Old is gold, is a cliché. But yes, old is better than gold, platinum, and everything else put together. This is why, even after 50 years of their break up, the mere sound of music that the fabulous four from Liverpool made, is enough to set off an intense debate and discussions going, in lands as far as 7,000 km away.
Yes, The Beatles are forever.
This is, and was, the unanimous declaration of ‘Beatle Bhakts’, spanning generations–youngest barely in teens to those in their late 70s, dispersed over the cyberspace after an hour of lively, intense and gripping debate on the life and times of The Beatles, during a webinar held in the Pink City of Jaipur in the year 2019.
The webinar was held to mark the completion of 50 years of the official breakup of The Beatles in late 1969, as announced after the London Police broke up a recording session of the band on the rooftop of the Apple Records headquarters.
Each Beatle may have gone on his own different way, and each super successful in whatever they did individually.
The Fab Four continue to live on
But in the minds of their fans, the Fab Four continue to live on, forever and ever and ever-the eternal real legends. In the subcontinent of India and surroundings, The Beatles have a huge – almost unbelievable – following.
The webinar over Zoom, as has become the norm in the coronavirus-hit world, was hosted by Beatles researcher and Public Relations guru from Jaipur, Jagdeep Singh. His tireless efforts brought together a band of die-hard ‘Beatles Bhakts’ –event manager Siddhartha Chaturvedi, teacher, musician, and music producer Melven Castelino, and singer and bass guitarist Vijay Andrews – together.
This foursome transported the attendees on a nostalgic, magical mystery tour of the life and times and journey of the Liverpool lads into the legends that they became.
Little known facts about the Fab Four from the panel livened up the memories of the fans who were treated to renditions of few Beatles classics. And time just flew on by.
‘I Saw Her Standing There’
Vijay performed ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Norwegian Woods’. And Melven rendered ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Let It Be’.
The one hour allotted for the webinar fell woefully short in satiating the desire of the fans wanting more about The Beatles.
Jagdeep Singh’s promise to host a real Beatles evening in Jaipur, post the Covid-19 lockdown, is something all the participants are praying for. It will be a chance for Beatles Bhakts of all shapes, sizes and ages to congregate and celebrate their love for pure music and savour the soulful lyrics of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Jagdeep started with the story of four young working-class lads from Liverpool and their struggle, not just to make the music but even to survive.
Imagine, just buying a guitar was a challenge, a mammoth one for John Lennon. And how the original drummer Pete Best was dumped to settle for Ringo Starr. And then the panelists took the participants on a nostalgia trip, with history, music, and music genres, tones & tenor, lyrics and the whole revolution they brought about in the lives of the people.
Siddhartha told the audience how the Beatles once hugely played rock n roll numbers. And how they would come under the genre of both Rock and Pop.
Huge demand for Beatles numbers
Melven Castelino, who has been running the band ‘Cool Boyz’ for the past 28 years, said there was a huge demand for Beatles numbers whenever they play. He cited how difficult it was for a band to survive – citing the breakups of Bee Gees, Boney M., ABBA, etc, in the context of the Beatles breakup.
Vijay Andrews deftly outlined the Indian connection of the Beatles. And how George Harrison was the most influenced with Mahesh Yogi as well as Ravi Shankar as well as the Sitar. It was he who introduced Pandit Ravi Shankar and other Indian musicians to the world.
The one question that topped every fan was, who among the Bollywood musicians of that generation copied the Beatles the most?
Well, this was an easy one for the panelists. Almost everyone had the answer–only by the time Sholay was made, R D Burman went off the beaten track and chose the Greek singer Demis Russous for his Mahbooba o Mahbooba song, fashioned on his number ‘Say, you love me.’
