Beatles Night on Sky Arts: "How the Beatles Changed The World"

 

On Saturday 30th September, Sky Arts devoted the evening to three films about The Beatles. It started with Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle. An interesting look at the life of this big friend of John Lennon and the bass player in the original line up. Lots I already knew, but there were interesting parts, especially the interviews with  his sister and Astrid Kerchherr. 

I didn't watch Beatles Stories that were just interviews with people who knew them.

However, the two hour documentary How The Beatles Changed the World was excellent. A potted history of the group coupled with a social history lesson about the sixties. Fashion, media and much more. Again a lot that I knew, but some I didn't. Like the fact that in April 1964 they filled the first five places on the charts of the Billboard Hot One Hundred. The first time in history. 

We are taken through the recording of each album. I remembered going to the London Pavilion cinema a couple of days after the premier of A Hard Day's Night. Then on Rubber Soul came my favourite Beatles track In My Life. My LP of Revolver somehow became sticky after a party. The presenters felt that Sgt Pepper was so different to anything heard before and nothing sounded normal. I had to disagree, as at the time other bands were experimenting with their original music and we were used to innovation. But you had to be there in 1967. I was twenty two.

I am trying to remember where I was on 25th June 1967 when I watched All You Need Is Love being beamed live around the world. It just felt (and Magical Mystery Tour's broadcast felt the same) at the time a big disappointment. Not sure why, maybe these were not great Beatles songs.

The rest of the programme was devoted to their disintegration. A lot of poor songs, I never did bother with The White Album. Until that superb rooftop performance at 3 Savile Row and a definitive rendering of Get Back. John on brilliant lead guitar and actually enjoying himself , with George just strumming away. Billy Preston on keyboards. Magical.