Weber synthesizes the historiography of the Beatles and identifies four major narratives: The Fab Four Narrative, Lennon Remembers, The Shout! Narrative, and the recent work of historian Mark Lewisohn that's moving towards an orthodoxy. These stages are marked by changing public perceptions, historical events, and the discovery of new information relating to The Beatles.
The Fab Four Narrative was shaped during the active years of The Beatles from their rise to fame in 1963 to their break up in 1970. This narrative was directed the Public Relations machine of the group, a sanitized story, more mythology than fact. The 1964 film A Hard Day's Night forever shaped the band's public image with each member being coded with a personality type: John Lennon's sarcastic wit, happy go lucky McCartney, introverted George, and nice guy Ringo. The Beatles presented themselves as a united front with no internal conflict The songwriting partnership of Lennon/McCartney was presented as the foundation of the group's success. In 1968 The Beatles: The Authorized Biography by Hunter Davies came out, which remains useful for an early account of the group, but the content was heavily controlled so a lot of negative information was left out.
The breakup of band in 1970 ruptured the Fab Four narrative, dividing fans and the media into Lennon and McCartney camps. Weber singles out the 1971 interview John Lennon gave to Rolling Stone, earth shaking in its attempt to destroy the image of The Beatles. Much of Lennon's anger was directed at McCartney. He dismissed much of the band's music and claimed he and Paul had stopped writing songs together as far back as 1962. He spoke of the group's disdain for their fans and each other. He was open about the band's dependence on drugs, sex, partying while on tour, a far cry from the squeaky clean image of the past. But Lennon's main agenda was to prove he was the sole genius in the group, the driving force behind all their success and greatest music. As Weber points out, Lennon was angry and possibly under the influence of drugs during the interview, a few years later Lennon himself said as much.
Nevertheless, the Lennon Remembers narrative took on a life of its own. McCartney's reluctance to speak openly with the press during he 1970s led many to believe most of Lennon's claims were true: Paul was the more commercial songwriter who would always be in Lennon's shadow. The rock press also sided with Lennon, Rolling Stone trashed every new McCartney album, while their coverage of Lennon through the 1970s bordered on sycophantic.
The Lennon/McCartney war originated for complex reasons. Legal and business issues often intruded, such as Paul's refusal to accept Allen Klein as the new manager of The Beatles and his public announcement of the break up in 1970. John's 1971 song "How Do You Sleep" dismissed his old partner as a hack, even resorting to hurtful personal insults. Yet sources that emerged later suggested their conflict was only public, in private they remained close and often spoke on the phone. Each flirted with the idea of getting back together when the time was right. Yet there was a rivalry between them. An example is the song "Eleanor Rigby" which Lennon claimed was all his, something McCartney took as disrespectful and went to great lengths to discredit. In later years McCartney emphasized how he was the driving force behind the band's most adventurous music.
John Lennon's tragic death in 1980 brought on further changes to the narrative. Weber points to Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation (1981) by Phillip Norman as a transitional book, despite its obvious bias towards Lennon. But it did provide historical context and perspective. The circumstances of Lennon's death elevated him to legendary status alongside JFK and Martin Luther King as icons of the 1960s, and for a time his martyr status placed him above all criticism. By the late 1980s biographies of Lennon, most infamously The Lives of John Lennon by Albert Goldman, assailed the saintly image of John. The book portrayed him as a depressed drug addict during his later years, prone to violence towards his wife Yoko Ono, and riddled with resentment towards his old band mates. Those charges only scratched the surface. Weber points out Goldman depended on one questionable source for many of these claims, while the most outrageous ones lacked supporting evidence.
Since the 1990s more nuanced studies of The Beatles have emerged as time and distance have allowed for balance and accuracy. The 1995 documentary The Beatles Anthology produced by the surviving members introduced their music to a new generation although (Weber criticizes the film for not being open enough). McCartney also worked to preserve the band's legacy, presenting a more balanced view of his friendship with John. Most books now consider them to be creative equals, in fact it was the camaraderie and tension between them that fueled their collaboration. Historians and critics are also starting to finally devote more attention to George and Ringo, acknowledging their contributions have always been ignored and undervalued in past narratives.
Mark Lewisohn has emerged as the preeminent historian of The Beatles. By having access to all the files and having interviewed hundreds of people in the group's orbit, he's currently writing the most detailed history to date. Doing his best to avoid bias and rely strictly on the facts, his work will shape the band's narrative for decades to come.
The Beatles and the Historians is not just a valuable work for Beatles fans, but also on how historical study and research works. Weber's writing is precise and clear, each chapter is clearly organized into sections. One may not learn anything new about The Beatles, but it will provide valuable insights on The Beatles as historical figures and how historical narratives are shaped (an important tool to have these days).
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