THE BEATLES, PART 1: THE RISE OF BEATLEMANIA (18) The Summit (Theater Room), 1 Perry Rd., SS

Thursdays, 9:30-11am, Oct 9, 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13

1. Love Me Do. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison’s origins in Liverpool and their development as a club band there and in Hamburg. The stewardship of Brian Epstein and his attempts to get them a recording contract.

Music: “That’ll Be the Day,” “Hello Little Girl,” & “Love Me Do”

2. Please Please Me. Lennon and McCartney emerge as songwriters. Britain in the winter of 1962-1963 and the Beatles first major recording successes. Thank Your Lucky Stars, January 1963. Their experiences as performers on package tours.

Music: “Please Please Me,” “I Saw Her Standing There” “Twist and Shout,” & “From Me to You”

3. With the Beatles. The rise of Beatlemania and the challenges of dealing with the media. Sunday Night at the London Palladium and Royal Command Performance. Breaking into international markets and particularly into the US. Building on American models. The Ed Sullivan Show, February 1964.

Music: “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” & “This Boy”; “Till There Was You” & “Please Mr. Postman”; “All My Loving” & “Can’t Buy Me Love”

4. A Hard Day’s Night. First experiences with world tours and the challenges of performing for large audiences. The role of the pop music film.

Music: “Long Tall Sally” / “Matchbox”; “A Hard Day’s Night” / “Things We Said Today”; “If I Fell,” “And I Love Her,” & “I Should Have Known Better”

5. Beatles for Sale. The notion of the British Invasion and its implications for the Beatles. Collaborative creativity and the role of the recording studio.

Music: “I Feel Fine” / “She’s a Woman”; “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party,” “Eight Days a Week,” “What You’re Doing,” & “No Reply”

6. Help! Expectations of greatness and the toll of fame. Questions about identity and direction. Shea Stadium, 15 August 1965, and the emerging cultural rifts in American culture.

Music: “Ticket to Ride” / “Yes It Is”; “Help!” / “I’m Down”; “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “I Need You,” & “Yesterday”

Leader: Gordon Ross Thompson (Professor Emeritus of Music, Skidmore College) founded and produced the annual Beatlemore Skidmania concerts. He is the author of Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out (Oxford, 2008) and the two-volume Sixties British Pop, Outside In (Oxford 2024). His next book will be Creating, Curating, and Consuming the Beatles (Bloomsbury, 2026).