The Beatles are timeless.
All nostalgia. All the time. Yes, the last few days have been about The Beatles and the 50th Anniversary of their first live US television performance.
We’ve all seen the clips of Ed Sullivan introducing them. He stiffly waves his arm and these neatly groomed Rock n’ Roll rebels in suits and ties break into “All My Loving.” According to an article from Time, “60% of American TVs were tuned to CBS” to watch The Beatles that February 9th. In addition, “The crowd outside stretched over eight blocks, giving the place the revved-up energy of a Broadway opening.”
So, the Beatles were a phenomenon before their first performance. And that performance and their catalogue of work have solidified what people sensed before hand.
They clearly remain a phenomenon so based on the 312,000,000 results (0.26 seconds) from Google when typing in The Beatles.
Last night I was talking to BR – my 9-year-old about The Beatles. By the way, for the record, I like The Beatles but am not a fanatic.
Anyway, after confirming that he had heard of The Beatles, we had a discussion about the band.
“How old are The Beatles now?”
“Well, there were four of them but only two of them are alive now.”
“What happened to the other two?”
“One of them was shot. It was very tragic.”
“When?”
“December 9th, 1980. I kind of remember it, but it didn’t mean that much to me at the time.”
“Why did someone shoot him?”
“I don’t know. He was a crazed fan.”
“What about the other one who died?”
“What about him?”
“Well, was he killed?”
“No, he just died of old age.”
“How old was he?”
“I don’t know but think about it. If The Beatles first played in America 50 years ago and they were a group for a few years before that. They have to be at least in their 70’s now and he died a few years back. So, he was like 60. ”
“Wow, they’re almost as old as bubbie (Yiddish word meaning grandmother).”
Yes, these men who made teenage girls scream, captured the attention of the world, affected the destiny of music are now either deceased or old men.
Do you realize The Beatles were only together for 10 years? The band officially broke up in 1970 or 6 years after the famed Ed Sullivan show performance (and the year of my birth).
Yet, they remain a force today.
The Beatles are Shakespeare, Beethoven, Robert Frost, etc. They are artists, creators whose work is bigger than themselves.
So, while people are happy and feel nostalgic to see Paul and Ringo together, the music goes way beyond their physical presence. It’s the Beatles music which lives on to future generations and continues to affect others.
That’s truly the power of art.
http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/09/the-beatles-invasion-50-years-ago-sunday-feb-9-1964/
Pic is courtesy of gOOGLE Images
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