Rent/Buy This Weekend: Beatles Docu-Drama: Nowhere Boy

"Why couldn't God make me Elvis!?!"

"Cause he was saving you for John Lennon!"

NOWHERE BOY is a 2009 British Indie film about John Lennon's adolescence.  Mostly about the women in his life, we see John torn between his Aunt Mimi (who raised him) and his mother, Julia, (who abandon him, but reappears in his early teens).  The film chronicles these early experiences that shaped one of the most captivating and talented icons in popular culture.

With some amazing performances by Aaron Johnson (as John Lennon), Kristin Scott Thomas (as Aunt Mimi), Anne-Marie Duff (as Julia) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (as Paul McCartney, best known as the cute kid from LOVE ACTUALLY), this film is a must watch.  However, I must warn that the film is NOT about The Beatles, but about the young man who starts arguably the greatest band in history.

The film explains John's upbringing and the influences these women have had on his life.  And then, starts the music.  We find that Aunt Mimi bought John Lennon his first guitar and allowed his first band (The Quarrymen) to practice at her home.  And then, we see the moment John Lennon meets Paul McCartney and the start of the complicated friendship of arguably 20th century's finest musical pairing: Lennon/McCartney.  And just as soon as we meet George Harrison, the film reels us back in for a quiet finish.  This film is not so much about how The Beatles got their start, but how John Lennon got his start.

The friendship between John and Paul is seen in this film and depicted fairly.  We see Paul's admiration for the older, wiser and brasher John, but we see John's insecurities with Paul's abilities and leadership skills.  The two have heartwarming moments just as they have arguments, making it likely accurate.

The film is lauded as being "A Terrific Film!  Insightful and Moving!" by Entertainment Weekly.  They also add that "Aaron Johnson as John Lennon is a Revelation."

Nominated for four BAFTA awards (the UK's Oscars, that is) and winner for British Independent Film Award 2009 for Best Supporting Actress Anne-Marie Duff, the film is soulful and filled with wit.

Seeing where "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" grew inspiration is a treat.  Not to mention, for any major Beatle fan out there, there are so many hidden gems of references to watch and re-watch for.

NOWHERE BOY is (as the subtitle claims) "the untold story of John Lennon and the creation of The Beatles," but beyond all that, this film is the only docu-drama about Lennon and The Beatles worth any salt.  Beatle fan or not, this is a must-see.

You Should See NOWHERE BOY if:
-You like/love/obsess over The Beatles
-You recognize the significance of The Beatles and John Lennon
-You enjoy character pieces with some truly fine acting
-You wanna see "Penny Lane"

Check out the trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzvS78qO0uI

The Beatles and MTV

With the Beatlemania, now a global phenomenon, The Beatles were exhausted and yet were constantly being asked to appear on television programs all across the globe.  They simply couldn’t be everywhere.  And then there is the added issue of the music.  As the band progressed, so did the technology used to create the music.  Soon, The Beatles were using tape loops, over-dubbing, and other in-studio effects.  And while this helped progress the sound and the music, it made it difficult to tour and perform live.  And so, as George Harrison explains, out of “convenience we decided we are just not gonna go in to the TV studios to promote our records so much.  It was too much of a hassle, what we’ll do is just go and make our own little films and we’ll put them out” (qtd. in Anthology DVD).  

And so began the period when The Beatles created promotional films of their singles.  As Neil Aspinall (The Beatles’s road manager turned executive) explains, “so to accommodate those people [at the televisions shows around the world] we decided to make promo films…and sent that to the TV stations around the world and that would fulfill that obligation” (qtd. in Anthology DVD).  For instance, the singles “Paperback Writer” and “Rain” (also later “Hello Goodbye”) were sent via promotional films to The Ed Sullivan Show with an introduction of the four Beatles apologizing for not being in attendance (Anthology DVD).  

These films were the start of something new for the music industry: music videos.  The Beatles would sometimes be seen playing their instruments and singing their songs as though performing on a stage.  However, many of the promotional films were much more artistic, with the band not singing or playing, but embodying an abstract story related to the song.  The idea of taking abstract images and combining them with music was new.  As George Harrison describes the intention, “[we thought] we’ll send these things out to promote the record.  And obviously these days now everybody does that, its just part of your promotion for a single.  So I suppose in a way we invented MTV” (qtd. in Anthology DVD).  And while that last statement may be grandiose, The Beatles certainly invented (and were the first to use these techniques on a large scale) the basic building blocks of what would become the music video which led to MTV and to how the music industry functions today. 

Check out the promo for "Day Tripper" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N85P4_p880w

Check out the promo for "Paperback Writer"here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skL1Hwgnatc

Check out the promo for "Hello Goodbye" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPJltZLH78Q

References:

-The Beatles Anthology, Dir. Kevin Godley 
-Blaney, John.  John Lennon: In His Life.
-Davies, Hunter. The Beatles.

-Miles, Barry.  Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. 

The Beatles: All You Need Is Love (...and a TV).

             A landmark moment for The Beatles and television was BBC and a program called Our World in 1967.   “The BBC had come up with the idea of using the newly installed relays to connect the national television networks of countries all around the world” (Miles 354).  This major technological feat meant that all around the world, people would tune in to see humanity from across the globe.  Twenty-six countries participated and were connected to the sattelite coverage and each country chose a representative to embody the country and their people.  “As the BBC put it, ‘for the first time ever, linking five continents and bringing man face to face with mankind, in places as far apart as Canberra and Cape Kennedy, Moscow and Montreal, Samarkand and Soderfors, Takamatsu and Tunis’” (qtd. in Miles 354).  Britain chose The Beatles.  “Rather than play one of their existing hits, or something off Sgt. Pepper [the album they were currently working on], they composed a new single specially for the programme" (Miles 354).  Wanting to create a song that would resonate with many cultures (and many who did not speak English), the idea was to make the chorus simple so as to be able to follow it.  “In June, The Beatles performed Lennon’s ‘All You Need Is Love’ …to an audience of 400 million people”  (Blaney 59).  Paul explains the song:

“All You Need Is Love” was John’s song.  I threw in a few ideas, as did other members of the group, but it was largely ad libs like singing “She Loves You” or “Green Sleeves” or silly little things at the end and we made those up on the spot. Knowing that millions of the viewers would not understand English, John kept the chorus as simple as possible.  It was the philosophy of Sgt. Pepper and the era reduced to five words…The chorus “All You Need Is Love” is simple, but the verse is quite complex…[with an] anthemic chorus…(Miles 354).

         The technological feat of reproducing The Beatles’s tracks for a live performance was complicated as many of their more recent music required mixing in a studio, and would be hard to reproduce live.  “It took five days of recording and mixing to get the song right but Paul’s bass, John’s vocal, George’s solo and Ringo’s drums, as well as the orchestra, were all broadcast live during the event” (Miles 354).  And since this television event was to represent England and the various artistic contributions the country has made, The Beatles chose to include a chorus of various British icons.  “The Beatles invited Brian Jones, Keith Richards, Mick [Jagger] and Marianne [Faithfull] and dozens of other friends to the session, which was staged as a party in Studio One at Abbey Road” (Miles 354).  Here is a moment when The Beatles were served by television by playing for a global audience.  The evidence of this is clear: “the single was released two weeks later and became a hit all around the world.” (Miles 354).  And then television was served because this was the first major all-world broadcast, a moment in television history where a broadcast of this size, magnitude and logistics were realized successfully.  

Check out this clip of the band on the worldwide event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMbIjsUMFrY

References:

-The Beatles Anthology, Dir. Kevin Godley 
-Blaney, John.  John Lennon: In His Life.
-Davies, Hunter. The Beatles.
-Miles, Barry.  Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now.

Beatles: Ed Sullivan Show

The most important television show The Beatles ever played on was of course, The Ed Sullivan Show.  But, Ed Sullivan needed to be convinced that a British band that had mediocre record sales with “She Loves You” was worth hiring on for a major televison show.  Of course, this was prior to “I Want To Hold Your Hand” hitting the number one spot in America.  “Brian [The Beatles’s manager]…got an appointment with Ed Sullivan, whose TV show is the biggest of its kind...[Sullivan’s] talent scouts had passed on…The Beatles’s success in Britain.  After a lot of discussion, Ed Sullivan agreed to book the Beatles for two of his shows” (Davies 237).  

But for the biggest band in Britain, just booking the show was not enough.  The smart and savvy Brian Epstein (The Beatles’s manager) never allowed the band to be anything but the headliner.  “Brian insisted that they should get top billing on both shows…[Sullivan] agreed in the end, but his producer later [said] that Sullivan had said it was ridiculous to give a British group top billing when a British group had never made it big in the States before”  (Davies 237).  But the States had never met The Beatles before.  

And soon enough the buzz of the British invasion hit mainstreet America.  “Five million ‘The Beatles Are Coming’ posters were plastered throughout the States” (Davies 239).  With all this hype (including a countdown in “Beatle Time”), the group’s reputation preceded them.  And so, “Ed Sullivan couldn’t cope with the demand for tickets – 50,000 applied for 728 seats.” (Davies 239-40).  And with this mania came merchandise and profit.  “It was estimated that in 1964, 50 million dollars worth of Beatle goods was sold in the States.” (Davies 243).  With all of this demand to be in the presence of The Beatles, of course came the screaming fans of full-blown American Beatlemania.  “On February 7, 1964, The Beatles were greeted at Kennedy Airport, New York, by hundreds...Beatlemania was now a global phenomenon.” (Blaney 58).

With this newfound American mania, the band took The Ed Sullivan Show stage and then took on the world  “before a television audience of 73,000,000 people” (Miles 209).  And while rock ‘n roll had appeared on television before, though not nearly as saturated as the country was for The Bealtes’s performance, it was Ed Sullivan’s stamp of approval that really solidified rock ‘n roll’s place on television.  Ed Sullivan was a upstanding citizen and a presenter of good taste through the very prevalence of his television variety show.  The country was so captivated by The Beatles appearing on his show, that it wasn’t so much a show, as an event.  In fact, “in New York, during the show, not one hubcap from a car was stolen.  Throughout America, so it was reported, not one major crime was committed by a teenager” (Davies 241).  This tidbit may seem trivial and perhaps circumstantial, but it illustrates how effective The Beatles were in enchanting an audience and how monumental this appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show really was.  In an interview for The Beatles Anthology documentary film, George Harrison claims, it was the “least reported crime [period], even the criminals had a rest when we were on! ” (Anthology).  

But besides this, the show legitimized not only The Beatles as a band, but rock ‘n roll as an art form worthy of time on mainstream television.  This illustrated by Ed Sullivan’s introduction of The Beatles on his show and his comments about them as individuals.  Ed Sullivan states in archival footage from The Ed Sullivan Show:

Thank you very, very much, thank you!  Well its very nice to be here…and now this has happened again, last Sunday on our show in New York, The Beatles played to the greatest TV audience that’s ever been assembled in the history of American TV.  Now tonight …again The Beatles face a record busting audience ladies and gentlemen, here are four of the nicest youngsters we’ve ever had on our stage…THE BEATLES! (Anthology).

And again, Ed Sullivan reiterates the upstanding qualities that these young men possess,  “these youngsters from Liverpool, England, and their conduct over here, not only as fine professional singers but as a group of fine youngsters, well they leave an imprint with everyone over here who’s met ‘em” (Anthology).  

            Clearly, this unabashed endorsement of The Beatles went a long way in helping The Beatles gain a following.  But also, Ed Sullivan’s support of The Beatles implies that he is saying to the over-40 set in America that rock ‘n roll is really not all that bad, look at these youngsters with their clean suits and clean lyrics!  This proclamation and the show itself propelled The Beatles as bonafide rockstars and allowed them to saturate the USA with their records and their charm.  And then, The Beatles paved the way for more rock ‘n roll groups to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show like The Rolling Stones and The Who.  The relationship between television and The Beatles proved to be beneficial for all involved.  

Check out this video of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoZ18rO1Rj0&feature=fvwrel 

References:

-The Beatles Anthology, Dir. Kevin Godley
-Blaney, John.  John Lennon: In His Life.
-Davies, Hunter. The Beatles.
-Miles, Barry.  Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now.

Beatles: 1965 TV Special

In 1965, there was a television special devoted to the songwriters of The Beatles.  The special was entitled, The Music of Lennon & McCartney.  The unique aspect of this television event was that it was centered on the music, not the band.  For instance, The Beatles (mostly John Lennon and Paul McCartney) would introduce other bands and singers who would then play their music. “Granada Television had proposed a big-budget fifty-minute television special called The Music of Lennon and McCartney, featuring Peter and Gordon, Billy J. Kramer, Cilla Black and other top stars famous for singing their songs, with the Beatles themselves introducing the acts” (Miles 222).  

This was unusual in that this was the first time that The Beatles (or any rock ‘n roll group) were seen as musical composers worthy of a special, rather than pure entertainment; they were seen as artists.  This was also unusal because in a way, The Beatles were promoting other artists.  They self-lessly chose to only sing, “‘Day Tripper” and ‘We Can Work It Out’” (Miles 222).  And while Lennon/McCartney received royalties based off of any records sold by these artists covering their songs, the special was not so much about The Beatles as it was about two composers.  

Marianne Faithfull, a young singer at the time befriend Paul McCartney and then sang “Yesterday” on this special.  In Paul McCartney’s authorized biography by Barry Miles she says, “Paul really helped me by putting me on the thing that the Beatles did with Granada.  It was really great, because he started [the song] off” (Miles 223).  It was as if Paul McCartney was endorsing not only her version of his hit song, but also her as an artist.  “Paul began the solo alone, sitting on a stool, strumming his guitar and singing, then after a half-minute the song faded into Marianne’s version, complete with choir and orchestra” (Miles 223).  But this is not the end of Paul’s generosity.  “Marianne was eight months pregnant…and in those days it would have been considered shocking to see a pregnant woman on television, particularly an entertainer.  In what was probably a historic first, Paul insisted that she be allowed to go on the programme – though the cameras filmed only her head and shoulders or angled views from above” (Miles 223).  It was his star power that allowed her that opportunity.  In fact, Marianne’s version of “Yesterday” “charted at number 36” (Miles 223).  

This television special helped The Beatles become seen in a new light, as artists and composers worthy of recognition and respect above and beyond just a rock ‘n roll group.  This program made them artists in the eyes of the public, and not just another band.  

Check out this video from the special which includes Peter Sellers (a favorite comedian of the fab four) performing "A Hard Day's Night" as a monologue, and then The Beatles perform "We Can Work It Out."  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO49DoEGjz8&feature=related

References:

McCartney, Paul. Interview by Barry Miles. Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now.

By Barry Miles. New York: A Holt Paperback: Henry Holt and Company, 1997.

Print.