Monday, April 28, 2008

The Beatles—Five Hundred Years in the History Books?

Every age has its heroes. I suppose I never got over my hero worship of the Beatles.

I first saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show when I was ten years old and, like so many other kids, I felt swept up in the excitement of their music and looks. To this day, if I am in a bookstore, I will reserve some time to scour the music section, hoping to discover another book on the Beatles that I haven’t already read. Why do I find their story so endlessly fascinating?

Of course, their music was transcendent. But what also made the Beatles special was their ability to create new cultural paradigms on a routine basis. Now that Paul is past 64, (and Ringo is headed for 70 in the year 2010), I think more and more people are beginning to look at the Beatles’ legacy in a new way.

Slowly, I think people are coming to realize that the Beatles—no less than Christopher Columbus or Albert Einstein—may represent a profound ripple in the human story.




Donald Gallinger is author of the novel The Master Planets

View Donald Gallinger's official website blog: http://www.donaldgallinger.com/dons-blog.html

1 comment:

- said...

If you're looking for new Beatles books, one I know of is this one which looks at John's last years in the Beatles and his thoughts on all of the Beatles' songs. I'll have to check out your book as well.