Sunday, November 22, 2009

This Day In History

A very historic day November 22 has become. It's also a day for a couple of Beatles related anniversaries
First off, most people will remember November 22 1963 as the day in History that literally changed the world. The president of the United States - John F. Kennedy - was assassinated in Dallas while riding in a motorcade. There has been controversy ever since related to the reasons and who and why, but I digress. Some writers and scholars of the Beatles argue that the event in Dallas assisted in the advent of Beatlemania in the US due to the psychological impact and the grieving of a generation that were ready for a diversion. In my opinion, I think the JFK event may have contributed to the musical "British Invasion" but I think there are various factors as to how Beatlemania started in the US which include the music (which was great!) and the image of the Beatles at the time. Capitol Records had put in quite a lot of publicity material and the upcoming television appearance on "The Jack Paar Show" and the "Ed Sullivan show" also helped. One has to remember that Newsweek and Life magazine had already covered the Beatles' ruckus in England by the time November 22 1963 had come and gone. In fact, it has been said that a news story on the Beatles was put on hold due to the political event of the day.
Interestingly, on exactly the same day (November 22 1963) Parlophone released the Beatles' second LP entitled "With The Beatles" in mono (PMC 1206) and stereo (PCS 3045).
Five years later on November 22 1968 Apple released the Beatles first double LP on their own label entitled "The Beatles". The unofficial name being "The White Album". This was also released in mono (PMC 7067-7068) and stereo (PCS 7067-7068).

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