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- We want the Beatles.
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We want the Beatles.
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00:00:25,168 --> 00:00:27,170
We want
the Beatles.
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00:00:27,212 --> 00:00:28,713
We want the Beatles.
5
00:00:28,754 --> 00:00:31,049
We want
the Beatles.
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00:00:31,090 --> 00:00:33,259
We want the Beatles.
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00:00:50,081 --> 00:00:51,414
- When The Beatles burst
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00:00:51,455 --> 00:00:53,957
onto the world stage in 1963,
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00:00:53,999 --> 00:00:57,420
they transformed
popular music overnight.
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00:00:57,461 --> 00:01:00,090
A commercial phenomenon
like no other,
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they paved the way
for every artist
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00:01:02,259 --> 00:01:04,094
who followed in their wake.
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00:01:04,135 --> 00:01:08,013
- They were selling
vast amounts of records,
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00:01:08,055 --> 00:01:10,140
a quarter of a million a week.
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No one had ever
done that before.
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00:01:11,850 --> 00:01:15,106
Even Elvis hadn't,
Lonnie Donegan hadn't.
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00:01:15,147 --> 00:01:18,441
Every week selling a quarter
of a million records.
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00:01:18,482 --> 00:01:22,736
- You had a revolution,
just in terms of sales.
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00:01:22,778 --> 00:01:24,239
But in addition to that,
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we wouldn't have had
The Rolling Stones.
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00:01:26,201 --> 00:01:27,826
You wouldn't have The Byrds,
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00:01:27,868 --> 00:01:29,788
you wouldn't have had
Dylan going electric.
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You wouldn't have had The Doors,
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and all those other bands
we associate with the 60s.
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The chances of them existing
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without The Beatles
are pretty slim.
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00:01:40,590 --> 00:01:44,303
- Yet the band's
impact spread far beyond music.
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00:01:44,344 --> 00:01:46,637
As figureheads for
a blooming youth culture,
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00:01:46,678 --> 00:01:48,431
their influence
penetrated to the heart
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00:01:48,473 --> 00:01:50,100
of the post-war world.
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- They were
agents of change.
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They were carrying
everyone with them.
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00:01:54,230 --> 00:01:58,357
Everything felt modern, new,
fresh, everywhere you looked.
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00:01:58,399 --> 00:01:59,901
The world started
to look different.
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00:01:59,943 --> 00:02:02,402
- The colors
started to really emerge,
36
00:02:02,444 --> 00:02:05,573
the green shoots
of a new culture.
37
00:02:05,615 --> 00:02:08,242
- From the point of
The Beatles' arrival,
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00:02:08,284 --> 00:02:10,746
they completely reinvented
how culture works.
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00:02:10,788 --> 00:02:14,165
Suddenly, adults were
growing their hair long.
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00:02:14,207 --> 00:02:17,462
Grown-up women were
wearing mini-skirts.
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00:02:17,504 --> 00:02:21,007
Suddenly, it was young people
who were determining everything.
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00:02:21,048 --> 00:02:23,259
That started with The Beatles.
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00:02:23,301 --> 00:02:25,094
- By the second half of the '60s,
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00:02:25,136 --> 00:02:26,553
the band transformed
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00:02:26,636 --> 00:02:29,140
into leaders of the
emerging counterculture.
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00:02:29,182 --> 00:02:32,520
Bringing new social,
sexual and artistic ideas
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00:02:32,561 --> 00:02:35,565
into the mainstream, through
their peaceful revolution
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00:02:35,606 --> 00:02:39,776
they became the undisputed
voice of a generation.
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00:02:39,818 --> 00:02:42,653
- The Beatles were the most
commercial band on earth.
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00:02:42,695 --> 00:02:45,615
But they were also the most
avant-garde and experimental.
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00:02:45,657 --> 00:02:47,451
That was their role.
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00:02:47,493 --> 00:02:48,993
Through their music, they
opened up peoples' minds.
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00:02:49,035 --> 00:02:51,787
- They helped to
move a lot of people
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00:02:51,829 --> 00:02:53,499
who might not otherwise
have gone along
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00:02:53,541 --> 00:02:57,170
with the stuff that happened
in '66, '67 and '68.
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00:02:57,212 --> 00:03:01,174
They were inspirational and
influential in that way.
57
00:03:01,216 --> 00:03:05,012
But as they became more
involved in the counterculture
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00:03:05,054 --> 00:03:06,554
and more representative of it,
59
00:03:06,595 --> 00:03:09,516
they became a political threat.
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00:03:09,558 --> 00:03:12,101
- This film traces The Beatles' path
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00:03:12,143 --> 00:03:15,356
through the most extraordinary
decade of the 20th century.
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00:03:15,398 --> 00:03:17,274
It reveals the lasting impact
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00:03:17,316 --> 00:03:19,149
of four musicians
from Liverpool,
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00:03:19,191 --> 00:03:22,278
who went from class warriors
to cultural revolutionaries,
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00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,990
while providing the
soundtrack for a generation.
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00:03:26,032 --> 00:03:28,034
- They were catalysts
for a great many things.
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00:03:28,076 --> 00:03:31,329
They changed just
about everything.
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- Great Britain, 1962.
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00:03:46,887 --> 00:03:49,224
A small and once
dominant Kingdom,
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00:03:49,266 --> 00:03:51,603
finally recovering
from years of austerity
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00:03:51,644 --> 00:03:53,353
following the Second World War.
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00:03:54,563 --> 00:03:56,899
A nation of
discipline and order,
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00:03:56,941 --> 00:03:59,983
of industrial cities and
quiet village greens.
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00:04:00,025 --> 00:04:02,988
And although outwardly it
appeared stuck in the past,
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00:04:03,030 --> 00:04:06,032
beneath the surface a fresh
culture was developing
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00:04:06,074 --> 00:04:08,243
that would rapidly transform it.
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00:04:15,792 --> 00:04:18,086
At the close of the
year the UK was hit
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00:04:18,128 --> 00:04:20,674
by some of the coldest
weather it had ever suffered,
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00:04:20,715 --> 00:04:22,675
everyday life grinding to a halt
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00:04:22,716 --> 00:04:24,718
as snow covered the country.
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00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:29,557
Breaking through this bitter
winter, on January 11th, 1963,
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a record was issued that
provided the first glimpse
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00:04:32,478 --> 00:04:35,146
of the brave new world
that was to come.
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00:04:35,187 --> 00:04:37,692
Please Please Me,
the second single
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by Liverpudlian
four-piece The Beatles,
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00:04:39,942 --> 00:04:42,780
quickly rose to number
two on the British charts,
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00:04:42,822 --> 00:04:45,239
and its mainstream success
announced the arrival
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00:04:45,281 --> 00:04:49,911
of a revolutionary force
in both music and culture.
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♪ You don't need me
to show the way love
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♪ Why do I always
have to say love
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00:05:03,718 --> 00:05:05,512
- ♪ C'mon ♪
- ♪ C'mon ♪
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00:05:05,553 --> 00:05:07,222
- ♪ C'mon ♪
- ♪ C'mon ♪
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00:05:07,264 --> 00:05:10,391
- ♪ C'mon ♪
- ♪ C'mon ♪
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00:05:10,433 --> 00:05:15,313
♪ Please please me, whoa
yeah, like I please you... ♪
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00:05:15,355 --> 00:05:18,066
- Please Please Me was
a kind of eruption.
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00:05:18,108 --> 00:05:22,279
They took the blunt force
of 1950s rock and roll,
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00:05:22,321 --> 00:05:23,656
which was a blunt instrument,
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00:05:23,698 --> 00:05:25,489
there's no other
way to describe it.
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00:05:25,531 --> 00:05:27,908
Musically and socially,
it was a blunt instrument.
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00:05:27,950 --> 00:05:30,411
And they grafted on
to that the harmonies
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00:05:30,453 --> 00:05:35,166
and the whole plaintive vocal
quality of the girl groups
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00:05:35,208 --> 00:05:37,418
of the early 1960s.
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00:05:37,460 --> 00:05:40,547
Nobody had ever heard anything
quite like this before.
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00:05:40,588 --> 00:05:44,677
This was a group that had
two of the best singers
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of their era in the same group,
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00:05:47,431 --> 00:05:48,973
and something like that
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00:05:49,015 --> 00:05:51,142
I don't think had
really happened before.
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00:05:51,185 --> 00:05:54,230
The sound of John Lennon and
Paul McCartney singing together
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00:05:54,271 --> 00:05:57,483
is one of the great sounds
in music of the 20th century.
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00:05:57,525 --> 00:06:02,697
♪ Last night I said
these words to my girl ♪
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00:06:04,532 --> 00:06:10,495
♪ I know you never
even try, girl... ♪
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00:06:10,537 --> 00:06:12,289
- They were a shock
to the system.
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00:06:12,331 --> 00:06:14,166
Love Me Do was the first single,
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00:06:14,208 --> 00:06:15,792
and it was a bit
of a false start.
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00:06:15,833 --> 00:06:17,587
Please Please Me is when
you had
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00:06:17,627 --> 00:06:19,295
the unison sound of the band.
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00:06:19,337 --> 00:06:21,758
They're singing,
"Come on, come on."
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There's this sense
of anticipation
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00:06:23,550 --> 00:06:24,968
and a sense of excitement.
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00:06:25,010 --> 00:06:27,472
It was a fresh sound.
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00:06:27,514 --> 00:06:29,265
It sounds so traditional now.
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00:06:29,306 --> 00:06:30,641
But at the time,
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00:06:30,683 --> 00:06:33,270
the look and the sound
was completely fresh.
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00:06:33,311 --> 00:06:36,063
It was positive,
uplifting and modern.
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00:06:38,067 --> 00:06:40,944
- The Beatles--
John Lennon, Paul McCartney,
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00:06:40,985 --> 00:06:43,071
George Harrison
and Ringo Starr--
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00:06:43,113 --> 00:06:45,365
provided a much needed
shot in the arm
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00:06:45,408 --> 00:06:47,492
to Britain's pop scene.
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00:06:47,534 --> 00:06:50,288
Although American rock and roll
had been enormously popular
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00:06:50,329 --> 00:06:51,873
in the mid 1950s,
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00:06:51,915 --> 00:06:55,375
its electrifying initial
surge proved short-lived.
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00:06:55,417 --> 00:06:58,170
With its major stars
either selling out
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00:06:58,212 --> 00:06:59,921
or disappearing from the scene,
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00:06:59,963 --> 00:07:02,842
the musicians that came in
their wake were more wholesome
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00:07:02,883 --> 00:07:05,219
and less threatening.
136
00:07:05,261 --> 00:07:07,640
British artists followed suit,
137
00:07:07,681 --> 00:07:09,515
and the musical
landscape in the UK
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00:07:09,557 --> 00:07:11,558
was dominated by
talented imitators
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00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,314
and the teen idols of pop
Svengali Larry Parnes.
140
00:07:15,355 --> 00:07:18,067
With the support of their
manager Brian Epstein
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00:07:18,109 --> 00:07:20,027
and producer George Martin,
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00:07:20,069 --> 00:07:22,655
The Beatles offered
something very different.
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00:07:22,696 --> 00:07:25,282
Driven by the unique
songwriting partnership
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00:07:25,324 --> 00:07:27,159
of John Lennon and
Paul McCartney,
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00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,287
this band composed
their own material.
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00:07:30,329 --> 00:07:32,624
- Most of conventional
English show business,
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00:07:32,666 --> 00:07:34,249
as we think of it,
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00:07:34,291 --> 00:07:36,876
was really a pale reflection
of American show business.
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00:07:36,917 --> 00:07:38,545
It had not always been the case.
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00:07:38,587 --> 00:07:40,588
But since the war,
certainly it was.
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00:07:40,630 --> 00:07:42,342
You had singers like Matt Monro
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00:07:42,383 --> 00:07:45,886
who did an almost letter perfect
imitation of Frank Sinatra.
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00:07:45,927 --> 00:07:47,472
By the same token,
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00:07:47,514 --> 00:07:50,599
you had the famous facile,
fatuous English pop stars
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00:07:50,641 --> 00:07:52,100
of the period,
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00:07:52,142 --> 00:07:54,354
of whom Cliff Richard
was by far the best known
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00:07:54,395 --> 00:07:55,899
and the most successful,
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00:07:55,940 --> 00:07:59,277
who was a kind of third-rate
version of Elvis.
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00:07:59,319 --> 00:08:02,405
And not of the Elvis
of Heartbreak Hotel
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00:08:02,447 --> 00:08:04,490
but of the Elvis of King Creole,
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00:08:04,532 --> 00:08:06,659
the Elvis of Elvis
the movie star.
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00:08:06,701 --> 00:08:09,829
["Summer Holiday"]
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00:08:09,871 --> 00:08:14,458
♪ We're all going
on a summer holiday ♪
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00:08:14,500 --> 00:08:18,128
♪ No more working
for a week or two ♪
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00:08:18,170 --> 00:08:21,382
♪ Fun and laughter
on our summer holiday ♪
166
00:08:21,423 --> 00:08:25,511
♪ No more worries for me
or you ♪
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00:08:25,553 --> 00:08:27,764
♪ For a week or two... ♪ ♪
168
00:08:27,806 --> 00:08:29,516
- It was pretty professional.
169
00:08:29,558 --> 00:08:31,892
Cliff Richard and The
Shadows were good players.
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00:08:31,933 --> 00:08:33,519
It was a good act.
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00:08:33,561 --> 00:08:35,230
But it was family friendly.
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00:08:35,271 --> 00:08:38,568
And you had also characters
like Larry Parnes,
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00:08:38,609 --> 00:08:43,363
with his stable of pretty boys
who did what they were told,
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00:08:43,405 --> 00:08:45,782
who sung what they
were told to sing,
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00:08:45,824 --> 00:08:49,244
and who had no particular
creative input at all.
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00:08:49,285 --> 00:08:51,496
So when somebody like
The Beatles comes along
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00:08:51,538 --> 00:08:53,165
and they're not only
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00:08:53,207 --> 00:08:55,334
playing their own instruments,
singing beautifully,
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00:08:55,376 --> 00:08:56,960
they're also singing
their own compositions,
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00:08:57,001 --> 00:08:58,963
this was incredibly
rare at the time.
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00:08:59,004 --> 00:09:02,091
- The Beatles were
keen from the start
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00:09:02,132 --> 00:09:03,594
to write their own material.
183
00:09:03,635 --> 00:09:05,554
They wrote the songs
to the audience,
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00:09:05,596 --> 00:09:07,179
to address the audience.
185
00:09:07,221 --> 00:09:10,600
They knew that the audience
was 80% teenage girls
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00:09:10,641 --> 00:09:12,058
and they wrote songs
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00:09:12,100 --> 00:09:13,687
that elicited the perfect
response from them.
188
00:09:13,729 --> 00:09:16,607
And after that,
the deluge followed.
189
00:09:16,648 --> 00:09:18,901
It sent the signal out
to everybody
190
00:09:18,943 --> 00:09:21,696
that you can all
write your own song,
191
00:09:21,738 --> 00:09:23,323
get a slice of the action.
192
00:09:23,364 --> 00:09:25,992
Within a year or two,
all bands were writing,
193
00:09:26,033 --> 00:09:27,660
or having a crack at it.
194
00:09:27,702 --> 00:09:29,787
- It wasn't only
the extraordinary sound
195
00:09:29,828 --> 00:09:32,330
of The Beatles or the unique
talents of Lennon and McCartney
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00:09:32,372 --> 00:09:35,459
that were revolutionizing
popular music.
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00:09:35,500 --> 00:09:38,880
As they came to dominate
the charts in 1963,
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00:09:38,922 --> 00:09:40,506
their string of hit records
199
00:09:40,548 --> 00:09:42,466
transformed the
commercial fortunes
200
00:09:42,507 --> 00:09:44,970
of the British record
industry itself.
201
00:09:45,011 --> 00:09:47,512
- As The Beatles
became more popular,
202
00:09:47,554 --> 00:09:50,766
and every record seemed
to sell more and more,
203
00:09:50,808 --> 00:09:55,396
you had a revolution in the
British record industry,
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00:09:55,438 --> 00:09:57,273
just in terms of sales.
205
00:09:57,315 --> 00:10:00,068
They'd never seen
anything like this,
206
00:10:00,110 --> 00:10:01,654
both in the amount of sales
207
00:10:01,695 --> 00:10:03,782
and the how long
The Beatles would hang around
208
00:10:03,824 --> 00:10:07,160
in the charts, for months
and months and months.
209
00:10:07,201 --> 00:10:08,912
In addition to that,
210
00:10:08,954 --> 00:10:14,167
there was the rolling impact
of hit after hit after hit,
211
00:10:14,208 --> 00:10:16,669
that never let the quality drop.
212
00:10:16,710 --> 00:10:19,088
If anything, the
quality increased,
213
00:10:19,130 --> 00:10:22,341
from Please Please
Me to From Me to You,
214
00:10:22,382 --> 00:10:26,220
which was a little more
downbeat but was no less wily.
215
00:10:26,262 --> 00:10:29,307
And then between the eyes:
She Loves You,
216
00:10:29,349 --> 00:10:33,310
which explodes out of
the radio to this day.
217
00:10:33,352 --> 00:10:36,272
♪ She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
218
00:10:36,314 --> 00:10:39,442
♪ She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
219
00:10:39,484 --> 00:10:44,115
♪ She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
220
00:10:45,866 --> 00:10:48,786
♪ You think you've
lost your love ♪
221
00:10:48,828 --> 00:10:52,163
♪ Well, I saw her
yesterday... ♪
222
00:10:52,205 --> 00:10:55,668
- People like Cliff
and Billy Fury and Elvis,
223
00:10:55,710 --> 00:10:58,879
they were selling quite
substantial amounts of
224
00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:04,010
records per se, but
by the beginning of 1963
225
00:11:04,053 --> 00:11:07,263
when Please Please Me
and From Me to You
226
00:11:07,305 --> 00:11:08,931
and the Please Please Me
album,
227
00:11:08,973 --> 00:11:12,519
they were selling vast
amounts of records.
228
00:11:12,561 --> 00:11:14,563
- No one had seen
anything like this
229
00:11:14,604 --> 00:11:15,939
in the pop industry before.
230
00:11:15,981 --> 00:11:18,149
This was suddenly a
happening industry
231
00:11:18,191 --> 00:11:20,944
that not only young people
were taking notice of it,
232
00:11:20,986 --> 00:11:22,947
but the bean counters too.
233
00:11:22,989 --> 00:11:26,700
So you had everyone scouring
Birmingham for The Moody Blues,
234
00:11:26,742 --> 00:11:28,535
The Hollies in Manchester.
235
00:11:28,577 --> 00:11:30,245
And Liverpool of course,
236
00:11:30,286 --> 00:11:31,914
all the scouts were up there
looking for the next Beatles.
237
00:11:31,955 --> 00:11:33,540
Everyone wanted a
slice of the action
238
00:11:33,582 --> 00:11:36,795
because they'd revolutionized
the music industry
239
00:11:36,837 --> 00:11:39,422
in just a matter
of months in 1963.
240
00:11:39,463 --> 00:11:41,841
- But the group's impact
241
00:11:41,883 --> 00:11:44,761
was not merely confined
to the musical world.
242
00:11:44,802 --> 00:11:48,639
They also both represented
and inspired a seismic shift
243
00:11:48,681 --> 00:11:51,894
at the very heart
of British society.
244
00:11:51,936 --> 00:11:54,896
How these four young
working class Liverpudlians
245
00:11:54,938 --> 00:11:57,107
managed to spearhead
such a change
246
00:11:57,148 --> 00:12:00,735
lie in The Beatles,'
and the country's, past.
247
00:12:04,197 --> 00:12:07,324
In the two centuries before
the Second World War,
248
00:12:07,366 --> 00:12:09,871
the United Kingdom had led
the Industrial Revolution
249
00:12:09,913 --> 00:12:12,789
and had ruled over the
greatest Empire on earth.
250
00:12:12,830 --> 00:12:15,544
One of the foundations
behind this superpower
251
00:12:15,586 --> 00:12:17,254
was its class system,
252
00:12:17,296 --> 00:12:20,548
which both divided and
ordered its citizens.
253
00:12:20,590 --> 00:12:24,426
After emerging victorious
from war in 1945,
254
00:12:24,468 --> 00:12:26,262
the elite class in this system,
255
00:12:26,304 --> 00:12:29,515
known as the Establishment,
which included the monarchy,
256
00:12:29,557 --> 00:12:31,144
the aristocracy, and the heads
257
00:12:31,185 --> 00:12:33,979
of all the major institutions
governing society,
258
00:12:34,020 --> 00:12:36,314
immediately tried to
reinforce their power,
259
00:12:36,355 --> 00:12:38,900
and this chain of
command would once again
260
00:12:38,942 --> 00:12:42,237
shape life in Britain
during the post-war years.
261
00:12:42,279 --> 00:12:45,617
- Britain was a very
class-ridden society.
262
00:12:45,659 --> 00:12:48,576
We were a nation of
subjects, not citizens.
263
00:12:48,618 --> 00:12:52,329
And as long as you do
have a royal family
264
00:12:52,370 --> 00:12:54,207
and a set of lords and ladies,
265
00:12:54,248 --> 00:12:56,961
the whole hierarchy
of privilege,
266
00:12:57,003 --> 00:12:59,505
then obviously someone's
going to be at the bottom.
267
00:12:59,546 --> 00:13:01,132
After the war,
268
00:13:01,174 --> 00:13:03,383
the Establishment obviously
tried to reassert itself.
269
00:13:03,425 --> 00:13:06,680
So you still had the old
Christian values, for instance.
270
00:13:06,721 --> 00:13:09,265
Nothing happened on a Sunday.
271
00:13:09,307 --> 00:13:11,977
Even children's
swings in the parks
272
00:13:12,019 --> 00:13:13,687
were chained up on Sundays.
273
00:13:13,728 --> 00:13:15,605
The '60s really
was the first time
274
00:13:15,647 --> 00:13:18,066
that anyone kicked a hole
in any of that
275
00:13:18,108 --> 00:13:19,944
and started to challenge all
276
00:13:19,986 --> 00:13:21,821
of these traditional
assumptions.
277
00:13:21,863 --> 00:13:25,784
Really, it was the same
group of middle class people,
278
00:13:25,826 --> 00:13:28,827
who assumed they had the right
to tell everybody how to live,
279
00:13:28,869 --> 00:13:31,247
were still very much in power.
280
00:13:31,288 --> 00:13:33,540
- Yet Britain's power was waning
281
00:13:33,581 --> 00:13:36,502
and its empire slowly crumbling.
282
00:13:36,544 --> 00:13:39,546
Almost bankrupt as a result
of its war effort,
283
00:13:39,587 --> 00:13:41,507
the years of hardship
that followed
284
00:13:41,549 --> 00:13:44,093
saw the entire country suffer.
285
00:13:44,135 --> 00:13:46,722
The North of England in
particular struggled to recover,
286
00:13:46,763 --> 00:13:49,725
and the once dominant
port city of Liverpool,
287
00:13:49,766 --> 00:13:52,102
heavily targeted by
German air raids,
288
00:13:52,144 --> 00:13:56,355
was beset by widespread damage
and disappearing industry.
289
00:13:56,397 --> 00:13:58,441
- During the 19th century,
290
00:13:58,483 --> 00:14:02,196
the North developed this
proud sense of itself.
291
00:14:02,238 --> 00:14:05,407
The port of Liverpool was the
greatest port in the world
292
00:14:05,448 --> 00:14:07,825
because England was the
greatest commercial nation
293
00:14:07,867 --> 00:14:11,664
in the world and most things
came in and out there.
294
00:14:11,706 --> 00:14:14,249
But over the course
of the 20th century,
295
00:14:14,290 --> 00:14:16,877
England went through
a phenomenon that
296
00:14:16,919 --> 00:14:18,546
is now very familiar
297
00:14:18,588 --> 00:14:21,173
to Americans of the
late 20th century,
298
00:14:21,215 --> 00:14:24,303
which is the decline
of industrialization,
299
00:14:24,344 --> 00:14:25,720
the decline of manufacturing.
300
00:14:25,762 --> 00:14:28,307
By the 1940s, it was very clear
301
00:14:28,348 --> 00:14:31,393
that Liverpool was in decline.
302
00:14:31,435 --> 00:14:34,645
As a result, The Beatles'
generation grew up in this place
303
00:14:34,687 --> 00:14:37,691
that was filled with the
emblems of imperial might
304
00:14:37,733 --> 00:14:41,280
but which was becoming a
very dire place to live
305
00:14:41,321 --> 00:14:42,947
in many ways.
306
00:14:42,988 --> 00:14:44,364
- Everywhere there was a debris.
307
00:14:44,406 --> 00:14:47,244
The streets were full
of bombed buildings.
308
00:14:47,286 --> 00:14:48,659
All the kids used to play
309
00:14:48,701 --> 00:14:50,829
in the buildings
and deserted places.
310
00:14:50,871 --> 00:14:54,083
The debris was still going
20 or 30 years later.
311
00:14:54,125 --> 00:14:58,254
There was no money about,
and it was very hard.
312
00:14:58,296 --> 00:15:02,924
What did young people have in
Liverpool to look forward to?
313
00:15:02,966 --> 00:15:04,718
Everything was closing down.
314
00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,804
All the factories
were closing down.
315
00:15:06,845 --> 00:15:12,102
It was pretty tough times
in Liverpool in those days.
316
00:15:12,144 --> 00:15:15,313
- And it was
within this stark landscape
317
00:15:15,354 --> 00:15:17,275
that The Beatles grew up.
318
00:15:17,317 --> 00:15:20,401
The band's founder and
eldest member, John Lennon,
319
00:15:20,443 --> 00:15:22,113
was the product of a broken home
320
00:15:22,155 --> 00:15:24,157
and was raised by
his aunt and uncle
321
00:15:24,198 --> 00:15:26,618
in a fairly affluent
area of the city.
322
00:15:26,660 --> 00:15:28,078
His future bandmates,
323
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:29,996
Paul McCartney and
George Harrison, however,
324
00:15:30,037 --> 00:15:32,666
both came from working
class neighborhoods.
325
00:15:32,707 --> 00:15:34,958
Despite the dereliction
surrounding them
326
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,044
and the hard times in
which they were raised,
327
00:15:37,086 --> 00:15:40,256
the future prospects of all
three were given a boost
328
00:15:40,298 --> 00:15:42,466
by a new educational initiative
329
00:15:42,508 --> 00:15:45,386
that saw the brightest children
enrolled in grammar schools,
330
00:15:45,427 --> 00:15:48,389
whatever their
financial background.
331
00:15:48,430 --> 00:15:51,434
- John Lennon, Paul
McCartney and George Harrison
332
00:15:51,476 --> 00:15:54,437
took an examination when
they were 11 years old
333
00:15:54,479 --> 00:15:57,359
that essentially
certified them as clever.
334
00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:01,028
And as a result of passing
what was called the 11+ exam,
335
00:16:01,069 --> 00:16:04,114
that meant they were eligible
to go to grammar schools.
336
00:16:04,156 --> 00:16:06,783
Grammar schools were
designed to educate children
337
00:16:06,826 --> 00:16:09,786
in order to go on to some
form of higher education.
338
00:16:09,828 --> 00:16:13,333
What this meant was that
at a relatively early age,
339
00:16:13,375 --> 00:16:15,083
at the age of 11,
340
00:16:15,125 --> 00:16:17,252
particularly Paul McCartney
and George Harrison,
341
00:16:17,294 --> 00:16:19,462
whose origins were
truly working class.
342
00:16:19,504 --> 00:16:21,548
John Lennon was a
bit more complicated.
343
00:16:21,589 --> 00:16:23,633
John was a little
betwixt and between.
344
00:16:23,675 --> 00:16:26,804
But in the case of both Paul
McCartney and George Harrison,
345
00:16:26,846 --> 00:16:29,640
at the age of 11, they
were somewhat isolated
346
00:16:29,682 --> 00:16:33,228
from the world of
the housing estates
347
00:16:33,269 --> 00:16:34,898
that they had grown up on.
348
00:16:34,939 --> 00:16:37,567
Every day they took the bus
into the center of Liverpool
349
00:16:37,608 --> 00:16:40,485
to go to a place called
the Liverpool Institute
350
00:16:40,527 --> 00:16:43,198
and they were essentially marked
351
00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,032
and educated from the age of 11
352
00:16:45,074 --> 00:16:47,245
to transcend their
working class origins.
353
00:16:47,286 --> 00:16:50,329
- With far better
schooling than their parents,
354
00:16:50,371 --> 00:16:52,874
these future Beatles
were a new breed,
355
00:16:52,916 --> 00:16:55,459
raised within the proud
Liverpudlian working class,
356
00:16:55,500 --> 00:16:59,422
yet unfazed by the educated
elites supposedly above them.
357
00:16:59,463 --> 00:17:02,467
And with the coming of
rock and roll in 1956,
358
00:17:02,508 --> 00:17:06,553
a musical form exploded that
spoke directly to their youth
359
00:17:06,595 --> 00:17:08,638
and their sense of difference.
360
00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:10,015
It was the following year
361
00:17:10,057 --> 00:17:11,683
that John Lennon
met Paul McCartney
362
00:17:11,725 --> 00:17:14,604
and invited him to join
his band The Quarrymen,
363
00:17:14,645 --> 00:17:17,900
with George Harrison
joining shortly thereafter.
364
00:17:17,942 --> 00:17:19,984
All around them in Liverpool
365
00:17:20,026 --> 00:17:23,072
a new phenomenon was finding
its own rebellious voice:
366
00:17:23,114 --> 00:17:25,740
the teenagers had arrived.
367
00:17:25,782 --> 00:17:29,704
- The '50s became the era
368
00:17:29,746 --> 00:17:32,999
when teenagers really
came into their own.
369
00:17:33,041 --> 00:17:36,043
We were together in
our love of the music.
370
00:17:36,085 --> 00:17:41,007
Up until that time a young
lad would be taken to the pub
371
00:17:41,049 --> 00:17:44,302
for his first pint, when he
turned of age, by his dad.
372
00:17:44,343 --> 00:17:46,387
He'd dress like his dad.
373
00:17:46,429 --> 00:17:48,514
He'd go into the
union of his dad
374
00:17:48,555 --> 00:17:50,724
and he'd go in the
same work as his dad.
375
00:17:50,766 --> 00:17:53,020
With the girls, she
was in the kitchen
376
00:17:53,062 --> 00:17:55,272
learning how to
make the breakfast,
377
00:17:55,314 --> 00:17:56,940
do the cleaning,
all the rest of it.
378
00:17:56,982 --> 00:18:00,401
But suddenly the youngsters
were now earning money
379
00:18:00,443 --> 00:18:03,072
and they wanted to
spend it their way
380
00:18:03,114 --> 00:18:06,575
and do their things and
not be told what to do.
381
00:18:06,617 --> 00:18:09,204
- A generation
gap was opening up
382
00:18:09,246 --> 00:18:11,871
and this would dominate
cultural life in Britain
383
00:18:11,913 --> 00:18:13,458
across the next decade.
384
00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:14,959
And while rock and roll
resonated
385
00:18:15,001 --> 00:18:17,210
with young working
class Britons,
386
00:18:17,252 --> 00:18:18,754
other American influences,
387
00:18:18,796 --> 00:18:21,132
from the Beat poets
to jazz and blues,
388
00:18:21,174 --> 00:18:23,801
were embraced by
middle class teenagers.
389
00:18:23,843 --> 00:18:26,928
If the future Beatles were at
heart rock and roll rebels,
390
00:18:26,970 --> 00:18:30,265
none of them more embodied
this than John Lennon.
391
00:18:30,307 --> 00:18:33,354
But having failed
his exams in 1957,
392
00:18:33,395 --> 00:18:36,064
he found a place at the
Liverpool College of Art,
393
00:18:36,106 --> 00:18:38,442
where he was thrown
into an unfamiliar,
394
00:18:38,484 --> 00:18:40,152
Bohemian student culture.
395
00:18:40,194 --> 00:18:43,572
Although this would prove
vital in expanding his talents,
396
00:18:43,613 --> 00:18:46,202
here Lennon was an outsider.
397
00:18:46,243 --> 00:18:48,787
- I first met John Lennon
at the College of Art.
398
00:18:48,829 --> 00:18:51,998
I was sitting down
in the canteen.
399
00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,377
Suddenly I noticed
this guy walk past.
400
00:18:55,418 --> 00:18:59,005
And I thought, what's
he dressed up like?
401
00:18:59,047 --> 00:19:01,883
He was dressed almost
like a teddy boy,
402
00:19:01,924 --> 00:19:05,511
in a completely
unconventional type of dress
403
00:19:05,553 --> 00:19:07,346
compared to all
the other students.
404
00:19:07,388 --> 00:19:10,517
I looked round and everyone
was wearing duffle coats
405
00:19:10,559 --> 00:19:12,060
and turtleneck sweaters.
406
00:19:12,101 --> 00:19:14,605
I thought, oh, they're
all wearing the same,
407
00:19:14,646 --> 00:19:16,398
they're all conventional.
408
00:19:16,439 --> 00:19:19,025
He's the rebel.
He's the one who's different.
409
00:19:19,067 --> 00:19:20,276
I must get to know him.
410
00:19:25,491 --> 00:19:28,619
- If you were in art
school in the 1950s
411
00:19:28,661 --> 00:19:30,330
you would have been exposed
412
00:19:30,372 --> 00:19:33,957
to the intellectual radicalism
and rebellion of figures
413
00:19:33,999 --> 00:19:37,753
like Jack Kerouac and
the Beat generation
414
00:19:37,794 --> 00:19:42,842
who were anti-established
religion, pro self-expression
415
00:19:42,884 --> 00:19:46,178
anti any kind of
Establishment repression.
416
00:19:46,220 --> 00:19:48,722
And the angry young men
of theater,
417
00:19:48,765 --> 00:19:51,059
John Osborne, Arnold Wesker--
418
00:19:51,101 --> 00:19:54,606
these guys were angry,
but they were clever.
419
00:19:54,647 --> 00:19:57,857
They found a way of
directing their anger,
420
00:19:57,899 --> 00:20:00,026
which may well have
been a personal angst,
421
00:20:00,068 --> 00:20:02,987
but when it's directed
to the outside world
422
00:20:03,029 --> 00:20:07,951
it can create a great articulate
voice of a generation,
423
00:20:07,992 --> 00:20:09,703
if you like.
424
00:20:09,745 --> 00:20:12,665
- Nine hundred and fifty-four...
425
00:20:15,628 --> 00:20:17,920
nine hundred
and fifty-bloody-five,
426
00:20:17,962 --> 00:20:21,591
I could get through in half
the time if I went like a bull,
427
00:20:21,633 --> 00:20:24,303
but they'd only slash me wages,
so they can get stuffed.
428
00:20:27,471 --> 00:20:29,642
Don't let the bastards
grind you down,
429
00:20:29,683 --> 00:20:31,601
that's one thing I've learned.
430
00:20:31,643 --> 00:20:35,272
- This sort of influence
would have been very appealing
431
00:20:35,314 --> 00:20:37,231
to someone like John Lennon
432
00:20:37,273 --> 00:20:39,775
who was himself an
angry young man,
433
00:20:39,817 --> 00:20:41,820
for all kinds of
personal reasons.
434
00:20:41,861 --> 00:20:43,488
But if you could be
an angry young man
435
00:20:43,529 --> 00:20:46,993
and thoughtful with it,
then that's very appealing.
436
00:20:47,034 --> 00:20:49,663
- By the summer of 1960,
437
00:20:49,704 --> 00:20:51,164
the school days of John Lennon,
438
00:20:51,205 --> 00:20:53,709
Paul McCartney and George
Harrison were over.
439
00:20:53,750 --> 00:20:55,127
Yet they were quickly thrust
440
00:20:55,169 --> 00:20:57,546
into an education
of another kind.
441
00:20:57,588 --> 00:21:00,965
In August, the band, now
calling itself The Beatles,
442
00:21:01,007 --> 00:21:02,509
headed for a season of shows
443
00:21:02,550 --> 00:21:04,302
in the vibrant
German city Hamburg,
444
00:21:04,344 --> 00:21:06,428
and over the following year
445
00:21:06,470 --> 00:21:08,431
it was here that they
earned their stripes
446
00:21:08,473 --> 00:21:10,142
as a rock and roll band.
447
00:21:10,184 --> 00:21:13,060
Upon their return to
Liverpool in 1961,
448
00:21:13,102 --> 00:21:16,607
they quickly rose to the very
top of the city's music scene.
449
00:21:16,649 --> 00:21:19,025
Yet they were
isolated in the North,
450
00:21:19,066 --> 00:21:21,778
and the rest of the country
paid little attention.
451
00:21:21,820 --> 00:21:25,073
- I started writing to
papers like The Daily Mail
452
00:21:25,115 --> 00:21:27,075
saying what is
happening in Liverpool
453
00:21:27,117 --> 00:21:29,995
is like New Orleans at
the turn of the century,
454
00:21:30,037 --> 00:21:32,540
but with rock and roll
instead of jazz.
455
00:21:32,582 --> 00:21:34,542
Of course, no one
was interested.
456
00:21:34,583 --> 00:21:39,380
So I decided to do it myself
and created Mersey Beat
457
00:21:39,421 --> 00:21:42,591
and of course my friends,
458
00:21:42,633 --> 00:21:45,971
John and the group he
formed, The Beatles,
459
00:21:46,013 --> 00:21:48,138
were the main people
I wrote about.
460
00:21:48,180 --> 00:21:51,519
- With a teenage
audience hungry for information
461
00:21:51,561 --> 00:21:53,603
about this new rock
and roll scene,
462
00:21:53,645 --> 00:21:57,066
Bill Harry's Mersey Beat music
paper proved a huge success
463
00:21:57,107 --> 00:21:58,735
in the North of England.
464
00:21:58,776 --> 00:22:01,278
Celebrating The Beatles
in almost every issue,
465
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,239
it brought them to the attention
of one of its contributors,
466
00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,117
local businessman Brian Epstein.
467
00:22:07,159 --> 00:22:09,619
The manager of a
Liverpool music store,
468
00:22:09,661 --> 00:22:12,666
through Bill Harry, Epstein
arranged to see the band play
469
00:22:12,708 --> 00:22:14,792
at the city's
legendary Cavern Club
470
00:22:14,833 --> 00:22:17,378
and was blown away
by their performance.
471
00:22:17,420 --> 00:22:19,713
He immediately offered
to manage the band
472
00:22:19,755 --> 00:22:24,134
and by January 1962,
a contract was signed.
473
00:22:24,176 --> 00:22:27,846
Wary of the controlling approach
of managers like Larry Parnes,
474
00:22:27,888 --> 00:22:31,059
Epstein was still conscious
of the unwritten rules
475
00:22:31,101 --> 00:22:33,060
of the British
entertainment industry.
476
00:22:33,102 --> 00:22:35,439
If The Beatles were going
to change the world,
477
00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:38,401
they'd first have to
change their look.
478
00:22:38,443 --> 00:22:41,403
- What I think he
had was the instinct
479
00:22:41,445 --> 00:22:45,532
to realize the general
overall pattern
480
00:22:45,574 --> 00:22:48,660
of how things worked
in this country.
481
00:22:48,702 --> 00:22:51,205
They were the savage
young Beatles
482
00:22:51,247 --> 00:22:52,707
dressed in black leather
483
00:22:52,749 --> 00:22:55,961
and playing rock and
roll to prostitutes,
484
00:22:56,001 --> 00:22:58,379
gangsters and all the rest
of it in Hamburg,
485
00:22:58,421 --> 00:23:00,380
taking drugs
and all the rest of it.
486
00:23:00,422 --> 00:23:02,215
They were the savage
young Beatles.
487
00:23:02,257 --> 00:23:04,720
They would never
have been accepted
488
00:23:04,762 --> 00:23:07,889
by the established media.
489
00:23:10,892 --> 00:23:13,853
- And The Beatles'
breakthrough in early 1963
490
00:23:13,894 --> 00:23:17,692
confirmed that Epstein's
instincts were spot on.
491
00:23:17,734 --> 00:23:21,279
He had successfully smuggled
a unique band of rebels
492
00:23:21,321 --> 00:23:23,322
into the heart of
the mainstream.
493
00:23:23,363 --> 00:23:25,072
Yet unlike the
controlling managers
494
00:23:25,114 --> 00:23:27,409
that dominated the British
entertainment world,
495
00:23:27,451 --> 00:23:30,163
he then simply set them loose.
496
00:23:30,204 --> 00:23:32,206
From the moment they
soared to the top
497
00:23:32,248 --> 00:23:33,958
of the British charts,
498
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,377
the press, radio interviewers
and television presenters
499
00:23:36,419 --> 00:23:38,754
came face to face
with The Beatles,
500
00:23:38,796 --> 00:23:40,839
and these quick-witted,
confident
501
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:42,383
and very modern young men
502
00:23:42,425 --> 00:23:46,262
chose to play the game
by their own rules.
503
00:23:46,304 --> 00:23:48,972
- In the beginning, The
Beatles' behavior with the press
504
00:23:49,014 --> 00:23:51,726
was the most revolutionary
thing about it.
505
00:23:51,768 --> 00:23:53,227
Nobody of their age group,
506
00:23:53,269 --> 00:23:55,897
and to a certain extent,
of their background,
507
00:23:55,938 --> 00:23:58,651
had ever behaved this way
with reporters before.
508
00:23:58,693 --> 00:24:00,862
- Do you know, you
look like Matt Monro?
509
00:24:01,988 --> 00:24:04,114
- Give us "Russia with Love."
510
00:24:04,156 --> 00:24:05,740
- Thanks, boys.
511
00:24:05,782 --> 00:24:08,495
- The Beatles were
just audacious.
512
00:24:08,537 --> 00:24:09,872
When they were
being interviewed,
513
00:24:09,913 --> 00:24:11,581
they kind of turned the tables.
514
00:24:11,623 --> 00:24:14,167
When Adam Faith or someone like
that was interviewed before,
515
00:24:14,209 --> 00:24:18,086
it was very much a master
and servant kind of thing.
516
00:24:18,128 --> 00:24:20,005
- Cliff, what sort
of tour did you have?
517
00:24:20,047 --> 00:24:21,925
- I can honestly say it's been
518
00:24:21,966 --> 00:24:23,885
probably the most pleasurable
one we've had for some time,
519
00:24:23,926 --> 00:24:26,680
mainly because, not
just the audiences,
520
00:24:26,722 --> 00:24:28,807
but because we've
had a few hours off,
521
00:24:28,849 --> 00:24:31,350
we've been swimming
and sunbathing.
522
00:24:31,392 --> 00:24:33,311
- The Beatles just
ripped into that,
523
00:24:33,353 --> 00:24:36,105
and almost ridiculed
the whole thing,
524
00:24:36,147 --> 00:24:38,442
turned the whole thing
into a Marx Brothers farce,
525
00:24:38,484 --> 00:24:40,069
which was fantastic.
526
00:24:40,110 --> 00:24:42,779
- I hear the four of you
are going to be millionaires
527
00:24:42,821 --> 00:24:45,657
by the end of the year.
- Oh, that's nice.
528
00:24:45,699 --> 00:24:50,329
- Have you got time to
actually spend this money?
529
00:24:50,371 --> 00:24:52,790
- What money? He said.
530
00:24:52,832 --> 00:24:55,000
- Doesn't he give any to you?
- No.
531
00:24:55,042 --> 00:24:56,626
- Have you seen that car of his?
532
00:24:58,169 --> 00:25:00,004
- It was very, very
close to the way groups
533
00:25:00,046 --> 00:25:02,842
of male adolescents
interacted with one another
534
00:25:02,884 --> 00:25:04,176
as a matter of course.
535
00:25:04,218 --> 00:25:06,679
This is what teenage boys do.
536
00:25:06,721 --> 00:25:08,515
They try to top one another.
537
00:25:08,557 --> 00:25:11,391
They try to cut one another
down, all this sort of thing.
538
00:25:11,433 --> 00:25:14,981
The Beatles simply had the
nerve to take this thing
539
00:25:15,022 --> 00:25:19,694
and to perform it in front
of microphones and cameras.
540
00:25:19,736 --> 00:25:21,361
- John, we hear there's a rumor
541
00:25:21,403 --> 00:25:22,697
in The News of The Beatles paper
542
00:25:22,739 --> 00:25:24,197
that you might be
leaving the group.
543
00:25:24,239 --> 00:25:26,826
- Rubbish, I'm contracted.
544
00:25:26,868 --> 00:25:28,620
I've been trying to
get out for years.
545
00:25:28,661 --> 00:25:30,538
- You've been
writing some poetry.
546
00:25:30,580 --> 00:25:32,249
- What paper?
547
00:25:32,291 --> 00:25:33,708
- A paper called
The News of The Beatles.
548
00:25:33,750 --> 00:25:34,960
- Never heard of it.
- Do you want to see it?
549
00:25:35,001 --> 00:25:36,419
- No.
- Must be American.
550
00:25:36,461 --> 00:25:38,212
- Part of their success
came from the fact
551
00:25:38,254 --> 00:25:39,798
that they were not plastic.
552
00:25:39,839 --> 00:25:41,090
They were authentic.
553
00:25:41,132 --> 00:25:43,009
They came out of a
fairly tough city.
554
00:25:43,050 --> 00:25:47,179
They were just being themselves
and that was astonishing.
555
00:25:47,221 --> 00:25:50,057
That was new to actually
be yourself, it was new.
556
00:25:50,099 --> 00:25:53,561
- By presenting
themselves genuinely,
557
00:25:53,603 --> 00:25:55,897
The Beatles managed to
highlight the mannered,
558
00:25:55,938 --> 00:25:58,776
stilted exterior of
British cultural life
559
00:25:58,818 --> 00:26:02,194
at a time when it was already
showing signs of weakness.
560
00:26:02,236 --> 00:26:05,532
Polite society's attitude
to all forms of behavior,
561
00:26:05,574 --> 00:26:07,410
in particular sex,
562
00:26:07,452 --> 00:26:09,913
had been prudish and
stuffy for centuries,
563
00:26:09,955 --> 00:26:13,625
but by the early 1960s
things were changing.
564
00:26:13,667 --> 00:26:15,585
At the beginning of the decade
565
00:26:15,627 --> 00:26:17,377
the novel Lady
Chatterley's Lover
566
00:26:17,420 --> 00:26:18,965
was successfully published.
567
00:26:19,007 --> 00:26:22,215
Withheld from the general
public since the late 1920s,
568
00:26:22,257 --> 00:26:25,011
this erotic tale of love
across the class divide
569
00:26:25,052 --> 00:26:27,514
became a phenomenon
upon its release,
570
00:26:27,555 --> 00:26:30,183
quickly selling over
three million copies.
571
00:26:30,224 --> 00:26:32,978
At the same time,
a scandal erupted
572
00:26:33,020 --> 00:26:35,229
at the very heart of the
British Establishment,
573
00:26:35,271 --> 00:26:37,439
with the exposure
of an illicit affair
574
00:26:37,481 --> 00:26:42,279
between politician John Profumo
and a 19-year-old model.
575
00:26:42,321 --> 00:26:44,699
The uptight sexual
attitudes of the British
576
00:26:44,740 --> 00:26:46,868
were being confronted in public.
577
00:26:46,909 --> 00:26:49,537
And then Beatlemania happened.
578
00:26:49,578 --> 00:26:53,500
By the summer of 1963, the
band's overwhelming effect
579
00:26:53,542 --> 00:26:57,295
on teenage girls was becoming
a nationwide epidemic.
580
00:26:57,337 --> 00:26:59,673
Their critics warned
that the Liverpudlians
581
00:26:59,715 --> 00:27:01,924
had unleashed a wave
of sexual frenzy
582
00:27:01,966 --> 00:27:03,634
in their female audience.
583
00:27:03,676 --> 00:27:06,260
Yet the liberation that The
Beatles offered these girls
584
00:27:06,302 --> 00:27:09,849
was more complicated
than it first appeared.
585
00:27:09,891 --> 00:27:11,975
- What everybody
wanted to think,
586
00:27:12,017 --> 00:27:13,812
and also didn't want to think,
587
00:27:13,854 --> 00:27:16,648
was this was somehow
all about eroticism,
588
00:27:16,690 --> 00:27:18,441
this was all about sex,
589
00:27:18,483 --> 00:27:20,569
and that what was going on here
590
00:27:20,610 --> 00:27:23,991
was that these young women
were having something
591
00:27:24,033 --> 00:27:27,077
that looked like it
simulated a sexual experience
592
00:27:27,118 --> 00:27:31,122
in response to the sight
and sound of The Beatles.
593
00:27:31,163 --> 00:27:33,918
Therefore, it was always
talked and written about
594
00:27:33,959 --> 00:27:36,754
in the Freudian
terms of hysteria,
595
00:27:36,795 --> 00:27:39,882
which of course is
a sexually charged term also.
596
00:27:39,924 --> 00:27:42,800
Were these girls orgasmic?
Was this orgasmic?
597
00:27:42,842 --> 00:27:44,635
That's not what was going on.
598
00:27:44,677 --> 00:27:47,512
- With rock
and roll in the 1950s,
599
00:27:47,554 --> 00:27:51,435
that was a catalyst
for a lot of young men
600
00:27:51,476 --> 00:27:57,231
finding a reason to be
something other than a version
601
00:27:57,273 --> 00:28:00,735
of their dad when they
became adolescents.
602
00:28:00,777 --> 00:28:03,864
It wasn't necessarily
fabulously articulate
603
00:28:03,906 --> 00:28:07,118
to dress as a teddy boy and
be a bit rowdy on the street,
604
00:28:07,159 --> 00:28:10,662
but at least it was
finding an identity.
605
00:28:10,704 --> 00:28:12,748
I think for a young female,
606
00:28:12,790 --> 00:28:14,459
it wasn't quite as
straightforward.
607
00:28:14,500 --> 00:28:16,377
Something like Beatlemania,
608
00:28:16,419 --> 00:28:18,590
the screaming that
surrounded The Beatles,
609
00:28:18,632 --> 00:28:20,633
it's quite tempting
to interpret it
610
00:28:20,674 --> 00:28:23,761
as a sort of howl of frustration
611
00:28:23,803 --> 00:28:26,887
as they try and find
their own identity,
612
00:28:26,929 --> 00:28:29,100
and it's as
inarticulate, in a way,
613
00:28:29,142 --> 00:28:31,393
as teddy boys
rampaging in cinemas.
614
00:28:31,435 --> 00:28:33,226
- Do you deliberately try
615
00:28:33,268 --> 00:28:35,313
and create this
screaming reaction?
616
00:28:35,354 --> 00:28:38,024
- No, we just arrive
at the theater,
617
00:28:38,066 --> 00:28:40,234
and they're always
there waiting.
618
00:28:40,276 --> 00:28:43,238
Whenever we're doing a show,
the police always come and say,
619
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:45,907
"Don't look out the window,
'cause you excite them."
620
00:28:47,617 --> 00:28:50,663
- These girls were
controlling public space,
621
00:28:50,704 --> 00:28:53,624
and nobody could do
anything about it.
622
00:28:53,666 --> 00:28:56,837
It's a perfect example of what
we would call bad behavior.
623
00:28:56,878 --> 00:28:59,422
Screaming, yelling,
weeping in public.
624
00:28:59,464 --> 00:29:01,841
This is bad behavior
in one way or another.
625
00:29:01,882 --> 00:29:04,635
Yet, it was sanctioned,
not by the authorities,
626
00:29:04,677 --> 00:29:06,179
but by The Beatles themselves.
627
00:29:06,220 --> 00:29:09,891
- The Beatles
phenomenon was unstoppable.
628
00:29:09,933 --> 00:29:12,853
At the end of August,
the single She Loves You
629
00:29:12,894 --> 00:29:14,436
became the fastest
selling record
630
00:29:14,478 --> 00:29:17,064
that had ever been
released in the UK.
631
00:29:17,106 --> 00:29:19,692
In less than a year, the
band's success outstripped
632
00:29:19,733 --> 00:29:22,197
that of any artist
who had preceded them.
633
00:29:22,238 --> 00:29:24,700
And the final stage in
their conquest of Britain
634
00:29:24,741 --> 00:29:27,575
came on November 4th, 1963,
635
00:29:27,617 --> 00:29:30,205
when for the first time The
Beatles came face to face
636
00:29:30,246 --> 00:29:32,791
with the highest order
of the Establishment,
637
00:29:32,833 --> 00:29:34,669
the royal family.
638
00:29:34,711 --> 00:29:37,171
The occasion unleashed
the rock and roll rebel
639
00:29:37,213 --> 00:29:39,883
in John Lennon, who saw
in the night's performance
640
00:29:39,924 --> 00:29:43,342
an opportunity too
good to pass up.
641
00:29:43,384 --> 00:29:45,594
- John, In this Royal Variety Show,
642
00:29:45,636 --> 00:29:47,264
when you're appearing
before royalty,
643
00:29:47,305 --> 00:29:49,766
your language has got to be
pretty good, obviously.
644
00:29:49,808 --> 00:29:51,185
This thing about
Ted Heath saying
645
00:29:51,227 --> 00:29:53,561
that he couldn't distinguish--
646
00:29:53,602 --> 00:29:55,688
- I can't understand that.
- The Queen's English...
647
00:29:55,730 --> 00:29:58,315
- I can't understand Teddy
saying that at all, really.
648
00:29:59,860 --> 00:30:01,945
I'm not going to vote for Ted.
649
00:30:01,987 --> 00:30:04,156
- But you're not going
650
00:30:04,198 --> 00:30:06,366
to change your act,
just for the--
651
00:30:06,408 --> 00:30:09,870
- Ah no, like, we'll keep the
same kind of thing, won't we?
652
00:30:09,912 --> 00:30:11,997
- Oh aye, yes.
- Yeah, that's right.
653
00:30:12,039 --> 00:30:16,962
- Lennon always had an
ambivalent relationship with how
654
00:30:17,004 --> 00:30:21,966
the Entertainment Establishment
were cozying up to The Beatles.
655
00:30:22,008 --> 00:30:23,466
On the one hand,
656
00:30:23,508 --> 00:30:26,137
the professional in
him loved the fact
657
00:30:26,179 --> 00:30:28,973
that they were being
fantastically successful.
658
00:30:29,015 --> 00:30:32,770
But the rebel in him
found it all hard to take.
659
00:30:32,811 --> 00:30:36,606
So on the occasion of the
Royal Command Performance,
660
00:30:36,647 --> 00:30:40,861
he teased Brian
Epstein by suggesting
661
00:30:40,903 --> 00:30:44,615
that he was going to go up and
swear in front of the Queen.
662
00:30:44,656 --> 00:30:48,701
But in the end, his
professionalism won out.
663
00:30:48,743 --> 00:30:51,497
He managed to create a
little bit of subversion,
664
00:30:51,539 --> 00:30:54,583
but it was very carefully
thought through.
665
00:30:56,253 --> 00:30:57,836
- Thank you.
666
00:30:57,878 --> 00:31:01,758
For our last number, I'd
like to ask your help.
667
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:05,346
Would the people in the
cheaper seats clap your hands?
668
00:31:07,013 --> 00:31:09,224
And the rest of you, if you
just rattle your jewelry.
669
00:31:12,060 --> 00:31:14,979
- And this is like a moment
of insurrection, it felt like.
670
00:31:15,020 --> 00:31:19,276
But the thing is it wasn't
quite as radical perhaps
671
00:31:19,318 --> 00:31:21,694
because you look at Lennon's
face after he says it
672
00:31:21,736 --> 00:31:27,075
and he looks as if he's
just admitted to his mum
673
00:31:27,117 --> 00:31:29,661
that he's messed himself,
or something like that!
674
00:31:29,702 --> 00:31:31,748
It was something
really humble pie.
675
00:31:31,790 --> 00:31:33,540
He felt quite sheepish.
676
00:31:33,582 --> 00:31:35,752
But no one else but John
Lennon would come out
677
00:31:35,794 --> 00:31:38,005
and even have the
gall to say that.
678
00:31:38,046 --> 00:31:40,924
What may have seemed
a kind of revolutionary,
679
00:31:40,966 --> 00:31:45,220
insurrectionary moment by
saying, rattle your jewelry,
680
00:31:45,262 --> 00:31:47,889
in a really class driven moment,
681
00:31:47,931 --> 00:31:50,558
was actually punctured
by this sense
682
00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:52,686
that The Beatles were nice boys
683
00:31:52,727 --> 00:31:56,106
and they can get
away with anything.
684
00:31:56,148 --> 00:31:58,233
- With the youth
of Britain in their thrall,
685
00:31:58,275 --> 00:32:00,653
The Beatles headed out
to new territories,
686
00:32:00,695 --> 00:32:03,113
traveling to Scandinavia
at the close of the year
687
00:32:03,155 --> 00:32:04,781
and then on to France.
688
00:32:07,784 --> 00:32:10,078
The domestic pop scene
that they left behind
689
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:12,415
had been transformed
by their success,
690
00:32:12,456 --> 00:32:15,167
and from Liverpudlian acts
like Gerry and the Pacemakers
691
00:32:15,209 --> 00:32:17,212
to London's The Rolling Stones,
692
00:32:17,253 --> 00:32:20,381
new groups were emerging
on an almost weekly basis
693
00:32:20,422 --> 00:32:23,634
to battle it out in the
clubs and on the charts.
694
00:32:23,676 --> 00:32:25,677
The Beatles were
moving on, however,
695
00:32:25,719 --> 00:32:28,390
with manager Brian
Epstein's sights set firmly
696
00:32:28,431 --> 00:32:32,476
on the largest territory
of all: America.
697
00:32:32,518 --> 00:32:34,396
- Looking forward to this American trip,
698
00:32:34,437 --> 00:32:35,899
have you had any
reaction over there?
699
00:32:35,940 --> 00:32:37,233
Have you got any
fan clubs going?
700
00:32:37,274 --> 00:32:38,734
- There's one
supposedly started.
701
00:32:38,775 --> 00:32:42,363
They're getting quite
a good response.
702
00:32:42,405 --> 00:32:44,198
12,000 letters a day.
703
00:32:46,284 --> 00:32:48,453
- But The Beatle movement's
going over there?
704
00:32:48,494 --> 00:32:51,539
- Yeah, it can even be
a Beatle booster, folks.
705
00:32:51,581 --> 00:32:54,458
- I must tell you, by the
way, that Detroit University
706
00:32:54,499 --> 00:32:56,336
have got a Stamp out
The Beatles movement.
707
00:32:56,378 --> 00:32:57,754
- Oh yeah?
- Ah, no.
708
00:32:57,795 --> 00:32:59,423
- We're going to
stamp out Detroit.
709
00:32:59,464 --> 00:33:03,218
- They think your
haircuts are un-American.
710
00:33:03,260 --> 00:33:04,928
- Well, that's very
observant of them
711
00:33:04,969 --> 00:33:07,013
because we aren't
American actually.
712
00:33:07,055 --> 00:33:10,475
- There was always a thing
of, what happens next?
713
00:33:10,516 --> 00:33:14,021
Is The Beatles' bubble
is going to burst?
714
00:33:15,564 --> 00:33:17,399
But it never did.
715
00:33:17,441 --> 00:33:19,484
It just kept going on.
716
00:33:19,525 --> 00:33:21,069
- If Britain was suffering
717
00:33:21,111 --> 00:33:23,154
a particularly harsh
winter when The Beatles
718
00:33:23,196 --> 00:33:26,659
had first set the charts
alight in early 1963,
719
00:33:26,701 --> 00:33:28,786
when their single I
Want to Hold Your Hand
720
00:33:28,827 --> 00:33:30,870
reached America
the following year,
721
00:33:30,912 --> 00:33:34,749
it entered a nation grappling
with far greater misfortunes.
722
00:33:34,791 --> 00:33:36,877
Having emerged from
the Second World War
723
00:33:36,919 --> 00:33:39,255
as one of the world's
two superpowers,
724
00:33:39,297 --> 00:33:41,300
the following decade
had been dominated
725
00:33:41,341 --> 00:33:43,385
by the country's
hostile relationship
726
00:33:43,427 --> 00:33:44,803
with the Soviet Union
727
00:33:44,844 --> 00:33:47,847
and the threat of
a full blown nuclear war.
728
00:33:47,889 --> 00:33:49,807
But Americans
themselves were enjoying
729
00:33:49,848 --> 00:33:51,768
the fruits of
a flourishing economy,
730
00:33:51,810 --> 00:33:53,980
a strong consumer
culture had developed
731
00:33:54,021 --> 00:33:56,691
and domestic confidence
was running high.
732
00:33:56,733 --> 00:34:01,236
In 1960, President John
F. Kennedy came to office,
733
00:34:01,278 --> 00:34:03,530
a young, charismatic politician
734
00:34:03,571 --> 00:34:05,408
who embodied this new confidence
735
00:34:05,450 --> 00:34:08,329
and who promised a bright
and optimistic future.
736
00:34:08,370 --> 00:34:12,540
- My fellow citizens
of the world,
737
00:34:12,581 --> 00:34:17,086
ask not what America
will do for you,
738
00:34:17,128 --> 00:34:21,757
but what together we can
do for the freedom of man.
739
00:34:21,799 --> 00:34:26,803
- Three years
later, in November 1963,
740
00:34:26,845 --> 00:34:30,849
his assassination shook
the country to its core.
741
00:34:30,890 --> 00:34:34,020
- There was this injection
of energy into American life
742
00:34:34,061 --> 00:34:35,563
that he represented.
743
00:34:35,604 --> 00:34:37,441
He was young, he was handsome.
744
00:34:37,483 --> 00:34:41,610
It represented such a marked
change from Dwight Eisenhower.
745
00:34:41,652 --> 00:34:45,116
Eisenhower was a carry-over
from World War II.
746
00:34:45,158 --> 00:34:46,993
Obviously, he was a war hero.
747
00:34:47,035 --> 00:34:52,123
He was an extension of that
generation into modern America.
748
00:34:52,165 --> 00:34:54,792
But John Kennedy
was modern America.
749
00:34:54,834 --> 00:34:58,005
All of the optimism
and youthfulness.
750
00:34:58,047 --> 00:34:59,673
The baby boom was going on.
751
00:34:59,715 --> 00:35:02,968
You know, it was kind of
epitomized by John Kennedy.
752
00:35:03,010 --> 00:35:07,472
And the Kennedy
assassination just,
753
00:35:07,514 --> 00:35:09,265
it just ended that.
754
00:35:09,307 --> 00:35:13,145
The Beatles
represented, also, youth,
755
00:35:13,186 --> 00:35:18,149
just as John Kennedy did,
and wit and intelligence.
756
00:35:18,191 --> 00:35:19,650
Certainly, for young people
757
00:35:19,692 --> 00:35:21,986
it turned things
around immediately.
758
00:35:22,028 --> 00:35:24,990
The Beatles just lit America up.
759
00:35:25,032 --> 00:35:27,368
- I'm sure it could have
been something else.
760
00:35:27,410 --> 00:35:32,205
I'm sure that some other joyful
manifestation of something
761
00:35:32,247 --> 00:35:35,959
could have occurred, but
what occurred was a song.
762
00:35:36,001 --> 00:35:38,463
And it's really
important to realize
763
00:35:38,505 --> 00:35:41,341
in Britain,
The Beatles' personalities,
764
00:35:41,383 --> 00:35:44,094
their repartee, their
whole public performance
765
00:35:44,135 --> 00:35:48,055
was a critical part of the
way they came to the attention
766
00:35:48,097 --> 00:35:49,182
of the British public.
767
00:35:49,224 --> 00:35:51,435
In America, it was a song.
768
00:35:51,476 --> 00:35:56,189
♪ Oh yeah I tell you somethin'
769
00:35:56,231 --> 00:35:59,109
♪ I think you'll understand
770
00:35:59,150 --> 00:36:03,616
♪ When I say that somethin'
771
00:36:03,657 --> 00:36:07,034
♪ I want to hold your hand ♪
772
00:36:07,076 --> 00:36:09,871
- It was the perfect vehicle
773
00:36:09,913 --> 00:36:15,461
to come into this traumatized
national atmosphere.
774
00:36:15,502 --> 00:36:17,420
What is the dominant
quality of the sound
775
00:36:17,462 --> 00:36:19,714
of John Lennon and Paul
McCartney signing together?
776
00:36:19,756 --> 00:36:21,758
Joy, joy in performance,
777
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:23,969
joy in listening to
one another's voices,
778
00:36:24,010 --> 00:36:28,266
joy in whatever kind of
reinforcement is going on here.
779
00:36:28,308 --> 00:36:31,892
That's painting with
really broad strokes.
780
00:36:31,934 --> 00:36:33,520
There's nothing
subtle about that.
781
00:36:33,562 --> 00:36:35,771
- There is no
question The Beatles
782
00:36:35,813 --> 00:36:37,356
changed everything immediately.
783
00:36:37,398 --> 00:36:41,025
I Want to Hold Your Hand
made a gigantic impact.
784
00:36:41,067 --> 00:36:43,489
Then of course the
flood gates opened,
785
00:36:43,530 --> 00:36:47,326
not only with one great
Beatles' song after another,
786
00:36:47,367 --> 00:36:49,370
but the British Invasion.
787
00:36:49,412 --> 00:36:51,789
I mean, The Beatles just
knocked the door down.
788
00:36:51,831 --> 00:36:54,502
- What The Beatles had done to Britain
789
00:36:54,543 --> 00:36:57,004
they were now doing to America.
790
00:36:57,045 --> 00:37:00,466
Released at the close of
1963, within two months
791
00:37:00,508 --> 00:37:03,594
I Want to Hold Your Hand had
sold more than a million copies
792
00:37:03,636 --> 00:37:07,055
and became the band's first
number one single in the US.
793
00:37:07,097 --> 00:37:09,266
A week after they
topped the charts,
794
00:37:09,308 --> 00:37:12,185
John, Paul, George and
Ringo crossed the Atlantic
795
00:37:12,226 --> 00:37:13,895
and arrived in New York City
796
00:37:13,937 --> 00:37:17,148
to greet a new set of
screaming teenage fans.
797
00:37:17,190 --> 00:37:19,484
They were also met by
members of the press
798
00:37:19,526 --> 00:37:21,944
keen to understand this
foreign phenomenon,
799
00:37:21,986 --> 00:37:23,572
and the group introduced them
800
00:37:23,614 --> 00:37:26,116
to their unique brand
of informal humor,
801
00:37:26,158 --> 00:37:29,204
as rare in America as
it had been in Britain.
802
00:37:29,245 --> 00:37:30,830
- There's no question
803
00:37:30,872 --> 00:37:33,165
that the way they dealt
with the press was original.
804
00:37:33,207 --> 00:37:36,961
It was quite clear that they
were not like anything else.
805
00:37:37,003 --> 00:37:40,965
How smart they really
were, how funny they were!
806
00:37:41,007 --> 00:37:43,051
John and Paul in particular
807
00:37:43,092 --> 00:37:48,264
were extremely intelligent,
articulate, original people.
808
00:37:48,306 --> 00:37:52,809
And George was also
a very droll guy.
809
00:37:52,851 --> 00:37:56,104
And Ringo was sort
of a natural clown.
810
00:37:56,146 --> 00:38:00,361
Who was just that quick,
that smart,
811
00:38:00,403 --> 00:38:03,363
who was a pop star?
812
00:38:04,490 --> 00:38:07,076
I must be forgetting somebody,
813
00:38:07,117 --> 00:38:10,246
but damned if I can
think of who it would be.
814
00:38:10,287 --> 00:38:13,375
- Do you think of your records
as funny records or as music?
815
00:38:13,417 --> 00:38:17,504
- No, we think that
it's rather peculiar.
816
00:38:17,546 --> 00:38:19,464
- Do you feel they're musical?
817
00:38:19,506 --> 00:38:22,133
- Obviously they're musical,
because it's music, isn't it?
818
00:38:22,175 --> 00:38:23,510
Instruments make music.
819
00:38:23,552 --> 00:38:25,304
It's a record.
- It's musical.
820
00:38:25,346 --> 00:38:29,099
You know: ♪ Bom ♪
It's music, isn't it?
821
00:38:29,141 --> 00:38:31,769
- ♪ Bom ♪
That's music too.
822
00:38:31,810 --> 00:38:34,061
- He's good.
He knows music.
823
00:38:34,103 --> 00:38:35,980
- All right, but
what do you call it?
824
00:38:36,022 --> 00:38:37,690
Do you call it rock and roll?
825
00:38:37,732 --> 00:38:39,694
- We try not to define it.
826
00:38:39,736 --> 00:38:43,404
We've got so many wrong
classifications of it.
827
00:38:43,446 --> 00:38:47,284
It's no use, we
just call it music.
828
00:38:47,325 --> 00:38:49,076
Even if you don't.
829
00:38:49,118 --> 00:38:51,330
- With a question mark?
- Pardon?
830
00:38:51,372 --> 00:38:53,332
- With a question mark?
- No.
831
00:38:53,374 --> 00:38:55,543
With an exclamation mark.
832
00:38:55,585 --> 00:38:59,589
- The underlying message
of The Beatles' wit
833
00:38:59,631 --> 00:39:03,427
in their press conferences
was about a youth movement
834
00:39:03,469 --> 00:39:09,810
that wasn't going to be
determined by old people.
835
00:39:09,851 --> 00:39:12,269
From the point of
The Beatles' arrival,
836
00:39:12,311 --> 00:39:15,522
they completely reinvented
how culture works.
837
00:39:15,564 --> 00:39:20,111
Before that everything--
fashion, movies, music--
838
00:39:20,153 --> 00:39:21,903
it all was top down.
839
00:39:21,945 --> 00:39:24,238
It all was what grown-ups liked,
840
00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:26,408
and then it filtered
down to the kids.
841
00:39:26,450 --> 00:39:29,619
After a year or two,
suddenly it was young people
842
00:39:29,662 --> 00:39:31,247
who were determining everything.
843
00:39:31,289 --> 00:39:33,291
That started with The Beatles.
844
00:39:33,333 --> 00:39:36,418
- Having broken
all previous sales records
845
00:39:36,460 --> 00:39:38,170
in Britain the year beforehand,
846
00:39:38,211 --> 00:39:42,802
by April 1964, the band made
Billboard Hot 100 history
847
00:39:42,844 --> 00:39:45,013
by becoming the only act ever
848
00:39:45,054 --> 00:39:48,222
to occupy the first five
positions on the chart.
849
00:39:48,264 --> 00:39:51,727
The Four Mop-Tops were now
revolutionizing popular music
850
00:39:51,769 --> 00:39:53,393
in America too,
851
00:39:53,435 --> 00:39:57,149
and Beatlemania spread like
wildfire throughout the country.
852
00:39:57,191 --> 00:39:58,692
And then, in July,
853
00:39:58,733 --> 00:40:00,862
following the time-honored
career trajectory
854
00:40:00,903 --> 00:40:03,363
of all post-war
popular entertainers,
855
00:40:03,403 --> 00:40:06,282
the band starred in their
first full-length feature film.
856
00:40:06,324 --> 00:40:09,328
Yet A Hard Day's Night
was, unsurprisingly,
857
00:40:09,370 --> 00:40:12,374
unlike anything that
had preceded it.
858
00:40:12,415 --> 00:40:16,084
♪ It's been a hard day's night
859
00:40:16,126 --> 00:40:19,630
♪ And I been working
like a dog
860
00:40:19,672 --> 00:40:23,803
♪ It's been a hard day's
night... ♪
861
00:40:23,845 --> 00:40:27,097
- Music movies before
A Hard Day's Night
862
00:40:27,139 --> 00:40:28,932
were profit-making ventures
863
00:40:28,973 --> 00:40:32,853
intended exclusively
for the teen audience
864
00:40:32,895 --> 00:40:36,190
of whatever artist
happened to be in now.
865
00:40:36,232 --> 00:40:38,859
A Hard Day's Night
just flipped that.
866
00:40:38,901 --> 00:40:44,697
They took what was a toss-off
form, the rock movie,
867
00:40:44,739 --> 00:40:46,491
and made it something great.
868
00:40:46,533 --> 00:40:49,119
- Directed by American Richard Lester,
869
00:40:49,161 --> 00:40:51,789
the film created an
entirely new language
870
00:40:51,831 --> 00:40:54,166
for rock and roll cinema.
871
00:40:54,208 --> 00:40:56,585
Previously, musicians had
all made their transition
872
00:40:56,626 --> 00:40:59,045
to the big screen playing
fictional characters
873
00:40:59,087 --> 00:41:00,883
created by screenwriters.
874
00:41:00,925 --> 00:41:03,133
In A Hard Day's Night, however,
875
00:41:03,175 --> 00:41:05,722
The Beatles played
themselves in a comedy
876
00:41:05,764 --> 00:41:08,557
inspired by their own
experiences of fame.
877
00:41:08,599 --> 00:41:11,560
It was both a commercial
and a critical phenomenon.
878
00:41:11,602 --> 00:41:15,982
- They're playing themselves
in a fictional film.
879
00:41:16,023 --> 00:41:18,150
That didn't happen.
880
00:41:18,192 --> 00:41:23,280
So much of what happened in
the early career of The Beatles
881
00:41:23,321 --> 00:41:25,114
hadn't really happened before.
882
00:41:25,155 --> 00:41:27,243
They were breaking through
on so many different levels.
883
00:41:27,285 --> 00:41:30,288
- Tell me, how did
you find America?
884
00:41:30,329 --> 00:41:31,748
- Turn left at Greenland.
885
00:41:31,790 --> 00:41:34,834
- Has success changed your life?
- Yes.
886
00:41:34,876 --> 00:41:36,668
- I'd like to keep Britain tidy.
887
00:41:36,710 --> 00:41:38,712
- Are you a mod or a rocker?
888
00:41:38,754 --> 00:41:40,715
- No, I'm a mocker.
889
00:41:42,341 --> 00:41:44,135
- Have you any hobbies?
890
00:41:50,057 --> 00:41:53,521
- As I see it, it's
really A Hard Day's Night
891
00:41:53,563 --> 00:41:59,818
that establishes them as
something completely new
892
00:41:59,859 --> 00:42:04,739
and interesting beyond
your wildest imaginings.
893
00:42:04,781 --> 00:42:07,326
- I don't snore.
- You do, repeatedly.
894
00:42:07,367 --> 00:42:08,744
- Do I snore, John?
895
00:42:08,786 --> 00:42:11,288
- Yeah, you're
a window rattler, son.
896
00:42:11,330 --> 00:42:14,000
- That's just your opinion.
Do I snore, Paul?
897
00:42:14,041 --> 00:42:15,542
- With a trombone
hooter like yours
898
00:42:15,584 --> 00:42:17,043
it would be unnatural
if you didn't.
899
00:42:17,084 --> 00:42:19,673
- No, Paulie, don't
mock the afflicted.
900
00:42:19,714 --> 00:42:21,383
- Ah, come off it.
It's only a joke.
901
00:42:21,425 --> 00:42:23,802
- It may be a joke,
but it's his nose.
902
00:42:23,844 --> 00:42:27,264
He can't help having
a hideous great hooter,
903
00:42:27,306 --> 00:42:28,849
and a poor little head
904
00:42:28,890 --> 00:42:30,474
trembling under
the weight of it.
905
00:42:30,516 --> 00:42:32,395
- This was not the
rock and roll movie
906
00:42:32,437 --> 00:42:34,730
that you were expecting
to see, not at all.
907
00:42:34,772 --> 00:42:37,441
And although their wit,
908
00:42:37,483 --> 00:42:40,610
it had been clear
they were always funny
909
00:42:40,652 --> 00:42:44,155
on the microphone,
its irreverence
910
00:42:44,197 --> 00:42:47,076
and its irreverence
about themselves
911
00:42:47,117 --> 00:42:50,454
was just completely
unprecedented.
912
00:42:50,496 --> 00:42:54,458
And, of course, it just made
them seem even more godlike.
913
00:42:54,500 --> 00:42:56,418
- And while The Beatles
914
00:42:56,460 --> 00:43:00,172
embarked on a substantial US
tour in the summer of '64,
915
00:43:00,214 --> 00:43:02,133
back in Britain
the whole country
916
00:43:02,175 --> 00:43:03,843
was evolving in their wake.
917
00:43:03,885 --> 00:43:06,428
Following the sex scandals
of the previous year,
918
00:43:06,470 --> 00:43:08,932
the nation had turned
against the Establishment
919
00:43:08,974 --> 00:43:10,850
and voted in the
Labor government
920
00:43:10,892 --> 00:43:13,395
of new Prime Minister
Harold Wilson,
921
00:43:13,436 --> 00:43:15,647
a man who seemed to
represent the voice
922
00:43:15,689 --> 00:43:18,650
of a younger, more
progressive United Kingdom.
923
00:43:18,692 --> 00:43:21,110
- Harold Wilson actually became
leader of the Labor party
924
00:43:21,151 --> 00:43:23,741
around the same time that
The Beatles were having
925
00:43:23,782 --> 00:43:25,992
the first stirrings
of huge success.
926
00:43:26,034 --> 00:43:28,285
He was northern.
Let's not forget that.
927
00:43:28,327 --> 00:43:32,165
So this was again part of
this big northern powerhouse.
928
00:43:32,207 --> 00:43:34,458
You had The Beatles on
the popular culture sense,
929
00:43:34,500 --> 00:43:38,379
and then you had Harold Wilson
who was reflecting modernity
930
00:43:38,421 --> 00:43:40,423
in the political sense.
931
00:43:40,464 --> 00:43:42,801
We're thrusting
into a new world.
932
00:43:42,843 --> 00:43:45,177
We were behind
Europe in the '50s.
933
00:43:45,219 --> 00:43:46,429
The Tories had let us down.
934
00:43:46,470 --> 00:43:48,348
He wanted to:
Let's get modern.
935
00:43:48,390 --> 00:43:50,308
Like the Italians, like the
French, like the Germans,
936
00:43:50,350 --> 00:43:52,060
let's get working
937
00:43:52,103 --> 00:43:55,188
and let's make everyone enjoy
the fruits of the success.
938
00:44:01,527 --> 00:44:03,239
- And central to this new,
939
00:44:03,281 --> 00:44:05,783
progressive Britain
was its youth.
940
00:44:05,824 --> 00:44:08,035
The staggering
international success
941
00:44:08,077 --> 00:44:09,578
of the homegrown pop scene
942
00:44:09,620 --> 00:44:11,705
had injected the younger
generation with confidence,
943
00:44:11,747 --> 00:44:15,292
and, boosted by the
country's growing prosperity,
944
00:44:15,333 --> 00:44:18,255
a new consumer culture emerged.
945
00:44:18,297 --> 00:44:20,965
Fresh from the breeding
grounds of the art colleges,
946
00:44:21,006 --> 00:44:22,717
the modern ideas
947
00:44:22,759 --> 00:44:25,260
of Britain's budding
designers were unleashed.
948
00:44:25,302 --> 00:44:27,305
This was nowhere more
apparent than in fashion,
949
00:44:27,346 --> 00:44:31,393
and its nerve center in London's
bustling Carnaby Street.
950
00:44:31,435 --> 00:44:34,229
- This was the first time that
young people had enough money
951
00:44:34,271 --> 00:44:37,690
to buy records, to buy clothes,
to have their hair cut.
952
00:44:37,732 --> 00:44:40,819
Out of that almost immediately
came a separate youth market.
953
00:44:40,860 --> 00:44:42,488
Carnaby Street thrived.
954
00:44:42,530 --> 00:44:44,950
Up until that point,
when a girl left school,
955
00:44:44,992 --> 00:44:46,742
she immediately began
dressing like her mother.
956
00:44:46,784 --> 00:44:49,328
whereas someone like Mary Quant
957
00:44:49,369 --> 00:44:51,080
made dresses you could run in,
958
00:44:51,122 --> 00:44:55,293
you could dance in and do
stuff that young people do.
959
00:44:55,335 --> 00:44:57,462
And, of course, that
transformed the whole face
960
00:44:57,504 --> 00:44:58,881
of British fashion.
961
00:44:58,923 --> 00:45:01,632
- Everything felt
modern, new, fresh.
962
00:45:01,674 --> 00:45:04,678
Everywhere you looked the world
started to look different.
963
00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:08,557
The black and white of the
early Beatles and pre-Beatles,
964
00:45:08,599 --> 00:45:10,643
even with The Beatles
all in black and white,
965
00:45:10,685 --> 00:45:12,559
even A Hard Day's Night
was in black and white.
966
00:45:12,601 --> 00:45:16,148
Within a year, the colors
started to really emerge,
967
00:45:16,190 --> 00:45:19,608
the green shoots
of a new culture.
968
00:45:19,650 --> 00:45:22,403
- Although they
had played the central role
969
00:45:22,445 --> 00:45:25,074
in cultivating this
new cultural landscape,
970
00:45:25,116 --> 00:45:29,119
by late 1964, The Beatles
themselves were growing weary
971
00:45:29,161 --> 00:45:31,206
of their Eight Days a Week fame.
972
00:45:31,247 --> 00:45:34,044
In an attempt to escape
from Beatlemania,
973
00:45:34,085 --> 00:45:36,170
both John Lennon
and George Harrison
974
00:45:36,212 --> 00:45:37,838
had moved to rural Surrey,
975
00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:40,007
30 miles from the
center of London,
976
00:45:40,049 --> 00:45:43,093
and Ringo Starr would join
them there the following year.
977
00:45:43,135 --> 00:45:45,387
In December, Beatles For Sale,
978
00:45:45,428 --> 00:45:48,098
the band's fourth studio
album, was released,
979
00:45:48,141 --> 00:45:50,601
and it clearly showed
signs of fatigue.
980
00:45:50,643 --> 00:45:52,269
- You only have to
look at the cover.
981
00:45:52,310 --> 00:45:54,730
These are young men
exhausted really
982
00:45:54,771 --> 00:45:57,191
by a couple of years
of Beatlemania.
983
00:45:57,233 --> 00:45:59,776
It was just obvious that
they were becoming worn out,
984
00:45:59,818 --> 00:46:02,779
and that the incredible
appeal of early fame,
985
00:46:02,821 --> 00:46:05,741
which they just rode that
like a wonderful wave,
986
00:46:05,782 --> 00:46:07,868
and you can see and feel the joy
987
00:46:07,910 --> 00:46:09,786
in the records and
the interviews.
988
00:46:09,828 --> 00:46:15,293
By Beatles for Sale, it's
losing its luster quite quickly.
989
00:46:15,334 --> 00:46:18,547
- Yet the onward
march of youth culture
990
00:46:18,589 --> 00:46:20,714
would soon revive the band.
991
00:46:20,756 --> 00:46:23,593
While the kaleidoscopic
colors of Carnaby Street
992
00:46:23,634 --> 00:46:25,095
were in full bloom,
993
00:46:25,136 --> 00:46:27,471
a more experimental
subculture was developing
994
00:46:27,513 --> 00:46:29,433
in West London, the
leaders of which
995
00:46:29,474 --> 00:46:32,602
would soon cross paths
with The Beatles.
996
00:46:32,643 --> 00:46:36,023
Inspired by avant-garde
literature, art and music,
997
00:46:36,065 --> 00:46:38,902
this loose group of
artists and artisans
998
00:46:38,943 --> 00:46:40,736
lacked a sense of community.
999
00:46:40,778 --> 00:46:44,907
In June 1965, however,
Barry Miles, the manager
1000
00:46:44,949 --> 00:46:47,533
of renowned independent
bookshop Better Books,
1001
00:46:47,575 --> 00:46:51,414
arranged a momentous poetry
event at London's Albert Hall,
1002
00:46:51,456 --> 00:46:53,083
featuring Allen Ginsberg
1003
00:46:53,125 --> 00:46:55,877
and other leading
American Beat writers.
1004
00:46:55,919 --> 00:46:58,004
It was of huge significance,
1005
00:46:58,046 --> 00:47:00,382
uniting the various
creative clans
1006
00:47:00,424 --> 00:47:02,758
of an emerging British
counterculture.
1007
00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:05,972
- The big poetry reading
at the Albert Hall in '65
1008
00:47:06,013 --> 00:47:08,807
and was I think the
first time a constituency
1009
00:47:08,848 --> 00:47:10,476
was seen in London.
1010
00:47:10,517 --> 00:47:12,394
Up until that point the
actors and the poets
1011
00:47:12,436 --> 00:47:15,688
and the filmmakers and the
people who ran boutiques,
1012
00:47:15,730 --> 00:47:17,524
none of them knew each other.
1013
00:47:17,566 --> 00:47:19,110
At this event,
1014
00:47:19,152 --> 00:47:21,194
which was basically
a Beat generation reading
1015
00:47:21,236 --> 00:47:24,365
of Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence
Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso,
1016
00:47:24,406 --> 00:47:25,698
all of these people
came together
1017
00:47:25,740 --> 00:47:28,284
into the Albert Hall,
7,000 people.
1018
00:47:28,326 --> 00:47:30,453
The whole thing
was a giant party,
1019
00:47:30,495 --> 00:47:35,585
really like the first mass
networking session, I suppose.
1020
00:47:35,627 --> 00:47:37,503
- At this pivotal event
1021
00:47:37,544 --> 00:47:38,838
that he had helped organize,
1022
00:47:38,879 --> 00:47:41,842
Miles met John Dunbar,
an artist friendly
1023
00:47:41,883 --> 00:47:44,470
with both Allen Ginsberg
and Gregory Corso
1024
00:47:44,512 --> 00:47:48,890
and who had recently married
young singer Marianne Faithful.
1025
00:47:48,932 --> 00:47:50,685
Together, they
planned a new center
1026
00:47:50,726 --> 00:47:54,271
for underground activities,
the Indica Bookshop and Gallery,
1027
00:47:54,314 --> 00:47:56,607
and this would
bring Miles directly
1028
00:47:56,649 --> 00:47:58,734
into The Beatles' world.
1029
00:47:58,776 --> 00:48:00,819
- We went along
to the Albert Hall
1030
00:48:00,861 --> 00:48:04,323
and a friend called
Paolo Leone went,
1031
00:48:04,365 --> 00:48:06,408
"Oh, you should meet this guy."
1032
00:48:06,449 --> 00:48:09,161
Miles worked at Better
Books at that point.
1033
00:48:09,203 --> 00:48:11,579
So we got chatting.
1034
00:48:11,621 --> 00:48:14,667
I don't know how many people
it holds, the Albert Hall,
1035
00:48:14,709 --> 00:48:16,835
couple of thousand,
5,000, I don't know.
1036
00:48:16,877 --> 00:48:18,254
Anyway, we kind of thought,
1037
00:48:18,296 --> 00:48:20,465
everybody's paid a quid
to see this,
1038
00:48:20,507 --> 00:48:23,009
so maybe we could do a shop.
1039
00:48:23,051 --> 00:48:25,095
- We decided to combine forces
1040
00:48:25,137 --> 00:48:28,307
and start a bookshop
art gallery combined.
1041
00:48:28,349 --> 00:48:31,560
His best friend was a
guy called Peter Asher
1042
00:48:31,601 --> 00:48:34,021
who at that point was
in Peter and Gordon,
1043
00:48:34,063 --> 00:48:36,273
a little rock and folk duo
1044
00:48:36,315 --> 00:48:38,025
who had number
one hits, in fact,
1045
00:48:38,067 --> 00:48:39,819
in Britain and
America and Japan.
1046
00:48:39,861 --> 00:48:42,404
And so Peter had some money,
so naturally we looked to Peter
1047
00:48:42,445 --> 00:48:44,155
to finance this venture.
1048
00:48:44,197 --> 00:48:46,867
Consequently, we
started a company
1049
00:48:46,909 --> 00:48:49,119
called Miles, Asher
and Dunbar, MAD.
1050
00:48:49,161 --> 00:48:52,164
I got to know Peter, of
course, through this.
1051
00:48:52,206 --> 00:48:54,417
He was living at home
with his parents.
1052
00:48:54,458 --> 00:48:57,087
Also living at home was
his sister Jane Asher.
1053
00:48:57,128 --> 00:48:59,046
Jane was a TV personality.
1054
00:48:59,088 --> 00:49:00,798
She interviewed people.
1055
00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:04,010
She was a child star in films
and did a lot on the radio.
1056
00:49:04,052 --> 00:49:07,181
Also living there was
Jane Asher's boyfriend
1057
00:49:07,223 --> 00:49:08,849
who was Paul McCartney,
1058
00:49:08,891 --> 00:49:10,309
who was living on the top floor
1059
00:49:10,351 --> 00:49:12,811
in a little attic room
next to Peter's room.
1060
00:49:12,853 --> 00:49:14,731
So there was this
extraordinary household
1061
00:49:14,773 --> 00:49:16,565
that I got introduced to.
1062
00:49:16,607 --> 00:49:18,443
And when I was setting
up the bookshop,
1063
00:49:18,484 --> 00:49:20,446
we had all the books
delivered to the basement
1064
00:49:20,487 --> 00:49:22,112
because we hadn't
found any premises yet.
1065
00:49:22,153 --> 00:49:25,616
Obviously, through that I
got to know Paul as well.
1066
00:49:25,657 --> 00:49:28,327
He would come in late at
night, browse through the books
1067
00:49:28,369 --> 00:49:30,204
and just leave me a note
saying what he'd taken.
1068
00:49:30,246 --> 00:49:32,789
So he was my first customer,
in fact, in the bookshop.
1069
00:49:32,830 --> 00:49:34,291
When we did find some premises,
1070
00:49:34,332 --> 00:49:37,253
he helped put up the
shelves and paint the walls,
1071
00:49:37,295 --> 00:49:40,089
so he was very, very involved
with the whole project.
1072
00:49:40,131 --> 00:49:41,633
It was wonderful
to get to know him.
1073
00:49:41,674 --> 00:49:44,176
- While his bandmates had fled London
1074
00:49:44,218 --> 00:49:46,638
in favor of the
quiet suburban life,
1075
00:49:46,679 --> 00:49:49,099
through his contact with
the progressive art world,
1076
00:49:49,141 --> 00:49:53,314
Paul McCartney soon became the
most cultured of The Beatles.
1077
00:49:53,355 --> 00:49:55,483
Where John Lennon had
been married for years
1078
00:49:55,524 --> 00:49:57,191
and was raising a young son,
1079
00:49:57,233 --> 00:49:59,986
George Harrison had moved in
with girlfriend Patti Boyd
1080
00:50:00,027 --> 00:50:02,154
and Ringo Starr was a newlywed,
1081
00:50:02,195 --> 00:50:05,031
McCartney was actively
pursuing fresh sounds
1082
00:50:05,073 --> 00:50:09,287
and fresh concepts, with Miles
as his avant-garde guide.
1083
00:50:09,329 --> 00:50:10,788
- In his own words,
1084
00:50:10,830 --> 00:50:12,790
he used to go round London
with his antenna out.
1085
00:50:12,832 --> 00:50:17,211
One day he would go to
see a John Cage concert
1086
00:50:17,253 --> 00:50:20,507
or Luciano Berio or
some electronic music.
1087
00:50:20,548 --> 00:50:23,010
Then the next day he would
go to see Tessie O'Shea
1088
00:50:23,051 --> 00:50:24,344
at the Talk of the Town,
1089
00:50:24,385 --> 00:50:27,347
or some torch singer
down at The Blue Angel.
1090
00:50:27,388 --> 00:50:29,224
It was all being sucked in.
1091
00:50:29,266 --> 00:50:32,728
- McCartney was very much
the culturally aware Beatle
1092
00:50:32,770 --> 00:50:34,564
about town, while the others
1093
00:50:34,605 --> 00:50:37,566
went into a slightly
cozier existence
1094
00:50:37,607 --> 00:50:39,151
in the stockbroker belt.
1095
00:50:39,193 --> 00:50:40,777
He was still curious,
1096
00:50:40,820 --> 00:50:44,447
he was still hungry
for any stimulation.
1097
00:50:44,489 --> 00:50:47,202
It's around this time,
1965, 1966,
1098
00:50:47,243 --> 00:50:51,913
that McCartney really
begins to drive The Beatles.
1099
00:50:51,955 --> 00:50:56,002
He hung around in
London, being stimulated,
1100
00:50:56,044 --> 00:50:59,589
and bringing all of that
back to The Beatles' table
1101
00:50:59,630 --> 00:51:03,885
and giving them, continuing
to give them an artistic edge.
1102
00:51:03,926 --> 00:51:07,597
- That artistic
edge would prove unmistakable
1103
00:51:07,638 --> 00:51:10,934
when The Beatles headed
to the studio in mid-1965
1104
00:51:10,976 --> 00:51:12,896
to record the album Rubber Soul.
1105
00:51:12,937 --> 00:51:14,731
Across the previous year,
1106
00:51:14,772 --> 00:51:17,774
the wave of bands inspired
by The Beatles' example
1107
00:51:17,816 --> 00:51:20,444
had not only begun to catch
up with the Liverpudlians,
1108
00:51:20,486 --> 00:51:23,405
but in some cases
threatened to overtake them.
1109
00:51:23,446 --> 00:51:25,741
Following Lennon and
McCartney's lead,
1110
00:51:25,782 --> 00:51:27,911
the Rolling Stones had
managed to break America
1111
00:51:27,952 --> 00:51:30,538
and had begun to
write their own hits.
1112
00:51:30,580 --> 00:51:32,873
Folk icon Bob Dylan
had gone electric
1113
00:51:32,915 --> 00:51:35,625
and transformed into the
preeminent poet of rock,
1114
00:51:35,666 --> 00:51:38,963
and new bands were emerging,
from The Who to The Byrds,
1115
00:51:39,005 --> 00:51:42,259
introducing fresh
sounds and perspectives.
1116
00:51:42,300 --> 00:51:45,386
Yet The Beatles were ready
to pave the way once again.
1117
00:51:45,428 --> 00:51:48,138
In pursuit of total
creative control,
1118
00:51:48,180 --> 00:51:51,309
with Rubber Soul, producer
George Martin booked the band
1119
00:51:51,351 --> 00:51:54,146
into Abbey Road Studios
for an entire month,
1120
00:51:54,188 --> 00:51:57,276
turning conventional
recording rules on their head.
1121
00:51:57,317 --> 00:52:00,570
- Before Rubber Soul,
a professional recording day
1122
00:52:00,612 --> 00:52:04,698
was overseen by recording
engineers in white coats.
1123
00:52:04,740 --> 00:52:07,953
And there was three hours in
the morning, a break for lunch,
1124
00:52:07,994 --> 00:52:10,204
and three hours
in the afternoon.
1125
00:52:10,246 --> 00:52:11,414
And that was it.
1126
00:52:11,455 --> 00:52:13,165
That was your recording day.
1127
00:52:13,207 --> 00:52:17,463
When Rubber Soul came along,
they had enough clout to say,
1128
00:52:17,504 --> 00:52:20,173
we want a bit more
flexibility than that.
1129
00:52:20,215 --> 00:52:22,884
We might want to stay on
and record into the night.
1130
00:52:22,926 --> 00:52:27,305
- They invented the idea
of treating a record album
1131
00:52:27,346 --> 00:52:30,183
as if it were a work of art.
1132
00:52:30,225 --> 00:52:33,728
It takes time to do
anything that's worthwhile.
1133
00:52:33,770 --> 00:52:36,022
So you had this new idea,
1134
00:52:36,064 --> 00:52:38,234
the idea of the recording studio
1135
00:52:38,276 --> 00:52:40,152
as compositional laboratory.
1136
00:52:40,193 --> 00:52:42,615
This was this incredible
real revolution,
1137
00:52:42,657 --> 00:52:45,198
not just how to make records,
but how to make music.
1138
00:52:45,240 --> 00:52:48,244
["In My Life" by The Beatles]
1139
00:52:54,166 --> 00:52:58,963
♪ There are places I
remember... ♪
1140
00:52:59,005 --> 00:53:02,048
- Rubber Soul looks like
the moment when pop music
1141
00:53:02,090 --> 00:53:05,220
could become popular art.
1142
00:53:05,262 --> 00:53:10,809
The whole album had a sense of
being an artistic statement.
1143
00:53:10,851 --> 00:53:13,354
Brian Wilson himself
of The Beach Boys said,
1144
00:53:13,395 --> 00:53:14,813
when I heard Rubber Soul
1145
00:53:14,855 --> 00:53:19,817
I knew that's how good
pop records could be.
1146
00:53:19,859 --> 00:53:23,073
They could be a
whole artistic world.
1147
00:53:23,115 --> 00:53:25,032
That's how good Rubber Soul was.
1148
00:53:25,073 --> 00:53:30,746
♪ Is there anybody going
to listen to my story
1149
00:53:30,787 --> 00:53:35,960
♪ All about the girl
who came to stay
1150
00:53:36,002 --> 00:53:37,837
♪ She's the kind of girl
1151
00:53:37,879 --> 00:53:41,550
♪ You want so much
it makes you sorry
1152
00:53:41,591 --> 00:53:46,303
♪ Still you don't
regret a single day
1153
00:53:46,345 --> 00:53:50,183
♪ Ah, girl
1154
00:53:52,143 --> 00:53:54,688
♪ Girl, girl ... ♪
1155
00:53:57,232 --> 00:54:00,235
- John Lennon is suddenly
writing lyrics like:
1156
00:54:00,276 --> 00:54:01,611
"Was she told when she was young
1157
00:54:01,653 --> 00:54:03,072
"that pain would
lead to pleasure?
1158
00:54:03,113 --> 00:54:04,991
"Did she understand
it when they said
1159
00:54:05,033 --> 00:54:07,701
"that a man must break his back
to earn his day of leisure?
1160
00:54:07,744 --> 00:54:10,622
Will she still believe
it when he's dead?"
1161
00:54:10,664 --> 00:54:14,209
And that's in
a song called Girl.
1162
00:54:14,251 --> 00:54:16,960
Those aren't pop song lyrics.
1163
00:54:17,002 --> 00:54:21,883
That gave Rubber Soul just
a very different feel.
1164
00:54:21,925 --> 00:54:24,720
["The Word" by The Beatles]
1165
00:54:24,762 --> 00:54:29,641
♪ Say the word
and you'll be free
1166
00:54:29,683 --> 00:54:33,730
♪ Say the word and be like me
1167
00:54:33,772 --> 00:54:37,691
♪ Say the word I'm thinking of
1168
00:54:37,733 --> 00:54:41,486
♪ Have you heard
the word is love...♪
1169
00:54:41,528 --> 00:54:43,906
- You could hear that they
were actually writing songs
1170
00:54:43,948 --> 00:54:47,158
as artists, not just
as pop performers.
1171
00:54:47,200 --> 00:54:48,994
So you had songs like The Word,
1172
00:54:49,036 --> 00:54:52,081
which is an extraordinary
song for 1965.
1173
00:54:52,123 --> 00:54:54,667
"Say the word and
that word is love."
1174
00:54:54,709 --> 00:54:57,711
This is two years before
the Summer of Love.
1175
00:54:57,753 --> 00:54:58,963
The despair of Beatles for Sale,
1176
00:54:59,004 --> 00:55:01,215
and there they are
now reaching out
1177
00:55:01,257 --> 00:55:03,259
for something that they've
picked up on something else.
1178
00:55:03,301 --> 00:55:05,679
- And just as Rubber Soul
1179
00:55:05,721 --> 00:55:08,557
reestablished the band's
musical superiority,
1180
00:55:08,599 --> 00:55:11,768
the four young Northern radicals
were officially recognized
1181
00:55:11,810 --> 00:55:13,855
by the British Establishment.
1182
00:55:13,896 --> 00:55:15,856
Having already received
the highest accolades
1183
00:55:15,897 --> 00:55:20,028
from the entertainment world,
in October 1965
1184
00:55:20,070 --> 00:55:23,698
they were invited to Buckingham
Palace to meet the Queen.
1185
00:55:23,740 --> 00:55:25,742
Here they would be
anointed as members
1186
00:55:25,784 --> 00:55:30,203
of the Most Excellent Order of
the British Empire, or MBEs.
1187
00:55:30,245 --> 00:55:32,499
- This has been one of the
talents of the Establishment
1188
00:55:32,540 --> 00:55:34,250
for a very long time.
1189
00:55:34,292 --> 00:55:37,211
In fact, this is what
the MBEs and knighthoods
1190
00:55:37,253 --> 00:55:39,547
and all sorts of things
like that were all about.
1191
00:55:39,589 --> 00:55:41,215
At a certain point,
1192
00:55:41,257 --> 00:55:43,595
renegades need to be
brought into the fold.
1193
00:55:43,637 --> 00:55:47,055
But it's at that very
moment that they now,
1194
00:55:47,097 --> 00:55:49,850
'cause they were always
importing musical influences,
1195
00:55:49,891 --> 00:55:53,520
but they also become a conduit
for imported American influences
1196
00:55:53,561 --> 00:55:55,647
in these other fields that
they're getting interested in.
1197
00:55:55,689 --> 00:55:58,735
Miles is turning them
onto Ginsberg's poetry.
1198
00:55:58,777 --> 00:56:00,195
Robert Fraser is turning them
1199
00:56:00,236 --> 00:56:02,320
onto American pop
artists, things like this.
1200
00:56:02,362 --> 00:56:04,657
They've become
citizens of the world.
1201
00:56:04,699 --> 00:56:07,616
So it's perfectly appropriate
that at that very moment
1202
00:56:07,658 --> 00:56:09,912
the British
Establishment should say,
1203
00:56:09,953 --> 00:56:11,955
"Time for you to come
to Buckingham Palace
1204
00:56:11,997 --> 00:56:16,460
and be certified as members
of the British Empire."
1205
00:56:16,502 --> 00:56:18,587
- John, had
you met the Queen before?
1206
00:56:18,629 --> 00:56:20,215
- No, first time.
1207
00:56:20,256 --> 00:56:22,008
- What did she
think of you in the flesh?
1208
00:56:22,050 --> 00:56:23,386
Did she tell you?
1209
00:56:23,427 --> 00:56:24,721
- No, she's not going
to say either way.
1210
00:56:24,762 --> 00:56:26,890
She seemed pleasant
enough to us.
1211
00:56:26,931 --> 00:56:28,348
Made us relaxed.
1212
00:56:28,390 --> 00:56:30,517
- Now you've got this,
1213
00:56:30,559 --> 00:56:32,895
do you feel that you're becoming
part of the Establishment,
1214
00:56:32,936 --> 00:56:34,146
as it's so called?
1215
00:56:34,188 --> 00:56:36,566
- No, don't feel any different.
1216
00:56:36,607 --> 00:56:39,277
I still feel just like before.
1217
00:56:39,319 --> 00:56:41,738
I feel exactly the same.
- You feel exactly the same.
1218
00:56:41,778 --> 00:56:44,866
- It was a recognition that
the pop world had come of age.
1219
00:56:44,908 --> 00:56:48,993
They were the aristocracy
of the pop world,
1220
00:56:49,035 --> 00:56:51,915
of pop culture, of
working class culture.
1221
00:56:51,956 --> 00:56:55,918
So it was inevitable in a way
that they would be rewarded
1222
00:56:55,959 --> 00:56:58,922
in the spirit of
the new democracy.
1223
00:56:58,963 --> 00:57:02,175
But also it closed
a chapter, because from then on
1224
00:57:02,217 --> 00:57:04,219
they went off and
did it their way
1225
00:57:04,261 --> 00:57:06,555
which wasn't the
Establishment's way.
1226
00:57:06,597 --> 00:57:09,558
In fact, it was the
beginning of a period
1227
00:57:09,600 --> 00:57:13,728
of great antagonism with the
Establishment and pop culture,
1228
00:57:13,770 --> 00:57:16,315
and The Beatles, as usual,
1229
00:57:16,357 --> 00:57:18,275
were pretty much at
the center of that.
1230
00:57:18,316 --> 00:57:20,904
- The Beatles'
position at the center
1231
00:57:20,946 --> 00:57:23,071
of these new developments
in youth culture
1232
00:57:23,113 --> 00:57:26,534
was crucial to their evolution
over the next two years.
1233
00:57:26,576 --> 00:57:28,660
With McCartney now
closely affiliated
1234
00:57:28,702 --> 00:57:32,457
with key players in London's
underground artistic scene,
1235
00:57:32,498 --> 00:57:35,585
and with similar movements in
both New York and Los Angeles
1236
00:57:35,627 --> 00:57:37,419
influencing American musicians,
1237
00:57:37,461 --> 00:57:40,883
the stage was now set
for more radical ideas
1238
00:57:40,925 --> 00:57:42,384
to enter the mainstream.
1239
00:57:42,426 --> 00:57:44,011
And as these were developing,
1240
00:57:44,052 --> 00:57:47,347
a new drug and a new figurehead
were gaining prominence
1241
00:57:47,389 --> 00:57:49,141
on both sides of the Atlantic.
1242
00:57:49,182 --> 00:57:51,601
- The message is very simple.
1243
00:57:53,479 --> 00:57:55,983
Six words.
1244
00:57:56,024 --> 00:58:02,113
Turn on, tune in, drop out.
1245
00:58:02,155 --> 00:58:04,739
- Psychologist
Timothy Leary had emerged
1246
00:58:04,781 --> 00:58:06,827
in the US as a
prominent spokesman
1247
00:58:06,868 --> 00:58:10,078
for the hallucinogen
LSD, or acid.
1248
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:12,581
Having led psychedelic
experiments at
1249
00:58:12,623 --> 00:58:15,375
Harvard University
since the turn of the '60s,
1250
00:58:15,417 --> 00:58:19,046
and with Beat poet Allen
Ginsberg a key early supporter,
1251
00:58:19,087 --> 00:58:24,052
by 1965 Leary was becoming a
major countercultural figure.
1252
00:58:24,093 --> 00:58:29,266
- Tim Leary was a psychiatrist,
psychoanalyst, psychotherapist.
1253
00:58:29,308 --> 00:58:31,811
He claimed to have
something like seven PhDs.
1254
00:58:31,853 --> 00:58:33,938
He was a professor at Harvard
1255
00:58:33,980 --> 00:58:37,526
who began working
originally with psilocybin
1256
00:58:37,567 --> 00:58:39,568
before he got onto LSD
1257
00:58:39,610 --> 00:58:43,864
as a way of treating prisoners
and treating mental illness.
1258
00:58:43,905 --> 00:58:46,326
I mean, the thing is
Leary was very much part
1259
00:58:46,368 --> 00:58:48,078
of the Establishment.
1260
00:58:48,119 --> 00:58:51,288
He'd worked right across the
normal lines of psychiatry.
1261
00:58:51,330 --> 00:58:53,541
But, of course, when he started
to take all these things,
1262
00:58:53,582 --> 00:58:57,878
he contacted his own self
on a cellular level
1263
00:58:57,919 --> 00:58:59,881
and he realized that
an awful lot of this
1264
00:58:59,922 --> 00:59:01,590
was gameplaying and rubbish.
1265
00:59:01,632 --> 00:59:04,719
So he basically felt that this
was in fact a spiritual key
1266
00:59:04,760 --> 00:59:06,597
that he'd been handed
1267
00:59:06,639 --> 00:59:08,473
and that his message
really should be
1268
00:59:08,515 --> 00:59:10,767
to encourage people to
leave the Establishment
1269
00:59:10,809 --> 00:59:14,063
and find themselves
creatively or spiritually.
1270
00:59:14,104 --> 00:59:17,775
- And the newly
appointed MBEs, The Beatles,
1271
00:59:17,817 --> 00:59:20,485
were already on their way
to leaving the Establishment
1272
00:59:20,527 --> 00:59:23,280
and rediscovering themselves
through hallucinogens.
1273
00:59:23,322 --> 00:59:26,117
John Lennon and George
Harrison had been introduced
1274
00:59:26,158 --> 00:59:30,452
to LSD in early 1965, and had
been joined by Ringo Starr
1275
00:59:30,494 --> 00:59:33,249
for their second experience
with the drug later that year.
1276
00:59:33,290 --> 00:59:36,586
Combined with Paul
McCartney's newfound interest
1277
00:59:36,627 --> 00:59:39,505
in experimental art through
his London social circle,
1278
00:59:39,547 --> 00:59:41,966
the world's most commercial band
1279
00:59:42,008 --> 00:59:45,344
were ready to take a
very unexpected detour.
1280
00:59:45,386 --> 00:59:48,472
- They wanted to
discover who they were.
1281
00:59:48,514 --> 00:59:51,269
They had no real sense of who
they were, I think, anymore.
1282
00:59:51,310 --> 00:59:53,105
So they were picking
up the pieces,
1283
00:59:53,146 --> 00:59:54,730
putting it together it again.
1284
00:59:54,772 --> 00:59:56,691
How the hell did they make sense
1285
00:59:56,733 --> 00:59:59,027
of the goldfish bowl life
they'd been thrown into?
1286
00:59:59,069 --> 01:00:03,574
From playing at the Casbah
in Liverpool, and the Cavern,
1287
01:00:03,616 --> 01:00:06,367
to being feted all
around the world
1288
01:00:06,409 --> 01:00:08,161
and just seeing
themselves reflected back,
1289
01:00:08,202 --> 01:00:09,996
people getting pieces
of them everywhere,
1290
01:00:10,038 --> 01:00:11,830
not knowing really
who they were.
1291
01:00:11,872 --> 01:00:15,375
And I think that was the
engagement of pop culture,
1292
01:00:15,417 --> 01:00:18,087
represented by The Beatles
with the counterculture,
1293
01:00:18,129 --> 01:00:19,922
which was growing in confidence.
1294
01:00:19,964 --> 01:00:22,841
And the fact that the two
started to join forces
1295
01:00:22,883 --> 01:00:26,095
in London, in San Francisco--
they sparked off each other.
1296
01:00:26,137 --> 01:00:29,432
- It was at the close of 1965
1297
01:00:29,474 --> 01:00:31,684
that McCartney drew the
ever skeptical Lennon
1298
01:00:31,726 --> 01:00:33,395
out of his Surrey sanctuary
1299
01:00:33,437 --> 01:00:36,107
and introduced him to the
underground world of Miles
1300
01:00:36,149 --> 01:00:38,902
and the Indica
Bookshop and Gallery.
1301
01:00:38,944 --> 01:00:41,112
- One day, very shortly
after we opened,
1302
01:00:41,154 --> 01:00:42,991
Paul McCartney showed
up with John Lennon,
1303
01:00:43,032 --> 01:00:45,574
I think it was the first time
John was ever in the shop.
1304
01:00:45,616 --> 01:00:49,997
He was looking for
a book by "Nitzske."
1305
01:00:50,038 --> 01:00:53,874
I just didn't know who he meant.
1306
01:00:53,916 --> 01:00:55,836
It took me maybe half a minute
1307
01:00:55,877 --> 01:00:57,587
to figure out it was Nietzsche.
1308
01:00:57,629 --> 01:01:00,881
And that was just enough time
for him to get quite irritated
1309
01:01:00,923 --> 01:01:03,759
and think I was being this
middle class university type,
1310
01:01:03,801 --> 01:01:05,094
putting him down.
1311
01:01:05,136 --> 01:01:06,930
And then Paul had
to do his usual role
1312
01:01:06,972 --> 01:01:08,432
of sort of calming everybody.
1313
01:01:08,474 --> 01:01:10,184
"No, no, he went to art
school just like you.
1314
01:01:10,225 --> 01:01:12,560
It's just 'cause you
didn't know how to say it!"
1315
01:01:12,602 --> 01:01:13,895
In the meantime,
1316
01:01:13,937 --> 01:01:16,022
I remembered we had
only just the day before
1317
01:01:16,063 --> 01:01:17,483
had a big shipment
1318
01:01:17,525 --> 01:01:19,485
of The Psychedelic
Experience by Tim Leary.
1319
01:01:19,527 --> 01:01:21,864
John curled up on
the settee with it.
1320
01:01:21,905 --> 01:01:24,407
And literally in Tim
Leary's introduction
1321
01:01:24,449 --> 01:01:25,574
before you even get to the text,
1322
01:01:25,616 --> 01:01:28,203
it says, turn off
your mind, relax
1323
01:01:28,244 --> 01:01:31,287
and drift down the stream,
or however the lines are
1324
01:01:31,329 --> 01:01:34,792
that finally showed up
only about a month later
1325
01:01:34,834 --> 01:01:36,377
in Tomorrow Never Knows.
1326
01:01:36,418 --> 01:01:38,713
- This song would be
1327
01:01:38,754 --> 01:01:40,297
the most innovative composition
1328
01:01:40,339 --> 01:01:42,634
of the band's career to date.
1329
01:01:42,676 --> 01:01:45,261
Alongside Lennon's
Leary-inspired lyrics,
1330
01:01:45,302 --> 01:01:46,973
Paul McCartney's contributions
1331
01:01:47,015 --> 01:01:49,516
to the track were
equally radical.
1332
01:01:49,558 --> 01:01:51,393
Having joined Miles at a number
1333
01:01:51,434 --> 01:01:53,562
of avant-garde
electronic music events,
1334
01:01:53,603 --> 01:01:56,105
the Beatle had begun
enthusiastically working
1335
01:01:56,147 --> 01:01:58,608
on his own experimental
compositions
1336
01:01:58,650 --> 01:02:00,821
using loops of recorded tape.
1337
01:02:00,863 --> 01:02:02,865
As The Beatles
entered the studio
1338
01:02:02,907 --> 01:02:05,492
to begin producing
Tomorrow Never Knows,
1339
01:02:05,534 --> 01:02:07,660
George Martin invited McCartney
1340
01:02:07,702 --> 01:02:09,954
to bring these to the sessions.
1341
01:02:09,996 --> 01:02:11,914
- He had produced a
whole load of them
1342
01:02:11,955 --> 01:02:14,959
and brought them into the
studio just in a plastic bag.
1343
01:02:15,001 --> 01:02:16,294
They arranged the studio
1344
01:02:16,335 --> 01:02:18,047
so that there were
different tape recorders
1345
01:02:18,089 --> 01:02:20,797
in different parts of the
Abbey Road studio complex.
1346
01:02:20,839 --> 01:02:24,177
And I was in a room
with Peter Asher
1347
01:02:24,219 --> 01:02:26,554
and we were playing
quite a long loop
1348
01:02:26,596 --> 01:02:30,433
which entailed
holding a jam jar.
1349
01:02:30,474 --> 01:02:32,686
The loop went round the jam jar,
1350
01:02:32,728 --> 01:02:34,979
then past the playback
head and then back over.
1351
01:02:35,021 --> 01:02:36,688
We had to keep it in tension.
1352
01:02:36,730 --> 01:02:38,859
I think there were eight
or maybe even 10 of us
1353
01:02:38,901 --> 01:02:40,278
around the building
1354
01:02:40,319 --> 01:02:42,863
all standing holding
pencils or jam jars.
1355
01:02:42,906 --> 01:02:45,159
And all of this information
was going into the deck.
1356
01:02:45,201 --> 01:02:47,660
George Martin was just sitting
there with his headphones.
1357
01:02:47,702 --> 01:02:49,121
Whatever he did, of course,
1358
01:02:49,162 --> 01:02:51,539
it was impossible
to ever reproduce.
1359
01:02:51,582 --> 01:02:53,126
That was it.
1360
01:02:53,167 --> 01:02:55,168
That was the master as
soon as he pressed "record."
1361
01:02:55,210 --> 01:02:58,547
When I heard the playback,
it was astonishing actually.
1362
01:02:58,589 --> 01:03:01,548
I thought, "Good God,
this is the future."
1363
01:03:01,590 --> 01:03:05,511
["Tomorrow Never
Knows" by The Beatles]
1364
01:03:08,849 --> 01:03:14,604
♪ Turn off your mind,
relax, and float downstream
1365
01:03:16,231 --> 01:03:23,072
♪ It is not dying,
it is not dying...♪
1366
01:03:24,365 --> 01:03:26,576
- The studio was an instrument.
1367
01:03:26,618 --> 01:03:30,580
Once upon a time, it was just
this almost invisible console
1368
01:03:30,622 --> 01:03:32,082
that was just there
1369
01:03:32,124 --> 01:03:34,083
to absorb what was being
played on the floor.
1370
01:03:34,125 --> 01:03:37,128
Now it was actually being
used as an instrument.
1371
01:03:37,170 --> 01:03:38,505
And it was more important
1372
01:03:38,546 --> 01:03:41,214
than individual
instruments, in a way.
1373
01:03:47,138 --> 01:03:50,935
This was unprecedented, and
the other interesting thing
1374
01:03:50,977 --> 01:03:52,519
about Tomorrow Never Knows,
1375
01:03:52,560 --> 01:03:54,604
it was the first
recording for Revolver.
1376
01:03:54,646 --> 01:03:56,816
It was done in April '66.
1377
01:03:56,858 --> 01:03:58,860
I mean, this is extraordinary.
1378
01:03:58,901 --> 01:04:00,362
Tomorrow Never Knows
1379
01:04:00,403 --> 01:04:03,155
is undoubtedly the most
psychedelic song recorded
1380
01:04:03,198 --> 01:04:04,740
at that period.
1381
01:04:04,782 --> 01:04:06,450
There's nothing else like it.
1382
01:04:06,492 --> 01:04:08,619
I mean, the word
psychedelic wasn't really
1383
01:04:08,661 --> 01:04:10,497
in popular parlance at all.
1384
01:04:10,539 --> 01:04:11,999
It was the title of a book
1385
01:04:12,041 --> 01:04:13,876
that John got from
Indica Gallery.
1386
01:04:13,917 --> 01:04:15,459
- Tomorrow Never Knows
1387
01:04:15,501 --> 01:04:17,003
is definitely the world's
first psychedelic track.
1388
01:04:17,045 --> 01:04:18,922
The interesting
thing is, of course,
1389
01:04:18,964 --> 01:04:21,007
The Beatles were not only the
world's most commercial band,
1390
01:04:21,049 --> 01:04:22,842
but at that point they were also
1391
01:04:22,884 --> 01:04:26,679
the world's most experimental
band, which is very unusual.
1392
01:04:26,721 --> 01:04:29,808
- That became clear
when The Beatles' follow-up
1393
01:04:29,850 --> 01:04:35,104
to Rubber Soul, Revolver,
was issued in August 1966.
1394
01:04:35,146 --> 01:04:37,149
Alongside Tomorrow Never Knows,
1395
01:04:37,191 --> 01:04:39,068
the album's tracks were brimming
1396
01:04:39,109 --> 01:04:41,070
with invention and originality.
1397
01:04:41,111 --> 01:04:44,948
If Rubber Soul had suggested
that pop music could be art,
1398
01:04:44,990 --> 01:04:47,326
Revolver confirmed it.
1399
01:04:47,368 --> 01:04:49,786
- Revolver really
was The Beatles
1400
01:04:49,828 --> 01:04:51,747
moving towards the
fifth dimension.
1401
01:04:51,788 --> 01:04:54,835
"She said, she said I know
what it's like to be dead."
1402
01:04:54,877 --> 01:04:56,461
The Beatles, Lennon,
singing about
1403
01:04:56,502 --> 01:04:57,921
I know what
it's like to be dead.
1404
01:04:57,962 --> 01:04:59,715
What the hell is going on?
1405
01:04:59,757 --> 01:05:01,216
Well, they've been
partying with The Byrds
1406
01:05:01,258 --> 01:05:03,009
on the West Coast and
dropping acid by then.
1407
01:05:03,051 --> 01:05:05,554
Drugs, we have a very
negative view on them now
1408
01:05:05,596 --> 01:05:08,681
and you can be imprisoned
by them, but in the mid '60s
1409
01:05:08,723 --> 01:05:10,601
people felt it was the opposite.
1410
01:05:10,642 --> 01:05:13,270
It was to loosen the
chains of imprisonment,
1411
01:05:13,311 --> 01:05:15,856
this single view
of who you were.
1412
01:05:15,898 --> 01:05:18,109
And then suddenly
you had perspectives,
1413
01:05:18,150 --> 01:05:20,236
and with Revolver
you can hear it,
1414
01:05:20,278 --> 01:05:22,029
with all the different
production sounds--
1415
01:05:22,071 --> 01:05:24,990
it was all altered states
and perspectives.
1416
01:05:25,032 --> 01:05:28,078
- The idea was basically
to turn rock and roll
1417
01:05:28,120 --> 01:05:30,288
into a legitimate art form.
1418
01:05:30,329 --> 01:05:31,830
And I think they did it.
1419
01:05:31,872 --> 01:05:33,374
So many of the
things they tried,
1420
01:05:33,416 --> 01:05:36,210
from feedback and
reverse tapes and sitars,
1421
01:05:36,252 --> 01:05:37,795
whatever they did,
1422
01:05:37,836 --> 01:05:40,173
all over the world other
bands immediately tried out.
1423
01:05:40,215 --> 01:05:42,134
They were tremendous leaders.
1424
01:05:42,175 --> 01:05:44,051
Brian Epstein was concerned
1425
01:05:44,094 --> 01:05:46,846
that they were going too far
ahead of their fan base.
1426
01:05:46,888 --> 01:05:48,639
But they were very,
very sensible,
1427
01:05:48,680 --> 01:05:51,310
they always wanted to bring
the fans along with them.
1428
01:05:51,351 --> 01:05:54,104
They didn't want to
become some kind of wild,
1429
01:05:54,146 --> 01:05:57,690
avant-garde band that only
150 people had heard of.
1430
01:05:57,732 --> 01:06:00,361
- Epstein's fears that the band
1431
01:06:00,403 --> 01:06:03,448
would start to lose some of
their audience were unfounded
1432
01:06:03,490 --> 01:06:05,116
regarding their musical output,
1433
01:06:05,158 --> 01:06:08,620
but would prove accurate
in terms of their politics.
1434
01:06:08,662 --> 01:06:10,164
With The Beatles' compositions
1435
01:06:10,205 --> 01:06:12,623
expressing a more
complex world view,
1436
01:06:12,665 --> 01:06:16,419
journalists began to ask them
more significant questions.
1437
01:06:16,460 --> 01:06:18,462
In a series of
landmark interviews
1438
01:06:18,504 --> 01:06:20,758
for British newspaper
The Evening Standard,
1439
01:06:20,800 --> 01:06:23,009
the individual band
members were quizzed
1440
01:06:23,050 --> 01:06:25,220
over their thoughts
on current affairs.
1441
01:06:25,262 --> 01:06:27,639
Lennon's frank opinions
on Christianity
1442
01:06:27,681 --> 01:06:30,725
proved uncontroversial upon
their publication in Britain,
1443
01:06:30,767 --> 01:06:32,812
yet when they were
reprinted in America,
1444
01:06:32,854 --> 01:06:36,024
the first scandal of
The Beatles' career erupted,
1445
01:06:36,065 --> 01:06:39,276
with a single quote
becoming instantly infamous,
1446
01:06:39,318 --> 01:06:42,530
"We're more popular
than Jesus now."
1447
01:06:42,571 --> 01:06:45,201
- The first time anybody
had asked John Lennon
1448
01:06:45,242 --> 01:06:48,537
questions about his
life and his philosophy.
1449
01:06:48,578 --> 01:06:51,413
And it just passed--whoosh--
without--
1450
01:06:51,455 --> 01:06:56,210
But months later, all
those teenage magazines
1451
01:06:56,251 --> 01:07:00,089
just printed that:
"We're bigger than Jesus,"
1452
01:07:00,131 --> 01:07:02,258
which caused a lot of problems.
1453
01:07:02,300 --> 01:07:04,719
A lot of problems.
1454
01:07:04,760 --> 01:07:08,681
Death threats and
records being burnt
1455
01:07:08,723 --> 01:07:10,393
and broken and smashed,
1456
01:07:10,434 --> 01:07:13,688
and the Ku Klux Klan,
and concerts being canceled.
1457
01:07:13,730 --> 01:07:17,608
It was very unpleasant
for everyone.
1458
01:07:17,649 --> 01:07:20,611
- Well, originally I was
pointing out that fact
1459
01:07:20,652 --> 01:07:22,279
in reference to England,
1460
01:07:22,321 --> 01:07:25,659
that we meant more to
kids than Jesus did,
1461
01:07:25,701 --> 01:07:28,036
or religion, at that time.
1462
01:07:28,078 --> 01:07:29,954
I wasn't knocking it
or putting it down.
1463
01:07:29,996 --> 01:07:31,831
I was just saying it.
It was a fact.
1464
01:07:31,873 --> 01:07:35,252
- Lennon's "The Beatles are
more popular than Jesus" line,
1465
01:07:35,293 --> 01:07:39,088
which even to me as a kid, I
could see what he was saying.
1466
01:07:39,129 --> 01:07:41,425
I mean, he wasn't saying--
1467
01:07:41,466 --> 01:07:44,050
It's what he said in his
quote unquote "apology."
1468
01:07:44,092 --> 01:07:45,970
"I wasn't saying we're
better than Jesus.
1469
01:07:46,012 --> 01:07:48,890
"I wasn't saying it's
good or it's bad.
1470
01:07:48,932 --> 01:07:50,309
It's just that it's true."
1471
01:07:50,351 --> 01:07:51,769
And to me it was
absolutely true.
1472
01:07:51,810 --> 01:07:53,229
It was unquestionable.
1473
01:07:53,271 --> 01:07:56,482
There was such a
backlash against that.
1474
01:07:56,524 --> 01:07:58,609
It made you aware of
some of the fault lines
1475
01:07:58,650 --> 01:08:00,318
in American culture.
1476
01:08:00,361 --> 01:08:03,322
Or made you aware once
again that what seemed maybe
1477
01:08:03,364 --> 01:08:05,618
like a unified culture,
really wasn't.
1478
01:08:05,659 --> 01:08:08,703
And it was harsh.
You know, it was scary.
1479
01:08:08,745 --> 01:08:11,998
- These fault lines in American society
1480
01:08:12,040 --> 01:08:14,626
had been growing
since the early 1960s,
1481
01:08:14,667 --> 01:08:17,504
and where the civil rights
campaigns for racial equality
1482
01:08:17,546 --> 01:08:19,505
had most clearly exposed
these divisions
1483
01:08:19,547 --> 01:08:22,593
earlier in the decade,
by the mid 1960s
1484
01:08:22,635 --> 01:08:25,595
there was no issue more
pressing or more polarizing
1485
01:08:25,637 --> 01:08:27,597
than the Vietnam War.
1486
01:08:27,639 --> 01:08:31,185
Since the US entered into
the conflict in 1962,
1487
01:08:31,227 --> 01:08:33,771
it had provoked widespread
public opposition
1488
01:08:33,813 --> 01:08:38,066
and organized protests both
in the US and across Europe.
1489
01:08:38,108 --> 01:08:41,112
The underground movement
McCartney had become involved in
1490
01:08:41,154 --> 01:08:44,658
had itself emerged from the
early '60s pacifist movement
1491
01:08:44,699 --> 01:08:48,620
in the UK, and by the time
of their 1966 US tour,
1492
01:08:48,662 --> 01:08:51,123
privately both he
and his bandmates
1493
01:08:51,165 --> 01:08:53,206
were opponents of the war.
1494
01:08:53,248 --> 01:08:55,251
As they traveled across America,
1495
01:08:55,293 --> 01:08:57,254
already battling controversy,
1496
01:08:57,296 --> 01:09:00,673
the ever honest Liverpudlians
came under fire once again
1497
01:09:00,714 --> 01:09:04,594
when they made this position
absolutely clear to the press.
1498
01:09:04,636 --> 01:09:08,348
- In 1966, the war was
without any question
1499
01:09:08,389 --> 01:09:12,101
much more on people's minds
in America than The Beatles.
1500
01:09:12,143 --> 01:09:14,939
Nineteen-sixty-six was the year
the war exploded.
1501
01:09:14,981 --> 01:09:18,318
Nineteen-sixty-six was the year
that the number of draftees
1502
01:09:18,360 --> 01:09:20,027
more than doubled
in this country.
1503
01:09:20,068 --> 01:09:21,947
Nineteen-sixty-six
was also the year
1504
01:09:21,989 --> 01:09:24,616
in which the war really got
terrible in Vietnam itself.
1505
01:09:24,658 --> 01:09:27,911
It was a bigger, bigger
deal all the time.
1506
01:09:27,953 --> 01:09:30,163
There was more
destruction going on.
1507
01:09:30,205 --> 01:09:34,376
- At the height of American
involvement in Vietnam,
1508
01:09:34,417 --> 01:09:37,547
they had 550,000
troops in that country.
1509
01:09:37,588 --> 01:09:40,130
I mean, that's a
lot of young people.
1510
01:09:40,172 --> 01:09:42,759
There was a draft in
the United States.
1511
01:09:42,800 --> 01:09:46,387
The war had come home
in a big way.
1512
01:09:46,428 --> 01:09:49,474
It wasn't an abstract
issue in any regard.
1513
01:09:49,516 --> 01:09:53,729
And youth representatives
like The Beatles,
1514
01:09:53,770 --> 01:09:56,065
people who were part
of youth culture,
1515
01:09:56,106 --> 01:09:59,108
were expected to
take a stand on it.
1516
01:09:59,150 --> 01:10:00,944
- It seems to me
you've always been successful
1517
01:10:00,986 --> 01:10:03,614
because you've been outspoken
and direct and forthright
1518
01:10:03,656 --> 01:10:05,115
and all this sort of thing.
1519
01:10:05,157 --> 01:10:06,660
Does it seem a bit hard to you
1520
01:10:06,702 --> 01:10:10,538
that people are now knocking
you for this very thing?
1521
01:10:10,580 --> 01:10:11,915
- Yes, Richard.
1522
01:10:11,956 --> 01:10:14,125
- It seems very hard.
- It seems hard.
1523
01:10:14,167 --> 01:10:16,419
But you know, free speech.
1524
01:10:16,460 --> 01:10:18,381
- But is it possible
just to say what you think
1525
01:10:18,423 --> 01:10:20,214
all the time? What about
14-year-old teenagers
1526
01:10:20,256 --> 01:10:21,966
who think you're
absolutely marvelous
1527
01:10:22,008 --> 01:10:23,635
and can't bear to be hurt?
1528
01:10:23,677 --> 01:10:26,470
- When we say anything
like that, we don't say it,
1529
01:10:26,512 --> 01:10:30,434
as older people seem to
think, to be offensive.
1530
01:10:30,475 --> 01:10:32,561
We mean it helpfully, you know.
1531
01:10:32,603 --> 01:10:34,979
And if it's wrong what
we say, okay, it's wrong.
1532
01:10:35,021 --> 01:10:37,816
People can say you're
wrong about that one.
1533
01:10:37,857 --> 01:10:40,152
But in many cases, we
believe it's right.
1534
01:10:40,194 --> 01:10:42,114
We're quite serious about it.
1535
01:10:42,155 --> 01:10:44,365
- Do you mind
being asked questions?
1536
01:10:44,407 --> 01:10:45,784
For example, in America
1537
01:10:45,825 --> 01:10:47,286
people keep asking you
questions about Vietnam.
1538
01:10:47,327 --> 01:10:49,204
Does this seem useful?
- Well, I don't know.
1539
01:10:49,245 --> 01:10:50,955
If you can say
that war's no good
1540
01:10:50,996 --> 01:10:53,500
and a few people believe
you, then it may be good.
1541
01:10:53,542 --> 01:10:55,835
You can't say it too much,
though, that's the trouble.
1542
01:10:55,876 --> 01:10:57,379
- It seems a bit
silly to be in America
1543
01:10:57,421 --> 01:10:59,171
and for none of them
to mention Vietnam
1544
01:10:59,213 --> 01:11:00,799
as if nothing was happening.
1545
01:11:00,840 --> 01:11:03,342
- They were the first band
to be asked about politics,
1546
01:11:03,384 --> 01:11:06,597
about Vietnam, about a whole
number of social issues.
1547
01:11:06,639 --> 01:11:07,972
And in fact, I mean,
1548
01:11:08,013 --> 01:11:10,099
although Dylan came
a little bit before,
1549
01:11:10,141 --> 01:11:13,311
as far as I know, he never
once ever came out in public
1550
01:11:13,352 --> 01:11:14,937
against the Vietnam War.
1551
01:11:14,979 --> 01:11:16,897
So maybe The Beatles
were the first there,
1552
01:11:16,939 --> 01:11:19,526
in terms of a very
well-known band.
1553
01:11:19,568 --> 01:11:21,319
- Well, it cost them a lot.
1554
01:11:21,360 --> 01:11:24,783
There were then teenage girls
in the South, in the Midwest,
1555
01:11:24,825 --> 01:11:27,369
who didn't like
The Beatles anymore.
1556
01:11:27,411 --> 01:11:29,622
- I think The Beatles
are a real talented group,
1557
01:11:29,664 --> 01:11:31,457
but I think they need
to watch what they say,
1558
01:11:31,499 --> 01:11:33,585
because they're in
such a position
1559
01:11:33,627 --> 01:11:36,294
that a lot of teenagers
really think of them
1560
01:11:36,336 --> 01:11:37,880
as something really big.
1561
01:11:37,921 --> 01:11:39,631
When they say things like that
1562
01:11:39,673 --> 01:11:42,090
some teenagers are going to
just believe anything they say.
1563
01:11:42,132 --> 01:11:45,763
- In 1965, The Beatles
were universally beloved.
1564
01:11:45,805 --> 01:11:47,263
Nobody didn't like them.
1565
01:11:47,304 --> 01:11:50,558
They were just
wonderful and funny
1566
01:11:50,600 --> 01:11:53,895
and creative and unthreatening.
1567
01:11:55,605 --> 01:11:59,151
As they became more involved
in the counterculture
1568
01:11:59,193 --> 01:12:01,027
and more representative of it,
1569
01:12:01,068 --> 01:12:03,447
they lost a lot of
that belovedness.
1570
01:12:03,489 --> 01:12:05,867
They helped to move
a lot of people
1571
01:12:05,908 --> 01:12:07,661
who might not otherwise
have gone along
1572
01:12:07,703 --> 01:12:11,206
with the stuff that happened
in '66 and '67 and '68.
1573
01:12:11,247 --> 01:12:12,834
Without any question,
1574
01:12:12,876 --> 01:12:16,335
they were inspirational and
influential in that way.
1575
01:12:16,377 --> 01:12:18,463
But they also lost
a lot of people.
1576
01:12:18,505 --> 01:12:23,719
They became part of what
many, many people in America,
1577
01:12:23,760 --> 01:12:27,473
probably a majority
of people in America,
1578
01:12:27,515 --> 01:12:32,018
regarded as a disturbing...
1579
01:12:32,060 --> 01:12:34,479
loosening of values and morals.
1580
01:12:34,521 --> 01:12:37,525
And a political threat.
1581
01:12:37,567 --> 01:12:40,277
- And at exactly
this point,
1582
01:12:40,319 --> 01:12:44,073
The Beatles ceased operating
as a traditional band.
1583
01:12:44,114 --> 01:12:45,908
Upon their return from the US,
1584
01:12:45,949 --> 01:12:48,830
they announced that they were
abandoning live performance,
1585
01:12:48,872 --> 01:12:50,331
with the final show
1586
01:12:50,373 --> 01:12:53,167
of the American tour
their last ever paid gig.
1587
01:12:53,209 --> 01:12:55,878
And then the most photographed
celebrities in the world
1588
01:12:55,920 --> 01:12:59,339
simply disappeared from
the public eye altogether.
1589
01:12:59,381 --> 01:13:02,426
- Can I have a word?
1590
01:13:02,467 --> 01:13:06,221
Are The Beatles going to
go their own ways in 1967?
1591
01:13:06,263 --> 01:13:09,390
- We could be on
our own or together.
1592
01:13:09,432 --> 01:13:11,935
We're always involved with each
other, whatever we're doing.
1593
01:13:11,976 --> 01:13:13,185
- Could you ever see a time
1594
01:13:13,228 --> 01:13:15,981
when you weren't
working together?
1595
01:13:16,022 --> 01:13:18,693
- I could see us working
not together for a period,
1596
01:13:18,735 --> 01:13:20,945
but we'd always get together
for one reason or another.
1597
01:13:20,986 --> 01:13:24,740
I mean, you need other
people for ideas as well,
1598
01:13:24,782 --> 01:13:28,326
you know,
and we all get along fine.
1599
01:13:28,369 --> 01:13:30,706
- Rumors of a
break-up began to circulate.
1600
01:13:30,748 --> 01:13:32,708
Yet, away from the spotlight,
1601
01:13:32,750 --> 01:13:34,711
the four Liverpudlians
were hard at work
1602
01:13:34,753 --> 01:13:37,712
on their most ambitious
production to date.
1603
01:13:37,754 --> 01:13:39,799
The public would have
to wait for months
1604
01:13:39,840 --> 01:13:41,592
before The Beatles reappeared,
1605
01:13:41,634 --> 01:13:45,053
and when, in February 1967,
they finally did,
1606
01:13:45,095 --> 01:13:47,180
both their image and their sound
1607
01:13:47,222 --> 01:13:50,475
had undergone a
startling transformation.
1608
01:13:50,516 --> 01:13:52,644
- Strawberry Fields of course
was originally intended
1609
01:13:52,685 --> 01:13:55,272
as part of the Sgt. Pepper
sessions.
1610
01:13:55,314 --> 01:13:58,609
But the press kept on saying,
"Are The Beatles finished?
1611
01:13:58,652 --> 01:14:01,654
"They've disappeared,
they've run out of ideas,"
1612
01:14:01,695 --> 01:14:03,739
not realizing that
they were working
1613
01:14:03,781 --> 01:14:06,493
on one of their
greatest achievements.
1614
01:14:06,534 --> 01:14:09,830
And to me, obviously,
it wasn't unexpected
1615
01:14:09,871 --> 01:14:11,999
because, well, I was at
some of the sessions.
1616
01:14:12,040 --> 01:14:15,586
But I think to the public
it came as quite a shock.
1617
01:14:19,882 --> 01:14:22,258
♪ Let me take you down
1618
01:14:22,300 --> 01:14:28,181
♪ 'Cause I'm going
to Strawberry Fields... ♪
1619
01:14:30,223 --> 01:14:32,686
- "Strawberry Fields Forever"
was something else again.
1620
01:14:32,727 --> 01:14:35,189
It was:
The Beatles had gone weird.
1621
01:14:35,231 --> 01:14:37,191
That was basically
what people felt.
1622
01:14:37,232 --> 01:14:39,820
What is wrong with them?
That's--
1623
01:14:39,862 --> 01:14:41,363
"Let me take you down
1624
01:14:41,404 --> 01:14:43,738
'cause I'm going to
Strawberry Fields."
1625
01:14:43,780 --> 01:14:45,575
The voice, it didn't
sound like Lennon.
1626
01:14:45,617 --> 01:14:47,242
Well, that's because they'd
slowed the voice down.
1627
01:14:47,284 --> 01:14:50,455
Nothing sounded
normal on that record.
1628
01:14:50,497 --> 01:14:52,041
The whole production.
1629
01:14:52,082 --> 01:14:54,710
Everything was up in the
air, put through effects.
1630
01:14:54,751 --> 01:14:57,169
And then there was a video that
was made at the time as well,
1631
01:14:57,211 --> 01:15:00,967
shot in Sevenoaks or somewhere,
and it was the strangest thing.
1632
01:15:01,009 --> 01:15:03,426
You had Ringo as if
he was disembodied.
1633
01:15:03,468 --> 01:15:04,928
They were falling out of trees.
1634
01:15:04,970 --> 01:15:06,763
There was nothing
like that at all.
1635
01:15:06,805 --> 01:15:12,936
♪ Living is easy
with eyes closed
1636
01:15:12,978 --> 01:15:18,316
♪ Misunderstanding all you see
1637
01:15:18,358 --> 01:15:21,445
♪ It's getting
hard to be someone
1638
01:15:21,487 --> 01:15:23,988
♪ But it all works out
1639
01:15:24,030 --> 01:15:28,326
♪ It doesn't matter much to
me...♪
1640
01:15:28,368 --> 01:15:30,496
-It had more in common
with Salvador Dali
1641
01:15:30,538 --> 01:15:32,707
and the Surrealists and Dada.
1642
01:15:32,749 --> 01:15:36,127
All these highfalutin
art kind of ideas,
1643
01:15:36,168 --> 01:15:39,130
which was once
the preserve, really,
1644
01:15:39,171 --> 01:15:41,885
mainly,
of the educated elite.
1645
01:15:41,927 --> 01:15:44,721
But this is The Beatles now
bringing it to everybody.
1646
01:15:44,763 --> 01:15:49,684
- The short film for Strawberry
Fields had a seismic impact
1647
01:15:49,726 --> 01:15:53,562
because it showed that they
had traveled a distance
1648
01:15:53,604 --> 01:15:57,274
that, well, I felt it
kind of incumbent on me
1649
01:15:57,315 --> 01:16:01,738
to then travel as a young
person who believed in them.
1650
01:16:01,780 --> 01:16:03,489
It was like, "Wow, okay,
1651
01:16:03,531 --> 01:16:06,409
this is what's being
asked of me now."
1652
01:16:06,451 --> 01:16:08,744
It wasn't just,
"Oh, they look cool."
1653
01:16:08,786 --> 01:16:11,664
It was, "All right,
this is the path."
1654
01:16:11,706 --> 01:16:14,416
- And that path became even clearer
1655
01:16:14,458 --> 01:16:15,543
as the year progressed.
1656
01:16:15,585 --> 01:16:18,254
By the turn of 1967,
1657
01:16:18,296 --> 01:16:20,799
the counterculture
was gaining momentum,
1658
01:16:20,840 --> 01:16:22,425
with huge numbers of youths
1659
01:16:22,467 --> 01:16:24,176
gravitating towards
its new Mecca,
1660
01:16:24,217 --> 01:16:26,972
San Francisco's
Haight-Ashbury district.
1661
01:16:27,013 --> 01:16:29,850
From here, a strong musical
scene was developing,
1662
01:16:29,892 --> 01:16:32,435
headed by psychedelic
bands The Grateful Dead
1663
01:16:32,477 --> 01:16:34,104
and the Jefferson Airplane,
1664
01:16:34,146 --> 01:16:37,732
and word spread of a new
phenomenon: the hippy.
1665
01:16:37,774 --> 01:16:40,903
In the UK, the underground's
influence expanded,
1666
01:16:40,945 --> 01:16:43,948
with its own newspaper,
The International Times,
1667
01:16:43,990 --> 01:16:45,909
a live music club, UFO,
1668
01:16:45,951 --> 01:16:48,078
and emerging stars
the Pink Floyd
1669
01:16:48,120 --> 01:16:50,288
and the American,
Jimi Hendrix.
1670
01:16:50,330 --> 01:16:52,958
Into this blooming
scene of peace, love
1671
01:16:53,000 --> 01:16:54,542
and mind-expanding drugs,
1672
01:16:54,584 --> 01:16:57,338
came The Beatles' most
ambitious work to date,
1673
01:16:57,379 --> 01:16:59,756
one which would not
only capture the essence
1674
01:16:59,798 --> 01:17:01,257
of this new sensibility,
1675
01:17:01,299 --> 01:17:04,510
but also transform the
record industry once again:
1676
01:17:04,551 --> 01:17:07,805
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band.
1677
01:17:07,847 --> 01:17:09,851
Presented as a work of art,
1678
01:17:09,892 --> 01:17:13,103
with a single concept
unifying the album as a whole,
1679
01:17:13,145 --> 01:17:16,024
it announced that the age of
the traditional pop single
1680
01:17:16,065 --> 01:17:18,274
and the pop band was over.
1681
01:17:18,316 --> 01:17:22,364
- Sgt. Pepper revolutionized
the record industry.
1682
01:17:22,405 --> 01:17:26,492
All of a sudden, albums
sold as much as singles.
1683
01:17:26,534 --> 01:17:29,162
Sgt. Pepper sold
in the millions.
1684
01:17:29,204 --> 01:17:33,708
On pure business terms, it
was a revolutionary release.
1685
01:17:33,749 --> 01:17:36,378
But also it was
revolutionary in terms
1686
01:17:36,419 --> 01:17:39,214
of letting the
record industry know
1687
01:17:39,255 --> 01:17:41,091
precisely what it could sell.
1688
01:17:41,133 --> 01:17:46,095
What you could do is invest
in the finest artistic minds
1689
01:17:46,137 --> 01:17:51,394
of a generation and give them
the freedom to make their art,
1690
01:17:51,436 --> 01:17:56,149
package it up as an album
and sell it in the millions.
1691
01:17:56,191 --> 01:17:59,902
- Paul had this idea of,
"we want to get away
1692
01:17:59,943 --> 01:18:02,614
"from being the four mop-tops
and The Fab Four.
1693
01:18:02,656 --> 01:18:04,408
"So we create this new
name for ourselves.
1694
01:18:04,449 --> 01:18:06,325
"We're going to be
a different group.
1695
01:18:06,367 --> 01:18:07,911
That'll give us the freedom
to do what the hell we want."
1696
01:18:07,952 --> 01:18:10,537
That is the basic concept.
The songs--
1697
01:18:10,579 --> 01:18:12,916
many of those songs
could have been on
1698
01:18:12,957 --> 01:18:14,668
any of the other albums.
1699
01:18:14,710 --> 01:18:17,379
They weren't specific
to that particular one.
1700
01:18:17,421 --> 01:18:19,839
But the influence of it
was staggering.
1701
01:18:19,881 --> 01:18:21,967
The Beatles were a force
to be reckoned with.
1702
01:18:22,008 --> 01:18:24,969
Even The Stones were badly
affected by them at that point.
1703
01:18:25,011 --> 01:18:26,680
Everyone just had
to deal with them.
1704
01:18:26,722 --> 01:18:27,889
They were like a roadblock.
1705
01:18:27,931 --> 01:18:29,390
If you were in the
music business,
1706
01:18:29,432 --> 01:18:31,310
you had to deal with
this great big thing
1707
01:18:31,351 --> 01:18:34,311
in front of you and get
round it the best you could.
1708
01:18:34,352 --> 01:18:38,276
♪ Lucy in the sky
with diamonds ♪
1709
01:18:39,777 --> 01:18:43,740
♪ Lucy in the sky
with diamonds ♪
1710
01:18:45,075 --> 01:18:50,246
♪ Lucy in the sky
with diamonds ♪
1711
01:18:50,288 --> 01:18:52,999
♪ Ah
1712
01:18:53,041 --> 01:18:56,003
♪ Follow her down
to a bridge...♪
1713
01:18:56,045 --> 01:18:58,464
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Heart Club's Band,
1714
01:18:58,505 --> 01:19:03,176
I mean, just the title
itself was a piece of art
1715
01:19:03,218 --> 01:19:05,305
and something that
mystified people.
1716
01:19:05,346 --> 01:19:06,847
Peter Blake did the cover,
1717
01:19:06,889 --> 01:19:09,266
and Peter Blake was the
father of British Pop Art.
1718
01:19:09,308 --> 01:19:11,685
Everything about Sgt. Pepper
was an enigma.
1719
01:19:11,727 --> 01:19:15,020
The fact that they were
pretending to not be The Beatles
1720
01:19:15,062 --> 01:19:16,355
but to be another band.
1721
01:19:16,396 --> 01:19:18,693
The locked groove at
the end of side two.
1722
01:19:18,735 --> 01:19:21,403
Lucy in the sky with
diamonds. Ah, L-S-D.
1723
01:19:21,445 --> 01:19:24,532
Secret messages all
the way through.
1724
01:19:24,574 --> 01:19:26,951
It was like a work
of literature.
1725
01:19:26,993 --> 01:19:28,494
It was like a Ulysses
or something,
1726
01:19:28,535 --> 01:19:29,703
where people were just thinking,
1727
01:19:29,745 --> 01:19:31,290
I don't quite understand this
1728
01:19:31,332 --> 01:19:33,625
but there's definitely
something really going on.
1729
01:19:33,667 --> 01:19:35,794
- This combination of imagination
1730
01:19:35,836 --> 01:19:37,921
and mystery proved irresistible.
1731
01:19:37,963 --> 01:19:40,381
With Sgt. Pepper, The
Beatles transformed
1732
01:19:40,422 --> 01:19:44,886
from pop culture icons into
mystics of the modern age.
1733
01:19:44,928 --> 01:19:47,555
- When The Beatles came
out with their new song,
1734
01:19:47,597 --> 01:19:50,141
people started pondering
that these are people
1735
01:19:50,183 --> 01:19:53,978
that you're looking
to for meaning.
1736
01:19:54,020 --> 01:19:56,396
- By '67, I think the release
1737
01:19:56,437 --> 01:19:58,025
of Sgt. Pepper in America
1738
01:19:58,066 --> 01:19:59,819
established
The Beatles basically
1739
01:19:59,861 --> 01:20:01,863
as the leaders of
the counterculture
1740
01:20:01,904 --> 01:20:03,324
along with a few other people
1741
01:20:03,366 --> 01:20:05,368
like Allen Ginsberg,
Timothy Leary.
1742
01:20:05,409 --> 01:20:09,078
But The Beatles were
the musical leaders.
1743
01:20:09,120 --> 01:20:13,167
Right across the board, they
were seen as, yes, as gods.
1744
01:20:13,209 --> 01:20:16,461
Leary himself said a lot
of silly things about them,
1745
01:20:16,503 --> 01:20:18,881
they were a type of new
superheroes, leaders of men,
1746
01:20:18,922 --> 01:20:20,757
and all this stuff.
1747
01:20:20,798 --> 01:20:25,179
- I'm not convinced that the
youth culture in the mid '60s
1748
01:20:25,221 --> 01:20:29,641
were terribly aware of
LSD and Timothy Leary
1749
01:20:29,683 --> 01:20:32,436
and even counterculture
attitudes.
1750
01:20:32,477 --> 01:20:37,691
If it hadn't been for that
conduit that was The Beatles,
1751
01:20:37,733 --> 01:20:40,694
this sort of stuff
might have just stayed
1752
01:20:40,736 --> 01:20:43,197
in San Francisco, in California.
1753
01:20:43,239 --> 01:20:45,742
The counterculture wasn't
called the "underground"
1754
01:20:45,783 --> 01:20:47,744
for no reason.
1755
01:20:47,785 --> 01:20:49,162
Not many people knew about it.
1756
01:20:49,204 --> 01:20:51,915
- Yet The Beatles were determined
1757
01:20:51,956 --> 01:20:54,167
to spread the word even further.
1758
01:20:54,209 --> 01:20:56,502
At the end of June 1967,
1759
01:20:56,544 --> 01:20:59,214
less than a month after
the release of Sgt. Pepper's,
1760
01:20:59,256 --> 01:21:00,631
the band were invited
1761
01:21:00,673 --> 01:21:02,844
to represent Britain
in the first ever
1762
01:21:02,886 --> 01:21:05,804
international satellite
television broadcast.
1763
01:21:05,846 --> 01:21:08,474
Across the US,
Canada and Europe,
1764
01:21:08,515 --> 01:21:10,934
the youthful optimism
of the counterculture
1765
01:21:10,975 --> 01:21:14,188
was reaching its peak
during the Summer of Love,
1766
01:21:14,230 --> 01:21:17,023
with thousands flocking
to large public events.
1767
01:21:17,065 --> 01:21:20,278
With their historic contribution
to the One World broadcast,
1768
01:21:20,319 --> 01:21:23,322
The Beatles delivered the
scene's definitive anthem
1769
01:21:23,364 --> 01:21:28,370
to an audience of over 500
million viewers worldwide.
1770
01:21:28,412 --> 01:21:30,122
- The Beatles, true to form,
1771
01:21:30,163 --> 01:21:33,000
national representatives
representing their country,
1772
01:21:33,042 --> 01:21:35,043
they start with
the national anthem.
1773
01:21:35,085 --> 01:21:38,506
The only problem is it's
the French national anthem!
1774
01:21:38,547 --> 01:21:40,299
That's a classic.
1775
01:21:40,340 --> 01:21:41,967
That is total Beatles humor.
1776
01:21:42,008 --> 01:21:45,262
["All You Need Is
Love" by The Beatles]
1777
01:21:51,309 --> 01:21:54,647
♪ Love, love, love
1778
01:21:55,855 --> 01:21:59,192
♪ Love, love, love
1779
01:22:00,486 --> 01:22:03,905
♪ Love, love, love...♪
1780
01:22:06,408 --> 01:22:08,204
- It was fun.
I was at that one.
1781
01:22:08,246 --> 01:22:09,620
It was like a party.
1782
01:22:09,662 --> 01:22:11,415
They'd invited a load
of their friends,
1783
01:22:11,457 --> 01:22:13,668
The Small Faces and
The Rolling Stones,
1784
01:22:13,709 --> 01:22:16,586
and everybody was there,
all in our psychedelic finery.
1785
01:22:16,628 --> 01:22:18,172
Sitting on the floor there,
1786
01:22:18,214 --> 01:22:22,177
it looked like it might
all explode at some point.
1787
01:22:22,218 --> 01:22:23,261
And there was an awful lot
of frantic waving
1788
01:22:23,303 --> 01:22:25,680
and people rushing around,
1789
01:22:25,721 --> 01:22:28,265
holding on to their headphones
and talking to people.
1790
01:22:28,308 --> 01:22:29,641
That was mostly
1791
01:22:29,683 --> 01:22:31,018
to do with the international
link-up, though,
1792
01:22:31,059 --> 01:22:32,644
because no one had
ever done that before.
1793
01:22:32,686 --> 01:22:35,106
It really did go out live
all around the world.
1794
01:22:35,148 --> 01:22:36,773
It was fantastic.
1795
01:22:38,692 --> 01:22:41,153
♪ All you need is love
1796
01:22:43,447 --> 01:22:46,034
♪ All you need is love
1797
01:22:47,952 --> 01:22:52,873
♪ All you need is love, love
1798
01:22:52,914 --> 01:22:54,834
♪ Love is all you need...♪
1799
01:22:54,876 --> 01:22:59,341
- This is mere weeks after
the release of Sgt. Pepper.
1800
01:22:59,383 --> 01:23:04,094
Every other band would
choose to use that moment
1801
01:23:04,136 --> 01:23:07,930
to promote Sgt. Pepper by doing
a couple of tracks from it.
1802
01:23:07,972 --> 01:23:10,308
Right? It just makes total
business sense.
1803
01:23:10,350 --> 01:23:16,107
But they took the opportunity
to send a message to the world
1804
01:23:16,149 --> 01:23:19,276
that all you need is love.
1805
01:23:19,318 --> 01:23:21,737
They'd already been
saying it on Rubber Soul,
1806
01:23:21,778 --> 01:23:23,322
the word is love.
1807
01:23:23,364 --> 01:23:25,576
But this was the time they
could tell the whole world
1808
01:23:25,617 --> 01:23:27,285
all at the same time.
1809
01:23:27,327 --> 01:23:30,538
The Beatles are clearly
leading the way.
1810
01:23:30,580 --> 01:23:32,748
I think there's a
great significance
1811
01:23:32,789 --> 01:23:36,210
in the idea of them sitting
on those high chairs,
1812
01:23:36,252 --> 01:23:39,466
with the beautiful people of
London, including Mick Jagger,
1813
01:23:39,508 --> 01:23:42,801
sitting at their feet,
looking up at them
1814
01:23:42,843 --> 01:23:45,846
and singing along to a song
they've only just heard.
1815
01:23:45,888 --> 01:23:47,514
That's powerful.
1816
01:23:47,556 --> 01:23:50,768
- All You Need Is
Love was an anthem of hope
1817
01:23:50,809 --> 01:23:53,103
from a youth movement
certain that the old order
1818
01:23:53,144 --> 01:23:54,897
was about to crumble.
1819
01:23:54,939 --> 01:23:57,608
The Beatles were steering
an entire generation
1820
01:23:57,649 --> 01:23:59,401
into uncharted territory,
1821
01:23:59,443 --> 01:24:01,778
yet it would not take
the Establishment long
1822
01:24:01,819 --> 01:24:05,116
to respond to these
peaceful revolutionaries.
1823
01:24:05,157 --> 01:24:07,326
In the UK, the
police were mobilized
1824
01:24:07,368 --> 01:24:09,371
and began to make a
number of drug busts,
1825
01:24:09,413 --> 01:24:11,622
arresting not only
prominent figures
1826
01:24:11,663 --> 01:24:13,164
on the underground scene
1827
01:24:13,206 --> 01:24:15,084
but also Mick Jagger,
Keith Richards
1828
01:24:15,126 --> 01:24:18,213
and later Brian Jones
of the Rolling Stones.
1829
01:24:18,255 --> 01:24:20,133
These high-profile cases
1830
01:24:20,174 --> 01:24:22,469
didn't faze Paul
McCartney, however.
1831
01:24:22,510 --> 01:24:25,346
Following the arrests,
he not only paid for,
1832
01:24:25,388 --> 01:24:27,764
but also put his name to
a national press advert
1833
01:24:27,806 --> 01:24:30,893
calling for the
legalization of marijuana.
1834
01:24:30,935 --> 01:24:33,479
Weeks later, he
admitted to a journalist
1835
01:24:33,520 --> 01:24:35,106
that he had taken LSD
1836
01:24:35,148 --> 01:24:37,442
and repeated this in
a television interview,
1837
01:24:37,484 --> 01:24:40,026
much to the shock
of Brian Epstein.
1838
01:24:40,068 --> 01:24:42,905
- Brian didn't like
things being made public.
1839
01:24:42,947 --> 01:24:44,866
He was a very private person,
1840
01:24:44,908 --> 01:24:47,827
obviously, because of
his way of life.
1841
01:24:47,868 --> 01:24:53,039
The thing about
drugs is it wasn't
1842
01:24:53,081 --> 01:24:55,628
anything about them
being good or bad.
1843
01:24:55,670 --> 01:24:58,254
It's just it was illegal.
1844
01:24:58,296 --> 01:25:03,009
- Paul, how
often have you taken LSD?
1845
01:25:03,050 --> 01:25:04,678
- About four times.
1846
01:25:04,719 --> 01:25:07,306
- Where did you get it from?
1847
01:25:07,348 --> 01:25:10,851
- If I was to say where I
got it from, it's illegal.
1848
01:25:10,892 --> 01:25:12,394
It's silly to say that.
1849
01:25:12,436 --> 01:25:14,646
- Don't you believe
that this was a matter
1850
01:25:14,688 --> 01:25:17,399
which you should
have kept private?
1851
01:25:17,441 --> 01:25:22,614
- The thing is, I was asked
a question by a newspaper
1852
01:25:22,656 --> 01:25:25,908
and the decision was
whether to tell a lie
1853
01:25:25,950 --> 01:25:29,329
or to tell him the truth.
1854
01:25:29,371 --> 01:25:32,331
I decided to tell him the truth.
1855
01:25:33,832 --> 01:25:37,004
But I really didn't want
to say anything.
1856
01:25:37,046 --> 01:25:40,550
If I'd had my decision,
if I had it my way,
1857
01:25:40,591 --> 01:25:42,635
I wouldn't have told anyone.
1858
01:25:42,677 --> 01:25:46,012
'Cause I'm not trying to
spread the word about this.
1859
01:25:46,054 --> 01:25:49,016
But the man from the
newspaper is the man
1860
01:25:49,058 --> 01:25:50,561
from the mass medium.
1861
01:25:50,602 --> 01:25:54,021
I'll keep it a personal
thing if he does too,
1862
01:25:54,063 --> 01:25:56,106
if he keeps it quiet.
1863
01:25:56,148 --> 01:25:57,858
But he wanted to spread it.
1864
01:25:57,900 --> 01:26:00,861
So it's his responsibility
for spreading it, not mine.
1865
01:26:00,903 --> 01:26:03,364
- The thing is, Paul
is always honest.
1866
01:26:03,406 --> 01:26:05,617
If a reporter asked him,
have you taken LSD?,
1867
01:26:05,659 --> 01:26:07,577
he's going to say yes.
He wouldn't lie.
1868
01:26:07,618 --> 01:26:08,952
Why should he?
1869
01:26:08,994 --> 01:26:10,204
If they're going to
ask that question,
1870
01:26:10,246 --> 01:26:11,540
they get an honest answer.
1871
01:26:11,582 --> 01:26:13,832
It was a risky thing
for him to say.
1872
01:26:13,874 --> 01:26:17,546
It probably gave Brian
Epstein a conniption.
1873
01:26:17,588 --> 01:26:22,551
But basically, although The
Beatles had made a lot of money,
1874
01:26:22,593 --> 01:26:24,552
they were never really
in it for the money.
1875
01:26:24,594 --> 01:26:27,640
Once they had enough to
really live well, that was it.
1876
01:26:27,682 --> 01:26:29,641
I think that was a
very good sign of them.
1877
01:26:29,683 --> 01:26:32,645
They paid their tax and
they said what they wanted.
1878
01:26:32,687 --> 01:26:35,022
- The Beatles' sense of security
1879
01:26:35,064 --> 01:26:37,191
was about to be
challenged, however.
1880
01:26:37,233 --> 01:26:40,194
In late August, the band were
shocked to receive the news
1881
01:26:40,236 --> 01:26:43,030
that their manager
Brian Epstein had died,
1882
01:26:43,072 --> 01:26:45,032
their most trusted accomplice.
1883
01:26:45,074 --> 01:26:47,118
In his absence they
were suddenly left
1884
01:26:47,159 --> 01:26:49,579
without his
stabilizing influence.
1885
01:26:51,665 --> 01:26:53,291
At the same time,
1886
01:26:53,332 --> 01:26:56,629
their quest for personal and
spiritual growth continued.
1887
01:26:56,670 --> 01:26:58,963
George Harrison had
become fascinated
1888
01:26:59,004 --> 01:27:01,425
by Indian music in 1965,
1889
01:27:01,467 --> 01:27:04,136
and as he immersed
himself in its techniques,
1890
01:27:04,177 --> 01:27:08,390
he became increasingly drawn
to its spiritual foundations.
1891
01:27:08,432 --> 01:27:11,268
This led him to
discover the Indian guru
1892
01:27:11,310 --> 01:27:13,185
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
1893
01:27:13,227 --> 01:27:16,189
and his technique of
transcendental meditation.
1894
01:27:16,231 --> 01:27:19,901
By mid-1967, Harrison was
introducing his bandmates
1895
01:27:19,943 --> 01:27:21,862
to the Maharishi's ideas,
1896
01:27:21,903 --> 01:27:24,657
and soon The Beatles had
a new spiritual advisor.
1897
01:27:27,201 --> 01:27:29,244
- When they first got
involved with him,
1898
01:27:29,286 --> 01:27:31,458
I wrote and asked Allen
Ginsberg what the story
1899
01:27:31,500 --> 01:27:33,375
was on the Maharishi, in India,
1900
01:27:33,417 --> 01:27:35,710
because Ginsberg had lived there
for a number of years
1901
01:27:35,752 --> 01:27:40,006
and he knew a lot of the
gurus and the teachers.
1902
01:27:40,047 --> 01:27:43,594
He wrote back saying the
Maharishi was very commercial
1903
01:27:43,636 --> 01:27:46,972
and that he was under
a lot of criticism in India
1904
01:27:47,014 --> 01:27:49,057
for taking disciples' money,
1905
01:27:49,099 --> 01:27:51,560
because in fact the
teaching should be free.
1906
01:27:51,602 --> 01:27:53,770
So I reported this to
John Lennon who came out
1907
01:27:53,812 --> 01:27:56,147
with a wonderful line of,
1908
01:27:56,189 --> 01:27:57,693
"Ain't no ethnic bastard
1909
01:27:57,734 --> 01:28:00,653
going to get any golden
castles out of me."
1910
01:28:00,695 --> 01:28:03,405
- Despite his initial reservations,
1911
01:28:03,447 --> 01:28:06,325
in February 1968, Lennon
and his bandmates
1912
01:28:06,367 --> 01:28:10,497
traveled to India for an
extended retreat with the guru.
1913
01:28:10,539 --> 01:28:13,250
Joined by their various
wives and girlfriends,
1914
01:28:13,292 --> 01:28:16,210
their departure to the East
for spiritual fulfillment
1915
01:28:16,251 --> 01:28:18,213
made headlines worldwide.
1916
01:28:18,254 --> 01:28:20,297
The press swarmed
around the perimeter
1917
01:28:20,339 --> 01:28:22,843
of the Maharishi's
14-acre compound,
1918
01:28:22,885 --> 01:28:25,970
both intrigued and baffled
by this latest chapter
1919
01:28:26,012 --> 01:28:28,181
in The Beatles'
unpredictable journey.
1920
01:28:28,223 --> 01:28:31,351
This exposure brought Eastern
religion to the attention
1921
01:28:31,393 --> 01:28:33,811
of an enormous audience.
1922
01:28:33,853 --> 01:28:36,983
- Sometime in January,
it was sudden,
1923
01:28:37,025 --> 01:28:39,443
"Right, we're off to Maharishi
1924
01:28:39,485 --> 01:28:42,948
to live in a holiday
camp in India."
1925
01:28:42,989 --> 01:28:45,658
"Oh, right.
Have a good time.
1926
01:28:45,700 --> 01:28:48,412
But they did write a
heck of a lot of songs
1927
01:28:48,453 --> 01:28:51,164
while they were there,
churning them out.
1928
01:28:51,206 --> 01:28:53,376
- The Beatles
introduced the world,
1929
01:28:53,418 --> 01:28:54,751
especially the young world,
1930
01:28:54,792 --> 01:28:57,421
to things they would
never have stumbled upon
1931
01:28:57,462 --> 01:28:59,047
had The Beatles not been there.
1932
01:28:59,089 --> 01:29:01,967
The philosophy
behind transcendental
1933
01:29:02,009 --> 01:29:05,179
meditation, Buddhism,
they were looking outwards.
1934
01:29:05,221 --> 01:29:07,473
Meditation was at
the center of it.
1935
01:29:07,515 --> 01:29:09,349
That's actually really
all that matters.
1936
01:29:09,391 --> 01:29:12,061
It's the soul.
The reality is here.
1937
01:29:12,102 --> 01:29:14,186
Not many people had really
thought about that before.
1938
01:29:14,228 --> 01:29:17,066
And if The Beatles, the most
popular band in the world,
1939
01:29:17,108 --> 01:29:19,109
the most popular cultural
phenomenon in the world,
1940
01:29:19,150 --> 01:29:22,487
were talking earnestly
about this stuff,
1941
01:29:22,529 --> 01:29:26,116
obviously, as much as a lot
of the elders might laugh,
1942
01:29:26,157 --> 01:29:28,412
at least as many young
people went along with them.
1943
01:29:28,454 --> 01:29:32,207
And, you know, sales of
texts of Eastern wisdom
1944
01:29:32,249 --> 01:29:34,585
went through the roof
in the late '60s.
1945
01:29:34,627 --> 01:29:36,877
People flocked to
see the Maharishi.
1946
01:29:36,919 --> 01:29:40,591
The Beatles were this
gateway to another world.
1947
01:29:40,633 --> 01:29:43,511
- Although the
band emerged from India
1948
01:29:43,553 --> 01:29:46,222
both spiritually and
creatively refreshed,
1949
01:29:46,264 --> 01:29:49,099
this sense of calm
would be short-lived.
1950
01:29:49,141 --> 01:29:54,105
In February 1968, they set up
their own corporation, Apple.
1951
01:29:54,147 --> 01:29:56,732
This multifaceted
company was developed
1952
01:29:56,774 --> 01:29:58,567
to broaden
The Beatles' activities
1953
01:29:58,609 --> 01:30:01,194
and to retain full
control over their output.
1954
01:30:01,236 --> 01:30:04,656
Yet it would prove the first
of many overambitious projects
1955
01:30:04,697 --> 01:30:06,449
for the band.
1956
01:30:06,491 --> 01:30:08,621
As they entered the
studio in the summer
1957
01:30:08,663 --> 01:30:10,664
to work on their
follow-up to Sgt. Pepper,
1958
01:30:10,705 --> 01:30:13,751
for the first time, creative
and personal disputes
1959
01:30:13,793 --> 01:30:16,126
crept into the
recording sessions.
1960
01:30:16,168 --> 01:30:19,297
A particular source of
tension was the daily presence
1961
01:30:19,339 --> 01:30:22,009
of an outsider in
The Beatles' inner sanctum,
1962
01:30:22,050 --> 01:30:24,679
the conceptual artist Yoko Ono,
1963
01:30:24,720 --> 01:30:27,849
with whom John Lennon had
fallen deeply in love.
1964
01:30:27,890 --> 01:30:30,809
It was a relationship that had
been blossoming, in private,
1965
01:30:30,851 --> 01:30:32,393
for more than a year.
1966
01:30:32,435 --> 01:30:34,689
While McCartney had been
growing in confidence
1967
01:30:34,730 --> 01:30:36,564
through his
underground activities,
1968
01:30:36,606 --> 01:30:40,777
Lennon's sense of isolation
in rural Surrey had increased.
1969
01:30:40,819 --> 01:30:43,613
Initially finding a
release through LSD,
1970
01:30:43,655 --> 01:30:47,493
it was Yoko Ono who offered
him a means of escape.
1971
01:30:47,535 --> 01:30:50,623
A relatively unknown artist
when she had traveled to London
1972
01:30:50,665 --> 01:30:53,417
with husband Tony Cox in 1966,
1973
01:30:53,459 --> 01:30:55,336
it was through
the Indica Gallery
1974
01:30:55,378 --> 01:30:57,670
that she came into
contact with Lennon.
1975
01:30:57,712 --> 01:31:00,341
Its owner, John Dunbar,
provided the space
1976
01:31:00,383 --> 01:31:02,801
for Ono's first UK exhibition,
1977
01:31:02,843 --> 01:31:05,013
and it was he who
invited his Beatle friend
1978
01:31:05,055 --> 01:31:07,390
to attend this unusual show.
1979
01:31:07,431 --> 01:31:10,517
- She was plainly an
interesting, powerful woman.
1980
01:31:10,559 --> 01:31:14,981
I didn't show ordinary pictures
on the wall at all, really.
1981
01:31:15,023 --> 01:31:19,193
And so, you know, she had some
good ideas and I liked them.
1982
01:31:19,235 --> 01:31:20,569
She wanted to do a show.
1983
01:31:20,610 --> 01:31:23,405
We managed to find
a couple of weeks
1984
01:31:23,446 --> 01:31:25,615
where we didn't
have something on.
1985
01:31:25,657 --> 01:31:28,536
Yoko was reluctant to
have anybody look at it
1986
01:31:28,578 --> 01:31:31,705
until she'd totally finished
and labeled everything.
1987
01:31:31,747 --> 01:31:33,709
So we were sort of doing that.
1988
01:31:33,751 --> 01:31:37,795
But me and Tony had
to sort of tell her,
1989
01:31:37,837 --> 01:31:41,383
"Look, this guy might buy
something, you never know."
1990
01:31:41,425 --> 01:31:45,096
He came round and he
did like the ladder
1991
01:31:45,137 --> 01:31:48,390
and then looking through
the magnifying glass
1992
01:31:48,433 --> 01:31:50,434
and it says "yes,"
so, he liked that.
1993
01:31:50,475 --> 01:31:52,437
- The relationship that developed
1994
01:31:52,478 --> 01:31:54,107
across the following two years
1995
01:31:54,148 --> 01:31:56,857
would be consummated
in May 1968,
1996
01:31:56,899 --> 01:31:59,945
just before The Beatles began
work on the White Album.
1997
01:31:59,986 --> 01:32:02,362
Lennon emerged a changed man,
1998
01:32:02,404 --> 01:32:04,407
released from an
unhappy marriage
1999
01:32:04,449 --> 01:32:06,700
and liberated as an artist.
2000
01:32:06,742 --> 01:32:09,079
- The arrival of Yoko Ono
into John's life
2001
01:32:09,121 --> 01:32:11,706
transformed Lennon completely.
2002
01:32:11,748 --> 01:32:15,209
She was the mother,
lover, teacher.
2003
01:32:15,251 --> 01:32:18,379
She was kind of everything
really to John. He needed that.
2004
01:32:18,421 --> 01:32:21,425
- When he met Yoko, she was
basically a mother figure.
2005
01:32:21,467 --> 01:32:23,302
I mean, he used to
call her "mother."
2006
01:32:23,343 --> 01:32:25,596
She, for her own reasons,
took him on,
2007
01:32:25,638 --> 01:32:26,889
and saved him, actually.
2008
01:32:33,813 --> 01:32:36,941
- As Ono's presence
made an impact on both Lennon
2009
01:32:36,982 --> 01:32:38,901
and the bond
between The Beatles,
2010
01:32:38,943 --> 01:32:41,820
the world outside of the
band began to darken.
2011
01:32:41,861 --> 01:32:45,741
As the war in Vietnam spiraled
further out of control
2012
01:32:45,783 --> 01:32:48,660
and with no apparent end
to the conflict in sight,
2013
01:32:48,701 --> 01:32:51,705
across the West, the
cultural movement so inspired
2014
01:32:51,747 --> 01:32:53,206
by The Beatles
2015
01:32:53,247 --> 01:32:56,129
no longer believed
love is all you need.
2016
01:32:56,171 --> 01:32:59,173
The progressive, liberal
core of the counterculture
2017
01:32:59,214 --> 01:33:01,634
came under fire, with
the assassinations
2018
01:33:01,676 --> 01:33:04,221
of, first, civil rights
leader Martin Luther King,
2019
01:33:04,262 --> 01:33:06,806
and, then, Presidential
candidate Robert Kennedy,
2020
01:33:06,848 --> 01:33:09,143
increasing tensions.
2021
01:33:09,186 --> 01:33:10,769
Both in the US and Britain,
2022
01:33:10,811 --> 01:33:13,146
once peaceful anti-war
demonstrations
2023
01:33:13,188 --> 01:33:14,731
descended into violence.
2024
01:33:14,773 --> 01:33:17,441
Student riots brought
Paris to a standstill,
2025
01:33:17,483 --> 01:33:19,234
and images of street skirmishes
2026
01:33:19,276 --> 01:33:22,404
and police brutality
became commonplace.
2027
01:33:22,446 --> 01:33:25,158
As the authorities led
an unforgiving onslaught
2028
01:33:25,200 --> 01:33:26,659
on the counterculture,
2029
01:33:26,701 --> 01:33:30,371
revolution replaced love
as the new objective.
2030
01:33:30,412 --> 01:33:33,290
- In '68, it all exploded.
2031
01:33:33,331 --> 01:33:35,711
You know, you had
assassinations in the States,
2032
01:33:35,752 --> 01:33:38,254
the threat of civil war,
2033
01:33:38,295 --> 01:33:40,173
riots in the
Democratic Convention,
2034
01:33:40,215 --> 01:33:44,595
riots in Paris, in London,
violence on the streets.
2035
01:33:44,637 --> 01:33:47,264
Actually, there was
a sort of a fight. Power--
2036
01:33:47,305 --> 01:33:49,894
you don't really get power,
it won't trickle down.
2037
01:33:49,935 --> 01:33:53,729
It has to be
sort of...forced.
2038
01:33:53,770 --> 01:33:56,233
If you look at history,
that tends to be the case.
2039
01:33:56,274 --> 01:33:58,942
The Beatles revolution
was a benign one,
2040
01:33:58,984 --> 01:34:00,863
through art and love,
2041
01:34:00,905 --> 01:34:04,157
but by '68, the bricks were
flying all over the place.
2042
01:34:04,199 --> 01:34:08,160
- It wasn't just
the sweet utopianism
2043
01:34:08,202 --> 01:34:12,999
of the Summer of Love,
but really days of rage.
2044
01:34:13,041 --> 01:34:16,170
The demonstrations at
the Democratic Convention
2045
01:34:16,212 --> 01:34:18,796
in Chicago in 1968,
2046
01:34:18,838 --> 01:34:21,925
you know, was a kind
of dividing line.
2047
01:34:21,966 --> 01:34:24,552
You saw the police out
there clubbing kids,
2048
01:34:24,594 --> 01:34:28,767
and there really was a sense of,
"We're kind of at war now."
2049
01:34:28,808 --> 01:34:31,895
- Just as this
unrestrained police brutality
2050
01:34:31,937 --> 01:34:34,855
tore through Chicago
in August 1968,
2051
01:34:34,897 --> 01:34:37,608
The Beatles issued
the single Revolution,
2052
01:34:37,649 --> 01:34:41,238
addressing the struggles of
a youth culture under threat.
2053
01:34:41,280 --> 01:34:44,448
Yet unlike All You Need
Is Love the previous year,
2054
01:34:44,489 --> 01:34:47,576
John Lennon's composition
refused to express the voice
2055
01:34:47,618 --> 01:34:49,286
of this disillusioned movement
2056
01:34:49,327 --> 01:34:52,248
or to accept the call to
arms of the radical Left.
2057
01:34:52,290 --> 01:34:55,126
For the first time, this
saw The Beatles turned upon
2058
01:34:55,168 --> 01:34:57,254
by their own peers.
2059
01:34:57,296 --> 01:34:59,713
Yet Lennon's reluctance
to commit to violence
2060
01:34:59,755 --> 01:35:02,341
not only led to two different
versions of the track
2061
01:35:02,382 --> 01:35:04,636
but also reflected
the inner struggles
2062
01:35:04,677 --> 01:35:07,265
that many young people
were dealing with.
2063
01:35:07,307 --> 01:35:08,808
- The song Revolution,
2064
01:35:08,849 --> 01:35:10,394
there are two versions of it.
2065
01:35:10,436 --> 01:35:11,896
Lennon goes back and forth on
2066
01:35:11,938 --> 01:35:13,687
"don't you know that
you can count me out"
2067
01:35:13,729 --> 01:35:16,191
as far as Revolution
is concerned.
2068
01:35:16,233 --> 01:35:19,819
Exactly where you were supposed
to stand was difficult.
2069
01:35:19,860 --> 01:35:21,905
All young people
were feeling that.
2070
01:35:21,947 --> 01:35:24,949
You know, go to a protest?
Yeah, sure.
2071
01:35:24,991 --> 01:35:29,661
Go to a protest that maybe
occupies a building? Oh, maybe.
2072
01:35:29,702 --> 01:35:32,374
You know, burning
that building down?
2073
01:35:34,084 --> 01:35:35,543
Do you draw the line there?
2074
01:35:35,585 --> 01:35:39,464
♪ You say you want
a revolution
2075
01:35:39,506 --> 01:35:43,343
♪ Well, you know
2076
01:35:43,384 --> 01:35:46,264
♪ We'd all love to
change the world
2077
01:35:49,183 --> 01:35:53,188
♪ You tell me that
it's evolution
2078
01:35:53,229 --> 01:35:57,066
♪ Well, you know
2079
01:35:57,108 --> 01:36:00,443
♪ We'd all love
to see the word
2080
01:36:03,365 --> 01:36:07,535
♪ But when you talk
about destruction
2081
01:36:07,576 --> 01:36:12,916
♪ Don't you know that
you can count me out, in... ♪
2082
01:36:12,958 --> 01:36:14,877
- If you're talking
about destruction
2083
01:36:14,918 --> 01:36:18,505
Lennon's saying count me out
then he's saying count me in.
2084
01:36:18,547 --> 01:36:20,216
He doesn't know.
2085
01:36:20,257 --> 01:36:22,508
He's on the fence at that point.
2086
01:36:22,550 --> 01:36:25,346
Lennon, as much as he
could be a bit handy,
2087
01:36:25,388 --> 01:36:28,307
was seduced by this
idea of peace and love.
2088
01:36:28,349 --> 01:36:31,186
He'd just written the
anthem of the previous year.
2089
01:36:31,228 --> 01:36:34,062
- There always was a
kind of inherent optimism
2090
01:36:34,103 --> 01:36:35,397
in The Beatles somehow,
2091
01:36:35,438 --> 01:36:37,693
whereas that wasn't true
of Dylan,
2092
01:36:37,735 --> 01:36:41,279
it wasn't true of The Stones.
2093
01:36:41,321 --> 01:36:43,740
It was almost like
Martin Luther King.
2094
01:36:43,781 --> 01:36:46,159
People don't say this now
2095
01:36:46,201 --> 01:36:48,702
but there was a sense in which
a lot of the black radicals
2096
01:36:48,744 --> 01:36:52,874
who were emerging seemed
more of the moment.
2097
01:36:52,916 --> 01:36:56,044
Dr. King seemed
like kind of part
2098
01:36:56,086 --> 01:36:58,088
of the protest Establishment.
2099
01:36:58,129 --> 01:36:59,964
And in a certain way
2100
01:37:00,006 --> 01:37:01,841
The Beatles seemed a
little bit like that too.
2101
01:37:01,883 --> 01:37:04,761
- If the band were
losing some of their relevance
2102
01:37:04,802 --> 01:37:08,181
as a cultural force through
Yoko Ono's influence,
2103
01:37:08,223 --> 01:37:11,895
John Lennon ensured that they
remained musical pioneers.
2104
01:37:11,937 --> 01:37:14,438
Where Revolution had pulled
its punches politically,
2105
01:37:14,479 --> 01:37:18,568
an experimental collage that
he created with his new partner
2106
01:37:18,610 --> 01:37:23,031
captured the chaos of 1968
simply through sound itself.
2107
01:37:23,073 --> 01:37:25,908
When it was issued on
the band's self-titled LP
2108
01:37:25,950 --> 01:37:28,870
at the close of the year,
the track Revolution 9
2109
01:37:28,912 --> 01:37:30,705
became the most widely heard
2110
01:37:30,747 --> 01:37:33,541
avant-garde composition
ever released.
2111
01:37:33,583 --> 01:37:36,044
It was a startling
statement from a man
2112
01:37:36,086 --> 01:37:37,504
who had been heralding
2113
01:37:37,545 --> 01:37:40,090
in the Summer of Love
only a year beforehand.
2114
01:37:40,132 --> 01:37:43,302
- He went from one
extreme to the other.
2115
01:37:43,343 --> 01:37:46,346
Lennon suddenly saw
it's all gone wrong.
2116
01:37:46,388 --> 01:37:48,224
He turned to the flip side,
2117
01:37:48,266 --> 01:37:51,226
and the flip side
was Revolution number 9,
2118
01:37:51,268 --> 01:37:53,980
Revolution 9,
which was a very,
2119
01:37:54,021 --> 01:37:58,318
very different view
of the future.
2120
01:38:00,278 --> 01:38:03,239
♪ Number nine, number nine
2121
01:38:03,281 --> 01:38:07,953
♪ Number nine, number
nine, number nine... ♪
2122
01:38:07,995 --> 01:38:11,038
Revolution 9 was
the sound really
2123
01:38:11,080 --> 01:38:15,209
of not just the riots in Paris
or the streets of Chicago.
2124
01:38:15,251 --> 01:38:17,796
This is the sound
of the apocalypse.
2125
01:38:25,429 --> 01:38:29,350
["Revolution 9" by The Beatles]
2126
01:38:44,365 --> 01:38:48,829
This is his incredibly
honest depiction
2127
01:38:48,871 --> 01:38:51,456
of the worst fear of all
2128
01:38:51,498 --> 01:38:56,586
which is a society
and a world in global turmoil.
2129
01:38:56,627 --> 01:38:58,421
It's an extraordinary piece,
2130
01:38:58,463 --> 01:39:02,009
and one of the scariest pieces
of music you could ever hear.
2131
01:39:02,051 --> 01:39:03,969
In the 21st century,
2132
01:39:04,011 --> 01:39:07,639
Revolution 9
is far more relevant
2133
01:39:07,681 --> 01:39:09,517
than it ever was in '68.
2134
01:39:09,559 --> 01:39:12,854
- Having delivered
the most extreme composition
2135
01:39:12,896 --> 01:39:14,606
in The Beatles' catalog,
2136
01:39:14,647 --> 01:39:16,731
Lennon's further
experimental activities
2137
01:39:16,772 --> 01:39:18,859
continued outside of the band.
2138
01:39:18,901 --> 01:39:20,861
By the end of 1968,
2139
01:39:20,903 --> 01:39:24,448
the first of a trilogy of albums
with Yoko Ono was issued -
2140
01:39:24,490 --> 01:39:27,869
Two Virgins, with a cover
depicting the couple naked.
2141
01:39:27,911 --> 01:39:29,704
Still a member of
the most popular
2142
01:39:29,746 --> 01:39:32,249
and commercially successful
act in the world,
2143
01:39:32,290 --> 01:39:35,043
Lennon was now breaking
every rule imaginable.
2144
01:39:35,085 --> 01:39:38,340
Yet the anger in some
quarters of the counterculture
2145
01:39:38,382 --> 01:39:40,716
toward the song
Revolution also led him
2146
01:39:40,758 --> 01:39:42,260
into a greater political role.
2147
01:39:42,301 --> 01:39:46,263
In 1969, as Richard
Nixon was sworn in
2148
01:39:46,304 --> 01:39:48,057
as the new President of America,
2149
01:39:48,099 --> 01:39:50,017
John Lennon and Yoko Ono emerged
2150
01:39:50,059 --> 01:39:53,647
as the world's most
prominent activists.
2151
01:39:53,688 --> 01:39:55,732
- When Lennon came out and said,
2152
01:39:55,774 --> 01:39:57,983
if you're talking about
destruction, count me out,
2153
01:39:58,025 --> 01:40:01,904
he was terribly criticized
by the hard Left.
2154
01:40:01,946 --> 01:40:04,865
And it seems to me that
his reaction to that
2155
01:40:04,907 --> 01:40:07,952
was not to change his
mind about destruction,
2156
01:40:07,993 --> 01:40:09,912
but actually to say,
2157
01:40:09,954 --> 01:40:13,040
"No, I really don't think
the answer is destruction.
2158
01:40:13,083 --> 01:40:15,834
I think the answer
actually is peace."
2159
01:40:15,876 --> 01:40:18,046
- In March 1969,
2160
01:40:18,088 --> 01:40:20,674
John Lennon and Yoko
Ono were married.
2161
01:40:20,715 --> 01:40:22,842
With their honeymoon,
the couple embarked
2162
01:40:22,884 --> 01:40:25,553
on a high-profile
campaign for peace,
2163
01:40:25,595 --> 01:40:29,476
presented as a series of
conceptual art events.
2164
01:40:29,517 --> 01:40:32,646
In the spirit of The Beatles'
initial attitude to the press,
2165
01:40:32,687 --> 01:40:36,191
the first of these took place
in their hotel bridal suite,
2166
01:40:36,233 --> 01:40:37,983
in which they
invited journalists
2167
01:40:38,024 --> 01:40:40,945
to discuss politics
openly and frankly.
2168
01:40:40,987 --> 01:40:42,947
- This is for world peace.
2169
01:40:42,989 --> 01:40:48,412
And we're thinking that
instead of going out and fight,
2170
01:40:48,454 --> 01:40:50,870
and make war,
something like that,
2171
01:40:50,912 --> 01:40:52,872
we should just stay in bed,
2172
01:40:52,914 --> 01:40:56,420
everybody should just stay
in bed and enjoy the spring.
2173
01:40:56,462 --> 01:40:59,757
- He put his career right on
the line there for his beliefs.
2174
01:40:59,799 --> 01:41:02,426
And you have to applaud
him for that, of course.
2175
01:41:02,468 --> 01:41:06,471
It brought him an awful lot
of harassment and trouble.
2176
01:41:06,513 --> 01:41:08,348
- While you're in bed
2177
01:41:08,389 --> 01:41:11,561
and you're giving your press
conferences in pillow cases,
2178
01:41:11,603 --> 01:41:13,855
are you laughing at us?
- No, no.
2179
01:41:13,896 --> 01:41:15,649
- No more than you're
laughing at us.
2180
01:41:15,691 --> 01:41:17,898
We have a laugh, we
think it's funny,
2181
01:41:17,940 --> 01:41:21,445
the fact that the front
page news should be the fact
2182
01:41:21,487 --> 01:41:23,906
that two people went to
bed on their honeymoon.
2183
01:41:23,948 --> 01:41:25,658
We see the funny side of it.
2184
01:41:25,700 --> 01:41:28,494
And that in Vienna, which
is a pretty square place,
2185
01:41:28,536 --> 01:41:30,622
there's all these
beautiful photographs
2186
01:41:30,664 --> 01:41:34,125
of microphones
being held to a bag,
2187
01:41:34,167 --> 01:41:35,793
to wait for the bag to speak.
2188
01:41:35,835 --> 01:41:37,253
-It's rather nice.
2189
01:41:37,295 --> 01:41:40,008
-But we're serious
about the peace bit.
2190
01:41:40,050 --> 01:41:43,344
- Brave, foolhardy,
they were all of that.
2191
01:41:43,386 --> 01:41:45,346
But who else would
have done that then?
2192
01:41:45,388 --> 01:41:48,057
It would be front page
news if they were in bed,
2193
01:41:48,098 --> 01:41:50,310
talking about peace.
2194
01:41:50,352 --> 01:41:53,437
John didn't know
necessarily the ins and outs
2195
01:41:53,479 --> 01:41:54,939
of the whole Vietnam thing.
2196
01:41:54,981 --> 01:41:57,275
He and Yoko knew
that it was wrong
2197
01:41:57,317 --> 01:42:00,152
to be dropping
napalm on villages
2198
01:42:00,194 --> 01:42:02,489
and stripping the
skin off children.
2199
01:42:02,531 --> 01:42:06,200
I mean, he wasn't
wrong in that thinking.
2200
01:42:06,242 --> 01:42:08,786
He really wasn't wrong.
2201
01:42:08,827 --> 01:42:10,913
- As the couple's honeymoon moved
2202
01:42:10,954 --> 01:42:12,622
from Europe to Canada,
2203
01:42:12,664 --> 01:42:14,876
they were joined in their
hotel room by Timothy Leary,
2204
01:42:14,918 --> 01:42:17,961
Allen Ginsberg and a variety
of counterculture figures,
2205
01:42:18,003 --> 01:42:21,049
to record an anthem
for their campaign.
2206
01:42:21,091 --> 01:42:23,093
And where their
experimental records
2207
01:42:23,134 --> 01:42:26,430
and their public appearances
had left many confused,
2208
01:42:26,471 --> 01:42:28,473
this song managed to
bring their message
2209
01:42:28,515 --> 01:42:29,934
to a global audience.
2210
01:42:29,975 --> 01:42:32,978
- Give Peace a Chance
was his attempt
2211
01:42:33,020 --> 01:42:37,192
to do something in his own
terms that was actually useful
2212
01:42:37,234 --> 01:42:39,737
and I think it proved to be so.
2213
01:42:39,779 --> 01:42:42,989
He wrote an anthem.
It's a simplistic anthem,
2214
01:42:43,031 --> 01:42:46,200
but it's an anthem that has a
good heart and a good message
2215
01:42:46,242 --> 01:42:48,620
and that people have
been singing ever since.
2216
01:42:48,661 --> 01:42:51,497
["Give Peace A Chance"]
2217
01:42:53,874 --> 01:42:57,169
♪ Ev'rybody's talking
'bout Bagism, Shagism
2218
01:42:57,211 --> 01:43:00,048
♪ Dragism, Madism,
Ragism, Tagism
2219
01:43:00,090 --> 01:43:04,176
♪ This-ism, that-ism,
is-m, is-m, is-m
2220
01:43:04,218 --> 01:43:09,726
♪ All we are saying
2221
01:43:09,768 --> 01:43:15,732
♪ Is give peace a chance
2222
01:43:15,774 --> 01:43:21,321
♪ All we are saying
2223
01:43:21,362 --> 01:43:25,200
♪ Is give peace a chance... ♪
2224
01:43:25,242 --> 01:43:28,702
- He's moved further
and further away
2225
01:43:28,744 --> 01:43:30,580
from the elegant combination
2226
01:43:30,622 --> 01:43:35,627
of artistic musical
choices and resonant text
2227
01:43:35,669 --> 01:43:40,299
into records that
only have a message.
2228
01:43:40,341 --> 01:43:43,677
He had that ability to
distill something down
2229
01:43:43,718 --> 01:43:47,097
to its bare essence,
make it communicative,
2230
01:43:47,139 --> 01:43:50,644
make it unforgettable, and it
still resonates to this day.
2231
01:43:50,686 --> 01:43:53,396
- While Lennon pressed on
2232
01:43:53,438 --> 01:43:55,106
campaigning for peace,
2233
01:43:55,148 --> 01:43:57,861
the close of the decade saw
the first major casualties
2234
01:43:57,902 --> 01:43:59,362
of the youth movement,
2235
01:43:59,403 --> 01:44:01,738
with the death of
Rolling Stone Brian Jones
2236
01:44:01,780 --> 01:44:03,866
and permanent narcotics damage
2237
01:44:03,907 --> 01:44:07,535
on both Beach Boy Brian Wilson
and Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett.
2238
01:44:07,576 --> 01:44:11,457
The utopian vision of a brave
new world was crumbling,
2239
01:44:11,499 --> 01:44:15,083
and this was reflected within
The Beatles camp itself.
2240
01:44:15,125 --> 01:44:17,961
The tensions that had
previously arisen in the studio
2241
01:44:18,003 --> 01:44:20,549
now spread into the bandmates'
own relationships
2242
01:44:20,590 --> 01:44:22,509
with each other,
and when McCartney
2243
01:44:22,551 --> 01:44:25,930
married his new partner Linda
Eastman in 1969,
2244
01:44:25,971 --> 01:44:29,264
none of his fellow Beatles
attended the ceremony.
2245
01:44:29,306 --> 01:44:32,186
As the world moved
into the 1970s,
2246
01:44:32,228 --> 01:44:34,689
Paul issued his
debut solo record
2247
01:44:34,731 --> 01:44:36,273
along with a press release
2248
01:44:36,315 --> 01:44:39,236
which announced that he
was quitting the band.
2249
01:44:39,277 --> 01:44:43,113
It was official.
The Beatles were no more.
2250
01:44:43,155 --> 01:44:46,035
The demise of the band
shocked their fans worldwide,
2251
01:44:46,077 --> 01:44:48,202
yet those close to the musicians
2252
01:44:48,244 --> 01:44:50,080
had watched them
gradually drift apart
2253
01:44:50,121 --> 01:44:52,875
over a two-year period.
2254
01:44:52,917 --> 01:44:55,042
- There was no cohesion.
2255
01:44:55,084 --> 01:44:57,003
The old Liverpool bubble that
they all used to live in
2256
01:44:57,045 --> 01:44:59,630
and see each other all the
time and love each other
2257
01:44:59,672 --> 01:45:01,884
and be tolerant of
each other's foibles
2258
01:45:01,926 --> 01:45:03,511
and differences had gone.
2259
01:45:03,553 --> 01:45:05,512
So now they were spinning
off in different directions
2260
01:45:05,554 --> 01:45:10,266
with new ideas, new families,
new girlfriends, new children.
2261
01:45:10,307 --> 01:45:11,727
It just wasn't working anymore.
2262
01:45:11,769 --> 01:45:13,520
It was obvious really
2263
01:45:13,562 --> 01:45:16,233
that The Beatles as a group
had pretty much come to an end.
2264
01:45:16,275 --> 01:45:19,737
- Has a multi-million
dollar entertainment act
2265
01:45:19,779 --> 01:45:24,991
ever broken up because
it wasn't fun anymore?
2266
01:45:25,032 --> 01:45:27,202
Well, we know actually
2267
01:45:27,244 --> 01:45:30,037
because so many groups
from that same period
2268
01:45:30,079 --> 01:45:32,207
continued and
continued and continued
2269
01:45:32,249 --> 01:45:34,875
when it most definitely
wasn't fun anymore.
2270
01:45:34,917 --> 01:45:37,545
The Beatles ended it
because the reasons
2271
01:45:37,587 --> 01:45:39,797
that they had
gotten into doing it
2272
01:45:39,838 --> 01:45:42,050
ceased to have value for them.
2273
01:45:42,092 --> 01:45:44,428
So they said, let's
not do this anymore.
2274
01:45:44,470 --> 01:45:49,475
That's as powerful a statement
about their integrity
2275
01:45:49,516 --> 01:45:51,769
and their intentions
and their values
2276
01:45:51,811 --> 01:45:53,854
as anything that I can think of.
2277
01:45:53,896 --> 01:45:56,357
- In The Beatles' wake,
2278
01:45:56,399 --> 01:45:58,694
youth culture
became more divided,
2279
01:45:58,736 --> 01:46:01,489
rock music got heavier
and more self-indulgent
2280
01:46:01,530 --> 01:46:04,115
and pop turned its
attention to glamor.
2281
01:46:04,157 --> 01:46:05,909
As for the band
members themselves,
2282
01:46:05,951 --> 01:46:08,453
despite Lennon's
continued activism
2283
01:46:08,495 --> 01:46:10,038
and string of hit singles,
2284
01:46:10,079 --> 01:46:12,875
McCartney's mainstream
triumph through his band Wings
2285
01:46:12,917 --> 01:46:14,959
and Harrison's
successful emergence
2286
01:46:15,001 --> 01:46:16,753
as an artist in his own right,
2287
01:46:16,795 --> 01:46:19,630
their impact as individuals
could never match that
2288
01:46:19,672 --> 01:46:21,759
of their Beatles glory days.
2289
01:46:21,801 --> 01:46:23,886
Yet although their
vision of utopia
2290
01:46:23,928 --> 01:46:25,720
had failed to materialize,
2291
01:46:25,762 --> 01:46:27,849
the world was still
forever changed
2292
01:46:27,890 --> 01:46:29,557
by The Beatles' innovations
2293
01:46:29,599 --> 01:46:31,852
and the values that
they represented.
2294
01:46:31,893 --> 01:46:34,522
Even if no one has ever managed
to compete with that impact,
2295
01:46:34,563 --> 01:46:38,067
with every successive
generation of musicians
2296
01:46:38,108 --> 01:46:40,486
The Beatles remain the benchmark
2297
01:46:40,528 --> 01:46:42,947
for how popular
entertainers can interact
2298
01:46:42,989 --> 01:46:44,573
with the wider world.
2299
01:46:44,615 --> 01:46:47,495
- Did cultural and
musical changes,
2300
01:46:47,537 --> 01:46:49,620
to which they were
without any doubt
2301
01:46:49,662 --> 01:46:52,248
the largest contributors,
have a permanent effect
2302
01:46:52,290 --> 01:46:55,044
on how rock and roll
conceived itself?
2303
01:46:55,085 --> 01:46:56,711
Yeah, permanent effect
2304
01:46:56,753 --> 01:46:58,964
on how rock and roll
perceived itself.
2305
01:46:59,006 --> 01:47:02,844
So that there's even now
in this glitzy pop era,
2306
01:47:02,886 --> 01:47:07,139
pop stars see it as an option
2307
01:47:07,181 --> 01:47:11,226
that they have to
accept or refuse
2308
01:47:11,267 --> 01:47:16,733
to be conscious,
controversial...
2309
01:47:16,774 --> 01:47:19,777
and some choose one,
and others really deny it,
2310
01:47:19,819 --> 01:47:22,613
and some are extremely bland,
2311
01:47:22,655 --> 01:47:25,450
but it's there on the table.
2312
01:47:25,492 --> 01:47:28,038
Always there on the
table, for everybody.
2313
01:47:28,080 --> 01:47:30,872
- And as the band's
astonishing achievements
2314
01:47:30,914 --> 01:47:34,085
continue to make an impact
half a century later,
2315
01:47:34,126 --> 01:47:36,043
the legacy of The Beatles,
2316
01:47:36,085 --> 01:47:37,587
and of the remarkable decade
2317
01:47:37,628 --> 01:47:41,007
in which they flourished,
remains unrivaled.
2318
01:47:41,049 --> 01:47:44,553
The unique story of four
working class Liverpudlians
2319
01:47:44,595 --> 01:47:46,471
who changed the world.
2320
01:47:46,513 --> 01:47:48,348
- Lennon said
something along the lines of,
2321
01:47:48,390 --> 01:47:51,560
"We weren't leaders
in this world.
2322
01:47:51,602 --> 01:47:56,523
"We were just the guys on
the mast saying land ahoy.
2323
01:47:56,565 --> 01:47:59,569
We were letting you
know what we could see."
2324
01:47:59,611 --> 01:48:04,490
And without The Beatles,
understanding the '60s
2325
01:48:04,532 --> 01:48:07,160
would have been a completely
different experience.
2326
01:48:07,201 --> 01:48:09,330
- They touched everything.
2327
01:48:09,372 --> 01:48:10,997
The Beatles covered it all.
2328
01:48:11,039 --> 01:48:12,875
If you want to know what
the '60s were about,
2329
01:48:12,917 --> 01:48:15,210
you listen to Beatles records.
2330
01:48:15,252 --> 01:48:17,755
It tells you--
the story is there.
2331
01:48:17,797 --> 01:48:21,134
- It sounds like a cliché,
but it's really impossible
2332
01:48:21,175 --> 01:48:23,136
to overstate
The Beatles' impact.
2333
01:48:23,177 --> 01:48:24,929
It sounds like
you're exaggerating,
2334
01:48:24,971 --> 01:48:26,764
and to younger people
who weren't there,
2335
01:48:26,806 --> 01:48:30,059
you know,
it just sounds ridiculous.
2336
01:48:30,103 --> 01:48:34,354
But it was true.
They changed everything.
189113
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