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Burning Records

In 1966, John spoke to a reporter in London. They were talking about the modern church, and he said, ‘We’re more popular than Jesus now.’ When John’s words were reported in the US a few months later, many people were angry. There were newspaper stories like ‘Lennon Says that the Beatles are Bigger than Jesus’. This wasn’t what John meant. But some shops refused to sell their records. Some radio stations refused to play them. A few radio stations asked listeners to burn their Beatles records. Years later, Ringo joked, ‘It was OK for us, because then they bought them again!’ But at the time, the band and their manager were worried.

So what did John mean? He tried to explain his words to the American people before the band toured the country again. ‘I was just saying it as a fact,’ he explained. ‘It is true - more for England than here. I’m not saying that we’re better or greater… I’m sorry that I opened my mouth.’ It was a bad start to the Beatles’ last tour.

The End of Touring

The tour continued, but it wasn’t a happy time. Some newspapers in the United States were against the band now. For the first time, there were a few empty seats at some concerts. But it was still impossible to hear the music because of the screams. As George said, touring wasn’t ‘fun’ now. Also, their lives were different. Only one Beatle - Paul - wasn’t married. It was time to stop travelling.

At first, Paul wanted to tour more, but finally he agreed with the others. On 29 August 1966, they played at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. They played eleven songs, finishing with ‘I’m Down’. It was the Beatles’ last concert.

The band faced a new question: what now? In his heart, John thought, ‘This is the end, really.’

For some time the Beatles all did different things:

B George spent a few weeks in India.

B Paul worked with George Martin on the music for a film, The Family Way. The music won an award.

B John went to Spain to act in a film, How I Won the War. It wasn’t a good film, and John wasn’t a good actor. But he did come back wearing the famous small, round ‘John Lennon glasses’!

B Ringo spent a few weeks in Spain with John, and he enjoyed time at home with his wife and child.

Back in the studio, the band felt more free. Now they didn’t have to play any new songs on stage. They could do anything, and they did - with George Martin’s help. The next songs were another big step into new musical areas. But they also looked back, as both John and Paul turned to their Liverpool past for ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and ‘Penny Lane’.

STORY BEHIND THE SONGS

• When he was a child, John lived near a children’s home. The home was called Strawberry Field. John’s song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ wasn’t really about that place; it just took the home’s name. The line ‘Nothing is real’ perfectly described this strange, beautiful song.

Paul then wrote a song about Liverpool, too. ‘Penny Lane’ was a much happier song, describing people and places from the old days in Liverpool. The band was still using instruments that were unusual in pop records. A trumpet played on the song.

There were many differences between Paul and John. Paul was very interested in studio recording. He worked carefully with George Martin. John had little time for this. He just told the producer what he wanted. In fact, the band played ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ in two very different ways. John couldn’t choose his favourite. Finally, the producer joined the two. (Years later, John wasn’t happy about this recording of his song.) Together, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and ‘Penny Lane’ became the Beatles’ next single. It was a great record, but for the first time in years the band didn’t reach number one.

The Most Famous Album in the World

In the opinion of some newspapers in early 1967, the Beatles didn’t have any more ideas. And then came Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The title song was Paul’s. He had the idea after a trip to the United States. Bands with very long names were becoming popular there. Paul wanted the Beatles to be a different band for the album. In his mind, the album was a concert by this other band.

John and George didn’t see the album in this way. ‘It doesn’t go anywhere,’ John once said about the Sergeant Pepper idea. But there were great songs on the album.

• Songs like ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’ and ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ were happy and light.

• John took almost all the words for ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite’ from an old sign that he found in a shop.

• The words and the music of ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ were like a dream. The title came from a picture by John’s young son, Julian.

• ‘A Day in the Life’ was one of the best examples of Paul and

John’s strong points. John wrote the main part of the song,

Beginning T read the news today, oh boy.’ The idea came from two newspaper stories. Paul added the middle part. It worked perfectly in John’s song.

The album was a big step in the band’s music. They used the studio wonderfully, but this took a long time. The Beatles’ first album was made in around twelve hours, but Sergeant Pepper took over 700 hours! Both Ringo and George said later that it was sometimes boring. ‘My heart was still in India,’ George said.

Famous faces

Everything about the album was special - even the cover. It showed the band with a crowd of famous people - writers, singers, actors, thinkers. At first there was a photo of Mahatma Gandhi, but the record company asked the band to take it off. They didn’t want to make people in India angry.

Today, fans disagree about which is the best Beatles album. But most of them believe that Sergeant Pepper was the most important. The world was changing fast in 1967. While the American war in Vietnam continued, young people around the world were exploring new ideas, new sounds. The summer of 1967 became known as ‘the summer of love’. Sergeant Pepper helped to make that summer.