The adults in the room, for the most part, were unimpressed with the four mop-topped lads. I have a vague recollection of my own family gathered around the TV set. I was only five at the time, so my memories are sketchy. But I know that my two teenage brothers were the driving force for Beatlemania in our house. After watching their performance, we were all fans, in varying degrees -- except for my Dad.
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| The first Beatles album I owned. |
My father's music appreciation included Mitch Miller and Mantovani, with a side of Herb Alpert. He never did embrace rock and roll music. My mother, on the other hand, was open to new kinds of music. She liked a lot of the early Beatles stuff, but her enthusiasm waned when they got to the hard stuff.
My brothers were dia-hard fans all the way. They would go out and buy the latest Beatles album as soon after pressing as was possible. Then they would bring it home and play it. And play it. And play it. Which is probably why I can sing the lyrics to most of the Beatles songs. I consider it a blessing that my brothers didn't have headphones. My dad did not share my enthusiasm.
Many of the memories of my childhood are tied to Beatles music. Paperback Writer is associated with summer. I remember listening to Michele as I gazed at our Christmas tree. And, later on, when I had my own collection of Beatles albums, I remember being home alone and playing Revolution #9 and scaring the shit out of myself. I also remember seeing the movie Help when it first came out. We were at my grandmother's house, and my parents had dropped us off at the movie theater. My brother called to ask my mom if we could sit through it a second time. We did.
The Beatles were a balm to me, their music made personal in the memories I associated with it. I was not an outgoing child, I had an overactive imagination, and many times the Beatles felt like long-lost friends. Just listening to their music made me feel right somehow.
There were other musical groups I enjoyed. The Monkees diverted my affections for a time.
In school, my love of the Beatles was viewed as a little weird by my peers, who were into the Partridge Family. For a brief time I liked Bobby Sherman (he was dreamy in a dopey kind of way). But my go-to band was definitely The Beatles.
My sister, Diane, despaired of me ever growing out of my love for the Fab Four. At one point, she and my brother-in-law gave me a Bad Company album. It was good. I still have it. And my tastes have expanded significantly since then. I like hard rock, soft rock, a little bit (a very little bit) of country, some jazz, some classical, some New Age. I don't like rap in general, but there have been one or two pieces that I've found catchy. In general, I don't dismiss an entire genre of music because there's usually something there that I like.
But it always comes back to the first four.
Uma Thurman, as Mia in Pulp Fiction, tells Vincent (John Travolta), that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who like Elvis and those who like The Beatles. She said you can like both, but when it comes right down to it, there's no contest. Linda, my best friend, growing up, would choose Elvis every time.
In My Life, it's The Beatles. Ya, Ya, Ya!
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