Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Bakalářská diplomová práce 2021 Michaela Vasmanská Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Michaela Vasmanska The Development of the Image of the Beatles Bachelors Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph. D. 2021 / declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. Author's signature Table of Contents Introduction 6 1. The Beatles Before Brian Epstein 8 1.1. The Fab Four before Becoming Professional Musicians 8 1.2. From the Quarrymen to the Beatles 9 1.3. The Beginning of the Beatles 12 2. The Image of the Beatles and Brian Epstein 17 2.1. Personal Lives and the Image of the Beatles 18 2.2. Beatlemania and the Image of the Beatles 21 2.3. Visual Image of the Beatles 23 2.4. Music and the Image of the Beatles 25 2.5. Movies and the Image of the Beatles 27 3. The Image of the Beatles after Brian Epstein 30 3.1. Reacting to the Development of Society 30 3.2. New Visual Image and the Beatles 31 3.3. How the Beatles Appropriated Subcultures 32 3.4. Counterculture and the Image of the Beatles 33 3.5. Drugs and the Image of the Beatles 35 3.6. Innovation and Uniqueness of the Beatles 36 3.7. Music and the New Image of the Beatles 36 4. The Image of the Beatles after the Split of the Band 40 4.1. Timelessness of the Image 40 4.2. Split of the Beatles and its' Effect 41 4.3. New Image of McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Stark 41 Conclusion 45 Works Cited 48 Summary 50 Resume 51 Introduction John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr will always remain the names that people automatically associate with The Beatles. When those men were just four boys from Liverpool who dreamed about becoming professional musicians, no one could foresee that one day those boys will become one of the most popular and successful musicians in the whole world. The Beatles remain one of the most famous bands in the world even after fifty years from the split of the band. They were able to break numerous records and they were and still are adored by millions of fans and continue to inspire thousands of musicians all over the world. Many of the millions of Beatles' fans tend idealise the band and present them as legends whose story seems to be almost mythical. Therefore, it is often forgotten that the band was created by four Liverpudlian boys who were determined to do anything to reach their dream of becoming professional musicians. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the image of the Beatles and how the image have been adapted throughout the career of the Beatles. This thesis will show that the image of the Beatles was manufactured to make the Beatles appealing to the mass audience. The first chapter presents the very beginning of the Beatles and the image the band had before Brian Epstein become the manager of the band. The Beatles have developed from the band called the Quarrymen. The Quarryman were founded by John Lennon in 1956. Subsequently Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe joined the band, and in 1960 the Quarryman have changed their name to the Beatles. Before the Beatles met Brian Epstein, they did not have a manager who would design a certain image for the band. The 6 image was in the hands of the band members and they presented themselves as young rebels who could do the craziest shows. The second chapter focuses on the image the Beatles adapted when Epstein become the manager of the band. Epstein manufactured the image that make the Beatles the typical teen idols. With this image the popularity of the Beatles had rapidly increased and the band have become one of the most popular bands in the whole world. The second chapter scrutinizes how this manufactured image was popularized and promoted through different types of media. The third chapter analyses the image the Beatles adopted after 1966. The Beatles abandoned the image of the teen idols which was manufactured by Brian Epstein and adopted a new image which was consistent with the trends that newly emerged in the late sixties and were generally accepted by the mainstream society. The Beatles preserved part of the image that made them appealing to the mass audience. Consequently, the significant change of the image of the band did not have a negative effect on the popularity of the band. The focus of the last chapter is the split of the band and what fallowed after the Beatles broke up. After the split of the band, each of the past band members was free to adopt a new image. Each of the four man who were throughout their professional musical career presented as one unit adopted a new image that was based on their own individual identity. 7 1. The Beatles Before Brian Epstein 1.1. The fab four before becoming professional musicians John Lennon was born on 9th October 1940 in Liverpool to Alfred Lennon and Julia Lennon. John was raised by his aunt Mimi Smith. His mother remained in contact with John when he grew up, unlike John's father who left John and Julia after John was born. Julia and John were close and when Julia was hit by a car and died John suffered greatly. "In the aftermath of his mother's death, John's attitude and behaviour worsened dramatically as he began drinking heavily" (71,72 Stark). John attended Liverpool College of Art which he was not able to finish because of his rebellious behaviour and his insufficient academic performance. At the school he met his first wife and mother of his first son, Cynthia Powell. In 1956 John started a band called the Quarryman, which was later joined by Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Paul McCartney was born 18th June 1942 in Liverpool. His mother Mary McCartney worked as a midwife. Mary had breast cancer and when she died, in 1956, Paul was only fourteen years old. Paul's young age intensified the terror he had to go through because of the loss of his mother. Paul's father encouraged Paul in playing instruments and bought him a trumpet which Paul traded for his first acoustic guitar. Unlike John, Paul passed in school with flying colours and he attended the Liverpool Institute. But just as Lennon's, McCartney's biggest passion was music and he wanted to create his own music and improve his musical skills. George Harrison was born in Liverpool on 25th February 1943 which makes him the youngest member of the Beatles. George was the only member of the Beatles who grew up in a wholesome, supportive family. "George's mother worried constantly about her son's 8 prospects. Yet she was also extremely supportive. She bought George a guitar from money she saved from her house budget" (58 Stark). Louise Harrison shared her son's love for music, and she supported George in his musical career. George joined the Quarrymen in 1958, when he was only fifteen years old. He was introduced to Lennon by McCartney who met Harrison in a bus. Harrison proved his musical talent to the band members and become the lead guitarist. Just as the other members Ringo Star was born in Liverpool. He was born on 7th July in 1940. His parents divorced when Ringo was only three years old and Ringo was raised by his mother, Elsie Gleave. One of the first things Ringo changed in order to achieve his dream of becoming a rock star was his name. Ringo's original name was Richard Starkey which he later shortened to make it more suitable for the successful musical career he wanted to pursuit. Ringo played in several bands before joining the Beatles, including the band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Ringo did not join the Beatles until 1972, which makes him the last member of the fab four. Each of the members of the Beatles were interested in music since very early age, but so were thousands of other teenagers in the sixties and fifties. According to Bill Harry, British Isles "produced literally thousands of skiffle groups between 1954-1958" (13 Harry). Ringo's, George's, John's and Paul's interest in music therefore was not anything unusual and even the people who were closest to them could not foretell that one day those four boys from Liverpool will change the musical history. 1.2. From the Quarrymen to the Beatles 9 The Quarrymen was a band founded by John Lennon in 1956. The original members were John Lennon and few of his classmates. Paul McCartney become member of the Quarrymen in 1957. One year later Paul introduced George Harrison to Lennon, and they decided to take George into the band and help him develop his musical skills. "Hundreds of skiffle groups emerged in the late 50's and early 60's" (162 Hall & Jefferson). The Quarrymen were among those groups and because of the increasing numbers of Skiffle groups throughout whole Britain, the group faced a great competition of similar groups of boys who wanted to become successful musicians. But only few of the groups managed get through the difficult start and make a living from their hobby. The band's main musical focus slowly moved from skiffle towards rock and roll.