Beatlemania now on display at GRAMMY Museum Experience at Prudential Center
NEWARK, N.J. - A new exhibit in our area covers the start of Beatlemania 60 years ago.
Now, the story of The Beatles is being embraced by a whole new generation of fans.
"Ladies And Gentlemen... The Beatles" runs until June 25th at the GRAMMY Museum Experience at Prudential Center In Newark. The exhibit focuses on the key period between 1964 and 1966, when The Beatles became international superstars with number one records and sold out concerts across the globe.
"The story is told through the narrative of their arrival in the United States, all the way again until they're touring, and then their - finally - their last show," Mark Conklin, director of the Grammy Museum Experience, said.
One of the exhibit's highlights is the jacket Paul McCartney wore during their historic August 1965 concert at Shea Stadium. It's on display along with one of McCartney's iconic Hofner basses.
"It's probably the most special thing that we have in the entire place, I would say," Conklin said.
During that time, The Beatles pioneered stadium rock concerts. But putting together a tour was very different back then.
Author and Monmouth University professor Ken Womack says in many cases, it wasn't a music promoter, but instead a local civic organization, which brought The Beatles to town.
"It could be a group of dentists or a group of DJs, or what have you, who were looking to cash in on the one hand, but they really want Indianapolis to be part of things or we want to make sure Chicago's on the map," he said. "I find that period very fascinating."
As part of the exhibit, Womack has been hosting a series of conversations with Beatles experts and associates.
On June 14th, he will discuss his latest project, an authorized biography of The Beatles longtime roadie and personal assistant Mal Evans, who died in 1976. He research included access to Evans' extensive journals and archives.
"He was the guy who spent more time with them than anybody. It's arguable that perhaps Mal was one of the folks who realized early on that what The Beatles were doing would stand the test of time," Womack said. "So he would pick up stray lyrics, he would keep track of who was in the studio, who was doing what. He kept diaries, daily diaries, and journals and notebooks. So absolutely he is a kind of Rosetta stone for them."
Although The Beatles' recording career lasted only eight years between 1962 and 1970, it hasn't stopped a new generation of fans from embracing their music and their legacy.
"We have a wall that has the Abbey Road graphic, the album cover, without The Beatles on it, so that you can walk across and take your picture," said Conklin. "When I saw young teenagers from China, Japan, Germany, the United States -- there they were all lined up to walk across that wall and take their pictures, that was really heartening for me to see that there's still a generation that is learning about them, that's getting it."
"Every fall, I teach a Beatles course and students flock to it, and they're there because they love the music. They heard the music, it arrested their ears, and they couldn't believe that they've been missing out on that sound for so long," Womack added.
In the end, Conklin says he wants visitors to understand The Beatles' massive impact on music and beyond during the 1960s.
"I think it's sometimes easy to forget, even for people who know sometimes -- like for me, I know how big they were -- but just seeing it again, told in this story, really reminds me of how important they were to the fabric of our, not just music, but our culture, as well," he said.
CLICK HERE for more information on the exhibit.
