The Beatles Come to America

by Martin Goldsmith

When the Beatles touched down in New York on February 7, 1964 for their first visit to America, they brought with them a sound that hadn't been heard before. By the time they returned to England two weeks later, major changes in music, fashion, the record industry, and the image of an entire generation had been set into motion. Coming less than three months after the assassination of President Kennedy, the Beatles' visit helped rouse the country out of mourning. A breathless and condescending media concentrated on the band's hairstyles and their adoring fans, but their enduring importance lay in their music, their wit, and style, a disconnect that signaled the beginning of the generation gap. In this intriguing cultural history, Martin Goldsmith examines how and why the Beatles struck such a lasting chord.
Martin Goldsmith (Kensington, MD), the author of The Inextinguishable Symphony (0-471-35097-4), is a program director for XM Satellite Radio in Washington, D.C. From 1989 to 1999, he hosted Performance Today, NPR's daily classical music program.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction

196 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

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Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of a series of titles, discussing various historical ‘turning points’ – such as Columbus in the Americas, Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation and The Fall of the Berlin Wall. In this book, author Martin Goldsmith looks at the Beatles first visit to America in February, 1964. There is, of course, now another anniversary of the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, which was 50 years ago this year – and was celebrated by a television Grammy special. This book was published in 2004, so it would have been the 40th anniversary at that time, but this is still a very relevant work.

The bulk of the book consists of a potted history of the Beatles, concentrating on the time before and during the band’s first visit to the States. As a history of the Beatles, this is fairly brief and contains a few stories that we now know (thanks to Mark Lewisoh’s “Tune In”) to be inaccurate. For example, the oft-repeated story about John being forced to choose between his parents in a horrific tug-of-love, did not happen quite the way it has been misrepresented before. However, Goldsmith is not the first to repeat mistaken stories and his re-telling is generally informative and entertaining.

However, there is a reason why I was really interested to read this and it is due to another book by the same author, which I read recently. “Alex’s Wake,” was the moving story of a journey that Martin Goldsmith went on, in order to retrace the steps of his paternal grandfather and uncle, who tragically died in the holocaust. During his travels, Goldsmith visited Hamburg and, in passing, he mentioned that he visited the statue of the Beatles to say a little ‘thank you,’ to John and Paul. Now, I am a huge Beatles fan and, although I did not feel it was appropriate in my review of that book to acknowledge Goldsmith’s small paragraph in such a serious work, I understood the sentiment well. As a Beatles fan, their music, their personality and everything about them is always with you. For Goldsmith not to have briefly mentioned the Beatles was impossible for him and he states how important it was to him during such a poignant and difficult journey to remember them.

So, although this is a fairly short introduction, the fact that this is written by a fan makes all the difference. An eminent broadcaster, and musician, Mr Goldsmith is linked more to ‘serious’ classical works than to popular music, but his obvious admiration for the Beatles shines through every page. He makes a serious point that the American nation, bereft by the assassination of President Kennedy, were uplifted by the music of the Beatles – others have made a similar suggestion, although it is difficult to know how true that is. What is certain is that the Beatles success in the States was certainly a surprise. Other notable British acts, such as Cliff Richard, had tried – and failed – to have success in America. Capitol Records consistently turned down Beatles offering for release and John, George and Ringo even refused to bet money on success in the States, when Quincy Jones offered them a wager (Brian Epstein and Paul McCartney were more optimistic). Of course, as we know, they were so successful they changed the face of music –and the record industry – forever. The last chapter of this book, where Goldsmith muses on his love for the Beatles outside the Church Hall where Paul met John for the first time even made me a little teary eyed... If you are a fan, you will enjoy this. If you love great writing, then I also urge you to read, “Alex’s Wake,” which is an extremely moving memoir.

[Christopher Renberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short read on two weeks that set in motion seismic cultural changes. I liked and learned from the build up material that set the stage so to speak. Oh, to have been alive to watch it as it went down!

Struck by Ringo, worrying after the taping of their second appearance as to how it could get any better for them after the two weeks they just had! Also, how they twisted the drum riser around to face each side of the audience when they played in D.C. Such simpler times.

This was a reread to prepare for a class lesson.

[Santiago Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for a Beatles fan. Especially the early years. There was a lot of new info for me. The actual coming to America is largely humdrum but the Beatles teen years and formation are insightful. I was a little worried about the first few pages. A little bit too googly eyed fan like, but it quickly gets better.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slight. Nothing here that isn't covered more rigorously by Lewisohn, Spitz, Norman, Davies, et. al.
Unnecessary.

[Zach]

A tender, passionate telling of the Beatles' arrival in America & how their arrival played a part in the grieving process of a nation still reeling from the assassination of John F. Kennedy only months before. History filled with sorrow and joy -- a cathartic reading today.

[Trudy Preston]

This book was published by John Wiley & Sons, the publisher I used to work for. One of my favorite parts of the job was to read and review books I thought would make good choices for public libraries to purchase. Before I went to work for Wiley, I had already read a book by Martin Goldsmith -- "The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany" -- and I absolutely loved it. So I was utterly thrilled and delighted when I discovered that Wiley was publishing a book by Goldsmith, an author I loved, and that the subject would be another of my passions -- the Beatles.

In this cultural history, Goldsmith traces the beginnings of the group, how they came together, where they came from, all the places where they made their mark, and then of course their magnificent takeover of the American music scene. I was sixteen years old in 1964 and the previous year had been a bad one for me and for the nation; I had lost my dad; America lost a president to an assassin's bullet. The entire country was grieving and my grief felt monumental. Then February 7, 1064 the Beatles stepped off a plane in New York and we were all swept up in a joyous revolution.

I read this book the first time back when it was published in 2004 and upon retiring, I put it on my list of books to re-read. It was even better the second time through (always the mark of a fantastic book). For a Beatles fan, it was glorious to read about their ascendency and it was a complete delight to know that the man writing the book is someone profoundly versed in classical music. He knows music and knows it well, so when he says the Beatles were musical geniuses (which I knew on an instinctive level, if nothing else) it warmed my heart. This is a book I will forever cherish and it will live on my bookshelves, to be dipped into again and again and again.

One thing that significantly touched me came in the last chapter. Allow me to include some select quotes: "Those of us who were young hold them especially close with a tight and tender clasp born of ownership. The Beatles are OURS." Goldsmith mentions his wife and how she has had to endure over the years many stories about how wonderful the Beatles were and what it was like to be young then (his wife wasn't born until 1965) and anticipating each new album with an almost religious fervor. He writes: "She loves the Beatles, too, of course, but she loves them as she loves Bach and Brahms and Benny Goodman: artists of the past who speak to her today, as all great artists do. But those of us who came to consciousness as the Beatles emerged, and who grew as they grew and as they helped us grow, feel a deeper love, I think -- a love laced with that pride of ownership. In our lives, we loved them more."

One other thought -- I was pregnant with my daughter when John Lennon was killed. The grief I felt was profound and I had trouble coming to grips with the fact that my baby would be born into a world that did not include John Lennon. But how wrong I turned out to be. My little girl grew up to be a stalwart Beatles fan -- and her favorite Beatle is John Lennon. And I knew then that there will never be a world without John Lennon, or George Harrison, or Paul McCartney, or Ringo Starr. Just as there will never be a world without Beethoven or Mozart. The Beatles are timeless. They are forever.