The British Invasion

Man, this has been some winter (Polar Vortex be damned!). Thankfully, February is also the month of love, and there has been plenty of that to spare... as four wise men once sang, "love is all you need."

This month also marked the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' arrival on North American shores. Of course there were plenty of tributes and media attention, as there seem to be with every Fab Four milestone. I was thinking I would resist the temptation, but recent reports have actually taught me a thing or two about the four lads that I didn't know, and made me appreciate their influence all the more.

"The Fabs" were the first band I ever loved. Any music I have listened to (since becoming hooked at age ten) has been judged by that melodic template. I always find myself gravitating towards British pop/rock, but was surprised to learn that prior to the winter of 1964, acts from the UK were seen as some kind of novelty.

We attended a great lecture recently, given by Skidmore College Music Professor/Chair Gordon R. Thompson. An ethnomusicologist, Thompson is also a Beatles' scholar--teaching courses on the subject, and authoring such books as Please Please Me: British Pop, Inside Out. His illustrated/musical talk was conducted in various locations around the Capital Region, and we caught it at Schenectady's great public library on February 8 (the weekend that the Beatles made history on The Ed Sullivan Show). 

It was interesting to learn about how the band tried to release successful records here in the States before 1964, but they all flopped (Please Please Me and She Loves You included). It wasn't until American media learned of the phenomenon occurring across Europe-- in particular, 1963's Roayl Command Performance-- and began reporting about "Beatlemania." 

At the same time, as Thompson pointed out, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. A high-profile story on the band was bumped from Walter Cronkite's nightly news, and the nation went into mourning. The lecture theorized that the Beatles music and energy acted as a welcome relief after the devastating news. I did not know that the band refused to visit America until they had a top hit, and that is exactly what they did-- they didn't tour here until "I Want To Hold Your Hand" reversed their fortunes.

Another thing I did not realize was that host Ed Sullivan had to wait on the tarmac of London's Heathrow Airport, while fans reacted to the Beatles' incoming flight arrival. That is what clued him into the band, and booked them on the show. Last summer Sarah and I caught a "Live at Letterman" taping at the former Ed Sullivan Theater, and I remember being amazed at how small the studio seemed-- this is where John, Paul, George, and Ringo were introduced to the U.S. on February 9, 1964.

On the night of this anniversary, they aired a Grammy tribute to the Beatles on CBS-TV. It was alright-- fun to see Paul and Ringo playing together again, but pretty obvious that, for the most part, the modern acts trying to cover their songs really lacked what made the band and their songs so special. Stevie Wonder was there, and did a pretty funky version of "We Can Work It Out"-- I expected as much, as he released a cool cover of that song back in 1970. Sadly, the recent tribute show might serve as a telling example of how much spontaneity, craft, and soul is lost in modern pop/rock. Paul and Ringo just blew everyone else away when they took the stage. 

Looking back, I just discovered another fantastic 1970s cover version of the Beatles: "I Want To Hold Your Hand", recorded by the Reverend Al Green-- I had never heard it before, but it has kept me smiling ever since:

Another idea that I hadn't really thought about was that the Beatles, when they were first starting, were basically giving back their own covers of popular American rock music-- Elvis, Chuck Berry, early Motown-- which they loved. Obviously they put their own Liverpudlian spin on it (I always get a kick out of hearing George Harrison's heavily accented singing in those days). 

Anyway, I thought I wasn't going to get sucked in, but so it goes... once again, eagerly devouring information about the Beatles and their lasting legacy. Beyond their music, it's interesting to learn about the cultural aspects-- a new generation defining their own times. "Mad Men" learning to coexist with the hippies. 1964 was an important year-- my parents got married-- so I can't help but find myself intrigued by the changes that were occurring at the time.

There have been countdowns in the last month, so here's one more: my attempt at a list of my all-time, favorite Beatles songs (with help from the excellent The Beatles: A Hard Day's Write to remember them all):

-"Please Please Me" / "From Me to You"

-"Twist and Shout" / "Misery"

-"I Want To Hold Your Hand"

-"Ticket To Ride"

-"You Can't Do That" 
"Nowhere Man"

-"We Can Work It Out"

-"I'm Looking Through You"

-"Eleanor Rigby"

-"I'm Only Sleeping"

-"A Day in the Life"

-"Lovely Rita" / "Good Morning Good Morning"

"All You Need Is Love"

"Hey Jude"
"All Together Now"

"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" / "I'm So Tired" / "Bungalow Bill"

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

"Across The Universe" rarities version

"Something"

"Here Comes The Sun"

"I Want You" 

It's all good, really. I'm not such a fan of the Let It Be album, but this past month I FINALLY watched the film. It gave me a new appreciation for the band's skill, even as they were disintegrating. The scenes of the four working out songs in the studio confirmed how skilled they were. I have been reading Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, and he mentions the Beatles as having one of the key elements of "genius"-- the idea that it takes about 10,000 hours of practicing to achieve mastery in a field. What I hadn't thought about was the Beatles were already experts by the time they hit our shores-- having played endless hours in the rough pubs of Hamburg, Germany.

It's hard to imagine another band coming along and achieving their lasting impact, but my early love of the Beatles (a generation removed) would manifest itself in a love for 80s and 90s Britpop, and plenty of exciting bands in the time since. 

Ten years ago I had my own "Ed Sullivan" moment, as I managed to land the first televised interview with the UK band, Keane here in the U.S. The band has just released a retrospective of their career (according to Q magazine they are taking a "hiatus," and singer Tom Chaplin is looking at a solo album). To commemorate, I recently posted my original, "uncut" Berkshire Soundstage interview with the lads. I plan to post similar interviews from my "really big shew" (as Sullivan would put it).

"In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make..." The Beatles will no doubt continue to impress generations of fans and musicians to come, so... alright, keep those anniversary tributes coming.

Never-Ending Battle

"With great power, comes great responsibility."− Uncle Ben, 1962

Since I wrote about the subject in such detail last year, I thought it made sense to give a nod to PBS's excellent new documentary on superheroes, which aired last week. Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle is a three-hour look at the origins of today's modern myths, and how they have mirrored the times they were created in. For a comic book and pop-culture fan, it's a fascinating and surprisingly thorough look at our favorite caped crusaders, kicking off with the creation of Superman by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster in the 1930s: 

Siegel and Shuster were Jewish, and it is really interesting to consider that the history of immigrants coming to America inspired the concept of the "man from Krypton."

The documentary continues to have a wonderful flow, detailing how current events and pop culture served as the true origins of earth's mightiest heroes: World War II (Wonder Woman, Captain America); The Atomic Age (Fantastic Four, The Hulk); Civil Rights Era (Black Panther, X-Men); Post-Watergate (The Punisher, Wolverine, The Watchmen) and so on. The filmmakers obviously have a love for the genre, as they go on to include such seminal comic book stories as Green Lantern/Green Arrow, The Dark Knight Returns, and Marvel's Civil Wars... and interviews with such experts as Marvel Comics' Stan Lee, and historian William H. Foster III (who spoke at our Museum last year)... what's not to love?

Superheroes was produced by historian Laurence Maslon and director Michael Kantor, who has worked with documentarian Ken Burns. The well-researched tone makes it feel like something Burns himself might consider putting together... as Lee points out in the documentary, comics and supermen are "sort of like jazz... it's an American art form!"

Another bullseye... "Hawkeye #13"-
Aja and Fraction explore the topics of death 
and family relations. ©Marvel Comics.

But as we know, comic books are still fighting their way towards respectability− I have written about this before, so I hardly need to repeat it. Since the Alex Ross exhibit at Norman Rockwell Museum, I have found myself popping back into the comic book stores... but I must admit to being disappointed about the general quantity over quality of books produced. Having said that, like any art form I know that it can still produce true, creative work.

Last week they finally released the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Hawkeye. Written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by the Spanish artist David Aja, it continues to be a gorgeous series, certainly standing out from the typical superhero fare. It's been about three months since their last issue hit the stands, but I guess the time and care these creators put into their storytelling makes it worth the wait (the European, storyboard style is a winner).

Similar to Aja, I am drawn to the work of Italian comic book artist Francesco Francavilla, who illustrated one of the better fill-in issues of Hawkeye and is the creator of Dark Horse Comics' The Black Beetle. Francavilla has a brilliant, cinematic quality to his lines and layout, and he is obviously takes a cue from the daring style of Fraction/Aja. But I was hardly prepared for his latest book... a re-imagining of the Archie Comics' characters as a horror comic. Afterlife with Archie takes Archie, Veronica, Betty, Jughead and the rest of the gang, and merges them with the current zombie craze that has infested pop culture. Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has a background in horror as well as a love for Archie, and surprisingly this collaboration with Francavilla really seems to work. One of my big gripes about comics is that they tend to shy away from trying anything that different, so you can imagine my shock in looking forward to these new tales of the gang from Riverdale!



On that note, kudos to PBS for airing the Superheroes documentary. As a fan and creator of documentaries, I found a lot to learn from here. I'm actually in the midst of working on my next short video for the Museum and, as always, it's a struggle... but I remember that the love and care I put into my own superhero documentary for the Alex Ross exhibit last year, which resulted in some very favorable reviews and top awards... so like Ben Parker's nephew, I'll try and summon that old spider-strength once again.

Hey, I realize that PBS is where I first met Spidey back in the day (Electric Company), proving that it once again comes full-circle and anything is possible. Hell, maybe I'll even get the chance to create my own PBS documentary some day...

Well, halloween is right around the corner...
Photo ©Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights
reserved.

Related Links:

Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle 

Comic-Con 2013 Panel for "Superheroes," PBS Channel, YouTube, October 11, 2013

"'Superheroes' Interview: Filmmakers hold mirror up to American culture," Washington Post, October 15, 2013

"World War R: New Comic Pits Archie and Friends Against the Undead," NPR, October 18, 2013

The Art of Francesco Francavilla

David Aja's blog