It never ceases to amaze me that almost 40 years after they broke up, The Beatles still make news on a regular basis.
You may remember that I wrote (somewhat skeptically) a few weeks ago about an attempt to release a DVD purporting to contain Ringo Starr's first performance as a Beatle, in 1962 in Hamburg, Germany. Looks like the skepticism was well founded. Apple Corps Ltd., official overseer of The Beatles legacy, has filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the distribution of that footage. Wanna bet who'll win this one?
More than a few people have been referred to as the "fifth Beatle" at one time or another -- producer George Martin, keyboardist Billy Preston, manager Brian Epstein, to name a few. For my money, if anyone ever earned the title it would be Neil Aspinall, who started as road manager and worked his way up to CEO of Apple Corps, a position he held until last April. Aspinall died this week of lung cancer at the age of 67.
Finally, with their enshrinement in a Liverpool train station topiary, The Beatles can truly say that all you need is shrubs.
Comments
Don’t you like the Beatles? I’ve loved them from the moment I heard them and they still thrill my heart and soul! The summer of 67 was the beginning of a different type of rock music….classic rock… which is today some 40 years later the best music ever… I am 66 and will never forget them and all the other fantastic bands I used to listen to and have met.. With the world as it is today there is no hope to write about, no thrill to listen over and over to again like Pink Floyd when they take you away to a better place. The Beatles started all this. In that summer of 67 all you heard was Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I still listen to it over and over as I think of all the beautiful people and flowers and peace signs with all the same thought and hope….a better world… But as you see it hasn’t come about..only got worse. What we need is more peaceful people marching as I did… saying no more wars…no more hate…no more anger. Bands who play real music with feeling and talent need to be heard. There is nothing to look forward to…so I look back on what was the most wonderful years of my life which I will keep in my heart and soul forever. I wish I had a time machine to go back. Long live the Beatles and thank you John Lennon for your IMAGINATION!
STAR
Star, I wasn’t quite a teenager in 1964 when Beatlemania broke out, but I was quickly swept up in it. Even so, I’m still amazed that their impact was so great that they still generate more news than most of the bands performing today! Thanks for sharing your Beatles memories.
Ringo claimed the “fifth Beatle” was “magic.” I can’t argue with him at all, but my vote goes to George Martin. When “the boys” would tell him of hearing a new instrument they liked or what new ideas they had, Martin was able to apply these inspirations to tape/vinyl.
An easy way to determine Martin’s candidacy for fifth Beatle status is to answer the question: Would we have ever heard of The Beatles if any other producer polished their genius’ input?
Maybe the fifth Beatle AND the “magic” was George Martin.
Gee, what I’ve always liked about the 5th Beatle concept IS that there are half a dozen different ones; I consider them ALL to be “5th Beatle”s.