|
By Denny FreIDenrICH
Former President Barack Obama was too young to remember the watershed event , but I ’ m sure if you ask Joe Biden , Donald Trump , George Bush , or Bill Clinton , they all could tell you where they were the night the Beatles first appeared on “ The Ed Sullivan Show ” 60 years ago .
That ’ s not to discount other historical events of the 1960s , such as the Kennedy assassination , the Vietnam War , or the moon landing . But when John , Paul , George and Ringo first belted out their songs on American soil , I ’ ll bet you a dozen electoral college votes everything changed for all the future presidents that night , just as everything changed for me .
Sunday night , Feb . 9 , 1964 , an estimated 73 million of us — an astonishing 40 percent of the available
|
audience , equal to around 125 million in today ’ s viewership — watched four English lads pound musical history into our lives . The Beatles had arrived , and with them came a sense of joy — “ Yeah , yeah , yeah ” — and relief . Only ten weeks earlier , we had been mourning the murder of JFK .
Before the Beatles ’ invasion , teenage boys sported closely cropped hair ; our favorite bands included the Everly Brothers and the Beach Boys , and we were still getting used to Lyndon Johnson . Suddenly , none of that mattered . By Monday morning , change was in the air . Many of us headed off to school that day , having decided to let our hair grow longer . “ I Want to Hold Your Hand ” was rocking the charts , and few paid attention to the new president . Sociologists said this phenomenon would pass in a few months . Wow , were they wrong .
Within a year , sideburns were bushy , Beatles paraphernalia had flooded the marketplace , and that war with few heroes quietly advanced . By the time I graduated from high school in 1966 , I was a self-appointed Beatles know-it-all (“ The real meaning behind the banned record cover is …”) and a troubled believer in Vietnam . With the release of “ Eleanor Rigby ,” social commentary played an ever-increasing role in their music .
Four years at USC proved challenging yet disillusioning . The Beatles introduced their magical mystery tour as the nightly news simultaneously
|
broadcasted the horrors of Indochina into our homes . Beards soon replaced sideburns and campus riots replaced sock-hops . Songs like “ Give Peace a Chance ” and “ Hey Jude ” weren ’ t simply mega-hits ; they were America ’ s new national anthems . Like Bill C ., George W ., The Donald and Joe , I avoided fighting in Vietnam ( despite being selected first in the 1969 draft lottery ).
These were changes that , if you were twentysomething back then , you spent much of your time absorbing or avoiding . I don ’ t know which of these the current and former presidents embraced . All I know is the changes were real for me and my generation .
Initially , John , Paul , George and Ringo personified baby boomers ’ brightest hopes . The Beatles bridged the gap between black and white and young and old . Through them , suburbia discovered drugs , and the Boston Pops discovered rock ’ n ’ roll . Toward the end of their run , the idyllic images turned to nightmares , much as “ Michelle ” gave way to “ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds .”
Some music experts claim the Beatles were responsible for widening the intellectual boundaries of rock , thus making it a more flexible and acceptable art form . I am not smart enough to know whether this is true or not . But I know how music changed , and you can hear it in almost every song out today .
No one can turn back the clock , so trying to “ get back to where you once
|
belonged ” is futile . As the late , great P . J . O ’ Rourke once wrote in Time Magazine , “ The majority of Americans alive today hadn ’ t been born yet in the 1960s . But we of a certain age ( the age that grips levers of power , pulls strings of purse and has the biggest mouth ) can ’ t stop reliving each moment .
“ Partly it ’ s the poignancy of the decade . It started so well . Handsome young couple in the White House , recovery from the 1960 recession , the Pill , upbeat message movies like ‘ 101 Dalmations ’ and ‘ Spartacus ,’ Hugh Hefner ’ s illuminating ‘ Playboy philosophy ’ and the clean-cut Kingston Trio leading sing-alongs in short-sleeve shirts with big , wide , cheerful stripes .
“ Then it went so wrong . Shooting and killing , and troops in combat gear , not only in Watts and Detroit but all the way over in Khe Sanh , South Vietnam . Feminists were suddenly angry for some , as far as men could tell , feminine reason . I had to maintain a C average to avoid the draft . Turns out you can ’ t fly after you take LSD . There was a war on poverty . We lost . And it rained at Woodstock .”
All true , P . J ., but those changes in ourselves and in our world are what we have in common . They are what the Beatles symbolized for me , future presidents and for us all .
Longtime Laguna resident Denny Freidenrich was 15 years old when the Beatles arrived in America .
|
|||
Town Crier |
||||||
PAGE 13 |
||||||
|
Goffard has covered crime and courts extensively , he was part of the Pulitzer-winning team that exposed corruption in the city of Bell . He has also twice been a Pulitzer finalist for feature writing . His book , “ Snitch Jacket ” was a finalist for the Edger Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel in 2008 , and his blockbuster podcast Dirty John was adapted for TV and ranked by Rolling Stone among the two greatest true-crime podcasts of all time . His serialized podcasts Detective Trapp and The Trials of Frank Carson are being developed for television . Goffard ’ s latest book , “ Dirty John and Other True Stories of Outlaws and Outsiders ” is a collection of his newspaper stories .
Club meetings begin with a buffet breakfast and brief networking roundtable . Meetings are hosted at Nirvana Kitchen and Pantry , 303 Broadway St ., # 101 , Laguna Beach , CA 92651 . Non-members are welcome . The non-member guest fee is $ 30 , payable by check
|
to the Laguna Beach Business Club or by cash the day of the meeting . Space is limited . Guests , be sure you receive RSVP confirmation . For more information about the LBBC or to register to attend the meeting , either visit the website at lagunabeachbusinessclub . com , or write at : Info @ LagunaBeachBusinessClub . com .
The Day of Love is here to celebrate with R Star
Instead of flowers and chocolates that soon wither or are consumed , why not give a Valentine ’ s gift that keeps on giving ? This Valentine ’ s Day , consider supporting the R Star Foundation by gifting a goat to a woman and her family in need .
R Star Foundation is a tax-deductible nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of impoverished women in Nepal . Its mission is to provide education , healthcare , and sustainable community development projects to the people of Nepal .
By choosing to gift a goat through
|
the R Star Foundation , you ’ ll be sharing love and compassion with those who need it most .
To learn more about the R Star Foundation , visit the website at www . rstarfoundation . org , email Rosalind @ RStarFoundation . org or call 949-497-4911 .
LOCA Art Talks features fascinating artists each month
LOCA Arts Education is collaborating with Laguna Plein Air Painters Association ( LPAPA ) in presenting Mentor Paint Togethers for a special opportunity to learn from notable LPAPA artists as they demonstrate their drawing and painting techniques in easy-to-follow step-by-step processes . Registration is now open for online and on-location classes .
The online series makes it easy to learn from anywhere . After registration , students will receive a list of needed paints and supplies , a live broadcast link , a question-and-answer opportunity , and a pause-andplay
|
recording for ongoing use . Subjects include Laguna Seascape with Jeff Sewell Feb . 13 from 10 a . m . to 12 p . m ., Coastal Atmosphere with Michael Obermeyer Mar . 12 , and Laguna Scenery with Wendy Wirth on Apr . 16 .
The on-location classes , taught outdoors from 9 a . m . to 12 p . m . at Laguna Beach ’ s most iconic plein air painting sites , will be taught by watercolorist Eileen McCullough on Apr . 12 , Carole Boller on May 4 and Rick Delanty on May 18 .
For workshop reminders and registration updates , and to view a short video about the shorelines , plants , and landmarks the artists will be painting , email LOCA @ LOCAarts . org . Advanced registration is required . The cost is $ 50 for visitors and $ 30 for LOCA or LPAPA members . Visit the education pages at LPAPA . org or Art Escapes pages at LOCAarts . org .
|