Blog#2: The Beatles Controversy

          The Beatles are and have been incredibly popular since they started out in the 1960s, but most people in the new generation don't know about the whole "Beatles controversy" that occurred in the mid-1960s. I also did not know about this issue until recently. To give you a summary of what happened, John Lennon was being interviewed in England and remarked that "The Beatles were more popular than Jesus." Clearly, this was a pretty radical remark but it did not receive much attention in England, which had waning levels of Christianity. Nevertheless, when an American magazine printed it 5 months later, it would be an understatement to say that there were few strong consequences.

          Most of the chaos could be seen in the bible belt in the south of the United States. It got to a point where there were organized "Beatle Burning" sessions, where people would come to publicly burn their Beatles albums. Moreover, concerts were canceled, Beatles music was banned from many countries, and threats were made to the band. During one concert they were even targeted for gunfire and after the tour ended 44 years ago, the Beatles never performed commercially again. Fans were offended and hurt when Lennon said those things, because most of them were Christian. In my opinion, Lennon was not saying The Beatles were better or greater than Jesus, rather that the Beatles were being listened to more than people were going to church. Lennon was just repeating what the church admitted to about the decline of Christianity.

To get a feel of the attitude among young people during this time, take a look at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZU8F-eO6W0




Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_popular_than_Jesus
Pictures courtesy of Google

Blog#1: How did The Beatles get their Name?

This is a question that is usually in the backs of most people's minds because a name as The Beatles is seems pretty whimsical. If you asked John Lennon how The Beatles chose their name, he would have told you that "a man appeared on a flaming pie and told them that they would be known as the Beatles with an A." He claims that he once had a dream as a little boy of this man on a flaming pie. Although what he said might have been true, there is a lot more history behind how The Beatles cam to be known as what they are today.

The first name The Beatles had was Quarry men. This name was made by John Lennon who attended Quarry Bank School in Liverpool. This title was meant to be ironic because Lennon was not at all studious, but more of a rebellious boy. This name lasted until October 26, 1958 when the band changed their name to Johnny and the Moondogs.  During this time the most popular bands chose their name by using the template "Blank and the Blanks."At this time the band, comprised of John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney, was asked to audition for the Carol Lewis start search show. This name only lasted for the duration of their auditions, which they never got past. In 1960, the new but ephemeral member Stuart Sutcliffe conjured up the name "The Beatlals" because it was similar to "The Crickets" who were the backing band for Buddy Holly, an American singer. Finally, when the band was tired from thinking of about 10 names a week, and because they had been invited to perform in Hamburg, they sticked with just The Beatles and became legends.
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Resources:
Persails, Dave. "The Beatles: What's in the name?"http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/named.htm

"How the Beatles got their name"http://musicouch.com/genres/rock/the-beatles-how-they-got-their-name/
Pictures courtesy of Flickr and Google

Welcome to my blog about The Beatles!

Today, it is almost impossible to meet someone who has not heard of the insanely popular English rock band from the 60s. I actually fell in love with their music by accident because my generalizations of old rock music being loud and discordant would never have compelled me to listen to them. Later, however, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized how creative and euphonious their music actually was. The Beatles have recorded over 300 songs, have toured and some still continue to tour in many countries. They have touched an innumerable amount of people with their music and continue to be in the playlists of many people today. In this blog I will try to be like whom The Beatles described in their hit song "Paperback Writer" while writing about the historical, musical, and other interesting aspects of The Beatles. If you enjoy listening to The Beatles but would like to learn more about them, this blog will be great for you!