Beatles: A Sound Analysis
By Glenna Syse
August 12, 1966
You have to see it to believe it,
because it is not the kind of thing you believe by hearing.
These
conclusions are not sociological, they are medical. When you plug 13,000 young female larynxes
into the Beatles circuit, you produce a vibration that causes a disease called
labyinthitis, which is an inflammation of the inner ear that sometimes results
in loss of balance. It is an ailment
that seems to affect only those over age 15, and this is why all the adults
leaving the International Amphitheatre Friday seemed to be listing.
I am
what is laughingly known as adult, and that is why I am writing this at an
angle. If you have trouble reading it,
rotate the page 35 degrees to the right.
In the
interest of equilibrium, you should know this is a review of The Beatles who
gave two concerts Friday at the International Amphitheatre.
It is
called a very loud booking and whatever it was they said about Christianity,
remember they said they were sorry and a whole brouhaha probably made it louder
booking than usual.
In my
member, it is the only event I have reported upon by using paper and pencil to
ask questions. I wrote a note to a
fireman. “How many firemen?” Over the din, he took my pencil and wrote
“100 firemen.” I got my hot dog by
pointing to it.
What
did they sing? Well, it was all over and
the diminuendo left only the sounds of a few sobs. I got my answer from three 14 year olds
-- Kathy, Sue and Pat. They said the Beatles sang “Rock n Roll
Music,” “She’s a woman,” “If I needed
someone,” “Day Tripper,” “Babies in Black” [sic], “I Feel Fine,”
“Yesterday, “ “I wanna be your
man,” “Nowhere Man,” “Paperback Writer,” and “Long Tall Sally.” How they know is one of the miracles of the
five senses.
Three
shrewd young ladies they were, too. They
expressed the belief that a concert such as this promotes record sales. Because if you can’t hear it, you go out and
buy it and listen to it at home.
And one
of the girls had a final say on John Lennon’s now notorious remarks.
“I am a
minister’s daughter and I got to church three times a week and I love the
Beatles. I think what they meant was
they may be more popular than Jesus but they are not better than Jesus.”
Strictly
as a production, the concert was rather haphazard, except in matters of
security. Two hundred Andy Frain ushers
were inside along with 100 firemen and 84 Burns detectives. They formed a solid line in front of the
stage and countered hysteria by flashing lights into the anguished screaming
faces.
The stage was far too small to
accommodate the amplification apparently necessary for this 20th
Century sound. It seems no one sings
nowadays without being plugged into a machine.
There
was a tense gap between the acts that preceded the headliners and the Beatles
themselves. And the Beatles’ stage
manager got very red in the face as he moved the amplifiers and machines
around. Even when they were hooked up,
they didn’t always work. In moments of
adjustment, John Lennon did a little dance that created a response that must
have been heard by all the cattle for blocks around.
The
reaction of the Beatles’ appearance was tumultuous, a word that seems a total
understatement. If this is what happens
when the Beatles are banned, what do you suppose would happen if they were
abolished?
What
did they wear? Dark green costumes. By any stretch of the imagination, I do not
think they could be called suits. They
were double-breasted and padded at the lapels.
They were tieless and shirts were lemon plaid, high in the collar and
long in the cuff.
They
did only half an hour of songs and some day someone will probably figure out
that they decreased the British National debt a couple of hundred pounds
sterling a moment.
They
were preceded by the Remains, The Ronettes, the Cyrkle and Bobby Hebb – who
presented a cheerful two hours of insanity before the main bout. One final note. Do the Beatles have a new sound? It’s a purely academic question.
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