BLOG # 3

     I would like to start by presenting an overall view of the the way I felt in Liverpool as compared to London. While touring Liverpool, whether by bus or on foot, the people were always friendly. The Beatles, a band that has not been together in over forty years, is still a huge source of revenue. The Beatles were and are a huge part of London, but they really are not something that anyone gives much thought about.  Liverpool is a small city with a population of approximately 500,000 and is very dependent on tourism for it's economy. The shipping industry that sustained the economy had been largely lost after WWII . The claim of fame for Liverpool for many years was that it was the home port of the Titanic, and the birthplace of the Beatles. London however, is an international city were over 300 languages are spoken and 8 million people live. Therefore the history of the Beatles and their movements is not very significant except to those die hard fans who are still interested in all things Beatles.
     The reason I started this entry with the comparison between the two cities is that it helped me to understand why so many of the important sites in London were in disrepair. The building at 3 Seville Row where Apple Corporation had their offices and a recording studio in the basement is a building that is in poor condition. This is also the roof top where the Beatles played their last live set. From what our guide said, there did not appear to be any plans to do anything to bring the building back or make a museum out of the property. If this building had been in Liverpool it would be treated as a national treasure. Although, even in Liverpool they tore down the original Cavern Club. There was some amazing things to see in London both on our walking tour and the extended tour some of us took with Professor Roos.
      To see the offices of Paul McCartney's publishing company was incredible. The story of John Lennon's glasses coming about as a joke. When Lennon was refused entry to the Ad Lib Club a local comedy television show fixed up a public toilet and named it the Ad Lav Club. Lennon, at the last minute, put the glasses on and proceeded with the bit. These were the glasses that the government gave out to poor families who could not afford better glasses. The kids refused to wear the glasses because it meant that your family was poor. After Lennon wore the the glasses they could not find enough pairs to satisfy the kids. This was a small example of the kind of power the Beatles had over the young. When it became known where the Beatles bought their clothes, the shops were mobbed so the group could no longer shop their. This is the type of power the group had in the sixties.
     Spending the entire day going from site to site the lack of acknowledgement of the Beatles presence in the city is amazing. There are obviously exceptions like the Abbey Road studio and the famous crosswalk where we all had our pictures taken. There are numerous plaques on buildings that refer to John Lennon since he has been dead long enough to be recognized. I believe that the group is held in high esteem everywhere, but after spending time in London I realize that nothing matters that is under a couple hundred years old. We walked through many neighborhoods that were older than our country. The British just do not think like we do about anything. I am sure as soon as George Harrison is dead for twenty years he will receive his plaques. The things that we think of as being old are just not seen the same way.There were many things that were certainly worth seeing like Ringo's apartment where John was busted for weed. Knowing the history of this arrest and then seeing the apartment really helps make the whole thing more real. This small event was used by the US government to keep him out of the US. And after he was here his lawyers continually fought extradition. Walking around the city and seeing where many of my favorite Beatles songs were written and then going to the National Library and seeing the hand written lyrics was worth the trip. The opportunity to cover songs in the classroom and then see the locations fleshed out on the streets of London and Liverpool is an opportunity I will never have again.

Liverpool

     Looking back at the trip to Liverpool reinforces what I have always felt about the Beatles. The Beatles were from the beginning and throughout most, if not all, of their existence John Lennon and Paul McCartney. George Harrison was truly a gifted musician and was far better than Lennon or McCartney as a musician. However, even in a time when guitar was not all that popular an instrument, you could find some one who could play the songs. Ringo Starr was certainly the type of personality that they needed but again many people could have fit that position. The dedication to song writing by Lennon and McCartney, and the endless hours of working together to perfect their craft, is what made them the Beatles. Even before the first time they met in 1957 at a church picnic their lives seemed to be destined to come together.
    John was taken in by his aunt and uncle, Mimi and George, after his mother was convinced to surrender him to a more stable life. The home, which is called Mendips (I do not have a clue as to  why)  was in a nice part of town and his guardians cared for him like he was their own child. When John's uncle died at only fifty-two his aunt was determined to hold onto the house for John sake. She wanted to continue the stable environment he was living in. She took in student boarders, and for three pounds a week they had a clean comfortable place to live and two meals a day. Latter when the need for money was greater she rented her own bedroom in order to bring in three more students and another nine pounds a week. In order to do this she had to sleep on a cot in the dinning room and early each morning she would put the bedding away and prepare the kitchen and dinning room for the the students and John's breakfast. The determination of Johns aunt is what kept him  where he was in a position to meet and develop a relationship with Paul.
      Paul's family was far to poor to live in the same area as John and his aunt Mimi, but after the war a small section of the neighbor hood was developed as public housing and Paul and his mother and father and brother moved into the area. Paul's mother was the section nurse which helped them to afford the rental on the house.John and Paul developed mutual friends that finally lead them to the meeting at the church picnic.The amount of struggles that they had to go through in order to come together as a song writing duo over the early years was staggering. Both boys lost their mothers while in their teens. John had just really established a good relationship with his mother when she was killed by a car crossing the street in front of Mimi's house. John was waiting for her at her house when she was killed. Paul's mother died and left Paul and his brother to be raised by their father along. They said that after John's mother died he retreated to his bedroom and played music for hours on end. You wonder how many of the seeds for the incredible music that came latter were buried in that pain. Aunt Mimi wanted John to just get past this music thing and receive a proper education. Paul's father did not like John at all and believed that he would take away from Paul's educational opportunities and get him into trouble.
     The one thing that I have learned is that there is something divine about the gift to create and make music. For the fortunate few who have been blessed with this gift and the ( I will sacrifice anything to exhaust every element of my gift determination) there is little that can stop them. It is interesting to me to hear people who do not get it, try to apply the parameters of their discipline to the would of music. It is true that it can be taken apart lyrically and looked at note by note. You can use a computer to compose music. However, what came out of McCartney and Lennon for twelve years can not just be listened to it has to be ingested. The very first songs they sang in the Cavern Club in Liverpool to the final songs on the roof top in London were always cutting edge for their time. I believe that song writers painters writers and many other creative people operate on a different plain than the rest of us.The benefit of this class has been having a Prof. who understands how creative minds work and that they do not always fit into an easily understood pattern. And many times you just have to say I really do not know what the hell they are talking about.
     Liverpool has been a struggling city since the days it was the second most bombed city in England during World War Two. Being a port city it never really recovered as shipping moved on to other more convenient areas. However, it does not take long to realize that the music in this city is still very alive. The city in recent years has begun to turn economically. Much of the comeback in on the strength of tourism. And the wonderful thing is that much of that tourism is centered around the Beatles. I am not a fan of cover bands in any way, but some of the people that sing  Beatles music in Liverpool are amazing. I sat in the Cavern Club the other night and could have stayed there all night and just got hammered (I didn't). The music was amazing and every song that night was a Beatles song. So much of the Beatles music is a product of the environment they grew up in but much of it just can not explained. Was it life experience, drugs, relationships or just a divinely ordered purpose and gift. However you want to explain it Lennon and McCartney could have been teamed with anyone and nothing would have been lost

So Far

     Since I arrived in England on the 12th of June I have seen the national observatory, I have touch a piece of rock 4.5 billion years old, and seen a 71 year old Beatle that is still rockin. The first three days in London were great and really can't wait to get back there next week. The things that we experienced since coming to Harlaxton are amazing. We have gone to Liverpool to see Ringo Starr and His All Star Band which included Ringo, Rick Derringer, Edgar Winter and others. The show was two hours of continues music with each performer taking his turn. I have been to Down House the home of Charles Darwin. We have been to the University of Cambridge to see Christ College the Sedgwick Museum and The Fitzwilliam Museum.I have been to Nottingham in search of Robin Hood, who everyone tells me is still alive, but as near as I can figure is about five hundred years old. Robin or not the castle and dungeons were worth the trip. I am writing this after just returning from the north sea on what the people assured us was a rare sunny and warm day. On the boardwalk we ran into a man from Nottinham that assured us that he was indeed Robin Hood.

British Music Experience

     I found the  British Music Experience is a perfect way to take the knowledge that I have and combine it with new input allowing me to arrange and organize it in a way that gives better understanding of the chronological order of the various genre. The British Music Experience gives you a unique opportunity to be exposed to fifty years of the evolution of music. The expectations are high from the first time the building comes into sight. The unique architecture of the facility with its tent like structure and muraled exterior walls raise the hope that what will be experienced in side will be as unique as the outside. Upon entering the building you find what appears to be more shopping mall than museum. After taking an escalator up several floors you have the experience of entering the museum. You soon realize, in my opinion, that the inside is every bit as extraordinary as he outside. The rooms are designed to give you the entire experience of the decade you are in. The musicians, actors, models current events are all on display to help you understand the music and the part it played in the shaping of the time. You have the oppertunity to move at your own pace and have a hands on experiene that you can control. Working your way through the various displays allows you to see certain trends that were developed through, and because of the music. Everything from clothing styles to hair styles to dances were easily followed through the various exhibits.  I believed that this enabled me to explore the impact that music had on the racial divisions not only in America , but throughout the world. This was a trend that after I originally noticed it, began to jump out of every display. The early blues players had primarily a black audience. The early skiffle bands, although not called skiffle at the time, rose from the poor blacks in the American south who used whatever they had to make music. The audience they reached with their wash boards and tubs was still an all black audience. The Skiffle style of music would   disappear in the U.S. by the late forties having been replaced with various types of Blues and Jazz. However, the style found new legs in the late forties and fifties with largely white audiences in England. Lonnie Donegan  was one of the best known of the genre and continued to play Skiffle until his death in 2002. However, in the fifties the Skiffle sound had gone from the black players in America, with black audiences, to white players in England, with white audiences.There was still not a sound or personality to bridge the race gap.The segregation of audiences was even evident  in churches in America and in Europe. The great early influences on the Beatles were people like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard who all came from segregated church backgrounds. Even people like Jerry Lee Lewis came from a segregated church background. Jerry lee played piano with his cousins Jimmy Swaggart and Mickey Gilley. Jimmy Swaggart stayed with Gospel music and Mickey Gilley was primarily country. Although all three were innovative in their styles, Jerry Lee was the one that musically was singing black music.
      When you have Elvis and Jerry Lee on one side, among others, and Chuck Berry and Little Richard on the other, all singing the same music, there had to be a change. However, change was slow in coming even though the music was received by blacks and whites, the theaters in the U.S. and England were still segregated. The distinction between rich and poor among the youth of both countries had begun to be fractured by the music that bound them together.Little Richard and Chuck Berry found themselves on maim stream television shows with white audiences. Elvis Presley had a harder time because Elvis was not acting "white" he was singing black music with a sexual edge that was excepted, and even expected, from blacks but caused an uproar from the fundamental Christians when a southern white boy was singing and moving the way Elvis did. The problem is that the racial breakthrough that was taking place was shot lived. As the artist that we are discussing began to disappear it left a vacum that would eventually be filled by groups like the Beatles. The one thing that these groups have in common is that they were white and had primarily white audiences. The black musicians drifted back to Jazz and eventually to the Detroit Motown sound. The racial devide in music was now as strong as ever. As I went from display to display I was surprised to see the amount of times the music almost came together and then suddenly took off on separate paths. The black artists had a easier time secureing white followings I believe because whether we admitted it or not the minstal show mentality was still alive. If we fast forward to today there are only a few white rappers that are any good and only a few black artist that even try to appeal to white audiences.
      Looking at the displays from the fifties and seeing the way young people pushed against the police to dance together no matter what color makes me see the contribution of the early rock performers. The people that were influenced by this music are the same people that eventually pushed through the civil rights bill and battled the injustice of the Vietnam War. Maybe the music of those few short years had nothing to do with it and then again who knows..
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