did the beatles tour russia

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Russia remembers The Beatles

"In the rock ‘n roll of Elvis and the ballads of the Beatles we discovered more meaning than in all the articles by Lenin that we were made to read and summarize in school and at university", says rock musician Alexej Rybin. Source: AP.

When John Lennon was shot by a fanatic in December 1980, his murder shocked Soviet fans no less than it did those who learned of his death from the global media. In Russia, before the news was relayed in all major cities, the first to hear it were those who were tuned in to Western radio stations.

On that tragic day, several hundred students held a spontaneous memorial service in front of Moscow University, as Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported. According to Leonid Parfyonov, a distinguished journalist and author of an encyclopedia of Soviet history, there was no less of a Beatles cult in the Soviet Union than there was anywhere else in the world.     

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Today, as the world celebrates the Beatles’ 50 th anniversary and Sir Paul McCartney’s 70 th birthday, the slogan “Lennon lives” remains very popular in the former Soviet Union. “In the rock ‘n roll of Elvis and the ballads of the Beatles we discovered more meaning than in all the articles by Lenin that we were made to read and summarize in school and at university,” wrote rock musician Aleksei Rybin.

Music critics and historians are still arguing about how the Beatles managed to penetrate the Iron Curtain; but exactly when the band was first officially mentioned in the Soviet press is not a matter of debate. In 1964, the London correspondent for the youth newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda published an article about John Lennon and his popular group the Beatles. Boris Gurnov later said that his bosses at Pravda , at first, had a dull opinion of his idea to meet with Lennon.

 “At the time, the Soviet press saw this as a ‘bourgeois eccentricity in art’,” Gurnov said. “I wrote a long piece in which I tried to analyze the appeal of the Beatles for young people. I attributed it to certain Freudian complexes – Beatles’ fans were mostly at the age of adolescence.”

Gurnov was probably right about one thing: Soviet censorship was afraid of this exploding energy and kept a keen eye on those Western trends perceived as dangerous. Meanwhile, Soviet Beatles fans collected facts about the group, crumb by crumb. They got their information from rare Western newspapers or magazines that came their way every once in a while. Fans also had some access to slightly freer Eastern European press, including the popular East German youth bulletin Junge Velt .

However, despite a dearth of information about the Fab Four, songs by the legendary group were only occasionally included in the musical collections released by the Soviet Union’s one and only record company, Melodia. Soviet fans heard the Beatles song “Girl” for the first time in 1967, and, in 1972, they were treated to “Let It Be.”

In total, more than 20 Beatles songs were released in the Soviet Union, all in violation of the band’s copyright. Soviet music-lovers who knew the original names of the songs in English were greatly amused by the Soviet-era translation of “Hard Day’s Night” ( Vecher trudnogo dnya ): it sounded like the would-be name of a Soviet television show.

In 1988, Paul McCartney gave his Soviet fans a magnificent present. Especially for them, he put together an official album of Beatles songs called “Back in the USSR.” Half a million copies were issued, making it the most widely distributed album by any foreign musician in the Soviet Union.

McCartney’s album sold out almost instantly and became one of the most valuable records amongst Soviet music-lovers. Prices for the album on the black market rose as high as 100 rubles ($3). This means a lot, considering that the average salary at that time was 150 rubles ($5) a month. Across the border, this same album, which was released only in the Soviet Union, was valued at between $100 and $200. The cover of the album bore a quote from McCartney: “In releasing this record made especially and exclusively for the USSR, I am extending a hand of peace and friendship to the Soviet people.”

McCartney, as well as left-wing Lennon, could have “extended a hand to the Soviet people” much earlier, according to Russian politician Aleksei Mitrofanov. There’s some truth to this opinion: the old guard in the Kremlin never realized how much the Beatles had done for the prestige of the Soviet Union in late August 1968. When Paul McCartney wrote “Back in the USSR,” the song had many good things to say about a country that had just invaded Czechoslovakia and earned the displeasure of the entire world.

In the Soviet Union, despite the song “Back in the USSR,” the Beatles received no special treatment. There were plenty of disparaging voices and reviews in the Soviet press that preferred to refer to the Beatles as the “Bugs.” Even the venerable Soviet composer Nikita Bogoslovsky joined the chorus of criticism. “I am ready to bet you that, 18 months from now, there will be a new group with even more idiotic haircuts and even weirder voices, and all the fuss will die down,” said the composer.

“At the time, it was thought that the direction in which the Beatles were headed did not fit in with the accepted ideology,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told Sir Paul McCartney at a 2003 meeting in the Kremlin.

It seems that only yesterday the Beatles were off-limits to Soviet leaders who, afraid of the “noxious influence” of these long-haired boys, kept a close eye on the haircuts sported by semi-tolerated Soviet bands. Today in Russia, the generation that grew up on Beatles songs is now in power. Fans of the band include Chief of the Presidential Administration Sergei Ivanov, who attended McCartney’s 2003 concert on Red Square.

Despite the shortsightedness of Soviet leaders (who were, in truth, as afraid of left-wing Westerners as they were of right-wing ones), there was a popular legend in the Soviet Union and in post-Soviet Russia that the Beatles had, in fact, played in the Soviet Union at a closed-to-the-public government concert.

Although there is no documented evidence to confirm this legend, music experts later hypothesized that this concert may well have been performed by one of the Soviet music groups that imitated the Beatles – for instance, Blitz from the Soviet republic of Georgia.

“Of course, this was fake Beatles, but after all we all grew up on fake sausage, played on fake guitars, studied fake history, bought records by fake singers with our fake money, and listened to the fake leader of our government on television… So fake Beatles was far from the worst of it,” said Aleksei Rybin, who once attended a Blitz concert. “The main thing was how well they sang Beatles songs in English: this Georgian group had worked long and hard on its pronunciation when rehearsing such hits as ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Hard Day’s Night’.”

The most sophisticated Soviet schoolchildren studied English, not so much to learn tedious texts about the struggles of Communists, but so as to understand what the Beatles were singing about. Economist and politician Grigory Yavlinsky was once one of those schoolchildren: “When, in the 1980s, it became possible to go abroad, I found there was almost no barrier to communication. Then it turned out that people of my generation all shared a ‘fundamental code,’ a single language: it was the decade spent with the Beatles.”

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Back In The U.S.S.R. by The Beatles

Songfacts®:

• The story of this song begins in Hrishikesh, India, where The Beatles were on a retreat learning Transcendental Meditation from their guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Also on the retreat was Mike Love of The Beach Boys , who told us: "Paul (McCartney) came down to the breakfast table one morning saying, 'Hey, Mike, listen to this.' And he starts strumming and singing, 'Back in the U.S.S.R.,' the verses. And I said, 'Well, Paul, what you ought to do is talk about the girls around Russia, Ukraine girls and then Georgia on my mind, and that kind of thing.' Which he did. So I think it was the fact I was there, which caused Paul to think in terms of Beach Boys, and then my suggestion for what to do on the bridge, he took that suggestion and crafted, like only Sir Paul can, a really great song." McCartney was impressed with the idea and used some Beach Boys' elements in this song: Instead of "California Girls" it was "Moscow Girls." Plus, the definitive Beach Boy "Oooeeeeoooo" in the background harmonies. The title was inspired by Chuck Berry's " Back In The U.S.A. " The Beach Boys had been influenced by that song and also " Sweet Little Sixteen " to come up with " California Girls " and " Surfin' U.S.A. "
• Paul stated in 1968, "In my mind it's just about a (Russian) spy who's been in America for a long time and he's become very American but when he gets back to the USSR he's saying, 'Leave it 'til tomorrow to unpack my case, Honey, disconnect the phone.' and all that, but to Russian women."
• Things were tense when they were working on this album, and Ringo walked out during recording, briefly quitting the band. Paul McCartney played drums in his place.
• In early 1968, the British government launched the "I'm Backing Britain" campaign to rally enthusiasm and boost their economy, even encouraging workers to stay on the job an extra 30 minutes every day without pay. As part of the campaign, Bruce Forsyth released a song of that title , with the lyrics: In offices and factories up and down the country An extra half an hour is all we need each day In shops and supermarkets, everybody's started To work a little more without the pay This campaign may have influenced "Back In The U.S.S.R.," at least the title.
• The line "Georgia's always on my mind" in a play on the Ray Charles song " Georgia On My Mind ." It has a double meaning, since Georgia was part of the U.S.S.R.
• Elton John performed this song when he toured Russia in 1979, and he got a huge response. This was the year before Moscow hosted the Summer Olympics, which the United States boycotted. Elton told Q magazine: "The first night as an encore I did 'Back In The U.S.S.R.' And they went apes--t. It was like playing ' Philadelphia Freedom ' in Philadelphia. You just noticed that the people there were as ordinary and as good as the people you'd notice anywhere else." Billy Joel got a similar reaction when he played the song in Moscow in 1987.
• This song caused a controversy with conservative America, because it came out during Vietnam and the Cold War and it appeared to be celebrating the enemy.
• This opens with the sound of an airplane flying from left to right across the speakers. Stereo was relatively new, so this was very innovative for the time.
• On August 22, 1968, following an argument with McCartney over the drum part for this song, Ringo walked out on The Beatles. He flew to Sardinia for a holiday to consider his future. While there he received a telegram from his bandmates saying, 'You're the best rock 'n' roll drummer in the world. Come on home, we love you.' On his return, he found his drum kit covered with flowers. A banner above read, 'Welcome Back.'
• Paul McCartney told Mojo magazine October 2008 that the song's middle-eight was a spoof of the Beach Boys leading up to Pet Sounds . He added: "The rest is (sings first bars of the melody line of the opening verse) more Jerry Lee (Lewis). And the title is Chuck Berry, Back In The U.S.A. , and the song itself is more a take on Chuck. You'd get these soldiers back from Korea or Vietnam, wherever the hell, and Chuck was picking up on that. I thought it was a funny idea to spoof that with the most unlikely thing of way back in Siberia."
• There was a rumor in the Soviet Union that The Beatles had secretly visited the U.S.S.R. and given a private concert for the children of top Communist party members. They believed the song was written because of the concert. Actually, some fans still believe so. >> Suggestion credit : Alex - Tomsk, Russia Federation
• The wafer-thin actress and model Twiggy claimed that this song was written for her to sing on a tour of Russia that didn't materialize. She and McCartney had met to discuss a film project, but it's unlikely this song was written for her.
• Paul McCartney used this as the title to an album he released only in Russia in 1989. In 2002, McCartney called his US tour the "Back In The US" tour.
• In Stephen King's 1979 novel The Dead Zone , a serial killer hums this tune as he contemplates his first murder.
• More songs from The Beatles
• More songs with names of countries in the title
• More songs written for a girl
• More songs from 1968
• Lyrics to Back In The U.S.S.R.
• The Beatles Artistfacts

Comments: 94

• Used My Gi Bill On Romantics from Connecticut Built my first of many stereos after hearing Plane as a Boy Scout Explorer at a radio station trying to figure out if the new-fangled stereo could be somehow could be played on their AM frequencies, we built a variety of different ways to produce stereo from 32 and 8 track demos (some of our own feeble attempts at being arock star (I'm lousy on guitar, worse on keyboard, and have the range and ability of a bloodhound on vocals). I did however do plenty of work at home on my 2 reel to reels and assorted amplifiers, receivers, speakers and soldering gun but could never figure out how to transmit 2 tracts on 2 close frequencies so they could be combined with one receiver. Then a FM station became the 1st in Ct to broadcast stereo (blues, acid, and hard rock). I sold much of my used, beg borrowed and dismantled off anything with audio from TVs, phonographs, and PA systems and I broke down and mail-ordered receiver, It was dismantled within hours and tubes (I was still a luddite when it came to transistors), resisters and tuners filled my parent's basement which now resembled a lab in a cheap 50s horror movie. The recording industries cheap attempts a new technology was left behind me and with the addition of 6 more reel to reels somehow missing from the state school's audio-visual department made me the recording king of my town using a Unitarian church as a studio for local bands. Nobody's demo sold but I learned 16 track mixing, a lot of physics, and countless electrical disasters All because of a BOAC flight Back in the USSR. Unfortunately, I went bankrupt on a false hope in quadraphonics. Still own some vintage 74 quad tuners, turntables, amps, and limited commercial and homemade attempts at audio's Beta visual recordings. For sale, CHEAP limited editions. A 200-amp quad amp makes a wonderful anchor for a boat 14 foot or smaller. I still argue 8 track had a bright future. "Hey Man, your car's eight track just ate my Abby Road tape." Great idea, poor packaging. I'm investing my social security and pension hoping Smellavision is the next Wall Street dimes to become dollars undervalued stock ready to rocket my wealth higher than Bill Gates, Buffet, and Musk combined. Oops, here comes the orderly with my meds All meant was ---Back in the USSR changed my life.
• Djk15 from Detroit, Mi On a version I have it sounds like John says "Nyet" during the break around 1:30. They were so great at adding little background bits to each others song.
• Bridget from Co My favorite on the album :)
• George from Vancouver, Canada Sounds to me like they were flirting with the idea, via their yogi probably, of turning communist & promoting communism.
• Steve from Princeton, Nj This is one of several songs, along with Why Don't We Do It In The Road and Lady Madonna, in which Paul sounds like Ringo.
• Sean from Cranston, Ri If you listen to the vocals isolated, you can hear someone burp right before the first guitar solo.
• Ron from Santa Barbara, Ca it was my understanding that mike love suggested to paul that he write a "beach boys" type song when they were together in india on a meditation holiday with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. most of the material for the "white album" was written there. also on the retreat were fellow musicians, mick jagger; donovan and paul horn.
• George from Belleville, Nj What a way to start the White Album.A high energy rocker that splits the speakers wide open.Great lead guitar,very upbeat.It's not their best opener from all their albums,but still a good one.
• Norman from Jakarta, Indonesia To : Girosovich, New York, NY, Paul's drumming in Dear Prudence was MAGNIFICENT!!!
• Andrew from London, England Alan from Milwaukee: "Flew in from Miami beach BOAC" BOAC stood for British Oversea Air Corporation (or was it company?) a pre-runner of BA British airways. And yes, it is paperbag - you are given them to throw up in, hence "Man it's been a dreadful flight". Paul was lucky he didn't go aeroflot!
• K from Nowhere, On the cd booklet says paper bag
• Chester from Chula, Ga I do believe that he said "paper bag"...instead of paper back...He was referring to an air/motion sickness/barf bag...Man I had a dreadful flight?
• Chester from Chula, Ga It is my belief that he said "paper bag" instead of paper back...Paper bag refers to an air sickness bag.."man I had a dreadful flight"...makes sense to me..
• Dan from Mattoon, Il Luke, from camp hill, I haven't listened to this song or Dear Prudence for a long time and after reading your post about the plane carrying over to Dear Prudence I do remember it does carry over. Wow, I hadn't remembered that till now. Great post. Always a rush to have something from the 60's be remembered.
• Girosovich from New York, Ny From what I can hear there are at least two drum tracks. In the right channel is a basic beat mixed very low and on the left is a bright snare with tom fills, hi hat cymbal with not much happening it seems on the kick drum. McCartney being at least the main drummer if not the only drummer does a competent enough job and clearly does it how he wants it done but he so lacks the right feel. He also drums on Dear Prudence and at NO time during the entire song are the bass and drums in sync. THEN Glass Onion comes on and Ringo and the album roar to life. The White Album generally wasn't Ringo's best drumming but he really earns his keep on it... his highlights are "Yer Blues" "I'm So Tired" "Savoy Truffle" "Long Long Long". McCartney also drums on Wild Honey Pie, possibly Martha My Dear, and Mother Nature's Son.
• Irina from Tbilisi, Georgia I am from Georgia and I love this song. I am sure that the beatles knew about Georgia and sang about it !!!
• Frank from Granchester Meadows, Greenland Love the Beach Boy stle OOOO's in the middle eight.
• Brad from Lexington, Ky This is a really fun rock song, one of the Beatles' better hard rockers. The lyrics describe a soldier in the Soviet Union returning home from America.
• Linc from Beaumont, Tx The line about "leaving the West behind" is a reference to the Beach Boys hit, California Girls of course.
• Linc from Beaumont, Tx I think Paul was a perfectionist and while it ensured that the Beatles didn't put out sloppy songs, it also added an element of tension to the band. There were several incidents where Paul would show one or other band memeber how he wanted his song to be played and if he didn't like it, he did it himself.
• Paul from Liverpool, United Kingdom According to Paul McCartney,Ringo couldn't get the drums right on the song.So he (Paul McCartney)played all the drum parts,and this was what caused the friction between the two superstars.
• Olivia from Chicago, Il I have this image in my head of paul with his arms thrown open wide with a huge smile on his face, and the camera like swings in a circle around him from like his knee-height and you see the red square towers. Also i love the 'come and keep your comrad warm, it makes me grin every time
• Susan from Toronto, Canada Regarding the drums: in Mark Lewisohn's book THE BEATLES RECORDING SESSIONS, the Beatles' recording engineer Ken Scott comments about John, Paul and George having to substitute in Ringo's absence. Scott says, "Work continued. They did `Back in the USSR' with what I seem to recall was a composite drum track of bits and pieces, possibly with all of the other three playing drums." Yes, it's possible all three Beatles filled in for Ringo! It could be considered a compliment to Ringo that it took all three of the other Beatles to fill in for him!
• R.h. from Pauls Valley, Ok Sammy you obviously don't have the album because the words are on the back of the original poster that came with it (which I still have). Bianca, you are right on the money. He's referring to the vomit bag because he was sick during his "dreadful flight"!
• Danimal from Kraków, Poland Ringo was pursuaded to come back to the Beatles but it is Paul drumming on this track. Later, Lennon mentioned that Ringo being the best rock and roll drummer in the world was somewhat over-egsaturated: "He's not even the best drummer in The Beatles" Lennon joked. Although I personally disagree (I think Ringo is a very innovative drummer), Paul does a good job on drums.
• Rosario from Naples, Fl Paul says "paper bag," not "paper back." why would it be a "Dreadful flight" to have a "paper back on your knee?" and who reads with books on their knees...?
• Sammy from Gleneden Beach, Or 'A paper back on my knee' is talking about a paper back book.
• Peter from Stockholm, Sweden It´s not Ringo that plays the drums. After what I´ve heard (you can har that too)As someone wrot he went on a holiday, convinced he was considered a not so important member of the group.
• Ken from Louisville, Ky The line is "Flew in from Miami Beach, BOAC". BOAC was "British Overseas Airways Corporation" which is now just called "British Airways". But this was a playful plug for his home-country's national airline by Paul, BOAC never flew from Miami to Moscow.
• Peter Griffin from Quahog, Ri The beginning of the Beatles' best Album.
• N.i. from Baltimore, Md Well, it obviously was a reference to the song "Georgia on my Mind" (made famous by Ray Charles). Maybe you knew that already, but I just thought it was worth clarifying.
• Peter Griffin from Quahog, Ri "Georgia's on my mind"-Hah, you'd think this meant the state Georgia, but I like it how they meant the Georgia that was part of the USSR. (Which is now its own independent country)
• Bianca Sanchez from Alburquerque, Nm I know Micheal! Its gross. But I would keep that bag even if i really really hate throw up. Cos you know Its Pauls!
• Lissa from Houston, Tx Katie from Tallahassee, he definitely says the paper BAG was on his knee, because he had a dreadful flight. It's in the booklet.
• Katie from Tallahassee, Fl He isn't saying 'a paper bag was on my knee', he's saying 'a paper back was on my knee'.
• Luke from Camp Hill, Pa Listen to this song and then immediately listen to Dear Prudence. The airplane in the end carries over to Dear Prudence.
• Michael from Oxford Bianca Sanchez, you're absolutely right about that line. Disgusting, isn't it?
• Bianca Sanchez from Alburquerque, Nm Hellllooooooooooo? Any one gonna answer my question?
• Bianca Sanchez from Alburquerque, Nm I LIKE THIS SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)))))
• Bianca Sanchez from Alburquerque, Nm I wanna know what "Oh, the way the paper bag was on my knee." means. I Think it means he was throwing up all the way cos after he says "Man I had dreadful flight" -Bianca, Alburquerque, NM
• M.yurlov from Sevastopol, Other P.S. I would like to ask your WEB-master why there is no Russia, Ukraine or at least the USSR (CIS) in the list? If you mark Russia as "other", then there is not much to say
• M.yurlov from Sevastopol, Other Dear all, Just a few remarks from the Ukraine-2007 (former U.S.S.R). 1. My name is Mikhail Yurlov, 50. Writing from the city of Sevastopol (way down South). 2. There are so many political-factological-musical - and so on... delusions in the comments around "Back in the U.S.S.R" song, that a Russian (former Soviet) cannot but step into discussions. 3. Think it should really surprise: is it 2007 or still 1968 (when this song was composed). Anyway I can completely back Mr Dirk from Nashville, TN, who underlines that "after three decades it (this song)still kicks". 4. And the latter is really a reply to all those who name this song as "ordinary". It might be not the best Beatles song, but the fact that there are so many comments proves that this song makes us all ponder over. 5. Now, let us go position by position. A. Politics. Very interesting to come across "Czechoslovakia events, Soviet Federated Socialist Republic of Georgia (the latter never existed - it was Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic), Stalin and Khruschev policies, I'm backin Britain" (not U.K. -!) campaign and many more of this type. Personally, I do not think that Paul or John could even go so deep into politics - there are no any proving indications of them being involved into politics, except for John's "We are now bigger than Jesus Christ" (1966, John was only 26). Later in "The Revolution" (1968, students movement in France, etc) John was singing - "But when you talk about destruction, Don't you know that you can count me out... But when you want money for people with minds that hate All I can tell is brother you have to wait... you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao... You better free you mind instead" - so, no real participation in all that sort of action... It was only after The Betles split, that John sang about "The Working class hero is something to be..." and Paul reminding "Give Ireland back to the Irish". So, finally, "Back in the USSR" could hardly be a campaigning song to promote the USSR, or any deep political hints... rather the Beatles used a catching word-combination (The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which they NEVER visited) to promote THEIR OWN new album, and this was quite a normal thing to sustain at the musical market of that time. But yes, of course, there are some intricate things: remember when Paul stumbles, singing Back in U.S., Back in U.S.,, Back in U.S.S.R.? Is that not a specific hint? Or as Mr Blake, Kennesaw, GA, USA pin points: "satirical, poking fun at Western culture/greed, whatever, while emphasizing the plight of citizens under communism (You don't know how lucky you are, boys.)". Very symbolic observation of Mr Blake. We can add - as very many things with the Beatles and all the British humour: ambiguity (like backing Britain - backin' USSR, who knows? By the way why "in", and not "to"?!). B. Facts. - In the beginning I would definitely omit all that stuff concerning unprintable words ostensibly used by Paul. Just bs. The Beatles were brilliant enough in expressing themselves to the world without this kind of lexics. - I do not know whether any of The Beatles songs were banned in the US, but to be exact - The Beatles were NOT banned officially in the USSR. Still, one could not find their music at the shops, only for a few exclusions, like "Girl" (with the indication, that it was a folklore song!!), or a poor edition of "Can't buy me love" or "Lady Madonna"(the songs that critisize capitalism). In the late 60s - early 70s there was also a very popular political TV programme "America in the object-glass", shown at the prime-time on the First Governmental TV channel. And the opener for the programme was "Can't buy me love" with the most important "Much for money". (In fact, absolutely correct.). Anyway, The Beatles LPs were not "for sale" officially, but all those who wanted to get their music - did it. Of course not at the extent the fans would love to. - One more important fact. I do not know how Paul came to know about all these things (maybe from Linda, whos distant origin was from Russia), but he was absolutely correct stating that the Ukrainian girls leave the West behind, and how specific are Moscow babes... I wonder why he is mentioning Georgian ones - nothing to be compared to the Ukrainian ones... And what is final: we all can discuss a lot what Paul and his friends thought when composing this song, but the only truth could come from Paul (Sir Paul McCartney). If he would wish to do so.
• Alan from Milwaukee, Wi What the heck is a "Miami BOAC"? Something to do with Miami Vice?
• John from Grantham, England The campaign was not "I'm backing the UK", it was "I'm backing Britain" and there was a Labour (socialist) government at the time, not a Conservative one. And I've got a feeling that this song was written by the beatles
• Dmytro from Kharkiv, Europe "the Ukraine girls really knock me out, they leave the West behind" - I am from Ukraine, I fully agree with John Lennon ;))
• Krissy from Boston, Ma I think it's a great song. At first I thought it was the Beach Boys but then not.
• Michelle Harris from Littleton, Co I had a social studies teacher this past year who loved the Beatles and Europe. He played this song alot. When I hear this song on my Ipod, I always think of it as a tribute to my favorite teacher.
• Poop from Poopville, Mo Hah.. thats funny I always thought this sounded like a beach boys song. Anyways, great tune.
• Krista from Elyria, Oh GREAT SONG I LOVE IT! When they sing about the girls, it confused me at first. I was listening 2 it on my mp3, and I thought it skipped to a Beach Boy song! LOL LOL
• N.i. from Baltimore, Md Anyone who interprets this song as pro-Soviet isn't thinking straight. The Beatles were no friend of the USSR--their music was banned there! The main underlying point of this song is the absurdity of advertising the USSR using rock 'n' roll, a genre that would never have been permitted to develop under such a repressive government.
• Paul from Adelaide, Australia Not one of my favorite songs on a very ordinary album. History will make it better than it really is.
• Jade from Sacramento, Ca One of the basic problems with the drum track on U.S.S.R was "mannerism". The band sorely missed Ringo's 'feel and soul' for a song, even Paul admits this in Anthology. All three had to patch together a composite drum track in order to make it 'listenable'.
• Ben from Hamilton, Canada Maybe you guys should hear this the beatles have never been to the Ussr so the play on words is the only option for the title
• Teri from Chicago, Il Hey Austin, CBGB stands for Country, Blue Grass and Blues. When we walked in to set up, It was so messy looking, I thought the real club was in the back. It's long and narrow. I remember them having movie theater seats up 2 steps on the left but, of course that was back in the late 70's. Many great bands got their start there.
• Chuck from Joppa, Md, Md This was a big inspiration for David Bowie's "Suffragette City."
• Jay from Manassas, Va paul doesn't drop the f-bomb at the end of this song. taking the DE MFSL vinyl bootlegs and doing some clever tricks using FFT and phase reduction...i removed all the stereo content, leaving the middle..similar to the "remove vocals" effect on many mp3 players...only reverse. now, yes, it sounds like paul drops the f-bomb at the end..only because of the way things were mixed. the end of the song is pretty phase-busy (lots of stuff going on left/right) it drowns out his voice..so..what does he say? "ohhh let me tell you honey. hey i'm back! back in the ussr. hey it's so good to be here...........back in the ussr" listen to the original all you want..it'll either fit in or not make sense..but i've got the clip.
• Philip from Widnes, England Paul McCartney wrote this song because he hated the "American Dream" sugary lyrics used in California Girls
• Ken from Louisville, Ky This was orginally written as "I'm Backing The U.S.S.R.", Paul's parody of the British PR campaign "I'm Backing the U.K.". But when it became time to record the song, the orginial campaign had evaporated and Paul was afraid no one would remember it. John suggested that Paul re-write this as a send-up of Chuck Berry's "Back In The USA", and Paul threw in the Beach Boys' "California Girls" bit as a freindly shout-out to them (he was quite friendly with the Wilson brothers and Mike Love).
• Pete from Sherman Oaks, Ca "Stereo" was NOT "relatively new" when this song was put together, in 1968; there were many innovative things done with stereo in the midfifties, for example. In fact, the technology, itself, was developed, I would assume, long before that (in the 40's or earlier?). But, this is not to take away from the overall great quality of the song or even the excellence of the use of stereo in it - it just wasn't that new, that's all. - Pete Pearlman
• Peter from Calgary, Canada I think they may be mentioning Georgia as the Georgian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (or GSFSR for short) because that's where Stalin came from. While Khrushchev did try and reverse much of the Stalinization of the USSR during his time, he was removed from office in 1964 and replaced with Brehznev, a much more ardent supporter of Stalin's policies. At a time when the USSR was becoming much more outwardly hostile, images of Stalin may have been in the public psyche (either by association or placement), hence the reference.
• Adrian from Kingston, Canada cbgb is a bar in NY (i think) where alot of new wave bands got their start like the talking heads. he is saying u like c/rap music
• Greg from Victoria, Canada A great song by a great band. I believe it as stated elsewhere that it had a Beachboy influence. Good old Rock and Roll. If the Beatles where trying to do their best Beachboys imitation..they suceeded. Great song!I play it regularly.
• Tom from North Attleboro, Ma Austin in Boston, define "much better." If "much better" means barely discernible vocals, guitar solos that make no sense, and overall mediocrity, you're right, it is "way" better than the original. Go back to CBGB.
• Austin from Boston, Ma The Dead Kennedy's cover of this song is much better than the original.
• Ryan from Bfe, Mi To Hank in NJ... The beatles weren't mocking the beach boys... in fact Mike Love suggested it...
• Or from Holon, Israel In the end of the song Paul says "Ohhhhh yeah I tell you honey, I'm back F**k the, S.S.R!"
• Jeanette from Irvine, Ca that would be funny if all along it was about sex even though everyone thought it was about the cold war.
• Jon from Pittsburgh, Pa Phish does a cover the White Album on Halloween night. The album is sick definently look for it
• Hank from Hillsborough, Nj The Beatles had a song called "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." John Fred & His Playboy Band did a lyrical parody with "Judy in Disguise with Glasses." That song was a double parody b/c musically it was a bubble gum song but the Playboys were not a bubble gum band. McCartney liked the idea of a double parody: lyrically Back in the USSR mocks communism, musically it mocks the Beach Boys and surf rock.
• Lisa from Sf Valley, Ca As the song is ending, you can hear Paul go: "...Back in the U.S.S.R. Oh let me tell you honey, hey I'm back, f**k yeah (or) that!" I've asked a couple of people and they agree with me. I'm probably wrong, but it's amusing.
• Ben from Cheverly, Md This ones not he best song in the world, but its OK, not that good.
• Dirk from Nashville, Tn You guys are missing the most salient point about this song (other than the fact that after three decades it still kicks). The Beatles were always looking for an outlet for thumbing their noses at B.S. At the time this song was recorded, there was a major political campaign in England (sort of like the USA in 2000, only uglier). The British conservatives had a huge re-take-the-government campaign with the slogan "I'm Backing the UK"... Paul twisted that into "Im Back In (backin') the USSR." Instead of sounding like the conservative capitalists, he is mischieviously taunting the right-wingers by praising the "snow-peaked mountains" and beauty of the great wicked empire and its beautiful women. It's the Beatles tweaking the nose of the political establishment.... (not to mention the fact that a plane flying from Miami Beach to Russia in 1968 would have shot out of the sky.) End of history lesson. Sorry to drone on like an old fart.
• Laura from Santa Fe, Nm At the time, Russian women had a Babushka--Mrs. Kruschev--image in the US and perhaps the UK. Sort of the polar opposite of the 'California Girl' stereotype. We were so, so, misinformed.
• Ash from Cary, Nc This song is about one thing and one thing only. Sex. Just sex. I am not joking.
• Ken from Louisville, Ky John played a six-string bass on this recording. At this point in the Beatles John and George would occasionally play bass instead of Paul (while Paul played keyboards) to break the monotony of studio recoding.
• Mistik from Sydney, Australia This is a cool song, one of my favs by the Beatles, "im back in the USSR, you don't know how lucky you are boy" is this anti- USSR? or promoting it, i guess it goes both ways. The lyrics are the typical 60's stuff i guess.
• Stefanie Magura from Rock Hill, Sc I saw Paul McCartney parform this on a special he did in Moscow a few years ago, and when he did the line "And Moscow girls make me sing and shout," rhere were a bunch of screams from the audience. It was pretty funny.
• Nessie from Sapporo, Japan Blake, you're right.
• Joseph from Manteca, Ca Communism is awesome. CLASS MOT KLASS! "Workingmen of all countries, unite!" - Marxx & Engels
• Martijn from Helmond, Netherlands Oooooh! Promoting communism! What a terrible thing to do! I sometimes wonder if there are any Americans who realize why the powers that be in their country were (and probably still are) so afraid of communism?
• Roy from Little Rock, Ar At first I thought the song was about the devil, because when he said Georgia, I thought he was talking referring it to "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" by Charlie Daniels
• Rudolpho from Waverly, Mo Strangely enough my dentist (at the UMKC dental college is from the Ukraine, and yes, she did, literally "knock me out"! Rudy....
• Gary from Auckland, New Zealand In approach it's really a cross between 'California Girls' and 'Help Me Rhonda' (with Mike Love-style bass-note "doh-doh-doh-doh"s -- and so it's ironic it's the favorite of a lot of Beatle fans!
• Blake from Kennesaw, Ga, Usa I was under the assumption that this song was sort of satirical, poking fun at Western culture/greed, whatever, while emphasizing the plight of citizens under communism (You don't know how lucky you are, boys.)
• Jason from Mesa, Az Actually Paul never said Ringo wasn't the best drummer in the beatles. It was John who said it when he was asked in an interview is Ringo the greatest rock drummer in the world. In which he replied, "He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles."
• Scott Baldwin from Edmonton, Canada I would really like to go to Russia one of these days.
• Don from Philadelphia, Pa Whenever I see a Moscow girl, I sing and shout. Whenever I see a Ukranian girl I pass out. This can make tourism in Russia rather conspicuous.
• Michael from Gso, Nc Nice Monty Python allusion with "wafer thin"!!
• Anonymous The Beatles never were in the USSR, but their plane flew over it during one of their tours. McCartney didn't write about "all the girls he met in the USSR". Just the country was talked about so much, and the band wanted to do a rebellious song. -Jamieree,Edmond,OK
• Mike from London, England Because this was recorded when Ringo had walked out of the sessions for a while, Paul played drums on it. When he heard himself on the recording he bragged: "Ringo can't be the best drummer in the world, he's not even the best drummer in the Beatles!" A real rock classic, topical and cleverly satirical. The Beatles' humour and subtle wit is often underrated. During the "Get Back" sessions when George walked out for a while, the rest of the band started to play the Who's 20 minute classic, "A Quick One While He's Away," which can be found on certain bootlegs.
• Anonymous LOVE THIS SONG!!! This is one of paul's most famous songs, and rightfully so. The song is a wonderful parody of the beach boys that incorperates a little beatles texture. The song is amazing and if you don't already have the white album, it is worth buting if not just for this song. It also helps this song that is is on the same album as "while my gitar gently weeps.
• Charles from Charlotte, Nc Originally titled 'I'm Backing the UK' as a response to a pro-British industry ad campaign. Song was recorded as Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia.
• Matthew from New York, Ny The song not only immitated the Beach Boys, it was written in part by a Beach Boy!! While in India at a retreat with the Maharishi, Paul McCartney was strumming a few chords while writing the song. Mike Love, one of the Beach Boys, told Paul to write about all the girls he met in the USSR, just like the Beach Boys would write. Together, the wrote the "Ukraine Girls Really Knock Me Out.." section as if it was a Beach Boys song.
• Tyler from Murfreesboro, Tn This song was banned from many radio stations upon the release of The White Album. People thought the lyric 'U.S.S.R' promoted communism.

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‘He Knew No Boundaries’: The Life And Legacy Of The Who’s Keith Moon

‘lover’: a dazzling success that put taylor swift far ahead of the pack, songs about fire: 25 red-hot tunes, ‘things are changing’: when the supremes sang phil spector for a public service announcement, ‘expansions’: how mccoy tyner broadened his musical horizons, remembering emilio navaira, tejano music legend, ‘halcyon’: how a new era dawned for ellie goulding, new edition’s ‘christmas all over the world’ ep headed to vinyl, afi’s ‘all hallow’s’ ep earns 25th anniversary reissue, sonora ponceña’s ‘sabor sureño’ celebrates 50th anniversary with new reissue, def leppard announce ‘one night only live at the leadmill sheffield’, billie eilish teams with vevo footnotes to talk ‘lunch’, ariana grande announces ‘my everything’ tenth anniversary edition, barenaked ladies celebrate 20 years of ‘barenaked for the holidays’ with vinyl edition, ‘back in the ussr’: the story behind the beatles’ song.

The song incorporated Beach Boys harmonies and Chuck Berry riffs to become a scorching piece of rock’n’roll.

Published on

Tapes exist of The Beatles in Rishikesh singing a song about spiritual regeneration in the style of The Beach Boys : a performance not a million miles away stylistically from the Esher demo version of “Back In The USSR.” The song morphs into a “Happy Birthday Mike Love” song, in honor of The Beach Boys’ vocalist, who was studying Transcendental Meditation with them at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Indian Ashram.

Rishikesh was always likely to inspire creativity. Set against a backdrop where the mighty Ganges gives way to the verdant foothills of the Himalayas, this was an enclave of serenity, a place where artists such as The Beatles would be able to allow their work to simply flood out of them, free from the shackles of the modern world.

‘You ought to talk about the girls all around Russia’

Love has recalled Paul McCartney strolling out from his hut at the ashram one morning: “I was sitting at the breakfast table and McCartney came down with his acoustic guitar and he was playing “Back In The USSR,” and I told him that what you ought to do is talk about the girls all around Russia, the Ukraine, and Georgia. He was plenty creative not to need any lyrical help from me, but I gave him the idea for that little section… I think it was light-hearted and humorous of them to do a take on The Beach Boys.”

Best Keith Moon Performances: 20 Kit-Shattering Drum Highlights

McCartney’s final lyric does indeed talk about girls from the various parts of the USSR (“Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out/They leave the west behind/And Moscow girls make me sing and shout/That Georgia’s always on my mind”) just as The Beach Boys’ ‘California Girls’ does for the US (“Well East Coast girls are hip/I really dig those styles they wear/And the Southern girls with the way they talk/They knock me out when I’m down there”).

“Back In The USSR” also reflected The Beatles’ desire to return to being a rock’n’roll band after the complex studio experiments of the previous few years. “ Chuck Berry once did a song called “Back In The USA,” which is very American, very Chuck Berry,” McCartney told Radio Luxemburg in November 1968. “So this one is… about a spy who’s been in America a long, long time, you know? And he’s very American. But he gets back to the USSR, you know, and he’s sort of saying, ‘Leave it till tomorrow, honey, to disconnect the phone,’ and all that.”

While the song’s conception may have been relatively straightforward, its delivery was less of an easy ride. Like many of the “White Album” songs written in India, the group had recorded a demo of “Back In The USSR” at George Harrison ’s Esher bungalow, Kinfauns, back in May 1968, soon after returning to England. But by the time they got to recording the song at Abbey Road, it was mid-August, and tensions were rising. Ringo was feeling unhappy with the way things were going. “I felt I wasn’t playing great, and I also felt that the other three were really happy and I was an outsider,” he later said. During the session for “Back In The USSR,” the drummer decided that enough was enough, and walked out, spending a couple of weeks on Peter Sellers’ yacht in the Mediterranean before returning to the fold after the others had reassured him of his value to the group.

A scorching rock’n’roll delivery

In the interim, McCartney took over on percussive duties, and, together with John and George, the band completed ‘Back In The USSR’ in just two days (August 22 and 23, 1968), adding sound effects of a Viscount airliner to what was a strikingly heavy wall of throbbing drums, shredded guitars, driving bass, pounding piano and a scorching rock’n’roll delivery. Then, with a nod to that early inspiration, as Paul put it, “We added Beach Boys-style harmonies.” And with that, one of the most-famous double-albums in pop history had its rocking opening track.

Talking about the song in Playboy magazine in 1984, McCartney said, “It was also hands across the water, which I’m still conscious of. ’Cause they like us out there, even though the bosses in the Kremlin may not. The kids do. And that to me is very important for the future of the race.”

“Back In The USSR” would understandably become a particular favorite of fans behind the Iron Curtain, who listened surreptitiously on reel-to-reel tape copies. When Paul finally got to play the song live in Red Square, in 2003, the sheer joy writ across the fans’ faces showed just how far things had come since it was written, deep in the frostiest days of the Cold War. The line “Moscow girls make me sing and shout” got the biggest cheer of the night.

Buy or stream the 50th-anniversary reissue of The Beatles’ “White Album.” 

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Old News, Vintage Photos & Nostalgic Stories

How the beatles brought the soviet union down and destroyed communism.

“More than any ideology, more than any religion, more than Vietnam or any war or nuclear bomb, the single most important reason for the diffusion of the Cold War was… The Beatles.” Mikhail Gorbachev

On February 9, 1964, on “The Ed Sullivan Show”, the Beatles made their first live performance in America in front of an estimated 73 million U.S. citizens. It set the record for viewers tuned-in to a live television program; three-fourths of the total adult audience in the United States watched the Beatles live on “The Ed Sullivan Show”. Since then, rock n’ roll has never been the same.

The Beatles influenced various aspects of the western society, including the gender revolution, fashion, globalization, religion, political freedom, art, film, geography, and even the fall of Communism. While the West spent billions of dollars trying to bring down communism, the Beatles did it with their music. As Milos Forman, director of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, says: “It sounds ridiculous but it’s not. I’m convinced the Beatles are partly responsible for the fall of Communism.”

The Soviet government tried very hard to shape and control the culture and society of the countries in its sphere of influence, and claimed that the type of music The Beatles played caused delinquency, alcoholism, vandalism, and rape. The Beatles were the most popular band on the planet, but they were banned in the Soviet Union.

In the Soviet Union, the West was presented as evil, and Soviet citizens were expected to just know that the West was their enemy. The electric guitar was also declared to be “an enemy of the Soviet people” by First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev. Leonid Brezhnev hated rock music and pretty much anything else creative, and the arts were strictly regulated by the Soviet government. But music can’t be stopped. There was a new generation of Soviet citizens that started to realize that their “enemy”, instead of being a threat to the Soviet Union, made wonderful music; they realized that the West wasn’t as bad as their officials presented it.

It was illegal to import Western music in the Soviet Union, so teenagers listened to Radio Luxemburg and recorded their songs on tapes. The quality of the sound was terrible, but good enough for them to appreciate the magic of The Beatles. Lenin was traded for Lennon, and teenagers learned English just by scribbling down Beatles lyrics in their notebooks.

The Soviet officials became aware of the influence that The Beatles had on the population of their country and they immediately started an anti-Beatles campaign that mocked them as “the bugs”. Rock and roll fans were forced to shave off their long hair, and anyone who listened The Beatles was accused of spreading western propaganda.

When something is illegal it tends to attract interest, and this was the case with the Beatles in the Soviet Union. People realized en masse that the Soviet government was lying  about The Beatles being evil and immoral, and started to think that if the government was lying about The Beatles’ music, then they might be lying about other things as well.

And then, after John Lennon died in 1980, the Soviet government started inexplicably celebrating his legacy. People were finally free to listen to The Beatles, and their music showed Soviet teenagers what they were missing out on.

In the end, Gorbachev made significant changes to the economy and political system and freed public access to information after decades of heavy government censorship.

The West won in the Cold War not because of the billions of dollars invested in the “battle”, but because of The Beatles and their awesome cultural influence.

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Your Beatles memories: from listening in Soviet secret towns to having to leave a gig early to catch the bus

Learning from yesterday in a secret soviet town.

I was a school girl in a provincial town in Soviet Russia called Izhevsk. Like some other Soviet places, Izhevsk was a closed secret town because of the military industries located there. For many years it was neither placed on maps, nor mentioned in any public documents.

It was 1989, my sixth year of school. All Soviet schoolkids were given a choice what foreign language to learn – German or English. I chose English. Lyudmila Mikhailovna was my teacher of English and also our class's mistress. Extremely strict and severe, she maintained a military-style discipline, scolding her class quite harshly for the tiniest misconducts. Almost all of my classmates were afraid of her. I was among those few who, for some reason, were not. She probably saw in me an aptitude for English and studies in general, and demanded from me only "excellent" marks in all subjects, shaming me bitterly when I got "good" or "satisfactory" mark.

Lyudmila Mikhailovna had probably been teaching English for more than 15 years by that time, never travelling to any English-speaking country, and never seeing and talking to a native speaker; that's the English teacher of the Soviet Union.

She often taught us English songs as part of the language-learning methodology. One day, she said we were going to sing a Beatles song. I never heard any song by them at that time; we didn't have their records at home. In the usual way, Lyudmila Mikhailovna put the song's lyrics on the blackboard with a white chalk, line by line, and we were to write them down in our notebooks:

Yesterday by the Beatles. Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, Now it looks as though they're here to stay

Then she put a record on the player, adjusted the needle to the right track, and the next moment I heard what I thought to be the most beautiful music in the whole world. From the opening chords, the song seemed just divine to me – it was making my heart sing.

I can still see that day as if it were yesterday: the winter sun shining through the classroom window, my strict teacher of English singing Yesterday with us and with the record in her clear and strong voice, me in that boring black-and-brown Soviet school uniform, sitting at a school desk covered with pen scribbles and carvings left by misbehaving kids, in our English classroom with Shakespeare's portrait on the wall, wanting the song to be played over and over again, and Lyudmila Mikhailovna's kind-mocking remark: "Oh, look at Talanova, she's all carried away by the song!"  Irina Talanova

Kennedy had just died, but we chanted for the band

The Beatles were coming to Newcastle city hall and I was determined to get tickets. We were appalled when we found out that people were already queueing on Friday night, when sales started at 10am on Sunday. On Saturday, my mother very reluctantly allowed my sister and me to take our sleeping bags there to spend the night camping out for tickets. What an atmosphere! Guitars and music, friendly fans – and the Salvation Army with trolley-loads of soup. We woke in the morning to screams of frustration: people were running ahead of the queue to get in first. I ran, my sister was left behind. We were only allowed one ticket per person, so my sister didn't get to see them after all. A final comment: the concert was on 22 November 1963, better known for the day Kennedy was assassinated. The moderator came on stage and informed us of the sad news. Our reaction, of which I am duly ashamed: "Beatles! Beatles!" Katecha

The joy of the Beatles on a Dansette

It must've been 1973-74 (I was 10 or 11), and my mum bought me an old Dansette and a handful of second-hand singles from the local market. In the collection were a few by the Beatles ( Let It Be /You Know My Mame, Paperback Writer/ Rain , She's a Woman/ I Feel Fine ) and I instantly took a shine to them. They're scratched, and far more played than when I got them, but I still have them in my collection. My musical tastes have evolved heavily since then, but I owe so much of my current music-listening pleasure to those three singles, my mum and my long-since-gone Dansette. trgzbaby

I saw the Beatles's shins

Urmston Show was a local produce and animal show. The powers that be decided to stage a "teenage dance" in a marquee. The Beatles were booked to play. (Unknown at the time of booking, they were top of the pops by the time of the gig.) Unable to get tickets, my friends and I stood outside, perfectly able to hear the music, but seeing nothing of the group except below the knee! Mike Bowden

The music that made me leave the Plymouth Brethren

Since '63 I'd heard of pop bands, but due to my upbringing in the Plymouth Brethren, who shunned the "world", I had never heard the Beatles. We had neither radio nor TV, and did not mix, ever, with outsiders. By the age of 16, in '68, I was rapidly becoming disillusioned with the brethren, and started at college. The world was exploding that year and it was here that I first heard Yesterday. Within a year I'd left family and friends behind, most of whom I never saw again; the Beatles became my touchstone, my guide to my new world. ID3288619

The TV appearance that opened a generation gap

No social media, no tweets or pings, but the anticipation was electric as the Beatles's Sunday-night performance on The Ed Sullivan Show drew nearer. The buzz in the air was even more surprising considering it was small-town Canada, 1964. I was seven and, with my 10-year-old sister, father and mother, gathered around the old black and white set to see what all the fuss was about. When the Fab Four came on, playing All My Loving to the screams of the mainly teenage girl audience, I think I witnessed the birth of the generation gap. While my sister's excitement grew, my parents began their critique: "Look at those silly hairstyles," my mother said. "They look like girls." My father was convinced the screaming, fainting teens had been paid in advance to fake it, saying the same trick had been used to promote a young Frank Sinatra and Elvis. I was still a bit young to understand the frenzy but sensed something larger was happening than my parents could understand. In hindsight, I think that the first wedge between myself and the absolute authority of my parents had been struck. Ken Barnes

Reading on mobile? Watch the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 here

Listening to the Fab Four in the womb

I think I'm one of a generation of people who, though they probably don't think about it, never really "heard" the Beatles for the first time. Rather, I experienced it before I was born. When I was 12 or 13 – some 12 or 13 years ago – I realised that I knew all the melodies, the feel of George and Paul's harmonies, John's steely, caustic tone and the general thrum of the albums' narratives, but yet never "learned" them was because I used to listen to the Beatles (and kick to them) in the womb. My mum would sit in front of the record player, on an old brown leather couch, and my eldest brother Paul would blast out Rock and Roll Music, Boys and other hits. Now, when I hear the Beatles, I don't so much experience nostalgia as experience myself. JamesCgrad

Songs that changed my life

Lying on my bed in Dublin as a teenage with not a lot of money in the house. We were pretty poor at the time, like everyone around us, but we were happy. I used to lay on my bed, close my eyes and put on Abbey Road and everything would fade away – there was just the music, sublime, beautiful, mesmerising, music and sheer beauty that almost brought tears to my eyes, music so profound it changed my life in that moment and for the rest of my life. It didn't matter about my situation, the only thing that mattered was the music, the music of the Beatles. In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make – how utterly true. Thank you. Andy McCormack

The secret albums of childhood

I was nine years old, it was early 1980. At weekends I would often stay at my grandparent's home. It was a large detached house with a spare front room. It was a "secret" place I would sneak into to explore what, to me, were hidden and fascinating old family photos and knick-knacks. I was still coming to terms with my father walking out on me and my family, so it was a dark and confusing time for me.

One day, while my grandparents were preoccupied, I took the opportunity to sneak into the room again. I pulled open the lower drawer of a large chest. Under some old bits and bobs were these fantastically intriguing LPs. The covers were enticing; they looked like part of that room, like lost treasures from a time long ago: Revolver, Rubber Soul, Magical Mystery Tour, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Help!, Beatles for Sale. I had heard the name Beatles and that they were a band from the old-fashioned black and white days, and to my nine-year-old mind they were something ancient. The covers were anything but: odd, strange and enticing, each one so different from the others. In the corner of the room was an old record player. I knew that my granddad held pop music in the lowest regard. How could I hear these records from these weird-looking records from the olden days? By some chance there was dusty headphones on a tabletop. I checked the corridor and hallway: all was quiet. I can recall which record I chose: Revolver. I knew that what I was doing would get me into trouble, if I was caught. After setting the needle down, with a crackle, Taxman hit my ears for the first time. I recall being mesmerised by the words, the melody, as the album unfolded into my consciousness. I recall being stunned by Tomorrow Never Knows. I knew then that the Beatles were something special. I felt that I hadn't really experienced music until that moment. crabalocker1967

Bedridden, with the Beatles for company

When I was 15, I was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition. It led to having a medical procedure that went wrong, and I ended up being bedridden for days. My mom worked full-time, and my dad part-time, so there were stretches throughout the day when I would be by myself. I had to lay completely flat, so I couldn't prop myself up to watch TV or read. I even tried holding books above my head, but my arms got tired. My dad would put on the radio before he left for work, but the commercials outnumbered the songs played. So one day, my dad said: "I'll just put in some CDs in this boombox [it held six], so you'll have enough to listen to while I'm gone. But the only CDs I have enough of to do that are my Beatles albums." I'd never listened to them before, so I told him I'd give it a shot. Better than staring at the ceiling all day or forcing myself to sleep.

He put them in chronologically, so I heard their transformation over the years – and fell deeply in love. The first time I heard Let It Be, I was so emotionally overwhelmed I sobbed. The Beatles helped me reach catharsis through a very dark and painful time. On the days I felt truly alone, they kept me company. They became my companions and guided me out of the darkness. And for that, my love for them will always run profoundly deep. Christina Floriza

A balm for Brits abroad

In 1964, my brother and I were two little British boys living in Baltimore. Unbeknown to us we already had Beatle haircuts (ie bowlcuts), as opposed to the crew-cuts sported by our male classmates. Previously marked out by our uncircumcised state, we were now further subjected to taunts of "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" and "You're Beatles". We knew the Beatles were British and also had bowlcuts, but their music remained a mystery to us.

Reading on mobile? Watch the Beatles cartoon here

A mystery, that is, until late 1965 when The Beatles Cartoon Show started on American television. What a revelation the first episode (featuring A Hard Day's Night and I Want to Hold Your Hand) was. It seared into my brain. They had long hair, talked a bit like my dad and had wacky adventures, but best of all was the music. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! I eagerly devoured each Saturday morning portion of Beatle goodness. The series continued until 1967, as the song choices became increasingly surreal for a kid's cartoon (Tomorrow Never Knows, She Said, She Said), but it started me out on the road of Beatle fandom from which I have never deviated. BrusMacGallah

We invented karaoke with the Beatles

Back in the late 70s, my sister and I (aged 13 and eight, respectively) spent a lot of time exploring our parent's record collection. Because they couldn't afford to buy a lot of music, they used to borrow LPs from the library and copy them to C90 cassettes. They had a music centre with a graphic equaliser that we liked to experiment with, which is how we discovered that for some more advanced recordings we could almost entirely remove the vocal track and sing the lyrics ourselves. For some reason, this worked especially well with the album Help! So we proceeded to memorise the lyrics from each and every track in order to host our own little karaoke party, before karaoke had even been invented!

Using a microphone, we then recorded our own version of the album, with us providing the vocal track. It's a wonder we didn't grow up to be record producers. Help! will always be my favourite Beatles album for that reason, and I remember all the lyrics to this day. cpwolves

We missed Twist and Shout to get the last bus

It was August 1963. I was just 11, and on a family holiday in Bournemouth with my parents, my 16-year-old sister Diane and her mate Marjorie. The Beatles were headlining a holiday variety show at the Gaumont Cinema for six nights. We just went to the cinema and got tickets, my mum and dad included. An important distinction was made – Diane and Marjorie got seats in the stalls, while I was ensconced in the more sedate circle with my parents. It was a typical variety show, with jugglers, dancers and another, very nervous, Merseybeat act, Billy J Kramer. And then came the Beatles. I sat transfixed by the music and the general pandemonium as they played their new single, to be released two days later: She Loves You.

My main memory is of John Lennon – a captivating , magnetic, presence centre stage, legs apart, the epitome of rawness, defiance and aggression. There was no question at that early stage who was the main man. I guess I sensed some of what Brian Epstein had picked up at the Cavern Club two years earlier. Diane and Marjorie sat in the row in front of Epstein, a posh middle-aged man calmly taking notes amid the mayhem in the stalls around him.

Then came the encore: Twist and Shout . And, crushingly, my mum and dad told me we had to leave before they finished singing it, otherwise we might miss the last bus home to our B&B in Boscombe. A late arrival back there was a transgression to be avoided at all costs, so we left. According to my mother, I walked up the stairs backwards, still facing the stage, mesmerised by John Lennon. It was partly awe, partly embarrassment. He seemed to me to be staring directly at us in the circle; what if he thought we were leaving early out of disapproval? It was of course nothing of the sort – his stance, with head tilted, was a symptom of his acute short-sightedness. But how was I to know that then? iancole52

The Beatles and new romantics? No problem

As a child of the 80s, Saturday was always vinyl day down at Woolworths. With my £2 pocket money I could always stretch to buy a single: Culture Club, Spandau Ballet, Elvis Costello, or maybe Ian Dury and the Blockheads. I loved the excitement of the purchase and the dash home to put together new clothes from Chelsea Girl, iridescent lip gloss from Miss Selfridge, with new music blaring. A spray of Coty perfume and I was ready for my Saturday night out at the local disco. Cutting-edge electronic drum beats, heavy eyeliner and the millennium insight. I barely knew the Beatles even existed.

My dad, a jazz musician, landed a job just before Christmas at a recording studio in north London. On an occasional day off from the local comprehensive with nothing to do, I remember bouncing on the velvet seated Metropolitan line to St John's Wood and entering what looked like a big house, called Abbey Road Studios. In this Tardis of a building, in one of the big studios, a special sale of the Beatles' old recording equipment and memorabilia was happening.

The big old analogue recording desks had now gone out of vogue. They were being sold and shipped to Nashville or farmed out to country artists and engineers who loved the soft sound created by the desks. As we were leaving, the kind-hearted EMI manager pressed a double album in red vinyl into my hands: The Beatles – 1962-1966. Nonplussed, I politely said thank you, more excited that I had a double vinyl album in red to show my coloured vinyl-loving girlfriends. I had already collected a blue Electric Light Orchestra and a clear vinyl Ultravox. This was special. At home, the shiny red album went on the turntable and an unfamiliar new world of 60s music hit my ears. Short songs, easy to sing and all about falling in love, they immediately connected with my new teenage hobby.

This new catalogue became my new best friend. In fact for the rest of my teenage years, this timeless pop fitted perfectly alongside the new romantics, techno tunes and post-punk. It's not something I particularly shared with my bouffant 80s friends, but at any opportunity the Red Album would go on.

I am still word-perfect on the whole album, and with a recent resurgence in vinyl and my recently purchased turntable, those memories are being relived again. Although scratched to within an inch of its life, this album is amazing and my love for the Beatles continues. ID9586424

The BBC news set the course of my life

It was Robert Dougall who started it, reading what would have been the BBC's main news one evening in April 1970. I was nine years old at the time, and apparently ready to be affected by a force so potent it would profoundly condition the rest of my life.

The Beatles, Dougall explained, were no more. The four lads from Liverpool who had provided a soundtrack to the previous decade and coloured the lives of millions, had broken up. There was a clip from (what I later later learned was their first and best feature film) A Hard Day's Night, then on to the next item.

This was not the first time I'd heard the Beatles. The thing about the news story, though, was that I felt something really big and dark and sad. There was this awful feeling of loss; more specifically, the feeling I'd missed something very important that could not be reclaimed – my first sense of what I subsequently understood to be nostalgia.

I bought the vinyl LP A Hard Day's Night with saved-up pocket money shortly afterwards and went on to collect all their records during the coming years, diving deeper and deeper into the magic of the music and the wonder of their extraordinary story.

The phenomenon of The Beatles has dictated so much of my life it is borderline bonkers: getting into the University of Liverpool (1979-82) just so I could drink in Ye Cracke (Lennon's art-school local) and live in the city for three years; finding a way to work in the music business to try and get closer to their enigma; leaving EMI the moment the company moved from Manchester Square (where the band, then I, stood looking over the balcony); travelling to Rishikesh to see where The White Album was written (all the other key locations long-since explored) …

Now I am reading Mark Lewisohn's definitive account of the greatest showbiz story ever told, the thrill and the fascination is no less intense. Ramage1966

I've still never listened to The White Album

When John Lennon was murdered in December 1980, I was an 11-year-old schoolboy who didn't know much about music beyond Abba, Brotherhood of Man and the Grease soundtrack. The tragic news was broken to me at school by a friend, to which my embarrassing response was "Who's John Lennon?" I wasn't so ignorant of music that I hadn't heard of the Beatles, but I didn't know much about them except that they were from my parents' generation and they were quite big once. That night, in a change to the advertised schedule, the BBC showed the Beatles' film Help! as a tribute to John and I remember watching it completely entranced by the sheer fun of it all, and of course by the amazing music. I was hooked and needed more, but I could not afford records on my meagre pocket money. I started to listen out for them on the radio, C90 always at the ready, and very occasionally I'd get lucky and hear one of their songs I hadn't heard before. Over the years as I began to acquire Beatles LPs they quickly became treasured possessions. Even now that I have everything on CD and can listen to it whenever I choose, I still have such reverence for the music that I'm almost scared that if I listen to it too much the magic might wear off.

But I have a confession. This may seem inconceivable for a true Beatles fan but I have never heard the White Album in full; in fact I've actively avoided listening to it. Yes, I've heard the better known tracks – it would be difficult not to – but there is plenty of stuff on there I have never heard. I'm saving the album for a special occasion, or maybe one day I'll just sit down and decide to play it because the time seems right. I don't know how I've successfully avoided hearing it for so long, but I think of it this way: it's like a "lost" Beatles album to me, one in which I will immerse myself one day and imagine it's something new and exciting by my favourite band of all time. paulwheeler

A pilgrimage to Lourdes brought an unintended side effect

Aged 15, I nervously sent off my application form to travel to Lourdes for a pilgrimage with the Archdiocese of Liverpool. In the following months, a number of icebreaker-filled meetings took place. I silently sat in the corner, keeping myself to myself until the dreaded gaze of the group focussed on me for a few interrogative moments. I wondered what I'd got myself in for. I was neither a devout Catholic nor atheist, and although the group seemed nice enough, I couldn't find much common ground with any of them, with most being a few years my senior. In late July, the day of reckoning arrived when I clumsily embarked on the coach for the 26-hour journey to the south of France. Better late than never, the ice began to break.

After ironing out a few housekeeping issues and attending mass, the group of 50 peacefully invaded a local bar, armed with a couple of acoustic guitars. After few "demis" (exceeding the agreed limit remains my most rebellious act), I felt confident enough to join the group from where the acoustic standards came. Numerous songs were met with pleasant enjoyment on my part until Mike and Jim belted out three words first sang by a certain local band almost 50 years previously. Despite the lack of Lennon/McCartney harmonies and Harrison lead guitar licks, I had never heard anything quite like it in my life. Despite attending mass at least once daily, my true religious experience that week came from the Beatles-dominated sing-songs of an evening.

Upon returning home, I immediately submerged myself in all things Fab Four. Treating the songs and melodies as hymns and the lyrics as scripture, my life truly transformed. I grew my hair and donned a mop top for a number of years. I initially started playing drums, later picking up a guitar. Inspired by Lennon's confidence and outspokenness, I became more confident and sociable with most. Barely a day goes by without contact with any members of the wonderful Coach One. The Beatles make me immensely proud to come from Liverpool, and I live just a stone's throw away from Mendips, Penny Lane and Strawberry Field. I spend my life trying to bring the words of John, Paul, George and Ringo (bless him) to those whose life is yet to be enriched by them. Met by ignorance by many my age, I feel extreme pity for their ignorance and pray to John and George in heaven that they may one day see the light. BobKGaul

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MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Almost four decades after he wrote "Back in the USSR" Paul McCartney finally made it to Russia.

McCartney rocked Red Square with Beatles classics and many of his own songs for nearly three hours Saturday night, capping his first trip ever to Russia, where his music flourished during the '70s and '80s despite being banned by the communist government.

He became the first Beatle to play in Red Square.

Even tickets costing up to $300 -- three times the average monthly wage -- didn't stop Russians like office manager Slava Astakhov from coming to the concert.

"We could buy a ticket to Stockholm for this price but when you're talking about McCartney, it doesn't seem that expensive," he said.

A crowd of 20,000 filled the former Communist parade ground -- which also holds Vladimir Lenin's Mauseleum -- to hear McCartney perform 38 songs, including the hit "Back in the USSR," "Hey Jude," "The Long and Winding Road" and "Eleanor Rigby."

Several songs, including "She's Leaving Home" and "Two of Us" have never been played in public before McCartney's current tour. The show also included McCartney's tributes to the late Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison.

McCartney spoke Russian several times during the show, although his words in English were translated into Russian on video monitors for the audience, which included former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. McCartney met with Gorbachev just before the concert.

Before the show, McCartney and his wife heather met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and found out the ex-KGB agent is, and was, a big fan.

Putin, who was not expected to attend, arrived about halfway into the show while McCartney was singing "Calico Skies," an anti-war song recently released on a charity album benefiting Iraqi children. Earlier in the day, McCartney sang "Let It Be" for Putin during a private meeting.

Putin told McCartney that he was a big fan of Beatles music which he said brought "a taste of freedom, a window on the world" to Soviet citizens. McCartney later told reporters he and Putin talked about everyday things such as their families. He said that he and Putin shared working class backgrounds.

Beatlemania spread through the Soviet Union even though the music was banned by the government. McCartney told his concert audience he has been told by many Russians that they learned English by listening to Beatles albums bought through the black market.

During the 1980s -- in the days of Glasnost -- McCartney released a rock oldies album solely in the Soviet Union called "Choba V CCCP," which is loosely translated as "Back in the USSR."

The first Beatle to play in Russia was Ringo Starr who toured Moscow and St. Petersburg with his All Star Band in 1998.

McCartney's tour next moves to Dublin for his first concert in Ireland since the early 1960s. The tour wraps up in the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool next weekend.

-- CNN Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty and Producer Todd Baxter contributed to this report

The surprising story behind how the Beatles went viral in 1964

The Beatles went viral before there was viral.

In 1964, after playing to a staggering 45% of American households on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in February, the band embarked upon a chaotic tour of North America in August. The dates were highlighted by a legendary Aug. 23 show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, 60 years ago today.

“It's hard to understand how it was before the internet, but there was a thing called word of mouth,” says Beatles historian Martin Lewis , who will mark the anniversary with a discussion Friday at The Philosophical Research Society . “The Beatles became successful because friends told friends. They said, 'Have you heard this? It's astonishing.'”

USA TODAY recently spoke with Lewis for The Excerpt podcast (available Aug. 25) about how The Beatles went from being virtually unknown in the U.S. in 1963 to global icons in 1964. Here are a few highlights from his conversation with Dana Taylor (edited for length and clarity).

'They were different animals': Beatles movie 'Let It Be' is more than a shorter 'Get Back'

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Question: What was happening in the American music scene when The Beatles performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 1964?

Martin Lewis: The audience was still in the 1950s. They were still in that gray Eisenhower decade, but The Beatles were in 3D Technicolor … just giddy and optimistic and exuberant with their own energy, their enjoyment of music. And America was sorely in need of that authenticity and that expression of youthful vitality.

When they took the stage at the Hollywood Bowl, the fan reaction was incredible. You couldn't actually hear the music because the fans were screaming so loudly. Of course, later The Beatles became louder than the screams.

What role did The Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, play in that show selling out in four hours and just the overall rapid success of The Beatles?

On Christmas Day 1963, practically nobody in America had heard of The Beatles. And yet, by the time of “The Ed Sullivan Show” 45 days later, 73 million people tuned in. How did that happen? It was triggered mainly by Brian Epstein having secured a contract for them to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” at a time they didn't even have a record contract in America.

He went about convincing Capitol Records to sign The Beatles, and he did that by saying, “Hey, I've got them on ‘Ed Sullivan.’ ” The record was released on the day after Christmas, which was crucial because kids were at home. So instead of hearing the record on the radio maybe two or three times a day, they were hearing it 10 times a day.

By the time of “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb. 9, 1964, they were already No. 1. It took what was already exploding and just took it into the stratosphere.

If you think of the wonderful enthusiasm for Taylor Swift – a terrific artist – it was like that times 100 million. It is no disrespect to Taylor Swift and her incredible fans, but the electricity of The Beatles and their success without the internet was astonishing.

That hysteria faded decades ago, but The Beatles' music still endures. Do you think the latter would surprise the Fab Four of 1964?

It would have surprised The Beatles to know that their music would last that long. But if we take a broader perspective, it shouldn't surprise us.

We don't say 'Oh, that Shakespeare, he's 400 years old, we don't want any of his plays.' Or we don't say about the Marx Brothers, 'Oh, it's so 1930s, it's not funny.' It's just either good or it's not good. And what The Beatles did was timeless because it connected with the noblest part of the human spirit, which is the part that yearns to make itself and the world a better place.

The laws of celebrity physics are: You come along, you're successful for a few years, you fade away. Each new generation discovers The Beatles and says, “Wow, this stuff's fantastic.”

The songwriting team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney led to an evolution of the rock ‘n’ roll sound. What did each of them bring to The Beatles’ distinct sound?

What most artists did was they got better at doing the same thing. You played guitar better, you sang better. Your lyrics were a little more interesting. The Beatles weren't interested just in getting a little better. They were interested in changing the boundaries of what you could do. Their approach to songwriting, the topics, the lyrics, the sophistication of all the elements was just unimaginable beforehand.

There was no way that as great as they were, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly could never create what The Beatles created. They could only work with the building blocks they had.

What is Beatles must-see TV today? What will you be listening to or watching to commemorate this 60th anniversary moment?

The one song that says it all is the song that they recorded and performed live to the world in 1967 called “All You Need Is Love.” Four hundred million people live on the world's first-ever satellite linkup.

It's a message to all of us to look to our better angels. They're passing the torch to us, and we, in turn, pass it on to the next generation. That's the message for the ages. All you need is love. Of course, we need a bit more than that. But love is a start.

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Feb. 11 1964, the Beatles' first concert in the United States

Eric Jentsch in our Division of Culture and the Arts shares the story of the first Beatles concert in America, which took place right here in Washington, D.C. 

February 11th marks the 48th anniversary of the Beatles' first concert in America. Two days earlier, the group introduced themselves to the nation by performing on New York-based "The Ed Sullivan Show." The "Fab Four" from Liverpool were famously met by more than 3,000 hysterical and nearly riotous fans at JFK airport when they first arrived in the city.

After the concert, the Beatles headed south to Washington, D.C., to play a raucous set before thousands of ecstatic teenagers at the overbooked Washington Coliseum.

American "Beatle-Mania" was a relatively recent development. Devotion to the group came seemingly overnight, with their first song to hit the U.S. charts, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" rocketing to number one that previous December, selling more than 5 million copies in seven weeks. The Beatles then succeeded themselves at the number one spot with "She Loves You," already a hit in England.

Washingtonian Carroll James is the DJ credited with first playing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on U.S. airwaves. The Beatles' subsequent popularity in the nation's capital inspired the band's visit to the District after their Sullivan performance.

A ticket envelope from the Beatles' D.C. concert.

The concert at the now-defunct Washington Coliseum was nothing like the shows that would be staged by rock musicians just a few years later. Sub-par amplification coupled with incessant screaming from throngs of teens made the band hard to hear. The stage was placed in the center of the crowd, forcing members of the band to move their equipment around the stage during the performance in order to face each section of the audience. This was especially inconvenient to percussionist Ringo Starr, who was responsible for moving his large drum-kit about numerous times throughout the night.

None of this seemed deter the enjoyment of the hysterical crowd, whose screaming continued unabated throughout the entire performance. After sitting through opening acts The Caravelles, Tommy Roe, and the Chiffons, fans were given this set by the Beatles: "Roll Over Beethoven;" "From Me to You;" "I Saw Her Standing There;" "This Boy;" "All My Loving;" "I Wanna Be Your Man;" "Please Please Me;" "Till There Was You;" "She Loves You;" "I Want to Hold Your Hand;" "Twist and Shout;" and "Long Tall Sally."

After the appearance, the Beatles went to a party at the British Embassy. They then returned to New York to play two half-hour sets at the famed Carnegie Hall. Their performance on the Ed Sullivan program made the group the talk of the music world, compelling a return trip to the States that summer where they traveled across the country and played larger venues.

Their fantastic success created a "British Invasion" of other English artists inspired by American rock and roll, such as the Rolling Stones and the Kinks, who also found enthusiastic audiences in the United States.

A ticket stub from the February 11 concert, donated by Patricia Mink.

A ticket stub from the Beatle's historic appearance in the Smithsonian's hometown was recently given to the National Museum of American History by long-time D.C. resident Patricia Mink, who attended the concert with her friends. Ms. Mink also included other materials from her youth, including concert programs, autographs, and sound recordings. We are thankful for these materials, as they help us tell the story of this exciting, transitional time in American popular culture.

Eric Jentsch is the deputy chair of the Division of Culture and the Arts at the National Museum of American History.

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35 Years Ago: Billy Joel Makes History With Soviet Union Shows

When Billy Joel  visited the Soviet Union for a series of historic concerts in 1987, he learned it was still rock 'n' roll to them — albeit slightly different.

On July 26, 1987, Joel and his band played at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow to kick off a six-show "tour," making him the first Western artist to take a full-blown stage production behind the then-wilting Iron Curtain. With three concerts each in Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), it was a triumphant and only occasionally troubled bit of international diplomacy, ultimately leaving Soviet fans dancing, twisting and shouting in the aisles in a manner not that all that different from what happened at Joel shows elsewhere.

"I'm glad we did that trip," Joel tells UCR now. "I was very proud of that trip, and I think we helped kick the door in a little bit to open it up to Democratic stuff." But he acknowledges that Russia now, at least at the political level, is not the same nation of Mikhail Gorbachev-led Glasnost that he played back then.

"I'm very disappointed," Joel says. "I'm hoping the Russian people really get to know what's actually happening, but I don't know how much real information they get because they're kind of in a closed media society. It's a crazy world. It's a different world now, between Trump and what's going on with Russia and  COVID and what's going on with the economy. This is a hard time now."

Joel first had the idea of going to the Soviet Union in 1979, after playing a successful concert in Havana, Cuba. "I thought, 'If I can do that in Havana, why can't I do it in Moscow?'" he explained to reporters during one of several press conferences he conducted in Moscow. But he felt a particular push to make the trek after his first daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, was born six years later.

"I thought, 'What kind of world do I want her to grow up in?'" Joel explained. "I wanted it to be better. ... It was kind of like, 'What did you do in the Cold War, daddy?' So my management said, 'If you want to do it, we'll do it,' and they did."

Watch Billy Joel Perform 'It's Still Rock and Roll to Me' in the Soviet Union

Joel insisted that politics was not the focus of his visit. "I'm here as a cultural exchange," he noted. "This isn't some big peace mission. I want to get the music across. I'm just putting on a concert, playing music for these people. If anything happens after that, it'll be great."

The Soviet idea became a reality during the fall of 1986, while Joel was rehearsing to tour in support of his then-new album The Bridge . "When we started [the tour] he said, 'Let's do something we've never done before,'" production coordinator Steve Cohen told this writer at the time. "I didn't know at the time he considered Russia."

Russia was not devoid of Western pop music, of course. Elton John toured there in a duo with percussionist Ray Cooper in 1979, while John Denver and Roy Clark had also visited. Pat Metheny was there in 1987 before Joel hit the country, and the Doobie Brothers , Carlos Santana , James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt had performed at a July 4 festival in Moscow that was co-produced by Bill Graham .

Joel's visit was made possible by the Agreement on Contacts and Exchanges in Scientific, Educational and Cultural Fields, signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev at their 1985 Geneva Summit. The New York-based Citizens Exchange Council (CEC), a non-profit group that sent regular excursions to the Soviet Union, helped coordinate the tour. Cohen made his first visit in January 1987 and returned in May, coordinating details with the Soviet arts agency Gosconcert.

The Joel entourage would number more than 160 and cost about $2 million — guaranteed to lose money, although a documentary, a live album (1987's Kontsert ) and an HBO broadcast of the final Leningrad show would make up the difference. The massive endeavor marked the first time Gosconcert and the Soviet radio and television agency ever worked together on a project.

Cohen, meanwhile, learned that the Soviets had no concept of putting seats on the floor for arena-sized concerts like Joel's. The Olimpiyskiy (aka Olympic Sports Complex) manager said he could only get 1,000 chairs for the shows, but after Cohen brought an additional 600 from London, the venue found yet another 1,000. "It was like a poker game — 'You get 600, I'll get 1,000,'" Cohen recalled.

Watch Billy Joel Play 'You May Be Right' Live in the Soviet Union

A promotional push was also engineered to educate the Soviet populace about Joel, who was known more by name than by music at the time. Soviet TV stations began airing Joel videos, and an interview was set up with national radio music host Andrei Orlov. On July 18, Soviet TV aired an unprecedented 75-minute special featuring nothing but Joel videos for an audience of 70 million. "The advertising campaign was very intense," Orlov said.

Joel's Soviet shows followed a run at London's Wembley Stadium and included an unscheduled stopover in Tbilisi, Georgia, about 1,000 miles south of Russia. There, Joel, his then-wife Christie Brinkley, Alexa and drummer Liberty DeVitto were entertained in a local musician's home, and Joel and DeVitto jammed at a 15th-century church and opera house in the town. Brinkley remembered one of her hosts taking her into a room, telling her she was too thin and force-feeding her some cake. She also gave Brinkley some of her mother's jewelry to pass on to Alexa.

In Moscow before the shows, the Joel entourage toured the city, including the Kremlin Museums and Gorky Park. The family befriended a clown named Viktor Razinov, whom Joel remembered in the song "Leningrad" on his 1989 album Storm Front . Joel also visited the grave of Vladimir Vysotsky, the controversial Soviet singer-songwriter who died in 1980.

Joel dedicated his concerts to Vysotsky and had all the flowers thrown onstage in Moscow placed on the singer's grave. "I went to his grave... and the lines going to see it were longer than the lines going to Lenin's tomb," Joel said. "I asked, 'Why is this guy so loved?' People said it was because he was honest, because he spoke the truth... and got in trouble for it."

Vysotsky's mother Nina attended Joel's first Moscow concert. "It touched me very deeply that someone that successful could find the time to visit my son's grave," she said after the show. "[Joel's] performance on the stage reminded me of that of my son's — especially his energy."

Watch Billy Joel Perform 'Big Shot' in the Soviet Union

Joel's energy ultimately translated to the Soviet crowds, although it took a minute at the first Moscow show. He referred to the area of privileged Communist party insiders seated behind stage left as "an oil painting" and at one point even asked, "What are you doing here if you don't want to be here?"

"You'd look at their faces and see them thinking, 'I don't want to be here.' So... go!" Joel said during one of the press conferences. He also requested that anyone leaving give their ticket stub to one of the young people waiting outside so they could enjoy the show.

Joel also directed the crowd, with help from onstage interpreter Oleg Smirnoff, "Come on down to the stage. It's OK. We like it."

"It was unnerving at first," Joel acknowledged during a session with Soviet reporters before the third Moscow show. I thought I was going down the tubes. In the United States, I'm spoiled; I'm used to playing to audiences who can't wait to hear my music. They jump to their feet and cheer from beginning to end."

The Soviet fans were doing that by the end of the first show, as Joel and his band ripped through rockers such as "A Matter of Trust," "Only the Good Die Young," "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me," "Big Shot" and more, encoring appropriately with the Beatles ' "Back in the U.S.S.R." Some even tried to come down to the floor from the grandstands, pushing their way past Soviet soldiers. The pandemonium caught local officials by surprise, however, and there were tense discussions between Joel's camp and Gosconcert before the second show the following night.

"We are pioneers on both sides," agency spokeswoman Marina Mytarleva said. "For pioneers, it's always difficult." Tour producer Rick London wistfully added, "I envy the next band that comes here. We've taken a lot of lumps."

Then there was The Big Incident. During the second Moscow concert on July 27, Joel was unhappy with how the film crew lit the crowd, feeling that it inhibited fans from letting loose. During "Sometimes a Fantasy," Joel exploded, yelling, "Stop lighting the audience! ... Stop it! ... Let me do my show, for Christ's sake!" He then flipped over his electric piano, making international headlines for his "tantrum."

Watch Billy Joel's Moscow Meltdown

"I was yelling at our people," Joel explained after the show. "It was a real prima donna act, but I have to protect my show." Speaking with Western reporters the next day, Joel said a young Soviet woman had approached him that morning to ask if he would "trash the equipment again." He ultimately chalked it up to "the great tradition of trashing equipment on stage. ... Rock 'n' roll is about being outrageous, making some sort of expression."

Most of the kinks seemed to be worked out by the third Moscow show, a stomper that came after members of Joel's band had jammed with Soviet pop star Stas Namin until 6 a.m. (Namin also joined Joel and the group for soundcheck, playing "Back in the U.S.S.R." and the Rolling Stones ' "Gimme Shelter.") Joel carried Alexa Ray around the stage during "Uptown Girl" and welcomed a uniformed Soviet soldier up to present him with a handmade fan sign. The filmmakers also helped stack the deck, distributing tickets upfront to young people outside and even giving them American flags to wave.

"There should be more major concerts of this kind here, regular concerts," Gosconcert director Oleg Smolensky declared afterward. His wish became reality, although Joel himself never returned. He did, however, preserve the memory with  Kontsert , "Leningrad" and, in 2014, A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia , which packaged the original 1987 live LP with previously unreleased songs and videos and a new documentary about the momentous undertaking.

"When we were done it was like... 'Whoa!'" Joel told this reporter two years later while promoting Storm Front . "You never could have told me I'd be playing rock 'n' roll in Russia. I'm a baby boomer. I grew up with them as the enemy, the devil. To go there and meet them as real people, not cartoon Commies, was one of the best experiences of my life."

UCR contributor Gary Graff was part of the media corps that traveled to the Soviet Union to cover Joel's 1987 shows. He also wrote liner notes for the 2014 box set A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia.

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'Meet The Beatles!' Turns 60: Inside The Album That Launched Beatlemania In America

A month before the Beatles played "The Ed Sullivan Show," they released their second American studio album — the one most people heard first. Here's a track-by-track breakdown of this magnitudinous slab of wax by the Fab Four.

For many in America, Meet the Beatles! marked their first introduction to the legendary Fab Four — and their lives would be forever altered.

Released on Jan. 20, 1964 by Capitol Records, the Beatles ' second American studio album topped the Billboard 200 within a month and stayed there for 11 weeks — only to be ousted by their next U.S. album release, The Beatles' Second Album . It's almost impossible to put into words the impact of Meet the Beatles! on an entire generation of the listening public. But Billy Corgan , of the Smashing Pumpkins , gave it a shot as an early fan of the Beatles in a series of LiveJournal remembrances — in this case, of himself at five years old, in 1972.

"I am totally overwhelmed by the collective sound of the greatest band ever blasting in mono thru a tin needle into a tiny speaker," he wrote. "I associate this sound forever with electricity, for it sends bolts thru my body and leaves me breathless. I can not stand still as I listen, so I must spin… I spin until I am ready to pass out, and then I spin some more."

So many other artists remember that eureka moment. "They were doing things nobody was doing. Their chords were outrageous, just outrageous, and their harmonies made it all valid," Bob Dylan said of the opening track, "I Want to Hold Your Hand." "I knew they were pointing the direction of where music had to go." Everyone from Ozzy Osbourne to Sting and Questlove agreed.

From Meet the Beatles! , the Fabs would have the most astonishing five-or-six-year run in music. And so much of their songwriting and production innovation can be found within its grooves; truly, the world had no idea what it was in for. In celebration of the 60th anniversary of Meet the Beatles! , here's a quick track-by-track breakdown.

"I Want to Hold Your Hand"

The Fabs' first American No. 1 hit may have been about the chastest of romantic gestures. Still, there's nothing heavier than "I Want to Hold Your Hand," because it's clamor and fraternity. That seemingly saccharine package also contained everything they'd ever do in concentrate — hints of the foreboding of "Ticket to Ride," the galactic final chord of "A Day in the Life," and beyond.

"I Saw Her Standing There"

A few too many awards show tributes have threatened to do in "I Saw Her Standing There," but they've failed. As the opening shot of their first UK album, Please Please Me , it's perfect, but as the second track on Meet the Beatles! , it just adds to the magnitude. What a one-two punch.

"This Boy"

Songwriting-wise, "This Boy" drags a little; it becomes a little hazy who "this boy" or "that boy"  are. But it's not only a killer Smokey Robinson rip; John Lennon 's double-tracked vocal solo still punches straight through your chest. (Where applicable, go for the 2020s Giles Martin remix , which carries maximum clarity, definition and punch — said solo is incredible in this context.)

"It Won't Be Long"

Half a dozen other songs here have overshadowed "It Won't Be Long," but it's still one of the early Beatles' most ruthless kamikaze missions, an assault of flying "yeahs" that knocks you sideways.

"All I've Got to Do"

Lennon shrugged off "All I've Got to Do" as "trying to do Smokey Robinson again," and that's more or less what it is. One interesting detail is the conceit of calling a girlfriend on the phone, which was firmly alien to British youth: "I have never called a girl on the 'phone in my life!"he said later in an interview. "Because 'phones weren't part of the English child's life."

"All My Loving"

"All My Loving" was the first song the Beatles played on the American airwaves: when Lennon was pronounced dead, eyewitnesses attest the song came over the speakers. It's a grim trajectory for this most inventive and charismatic of early Beatles singles, with Lennon's tumbling rhythm guitar spilling the composition forth. (About that unorthodox strumming pattern: it seems easy until you try it. And Lennon did it effortlessly.)

"Don't Bother Me"

As Dreaming the Beatles author Rob Sheffield put it, "'Don't Bother Me,' his first real song, began the 'George is in a bad mood' phase of his songwriting, which never ended." Harrison wouldn't pick up the sitar for another year or two, but the song still carries a vaguely dreamy, exotic air.

"Little Child"

"I'm so sad and lonely/ Baby, take a chance with me." For a tortured, creative kid like Corgan, from a rough background — and, likely, a million similar young folks — Lennon's childlike plea must have sounded like salvation.

"Till There Was You"

McCartney's infatuation with the postwar sounds of his youth never ended, and it arguably began on record with this Music Man tune. As usual, McCartney dances right on the edge of overly chipper and apple-cheeked. But here, George Martin's immersive, soft-focused arrangement makes it all work.

"Hold Me Tight"

Like "Little Child," "Hold Me Tight" is a tad Fabs-by-numbers, showing how they occasionally painted themselves into a corner as per their formula. Their rapid evolution from here would leave trifles like "Hold Me Tight" in the rearview.

"I Wanna Be Your Man"

Tellingly, Lennon and McCartney tossed this half-written composition to the Stones — and to Ringo Starr. Mick Jagger 's typically lusty performance works, but Starr's is even better — the funny-nosed drummer throws his whole chest into this vocal workout.

"Not A Second Time"

Meet the Beatles! concludes with this likable Lennon tune about heartbreak — maybe C-tier by his standards, but it slouches toward his evolutionary step that would be A Hard Day's Night . 

Soon, these puppy-dog emotions ("And now you've changed your mind/ I see no reason to change mine/ I cry") would curdle and ferment in astonishing ways — in "Ticket to Ride," in "Girl," in "Strawberry Fields Forever." And it all began with Meet the Beatles! — a shot heard around the world.

1962 Was The Final Year We Didn't Know The Beatles. What Kind Of World Did They Land In?

Photo: Yoko Ono

5 Reasons John Lennon's 'Mind Games' Is Worth Another Shot

John Lennon's 1973 solo album 'Mind Games' never quite got its flowers, aside from its hit title track. A spectacular 2024 remix and expansion is bound to amend its so-so reputation.

As the train of Beatles remixes and expansions — solo or otherwise — chugs along, a fair question might come to mind: why John Lennon's Mind Games , and why now?

When you consider some agreed-upon classics — George Harrison 's Living in the Material World , Ringo Starr 's Ringo — it might seem like it skipped the line. Historically, fans and critics have rarely made much of Mind Games , mostly viewing it as an album-length shell for its totemic title track. 

The 2020 best-of Lennon compilation Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Mixes featured "Mind Games," "Out the Blue," and "I Know (I Know)," which is about right — even in fanatical Lennon circles, few other Mind Games tracks get much shine. It's hard to imagine anyone reaching for it instead of Plastic Ono Band , or Imagine , or even the controversial, semi-outrageous Some Time in New York City .

Granted, these largely aren't A-tier Lennon songs — but still, the album's tepid reputation has little to do with the material. The original Mind Games mix is, to put it charitably, muddy — partly due to Lennon's insecurity about his voice, partly just due to that era of recordmaking.

The fourth-best Picasso is obviously still worth viewing. But not with an inch of grime on your glasses.

The Standard Deluxe Edition. Photo courtesy of Universal Music Group

That's all changed with Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection — a fairly gobsmacking makeover of the original album, out July 12. Turns out giving it this treatment was an excellent, long -overdue idea — and producer Sean Ono Lennon , remixers Rob Stevens, Sam Gannon and Paul Hicks were the best men for the job. Outtakes and deconstructed "Elemental" and "Elements" mixes round out the boxed set.

It's not that Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection reveals some sort of masterpiece. The album's still uneven; it was bashed out at New York's Record Plant in a week, and it shows. But that's been revealed to not be its downfall, but its intrinsic charm. As you sift through the expanded collection, consider these reasons you should give Mind Games another shot.

The Songs Are Better Than You Remember

Will deep cuts like "Intuition" or "Meat City" necessarily make your summer playlist? Your mileage may vary. However, a solid handful of songs you may have written off due to murky sonics are excellent Lennon. With a proper mix, "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)" absolutely soars — it's Lennon's slow-burning, Smokey Robinson -style mea culpa to Yoko Ono . "Bring On the Lucie (Freda Peeple)" has a rickety, communal "Give Peace a Chance" energy — and in some ways, it's a stronger song than that pacifist classic.

And on side 2, the mellow, ruminative "I Know (I Know)" and "You Are Here" sparkle — especially the almost Mazzy Star -like latter tune, with pedal steel guitarist "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow (of Flying Burrito Brothers fame) providing abundant atmosphere.

And, of course, the agreed-upon cuts are even better: "Mind Games" sounds more celestial than ever. And the gorgeous, cathartic "Out the Blue" — led by David Spinozza's classical-style playing, with his old pal Paul McCartney rubbing off on the melody — could and should lead any best-of list.

The Performances Are Killer

Part of the fun of Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection is realizing how great its performances are. They're not simply studio wrapping paper; they capture 1970s New York's finest session cats at full tilt.

Those were: Kleinow, Spinozza, keyboardist Ken Ascher , bassist Gordon Edwards, drummer Jim Keltner (sometimes along with Rick Marotta), saxophonist Michael Brecker , and backing vocalists Something Different.

All are blue-chip; the hand-in-glove rhythm section of Edwards and Keltner is especially captivating. (Just listen to Edwards' spectacular use of silence, as he funkily weaves through that title track.)

The hardcover book included in Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection is replete with the musicians' fly-on-the-wall stories from that week at the Record Plant.

"You can hear how much we're all enjoying playing together in those mixes," Keltner says in the book, praising Spinozza and Gordon. "If you're hearing John Lennon's voice in your headphones and the great Kenny Ascher playing John's chords on the keys, there's just no question of where you're going and how you're going to get there."

It Captures A Fascinating Moment In Time

" Mind Games to me was like an interim record between being a manic political lunatic to back to being a musician again," Lennon stated, according to the book. "It's a political album or an introspective album. Someone told me it was like Imagine with balls, which I liked a lot."

This creative transition reflects the upheaval in Lennon's life at the time. He no longer had Phil Spector to produce; Mind Games was his first self-production. He was struggling to stay in the country, while Nixon wanted him and his message firmly out.

Plus, Lennon recorded it a few months before his 18-month separation from Ono began — the mythologized "Lost Weekend" that was actually a creatively flourishing time. All of this gives the exhaustive Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection historical weight, on top of listening pleasure.

"[It's important to] get as complete a revealing of it as possible," Stevens, who handled the Raw Studio Mixes, tells GRAMMY.com. "Because nobody's going to be able to do it in 30 years."

John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Central Park, 1973. Photo: Bob Gruen

Moments Of Inspired Weirdness Abound

Four seconds of silence titled the "Nutopian International Anthem." A messy slab of blues rock with refrains of "Fingerlickin', chicken-pickin'" and "Chickin-suckin', mother-truckin'." The country-fried "Tight A$," basically one long double entendre.

To put it simply, you can't find such heavy concentrates of Lennonesque nuttiness on more commercial works like Imagine . Sometimes the outliers get under your skin just the same.

Read more: We've Thrown Everything We Could At John Lennon's "Imagine." The Song Nonetheless Endures 50 Years Later.

It's Never Sounded Better

"It's a little harsh, a little compressed," Stevens says of the original 1973 mix. "The sound's a little bit off-putting, so maybe you dismiss listening to it, in a different head. Which is why the record might not have gotten its due back then."

As such, in 2024 it's revelatory to hear Edwards' basslines so plump, Keltner's kick so defined, Ascher's lines so crystalline. When Spinozza rips into that "Aisumasen" solo, it absolutely penetrates. And, as always with these Lennon remixes, the man's voice is prioritized, and placed front and center. It doesn't dispose of the effects Lennon insecurely desired; it clarifies them.

"I get so enthusiastic," Ascher says about listening to Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection. "I say, 'Well, that could have been a hit. This could have been a hit. No, this one could have been a hit, this one." Yes is the answer.

Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images

'A Hard Day's Night' Turns 60: 6 Things You Can Thank The Beatles Film & Soundtrack For

This week in 1964, the Beatles changed the world with their iconic debut film, and its fresh, exuberant soundtrack. If you like music videos, folk-rock and the song "Layla," thank 'A Hard Day's Night.'

Throughout his ongoing Got Back tour, Paul McCartney has reliably opened with "Can't Buy Me Love."

It's not the Beatles ' deepest song, nor their most beloved hit — though a hit it was. But its zippy, rollicking exuberance still shines brightly; like the rest of the oldies on his setlist, the 82-year-old launches into it in its original key. For two minutes and change, we're plunged back into 1964 — and all the humor, melody, friendship and fun the Beatles bestowed with A Hard Day's Night .

This week in 1964 — at the zenith of Beatlemania, after their seismic appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" — the planet received Richard Lester's silly, surreal and innovative film of that name. Days after, its classic soundtrack dropped — a volley of uber-catchy bangers and philosophical ballads, and the only Beatles LP to solely feature Lennon-McCartney songs.

As with almost everything Beatles, the impact of the film and album have been etched in stone. But considering the breadth of pop culture history in its wake, Fab disciples can always use a reminder. Here are six things that wouldn't be the same without A Hard Day's Night .

All Music Videos, Forever

Right from that starting gun of an opening chord, A Hard Day's Night 's camerawork alone — black and white, inspired by French New Wave and British kitchen sink dramas — pioneers everything from British spy thrillers to " The Monkees ."

Across the film's 87 minutes, you're viscerally dragged into the action; you tumble through the cityscapes right along with John , Paul, George , and Ringo . Not to mention the entire music video revolution; techniques we think of as stock were brand-new here.

According to Roger Ebert: "Today when we watch TV and see quick cutting, hand-held cameras, interviews conducted on the run with moving targets, quickly intercut snatches of dialogue, music under documentary action and all the other trademarks of the modern style, we are looking at the children of A Hard Day's Night ."

Emergent Folk-Rock

George Harrison's 12-string Rickenbacker didn't just lend itself to a jangly undercurrent on the A Hard Day's Night songs; the shots of Harrison playing it galvanized Roger McGuinn to pick up the futuristic instrument — and via the Byrds , give the folk canon a welcome jolt of electricity.

Entire reams of alternative rock, post-punk, power pop, indie rock, and more would follow — and if any of those mean anything to you, partly thank Lester for casting a spotlight on that Rick.

Read more: Living Legends: Roger McGuinn On The History Of The Byrds, His One-Man Show And Editing His Own Wikipedia Page

The Ultimate Love Triangle Jam

From the Byrds' "Triad" to Leonard Cohen 's "Famous Blue Raincoat," music history is replete with odes to love triangles.

But none are as desperate, as mannish, as garment-rending, as Derek and the Dominoes' "Layla," where Eric Clapton lays bare his affections for his friend Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd. Where did Harrison meet her? Why, on the set of A Hard Day's Night , where she was cast as a schoolgirl .

Debates, Debates, Debates

Say, what is that famous, clamorous opening chord of A Hard Day's Night 's title track? Turns out YouTube's still trying to suss that one out .

"It is F with a G on top, but you'll have to ask Paul about the bass note to get the proper story," Harrison told an online chat in 2001 — the last year of his life.

A Certain Strain Of Loopy Humor

No wonder Harrison got in with Monty Python later in life: the effortlessly witty lads were born to play these roles — mostly a tumble of non sequiturs, one-liners and daffy retorts. (They were all brought up on the Goons , after all.) When A Hard Day's Night codified their Liverpudlian slant on everything, everyone from the Pythons to Tim and Eric received their blueprint.

The Legitimacy Of The Rock Flick

What did rock 'n' roll contribute to the film canon before the Beatles? A stream of lightweight Elvis flicks? Granted, the Beatles would churn out a few headscratchers in its wake — Magical Mystery Tour , anyone? — but A Hard Day's Night remains a game-changer for guitar boys on screen.

The best part? The Beatles would go on to change the game again, and again, and again, in so many ways. Don't say they didn't warn you — as you revisit the iconic A Hard Day's Night .

Explore The World Of The Beatles

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5 Lesser Known Facts About The Beatles' 'Let It Be' Era: Watch The Restored 1970 Film

Catching Up With Sean Ono Lennon: His New Album 'Asterisms,' 'War Is Over!' Short & Shouting Out Yoko At The Oscars

Photo: Michael Putland/Getty Images

Wings Release 'One Hand Clapping': How To Get Into Paul McCartney's Legendary Post-Beatles Band

After 50 years on the shelf, Wings' raw and intimate live-in-the-studio album is finally here. Use it as a springboard to discover Paul McCartney's '70s band's entire catalog — here's a roadmap through it all.

Whether it be "Band on the Run" or "Jet" or "My Love," chances are you've heard a Wings song at least once — in all their polished, '70s-arena-sized glory. More than four decades after they disbanded in 1981, we're getting a helping of raw, uncut Wings.

Last February, Wings' classic 1973 album Band on the Run got the 50th anniversary treatment, with a disc of "underdubbed" remixes, allowing Paul McCartney , spouse and keyboardist Linda McCartney, and guitarist Denny Laine to be heard stripped back, with added clarity.

After a few months to digest that, it was time to reveal a session that, for ages, fans had been clamoring for. On June 14, in came One Hand Clapping , a live-in-the-studio set from August 1974 that captured Wings at the zenith of their powers.

Back then, Wings had the wind in their sails, with a reconstituted lineup Band on the Run at the top of the charts. They opted to plug in at Abbey Road Studios with cameras rolling, and record a live studio album with an attendant documentary. The film wouldn’t come out until a 2010 reissue of Band on the Run ; the music’s popped up on bootlegs, but had never been released in full.

That long absence is a shame; while One Hand Clapping is a bit of a historical footnote, it absolutely rips; Giles Martin shining up the mixes certainly helped. Epochal Macca ballads, like "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Blackbird," are well represented, but when Wings rock out, as on "Jet," "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five," and "deep cut "Soily," they tear the roof off.

Basically, in range and sequencing, One Hand Clapping shows McCartney prepping Wings like a rocket; soon, it'd rip through the live circuit. If you've never taken a spin through McCartney's post-Fabs discography, though, you may not know where to go from here.

So, for neophytes (or just fans wanting a refresher), here's a framework through which to sift through the Wings discography — with One Hand Clapping still ringing in your ears.

The Essentials

Remember, as you get into Wings: don't cordon off their catalog from McCartney's solo work as a whole. In other words: if you haven't heard masterpieces like 1971's Ram yet, don't go scrounging through Back to the Egg deep cuts yet: check all that stuff out, then return to this list.

That being established: the proper Wings entryway is almost unquestionably Band on the Run . Like Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road before it, it's an exhilarating melodic and stylistic rush, a sonic adventure — whether you go for the original or the "underdubbed" version.

In the grand scheme of solo Beatles, Band on the Run is also the one McCartney album that slugs it out with John Lennon 's Plastic Ono Band and George Harrison 's All Things Must Pass , in terms of artistic realization.

That being said: despite slightly inferior contemporaneous reviews, its follow-up, 1975's Venus and Mars , is almost as good — and if grandiosity isn't your bag, you might actually enjoy it more than Band on the Run . (Think of Harrison following up All Things with the sparser, more spacious Living in the Material World , and you'll get the picture.)

Between those two albums, you've got a wealth of indispensable Macca songs — "Jet," "Let Me Roll It," "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five," "Rock Show," "You Gave Me the Answer" — as well as satisfying deep cuts, like doomed Wingsman Jimmy McCulloch's "Medicine Jar."

From there, it's time to understand Weird Wings — which rewinds the clock to their beginnings.

The Weirdness

As the McCartney canon goes, Ram 's stock seems to shoot up every year, single handedly inspiring new generations of psych-pop weirdos. By comparison, Wings' debut, Wild Life , was critically savaged in 1971, and its reputation isn't much better today.

As you'll learn so often in your solo Macca voyage — you've just got to ignore the critics sometimes. Even McCartney himself said "Bip Bop" "just goes nowhere" and "I cringe every time I hear it." What he leaves out it's a maddening earworm — to hear this loony, circuitous little sketch once is to carry it to your deathbed.

Indeed, Wild Life is full of moments that will stick with you. In the title track, McCartney screams about the zoo like his hair's on fire; "I Am Your Singer" is a swaying dialogue between Paul and Linda; "Dear Friend" is one of McCartney's most moving songs about Lennon.

Wild Life 's follow-up, Red Rose Speedway , is a little more candy-coated and commercial — but outside of the polarizing hit "My Love," it has some integral McCartney tunes, like "Little Lamb Dragonfly" and "Single Pigeon."

In the end, though, Wild Life is arguably the early Wings offering that will really stick to your ribs. It's not a crummy follow-up to Ram , but an intriguing off-ramp from its harebrained universe — and as the opening statement from McCartney's post-Beatles vehicle, worth investigating just on that merit.

The Deep Cuts

McCartney has always been a hit-or-miss solo artist by design — digging through the half-written pastiches and questionable experiments is part of the deal.

1976's Wings at the Speed of Sound features a key track in the irrepressibly jaunty "Let 'Em In," and an (in)famous disco-spangled hit in "Silly Love Songs." From there, with tunes like "Cook of the House" and "Warm and Beautiful," your mileage may vary wildly.

The ratio holds for 1978's London Town : you could put the gorgeous "I'm Carrying" on your playlist and scrap the rest, or you can go spelunking. And McCartney being McCartney, despite 1979's Back to the Egg being choppy waters, he nailed it at least once — on the lithe, sophisticated, Stevie Wonder -like "Arrow Through Me."

Today, at 81, McCartney is an 18-time GRAMMY winner and an enormous concert draw — charging through his six-decade catalog in stadiums the world over. These albums only comprise one decade in his history, where he flourished as a mulleted stadium act alongside his keyboarding wife. But his catalog would be so much different if he never got his Wings.

5 Lesser Known Facts About The Beatles' Let It Be Era: Watch The Restored 1970 Film

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

From Brian Wilson's obsession with "Be My Baby" and the Wall Of Sound, to the group's complicated relationship with Murry Wilson and Dennis Wilson's life in the counterculture, 'The Beach Boys' is rife with insights from the group's first 15 years.

It may seem like there's little sand left to sift through, but a new Disney+ documentary proves that there is an endless summer's worth of Beach Boys stories to uncover.

While the legendary group is so woven into the fabric of American culture  that it’s easy to forget just how innovative they were, a recently-released documentary aims to remind. The Beach Boys uses a deft combination of archival footage and contemporary interviews to introduce a new generation of fans to the band.

The documentary focuses narrowly on the first 15 years of the Beach Boys’ career, and emphasizes what a family affair it was. Opening the film is a flurry of comments about "a certain family blend" of voices, comparing the band to "a fellowship," and crediting the band’s success directly to having been a family. The frame is apt, considering that the first lineup consisted of Wilson brothers Brian , Dennis , and Carl , their cousin Mike Love , and high school friend Al Jardine, and their first manager was the Wilsons’ father, Murry.

All surviving band members are interviewed, though a very frail Brian Wilson — who was placed under a conservatorship following the January death of his wife Melinda — appears primarily in archival footage. Additional perspective comes via musicians and producers including Ryan Tedder , Janelle Monáe , Lindsey Buckingham , and Don Was , and USC Vice Provost for the Arts Josh Kun.

Thanks to the film’s tight focus and breadth of interviewees, it includes memorable takeaways for both longtime fans and ones this documentary will create. Read on for five takeaways from Disney+'s The Beach Boys.

Family Is A Double-Edged Sword

For all the warm, tight-knit imagery of the Beach Boys as a family band,  there was an awful lot of darkness at the heart of their sunny sound, and most of the responsibility for that lies with Wilson family patriarch Murry Wilson. Having written a few modest hits in the late 1930s, Murry had talent and a good ear, and he considered himself a largely thwarted genius.  

When Brian, Dennis, and Carl formed the Beach Boys with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine, Murry came aboard as the band’s manager. In many respects, he was capable; his dogged work ethic and fierce protectiveness helped shepherd the group to increasingly high profile successes. He masterminded the extended Wilson family call-in campaign to a local radio station, pushing the Beach Boys’ first single "Surfin’" to become the most popular song in Los Angeles. He relentlessly shopped their demos to music labels, eventually landing them a contract at Capitol Records. He supported the band’s strong preference to record at Western Recordings rather than Capitol Records’ own in-house studio, and was an excellent promoter. 

Murry Wilson was also extremely controlling, fining the band when they made mistakes or swore, and "was miserable most of the time," according to his wife Audree. 

Footage from earlier interviews with Carl and Dennis, and contemporary comments from Mike Love make it clear that Murry was emotionally and physically abusive to his sons throughout their childhoods. He even sold off the Beach Boys’ songwriting catalog without consulting co-owner Brian, a moment that Brian’s ex-wife Marilyn says he felt so keenly that he took to his bed and didn’t get up for three days. 

Murry Wilson was at best a very complicated figure, both professionally jealous of his own children to a toxic degree and devoted to ensuring their success. 

"Be My Baby" and The Wrecking Crew Changed Brian Wilson’s Life

"Be My Baby," which Phil Spector had produced for the Ronettes in 1963 , launched the girl group to immediate iconic status. The song also proved life-changing for Brian. On first hearing the song, "it spoke to my soul," and Brian threw himself into learning how Spector created his massive, lush Wall of Sound. Spector’s approach taught Brian that production was a meaningful art that creates an "overall sound, what [the listeners] are going to hear and experience in two and a half minutes." 

Read more: How Brian Wilson Crafted The Beach Boys' Early Sound: A Symphony Of Inspirations, From Boogie-Woogie To Barbershop

By working with The Wrecking Crew — a truly motley bunch of experienced, freewheeling musicians who played on Spector’s records and were over a decade older than the Beach Boys — Brian’s artistic sensibility quickly emerged. According to drummer Hal Blaine and bassist Carol Kaye, Brian not knowing what he didn’t know gave him the freedom and imagination to create sounds that were completely new and innovative. 

Friendly Rivalries With Phil Spector & The Beatles Yielded Amazing Pop Music

According to popular myth, the Beach Boys and the Beatles saw each other exclusively as almost bitter rivals for the ears, hearts, and disposable income of their fans. The truth is more nuanced: after the initial shock of the British Invasion wore off, the two groups developed and maintained a very productive, admiration-based competition, each band pushing the other to sonic greatness. 

Cultural historian and academic Josh Kun reframes the relationship between the two bands as a "transatlantic collaboration," and asks, "If they hadn’t had each other, would they have become what they became?" Could they have made the historic musical leaps that we now take for granted? 

Read more: 10 Memorable Oddities By The Beach Boys: Songs About Root Beer, Raising Babies & Ecological Collapse

The release of Rubber Soul left Brian Wilson thunderstruck. The unexpected sitar on "Norwegian Wood," the increasingly mature, personal songwriting, all of it was so fresh that "I flipped!" and immediately wanted to record "a thematic album, a collection of folk songs." 

Brian found life on the road soul-crushing and terrifying, and was much more content to stay home composing, writing, and producing. With the touring band out on the road, and with a creative fire lit under him by both the Beatles and Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, he had time to develop into a wildly creative, exacting, and celebrated producer, an experience that yielded the 1966 masterpiece, Pet Sounds .

Pet Sounds Took 44 Years To Go Platinum

You read that right: Pet Sounds was a flop in the U.S. upon its release. Even after hearing radio-ready tracks like "Wouldn’t It Be Nice?" and "Sloop John B" and the ravishing "God Only Knows," Capitol Records thought the album had minimal commercial potential and didn’t give it the promotional push the band were expecting. Fans in the United Kingdom embraced it, however, and the votes of confidence from British fans — including Keith Moon, John Lennon , and Paul McCartney — buoyed both sales and the Beach Boys’ spirits.  

In fact, Lennon and McCartney credited Pet Sounds with giving them a target to hit when they went into the studio to record the Beatles’ own next sonically groundbreaking album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band . As veteran producer and documentary talking head Don Was puts it, Brian Wilson was a true pioneer, incorporating "textures nobody had ever put into pop music before." The friendly rivalry continued as the Beatles realized that they needed to step up their game once more.

Read more: Masterful Remixer Giles Martin On The Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds,' The Beatles, Paul McCartney

Meanwhile, Capitol Records released and vigorously promoted a best-of album full of the Beach Boys’ early hits, Best Of The Beach Boys . The collection of sun-drenched, peppy tunes was a hit, but was also very out of step with the cultural and political shifts bubbling up through the anti-war and civil rights movements of the era. Thanks in part to later critical re-appraisals and being publicly embraced by musicians as varied as Questlove and Stereolab, Pet Sounds eventually reached platinum status in April 2000, 44 years after its initial release.

Dennis Wilson Was The Only Truly Beachy Beach Boy

Although the Beach Boys first made a name for themselves as purveyors of "the California sound" by singing almost exclusively about beaches, girls, and surfing, the only member of the band who really liked the beach was drummer Dennis Wilson.

Al Jardine ruefully recalls that "the first thing I did was lose my board — I nearly drowned" on a gorgeous day at Manhattan beach. Dennis was an actual surfer whose tanned, blonde good looks and slightly rebellious edge made him the instant sex symbol of the group. In 1967, when Brian’s depression was the deepest and he relinquished in-studio control of the band, Dennis flourished musically and lyrically. Carl Wilson, who had emerged as a very capable producer in Brian’s absence, described Dennis as evolving artistically "really quite amazingly…it just blew us away."

Dennis was also the only Beach Boy who participated meaningfully in the counterculture of the late 1960s, a movement the band largely sat out of, largely to the detriment of their image. He introduced the band to Transcendental Meditation — a practice Mike Love maintains to this day — and was a figure in the Sunset Strip and Laurel Canyon music scenes. Unfortunately, he also became acquainted with and introduced his bandmates to Charles Manson. Manson’s true goal was rock stardom; masterminding the gruesome mass murders that his followers perpetrated in 1969 was a vengeful outgrowth of his thwarted ambition. 

The Beach Boys did record and release a reworked version of one of Manson’s songs, "Never Learn Not To Love" as a B-side in 1968. Love says that having introduced Manson to producer Terry Melcher, who firmly rebuffed the would-be musician, "weighed on Dennis pretty heavily," and while Jardine emphatically and truthfully says "it wasn’t his fault," it’s easy to imagine those events driving some of the self-destructive alcohol and drug abuse that marked Dennis’ later years. 

The Journey From Obscurity To Perennially Popular Heritage Act

The final minutes of The Beach Boys can be summed up as "if all else fails commercially, release a double album of beloved greatest hits." The 1970s were a very fruitful time for the band creatively, as they invited funk specialists Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar to join the band and relocated to the Netherlands to pursue a harder, more far-out sound. Although the band were proud of the lush, singer/songwriter material they were recording, the albums of this era were sales disappointments and represented a continuing slide into uncoolness and obscurity. 

Read more: Brian Wilson Is A Once-In-A-Lifetime Creative Genius. But The Beach Boys Are More Than Just Him.

Once again, Capitol Records turned to the band’s early material to boost sales. The 1974 double-album compilation Endless Summer , comprised of hits from 1962-1965, went triple platinum, relaunching The Beach Boys as a successful heritage touring act. A new generation of fans — "8 to 80," as the band put it — flocked to their bright harmonies and upbeat tempos, as seen in the final moments of the documentary when the Beach Boys played to a crowd of over 500,000 fans on July 4, 1980. 

While taking their place as America’s Band didn’t do much to make them cool, it did ensure one more wave of chart success with 1988’s No. 1 hit "Kokomo" and ultimately led to broader appreciation for Pet Sounds and its sibling experimental albums like Smiley Smile . That wave of popularity has proven remarkably durable; after all, they’ve ridden it to a documentary for Disney+ nearly 45 years later. 

Listen: 50 Essential Songs By The Beach Boys Ahead Of "A GRAMMY Salute" To America's Band

• 1 'Meet The Beatles!' Turns 60: Inside The Album That Launched Beatlemania In America
• 2 5 Reasons John Lennon's 'Mind Games' Is Worth Another Shot
• 3 'A Hard Day's Night' Turns 60: 6 Things You Can Thank The Beatles Film & Soundtrack For
• 4 Wings Release 'One Hand Clapping': How To Get Into Paul McCartney's Legendary Post-Beatles Band
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MYNORTHWEST HISTORY

Searching for Beatlesville and Beatles Avenue on 60th anniversary of band’s Seattle visit

Aug 21, 2024, 12:12 PM | Updated: 3:07 pm

Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr of The Beatles fishing from their hotel room at the Edgewater Inn, Seattle on Aug. 21, 1964. The Beatles were in Seattle to perform at the Seattle Center Coliseum during their US tour. (Photo: William Lovelace, Express/Getty Images)

(Photo: William Lovelace, Express/Getty Images)

BY FELIKS BANEL

Local historian

It was 60 years ago today – Aug. 21, 1964 – when the Beatles made their first visit to Seattle.

In honor of the occasion, KIRO Newsradio decided to retrace the footsteps (and tire tracks) of the band – who had to make it from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) to the Edgewater Hotel  and then to Seattle Center – all the while being mobbed by screaming fans.

Think of this story as something of a “Tragical History Tour.”

The Beatles came to Seattle for the first time 60 years ago and played a single show on a Friday night at what’s now Climate Pledge Arena. This is a familiar story that has been told many times on previous anniversaries. However, some YouTube footage posted by the Associated Press of showing the Beatles arriving at SeaTac and heading out of the airport in limousines poses some intriguing questions about how the band avoided fans and made their way to the city in an era that predates the I-5 freeway.

Looking back, it’s easy to assume that the band had to get past all the fans who knew the band was coming and who had packed the main terminal building and gathered on the east side of the field. But the old film doesn’t show that. Instead, it shows the band far away from any buildings, near what appears to be an old water tower, and then leaving the airport grounds in limousines through a gate in a chain-link fence and driving out into a residential neighborhood.

Analyzing The Beatles’ travels

For forensic and investigative help, KIRO Newsradio reached out to Perry Cooper, spokesperson for Sea-Tac (which he calls “SEA”) and a good friend of “Seattle’s Morning News.” Cooper examined the film as well as some stills and topographic maps and got some help from other airport staff to first figure out where the Beatles’ plane had come to a stop after landing.

“That far northwest end is where we determined where that tower was that we can see in the background photos,” Cooper said, pointing on his computer monitor to an image and describing a tall, narrow structure, painted in alternatingly white and dark colored bands for high visibility.

“And basically (the plane) is on the edge of what would be the runway,” Cooper explained. “And then you see this little cement space that goes off to the side? That would be the taxiway. So they would have parked it on that taxiway, it appears, and that’s on the very far north end of the airfield.”

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Cooper cautions that all of this part of the 1964 version of Sea-Tac has been radically changed – especially when the Port of Seattle expanded westward and built the third runway in the early part of this century.

By using those old topographic maps as well as some vintage aerial photos, Cooper found a match between a hill that used to be next to the airport, and the route the Beatles’ limousines likely took as they drove away from the chartered Lockheed Constellation which had brought the band from Las Vegas.

“Just to the north and to the west of that space would have been the edge of the airfield, and there would have been neighborhoods there,” Cooper said. “In the video, you can see from where the plane’s parked, they actually go up a hill with the police escort and the limousine. They’ve gone up a hill from where the aircraft was.”

And so how did they get from the airplane part of the airport – the runways and taxiways – to the surface roads and highways required to get the four mop-top lads to the Edgewater Hotel?

“They probably went to a chain link fence gate that was there, and then they entered into what looks a dead-end road for that neighborhood,” Cooper said. “And then somehow wheeled off through the neighborhoods to head north.”

That neighborhood that used to be along the old western boundary of Sea-Tac where the limousines and police escorts are seen emerging from the gate in the fence – let’s call it Beatlesville – no longer exists. And the roads aren’t there anymore, either. It’s now where the third runway stands; the water tower is gone, and so is the hill that Cooper spotted on the maps and in the footage.

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However, by taking the research of Cooper and his staff, and by closely examining a 1964 Enco map of Seattle picked up on eBay, it’s possible to identify and to get to what might be a few remaining blocks of the neighborhood road the Beatles took to get away from Sea-Tac on Aug. 21, 1964.

What was next: Going to the west side of Sea-Tac

The next step was to head over to the west side of Sea-Tac and see in person what might remain of that frenetic day 60 years ago.

KIRO Newsradio got help from Ron Foster, president of the club Mustangs Northwest . Foster was willing to lend his time and driving skills – as well as a beautiful car almost old enough to have been in existence when the Beatles first came to Seattle.

“We’re sitting in a 1965 Mustang convertible, and this is known as an ‘A code,’ which is a 289 [cubic inch displacement engine], four-barrel [carburetor], [and] automatic transmission,” Foster said, as he sat in the driver’s seat and prepared to take part in the suburban safari portion of the tour. “The color of the car is vintage burgundy, and a little side note, this was my wife’s car in high school.”

Foster was the perfect wheelman for the Tragical History Tour. He’s a Navy vet, a retired Alaska Airlines mechanic who worked at Sea-Tac for 20 years, and a guy who totally understood what KIRO Newsradio hoped to accomplish.

After meeting up in a parking lot in Burien along First Avenue South, Foster looked at Perry Cooper’s research, and then watched the video. After a few minutes spent examining the 1964 map, we zeroed in on South 176 th Street – site of a defunct overpass over SR-509 – which Ron Foster quickly dubbed “Beatles Avenue.”

After a short drive, Foster guided the Mustang to the end of South 176 th Street where a fence now stands at 10 th Avenue South. The defunct overpass came years after the Beatles visit and it was made obsolete by construction of the third runway. But, the fact that South 176 th Street rated having an overpass built for it when SR-509 was constructed seems like evidence that this was the main road into and out of the west side of the pre-third runway, Beatles-era Sea-Tac Airport.

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  “If I was the driver for the Beatles,” Foster said, contemplating the landscape and surroundings of South 176 th Street and gripping the wheel of the Mustang, “I would have taken this road.”

From “Beatles Avenue,” it was a fairly simple drive to go north and then east in order to connect with Highway 99. Since there was no I-5 freeway and no 509 freeway between Sea-Tac and Seattle in 1964, Highway 99 would have been the most likely route for the Fab Four’s motorcade.

On the south edge of downtown Seattle, improvisation is required to retrace the Beatles’ route – meaning exiting Highway 99 right before the tunnel and heading north along the viaduct-free waterfront. The Alaskan Way Viaduct was in place in 1964, and it’s a fair bet the limos took the viaduct northbound, and then used the exit ramp to Seneca, for what would then be a fairly simple drive to the Edgewater via northbound First Avenue and then westbound Wall Street, or, perhaps an even better bet was the Western Avenue exit from northbound 99 just south of the old Battery Street Tunnel and then to Wall Street.

Why it was not an intuitive drive

Without the viaduct, this portion of the Tragical History Tour meant Ron Foster had to do a lot of U-turns and turnarounds to get to the famous hotel where the band fished in Elliott Bay from their windows. The not-so-secret route that gets there the fastest is westbound on Wall Street.

On a mid-August morning, the Edgewater appeared to be doing brisk business welcoming tourists and other Seattle visitors. After a quick orbit through the main driveway, Ron guided the Mustang toward what was then called the Seattle Center Coliseum.

Again, with KIRO Newsradio giving directions from the passenger seat, it was not an intuitive drive from the Edgewater to Climate Pledge Arena, thanks to more of those seemingly only recently turned one-way streets and many “no left turns” signs. Then, after one turnaround on Denny Way facilitated by a short parade through the Space Needle’s circular driveway, the beautiful Mustang pulled up to the curb along Thomas Street at Warren Avenue North, where a service entrance to the old Coliseum once stood.

Six decades ago, the band had a much harder time getting around in Seattle, thanks to all those screaming fans camped out at the airport, the hotel and Seattle Center. But, they did manage to play their 29-minute set before 14,720 fans.

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Then, it was back to the Edgewater – this time, hiding in an ambulance, since fans had crushed the roof of the awaiting limousine. The next day, they likely retraced their route to Sea-Tac Airport, driving though Beatlesville on Beatles Avenue for the last few blocks before once again going through the service gate and down the hill to the Lockheed Constellation.

The four-engine propeller plane took off and headed north for a concert that night in Vancouver, British Columbia. But then, because somehow or other, the band and its entourage had neglected to properly clear U.S. Customs, the plane came back and landed at Sea-Tac again, so that the necessary paperwork could be properly processed before the group left the United States.

Thus, technically speaking, the Beatles landed in Seattle – or, at least, at Sea-Tac Airport – twice in August 1964.

Special thanks to Perry Cooper and Ron Foster for their assistance with the Tragical History Tour.

You can hear Feliks Banel every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien. Read more from Feliks here and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast here . If you have a story idea or a question about Northwest history, please email Feliks . You can also follow Feliks on X .

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'Beatlemania was in full flight': When the Fab Four graced Winnipeg 60 years ago

Fun fact: What was the first Canadian city the Beatles set foot in?

You'd be wrong if you answered Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver.

On August 18, 1964, 60 years and one day ago, the Fab Four made an unscheduled stop in Winnipeg, drawing more than 1,000 fans to the airport.

However, it wasn’t an impromptu concert; the band was traveling from London to San Francisco to start their first major North American tour and needed to fuel their plane in Winnipeg.

John Einarson, a Winnipeg music historian, said the plane's arrival was tipped off to radio stations in Winnipeg.

"Literally hundreds and hundreds of kids head immediately to the airport," Einarson said.

The band’s manager, Brian Epstein, coaxed the band to step outside the plane and appear on the tarmac, speaking to several reporters talking with fans.

Einarson said he did tours of music history in Winnipeg, and when sharing the story of the airport stop, he had a woman tell him her story of the Beatles.

"She said my older sister was babysitting me, and when she heard the Beatles were coming, she abandoned me and went to the airport to stand there and see the Beatles," he said.

The event was also notable in Winnipeg lore for Decker's Dash, in which Bruce Decker broke through the crowd and ran towards the plane, being stopped by the RCMP. Decker was a Winnipeg musician who played with the Deverons, a band that featured Burton Cummings of The Guess Who.

Several years ago, Einarson spoke with Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, who is writing a multi-volume band history. He told him of the stop in Winnipeg and said Lewisohn asked for anything he had about it, including photos and writing. Einarson said he is curious to see if Winnipeg will make it in the second volume, which is expected to cover 1963-1966.

After roughly 30 minutes, the band had to get back on the plane and depart, but Ringo told those in attendance that the Beatles hoped to return to Winnipeg on their next tour.

However, the Beatles never played in the city, though the Fab Four have performed there as solo acts over the years.

"It's possibly because we didn't have a big enough venue for it," Einarson speculates. "By then, they were playing some pretty big arenas and stadiums and things. And Beatlemania was in full flight at that point. In 1964, the anticipation of the Beatles performing in North America was beyond exciting."

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Tim Walz’s Long Relationship With China Defies Easy Stereotypes

Mr. Walz, the Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee, taught in China and has visited the country around 30 times. But he has also been critical of the Chinese government’s human rights record.

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By Amy Qin and Keith Bradsher

Amy Qin reported from Washington, and Keith Bradsher reported from Foshan, China.

In the summer of 1989, Tim Walz faced a difficult choice.

A newly minted college graduate from small-town Nebraska, he had just turned down a stable, 9-to-5 job offer and moved across the world to teach at a local high school in China. He had made it as far as Hong Kong, just across the Chinese border, when People’s Liberation Army tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square to crush pro-democracy protests.

Rumors were flying about a possible civil war in China. Many foreigners, including most American teachers, had fled the country. Should he go back home or continue his journey into China?

He decided to go in.

“It was my belief at that time that the diplomacy was going to happen on many levels, certainly people to people,” Mr. Walz recalled in 2014 during a congressional hearing marking the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. “The opportunity to be in a Chinese high school at that critical time seemed to me to be really important.”

The one year that Mr. Walz spent teaching English in southern China was the start of what would become a decades-long relationship with the country. As high school teachers in Nebraska and Minnesota, Mr. Walz and his wife, Gwen, regularly led trips to China in the 1990s and early 2000s to introduce students to China’s history and culture. Mr. Walz has said that he has traveled to China some 30 times, including for his honeymoon.

That deep history of engagement with China reflects a lesser-known international dimension of the Democratic vice-presidential candidate. If elected vice president, Mr. Walz would bring to the White House unusually extensive personal experience in China — a history that supporters say could be an asset at a time of volatile relations between Washington and Beijing.

But the campaign has so far made little mention of Mr. Walz’s experience there, even as it has leaned into depictions of the Minnesota governor as an avuncular Midwestern dad, coach and teacher. And it has yet to lay out how Vice President Kamala Harris or Mr. Walz would handle China, which both the Biden and Trump administrations have treated with toughness.

Republicans, by contrast, have already begun to seize on the governor’s personal experience in China to accuse him of being soft on a country that is now seen as America’s greatest military and economic rival.

Richard Grenell, who served as ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, said on X that “Communist China” was “very happy” with Ms. Harris’s choice of Mr. Walz as her running mate. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas said that Mr. Walz owed “the American people an explanation about his unusual, 35-year relationship with Communist China.”

A spokesman for Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz’s campaign accused Republicans of “twisting basic facts” and “desperately lying” to distract from former President Donald J. Trump’s agenda.

“Throughout his career, Governor Walz has stood up to the CCP, fought for human rights and democracy, and always put American jobs and manufacturing first,” said James Singer, the spokesman, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. “Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will ensure we win the competition with China, and will always stand up for our values and interests in the face of China’s threats.”

Mr. Walz’s record in the House, from 2007 to 2019, showed a lawmaker who often drew on his personal experience in the country to lay out sharp critiques of China’s human rights record. He took a special interest in Tibet and Hong Kong, meeting with both the Dalai Lama and Joshua Wong, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist.

An adventure

Years before Mr. Walz became an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, he was a wide-eyed college graduate eager to learn more about the world beyond the farms and ranches of Nebraska.

Mr. Walz was 25 when he arrived at Foshan No. 1 High School in southern China, near Hong Kong, as part of the WorldTeach program, a nonprofit affiliated with Harvard University. The school is in one of Foshan’s oldest neighborhoods, where thick banyan trees dangle aerial roots over sidewalks and streets.

Mr. Walz soon settled into the cocoon of daily life on a small-town campus, even as the chaos of the Tiananmen Square crackdown more than 1,100 miles away rippled across the country. He taught four English and U.S. history classes a day with about 65 students in each class. As one of the first American teachers at the school, he was afforded small luxuries like an air-conditioner and a monthly salary of around $80 — double what the local teachers earned.

Students loved their “big-nosed” teacher, giving him the nickname “Fields of China” because his kindness, they explained to him, was so expansive. For Christmas, some of his students and friends cut down a pine tree, decorated it and brought it to his room.

“No matter how long I live, I’ll never be treated that well again,” Mr. Walz told the Star-Herald in Scottsbluff, Neb., in 1990.

He also took a train up to Beijing and visited Tiananmen Square, where soldiers had fatally shot hundreds, maybe thousands, of protesters and bystanders not long before.

Upon his return to Nebraska in 1990, he told the Star-Herald that going to China was “one of the best things” he had ever done. But he said he also felt that the Chinese people had been mistreated and cheated by their government for years.

“If they had the proper leadership, there are no limits on what they could accomplish,” Mr. Walz said at the time. “They are such kind, generous, capable people.”

Returning again and again

By 1994, Mr. Walz had taken a job teaching social studies at Alliance High School in western Nebraska. There, he met and fell in love with a fellow teacher, Gwen Whipple. They married on June 4 — which happened to be the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. He later would say, “There was no doubt I would remember that date.”

Shortly after, they left for a trip that effectively became their honeymoon: a field trip to China with 60 students.

Mr. Walz was determined to share with his students the marvel of discovering the wider world beyond small-town America, according to interviews with four former students and a professor who went on the yearly trips that the Walzes had organized in the 1990s.

The students, most of whom had never traveled abroad, barely spent any time in the classroom. In addition to sightseeing, they met with tai chi masters, practiced their chopstick skills at family-style meals and tried Chinese calligraphy.

On the trip in 1993, Mr. Walz brought the group to meet his former students at Foshan No. 1 High School. One of Mr. Walz’s friends guided them throughout the two-week trip and was so beloved that one of the students, Kyle Lierk, recalled crying when they had to say goodbye.

“It was clear that Tim was able to build the trip around humanity,” recalled Mr. Lierk, now 47.

Shay Armstrong, a former student who went in 1993 and 1994, recalled learning about some of the more disturbing aspects of Chinese Communist Party rule. They were told about the harsh “one-child” policy, under which most couples who had more than one child were forced to pay fines.

While visiting Tiananmen Square, Mr. Walz explained the history of the bloody crackdown and the brutal governance of Mao Zedong, China’s former chairman, she said.

“It wasn’t all bubbles, hearts and rainbows,” recalled Ms. Armstrong, now 46.

The Walzes continued leading the student trips to China even after they moved in 1996 to Mankato, Minn., organizing the visits through a company that they had established called Educational Travel Adventures.

A vocal critic of China

As a congressman, Mr. Walz did not shy away from talking about his experience in China.

But he was also critical of the Chinese government from the start. And over his 12-year tenure in the House, Mr. Walz’s criticisms of China’s human rights record became even sharper, especially as the Chinese government took a more authoritarian turn under Xi Jinping.

Mr. Walz served on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a bipartisan group of lawmakers focused on monitoring and reporting on human rights and the rule of law in China. Transcripts show that other commission members often praised Mr. Walz for his expertise.

“You are a great asset to our commission,” Representative Chris Smith, Republican from New Jersey and then-chairman of the commission, said to Mr. Walz during a 2011 hearing.

Mr. Walz cosponsored a resolution demanding the release of Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident and Nobel laureate. He criticized China’s unfair trade practices and crackdown on rights lawyers and religious groups.

In 2015, Mr. Walz participated in a rare American delegation to Tibet led by Nancy Pelosi, then the House minority leader. The next year, he met with the Dalai Lama in what he later described in a social media post as a “life-changing” lunch.

Jeffrey Ngo, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist, credited Mr. Walz with being at one point the only House Democrat willing to continue backing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would compel the U.S. government to impose sanctions on officials responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong.

Mr. Ngo said Mr. Walz’s support helped keep the bill alive at a crucial time until it was eventually passed.

“Walz is perhaps the most solid candidate when it comes to human rights and China on a major-party ticket in recent memory, if not ever,” Mr. Ngo said.

Toward the end of his tenure in Congress, Mr. Walz continued to stress the importance of identifying areas of cooperation with China. But he also began to question the long-held wisdom that opening up trade with China would lead the country to become more open and democratic.

“I certainly was under the illusion that liberalizing trade and openness would have a significant impact on liberalization of personal freedoms,” Mr. Walz said during a congressional hearing in 2016. “I have now seen that is not the case.”

In the decades since Mr. Walz arrived at Foshan, the high school that launched his lifelong interest in China has expanded considerably.

On a visit to the high school on Wednesday, news of Mr. Walz’s ascent to the Democratic ticket drew vastly different reactions.

As students in blue and white uniforms exited the school’s gates, they said that their school’s connection to a suddenly prominent American politician had been the talk of classrooms and online chat rooms.

Meanwhile, a school dean said that the school had no comment on Mr. Walz. And guards at the school gate prevented journalists from entering the grounds to see the campus museum.

Dionne Searcey , Amy Chang Chien , Li You and Alain Delaquérière contributed reporting and research.

An earlier version of this article misstated the last name of the person who took the photograph featuring Mr. Walz and students at the Great Wall of China. She is Jillian Walker, not Jillian Taylor.

How we handle corrections

Amy Qin writes about Asian American communities for The Times. More about Amy Qin

Keith Bradsher is the Beijing bureau chief for The Times. He previously served as bureau chief in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Detroit and as a Washington correspondent. He has lived and reported in mainland China through the pandemic. More about Keith Bradsher

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Colombia trip was heavily criticized, but it's part of a winning strategy

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Colombia at the invitation of Vice President Francia Marquez.
• The trip marked their second international tour of 2024.
• Harry and Meghan made clear for years that championing international causes is a passion for them.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wrapped up their latest international trip on Sunday.

The couple went to Colombia at the invitation of the nation's vice president, Francia Márquez, and they spoke at the Responsible Digital Future Summit at Universidad Ean on August 15.

Their visit to Colombia marked their second international tour of the year, following their trip to Nigeria in May.

Harry and Meghan received backlash for both trips in UK tabloids, with some outlets questioning why the couple is going on trips that look a lot like royal tours despite stepping back as working royals in 2020.

But looking back at their time as working royals together and their individual lives highlights that international service trips are nothing unusual for Harry or Meghan.

Representatives for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Harry and Meghan have a long history of international work

Royal commentator Kristen Meinzer told Business Insider that international trips with a service focus aren't new for Harry or Meghan.

As a member of the royal family, Harry spent his entire life accompanying his parents on royal tours, and as an adult, he served in the Royal Air Force, which also took him around the globe. He is also the founding patron of the Invictus Games , which occur in a different country yearly.

Meanwhile, Meghan studied international relations at Northwestern in addition to theater, and she worked with global organizations like World Vision , One Young World, and even the United Nations before she became a royal.

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"Before they were even together, they both had a passion for charity and philanthropy and making goodwill visits to other countries," Meinzer said. "It's something that Harry was trained to do his whole life."

"And I think it's interesting that when other people like George Clooney or Beyoncé do the same kind of thing, they aren't raked over the coals," Meinzer said of Harry and Meghan's international advocacy.

As working royals, Harry and Meghan went on multiple royal tours together, where they flexed their ability to connect with communities in other countries.

For instance, Harry said it was "effortless" for Meghan to connect with locals on their 2018 royal tour of Australia, and they both appeared more relaxed during their 2019 tour of Africa compared to other royals on similar trips.

As they revealed in their docuseries "Harry & Meghan," the Duke and Duchess of Sussex hoped they could continue serving as working royals outside the UK by relocating to a commonwealth nation like New Zealand, South Africa, or Canada instead of stepping down in 2020.

"We thought it would be good to give ourselves some breathing space, but also we were really passionate about continuing our work throughout the Commonwealth, to support the Queen," Harry said on the series.

Harry said their 2019 move to South Africa was scrapped after details of the plan were published in The Times . Subsequently, Harry's email proposal to move to Canada was leaked to The Sun in January 2020. A day after the story was published, Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping back as senior royals .

By June 2020, the two had settled in Montecito, California, where they now raise their two children.

These trips aren't designed to promote the Commonwealth, but they do serve a purpose

When they went on international trips together as working royals, Harry and Meghan were ambassadors for the Commonwealth. Today, they promote causes they are passionate about when they visit.

"I think that something else that's a little bit off about the narrative is a lot of the tabloid media is trying to depict them as like, 'Oh, they're just trying to pretend they're still royal,'" Meinzer said. "But they're actually going to these places upon invitation."

For instance, Márquez invited Harry and Meghan to Colombia to discuss how to create a "healthier and more ethical digital landscape," as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared on their website , and they visited Nigeria in May because the country has expressed interest in hosting the Invictus Games .

"They're not doing anything that is inflammatory by accepting invitations to raise the public awareness of certain causes," Meinzer added. "It's just a non-issue."

Despite the tabloid criticism of their international trips, the visits offer a new path for Harry and Meghan, who have struggled to find long-term momentum in their media ventures, as Business Insider previously reported.

Indeed, Evan Nierman, the CEO and founder of the global PR firm Red Banyan , told BI that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's tell-alls about the royal family — from their Netflix series to Harry's memoir "Spare" — don't pack the same punch anymore .

But international diplomacy is Meghan and Harry's bread and butter. Whether the UK tabloid press agrees, leaning into a skillset and a passion they both have is the right move for them.

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