Beatles Class | Fab forum

fabfouremily said
Something I´d love to know more about is their childhood´s and early days in Liverpool. There are so many books and such like but I´m hungry for more information, can´t get enough of it. Maybe if the rest of your class don´t know much about them then you could explain the importance they had on music, soceity, etc. Is it a class you´re going to 8in which case I assume they know quite a bit), or a class at school? (in which case maybe they don´t.)

When Paul was writing his "Liverpool Oratorio" he made a documentary of his process, working with a classical composer, talking with the choir members and watching a violinist, etc.  At one point, he's riding a bus through the old Liverpool neighborhood with the classical composer and Paul was pointing out landmarks, then he made an interesting observation about John.  To paraphrase from memory he said: "You know, everyone thinks John was a 'working class' bloke, like that song 'Working Class Hero' and everything; but actually, he was solidly middle-class and better off than me and George and Ringo."

Paul also said that before the Beatles, John used to hang around with upper middle class intellectual arty farty snobbish types, and once John invited Paul to a party of such types, and at one point they wanted to hear a song from Paul, so with the use of someone's guitar there he improvised a song he thought would impress these "upper-crust" types -- with a little French sprinkled in.  It was what later became "Michelle".

One of the more interesting things about the Beatles is their musical influences when they were just young teenagers, before they all formed their band.  What records did they listen to?  Why did they like early American blues and proto-rock?  How did early American black music (Little Richard, etc.) find its way to England so they could hear it and be influenced?  The Beatles were part of the creation of a new musical form, rock & roll. 

I've always been fascinated by the social-cultural scene before there was actual rock & roll -- yet there were little clubs and dance halls and school gymnasiums and shopping centers playing some kind of music that resembled rock & roll, but wasn't quite fully-formed; embryonic.