Kevin, you know I just love this research. There is nothing like going back to the time when all this was happening to get a feel for what people were really thinking. Where shall I begin?
A REVIEW OF THE SHEA STADIUM TV MOVIE
One was reminded that Mr Noel Coward, when asked what he thought of The Beatles, murmered "little boys should be seen and not heard."
I think someone forgot to tell Mr. Noel Coward that their boyish exuberance and irreverence was part of their appeal. Poor Mr. Coward! *runs out and buys one of his operettas*
40 BEATLE FANS ARRESTED
Hamburg: Thousands of yelling youths, without tickets for a performance of the British pop group, battled with 400 policemen who tried to clear them from the street.
I would love to see pictures of this!
MUNICH CLAIMS TAX ON BEATLES
The city claims that the music is incidental to the shouting and stamping of the audience, which it is designed to achieve.
So the Beatles are being taxed because the audience is rowdy? This sounds like yet another variation of the "mind control" theory, where real psychologists thought the Beatles were responsible for hypnotizing young women and driving them into a state of hysteria. I'm sure if the Beatles had had this power, they would've used it much more liberally back in Liverpool when they were trying to get laid before they got famous.
the common held belief that John was the outspoken Beatle and Paul was the straight man who only stepped forward after Brian's death
I'm not sure how common this belief is. Yes, John was characterized as being witty and outspoken, but Paul was always Mr. PR man. Do you mean a common belief at the time, or a misperception held by modern-day fans?
A review of Penny Lane: (not William Mann)
"(it) indeed looks back to days when parochialism was not an attitude to be derided. To the musically unsophisticated, the new ballad is delightful because it seems entirely original in concerning itself with such gentle normalities. But it's old fashioned parochialism reminds us of something else. Although we have paid a great deal of attention to its creators use of "sophisticated" chords and chord sequences which, in reality, we hear whenever we listen to modern music, it is possible to see in The Beatles music a synthesis..of insintictive Englishry, hidden from the unobservant by electronic impediment..."
I think he means - it's rehashing an old idea and hiding it behind studio gimmickry.
Okay, that's a poser. Having read it three times (this man is a
professional writer?) I think he's not so much deriding Paul McCartney's compositional skills as he is intent on insulting his reading audience. My chief clues were "To the musically unsophisticated" (me) and "hidden from the unobservant" (me again). Translation: "I am so musically and culturally sophisticated that I can hear beyond the electronic impediments the Beatles throw in front of their uneducated fans to the celebration, metaphorically and musically, of their parochial English roots, while the rest of you just listen to it and like it you morons nanny nanny boo-boo."
19/5/67 on the satellite broadcast.
"they are writing a special song...but because of the language difficulties they propose to stick to basic english such as "hello" "love" "me" "us" "them" "we" and "together".
Was this Brian's quote? It sounds like he was trying to apply marketing spin. While the words themselves may have been simple, the phrases were by no means easy to interpret. I agree, it sounds exactly in the same ballpark as any other songs that John was writing during that period.
white hillibies (including The Beatles
that's the first time I've heard the Beatles called hillbillies. I am having much amusement envisioning them moving out to Beverly Hills via truck.
Beatles Become Healers.
"The Beatles "eccentric articulation" on their record "Sgt Peppers..." might help specialists detect heart disease."
Oh good grief. Are you telling me that the media was supporting faith healing through Beatles music? This must have totally freaked them out. They already hated that aspect of their tours; now the press was legitimizing it? EEeeewwwwww!!!
Read on and rock on, my friend!