Which begs the question: How might The Fab Four be celebrating this year, were they all still with us? Of course, one can only speculate ... but as you look back over the events since the passing of John Lennon 34 years ago (incredible to think that he has now been gone nearly as long as he was with us!), you cannot help but wonder.
Of course several of the REAL Beatles anniversaries already passed last year ... but there was something about conquering America that still reigns supreme.
SO much has happened in the last 20 years alone. The "Threetles" reunited to get "The Beatles Anthology" out ... I have to believe that John would have contributed heartily to that event had he been here to do so. (Then again I suppose any one of them could have procrastinated, refusing to live in the past, but one would hope for such a momentous event, they would have reunited in spirit if nothing else.) The documentary had been planned for ages, originally to be called "The Long And Winding Road" after the band's final #1 hit.
George Harrison campaigned for the Cirque de Solei "Love" tribute that is still playing at The Mirage Theatre in Las Vegas, a culmination of Beatles music set to visual delight. (Paul, on the other hand, was the driving force behind "Let It Be ... Naked", a stripped-down version of The Fab Four's final album the way he felt the band had always envisioned it, pre-Phil Spector tampering with the tapes.)
The continual revamping and improving of their recorded catalog most certainly would have happened with or without them, simply from a technological standpoint.
Might they have gotten together sooner? Perhaps the emotion of any one of the events would have been enough to spark something, especially working on "Anthology". Under the circumstances, Paul, George and Ringo added their contributions to a couple of rough Lennon demo tracks ... certainly the possibility exists that NEW music might have ensued if all four guys got wrapped up in the emotion of what they were working on.
The only thing that's certain is the uncertainty ... we'll never know.
SO much is planned ... yet I cannot help but feel that more can be done. "The Night That Changed America" will tape the day after The Grammy Awards Ceremony (which will also feature Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia) ... and then air on the actual 50th Anniversary of that first Sullivan appearance on February 9th. Although I'm sure some vintage clips will be worked into the program, it seems like a television special devoted to the entire Sullivan catalog would also be in order.
And shouldn't SOMEBODY be airing "Anthology" now, too? Whether it be the abbreviated ABC Mini-Series Television Special or the full-length ten hour commercial release it seems like SOMEBODY (ABC? VH1? Palladia? PBS?) should have jumped on this. Plus it would probably help spark new sales for this collection, much as the release of their American Albums Catalog did this week.
What about a movie marathon? "A Hard Day's Night", "Help!", "Magical Mystery Tour", "Yellow Submarine" ... a weekend event in the making.
Which begs, of course, the OBVIOUS question ... WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH "LET IT BE"?!?!?!
For over 25 years now we've been promised that this film would FINALLY be released ... but it has yet to see the light of day. (I am one of the fortunate few who owns a copy on VHS. In fact, back in the late '70's, when "Let It Be" was released on both VHS Tape and Laser Disk, I bought a copy ... for something like $89!!! ... and I didn't even own a VHS player yet!!! I just knew that this was something I needed to own and, thankfully, I've held on to it all these years.) It just seems that a legitimate, cleaned up DVD / BluRay edition is LONG overdue. No, it's not their finest moment ... and maybe they feel in retrospect it portrays the break-up of the band ... but it is a KEY event in the story, featuring some great, timeless music, as well as their final live roof-top performance. It deserves to be seen ... and owned!
Fans continue to write in about the momentous event ... here are just a few of your letters from last week:
>>>The Beatles’ first American television
appearance 50 years ago next month — said to be the most significant moment in pop music history — also marked a turning point for Top 40
radio. Nowhere was the British invasion welcomed
more warmly than at WLS AM 890, where the Fab Four dominated the Silver Dollar
Survey on Chicago’s 50,000-watt giant for rest of the decade.
>>>By mid-December, British copies of “I Want
to Hold Your Hand” started getting airplay in key markets , such as Washington
and Los Angeles. Capitol moved up its release date to December 26. “She Loves
You” and all the other early singles were re-released to millions of eager fans
ready to spend their Christmas gift money. In the week following Christmas, they
had five hits on the charts and by the end of January, had sold 2.6 million
singles. By the time The Beatles appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on February
9, 1964, they were already cemented as the biggest viral sensation in music
history.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/maxrobins/2014/01/21/how-the-beatles-went-viral-in-america-in-six-weeks/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/maxrobins/2014/01/21/how-the-beatles-went-viral-in-america-in-six-weeks/
Hi Kent,
Coincidentally, Forgotten Hits is featuring 'The
British Invasion' which I took part in.
The National Guitar Museum has awarded me 'The Lifetime
Achievement Award' for my part in the history of the guitar. I've copied the
details below. Your details of the TV Show at the end of the month mention many
of the records I was on, so it's very relevant.
Such recognition by the Museum is a first for British
session musicians, as was my having an evening at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
a couple of years ago where I talked about the impact of British music on the
American scene, just as the USA music had on the UK music scene. Wonderful how
the interchange jumped the 3000 miles of 'the big pond.'
Keep up the good work, Kent and I hope we can meet up
one day.
Very best wishes,
Vic
The National GUITAR Museum Announces Presentation of
“Lifetime Achievement” Award to Vic Flick . . . The Man Behind The World’s Most
Famous Guitar Riff.
NEW YORK, December 24, 2013: The National GUITAR Museum announced that Vic Flick,
the guitarist who played on hundreds of London sessions — and is best know for
playing the guitar on the James Bond theme – will receive its “Lifetime
Achievement” Award for 2013. Flick is the fourth recipient of the award,
following David “Honeyboy” Edwards in 2010, Roger McGuinn of The Byrds in 2011,
and the legendary B.B. King in 2012.
Flick’s work spans four decades of popular music, from
movie soundtracks to jazz to rock and roll. “It is
arguable that Vic created and played the one guitar riff that has been heard by
more people than any other in history,” says HP Newquist, the executive director of The
National GUITAR Museum. “In 1962, Vic
played guitar on the soundtrack to "Dr. No" – in the process creating the James
Bond theme song. His sinister opening riff has been featured in dozens of Bond
movies ever since, and the popularity of the Bond franchise means that hundreds
of millions, if not billions, of people all over the world have heard Vic's
playing.
We’re honored to be able to recognize his contribution to the guitar with
this award.”
Flick was so well respected in the London session scene that he was
recruited to play guitar on the soundtrack to The Beatles' film "Hard Day's
Night." He was asked to help promote the Fender Stratocaster when it was
introduced in the UK, and over the course of his career he performed on albums
by artists as diverse as Tom Jones, Nancy Sinatra, Herman's Hermits, and Henry
Mancini . . . not to mention many more soundtracks. His stellar work was
recognized in 2012 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences.
Still making the occasional public appearance, Flick published his
autobiography, appropriately titled "Vic Flick, Guitarman," in
2008. More on Vic's career and
accomplishments can be found at http://www.vicflick.com/
About The
National GUITAR Museum
The National GUITAR Museum is the first museum in the United States dedicated to the history,
evolution, and cultural impact of the guitar. Its touring exhibition,
“GUITAR: The
Instrument That Rocked The World” debuted in
2011 and is currently on display at the Fleet Center in Balboa Park in San
Diego, CA. The Touring Exhibition consists of more than 70 guitars, along with engaging,
entertaining, and educational displays that include historical artifacts, video
screens, and computer interactives designed to appeal to visitors of all ages.
In the next few years, the exhibit will become the basis of The National Guitar
Museum and its permanent home.
The Museum’s
Board of Advisors includes guitar greats Tony Iommi, Steve Vai, Ritchie
Blackmore, Johnny Winter, Steve Howe, Liona Boyd, and Pat
Kirtley.
Congratulations, Vic, on the well-deserved (and
long-overdue) accolades ... you were certainly in the thick of it and it's great
to see you finally getting some of the recognition you have long
deserved.
Again, please feel free to comment throughout our
salute to The British Invasion ... we'll be rekindling memories all year long in
Forgotten Hits! (kk)
Kent,
As Forgotten Hits is looking back
-- as we all are -- at the Beatles' arrival in America 50 years ago, I think
it's interesting to see what the mainstream media, and others, considered their
most important trait: not their music, but their hair.
The Hartford (Conn.) Courant, where
I was a writer and editor from 1968 to 1995, certainly exemplified this in news
stories, letters, and editorials from early 1964.
From an Associated Press story of
February 8: "Britain's way out Beatles, equipped with rag mop hairdos and
guitars, invaded the colonies Friday. ... The Beatles collectively are sort of a
sheep-dog version of Elvis Presley."
Letter-writers to the newspaper
complained about "your front page picture of Ed Sullivan and his gallery of four
other freaks ... to inspire thousands pickle-headed female morons to slobber
over these refugees from barber shops and normal habitats."
The Courant itself opined: "They
apparently are likeable, harmless young men with ordinary singing voices, who
use the gimmick of haystack hairdos to attract attention. ... the bushy-haired
boys whose sex is not immediately apparent."
The idea that long hair equaled
femininity was mirrored in the 1965 song by the Barbarians (#55 on the Billboard
Hot 100) which argued, "With your long blond hair / You look like a girl ...
You're either a girl / Or you come from Liverpool." (By 1967, the Barbarians
refused to play this song in concert. I am attaching a photo I took in spring
1967 of Victor "Moulty" Moulton of the group; note the long hair).
It was quite a while before America
settled down to recognize that the most important thing about the Beatles was
not the length of their hair.
Henry McNulty
Cheshire, Connecticut
Without question, The Beatles' hair received every bit as much coverage as their music in the early days ... it was the butt of virtually EVERY comedian's joke ... and the focal point in every major newspaper and magazine. It was just something we had never seen before ... The Beatles had NO idea how great an impact this would have on world fashion the first time they combed it down in Moe Howard fashion! (lol) In hindsight this probably wasn't even a preconceived marketing ploy ... but boy, it sure worked! (Kids were even buying Beatles wigs!!! Check out this picture of FH Reader Mike Mertes, wearing his and strumming his brand new axe! lol)
Even the radio guys got in on the act. Most famously, here in Chicago, the WLS Jocks were all pictured on the Silver Dollar Survey with their Beatle hair-cuts ... hysterical because back then a couple of these guys were already losing their hair!
But, as I'm putting together our new Saturday Surveys feature, I found that our station wasn't the only one! Here's the K-Men in THEIR Beatle gear, too!
I've told this story several times over the years
... by the timing is probably most appropriate now.
Unlike apparently MANY teen (and pre-teens) in
January of 1964, I had absolutely NO clue who The Beatles were until they
appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9th. (I was only ten years old at
the time and hadn't even really discovered listening to the radio yet ...
although this, too would change, six months down the line.)
Anyway, Sunday Night we all sat down to watch The
Ed Sullivan Show together as a family (like families all over America did) ...
and we couldn't stop laughing at the way the girls in the audience screamed
while The Beatles sang. I didn't really know any of their songs yet ... but
thought they were pretty good.
The one who first caught my eye was George
Harrison ... several times during their performance, our family discussed how
much George looked like my Dad's Army Buddy Bud Baer ... except for the long
hair and all. In fact, when The Beatles appeared again the following week ...
and then again the week after that, we all kept laughing and teasing my dad
about his buddy Bud Baer being on TV. (We had been on camping trips together so
we knew Bud pretty well. When he stopped by to visit he couldn't believe that
we had been making fun of him for looking like one of those long-haired weirdos
on tv!!!)
The Beatles made such an impression on me that I
didn't even remember their name the next day ... but boy, EVERY girl in school
sure did ... that's ALL they were talking about. Even in fifth grade, the girls
were going ga-ga for The Beatles!
The Monday night after their first Sullivan
appearance my dad took all three of us boys for haircuts. (Yes, barber shops
were open on Mondays back in 1964!) The barber ... who had been giving the
Kotal boys crew-cuts for YEARS, kept kidding around about giving us Beatle
hair-cuts ... (I was game!) ... again, everywhere you turned that Monday, The
Fab Four were the central topic of discussion. I even clearly remember him
telling my dad how if these haircuts ever caught on, he'd soon be out of
business!
Virtually ALL of the newspapers and magazines
focused on their hair rather than their music ... it was unlike anything we had
ever seen before ... and within the next couple of weeks boys who had enough to
do so were soon combing their hair forward into what WE called the "Moe Howard
look", rather than The Beatles Cut.
Before their third appearance I was hooked ... I
had already bought "I Want To Hold Your Hand" / "I Saw Her Standing There" and
"She Loves You" / "I'll Get You" ... and played them constantly. When my mom
took me shopping to buy their first album I remember being really confused ...
"Meet The Beatles" and "Introducing The Beatles" were displayed side by side in
the album racks, prominently displayed where you couldn't miss them in the
store. When I asked about them, the store clerk told me that "Meet The Beatles"
was the one I wanted ... "that other one has a bunch of old stuff on it that was
recorded before they were famous." (Yeah, right!) Little did anyone know that
soon those "Introducing The Beatles" tracks like "Please Please Me", "Love Me
Do", "P.S. I Love You", "Do You Want To Know A Secret" and "Twist And Shout"
would soon be racing up the charts right along side their "new stuff" on the
"Meet The Beatles" LP.
It seemed like only a matter of weeks before
EVERY record on display had some sort of Beatles take-off displayed on its cover
... "The Beatle Buddies" were a bunch of girls dressed in turtlenecks and posed
just like The Fabs on their "Meet The Beatles" album cover, with half their
faces covered in a shadow. Beatle rip-off albums were everywhere, too ...
"Jolly What! The Beatles and Frank Ifield On Stage" (implying a LIVE album
when, in fact, you just got three or four recycled tracks from the "Introducing
The Beatles" album ... an album that was recycled itself in several different
configurations including one packaged with a Four Seasons Greatest Hits album,
Vee Jay Records' other big predominant recording act. (I finally gave in when
the "Songs, Pictures And Stories" LP was released with the gatefold cover. Even
though it was the exact same track line-up I had ignored up till then, I just
HAD to have this album.)
I remember walking home from school with three
girls from my class (Cindy, Sue and Beth ... wow, we were ten years old and I
STILL remember this) because they knew the words to EVERY Beatles song by heart
and would sing the entire "Meet The Beatles" album to me on the way home from
school. (Clearly, I just couldn't get enough ... I needed to hear this music
during every free, available moment!)
As the year wore on, so did my Beatles record
collection ... 45's mostly, especially if they had picture sleeves, which nearly
ALL of The Beatles' singles did. I remember having GREAT debates about which
side of the record was the better song ... because nearly every single Beatles
record was also a two-sided hit ... and my allegiance changed regularly between
the A-Side and B-Side, simply because BOTH sides were so great!
As I said earlier in the week, I find it hard to
believe that I can recall SO many details from 50 years ago with the absolute
clarity that I can ... nobody EVER believed this music would last ... and yet it
has in some fashion inspired every bit of music to come since, just as The
Beatles themselves were inspired by the early days of American Rock And
Roll.
I've said it 10,000 times and I'll say it 10,000
more ... this music is TIMELESS ... NO other music has EVER had the incredible
lasting impact that this music has had. We are SO fortunate to have lived
through this experience first hand ... and I am SO pleased to be able to share
these memories today with those who may have missed it the first time around.
There has NEVER been a more exciting time in music ... it deserves to be heard
and it deserves to live on. And this year the entire world is doing exactly
that. (kk)
