Beatles exhibition in New York City
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| Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles! |
I was in New York City this past weekend. No time for the Fest for Beatles Fans at the Hyatt though, but I did manage to squeeze in a few Beatley things while I was there. Saturday night I went to see my friends, “Bambi Kino” at the Union Hall in Brooklyn, and Sunday night I went to the Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square to see a presentation of a 1968 John Lennon interview (see link) as well as a concert with the Cavern Club Beatles before going to the hotel for the final part of the CBS TV show “The Night That Changed America”. Oh, and I had a few words with Freda Kelly at the Hard Rock Cafe before I left. Then on Monday I went to the New York Library for the Performing Arts to see their Beatles exhibition.
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| Paul McCartney’s jacket from, among other things, the Shea Stadium concert in 1965 |
It was a great exhibition, featuring some very cool items. Personal letters from the Beatles to their fans, a few set lists (as featured in earlier WogBlog postings), Paul McCartney’s tan stage jacket, an original lyric sheet for “What You’re Doing” in Paul’s hand, the original bass drum from the Ed Sullivan Show, records, magazines etc.
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| An original Pepsi radio, as seen in the “First U.S. Visit” film |
There was also a feature where Ringo taught you to play drums like him (as also featured in the Grammy Museum Ringo exhibition).
The exhibition is free, and there was also a free programme to take away.
The library is staging a few events in conjunction with the exhibition. On the day I went, Mark Lewisohn was scheduled for a talk, but I had a flight to catch back home, so I missed out on that.
Tomorrow, Friday the 13th, there a screening of the original 1964 film “What’s Happening! The Beatles in the USA” by the Maysles brothers and surviving brother Albert Maysles will be attending. A few other films are also on the agenda in the upcoming weeks, “Give My Regards To Broad Street” is due April 14th, “Imagine:John Lennon” will be shown May 12th, “Good Ol’ Freda” is scheduled for May 15th and “Shanghai Surprise” will be shown on June 5th.
You’ll have to go sooner than that though, as the exhibition itself is only up until May 10th.
It is apparent to me, interest is lukewarm, considering the magnitude of the Beatles 50th in America. I would suggest it's time for Now and then, Carnival of light, Sour Milk Sea, the good stuff as it were. Sure there will be some interest for another hundred years and beyond, but to sell five to ten million albums, I suggest they break out the remaining archives, give us what people would actually want to hear, instead of endlessly repackaging the existing stuff, to ever diminishing returns, this is obvious to any outsider looking in, sadly it seems to fall on deaf ears to the sychophants and agressive turks trying to make their name over at MCA and EMI, get real, give us the good stuff
It is apparent to me, interest is lukewarm, considering the magnitude of the Beatles 50th in America. I would suggest it's time for Now and then, Carnival of light, Sour Milk Sea, the good stuff as it were. Sure there will be some interest for another hundred years and beyond, but to sell five to ten million albums, I suggest they break out the remaining archives, give us what people would actually want to hear, instead of endlessly repackaging the existing stuff, to ever diminishing returns, this is obvious to any outsider looking in, sadly it seems to fall on deaf ears to the sychophants and agressive turks trying to make their name over at MCA and EMI, get real, give us the good stuff