The Beatles and me in Edison, NJ

The Beatles and me, we go way back. Earlier this month, the BBC and Apple iTunes released a restored edition of the Beatles 1967 movie entitled “Magical Mystery Tour.” This film had not been widely distributed in the USA and its existence came as news to me. Watching it and listening to a newly purchased remastered edition of the corresponding album really “came to take me away” (in the words of the title song) … to Edison, New Jersey, in fact.

© StampGirl / Shutterstock.com
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This stamp ties together two unrelated dimensions of my life: the Beatles and Laos. Unfortunately, based on a notice from the Universal Postal Union (19 March 2001), it seems that the stamp may be among several that were not officially authorized in Laos and not valid for postal use. (The Union’s notice on this is linked, here: notice.)

As a kid living in New Jersey during the 1960s I had a transistor radio that enabled me to listen to AM rock and roll broadcasts emanating from across New York harbor. One of my staple programs was the Cousin Brucie Show from WABC, a show that often led me to stay up beyond my bedtime (rock and roll corrupting the youth?). I would also listen to more distant broadcasts when the conditions in the ether permitted me to capture radio waves from another state or even Mexico. The Beatles were at their prime at this time and across these various radio platforms they often had a hit in the top ten, sometimes two hits simultaneously.

At one point, our cousins came to stay with us while their new house was being constructed nearby. One cousin was an older teenager who shared with me his insights on the latest Beatles developments and let me listen to his copy of Rubber Soul. Wow! Shortly thereafter I purchased my first albums and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was on the list. That album marked a real breakthrough as the Beatles had begun to mature musically and push the limits of recording technology. It was different and amazing.

Do you believe in Beatles?

My vinyl collection then expanded to include subsequent Beatles albums and old 45s purchased from yard sales. Although I moved to Maryland and my musical tastes broadened to include other genres, I still played the Beatles’ music with special attention. I played tracks backwards in search of their embedded messages. I tried to mimic riffs on my guitar. I studied the lyrics. I looked for clues to meaning in the album covers (well, not the White album). Notably, the quasi-classical or country interludes in the later Beatles tunes were part of what helped me to be open-minded about music from other genres. I played the orchestral bits for my parents to show them that this stuff was really okay.

In 1973, I bought Some Time in New York City, an album from the Plastic Ono Band. In the song “God”, John Lennon says “I don’t believe in Beatles.” That line really troubled me. Not that I saw anything God-like in the Beatles, but surely their collective accomplishments were phenomenal. They had attained excellence. I understood from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig, 1974) that pursuit of excellence was a worthy cause. John’s statement seemed to reject all that was good from the Beatles, to throw the baby out with the bath water. It took an act of David Bowie three decades later in his song “Afraid” (2002) to set the record straight. In that song, Bowie sings out “I believe in Beatles!”

Rock on

Thanks to the remastering and re-release of much of the Beatles catalog, most is now available digitally, including many previously unavailable tracks and related materials. Settlement of the long-running Apple Corps-Apple Computer trademark legal battles made it possible to distribute many Beatles tracks via iTunes. After loss or damage to most of my vinyl collection over the years, these developments have helped me to resuscitate my Beatles collection.

Listening to the Beatles’ music as I draft this post, I am really struck by the quality of the recording and the continued relevance of much of the music to my life. Unlike me, however, it has aged well. While there is other music that has since moved me or given me more profound insights or made me laugh, the Beatles influence on my music world remains substantial. We have lost George and John, but their contributions live on.

My recent tour of old interviews, hits and films with the Beatles and their associates is yielding new insights for me into the era in which I grew up. As a kid, naturally, I was much less aware of the context leading up to those times and the larger world surrounding the music. Understanding this context now is helpful in knowing where I came from. Not that the times were idyllic, but the context was richer in meaning than I knew back then. Knowing more about the past helps one to think more clearly about the future. And, so, with that in mind, it is time to rock on.