running and it seemed that nothing could stop them and nobody could get enough of them. It seemed like they just set the world ablaze. Everyone was either excited or apprehensive about the new rock culture, my parents being the latter, which only added taboo to the attraction I had to them. Believe it or not, they were controversial from the very first to traditional American value systems, and that only helped move the revolution along, the various social movements etc. that attached themselves (or vice versa) to the pop music scene. Of course you can't leave out Bob Dylan from the equation, for he moved the world directly and indirectly through the Beatles as well, his influence on them. Many groups followed in their wake, there were many contenders for second place, but they were the clear leaders of the movement. It wasn't until 1972 that another band could convincingly claim to be "The Greatest Rock And Roll Band In The World".

They mean as much to me now, if not more than they did then. I still listen actively and collect boots and try to keep up with the interviews and appearances. Paulie is still so deeply inspiring to me as a musician. John and George feel more like my brothers than my own siblings do. They live on forever in me.

I hope I've addressed a portion of your request, at least. I'm in danger of waning into drooling nostalgia so I'll clear the floor for the next old fogey ...

[winston]

Where do I start. I was 14 when they hit the scene. I was a British grammar school student and a budding musician and a singer...........obviously I am a old bloke. Now where's my pipe and slippers?

The Beatles were an epiphany to me. They made me realise that music could be played by 4 people and you did not need to be a component of a ten piece band or orchestra to have a huge hit. They opened the door for the average guy or girl with talent to be a pop star. They are responsible for kick starting my musical career.

Their early music has stood the test of time. Their experimental music has stood the test of time. They were great then and they were great when they disbanded. They are still great today. I love their music but I don't listen to it much anymore. I feel refreshed when I do however. They are my all time favourite band and IMO they represent the standard by which all other bands can be measured.

[dwinn]

I guess the events taking place during that time are something that could never be fully understood by someone that wasn't there. I sometimes wish I could have been alive in the 60s just to see what it was like. My generation was lucky enough to have bands like Nirvana and REM, but I feel bad for the younger generation today. They do not know what it is like to have rock star idols that actually mean something. It really makes me sick when I see magazines that compare bands like the Jonas Brothers to the Beatles. The people writing this stuff have no idea what the Beatles were. They were, and still are the only band that was A. The most talented band for their time, and B. The most marketable. There are bands now that are either one or the other. It has been that way since then as well. Like KISS- they were the most marketable, but I would never say they were the best band. Now there is Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana, and on the talent side there are bands like Wilco, Radiohead, and Beck (strictly my opinion)

[rick36]

Daniel: Thank you for your interesting question!

I was barely a “teen” when I first heard/saw the band on the Sullivan show. Of course it was amazing – I am glad that those performances are still available, for you and the younger generations.
I have an older sibling who was – at first – a screaming Beatle-maniac. Later, around the time of “Help/Rubber Soul” - they and most of the first wave began to disappear: Bored - didn’t get it!
However, the people who had been turned on by the developing Beatles with “Rubber Soul/Revolver”, turned into the ‘serious’ music people. That’s exactly what happened. I was fortunate to actually to see the band live in 1966 – and I’ll never forget it. Absolute chaos, yes, but with an almost silent promise of things yet to come.
The group, after the first few singles, never looked back. They strove to create (with the help of the great George Martin and various engineers) something new and exciting for themselves, and consequently for their listeners (very risky at that time). This is the where the continued success of The Beatles occurred. They never went back to their past successes. Always trying and mainly succeeding to find something new and different in their next compelling and intricate new 45 or LP – right up to the end.
I can remember listening to “Paperback Writer/Rain” for the first time – pre-release – on a faraway AM station through the tiny transistor radio under my pillow, late at night, and being amazed as to what I was hearing. Blown away, in fact!
I still enjoy my favorites occasionally, in the finest forms available. “Rubber Soul”, “Revolver”, “Sgt. Pepper”, “The Beatles” (White Album), and the associated singles released at these times. However, the bulk of the bands output is indelibly etched in my mind, never to be taken away.

Daniel, all you need to be in that time is the records and the music, as that is all that there ever really was...

[kiramdear]

Daniel, I wouldn't fault your taste. Nirvana and REM are not too shabby foundations to build on. Very Solid talent there. Pete Doherty is one young talent I really enjoy, although I wouldn't recommend him as a role model at this time aside from the songs. I make an effort to check things out that I hear about from young people. It's just that all those guys are standing on the shoulders of the Beatles whether they know it or not (of course they do).

[libratune]

Daniel, great series of quesitions and some really fine responses.

I was 13 when the Beatles first played on the Ed Sullivan show. It was preceded by major hype, but the performance of the Beatles exceeded the hype. The Beatles were more than their music, though. They ushered in a whole new way for young people to look at life.

The real blast for me was seeing A Hard Day's Night. When I read your questions, I was immediately reminded of something I recently read in Chris Hjort's fine new chronology of the Byrds, titled "So You Want to be a Rock 'N' Roll Star."

August 1964. Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark and David Crosby go together to watch A Hard Day's Night and Crosby later describes the experience in his autobiography. "I can remember coming out of that movie so jazzed that I was swinging around stop-sign poles at arm's length. I knew right then what my life was going to be. I wanted to be that. That was It. I loved the attitude and the fun of it; there was sex, there was joy, there was everything I wanted out of life, right there. They were cool and we said, 'Yeah, that's it. We have to be a band. Who can we get to play drums? ' "

And, in accord with Mr. Crosby, as we say in this forum, "+1" !

As for me -- within a few months after I saw AHDN, I was playing guitar, joined a garage band, progressed to a better band, playing larger venues with better equipment, and even got to be a "rock and roll star" for a bit. All because of that movie. And I wasn't alone. There are many of my era, including members of this forum, who had similar experiences.

Next?

[dwinn]

Another thing that has always amazed me is the amount of material they put out in such a short period of time. Not just any old songs, but some of the all time greatest songs ever written. Within a 6 year period they put out AHDN, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, MMT, Sgt Pep, White Album, Abbey Road, and Let it Be. Not including Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, McCartney, and All Things Must Pass. I mean, WTF? 6 Years!! I might have missed a few albums in there too.

[jimk]

Thanks for asking. I was 10 years old in February of '64, and I remember being glued to the TV waiting for the Beatles' first appearance on Ed Sullivan. I had been tipped off some time before about this hot new group from Liverpool, England by some cousins. And I remember as many boys being nuts over the Beatles as girls.

When "A Hard Days' Night" came out that summer, I had to go see it. And we did, my brother and I. And I remember thinking "What a fun job, going around the country singing and playing guitar. That's what I want to do when I grow up." And you know, that actually came true in a small way.

It seems like I grew into adolescence with the Beatles. Their music changed and so did I, from a grade school teenybopper to a young man. And their music seemed to book end my youth. For I also remember staying up late the very night that a Portland, Oregon radio station KINK-FM debuted "Abbey Road."

Oh, and I remember collecting Beatle trading cards (the bubblegum was awful!), and Beatle wigs (sheesh, how cheesy!). The trading cards were sort of like baseball cards. Fortunately that rubbish didn't last long.

All those years, The Beatles were always there, on the radio, and sometimes you could see video clips of them on TV. There was the whole silliness of the "Paul is dead" nonsense. I couldn't believe it, and didn't. So naturally when I heard the news that they broke up, I felt cast adrift. "Now what?" I thought to myself. Music without the Beatles...unimaginable...unthinkable. What's next? The collapse of Western Civilization? I was in the middle of my third year of high school.

In the months to come, each of them released solo albums, so it was almost like they had never broken up...but not quite. Their early solo material still sounded like the Beatles. You could imagine all four of them singing and playing on George's "All Things Must Pass" or John's "Imagine."

But John's death was like a sock in the solar plexus, followed by a kick in the groin. That kind of thing just wasn't supposed to happen. And all of us knew, finally knew beyond all shadow of a doubt that there could never, ever be a Beatles reunion. It was that final.

And George's death reminded me all too clearly of all of our mortality. He was my favorite Beatle. He always was. Something about the way he delivered his little zinger lines in "A Hard Days' Night" and the simple, straightforwardness of his guitar solos, and later his searing slide playing. The one who always seemed to be in the shadow of John and Paul, when he wrote a song, I listened. "Something" really grabbed me. "Here Comes the Sun" is still to this day on my play list when I do solo gigs. That song always makes me smile. Maybe because the western part of Oregon has a climate much like I imagine that of southern England; damp, cloudy, and rainy for nine months of the year.

"Little darlin',
It's been a long, cold, lonely winter.
Little darlin'
It seems like years since it's been clear..."

Oh yeah, any kid from the northern Pacific coast knows what that's like.

Those four young men from Liverpool had a very profound effect on me. I might still be doing what I'm doing today had they never gotten out of Hamburg, but I think it's possible I might have gone in a vastly different direction.

JimK

[dwinn]

Wow, thanks for all the great responses. It's amazing to see how much 4 guys can impact someone's life. I'm eager to see other replys

[kiramdear]

The funny thing is that young people now can learn everything about them immediately, punch up their performances, archives of every description online about them. When it was going on we felt starved for every crumb of information we could get. All we had was the magazine and newspaper press and scarce television appearances, their movies, radio play and of course, those mind-blowing albums and singles. But precious little esoterica could be found. That famous concert in Washington DC, the first one - Only the audience and a few hundred more who saw it simulcast in a theater ever saw that until it emerged in the digital era. What did that little amulet that John wore look like in detail? Who knew until the nineties? Even John's 325 was a source of mystery to me for many months after I saw it. He wore a black suit on Sullivan, held that little guitar in playing position and it became invisible when you look at it on those old low-res TV screens. You couldn't even read the Rickenbacker name on the TRC. I had to scour the magazines to see what guitar he played

You can imagine that with the dawn of the age of internet I am like a kid in a candy store, finding all the minutiae that fill in the blanks or warps in my loving memory of this formative era in my life's journey. As a fan I feel more involved with the Beatles than I ever was. There's more than ever available to learn and collect now!

[dwinn]

I agree. Also, as a younger person, I can take in the whole band from start to finish. I know that "this is when they started taking drugs" or "this is when Yoko entered the picture". But to live it and find out this new information as it came along must have really been something. I mean, it's hard for me to believe there actually WAS a time when the Beatles did not exist. There WAS a time when Sgt. Peppers was a new release at the stores. Amazing.

[Scastles]

Daniel, I actually had the fortune to see them in September of '64 in Dallas. Ahem, I was 13. From the first time I saw them on Sullivan, and then in person, I was caught up in every bit of the frenzy. To this day it remains indescribable to me. The concert itself is a blur. About 30 minutes long, filled with the continual drone of screams and extremely difficult to hear anything coming from the stage. It was all over before I knew it.
I still listen to them to this day, but much differently than I listened to them when I was younger. It's still about the music, but I listen to it in a differnt light since so much more has been unearthed as to what, how and why they did what they did with each song, and how it progressed. It remains just as amazing, if not more so today, as it did then.

[kiramdear]

I don't think anyone was listening to the critics who complained when the moptops shed their early image. The whole world was changing fast and the boys were in the number one position, in the eye of the hurricane, to herald those changes and telegraph their meanings to us. They led us by their changes. We followed eagerly. Who cared about the straight press? And Rolling Stone didn't exist yet