CHRISTOPHER STEVENS critiques Beatles ’64 on Disney +: Nostalgic Beatlemaniacs recall the fun of the Fab Four’s first US tour
Beatles ’64 (Disney +)
Ringo Starr keeps all his old clothes. ‘I’m a hoarder,’ he joked to Michael Aspel on a 1980s chat show, and he meant it.
Giving director Martin Scorsese a tour of his walk-in wardrobe on Beatles ’64, he showed off his perfectly preserved Fab Four jackets, displayed on mannequins, and reminisced about fittings at tailors’ shops on the King’s Road. He likes his togs, does Ringo.
Compiled from unseen archive footage and interviews with those who were there on the band’s first U.S. tour, this hour-and-three-quarters documentary is an engrossing mixture of nostalgia and social commentary.
Scorsese labours his theory that America’s Beatlemania in the summer of 1964 was a hysterical reaction to the assassination of President Kennedy the previous year.
But other, more intriguing explanations emerge, between thrilling clips of the boys playing live in New York and Washington.
In 1960s footage, feminist Betty Friedan argued they were the first New Men: ‘These boys wearing their hair long are saying, ‘I don’t have to be crew-cut and tightlipped, dominant and superior, I can be tender and sensitive.’
The Beatles, foreground from left, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr on drums perform on the CBS ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ in New York on February 9, 1964.
(L-R) George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lenon, and Paul Mccartney arriving at JFK airport in Beatles ’64
Writer Jamie Bernstein, daughter of composer Leonard, was an adolescent when the Beatles came to town. She recalled her crush on George Harrison and described a dream she remembers 60 years on, in which he — oh my! — kissed her on the cheek.
We’ve seen footage of the girls in meltdown at concerts, and in shrieking mobs around the band’s limousines, so many times that it seems unreal. Now in their 70s, some of them talked about their memories, amused and baffled at the intensity of their emotions, and still regretful that their parents couldn’t understand.
More famous fans, such as Smokey Robinson and Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes, shared memories of how exciting it was to hang out with the band at the hotel. Ronnie died two years ago, which indicates how long Disney has planned this documentary as a follow-up to 2021’s eight-hour extravaganza Get Back.
Strangely, black-and-white footage of the Beatles between shows — shot over 14 days by Albert and David Maysles — reveals more exhaustion than excitement. Paul McCartney was on PR duty, Ringo was chainsmoking and George, just 21 years old, was hyperactive but also nervy.
We see almost nothing of manager Brian Epstein, but a lot of loudmouth disc jockey Murray ‘the K’ Kaufman, who gatecrashed the hotel and refused to leave, treating the Beatles as captive broadcasters for his show.
John Lennon, perhaps anxious at having to hide the existence of his wife Cynthia and their one-year-old son, was constantly on edge and didn’t bother hiding his disgust at the man. As one of their hits came on the radio, Murray turned to him and demanded, ‘What’s the name of that song, mate?’
‘Love Me Do, wacker,’ retorted Lennon.
The Scouse slang for ‘a Liverpudlian’ meant nothing to a New Yorker but he liked it. ‘This is the Wacker speaking here!’ Murray crowed. ‘Wacker the K! Let’s hear the Beatles sing it, baby.’
