"The Beatles were a gift from God," says Tom Petty.
This episode, fittingly, begins in Liverpool, England, the "home" of the Beatles, the most famous rock group of all time. In the very early 60s, there was a band called "The Quarrymen" which had, among others, John Lennon. To make a long story short, outsider Paul McCartney met him, began writing songs with Lennon, joined the group....the rest is rock n' roll history along with George Harrison and later Ringo Starr all became ultra-famous as the re-named Beatles. By the way, we are shown a commentary next to the building where the Quarrymen played. In that plot is a tombstone with the name "Eleanor Rigby." We witness a 1963 concert of the Beatles doing "Twist and Shout" and the girls going berserk.
Tell me something: why to 10-15-year-old girls scream at concerts? Do they still do that? You can barely hear the bands in this episode with these young females screaming their lungs off during the song, weeping and even fainting. It's absurd!
Whatever, more Beatles history ensues, such as The Cavern Club and Brian Epstein. "Beatlemania" was the thing, though around 1963, especially when they first arrived in New York City. Nobody had ever seen crowds like that at the airport! By the mid '60s, London was the capital of rock 'n roll, not just with music but with wild clothing stores on Carnaby Street and all the music clubs.
Anyway, some other nostalgic songs enjoyed on this segment included The Beach Boys' "I Get Around;" The Temptations' "You Make My Life So Sweet;" Herman's Hermits' "Something Tells Me I'm Into Something Good;" Peter and Gordon's ""A World Without Love (a song written by Lennon and McCartney);" The Kinks' "You Really Got Me;" and a 17-year-old Marianne Faithful doing "As Tears Go By." It good to see Marianne today discuss performing at that young age.
By that time - the mid '60s - the Americans started countering with their own popular groups. We see The Supremes performing "You Can't Hurry Love;" The Lovin' Spooful doing "Do You Believe In Magic?;'" The Young Rascals with "Good Lovin; The Byrds with "Turn! Turn! Turn!;" The Mamas And The Papas' "Creeque Alley;" and that back to more British groups with The Who's "Can't Explain;" The Hollies' "Carrie-Ann" (which really was Marianne, dedicated to Marianne Faithful) and The Spencer Davis Group (with Steve Winwood) with "Keep on Runnin.'
More British groups broke out after the Beatles success. We watch a few examples, such as Gerry And the Pacemakers doing "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying;" Eric Burdon and The Animals with their haunting "The House Of The Rising Sun;" The Searchers, "Needles and Pins." (The Searchers tell us here on this disc that they were named after the John Ford/John Wayne film of the same name.) The Rolling Stones, "Around and Around" arrived in the US a month after the Beatles and the teen screaming and mania continued, even if "they are so ugly they are beautiful," as one girl puts it. We see the Stones perform "Around and Around" and "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." Boy, Mick Jagger looks young.
Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane fame, had an interesting point about how all the English bands seemed to be so much better. "That's because we only saw the best of the British bands - the ones good enough to make it over here. Meanwhile, in America we saw all the good and the bad bands." Later, the British begin to get edgy with The Who and lead guitarist Peter Townsend smashing his guitar at the end of each concert...but that's for a later episode. Meanwhile, the "Motown Sound" in Detroit takes off, and that's the next episode in this series.
This episode, fittingly, begins in Liverpool, England, the "home" of the Beatles, the most famous rock group of all time. In the very early 60s, there was a band called "The Quarrymen" which had, among others, John Lennon. To make a long story short, outsider Paul McCartney met him, began writing songs with Lennon, joined the group....the rest is rock n' roll history along with George Harrison and later Ringo Starr all became ultra-famous as the re-named Beatles. By the way, we are shown a commentary next to the building where the Quarrymen played. In that plot is a tombstone with the name "Eleanor Rigby." We witness a 1963 concert of the Beatles doing "Twist and Shout" and the girls going berserk.
Tell me something: why to 10-15-year-old girls scream at concerts? Do they still do that? You can barely hear the bands in this episode with these young females screaming their lungs off during the song, weeping and even fainting. It's absurd!
Whatever, more Beatles history ensues, such as The Cavern Club and Brian Epstein. "Beatlemania" was the thing, though around 1963, especially when they first arrived in New York City. Nobody had ever seen crowds like that at the airport! By the mid '60s, London was the capital of rock 'n roll, not just with music but with wild clothing stores on Carnaby Street and all the music clubs.
Anyway, some other nostalgic songs enjoyed on this segment included The Beach Boys' "I Get Around;" The Temptations' "You Make My Life So Sweet;" Herman's Hermits' "Something Tells Me I'm Into Something Good;" Peter and Gordon's ""A World Without Love (a song written by Lennon and McCartney);" The Kinks' "You Really Got Me;" and a 17-year-old Marianne Faithful doing "As Tears Go By." It good to see Marianne today discuss performing at that young age.
By that time - the mid '60s - the Americans started countering with their own popular groups. We see The Supremes performing "You Can't Hurry Love;" The Lovin' Spooful doing "Do You Believe In Magic?;'" The Young Rascals with "Good Lovin; The Byrds with "Turn! Turn! Turn!;" The Mamas And The Papas' "Creeque Alley;" and that back to more British groups with The Who's "Can't Explain;" The Hollies' "Carrie-Ann" (which really was Marianne, dedicated to Marianne Faithful) and The Spencer Davis Group (with Steve Winwood) with "Keep on Runnin.'
More British groups broke out after the Beatles success. We watch a few examples, such as Gerry And the Pacemakers doing "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying;" Eric Burdon and The Animals with their haunting "The House Of The Rising Sun;" The Searchers, "Needles and Pins." (The Searchers tell us here on this disc that they were named after the John Ford/John Wayne film of the same name.) The Rolling Stones, "Around and Around" arrived in the US a month after the Beatles and the teen screaming and mania continued, even if "they are so ugly they are beautiful," as one girl puts it. We see the Stones perform "Around and Around" and "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." Boy, Mick Jagger looks young.
Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane fame, had an interesting point about how all the English bands seemed to be so much better. "That's because we only saw the best of the British bands - the ones good enough to make it over here. Meanwhile, in America we saw all the good and the bad bands." Later, the British begin to get edgy with The Who and lead guitarist Peter Townsend smashing his guitar at the end of each concert...but that's for a later episode. Meanwhile, the "Motown Sound" in Detroit takes off, and that's the next episode in this series.