Beatles Tribute at Spirit Square
I was asked a few weeks ago to participate in the 3rd Annual Beatles Tribute hosted by the Tosco Music Party in Charlotte, NC. The tribute took place on Saturday, April 22nd.
When I was in college, I did several independent studies on 1960's American culture. The scholarship culminated with a thesis on the Beatles. What I found with The Beatles, aside from the obvious musical achievements, was a wealth of cultural mimicry. The term that the big scholars coined for this was Ethnomimesis. Dr. Robert Cantwell, my advisor/sponsor in this project, is the man who coined this word.
The Beatles had three distinct periods. Some would argue that there's only the "early" period (the happy period) or the "late" period (the drug period). Lumping their 12 year career in two piles does it cultural disservice. Then again, if you just want to divide the music into early and late periods, you can.
The first period (and the longest of the three) spans from 1958 to 1965. Here we find the Beatles simply copying American music. The point of my thesis argues that the reason the Beatles were so big in 1964 has more to do with the assassination of president Kennedy and the absence of any relevant cultural presence in America than anything else. It certainly helps that they were good looking kids who could sing and play their instruments. The Beatles simply repackaged much of the music that had worked in the late 50's and early 60's in an easily digestible way. Next to many of their own songs, you'll find a wealth of Motown, R&B, and Broadway style songs that are re-presented.
From 1965 to 1968, one finds a few different things at work in the Beatles music that wasn't there in the earlier period. The most obvious is an embracing of psychedelia and drug culture. Second to that is the reflection of British working class life. It begins with songs like Norwegian Wood on Rubber Soul, where we get a glimpse of what it's like to live in a "flat." It culminates in the album Sgt. Pepper, which is an entire immersion in to the British working class experience. When talking about Sgt. Pepper, most people only focus on the studio genius that went into the recording. Unfortunately, this overshadows where the album fits in a social context.
From 1968 to 1970, the tide changes again. I like to call this the "what are we doing here" period. It's pretty clear to me that the band really didn't want to be together much after Brian Epstein, their manager, died in 1968. The White Album is one of the Beatles most celebrated works, but so little of it is really a Beatles record. It's more of a preview of what everyone's solo career was going to be like. Very little of it was recorded as a band. Let It Be, with the exception of Paul's contributions, is painful to listen to. Abbey Road is a much appreciated last hurrah, but really, it's kind of a let's-save-face and make a good final record kind of project. All three of these records surpass the quality and musicianship of 99% of any other commercial recording in history. Make no mistake that I respect these works. It's just that they seem frustrated to me when compared to the jubilee of Help!.
The Beatles tribute itself was quite nice. Everyone played only one song. There were about thirty performers. It amazes me that the Tosco Music Party company was able to logistically arrange this event. There was a lot going on.
I played "Julia" from The White Album. I was told that it was good. Honestly, I have no idea. It was over before I could process the event. I remember bowing.
At the end of the night, everyone was called back to perform "All You Need Is Love." That was nice. I got to sing the song enmasse with both of my brothers next to me. I enjoyed that.