Kyle Agius

Beatles and Their Time

Tobey Forrest

Beatlemania

Beatlemania is one of the most influential acts in the United States during the

1960’s. It was made very apparent when there was a plethora of fans waiting for the

Beatles just to touch United States grounds. During there first Ed Sullivan show, a reported 73 million people tuned in to just watch the Beatles first appearance on live television. The Beatles early years in America were marked by screaming fanatic fans at the concerts (mostly young females) and songs like I want to hold your hand and Let It

Be that were number one on the billboard top 100 for 59 weeks and topped the LP chart for 116 weeks (Wikipedia). Beatlemania had effects on all American teens and they helped start the awakening of the post war era. It largely influenced female teenagers in this era, and had a big effect on the United States as a whole.

In the 1960’s,when the Beatles came to America, the first round of baby boomers were in their teens. This was very important to the Beatles early success and for the start of their successful careers. The Beatles came to America at the perfect time. Just as there were mass teens just waiting to break free from this sort of depression that the era had brought them. Another reason the Beatles were so popular with teens was because the teens could relate to them. The Beatles were in between 20-23, and had acted like they were kids. They had this incredibly tight bond and didn’t care what people thought of them. They were just a bunch of tightly knit kids having a blast, and by doing this, every teen absolutely loved them. Each of the Beatles had their own unique style and the way acted in public. They also each played a different guitar Lennon played different types of guitar and could play a great harmonica along with being the main songwriter with Paul.

He was the class clown and a free spirit. McCartney could play many instruments but he stuck to playing different guitars like Lennon, and he and Lennon created most of the songs they had played. Also he was the one who was more serious about the music and wanted to make it perfect but he was said to be inspiring, invigorating, and energizing effect on others (Top Synergy). Harrison was the more laid back guy in the group and .

Ringo who played the drums was the goofy one and kept to himself most of the time.

Teens were able to relate themselves to this iconic group, which made them even more popular. It was said that the group couldn’t even hear themselves sing when they were at concerts because of how loud the crowd was. Lennon even said that they were more popular than Jesus, which later brought them public outcry (Wikipedia). The Beatles transformation of popular music since their arrival in America in 1964 was widely recognized as the foremost expression of the cultural power of youth, an influence so pervasive that the progression of their records had begun to mark the passage of time in their listener’s lives. It was said you could party hop all night and hear nothing but rubber soul (Gould, p. 345).

Not only was Beatlemania reshaping the way people acted, it also had a big effect on the start of the women’s movement and a dramatic uprising of women’s sexual revolution (Wikipedia). The Beatles provided the opportunity for women to break free from their expected passive norm. At concerts, women went absolutely insane. There were intense levels of hysteria and high-pitched screaming by female fans both at concerts and during the band's travels (Wikipedia). Women would cry at their concerts at either screaming so much or for passion of the Beatles. The Beatles brought with them this optimism that women had been missing for a long time and women would express themselves very loudly and made it very apparent that they had been holding this back for a long time. They had songs about love and the Beatles telling women its okay experimental with your body. There had been important groups who were a symbol of sex/sexual feelings before the Beatles but it didn’t catch with them as much as it did with the Beatles. They didn’t have this direct link to sex with them like Presley had but they did have this optimism and a less threatening demeanor than what Presley carried around.

Presley would be air humping on stage while the Beatles would sing about holding your hand. They all had mop top haircuts and nice dress suits that they wore to every concert.

The Beatles were much less intimidating than Presley, which is exactly what Americans needed to jump-start their revolution. Women were scared about having sex or expressing their feelings were more easily calmed when they saw that the great Beatles were singing about this telling them it is okay. There songs had characteristics of vulnerability, sensitivity, romance and longing. This was a major difference between songs of the blues.

The blues talked about the woes of woman, however the songs that the Beatles sang brought out the sensitive side of men. For example, “to lead a better life, I need my love to be here” and “if she’s beside me, I know I need never care (goodreads). This image of love created a socially and emotionally secure environment for the expression of female assertiveness, aggression, sexuality, and solidarity” with their unique image and empowering lyrics (Gould).