(Chapman) is not the story, ... He's the ending of the story, but he's not the story. The story is the 25 years of achievement that John Lennon managed, the music and poetry he left behind and the feeling of creation. |
[14As Lennon stepped off the plane, a reporter came up to him and asked a question. John slapped her before heading into a limousine, according to] Lennon Revealed, ... The @&*# asked me if I was faithful to my wife. |
American journalists were the perfect foils. [Many newsmen] were shocked by them, ... a menace to society. |
And, in all honesty, the Beatles were fascinated by the journalists' immaturity. |
As much as the R&B people, and the gospel people, and spiritual music, and the country-western people influenced them, I think the Beatles were the bar. And they set the bar, and nobody's quite been able to jump beyond it. |
How many superstars have we had in music that didn't need, and think about this, that didn't need laser lights and an accompanying show of glitter and glamour to be successful? ... The Beatles were four guys with guitars and drums, and their music stands alone. |
I think that their impact is yet to be felt, their full impact. First of all, their music is now listened to as part of the psyche of everybody, day in and day out. It's the most recorded music in the world, the most copied music in the world, the most enviable music in the world. It's inspired thousands and thousands of artists. Culturally they've had a tremendous impact on the entire 20th century. |
I think the first factor is the music. I think the second is their individuality. And I really think the third was that if you take their music today, and you played it to an audience that never heard of the Beatles, and played their 20 or 30 best songs, the music would be as fresh today as it was in 1970 or 1966. It's timeless. |
It's certainly a good day. We'll relish this while we can. |
Stations were crawling with record promoters. They were everywhere. They invaded a station, and they always had gifts, |
The Beatles were very sensitive about the other groups, ... In the plane, they'd make a point of talking with them. There was a lot of camaraderie there. |
There were two people who thought they were the greatest band in the world -- Brian Epstein and John Lennon, ... Both of them felt that they'd last into the next century. |
They had a wonderful sense of themselves, and they were very smart, |