Beatles And Boomers: Authors Dive Into Beatlemania

Baby Boomers and the Beatles have been linked since the Fab Four’s first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964. The unprecedented exposure (approximately 73 million viewers), record-breaking television viewership and frantic enthusiasm would kick off Beatlemania, a phenomenon that has never evaporated.

The first group in U.S. history to have six No. 1 hits on Billboard Hot 100, 71 Beatles’ songs would top the charts with 20 No. 1 hits and 34 Top 10 hits. The Beatles’ August 1965 sold out Shea Stadium concert shattered box office and attendance records and delighted 56,000 fans who were in attendance.

First Person Memories

The group’s impact and fan-based enthusiasm continue to be captured in projects by those who experienced firsthand the thrill of The Ed Sullivan Show appearances, the concerts, the creative merchandising and the fever that John, Paul, George and Ringo elicited. Authors Laurie Jacobson and Bruce Ferber latest books, inspired by the music and the memories, span fact and fiction and convey the magnitude and the magic of the musical legends.

The Stories

I Buried Paul, a Beatles-inspired novel by Ferber, highlights the power of music and the challenges of musicians today. A longtime television comedy writer who served as executive producer and show runner for the hit series Home Improvement, Ferber weaves comedy into the story featuring protagonist Jimmy Kozlowski, a faux Paul in a popular Beatles tribute band who is trying to shed the role. His stint as a Beatle lasted longer than the originals. And his story offers readers a glimpse into the fan psychology that has helped drive the group’s popularity for decades.

“The Beatles were so big, that they became a cottage industry for other musicians. And you know, he (the character) loved and revered the music like we all do. But like any creative person, he wanted to get his own voice out there, which is always hard to do,” says Ferber.

From bandmate fervor to fan frenzies, I Buried Paul channels the enthusiasm that helped build a thriving tribute band business that remains today. “There is so much Beatle love in the book, and that came from me. And from growing up with all the music,” explains Ferber.

Jacobson, a diehard Beatle fan since childhood, found writing Top of the Mountain: The Beatles at Shea Stadium 1965 reignited her passion for the group and their legacy.

“In my book, when I spoke to people that had been at Shea, it was like it was yesterday for them. And I realized the biggest gift I got from writing that book was I found my Beatle joy again. You know, I was a full-fledged Beatle maniac. But life happens, you know when you hear the songs from the past. ‘Oh, I love that song. Oh, it’s so great to hear it,’ but you forget about how we ran to the record store the day of release and got the album and ran home with it and played it over and over and called your friends and talked about the different songs and all of that pre-marijuana days. Just pure love and enthusiasm and joy for what we were experiencing. And that’s pretty hard to replicate.”

A Hollywood historian whose books have covered scandals, deaths, recipes, and ghost stories, Jacobson is the queen of trivia. Top of The Mountain doesn’t disappoint, capturing astounding tidbits and tales some that had never before been shared with the public.

Zeroing in on one concert, albeit a unique and industry-changing one, allowed Jacobson to zero in on the players, the personalities, the coincidences, and the luck that made the seemingly impossible event possible. Taking readers on thousands of micro-journeys that all led to Shea Stadium, Jacobson shares how a crowd of 56,000 people, mostly young girls and women, helped change the course of live music and marketing forever.

Ferber’s fictional use of comedy, conversation, and setting is also a current reminder of Beatlemania’s real life staying power.

“I did it through comedy. It was my way of showing in the present day, how they still have such a presence, because this tribute band industry is huge. And so you have people making a living doing this putting on the wigs and suits, playing the songs and playing the songs really well,” explains Ferber who says times have changed since his days in a garage band playing a record over and over again trying to learn how to play a Beatles’ song.

“Today, you have, like 3,000 guys who can play every lick perfectly. I mean, it’s insane. And so you have all these talented musicians, you have the education, you have the technology that teaches them how to do this. And it’s a true phenomenon. So I got to experience it (writing his book) differently. I got to experience it in the present, honoring the past, being silly, but still respecting the music big time.”

While Jacobson believes the fan fervor of Shea Stadium and the sixties would be hard to replicate, both she and Ferber say they are struck by the younger generations that have embraced Beatlemania and are focused on the history of the Fab Four.

Says Ferber, “It has taken off in ways that we Boomers never would have expected. So these people who are experiencing it, people who are younger than our kids, they’re doing things with this. You can’t imagine what goes on— between all the podcasts, and all the tribute bands and all the festivals. It’s like, yes, we were there when it started, but we had no idea where it would go. And it’s going to places—it’s just like people are not forgetting this music. And they’re experiencing it in a different way. You know, they weren’t at Shea Stadium, but they’re reading every little tidbit about Shea Stadium they can find and every little tidbit related to the Beatles.”