Beatlemania for Boys!

Okay, so the new Beatles documentary is promoted by one of its by-products. Even though I have ordered the Live at the Hollywood Bowl CD from Amazon, I just couldn’t resist going to a record store on Friday to get a copy of the CD on release date. The Amazon package is still in shipment.

I played through the CD twice on my blu-ray player. That and the dvd players are usually what people these days are equipped with to play CD’s. I enjoyed the album, it was familiar – thanks to it being sequenced just like its predecessor, the 1977 album – and with a nice selection of bonus tracks tacked onto the end. In side-by-side comparisons with the 1977 offering, it is clearer on vocals and instruments – but seems to have a bit more reverb.

On the day of release, the Beatles started a 5 episode podcast series on Soundcloud. Episode 1 is accessible here.

Now, here’s a nice story: Take a look at the promotional clip above to the song “Boys”. I am told that this clip is just extracted from the film as it is. At the 1.20 mark you can see a clip of an ice cream vendor working at a Beatles concert.

Ice cream vendor. Still from film.

A few years ago, I was in touch with the pre-production crew about assisting in finding film and other materials to be used in the documentary.  I’ve no idea whether or not I was of any help to them, but I did send them a few clips and point them in a few directions. But a fellow fan and collector of Beatles photos seem to have gotten through to them with one of his ideas. Here’s his story:

I’m a male fan of The Beatles. The production team contacted me a couple of years ago about helping them find some photos of the Hollywood Bowl (concert), which I was able to do. I built up a nice rapport with the production assistant I was dealing with. For years I’ve loved a film clip of a guy crying at a Beatles concert. The full clip shows he’s selling ice cream, but he’s so close to the stage he’s in the shadow of Ringo’s drums. You can see it dawn of him, he stops in his tracks, he falls in love, and is overwhelmed and cries. THAT is the Beatles story right there, how we fell in love with them.

– This guy conveys what so many of my fellow male Beatle fans feel. It’s not a sexual thing, it’s a deep, passionate, overwhelming love for ‘Them’, the band, the music, like they’re our family. I totally understand the love of the female fans is every bit as deep, but in footage of the Beatles, the cameras always mostly focus on females crying, or licking their lips, I was really hoping they could put in the clip of the guy wearing his heart on his sleeve.

– I took screen caps, explained as I did above, and sent the footage. They said they would see what they could do, and it seems they did!