By Marissa Garcia
The Beatles rocked their way into the music scene during the early 1960s and nearly half a century later are still being discussed.
Last week, the Carsey-Wolf Center launched Beatles Revolutions, a series showcasing The Beatles’ impact on culture and politics in the US. Beatles Revolutions is also sponsored by KCSB-FM and the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Music.
The series kicked off at Pollock Theater with a screening of A Hard Day’s Night, followed by a conversation with journalist and author Ivor Davis. The winter series plans four more events featuring films and documentaries followed by conversations with guests who have written, produced and toured with The Beatles.
Ivor Davis at the post screening discussion with Dave Novak associate Professor of Music.
Davis was a foreign correspondent for the London Daily Express and was assigned to cover the Beatles on their 1964 tour of America. He experienced Beatlemania firsthand as he traveled the road with the group: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
“It was rare to cover The Beatles, but they were so charming,” said Davis.
The film, directed by Richard Lester, is a semi-documentary comedy that captures the groups’ charm and the frenzy of The Beatles’ fandom. Davis confirmed the screaming girls in the film were by no means fiction.
“The screaming was start to finish,” said Davis. “I never heard the songs and I was front row.”
Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center Patrice Petro is looking forward to the showing of Julie Taymor’s, Across the Universe, a film that features Beatles’ songs to tell a love story during the Vietnam War.
“The director wanted to showcase the ongoing importance of The Beatles as a group, a cultural phenomenon, long beyond the 1960s, and for a new generation, who may or may not be familiar with their achievements,” said Petro.
She will join music and cultural critic Greil Marcus for a post screening discussion on Wednesday, February 27th from 7:00-10:15 p.m. at Pollock Theater.
“We hope that those who attend the series will learn more about The Beatles both in the 1960s and beyond,” said Petro.
The next event in the series takes place this Thursday, January 24th from 7:00-9:15 p.m. at Pollock Theater with Let It Be, a documentary directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, followed by a discussion with musician and producer Alan Parsons. All tickets for the event have been reserved, but there will be a standby line for people to be admitted on a first come first served basis.
Marissa Garcia is a fourth-year Sociology major and Professional Writing minor at UC Santa Barbara. She is a Web and Social Media Intern with UC Santa Barbara’s Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.