My grandma destroyed all of my grandpas beatles records because of this whole hubbub. This still bothers him to this day as he took extremely good care of all of his belongings and knows that they would be worth alot today. Its a really touchy subject between them, still to this day.
It must have been soul-crushing to be a southern kid in the 60’s who loved the Beatles that was either brainwashed into thinking they were a bunch of satanists or not allowed by their parents to ever listen to them again, especially since they were about to release some of the greatest and most innovative music ever recorded.
This controversy actually made the Beatles even more popular in the long run. To many young people of the 1960s, the Beatles stood up to intolerant and hypocritical factions of western society. The ones who burnt their Beatles records would repurchase them a little while later.
And were subjected to another form of mind bending , by having to pay exorbitant prices, on account of their records now being in short supply. Serve the idiots right. What I'd like to know is, how far from the Bible belt did this idiosy spread ?
Super well-done video! Even though I knew the story well (70-year-old Beatlemaniac), there were some bits and quotes I had not heard before! Super well presented, both your script and your images! You really do have a talent!
Even back then I was a little boy and I knew exactly what he meant. He was saying that all of this attention and crazed and hysterical fans, worshipping them more than Jesus. I was 6 years old at the time and could figure that out...,,!!
Most people just read the headlines or hear other people read the headlines for them. Actually reading the article is too much work for a lot of people.
John Lennon criticizes the fans for treating the Beatles like they're bigger than Jesus, implying that that is a bad thing, only for the fans to misunderstand and get mad at the Beatles for thinking they're bigger than Jesus. Ah, humans.
He wasn’t criticising the fans. He was making a joke about the declining church attendance amount young people in England at the time and how they’re more interested in the band than being religious
@@thomsboys77 Let me clarify. You're just putting it a different way than I did. A way that sounds better to you, that doesn't make you feel uncomfortable.
The writing was already on the wall with regards to ending touring. They had become bored with playing live and not being able to hear themselves. They were also writing and recording music that they couldn’t translate to the stage (at least at that time). Plus, the mania was wearing thin on them and the disastrous visit to the Philippines ended any joy they found in touring. The controversy before the last US tour was just icing on the cake. Ultimately, I think the Beatles lasted longer as a band because they stopped touring. Had they continued touring another year or two, I think it would have worn them out completely.
This whole thing just goes to show how so-called religious people and Bible thumpers get their panties in a bunch when someone like John Lennon calls them out on their bullshit. He goes on to say that Jesus was alright, but his disciples were “thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins for me.” Isn’t that how it has always been…. even now?
If this happened today there would be a bunch of weird dudes making ridiculous "lennon goes woke" videos to enrage their gullible audience, quite similar as what happenned back then
That video clip of the Klansman dressed in his outfit expressing his displeasure with the Beatles to that reporter in Memphis is a reminder of the influence they had in the south. Sadly, there are still people who think those were the good old days and long for them to return.
its super crazy for me to think that the beatles had threats from the kkk. like thats just super crazy nothing today happens like that - they must’ve been scared.
Joe Biden is bringing them back as we speak with his oil wars against nations to which POCs are indigenous. So much for “give peace a chance.” Trump did so they overthrew him with a fake disease for an oil war!
It’s weird because I distinctly remember a negative image of the Beatles being portrayed all over the media in the late 60’s. I remember on Gillian’s Island, for example, the referred to it as “bug music” and all the guys wore mop top hair and round glasses. I think it was the episode where the girls dress up as bees and sing a song. So growing up, I had a bad image of British music even though I never heard it until probably the late 70’s lol.
It doesn't seem that the ban lasted long. 1966 was a tough year for them. It's amazing that they seemed to be the sane one throughout all that madness. I wonder how those protesters thought about the song "The Ballad Of John and Yoko"?
Its important for us to remember that he was 25 when he said that. He was a young guy who, as all young people who haven't been around long enough to fully mature and see world do, thought he was completely right about a nuanced subject. It's possible that he would've thought a similar way in 1980 but perhaps would've said it differently or with more finesse
Although I agree with you that he may have phrased it differently had he been older, I think his point made perfect sense. It's even proved to be prophetic; just look at church attendance among young people today. The fact is, organized religion is slowly losing its grip on the younger generations. Just like John, I'm not saying it's a good or a bad thing. It's not a value judgment-rather, it's a statement of fact.
And this whole situation is just one of the many reasons as to why I HATE religion it makes people hateful and brainwashed sheep, it was these very comments along with the lyrics of Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’ that caused Mark Chapman to assassinate him in 1980
Imagine something like this happening today with an artist, there would be a big gathering of people to just to get out there phones and delete an MP3.
Johns statements were completely blown out of proportion. Those statements were made three months prior to all of this happening. And those disc jockeys and those people in the news just wanted to stir things up all the more. After Revolver came out and Pepper the whole story was pretty much squasht.
I am from Southeast, Alabama, and there are still people now, who bring up that comment as a reason to dislike the Beatles! John was factually, correct when he made that comment, at the time, the Beatles were, in fact, more popular than Christianity, and part of the United States, and definitely in England. He did not mean it as an insult and people really need to let it go.
I'm from Alabama as well, I had the Beatles cranking on the radio when I was 16, some Karen in the parking lot of her grocery store went on a rant about that comment that John Lennon made, I told her I see less people going to church these days, More people are discovering the Beatles he was kind of right.
Its funny how someones opinion on religion can cause such a uproar as is the case of John's comments, but Paul's comments about racism in America falls to deaf ears to these Southern Christians -How hypocritical.
Lennon's comments werent a reflection of some kind of messiah complex. He wasn't elevating himself or his band. He was remarking how ridiculous fanatical fans acted toward them. The hysterical reactions, screaming, chasing them in hotels, airports, in the street, fainting, etc seemed like a extreme reaction to just a couple of guys from Liverpool who were in a rock n roll band. To Lennon, it seemed ludicrous that these fans almost "worshiped" The Beatles like some people worship Jesus, and it showed the sad state of world affairs. He could have made an example of any pop culture phenomenon to illustrate the decline of traditonal religious worship.
Being a 70yo life-long Beatles fan, I certainly remember this controversy. As a Cali boy, I thought the people in the "Bible Belt" were acting like lying, hypocritical imbeciles - because they were, and still are now. It's hard to imagine a part of the world that's prouder of being ignorant and cruel than the American South.
Look at a congressional map of all the southern states back in 1966 when the Beatles bigger than Jesus controversy took place. Pure sea of Democratic blue dominating most of the south. So it's a good chance that most of those people burning Beatles records were Democrats also known as Dixiecrats, and that includes the klansmen who threatened them with violence. Research your history before you rush to judgement....
Great video as always. There was an occasion in 1964 when they actually were cancelled. They had planned a concert in Israel, but the government refused to allow them into the country. The concern was that the Beatles would have a corrupting influence on young people.
Honestly I only heard about this controversy through an episode of The Angry Beavers cartoon when Daggett said that his band was bigger than sliced bread. I looked into this a few years later and it made me laugh.
I think if someone said the same thing today, it'd either be ignored as someone trying to be "edgy" or it would have a similar initial outcome but would end up dividing people with half being offended and the other half being offended at the other lot for being offended. People like to talk about cancel culture like it's a real thing, but it really isn't, not in this modern world. Someone might get kicked off a certain platform online, but they'll just move to another one and bring their followers with them. Anyone who has supposedly been cancelled still has a platform and more often than not is in no way apologetic for the thing that got them in hot water in the first place. In some cases, it's won them new fans that may have had no interest in their work before but they want to support that person because they agree with their views. It may lose them a few fans but the ones they gain will pretty much make up the difference, and they'll always find a platform for their views, be they right or wrong or in between. In 1966 though, if every radio station, TV station and record store refused to have anything to do with The Beatles, then they'd have been in real trouble. If that happened now, they'd just sell their albums through Bandcamp or something like that, they'd still be heard on internet radio as that's mostly independent, they'd probably still be on RU-vid and social media. The biggest difference though is what caused the controversy. People believed (wrongly as it turned out) that John Lennon was attacking Jesus, the figurehead of one of the largest religions on Earth. These days, it's usually against a minority group that's trying to access equal rights. In that situation, I think that The Beatles would be on the side of the minority, as seen by their refusal to play to segregated audiences.
Yup. Saying you're more popular than a religion is worse than killing people because of their skin colour - getcher sheets on and protest. What. utter. bollocks. I. hate. people. This video was excellent.
Would be interesting to find out how the people who called for the ban (particularly the Birmingham Alabama disc jockey's thoughts about this event maybe two or ten years after, (you know hindsight and all that). Also the young girl ripping the Lennon book while looking at the camera.
another story that happened because of this was in longview,texas where they banned all beatle records from being played on their radio station, the next day their tower was hit by lightning destroying their tower and knocking them off the air.
My grandparents told my mom they were very disappointed with the comment but, they said that probably John Lennon was right. Because you don’t see as many young people in church anymore
What is not generally remembered is that the "we're more popular than Jesus now" comment LITERALLY got John Lennon killed in 1980. Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, wasn't a "disgruntled fan" or a lunatic who believed he was Lennon and the real Lennon was an imposter. He was a Fundamentalist Christian who had never forgiven Lennon for the "more popular than Jesus" comment or for writing the song "Imagine," which among other things imagined no religion, no heaven and no hell. Chapman was even a member of a prayer group that led prayers with the words, "Imagine, imagine John Lennon dead." All this was reported in Newsweek magazine a month or so after Lennon's murder, but it's been flushed down the memory hole.
I read a book about Chapman over thirty years ago which pretty much confirmed some of what you're saying. All of the people who knew him claimed that it was those comments that incensed Chapman. He became fixated on Lennon after the Jesus quote.
It's like the Bud Light fiasco...you're not sticking it to The Beatles if you've already bought the albums. 😂 Yes, buy the records to burn them. Lol. Good on John!!
I think if John was to say it today it would still have some backlash, but not to the extent that it was. Cause, at least it seems to me, religion is on the decline now a days.
Yeah. There's definitely people today who would misunderstand the statement just like people did back then, but today there would be more support for the comment. Depends a bit on what group gets mad at the bigger than Jesus comment, though, the MAGA crowd can make the backlash seem bigger than it is. Also, it's hard for me to tell how big or small Christianity is these days because of the false Christians problem, and how most real Christians aren't nearly as loud about it as the false ones.
I don't think it would gain as much controversy today as it did then but, then again you never know. The whole was just blown way out of proportion. I honestly wanted to start crying when I heard what they went through but, they were strong boys and were totally expectant of the fact they could have been hurt. That just makes me love them even more. The church was going down then I hate to say John was completely within his rights of free speech. People just don't understand other opinions exist. I just feel so bad that they had to go through that because I really care for them. Love you John and George and Paul and Ringo.🥰💖💚💙🧡🎸🎶
Really interesting video. I feel the exact same thing would happen today if a "pop star" would say that. It's probably a little worse. But in the end, John was right. The popularity of religion is at its lowest and will continue to decline.
It’s sad how people misunderstood what John Lennon meant when he said, “The Beatles are bigger than Jesus.” It actually made John Lennon upset that people worship them. He was also upset that people would rather go to a concert than go to church. John Lennon was actually Christian.
The Beatles hated it that people worshipped them, fans would meet them and this lady showed up with her crippled son in a wheelchair asking them if the could heal him! They wanted to get away from crazy stuff like this.
John always had a habit of saying what was on his mind at the moment, sometimes with conviction, sometimes in more of a stream of consciousness sort of fashion. It's what made him an interesting person to interview but it is also why you had to take some of what he said with a grain of salt. George was right though. History has shown it was blown way out of proportion by the media, there's a shock. Their fans stayed with them but being forced to apologize did bother John and it was the last time he buckled to pressure. He later said he wanted to quit the band in 1966 but lacked the confidence to go it alone at that point. This incident probably played a role in him thinking he had had enough.
To Quote John Lennon on his Jesus comments: "if I had compared (the popularity of) Television (instead of the Beatles) to Christianity I might gotten away with it".
I hope that people know that true Christians should be a lot more understanding than this, that's quite litterally a main thing we are supposed to do lol. I saw a comment that talked about Christians not caring about the n word, but true Christians would, and would not want people to be hurt like that, lol. God bless you all.
I've always wondered if many Americans were embarrassed by this incident, as frankly it made them look like simpletons who could not interpret basic language properly. Several commenters could not tell the simple difference between 'popular' and 'superior'. Crayons are required to explain things to them.
Anyone interested in this as well as events in Japan and the Philippines should read Tony Barrow's book, "John, Paul, George, Ringo and Me". Tony was their press officer through all of this and was an insider who was present throughout these tours. His perspective is accurate and interesting.
Of course George became a faithful hindu. Ringo describes himself as a christian-hindu with buddhist tendencies. Paul says he believes in something good but doesn’t want to put a name on it. As for John, of course he didn’t put up with organized religion but if you read anything about him I don’t think you could label him as an atheist.
I think the whole controversy was taken way out of proportion with John Lennon then. Being one of the biggest beetle fans ever I will always love the Beatles no matter what and they’re such great talented musicians and if John were alive today he would be shocked at what’s happening in America even in Portland Oregon even downtown.
The irony is in the same article Paul used the N word, which of course the Bible Belt had no problem with.John once said his comments were based on the book he read The Passover Plot. I heard apologists say of course John didn't mean it, or he meant that it's a BAD thing that the Beatles are bigger than Christ. But that ignores that he said Christianity will go before rock. So bottom line it was a thoughtless thing to say; it's too bad he didn't promote Eastern Philosophy instead...which they all were about to do when they went to India. But we now know that John's assassin did take it seriously.But John later said he read the Bible and went through a Christian phase.
His comment that Christianity would vanish and shrink and he needn't argue about because he "was right and would be proven right"seems to belie his claim that he was actually expressing regret about the supposed diminishing of Christianity. It actually seemed like he was not unhappy about it, and that was the reason for the reaction.
Today i dont think anything would happen. Its sad to say that people just shrug shoulders today at such stuff. I think its because partially we hear so much negative stuff nowdays no one thinks much. But at the same time its sad then too. John made a comment so what? Yes it was rude yes it was a bit stupid but when did they ever confess to being religious? i could see if they were all church goers and talked about God often then said that. But what do you expect? did anyrone think that the stones or any other band was over there attending church every week or at least even monthly? No today people would sit behind the computer and say i hate the beatles and im doing this and this and everyone would either type back yes or no and nothing in real life would happen it would all be a bunch of keyboard warriors.
The irony of them crucifying a Beatles record… You’re protesting what you think is them comparing themselves to Jesus, yet you host a mockery of Jesus’ “ultimate sacrifice”? Huh…
The South Bible belt was only nine percent of the USA record market. According to the media. John's statement was that kids would rather watch Beatles cartoons instead of going to church on Sunday morning. Remember these were reruns as the newer Beatles cartoons came on Saturday morning. The priests gave boring sermons. My Das said why can't they make their talks more interesting. Jesus has kids run toward him as he talked from the heart. Priests would put listeners to sleep.
yes unfortunately it was blown out proportion and context as it was only meant for the people in the Uk, but Art Unger from Datebook wanted more publicity for himself and his company at Any cost including the safety of the Beatles themselves. as for would this happen without any strife the answer is No, because of social media and all todays political correctness, in fact it would probably be worse.
Don’t forget, John’s assassin, who’s name is not mentioned, was a so-called Christian, and he cited John’s statement as one of the reasons why he killed him. He is far from a true Christian: we do not murder, and we oppose violence of any kind.
The burning of The Beatles items is probably the most stupid thing I have ever seen in the world of music entertainment. Taken totally out of context and likely regretted afterwards by many who followed the band wagon of those who probably didn't even know why they were doing it. The act was just kind of everyone is doing it here (in the USA) so it must be the thing to do. No, actually it wasn't. But that's just my opinion. Religion and music are 2 different things and we are all different in our views on them. They both stand for good for those who like or believe in them. John wasn't knocking religion and people got the wrong end of the stick about what he had said and acted on it for their own means to over dramatise the situation at the time. Love your music and pray to who you believe in. Live your life the way its best for you not by what others do or think.
if Johnwaould have said "We're popular as white bread" he might have gotton away with it. Today if he wouklld have said it it probably not bad and let go and go back to what they are doing
