Anyways, back to our day yesterday. Both Paul and John's mothers past away when they were teenagers which connected them through a strong bond. Also, Paul wrote the beginnings of "When I'm Sixty-Four" on the upright piano in the living room when he lived in his childhood home. The National Trust thought these homes were the most valuable aspects of shaping their childhood and becoming who they grew up to be. It was were they first started playing music, first met each other, first started composing music together, and first got famous while they still lived in Liverpool. It was incredible to stand in those houses and know that these houses were one of the Beatles' most influential places throughout their lives.
We just made it into the Beatles Story Museum.
We got in line at 16:50 and they stopped letting people in line at 17:00. The museum was great and we got audio guides. It told the history of the Beatles from start to finish. They loved Rock'n'Roll and Elvis Presley. Skiffle music was very popular when they were boys. Skiffle was popular American music in England because the instruments were cheap so people who didn't have a lot of money could afford it.
The Beatles played local shows at churches or wherever they could find a venue. They helped out in a club, painted it, and managed to get some shows there. Eventually they managed to book shows at the Cavern Club during the day and many kids started going to see them there. They played 292 concerts there up until 1963.
The Beatles first show in another country was in Hamburg where they were a backing band.
It was in Hamburg that they were recorded for the first time, but they were credited as the Beat Brother because Beatles in Hamburg had a nasty meaning (This was in 1960 before meeting Epstein).
It was at the Cavern Club where Brian Epstein discovered the Beatles.
He went to one of their shows in the middle of the day and was shocked to see the club completely packed with young people. The venue was hot, smelt of sweat, cigarettes, & food, and very crowded since it was rather small.
Epstein helped them book more shows and got them to clean up their act so they wouldn't be drinking and smoking during performances. He asked them to dress smarter and appear more professional. Epstein tried to get their music to dozens of recording labels, but no one would take them on. Epstein introduced the Beatles to George Martin, who would become their manager. When Martin first listened to them, he wasn't impressed, but he told Epstein to bring them by so he could meet them. He spent an hour with them. After they met, George Martin thought the boys had a great presence and it made him very excited. He thought if they had that effect on him, imagine how other young people would feel. That is when he knew that they were special and had something really great.
By 1963, the word, Beatlemania, was coined and England was obsessed with them. They had their first trip to America and 75 million people watched their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. From that moment on they only grew bigger and bigger in popularity. They released many albums each year and toured the entire world. They played the first rock concert in a stadium at Shea Stadium in New York, and 40,000 people were there. Martin said he didn't realize until the concert how many people that was.
After 1966(?), they stopped touring: one, because the crowds were out of control and two, they were focusing on recording. Their music grew and they drastically developed new song ideas and sounds. They made a very strange movie for Magical Mystery Tour, which many Brits thought was a little too strange, but the soundtrack was amazing. It had one song from it that reached #1 on the charts only to have another song on the album replace it as #1. Then they released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was groundbreaking not only because of the great songs, but because of the recording process. Most albums were still recorded with a four-track mix, but the ideas they had for songs would require dozens of tracks during some songs. It pushed the limits of what could be done in a recording studio and they developed techniques that they still use today.
In 1968, Brian Epstein died of cancer and his death devastated the group. Many believe his lack of guidance led to the break-up of the Beatles. During this time, all the Beatles started to develop different musical tastes and argue in the recording studio. Martin had to go through something like 27 tapes and 300 hours of recording to piece together their last albums (Abbey Road/ Let It Be).
They split in 1970, but they all carried on with their music careers. Ringo was the most successful right after the break-up, releasing a good selling album in 1973. Harrison had the best music career throughout his life, but they all worked with other famous musicians. John made a bet with Elton John at one point. John Lennon wrote a song called "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" which Elton John later covered. Since Elton John's version reached #1 on the charts, John Lennon lost the bet. On November 28, 1974, Lennon made a surprise guest appearance at Elton John's Thanksgiving Concert at Madison Square Garden. This proved to be Lennon's last live concert appearance in which he performed "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night," and "I Saw Her Standing There."
The end of the museum had lots of quotes from Rock Stars such as Ozzy Osbourne, John Frusciante, The Edge, Bono, Noel Gallager, The Chemical Brother, Brian Wilson, and many more all saying how much of an impact the Beatles were on their music careers. The last room was set up as John Lennon's video of Imagine and they have his jacket that he wore in the music video displayed in a case.
We went to the gift shop quickly because they were trying to close at 19:00. We bought a few things for ourselves and our parents and left.
The Location of the Original Cavern Club that burnt down
The New Cavern Club (next door)
The Liverpool Museum and Maritime Museum were closed because it was a Sunday night, but we just got food and went back to the Guest House. We woke up early and got on our bus to Glasgow where we sit now and wait to arrive in Scotland. I couldn't be more excited to see the land where my ancestors came from. It is what I have been most excited for this entire journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment