At the end of the day when Paul and Ringo are gone The Beatles are still, and will remain relevant because of the songs. Just like Mozart or Beethoven still are, and always will be, relevant.
Wally is the best! Always an educational and fun chat. Also Mark Lewisohn is second to none in Beatles research. Please have Mark back on in 2021 if possible.
John tried to explain their popularity once. He knew from the beginning that the band's look was important. Remember Stuart Sutcliffe? Girls and gay boys would come to see good looking boys play music. If Elvis made girls mad, imagine what four good looking rock and rollers could do. John said each of them offered something different for the audience so there were four opportunities to be successful. But there was more. Add charisma, talent, and cheeky senses of humor, and who doesn't love that. They weren't fluff. They had depth. They were interesting. A Hard Days Night producer Walter Shenson said it best, they had a watchable quality. We couldn't wait to see what they were going to do next. They still leave us wanting more. This is probably why the Paul Is Dead and John Lennon is alive stories are so popular. It gives us new reasons to examine their lives and to keep talking about them.
Mark's book is the best...brilliant. On a par with Robert Caro and his study of LBJ. And I can hardly wait for his 5th and last book in the series....and Mark's Vol II.
My dad used to come home with Beatles 45's singles. When "Meet The Beatles" came out, a whole album I really wanted it. We went to the record store and at the time all albums were priced at $2.50. I grabbed the first Beatles album up and dad saw that the price on it was $3.50 and he wouldn't budge on the additional dollar. I finally got the album but within three weeks---EVERY other album on the rack was priced at $3.50 as well!!! Believe it, it's history that happened!
excellent discussion , there's just something unique about the Beatles story. We'll be talking about them the way musicologists do with Mozart and Beethoven , they are our generations classical music..
Fabulous broadcast but I must disagree on one point. England produced the Shadows and they were exclusively guitar music and massive in Britain and the colonies
When Lewisohn remarked that Elvis Presley never went to Britain, he may have just been referring to performances, because I'd be surprised if he doesn't know about Elvis's TWO visits to Britain, the first was March 3rd, 1960, in Ayrshire, Scotland, his flight stopped over for two hours at Prestwick Airport (many photos show him descending from the plane, and signing autographs in the midst of ectatic fans), the second time was when Elvis toured London with British rocker Tommy Steele sometime in 1962. Interestingly to me, The Beatles played an Eight-day tour in Scotland, from May 20-28, Alloa, Inverness, Frazerburgh, Keith, Forres, Nairn, Peterhead, just a couple of months after 'Sgt.Presley' had been photographed and reported on at the time. Did they hear about it, or maybe even see the photos in the local press? And if so, might the unconscious memory of 'Sgt.Presley' have influenced McCartney's choice for the name 'Sgt.Pepper' ? I wish Mark could speak to this speculative question ! Also, not knowing the exact date of Elvis's London visit with Steele, it's unknown for certain if Elvis might have actually HEARD The Beatles on the radio while driving around with Tommy, because The Beatles WERE playing on the radio throughout most of 1962. Another question for Mark !!! Also, it seems possible that Tommy Steele could've already met The Beatles (there are photos of them together, one is from the Royal Variety Performance in November of '63, another is with Marlene Dietrich and The Beatles in '63) by 1962, but since Tommy was sworn to secrecy, we'll never know if he and Elvis heard The Beatles on the radio, and if so, if Tommy said to Elvis "I know these guys....".
As stated above, Elvis was never in London. I've heard this before, but with no documentation to back it up - and Elvis never mentioned this, as far as I am aware. Nor did Tommy Steel, as far as I know. And I think he would've CERTAINLY mentioned this at some point over the last 60+ years. Presley's Prestwick visit in 1960 is the only visit I've ever heard be substantiated. And the Beatles wouldn't have been played on the radio in 1962, at least not until October/November-ish when 'Love Me Do' was starting to gain airplay and traction. Unless you're referring to the BBC Sessions, of course. But not record-wise. They were nobodies at that time - but that was all about to change....
and to think elton went to abbey road studios the day paul quit. the other 3 beatles were there. and elton asked to join the group and take pauls place.but john said no
