Still a fun watch on Thanksgiving

 From saner times:

Hard to believe the show's messages included the obvious fact that fundamentalists are not the same as terrorists, that just because Republicans are wrong doesn't mean we hate them, and with the role of Sam Seaborn, played by Rob Lowe, not all Democrats are always right.   My how things have changed. 

At least this is fun, albeit from a world long ago.  

A blessed Thanksgiving

Here's a fun thing my wife had sent to her on the new team she is now working with since our little spell over October.  It's what comes with being in a division focused on stats and legal matters I suppose.  Fun stuff, but interesting what is included - and what isn't:

In any event, a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to all!

Because of racism

 This:

There are only four athletes who are billionaires, all of them black Americans.  It becomes more and more difficult to convince sane and thinking people that we are a Jim Crow nation of gas chambers and death camps and universal racism and oppression of minorities.  Remember, as my oldest son observed, the BLM movement didn't begin until after the reelection of our first black president.  That alone should give clues about what we're seeing. 

Beyond the obvious narrative breaker of non-white, non-Western and non-conservative protesters and activists praising Hamas and calling for the slaughter of Israeli Jews, we have this.  With more and more black multi-zillionaire superstars dominating various sports and professional positions, it gets difficult to convince poor, working class, low income whites that they nonetheless have the privilege owing to their skin color.

Not that everyone needs convincing of course.  Only enough.  And Catholics alone have shone we're equal to the task when it comes to providing people who will believe and embrace such bilge, no matter how much evidence is stacked against it. 

I see lead people

Last year I wrote about the games the family played most.  Those were games that the whole family played together over the years.  During the Covid years, our turning to board games became a major part of our family entertainment, since so many things we used to do were denied us by way of lockdowns and closings.  And there are only so many movies you can watch without going bonkers. 

In that list of games was the grand dam of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre - Dungeons and Dragons.  Believe it or not, over the next couple months I had several tell me through one venue or another that they were shocked - shocked I tell you - that this Catholic, former Evangelical pastor, former Baptist no less, played that controversial game of games.  Well, let me 'splain. 

I've written several times over the years about how I first stumbled upon the game.  How initially I detected no particular 'stigma' about playing it, from my peers or pop culture, any more than there was a stigma with the Trivial Pursuit fad or the Pac Man fad.  I also have mused on the media driven coalition that aimed like a Death Star laser beam at wrecking the game, and how it succeeded.  I've mentioned how, by the time I graduated high school, most guys I knew who played it not only stopped playing it, but denied ever having heard of the game. I always found that significant. 

For my part, after hearing of it for the first time, I went out and bought all the books I could in order to see what it was all about.  Walden Books and KB Toys were my main source.  Problem was, upon actually playing at a local game group in the basement of the town's First Federal Savings and Loan, I was less than impressed.  It was mostly fighting and arguing, which I could get aplenty in the locker room after the next gym class.  After a few tries I more or less set the game aside.  Besides, fantasy and sci-fi were not my cup of tea anyway.

Years later, preparing to head down to the main OSU campus for my junior year of college, I was playing poker with a group of friends after work.  One of their friends from high school was there, and he invited anyone to join a game group he was part of that played a variety of games.  I said sure, even though I didn't know him, and the group was already at the main campus.  The Wednesday evening I first went there, they were playing Dungeons and Dragons.  Usually it was D&D, or a variety of other card games, sometimes RISK or Monopoly, depending on how many showed up.  

It was actually fun.  The group was almost exclusively science/computer science majors.  The referee (that's DM, or Dungeon Master, to those in the hobby) was, along with me, the only humanities major there.  He was a literature major hoping to be a sci-fi/fantasy author.  Perhaps because of his creativity, he made the game fun and accessible to me.  A couple others tried their hands at running a D&D game over the next couple years, but I didn't find those as enjoyable.

Nonetheless, it being me at the time, I eventually worked them over toward more of a strategy/wargame focus.  At one point we even spent a few months playing Empires and Arms (until the fellow's roommate made him take it down from the kitchen table).

After the group disbanded owing to life moving on, that was that.  When I moved to Florida I knew nobody and had no contacts to call  upon.  I found a hobby store, because at that time I was trying to gobble up what old Avalon Hill wargames I could find.  There was a D&D game going on in the store, made up almost entirely of grown men.  One even drove a Corvette.  Nonetheless, it reminded me of my first experience.  Those grown men sat there fighting and arguing and almost yelling about what, to me, was a bunch of stupid trivialities about a game based on fighting dragons. 

Then I met my future wife, and most such pastimes went into the rearview mirror.  I brought up to her that I had played D&D, and did have fond memories about that time even though I seldom played it.  Baptist that she was, however, it was a long time before she warmed up to the game or the genre.

When my boys came along, and heading into the 2000s, I noticed that there was a new wave of 'Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Comic Book' focus in pop culture.  Driven by the news of Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films, and overflowing from the Harry Potter phenomenon, I called this the Second Fantasy Renaissance.   

The obvious similarities only made Potter a bigger hit in the household 

Now the way I raised my kids was this.  I wanted them to be aware of their generational surroundings, within reason.  But I also exposed them to the things of my childhood, or earlier.  Or things rooted in our older culture in general.  Things I was interested in.  I didn't shove it down their throats.  I simply watched this old TV show or that old movie or read this or that older book from olden times.  At the same time, I encouraged them - again, within reason - to follow or like the things around them.  For instance, though I may not have cared for everything about the Potter books or the latest comic book movie, I found them harmless - at least compared to what I grew up with in the very freewheeling, promiscuous 70s and 80s. 

It wasn't surprising that the boys glommed onto the Fantasy/Comics fad at the moment.  That included seeing the newly revised D&D game, especially the vast line of plastic miniatures that accompanied it.  Had I been their age, I probably would have loved those, too. 

So I got my hands on the game (called by that time the 3rd Edition), and began priming the family for this, since I figured at least some of them would become interested in it anyway.  I always felt that, without imposing myself into their lives, getting ahead of the trends was the smart way to go. Plus, I must admit, there is a strange sense of nostalgia for this game, even if I never did much with it in my youth.  This has increased as, while I'm still no big fantasy/sci-fi fellow, I have grown to appreciate the genre more and have tried my hand at a variety of such books and movies over the years. 

My wife warmed to the hobby because you could still buy the old lead miniatures.  Those are ones you have to paint, for those with that particular skill.  My wife, always the artsy-craftsy type, actually found those enjoyable.  That was the gateway for her.  The boys simply came along when I opened the door.  I waited until my third oldest was at least old enough to have some idea about what was happening, and then began playing the game.  Already they had heard about it, and this seemed the better way to introduce them, rather than letting the world do it. 

After a few months, I confess I began to find myself under-impressed.  I didn't care for the game books as presented.  Yes, they were quality productions (until they fell apart from moderate use).  But it made me think of a game trying to be a computer game on paper.  The text was spartan and uninspiring.  The game was somewhat 'blah' in terms of its feel.  I seemed to recall a genuine feeling of inspiration when I read the original rule books back in the day.  This new edition made me think of stereo instructions with elves.  I compared it to chewing on tin foil.  

At that point, I went down into our basement, found an old box with books and paraphernalia from my younger days, and located the old, original AD&D books I still had.  Since I didn't play it much, they were in tiptop shape.  Because the hobby at that time in the early 2000s was centered around the latest, hippest, I was able to find multiple copies of those old 1970s releases for pennies on the dollar.  Today, perhaps because of the hobby bowing low before the Woke idol, such books will cost you in the hundreds. 

I gave those old rule books to the boys, and they were immediately taken by the charm, the feel, the basic atmosphere that they evoked.  For instance, in a section dealing with how to destroy items of special power called artifacts, one of the methods is: 

"Cause it to be broken against/by or crushed by ... the Juggernaut of the Endless Labyrinth" 

You have to admit, that is far better than 'do this feat with this skill at a -6 on your die roll' which was how the 3rd edition would render such actions.  Or, when describing a character of the assassin class, the text reads:

"Assassins are evil in alignment (perforce, as the killing of humans and other intelligent life forms for the purpose of profit is basically held to be the antithesis of weal)." 

Perforce?   Antithesis of weal?  Who writes like that for an instruction manual?  The boys agreed.  They said the new edition was simply a new edition of the original game.  But the original game was not an edition of anything.  Rather, it was the game statting direct inspiration from a wide variety of influences and cultural staples.   

L: D. Trampier, 1st Ed AD&D, R: Lang's Green Fairy Book, 1900

As one historian once said, the original D&D game was a bit like a ball of Velcro rolled through the lint warehouse of late 20th Century Western culture.  From mythology and folklore, to pulp fantasy and classical literature, from Bugs Bunny cartoons to Hammer Horror Films and Night Stalker episodes, the original rules took inspiration from anywhere and everywhere and simply added statistics.  And it showed in the feel and appeal of the originals. 

From that time on, the family warmed up to the game, enjoying the colorful (and at times quirky) presentation along with the more clearly defined links to the literary and cultural inspirations for the game.  We played it over the years, sometimes months at a time, sometimes it would sit on the shelves for months at a time.  But we always went back.  

David French and Mark Shea are happy with Ohio's abortion ammendment

Yep.  What did Ohio's stupid bishops know?  They fought against a loosely worded amendment that would allow future laws to broaden abortion, and gender decisions to be constitutional rights for all citizens regardless of age.  But Mark praises French's enlightened take down of those who tried to keep abortion from being enshrined as a constitutional right, and the door opening for so much more.  

You know I'm not fan of Trump.  I didn't vote for him and even voted for Kasich, who by then I was no fan of, to stop him.  But Trump did do one valuable thing.  He drew out those who clearly were ready to go Vichy with the Left.  For them, Trump was ever an excuse, not a reason.  And the trees are visible by their fruit. 

So what did last week teach us?

First, that I'm obviously a Beatles fan.  I know.  Given the rot in our society it seems odd to be a fan of something that many consider instrumental in furthering that rot.  But as long as other Christians eat their slice of the worldly pie, and justify it with copious appeals to Romans 14, I'll still like the Beatles (and other musical offerings from the whole sex, drugs and rock and roll era - tens of millions dead from AIDS and drugs being something we apparently have learned to live with rather than give up our playlists).

Second, I'm clearly growing tired of 'Issue Blogging.'  Let's face it, the blogosphere of 20 years ago is dead and gone. Twitter and other similar platforms that distill complex issues into sitcom level one liners are now the rage for Internet discourse.  Many Catholic  bloggers, especially to the left of center, have moved to sites behind digital walls that keep dissenting views from troubling them (I kid you not, find more than a couple leftwing Catholic sites that still have open comments sections).  Meanwhile the shadow grows and the suicide of the West continues apace. 

My boys and I were talking some months ago, as you know we're wont to do.  While discussing America's willingness to let the Marxist assault on our nation win out, we were pondering how these things happen.  Perhaps because we abandoned God?  Let godlessness win out? Were cowards and wimps who looked for slick excuses to avoid actually defending virtue and truth?  Or, as one of my sons suggested, perhaps the whole reason America and the entire era of democracy existed at all was merely to thwart the Nazis in their goal of exterminating the Jewish people.  You know, a lifting up Cyrus sort of thing. 

I thought that was an interesting take.  It certainly isn't non-biblical.  God's ways aren't ours.  Which might be why, at this point, it looks like God has given our nation up to its lusts and impurities.  After all, whatever good the nation had is mostly fading from the historical stage.  The nation so many are desperately trying to save died many years ago.  Young people have been told to believe that the United States and all the West are defined by their unforgivable and unique sins and need only be eliminated.  Cue the Jews now linked with Israel which is seen by the Left as part of the West that has to go. 

In the face of this, continuing to prattle on about the same old same old gets a bit tiresome.  Stress for the sake of stress.  A growing number of Christians are surrendering and giving in.  Many church leaders are making it clear that there is nothing the world can throw at us that we won't find a way to compromise the Faith in order to accommodate.  The media is a propaganda organ that is less concerned about slaughtered Jews than it is pinning a single crime on anything associated with the West.  And young fanatics are getting worse on a daily basis because they are encouraged to do so by the powers that be. 

Therefore, constantly posting on the same thing over and over again is just posting on the same thing over and over again.  It would be like having a blog in WW2 and spending every day fussing about the violence in the news.  I do think we are heading where we are heading: a post-Western, post-democratic world in a post-Christian era.  Back to the old paganism, secular version.  No particular God of worth, guaranteed eternal paradise if that's your thing, physical worldly priorities otherwise. If we have to crush someone, we promise it won't be you. Because what matters most is you, and the World promises to accommodate you accordingly. 

It won't end with that of course.  That's the 'we promise, all animals will be equal' part.  Already we are seeing that modified to some animals being more equal than others.  Which seems fine for so many today.  Even now, Jewish liberals in the face of 'death to the Israeli Jews' chants are trying to twist their concern about being exterminated with their fealty to this post-religious, post  Christian Western movement and utter hatred for its defenders.  All while the alliance to throw down the West that includes, but is not limited to, Muslims, Chinese Communists, and anyone from any group disenfranchised by the West, continues to make significant strides.

Therefore, I'm once again going to back down.  I can't say I won't mention anything in the news.  I've declared that intention before, only to find myself drawn back in when we took another crazy step toward the end (remember me ducking out on the eve of the Kavanaugh circus?).  Same with last week.  Our state made it clear that sex and drugs and the right to abort anything hindering our libidos is our core value.  The typically lame and impotent GOP continued to lose, and even liberal school board candidates seemed to dominate the win column as schools become more open about sex for kids, gender change for teens, and post-Western Marxist propaganda in the curriculums.  What to make of that?  See the paragraphs above.  

In the end, empires rise, and empires fall.  Our is falling.  The Church is floundering because it's not difficult to believe that a substantial number of our leaders just don't believe it anymore.  In Europe and America, except for those rascally Pentecostals, the churches are dwindling along with the civilization they helped build.  In Asia the Faith is strong, and God bless those African Christians.  But like all things, our own progressive fellows have made it clear they'll heap no end of scorn and contempt on those swarthy and dark skinned types when they dare challenge a leftwing dogma.  Just like those slaughtered Israeli Jews who are barely mentioned now in the news or on leftwing sites (compare that to endless weeks and months condemning Kanye West over his statements about Jewish people). 

So now what?  Well, I like the blog.  But sometimes I miss the early days, when it was one part fun and frivolity, about two parts issue and news or commentary just to comment.  Sometimes I added reflections on the Faith or life, like this:

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:  

Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? 

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

Which came to mind in light of the crushing defeats of virtue and goodness we saw last week.  At the end of the day, the majority of us who inherited the West, including our leaders and religious guides, accepted the gospel of the World and have stood by amidst failure after failure to defend our inheritance.  Well, when that's the norm, blogging about it every day won't change things.

So I'll try to go back to the early days.  I won't not comment on the egregious, even as the egregious becomes more and more the norm. I'll try to reference funner things, family things, and just things in general. It may not be what people want (I discovered there is a stunning lack of Beatles fans among my readers), but it will be what I want.  

If I post on issues, I'll try to avoid being shaped by the latest news stories.  My sons often ask why I bother watching or reading the news at this point.  We know it isn't telling us the whole story, and sometimes verges on outright falsehood.  Why take anything the press says as any type of a launching pad for a thought, whether good or bad?  They have a point.  Not that all stories are false or missing important context.  But you never know which, do you?  As the late Michael Crichton explained with his Gell-Mann Amnesia principle: if you know the press got this story so horribly wrong because you know the topic at hand, why assume the next one dealing with a topic you don't know will be any better? 

Again, back in the early days of the blog the point was to sharpen my claws at writing.  I've always been a better public speaker (in certain settings) than writer.  A priest friend suggested the blog for that reason. And though I did reference the odd stupid or wrong or concerning thing coming from the world, I also posted on reflections, fun things, family outings, personal interests or similar topics much more often.  It may not have ginned up the readership, but it didn't feel like running up a down escalator every day either. 

So that is what I plan to do again.  As I said, I won't promise no more issue blogging.  When it finally hits the fan, I want my objections to be on record beyond just family and friends.  When future generations look back at this era and ask why, I don't mind my allegiances being on the public record, no matter how obscure.  I realize God knows, but it's nice to know that those future generations who will suffer for our folly will know who to blame and who not to blame.  But I'll try to find things to blog about that are more fun, light hearted, meaningful to me (and hopefully others) or just plain goofy.  That can only help at this stage in the game.  Goodness knows. obsessing about the latest has done nothing to stop the latest.  So why affirm the age old definition of insanity?

Post-Christian Catholicism

Is best demonstrated here:

If we wonder why Ohio enshrined the sex, drugs and abortion culture into our state constitution, you need only thank the majority of Catholics.  

Always remember, the biblical narrative is, as often as not, a minority witness.  It's the majority of those called by God flipping God the high middle finger, and loathing those who remain faithful in the process.  It is not a story where the majority always does the right thing and follows the commandments given them by the God who loves them. 

For all the veterans

Veterans Day and Memorial Day can often run together.  Most of the time, as I've watched today, the emphasis seems to be on those who gave that last measure of devotion.  Or, if not, then on those who served in combat or during war.  Even if it's not stated that way. 

But properly, Veterans Day is for all veterans, war or peace, who served our country.  Even those today, serving in a hot mess dumpster fire military defending a dying nation.  We still 'honor' them, a word that seldom means much today, but we're told we should do in this particular case.  But then, the news recently said on Suicide Prevention Day that we should honor suicide victims.  Which I thought was wrong thinking to the extreme. 

But I agree that we should honor veterans.  Including those who had the good fortune to serve in peace time.  Therefore I post this picture:

It's of my dad, his dad and his two older brothers some time in the 1950s (his younger two brothers - also veterans - are not there).

To the left is his oldest brother, who flew in a B-17 during WW2.  Hollywood handsome and very proud of his service, he obtained a pilot's license after the war and maintained a passion for flying throughout his life.  He was also the most decorated brother, being the first US airman to shoot down a German bomber by himself (a Ju-88).  In those days any special accomplishment made you a celebrity in the name of ginning up support for the war effort.  Of all family members, he was most willing to discuss his wartime exploits.  In later years, those discussions did take on a more introspective tone. 

Next is my granddad.  He was not the best father.  Today he would be unforgivable in keeping with our enlightened developments as a society.  Struggling with drink and being what we call abusive, there was no love lost between him and my dad.  But he was a war veteran as well, serving in the merchant marine in the First World War.  Since I think I only met with him a couple times, and then as a toddler or younger, I can't say anything else about his service.  After all, Dad seldom mentioned anything about him other than his hunting for food and prowess at gardening (one of the few things Dad gave him credit for). 

On the far right is my dad's next oldest brother - and the one he was closest to.  One of those famous types who are gentle as a lamb - unless you push him too far.  One Christmas Eve, while driving in downtown Chicago, he was cut off by a city bus.  Enraged, he managed to swing in front of it, then stop the car, shut the engine off, and throw the keys on the floor.  The downtown traffic was backed up to Minnesota within minutes.  In WW2, he served with Patton as a medic, and was part of the Battle of the Bulge.  He was awarded a late commendation shortly before he passed from cancer.  That's when he asked my dad what the Ardennes was, and my dad explained that it was the Bulge.  His response was typical for him - all he could remember was it being very cold and people shooting at him. 

Finally there is my dad.  His younger brother and he went into the 1950s without much thought of serving.  His youngest brother was fourteen years his junior, and too young.  Eventually he would join and serve in combat during the Vietnam War.  

But my dad's younger brother didn't seem interested in living up to their brothers, and that suited Dad just fine.  Dad was, at that time, the 'rough one' of the brothers, and more concerned about getting in trouble with his friends (one such friend went to prison for murdering a man during a robbery - but  he was the one who encouraged Dad to date my mom, so there you go).  That side of him eased up once he became a father. 

One day Dad learned his younger brother had joined the army, simply because he didn't want to be left out.  The Korean War was going on, and he decided to keep the family tradition of combat veterans alive. That prompted Dad to join, since he didn't want to be the one in the family not to serve.  The two of them did basic together at Fort Knox (Agony and Misery), with Dad eventually spending most of his time at Fort Hood.  They didn't have a chance to serve in combat, because by the time they exited basic training, the Korean War armistice was signed.  

Serving in the armored engineers, Dad learned all you can know about building things and taking automobiles apart.  Hence that farmhouse he rebuilt from the ground up that I've written about.  He had a chance to go to school and learn how to work on helicopters (a new thing back then). But that would involve flying in helicopters, something he wasn't keen on doing.  Plus, he was older than most of his peers in the army, and was itching to get back to civilian life and continue his lifelong career in the railroad.  

So there you have it.  Veterans all, including those who were fortunate enough to dodge combat.  Mom's oldest brother and father were also combat veterans. Her dad served in the army in WWI at the end of that conflict, serving in the Argonne Forest.  Her bother served in the  South Pacific in the Army Air Corps.  It was his unit that was responsible for shooting down Admiral Yamamoto.  Her other brother couldn't serve owing to health problems (he lost a lung when he was little).  There were also other relatives, great uncles and all, who served in and out of war time.  But whether combat or peace time, this is a day to honor them all, and so I do.  

The Best Beatles Album Part 6

 Revolver - Released 8/5/1966

In April of 1966, riding the momentum of their trailblazing album Rubber Soul, the group moved once more into the studio to begin recording their next album.  George Martin said the thing he admired most about them was that they didn't rest on their laurels.  No matter how successful the previous album, they were prepared to leap forward and change everything around, and try anything new.  As they began working on this, Paul McCartney stated that, in May, he was floored by the release of the Beach Boys' celebrated album Pet Sounds.  Seeing them incorporate studio sophistication and innovation that made the Beatles seem almost dated by comparison, McCartney realized they would have to push and push fast to stay ahead of the changes they were inspiring across the music industry.  And it wasn't just the Beach Boys abandoning their surf and sun reputation to go full experimental.  Michell Cohen notes that "mid 1966 was the most vigorous period of pop expressionism and innovation in history."  Record stores abounded with a growing tidal wave of experimental and pioneering albums, such as Sunshine Superman, The Kink Kontroversy, Fifth Dimension (by the Byrds), and Daydream by the Lovin' Spoonful, to name just a handful.  McCartney, and to an extent the other three, felt to stay relevant they would need to shove the barriers out of the way and push the recording industry to the limits. As musicologist Wilfrid Mellers noted, this was the period when the Beatles moved the recording industry from merely being a means to an end, and made it an essential part of the artistic process of recorded music. And from there, by extension, they moved pop music into the realm of artform. 

Paul McCartney, notebook in hand, attends a music seminar at the Italian Institute

By now the high noon of Beatlemania had passed, and their decision to stop touring was largely made.  Their lack of growth as an organization left them behind in the touring world.  Playing stadiums, it was still them and a handful of friends and roadies who would put up and take down the equipment, or move stage equipment around when needed, or even carry their own luggage.  The sparce sound systems meant that, in most cases, the large venues were just noisy scream-fests with little music able to be heard.  At times their act looked no different than it did in the Cavern Club, where Brian Epstein first discovered them.  They were merely in front of tens of thousands of fans.  Plus, with albums like Revolver and Rubber Soul, it was clear they could no longer pretend to play their music on stage.  How does one play Yellow Submarine or Tomorrow Never Knows on stage in 1966?  Answer: you don't.  At the end of the day, the growing sophistication and professionalism of their records was making it impossible to maintain that original raw onstage energy from their earlier years.  They were eager to settle down and focus entirely on expanding the art of recorded music.  Revolver would demonstrate that like no other album to date. 

The most successful songwriting team of the 20th Century

"Although 'Eleanor Rigby' was far from the first pop song to deal with death and loneliness, according to music historian Ian MacDonald, it "came as quite a shock to pop listeners in 1966". It took a bleak message of depression and desolation, written by a famous pop group, with a sombre, almost funeral-like backing, to the number one spot of the pop charts."

For its part, Revolver is often called their best album because it is both the most Beatles-like and not Beatles-like album of their catalogue.  The aforementioned Tomorrow Never Knows marked the cusp of recording capabilities in late 1966.  Upon hearing a demo of it, Bob Dylan is reported to have said 'So you don't want to be cute anymore, huh?'  Snark aside, he saw that the Beatles were ready to move on.  And other offerings from the album demonstrate that fact.  Songs such as And Your Bird Can Sing, For No One or Good Day Sunshine sound more like the professional output of A list artists and professional songwriters and producers than anything the Beatles or any other rock musicians had produced by that point.  Likewise, beyond Tomorrow Never Knows, you had Yellow Submarine, the Indian inspired Love You To, and another celebrated orchestral tune, Eleanor Rigby.  The rest of the songs are equally strong, with the love balled Here, There and Everywhere easily competing with the best love ballads from the time.  It is also noteworthy that on this album, George Harrison was beginning to come into his own with three songs written by him.  Because of the maturity, the innovations, the quality and the professional output emanating from the music, I'm inclined to agree with those who say this, more than any other Beatles album, deserves to be named their best. 

Honorable Mention: Yellow Submarine (Soundtrack) -  Released 1/13/1969

This is a strange one.  If you include this album in the lists, then it is the one album produced by the Beatles that didn't go to #1.  Yet it really isn't a Beatles album.  At least not in the sense that their other albums were Beatles albums.  As stated earlier, by 1968 everyone - including the press - could see that the wheels were starting to come off the Beatles bus.  Ringo and George were already married, Jon was involved with Yoko, and Paul was beginning his relationship with Linda Eastman, later Linda McCartney.  Beyond all the other riffs and bickering, clearly they were beginning to feel the tug of domestic life and moving on.  As a result, the old energy and drive to keep the band going was fading.   Brian had died, and the music world was exploding with new acts and talent on an almost daily basis. Staying ahead of an ever growing pack isn't easy when other priorities are emerging. Hence1968 was the year when almost all of them began to realize the end was approaching.  Until the end of that year, Hey Jude was the only significant release from the group.  Except for this strange movie that was inspired by the second to last song on Side A of Revolver.  The song Yellow Submarine was a strange musical production that tapped into George Martin's haversack of resources from both classical and novelty recording.  It was inspired by a dream John had of a submarine chasing Ringo down the street.  Talks began about adapting it for an animated movie some time later.  The movie continued to draw on the psychedelia fad that by 1968 was all the rage.  In truth, the Beatles themselves had little to do with the film.  They didn't even provide the voices for their own animated characters.  A few songs, mostly songs already recorded but not yet released, were given to the soundtrack album.  Only a couple were written specifically for this project.   Much of the movie was filled with songs from previous albums that fit within the movie's 'storyline' - a bizarre brew involving blue meanies, snapping turtle Turks, the terrible flying glove, and the disturbingly drawn Mr. Boob, the Nowhere Man.  Despite its strangeness (or perhaps because of - it was 1968 after all), the movie was well received by both fans and critics.  Not a blockbuster or as successful as their first two films, it nonetheless helped - along with Hey Jude - to win back the good will they had somewhat squandered in previous months.  The movie's soundtrack album was released in January, 1969.   It went to #2 on the US album charts.  Again, most songs were either already released or merely thrown in from earlier work.  Side B was all orchestrations from the movie, no Beatles songs at all.  Many critics agreed that if anything should have been an EP, it was this.  It is also the only Beatles album I don't own. 

Afterword

The Quarrymen perform at the Woolton village fête, 7/6/1957

In 1993, the year I was married, the news reported that Ivan Vaughan had died of pneumonia.  Who was Ivan Vaughan?  He was a professor of psychology at Cambridge through the 1970s, until ill health forced him to retire.  Why did his passing make news?  Not from being a professor.  Not for retiring early due to health problems.  But because of something he did when he was fifteen years old.  

At fifteen, on July 6, 1957, Ivan Vaughan invited his sixteen year old friend James (Paul) McCartney to a village fête that was happening at nearby St. Peter's Church.  McCartney wasn't particularly interested, but Ivan persisted.  Finally McCartney agreed and accompanied him to the gathering, where a couple local musical acts were performing.  One act, called The Quarrymen, was fronted by a wavy haired teenager wearing a checked shirt and playing a cheap guitar.  His name was John Winston Lennon.  Being friends of both Paul and John, Ivan introduced the two. 

Paul was immediately taken by the fact that John had the drive to form his own band at that young age.  John was taken by the fact that Paul could not only play but, being the son of a professional musician, he could also tune a guitar.  In October of that year, after several meetings and performances together, John officially invited Paul to join the band.  The rest, as they say, is history.  And it's why a relatively obscure former professor who died of pneumonia made the international news almost 40 years after that seemingly insignificant event.   

Six Years: L: c. 1963, R: the last photo session with the four together, 8/22/1969

“I tell you, Larry, there is no other band, there will never be any band like them ever … They are the best, I say to you Larry, here in 1965, that the children of 2000 will be listening to the Beatles.  And I sincerely mean that.”  Brian Epstein

The Best Beatles Albums Part 5

 The Beatles (aka The White Album) - Released 11/28/1968

Hard to see, but it's there

After the sorry performance of the Magical Mystery Tour television special, and in light of their manager's death from a drug overdose, the Beatles and several other celebrities flew off to India to practice transcendental meditation under the tutelage of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They had come across his teachings shortly after their Our World triumph.  The plan was for several months of meditation and learning Eastern ways.  In ten days, however, Ringo left for home, stating he didn't like the food.  McCartney left a month later.  Finally the other two returned amidst rumors that the Maharishi's intentions, at least where the women were concerned, were not altogether spiritual (Lennon's  Sexy Sadie was a thinly veiled swipe at the guru because of this). While in India, they were not only meditating, but they were also writing songs. Lots of songs.  And not just Lennon and McCartney, but also Harrison and even Ringo.  When they returned to the Abbey Road studios in May, 1968, they were ready to record almost all of the songs they wrote.  Enough songs for a double album set.  George Martin immediately protested.  Some of the songs were outstanding, and would make a strong - possibly their best - album (consider Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps in that category). Others were everything from goofy to just garbage (I'm looking at you Wild Honey Pie).  Nonetheless, the four wouldn't budge.  It was all of them or nothing.  And that included a bit of avant-garde electronic sound experimentation (Revolution 9), courtesy of a new presence in the studio that was adding to the already tense atmosphere.  That presence was John's new love interest, artist Yoko Ono.  

As production continued, Martin turned into more of an executive producer, moving from studio to studio, overseeing the process as the individual Beatles worked on their own songs their own ways.  McCartney became increasingly bossy, chasing Ringo out for over a week.  George Harrison threatened to quit, growing tired of his limited allotment of songs per album.  And the Lennon-Ono team was pushing everyone, including staff, to the limits. Despite that atmosphere, they still managed to work forward.  They needed to.  After years of seeing at least two albums released in a year, 1968 was progressing without a Beatles album release.  The one bright spot musically speaking came with the release of Hey Jude.  It was a pure McCartney song written for Julian Lennon after his dad left Cynthia Lennon for Yoko Ono.  Their 16th #1 song in the US, it became their biggest hit single, and one of the biggest singles of all time.  Staying at #1 for almost two and a half months, it was also long.  Far longer than radio stations typically agreed to play.  Nevertheless, it broke records at the time and remains their most successful chart topper.  Still, an album was needed, and wanted by fans.  The Beatles was released on November 22, 1968, under their own newly formed Apple Corps record label.  Its blank appearance was a purposeful attempt to distance themselves from the excess of the Sgt. Pepper days and the oversaturation of psychedelia, which by now was commonplace among the cultural revolution.  The reception was mixed.  It did, as usual, go to number one on the album charts.  But critics complained that it was erratic, nonsensical, and at times downright amateurish.  Over the years, The White Album (as it came to be called for obvious reasons) became one of the essential Beatles albums to own, and considered one of the greatest albums ever.  This is not so much due to the quality of the music, however, even if some songs are among their best.  Rather it is seen that way because it shows not only the growing strains in The Beatles' much studied history, but also the distinct songwriting personalities of the four separate band members like no other album.  

Engineer Geoff Emerick with an increasingly independent McCartney

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Released 5/26/1967

It was twenty years ago today ...

For years this was voted the greatest album of all time.  In later years, that title has shifted about, but most still consider this, if not the greatest, then undeniably the single most influential album of all time.  By August, 1966, it was clear that Beatlemania was passing its sell-by date.  An unintentional slight against the Marcos presidency in the Philippines led to the band being whisked out of the country in fear of their lives.  In  Japan, protests erupted as some politicians worked to ban the group from coming and corrupting their youth.  And in America, the backlash against John's statement about the popularity of Jesus vs. the Beatles sparked the famous 'Fantastic Beatles Boycott.'  Worse, however, though often unspoken, was another unexpected development.  Even as they were playing more and more in massive venues like sports stadiums, they were beginning to notice something they hadn't witnessed since achieving mega-stardom - empty seats.  Yes, they were still playing huge arenas, but a year earlier it was to mostly sell out crowds.  When they returned to Shea Stadium in 1966, over 11,000 tickets were left unsold.  Tired of the rigors of touring, the mounting controversies and scandals, and quite frankly seeing the writing on the wall and wanting to go out on top, they made an unprecedented decision for a musical act to make: They would stop touring.  After over three and a half years and almost 1400 concert performances, their appearance at San Francisco's Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966 was their last performance together on tour. 

For the next few months, they took their first significant break from each other.  When they returned in November, it was a new incarnation of the group.  Mustaches, goatees and beards were the norm, and Lennon was now sporting his 'granny-glasses', a prop from his part in the Richard Lester movie How I Won the War (and the basis for the picture of Lennon as a solider that graced the cover of the first issue of 'Rolling Stone' magazine).  Rebounding from rumors that they had broken up, and buoyed by the stunning level of positive feedback from their album Revolver, they wanted to keep pushing the limits of the industry.  They saw, as with Revolver, that no matter how far ahead they were, the rest of the industry was quick to catch up.  They decided to work on a concept album about their childhood.  But the studio number crunchers made the first two songs recorded be hastily put together and released as a single to fill the void left during their break.  That single, released as two A Sides, featured the songs Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever.  Considered one of the strongest singles ever produced, it also saw the production of the first 'self-contained conceptual promotional films' meant solely to promote the songs' releases.  That is, the first official music videos meant to compensate for their lack of touring.  Ironically, because the two songs were both released as A-Sides in the UK, they worked against each other and failed to overcome Engelbert Humperdinck's Please Release Me. They stalled out at #2, making headlines as the first single by the Beatles since 1963 to fail to make number one on the UK charts (in the US, Penny Lane did manage to make it to #1, their 13th in the US). 

 The first official stand alone conceptual music video

Returning to the studio, they turned their attention to building on everything they had learned up to the Revolver recording sessions. In addition to their basic drive to stay ahead, their imaginations were spurred on by an increase in recreational drug use. It was here that the recording engineers, especially recording engineer Geoff Emerick, working alongside George Martin, would establish the modern recording studio as we know it.  The most complex and state of the art recording process belonged to Lennon's Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite, a song inspired by an old Victorian circus poster he owned.  But other tricks and studio wand waving emerged with the evolution of each song.  The album was becoming for recording technology what Disney's Fantasia was for animated film. None other than the London Symphony Orchestra found itself playing background on the recordings, especially the album's climactic finale, A Day in the Life.  Soon the production as a whole, including the album contents themselves, took on a life of their own.  Four years earlier, even heavy hitters like Sinatra or Elvis would only take a few weeks to record an album.  Sometimes it was a one day affair.  The Sgt. Pepper sessions lasted almost seven months.  And that was with almost around the clock work schedules.  The legendary cover photo tapped into the emerging psychedelia movement and helped push that movement into the mainstream.  As the primary driver behind the project, it was Paul who conceived of the 'Sgt. Pepper' bookends that give the impression of a concept album.  He admitted that Pepper was, in many ways, their much needed answer to Pet Sounds.  Released on May 26, 1967, Sgt. Pepper quickly became the biggest selling non-soundtrack album to date (it remains the biggest selling album in the UK).  It immediately connected to the Summer of Love, and helped define the entire counter culture revolution from that point on.  No singles were released, as the idea was to present it as a cohesive whole; to make it a singular work of art.  The idea worked, and its success led the music industry to shift from a singles based marketing model to one centered around the album.  It seemed as if everything - music, fashion, attitudes, graphic art, pop culture, the music industry itself - changed with the release of Sgt. Pepper.  For their efforts, the Beatles became the first rock musicians to win a Grammy Award for best album.  It put them straight back on top of the entertainment world.     

As George Martin looks on, Paul McCartney conducts a French horn section from the LSO

On June 25, Our World aired. It was the first live global television broadcast before an audience estimated at around half a billion.  Multiple countries provided various individuals to represent them.  England chose the Beatles, and they headlined the entire broadcast, quickly throwing together the song All You Need is Love for the occasion.  Tying that song to the summer already invigorated by the release of their signature album, the Beatles were, as the Monkees' song Randy Scouse Git described, 'the Four kings of EMI sitting stately on the floor.'  It was the pinnacle of their success and influence on both the music industry, as well as world culture at large.  And it marked the beginning of the end.  

"The song [Sgt. Pepper intro], along with the album as a whole, gave other musicians new ideas and new attitudes to the approach of music. The production of the record set new standards in expertise and innovation. It may not be too far-fetched to say that much of popular music in the half-century after 1967 has come under the influence of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band." Martin Chilton, Editor and Author

"Everyone I knew who was involved in popular music spent weeks and weeks listening and relistening and discussing [Stg. Pepper], and everyone at that point considered it a major event." Milron Okun, Producer/Arranger

"Sgt. Pepper, for its time, captured a moment in popular music that will probably never be repeated in quite that way, in the sense that it was an artistic statement in a music that was never regarded as art before." Lenny Kaye, musician  

Our World - The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger sits on the floor next to Harrison

The Best Beatles Albums Part 4

 Please Please Me - Released 3/22/1963

This was their first album, their first number one album, and one of the turning points of the modern musical era.  But it wasn't a sure thing.  Contrary to popular myth, the famous audition of the Beatles, when producer George Martin read them the riot act about their limited quality, and Harrison joked about his tie, wasn't really an audition.  Beatles manager Brian Epstein had already secured a tentative record contract a couple months earlier, following his initial meeting with Martin on Feb 13, 1962.  At the time of their first meeting, Martin produced for Parlophone, a subsidiary of EMI Records.  His main focus was on classical music, as well as novelty and comedy songs (he worked with such luminaries as Peter Sellers, Spike Mulligan and Peter Ustinov). For that first recording session on June 6, Martin, who was looking to move into the mainstream, was just seeing what they were made of and who could do what.  It was then that Martin concluded drummer Pete Best wasn't good enough for the recording studio.  That led to the band firing him and replacing him with drummer Richard Starkey - better known throughout the Liverpool music scene as Ringo Starr.  But Martin was still hesitant.  There was pushback from EMI's higher ups about the band's name.  They believed the act should have a front man for the audience to connect to:  John Lennon and the Beatles.  Paul McCartney and the Beatles.  That was typically how it was done.  But Martin was convinced the idea of just 'four lads having fun' would connect, with each being his own personality.  On the other side, however, he wasn't happy with their push to write their own songs.  He felt the standard procedure of having professional song writers write specifically for them would do the trick if they wanted to be more than a novelty rock and roll act.  Or at least let a pro writer help in the composition.  Lennon and McCartney had written over 100 songs together by that time, and felt at least some were worthy of consideration.  Martin listened to most of those, but felt they were lacking at best.  Nonetheless, he trusted them enough to record their first single, written by them, named Love Me Do.  Released on October 5, 1962, it made it to #17 on the UK charts.  No bad, but it wasn't enough to inspire confidence.  Martin went back to the suggestion of professional song writers.  John and Paul requested another chance.  They wanted to record a love ballad they wrote called Please Please Me.  Martin had already heard it, and told them it wasn't that good.  But this time they put it to a more upbeat, fast paced tempo, per Martin's suggestion.  They played a demo for him of this revised version.  According to those who were there, when the song was done, Martin pointed to them and said 'you have your first hit.'  The song went to #2, and that was enough to warrant a full length LP.  Primary recording for the album took place over one day.  By the end of the day, they had to do extra takes of Twist and Shout because Lennon's voice was in tatters.  They actually had to break and send him to the cafeteria to get milk of magnesia and cough syrup to loosen his vocal chords.  Hence the raspiness of his singing on that song. Released on March 22, 1963, the Please Please Me album quickly went to #1 on the charts, their first of many. A year later, it would produce two #1 hits, a top 5 hit, two top 10 hits and one top 20 hit on the US charts. That's more than an impressive amount of chart toppers from one album. In the meantime, the amazing number of professional sounding music from the songwriting partnership of two amateur, untrained young men immediately caught the UK music world's attention. Beatlemania had begun.  

There would be one more change in the lineup before they hit it big

The song that really started it all

Rubber Soul - Released 12/3/1965

Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, Revolver, even The White Album, are usually named their best, their greatest, their landmark albums.  But the first sweeping break from their previous sound, and clear evidence that the four were quickly outgrowing their Mop Top image, was Rubber Soul.  Rumor has it that the name was taken from the tendency that black musicians had of disparaging the Rolling Stones, saying they had 'plastic soul.'  Rubber Soul being a dig at their friendly rivals, and in some ways saying they themselves were not much better.  Just the playful ambiguity of the title showed something new was happening.  And it was.  By the time of its release in late 1965, the British Invasion was in full swing and dominating the American music charts. More than just a doorway for British musical acts, the British invasion toppled the near monopoly on global cultural output that the United States had enjoyed since the end of WWII.  In addition, the fruits of the emerging counter-culture were already beginning to show.  Controversy raged when the Queen of England presented each of the Beatles with MBEs (Member of the British Empire).  Some believed the awards were appropriate because they saw the Beatles as national heroes.  Others were not amused, and some even threatened to return theirs in protest.  But 1965 had seen the Beatles take Rock and Roll and move it for the first time to the stadium level.  No longer confined to auditoriums and state fairs, Rock and Roll was quickly becoming the default soundtrack for the last half of the century.  And the Beatles were in the driver's seat.  Though the movie Help! was fairly well received, and the music from the soundtrack album successful as always (it produced three number one hits: Ticket to Ride, Help!, and the barrier breaking Yesterday), the Beatles were itching to expand and grow.  The emergence of groups like The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Mammas and the Pappas, and Jefferson Airplane, to name only a few, showed that the dominance the Beatles enjoyed in this musical revolution was gaining membership.  And the four were keen on staying ahead of the pack.  George Martin's use of strings on Yesterday opened a massive door in the world of contemporary music, and Rubber Soul witnessed more new and exotic instruments entering the studio.  From Baroque piano to more classical instruments to the Indian sitar - brought by George Harrison as his interest in Indian culture and religion grew - an emerging attitude of 'anything if it works' broadened the limits of the genre.  In addition, the increasing demand the Beatles had for new sounds began pushing the limits of recording technology available in those days.  It was here that George Martin and the EMI recording staff became essential for the Beatles' artistic and creative development.  As an album, Rubber Soul had a quieter, more adult sound to it.  The songs themselves were a signification departure from the standard Beatles fare: Some were classical love ballads, others experimental (Norwegian Wood), and Lennon was beginning to branch out and write more introspective and meaningful songs with In My Life and Nowhere Man.  Though other albums get the attention, many fans at that time admit that when Rubber Soul was released, it was like a hit in the face.  Was this the Beatles?  Something big had happened in the music world, and things were about to change. 

As they pushed the boundaries of popular music, their producer
George Martin (center, standing) quickly became the 'Fifth Beatle'

Abbey Road - Released 9/26/1969

The most famous crosswalk on the planet

The entire Abbey Road project was merely salvaging their reputation after the Get Back fiasco.  McCartney looked at what happened over the previous couple years and realized the Beatles were being left behind.  They may have taught the music world how to play, but their students were quickly overtaking the masters.  He desperately didn't want the less than positively embraced White Album to be their last release.  Get Back, at that point, had been shelved indefinitely.   He called up George Martin, who was prepared to move on after the debacle of the Get Back project, and asked if he would produce again.  Martin said only if he's allowed to actually produce and be in the driver's seat, like the old days.  John was still hesitant, and the album was a compromise.  For Lennon, who was tired of the emphasis on endless studio production, Side A would have a set of individual songs, no tricks or fancies.  For Side B, featuring a strung out medley of multiple short songs and song ideas, McCartney would be able to produce to his heart's content.  The noteworthy part of the whole thing is that it was George Harrison, long the bridesmaid of the band's songwriters, who provided the most successful singles from the album.  Here Comes the Sun has emerged in recent years as one of the Beatles' most successful and recognizable songs.  And Something (released as a Side A alongside Come Together, also released as a Side A) went to #1 and was named by none other than Frank Sinatra as one of the most beautiful love songs he ever heard.  Upon release, Abbey Road was widely praised, though with restraint.  A technically fine album, perhaps their best overall, some great songs, some fun Beatles tricks.  But merely one of many great albums being released by that time.  It healed the wounds of previous years and brought back respect on a level they hadn't seen since Sgt. Pepper.  It also reminded everyone that what was being done in the world of music by 1969 was, as often as not, first done by them.  But that was the extent of its influence.  As Harrison said, they knew by then it was over, that this was their swansong.  And so it was.  Even the album's final official song title illustrated the fact: The End.  When they left the room on August 20, 1969, after working on overdubs for Lennon's I Want You (She's So Heavy), it was the last time the four would be in a recording studio together. 

By the late 60s, they knew the end was getting near

The Best Beatles Albums Part 3

 Help! -  Released 8/6/1965

Not a real semaphore code

Some have argued this is their first real concept album.  Contrary to popular belief, the Beatles did not pioneer the idea of a concept album with Sgt. Pepper.  That credit usually goes to Frank Sinatra for his semi-autobiographical album Sinatra: A Man and His Music.  But even for the Beatles, you see hints of the idea in this album.  The soundtrack for their second movie Help!, it consisted of songs from the movie on Side A, and others on Side B for filler.  Though not technically a concept album, all of the songs have something negative to say about relationships.  Gone are the positive 'She Loves You' or 'From Me to You.'  The songs are about breakups, losses, and unrequited love. Even at the height of their success, it was obvious they wanted to push themselves into new territory.  By now they had crushed attendance records by playing in New York City's Shea Stadium.  It was an event that said Rock and Roll wasn't just here to stay, but it was becoming the default societal soundtrack for the foreseeable future.  It stood to reason that this new era of rock and roll would need to be more than ritualistic dance music.  

As an album, Help! is also noteworthy for two other reasons.  It was the last album by the Beatles to feature cover songs from other artists.  And it contained the song Yesterday.  The most copyrighted song in history, Yesterday shattered musical genre barriers of the day.  Even by 1966, the music industry continued along with certain well defined assumptions.  Rock was this, mainline pop was that, classical was over there, folk music and polka and country and anything else belonged where they belonged.  Recording procedures, instruments and musical styles were assumed to stay put.  But when McCartney approached George Martin with a tune he plucked out to the lyrics 'Scrambled Eggs', Martin suggested it sounded wonderful, but not the Beatles.  He said it brought to his ears a string quartet.  McCartney resisted, saying he wasn't going to do 'some Mantovani rubbish.' But Martin insisted.  Finally Martin won out, and he - along with contributions from McCartney - wrote a score for a string quartet, backing McCartney alone with vocals and an acoustic guitar.  One of their most successful songs, and one of the most barrier breaking songs of the rock era.  

And therein lies the difference.  Over the years, fans of other artists who wrote their own songs and predated the Beatles have objected to the focus on the Lennon-McCartney songwriting team as some revolutionary development in modern music.  But the point isn't only that they wrote their own songs. It's that they wrote in a way that defied contemporary standards.  They did not seek this or that sub-sound of the fad called rock and roll - bubble gum, doowop, country blues, surf and sun.  They crafted a unique blend that sought to emulate the professional songwriting output of mainline artists, while consistently merging their myriad influences and inspirations into a broad yet unique style all their own.  A bit like Orson Welles and Citizen Kane.  Welles didn't invent much in that movie, but he took everything the film world knew at that time and combined it in a unique and visionary way.  That was the Beatles.  What they didn't invent - and they did invent much - they used in ways that hadn't been seen or heard up to that point.  And they did it without ever falling into the trap of a singular, identifiable musical style.  As an article I read on the anniversary of their Abbey Road album observed, without the Beatles you don't have what followed.  Without a single group able to write and produce songs as diverse as Yesterday, And I Love Her, Helter Skelter, I Am the Walrus, When I'm Sixty-Four, Yellow Submarine, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and Revolution, you don't have an genre of music that can include The Who, Led Zeppelin, Celine Dion, Elton John, Madonna, Matchbox Twenty, Michael Jackson, AC/DC and yes, Taylor Swift.  

8/15/1965: Greeting a record setting crowd of 55,600 fans

A Hard Days Night - Released 7/10/1964

As stated above, no recording artists have ever dominated the music world the way the Beatles did in 1964.  It was simply their year.  Their appearance on Ed Sullivan in February before almost half the population of America is considered one of the landmark events of the century.  They ushered in The British Invasion, and more broadly helped kick the emerging countercultural revolution into the mainstream.  In terms of the charts, they owned the charts in a way never seen before or since. The American music industry has never seen such a spectacular rise like it witnessed in 1964. At one point over 10% of the songs on the American charts were by the Beatles.  By the spring of that year, they had placed seven songs in the US Top 10 - at the same time. And the most celebrated record in the history of Billboard happened when Can't Buy Me Love jumped to the #1 spot on April 4, allowing the Beatles to clench all five of the top five spots on the American charts:  

Beyond that, they held the number one spot in the US for almost half the year, and placed three consecutive songs (I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Can't Buy Me Love) at number one for almost four straight months in a row.  By the end of the year they had placed seven albums at the number one spot on the US album charts.* Their first world tour marked the high point of full blown Beatlemania.  In 1965, during their second world tour, stadiums and arenas became commonplace, and some of their audiences dwarfed what they experienced in 1964.  But it was 1964 that people remember when they remember Beatlemania in all its spectacle. If the audiences were smaller than the next year, it was here that thousands would show up along the road, merely to watch the band drive from the airport to their hotel or enter a restaurant. 

In the midst of this, their manager Brian Epstein secured a movie deal to produce movies for the Beatles, in a way inspired by Elvis.  Their first film, and their best, was a mocked up documentary, a sort of 'faux day in the life of the Beatles.'  Part scripted, part improv, a touch of tripped out British humor and lots of irreverence, the American Film Institute named it one of the top 100 films of all time.  Naturally it was extremely successful.  But it was the soundtrack album that marked a leap forward for the Beatles, and the music industry as a whole.  One of the early fights the band had was to write their own songs.  In those days, thick lines existed within the industry.  Unionized writers write the songs, the musicians and singers perform them.  Folk musicians and pro songwriters could do their own material.  Even rock musicians, when rock and roll was still considered a passing fad, could write their own material. But mainline A-List artists couldn't be trusted to write songs that could achieve their needed level of commercial success.  At least not trusted to write them without outside help.  But the Beatles fought and fought and fought to do so.  That is why it is considered a milestone that the soundtrack to A Hard Day's Night is filled with songs written solely by the team of Lennon-McCartney.  To begin with, you had two songs from the album reach #1 (the aforementioned Can't By Me Love and the title track A Hard Day's Night).  In addition, music critics were astonished by the maturity and sophistication of three of the group's ballads - And I Love Her, If I Fell and Things We Said Today.   Critics who withheld high praise at first began to reconsider, given not only the success of the songs and the album, but the quality and refined maturity as well.    

The movie captured the 'four buddies versus the world' image that helped propel them to superstardom

*This was possible because the Beatles typically released albums with 12 to 14 songs.  In the US, albums released by Capital often had no more than 8 or 9 songs.  This allowed Capital Records in the US to split up Beatles albums and release two from the one album released in England.  This was a practice not unique to the Beatles, but one they resented.  Part of their development of the album emphasis was meant to keep Capital from this practice.