Yeah Yeah Yeah

Was it really a half century ago that The Beatles performed on Ed Sullivan for the first time, and proceeded to knock America on it's collective ass? Here it is, Sunday February 9, 2014...and people are still talking about...revering and reviling the Fab Four...the Moptops...the Lads From Liddypool...The Beatles. An anniversary like this is usually reserved for something of historic significance...not a pop group, right? The Beatles are history. They are our history.

Say what you will; The Beatles were good. 38% of the US tuned in to watch these long-haired Liverpudlians. That says something. These days, the media goes out of its way to try to recreate that level of hype, but there is rarely any substance to back it up. The Beatles wrote the lion's share of their early material. That, in itself, was rare. What they wrote was also excellent music. Even Leonard Bernstein agreed. If you don't know who he was, look him up. Suffice to say, the man knew a thing or two about music.

The cover songs they did weren't carefully chosen by a team of "experts". They played the music they enjoyed. If their rendition of a song was catchy enough, their producer, George Martin, gave it the green light. The covered everything from girl groups to R&B to rockabilly to standards to C&W...and did them all well. This was because they were good musicians and creative enough to come up with arrangements that fit a 4 piece band. They were doing this long before they ever even dreamed of becoming "stars".

I know a lot of people who loathe The Beatles. I find it humorous that people even feel the need to voice an opinion on the subject. They were just a pop group, right? Maybe not.

Let's face it, when they hit the American airwaves and truly felt they'd "made it", they were freaks. They were a group of pasty white, long-haired English boys in matching suits. They weren't polite. They were smart-asses. They smoked and drank and cracked jokes. They were just what America needed...a swift kick in the ass. The country was still in mourning after the assassination of JFK...and let's be honest, American music wasn't exactly exciting at the time. How many of you still listen to The Singing Nun? or Lenny Welch? or Johnny Tillotson? Those were big stars of the American music charts at the time. To say that The Beatles blew them all out of the water would not be false.

Some folks just don't like anything popular. But why?

The Beatles took a hold on the world unlike anything before or since. Their sense of style became everyone's sense of style. If The Beatles dug something, chances are the sheep of the world got into it themselves. The Beatles dug Bob Dylan...so Dylan's records got a boost. The Beatles weren't the first group to use drugs, but they get the credit/blame for the world's youth turning on to it.

The Beatles never thought they'd last. They thought they might last anywhere from a few months at the top to maybe, just maybe, a couple of years. Here it is a half century later and people are still listening to them. Not just us old farts either. I know a lot of younger folks who listen to and collect their music. There's something timeless to a lot of their music. Sure, some of it sounds dated now...but a lot of it still holds up. For any pop music to last more than a few months is a testament to the writer(s), producer(s), and performers. Were they really that good? As musicians...no. As singers...no. But collectively, they had that spark. And people recognized that spark. It wasn't genius...it was much simpler than that. The Beatles were just 4 guys doing what they enjoyed...and did it with their friends. That was the genius of it all. They were just a bunch of working class kids who lucked out. They had talent, sure...but their biggest talent was their collective personality.  They were smart asses...not necessarily mean, but witty. Pretty much everyone I know enjoys that quality in people.

I'll watch the TV special tonight. I will most likely bitch, moan, and complain all the way through it.  The collected contemporary talent assembled for the special makes me itch. Does the world need to hear Katy Perry, Alicia Keyes, and/or John Legend croak their way through Beatle classics? Hell no. But watch it I will. I'll most likely cringe when I see Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr team up again. I'll bitch and moan like the middle-aged curmudgeon I've become. But...I like The Beatles. I always have. I always will. So, out of habit, if nothing else, I'll tune in. All the while, I'll keep this thought in the back of my mind: I have never known a world without The Beatles...