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Remembering The Beatles

by on Sep. 10, 2009, under Life

the-beatlesYears ago I was showing a young woman how to play a Beatles song; I believe it was “Ticket to Ride.” As I was showing her the chords, I asked, “Do you know what band did this song?” She smiled with confidence, “Yes, it was Abbey Road.” What I could not get my head around was that she was only about 13-years younger than me; she had to have heard of The Beatles.

 Well, the game makers of America have a new way of introducing people to the Beatles. X-Box, PS3 and Wii will be releasing The Beatles rock band. That’s right folks, take your fake, plastic guitars, bass, and drums, and become a Beatle. For me, I do not care what it takes to introduce people to The Beatles. They deserve an introduction, even this kind of modern day introduction. 

 It might seem strange at first, I will admit, to see 7 and 8 year olds singing She Loves You and Strawberry Fields Forever, but I believe I can live with that. I don’t mind hearing the youth of our time singing real music. Maybe this will introduce them to what music used to be like.

 The Beatles, John, Paul, Ringo, and George landed on American shores in February 7, 1964 and changed the world of music. It was the beginning of the British Invasion. Who better to invade America than The Beatles? The impact of these Liverpool lads cannot be overlooked. They had playful personalities, mop-top hair cuts, and crisp harmonies that added to their musical teamwork.

beatles-ed1 I recall the first time I saw The Beatles. It was the Ed Sullivan Show, and there they stood. I put my head close to the TV and shouted to my mother that I wanted to be a Beatle. My parents ran to Mexico and got me a five-dollar guitar, and I started teaching myself Beatles songs. To this day I still play those old Beatles songs, just not on a five-dollar guitar!

 I think the Beatles changed our world. They changed how we looked, how we listened, and how we acted. They taught us to say and believe in anything. They believed we could be defiant and on pitch at that.

When all was said and done, The Beatles had 20 number-one singles, sold over a billion records worldwide. Not bad for four boys that had a dream. The Beatles came to us on a high note and they exited on a high note as well by coming together in the summer of 1969 to record Abbey Road, then on April 10, 1970, Paul announced he was leaving the Beatles.

 I have way too many memories of The Beatles and their songs to share my most memorable Beatles moments. I have too many favorite songs to say I have one favorite song. What I do have is a taste in my mouth that is sweet and filled with memories each time I hear a Beatles song and my heart feels at peace.

 So with that said, what do you like to remember about The Beatles?

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 8:55 am and is filed under Life. Tags for this post: , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • radmax

    The most influential musical artists of our time. That being said, I hated these guys at first. All the girls went insane over them, causing  my friends and I to be very jealous. Not to mention the chances of having our parents allow us to grow our hair and dress like them were slim and none.

  • tiponeill

    And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.

  • Andy Morales

    I saw a researcher on PBS last night who said findings show that children are naturally drawn to The Beatles and that is why they will be around for centuries much like Mozart and William Shakespeare.

    Also, technically, three Beatles have died – it’s a trivia question.   Stu Sutcliffe was the first Beatle to die – there were actually 5 Beatles.

    • http://tylerwoods.org Tyler Woods

      You are correct about Stu!!!!! You bet cha.

  • Marie

    In the early 70s, a dear, dear cousin packed up her beloved LPs, including the entire Beatles catalogue,  and sent them my way as she was moving to New York City and her postage stamp sized apartment.   While she was, and still is a  Beatles fan, she some how knew that my love for any and all things Beatles went a bit deeper.      

    I was almost 8 years old at the time, but I  can still remember peeling one of the covers off one of the boxes and slowing unearthing ‘Meet the Beatles’.   How appropriate.  Even better was the feeling of slipping the album out of its stiff cover, and wispy thin paper jacket and then holding it gingerly, using only my fingertips, as I had often seen her do.  Until that day my little bedroom stereo had only served to play my many Disney albums.   On that day, however, my stereo and I not only met the Beatles, but we became lifelong friends.     

    John, Paul, George and Ringo,  thanks.
         

    • http://tylerwoods.org Tyler Woods

      I am so glad you became lifelong friends with these fellows. I always say they taught me to play guitar. To this day, tehy are still my friends.

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