One of the most anticipated movies of the holiday season, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” came out on Friday, and Decca Records released the soundtrack on Monday. Despite publishing Bing Crosby, Robert Plant and Willie Nelson, 51 years ago the record company turned down an even more recognizable name.
Instead, Parlophone, a subsidiary of EMI Records, signed the band. Two months later, they replaced their drummer and the quartet started recording. Their first album stayed at #1 on the British charts for 30 weeks. Capital Records signed the band in Nov. 1963 to release recordings in the United States and their first U.S. single came out on Dec. 26. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in Feb., 1964 and stayed there for 11 weeks. The single was titled, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and the group, of course, was the Beatles.
“Two of Us”
Graphite by Stephanie Williamson
In the Beatles’ first American television appearance, CBS journalist Josh Darsa, later known for his NPR documentaries, asked the group if they were worried their fans would get tired of them.
“They probably will,” John Lennon answered, “but it depends how long it takes for them to get tired.”
“It could happen tomorrow,” Paul McCartney added. “We just hope we have quite a run.”
The interview was scheduled to run during the evening news on Nov. 22, 1963. At 12:30 p.m. President Kennedy was shot and the CBS schedule changed. The short clip eventually aired on Dec. 10, two weeks before their first U.S. single and two months before their first Ed Sullivan Show appearance.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. release of “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and the Beatles are still one of the most popular groups of all time. Why? Beatlemania started in Liverpool, spread to London and finally to the U.S., but what caused the fans to react the way they did? Why do the Beatles stay relevant when so many other bands drop out of the public eye?
There’s no simple answer. Roberta Schwartz, associate professor of musicology at the University of Kansas, teaches the history of rock ‘n’ roll.
“Musically, it was literally a sound that was brand new on both sides of the Atlantic,” Schwartz said. “If you compare their early songs to other pop songs even a year before, you can hear that difference. There’s nothing on the charts that really has that drive of rock ‘n’ roll and the Beatles brought that back; that blues influence.”
Schwartz said another reason for Beatlemania was television. They were cute. They didn’t seem as artificial as some of the other teen idols of the time. But no matter the medium on which they were featured, they were charming and clever. An example of that, courtesy of http://www.beatlesinterviews.org, is this excerpt from a radio interview by Washington D.C. disc jockey Carroll James before their first U.S. concert:
“Carroll James: ‘What was the first million seller in England that you had, and when was it?’
John Lennon: ‘It was “She Loves You,” I think. (to the others) Was it?’
Liverpool premiere of the film “A Hard Day’s Night.”
Paul McCartney: ‘Yes.’
Carroll: ‘And the second was…’
John: ‘“I Want To Hold Your Nose.”
Carroll: (laughs)
John: ‘Hand.’”
The four Liverpudlians joke throughout the entire interview. Ringo Starr explains that, because his fans send him so many rings, he has “2,761…and a bit” and they reveal their favorite sport is sleeping.
Gil Torres, a Beatles fan from Round Rock, Texas, was 13 years old on Feb. 9, 1964, when the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. One of the things he thinks contributed to Beatlemania, at least for him, was the recent events in U.S. history. He said there seemed to be a somber mood hanging over the nation because of the Kennedy assassination only months before.
“I feel, as I reflect on it, that was some of what played emotionally on my heart, and here we are seeing this exciting group and the audience was just ecstatic beyond anything we’d ever heard before,” said Torres. “They had a very solid, very tight performance.”
That tight sound is, in part, because of their early stints in Hamburg, Germany. From August until November of 1960, the Beatles, with Pete Best as their drummer, were required to play seven to eight hours a night, six days a week. They returned to Hamburg twice more before they released their first single.
The artists they covered, as both the Beatles and the Quarry Men, their first band name, included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard, just to name a few. Schwartz said playing the songs of those artists in Hamburg gave them a musical foundation. That musical development played a part in their early success with hits such as “Please, Please Me,” “Love Me Do” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret.”
The early Beatles music was so popular that it reached the U.S. radio waves before it was even released here. According to Jay Spangler from www.beatlesinterviews.org, 15-year-old Marsha Albert heard “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and sent a letter to Washington D.C. disk jockey Carroll James telling him she thought it would be popular in the U.S. The radio station flew the record from England and, the first time it was played on the radio in the U.S., James let Albert introduce it. The listeners loved it. Perhaps it’s appropriate that the Beatles were the leaders of the British Invasion. They ended up transcending every band that followed them across the Atlantic as well as the bands that were already here.
The song “Yesterday” from the 1965 album “Help!” is the one of the most recorded songs in history. In Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, 23 are Beatles songs, including 10 of the top 100. In Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, 11 are by the Beatles, including three of the top five. In both of these lists the Beatles are accompanied by the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin, among others. Out of all of these musical acts, the Beatles are widely considered the greatest of all time. Half a century later, they are still relevant. What’s the secret to their longevity?
Stephanie Williamson is the Art Director for the Ottawa Community Arts Council, an artist and an art teacher. A self-described “Beatles fanatic,” she owns more than 100 books about the fab four, wears Beatles clothing almost every day and even has two Beatles tattoos.
“On my left wrist I have the word ‘Imagine’ tattooed. This represents the song by John Lennon. Whenever I get discouraged with life – the piling bills, interactions with negative
Decklan John Williamson, born on John Lennon’s birthday
people and the pessimism that seeps out through the news – I just look at my left wrist and think of John Lennon and his message of peace and hope,” she said. “On my right wrist is the phrase ‘Let It Be,’ representing the song written by Paul McCartney. I am a pretty anxious person and I worry a lot so it helps me, when I look down and see the message, to just let it be and not get so worked up over everything.”
Her son, Decklan John Williamson, is named after John Lennon and was born Oct. 9, Lennon’s birthday. Her baby shower theme was “Here Comes the Son,” a play on words from the song written by George Harrison, “Here Comes the Sun.”
Torres, born in 1950, grew up with the Beatles and even though Williamson was born in 1983, she feels like she grew up with them, too.
“Their early work spoke to me first when I was a preteen,” Williamson said. “When I was in my early 20s, I liked their work from Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper’s. In my late 20s, I became more of a fan of their work from the White Album and those that followed it until the end of their career.”
In her history of rock ‘n’ roll class, Schwartz divides the Beatles’ career into four eras: Beatlemania, their first five albums; the mature period or “Dylan-influenced seriousness”, the albums “Rubber Soul” and “Revolver”; Psychedelia, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Yellow Submarine”; and return to roots, their last three albums. The Beatles were the first band to musically evolve as much as they did.
“The Beatles changed considerably, more so than any other band,” Torres said. “They started out with rhythm and blues, you know, (singing) I want to hold your hand. ‘I Saw Her Standing There.’ It’s rhythm and blues; pop music. Then, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’ (singing) Let me take you down ‘cause I’m going… And ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ from Revolver. It was a major change.”
Schwartz said that evolution is one of the reasons young people still listen to the Beatles today.
“There’s always more to uncover, it seems,” Schwartz said. “You pull back one layer and there’s another. They’re the first to do so many things. Their output is so varied that you have a choice of three or four styles. ‘Abbey Road’ is my favorite album. It’s one that comes at the very end so it has a little bit of something for everyone.”
It’s hard to find a musician or fan who doesn’t say the Beatles influenced them in some way.
“One thing I’ve always admired is people who can really play music,” Torres said, “Young and old, men and women, different genres. I’ve always liked the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Clearly Pink Floyd’s music is not of the Beatles variety. It’s not of the Led Zeppelin variety. But, again, there’s that songwriting and a serious craftsmanship in their music. In addition, more recent musicians like John Mayer and Norah Jones; People that really craft a song.”
For Williamson, the Beatles influence her life every day. The stress of life makes it easy to forget their message of peace and love, she said. In addition to opening her eyes to The Doors, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, the Beatles affect her taste of today’s music.
“Imagine”
Picture in Crayon by Stephanie Williamson.
“I would say that my second favorite band is OK Go. They push themselves musically and artistically and aren’t satisfied to just crank out the same type of song over and over,” Williamson said. “In my opinion, they are the modern equivalent to the Beatles, in the area of creativity.”
This Christmas, when you’re enjoying holiday music, take two and a half minutes to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Beatles’ first U.S. #1 hit, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” because no music today would be the same without it. Yes, Paul McCartney, the Beatles did indeed have quite a run.
dandutcher 
Dan, thank you for allowing me to share my experience and thoughts on The Beatles. You wrote a very good article.
Thank you. I enjoyed speaking with you.