The role and significance of storytelling in the creation of the ‘post-Sixties’ Beatles, 1970–1980
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v5i2.169Keywords:
Beatles, branding, cultural branding, music industry, narrative, popular music, storytellingAbstract
This article considers the relationship between the cultural and commercial elements of popular music storytelling. Using The Beatles as a case study, the article takes a cross-section of the kinds of (hi)stories circulating about the group in the period immediately following their breakup, 1970–1980. This kind of analysis will show that despite this era being one in which the former Beatles sought to distance themselves from their own musical and cultural ‘legacies’, other stakeholders tapped into the power of popular and collective memory of the group for profit (where profit need not be classed in purely financial terms). The final section of the article maintains that while the ‘facts’ of Beatles history seldom change, the social and cultural contexts which frame those facts can, and indeed, must change in order to remain relevant to successive generations of popular music and culture fans and consumers. The article concludes that the ongoing origination, promotion and amending of certain elements of Beatles history can be read as ‘commercialized storytelling’, where some historians and narrators, through distinct entrepreneurial practices, seek to transform expert or ‘insider’ knowledge of The Beatles into commodities that are simultaneously materially and/or culturally valuable.
References
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Baxter, L. 2003. Allan Williams is… The Fool on the Hill… How the Beat Went on After his Big Beatles Blunder. Wirral, UK: Praxis Press.
Blaney, J. 2008. Beatles for Sale: How Everything they Touched Turned to Gold. London: Jawbone Press.
Burnett, R. 1996. The Global Jukebox: The International Music Industry. London: Routledge.
Callon, M., ed. 1998. The Laws of the Markets. Oxford: Blackwell.
Castleman, H. J., and W. Podrazik. 1976. All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography, 1961–1975. New York: Ballantine Books.
Caves, R. E. 2000. Creative Industries: Contracts between Art and Commerce. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cohen, S. 1991. Rock Culture in Liverpool: Popular Music in the Making. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
—2007. Decline, Renewal and the City in Popular Music Culture: Beyond The Beatles. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Davies, H. 1968. The Beatles. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
DiLello, R. 1973. The Longest Cocktail Party. London: Charisma Books.
du Gay, P., and M. Pryke, eds. 2002. Cultural Economy, 2nd edn. London: Sage.
Epstein, B., 1964. A Cellarful of Noise. London: Souvenir Press.
Frith, S., and A. Goodwin, eds. 1990. On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word. New York: Pantheon Books.
Frith, S., W. Straw and J. Street, eds. 2001. The Cambridge Companion to Rock and Pop. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goldman, A. 1988. The Lives of John Lennon. London: Bantam Press.
Gould, J. 2007. Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America. New York: Harmony Books.
Hebdige, D. 1979. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Methuen. http://dx.doi. org/10.4324/9780203139943
Hesmondhalgh, D. 2002. The Cultural Industries. London: Sage.
Holt, D. B. 2004. How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Homan, S., ed. 2006. Access All Eras: Tribute Bands and Global Pop Culture. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.
Inglis, I., ed. 2000. The Beatles, Popular Music and Society. London: Macmillan.
Kjellberg, H., and C.-F. Helgesson. 2006. ‘Multiple Versions of Markets: Multiplicity and Performativity in Market Practice’. Industrial Marketing Management 35: 839–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2006.05.011
Klein, N. 2002. No Logo, 2nd edn. New York: Picador.
Laing, D. 1985. One Chord Wonders. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.
Lapidos, M. 2004. A Brief History of The Fest For Beatles Fans. Available from: http://www. thefestforbeatlesfans.com/about/about.php.
Lash, S., and J. Urry. 1994. Economies of Signs and Space. London: Sage.
Lennon, C. 1978. A Twist of Lennon. New York: Avon Books.
Lennon, J. 1964. In His Own Write. New York: Simon & Schuster.
—1965. A Spaniard in the Works. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Loasby, B. J., 2000. ‘Market Institutions and Economic Evolution’. Journal of Evolutionary Economics 10: 297–309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s001910050016
Longhurst, B. 2007. Popular Music and Society, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Lounsbury, M., and M. A. Glynn. 2001. ‘Cultural Entrepreneurship: Stories, Legitimacy, and the Acquisition of Resources’. Strategic Management Journal 22: 545–64. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.188
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Marshall, L. 2004. ‘The Effects of Piracy upon the Music Industry: A Case Study of Bootlegging’. Media, Culture and Society 26.2: 163–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01634 43704039497
Miles, B. 2001. The Beatles Diary: Volume 1: The Beatles Years. London: Omnibus Press.
Negus, K. 2002. ‘The Work of Cultural Intermediaries and the Enduring Distance between Production and Consumption’. Cultural Studies 16.4: 501–515. http://dx.doi.org/10. 1080/09502380210139089
Southall, B., and R. Perry. 2007. Northern Songs: The True Story of The Beatles’ Song Publishing Empire. London: Omnibus Press.
Strachan, R. 2003. ‘Biography/Autobiography’. In Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Musics of the World. Volume 1: Media, Industry and Society, ed. J. Shepherd, D. Horn and D. Laing. London: Continuum.
Thompson, C., and K. Tian. 2008. ‘Reconstructing the South: How Commercial Myths Compete for Identity Value through the Ideological Shaping of Popular Memories and Countermemories’. Journal of Consumer Research 34: 595–613. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1086/520076
Thornton, S. 1996. Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital. Middletown, CN: Wesleyan University Press.
Venkataraman S. 1997. ‘The Distinctive Domain of Entrepreneurship Research’. In Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, Vol. 3, ed. J. A. Katz, 119–38. Greenwich, CN: JAI Press.
Williams, A. and Marshall, W., 1975. The Man who Gave The Beatles Away. London: Elm Tree Books.
Womack, K., and T. F. Davis, eds. 2006. Reading The Beatles: Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism, and the Fab Four. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Discography and filmography
Anthology. 1995. [DVD recording]. Directed by Geoff Wonfor. UK: Apple.
Beatles. 1965. ‘In My Life’. In Rubber Soul (Sound recording: LP), PMC 1267. London: Parlophone.
—1970. Let It Be (Sound recording: LP), PCS 7096. London: Apple/EMI.
—1994. Live at the BBC (Sound recording: Audio CD), PCSP 726. London: Apple/EMI.
—1995. Anthology 1. (Sound recording: Audio CD), 34445. London: Apple/EMI.
—1996. Anthology 2. (Sound recording: Audio CD), 34448. London: Apple/EMI.
—1996. Anthology 3. (Sound recording: Audio CD), 34451. London: Apple/EMI.
—2000. 1. (Sound recording: Audio CD), 529 9702. London: Apple/EMI.
—2003. Let It Be… Naked. (Sound recording: Audio CD), 07423 59571324. London: Apple/ EMI.
—2006. Love (Sound recording: Audio CD), 379 8082. London: Apple/EMI.
8 Mile. 2002. [Film]. Directed by Curtis Hanson. US: Imagine Entertainment.
Harrison, G. 1970. ‘All Things Must Pass’. In All Things Must Pass (Sound recording: LP), STCH 639. London: Apple/EMI.
—1970. ‘Isn’t It A Pity’. In All Things Must Pass (Sound recording: LP), STCH 639. London: Apple/EMI.
—1970. ‘Run Of The Mill’. In All Things Must Pass. (Sound recording: LP), STCH 639. London: Apple/EMI.
—1970. ‘Wah-Wah’. In All Things Must Pass (Sound recording: LP), STCH 639. London: Apple/EMI.
Lennon, F. 1965. ‘That’s My Life’ b/w ‘The Next Time You Feel Important’ (Sound recording: single), 7N 35290. London: Pye Records.
Lennon, J. 1971. ‘How Do You Sleep’. In Imagine (Sound recording: LP), PAS 10004. London: Apple/EMI.
Lennon, J./Plastic Ono Band. 1970. ‘God’. In Plastic Ono Band (Sound recording: LP), PCS 7124. London: Apple/EMI.
Let It Be. 1970. [Film]. Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. UK: Apple.
McCartney, P. 1971. ‘Dear Boy’. In Ram (Sound recording: LP), PAS 10003. London: Apple/ EMI.
The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash. 1978. [Film]. Directed by Gary Weis and Eric Idle. UK: Above Average Productions, Inc.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 1978. [Film]. Directed by Michael Schultz. USA: RSO.
Radio and television programmes
The Beatles (Cartoon). [TV programme]. UK: ITV/Granada-TV, 1988.
The Beatles Story [Radio programme]. UK: BBC Radio 1, 1971–1972.
The Birth of The Beatles. [TV programme]. US: ABC-TV, 1979.
Apple Corps, Ltd. 2008. Neil Aspinall, The Beatles’ Friend, Guide and Apple Mastermind, has Died. 24 March. [Press release]. London: Apple Corps.
Badman, K. 2001. The Beatles Diary: Volume 2: After the Break-up, 1970–2001. London: Omnibus Press.
Baxter, L. 2003. Allan Williams is… The Fool on the Hill… How the Beat Went on After his Big Beatles Blunder. Wirral, UK: Praxis Press.
Blaney, J. 2008. Beatles for Sale: How Everything they Touched Turned to Gold. London: Jawbone Press.
Burnett, R. 1996. The Global Jukebox: The International Music Industry. London: Routledge.
Callon, M., ed. 1998. The Laws of the Markets. Oxford: Blackwell.
Castleman, H. J., and W. Podrazik. 1976. All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography, 1961–1975. New York: Ballantine Books.
Caves, R. E. 2000. Creative Industries: Contracts between Art and Commerce. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cohen, S. 1991. Rock Culture in Liverpool: Popular Music in the Making. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
—2007. Decline, Renewal and the City in Popular Music Culture: Beyond The Beatles. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Davies, H. 1968. The Beatles. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
DiLello, R. 1973. The Longest Cocktail Party. London: Charisma Books.
du Gay, P., and M. Pryke, eds. 2002. Cultural Economy, 2nd edn. London: Sage.
Epstein, B., 1964. A Cellarful of Noise. London: Souvenir Press.
Frith, S., and A. Goodwin, eds. 1990. On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word. New York: Pantheon Books.
Frith, S., W. Straw and J. Street, eds. 2001. The Cambridge Companion to Rock and Pop. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goldman, A. 1988. The Lives of John Lennon. London: Bantam Press.
Gould, J. 2007. Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America. New York: Harmony Books.
Hebdige, D. 1979. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Methuen. http://dx.doi. org/10.4324/9780203139943
Hesmondhalgh, D. 2002. The Cultural Industries. London: Sage.
Holt, D. B. 2004. How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Homan, S., ed. 2006. Access All Eras: Tribute Bands and Global Pop Culture. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.
Inglis, I., ed. 2000. The Beatles, Popular Music and Society. London: Macmillan.
Kjellberg, H., and C.-F. Helgesson. 2006. ‘Multiple Versions of Markets: Multiplicity and Performativity in Market Practice’. Industrial Marketing Management 35: 839–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2006.05.011
Klein, N. 2002. No Logo, 2nd edn. New York: Picador.
Laing, D. 1985. One Chord Wonders. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.
Lapidos, M. 2004. A Brief History of The Fest For Beatles Fans. Available from: http://www. thefestforbeatlesfans.com/about/about.php.
Lash, S., and J. Urry. 1994. Economies of Signs and Space. London: Sage.
Lennon, C. 1978. A Twist of Lennon. New York: Avon Books.
Lennon, J. 1964. In His Own Write. New York: Simon & Schuster.
—1965. A Spaniard in the Works. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Loasby, B. J., 2000. ‘Market Institutions and Economic Evolution’. Journal of Evolutionary Economics 10: 297–309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s001910050016
Longhurst, B. 2007. Popular Music and Society, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Lounsbury, M., and M. A. Glynn. 2001. ‘Cultural Entrepreneurship: Stories, Legitimacy, and the Acquisition of Resources’. Strategic Management Journal 22: 545–64. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.188
Love, C. 2006. Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love. New York: Faber and Faber.
Marshall, L. 2004. ‘The Effects of Piracy upon the Music Industry: A Case Study of Bootlegging’. Media, Culture and Society 26.2: 163–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01634 43704039497
Miles, B. 2001. The Beatles Diary: Volume 1: The Beatles Years. London: Omnibus Press.
Negus, K. 2002. ‘The Work of Cultural Intermediaries and the Enduring Distance between Production and Consumption’. Cultural Studies 16.4: 501–515. http://dx.doi.org/10. 1080/09502380210139089
Southall, B., and R. Perry. 2007. Northern Songs: The True Story of The Beatles’ Song Publishing Empire. London: Omnibus Press.
Strachan, R. 2003. ‘Biography/Autobiography’. In Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Musics of the World. Volume 1: Media, Industry and Society, ed. J. Shepherd, D. Horn and D. Laing. London: Continuum.
Thompson, C., and K. Tian. 2008. ‘Reconstructing the South: How Commercial Myths Compete for Identity Value through the Ideological Shaping of Popular Memories and Countermemories’. Journal of Consumer Research 34: 595–613. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1086/520076
Thornton, S. 1996. Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital. Middletown, CN: Wesleyan University Press.
Venkataraman S. 1997. ‘The Distinctive Domain of Entrepreneurship Research’. In Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, Vol. 3, ed. J. A. Katz, 119–38. Greenwich, CN: JAI Press.
Williams, A. and Marshall, W., 1975. The Man who Gave The Beatles Away. London: Elm Tree Books.
Womack, K., and T. F. Davis, eds. 2006. Reading The Beatles: Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism, and the Fab Four. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Discography and filmography
Anthology. 1995. [DVD recording]. Directed by Geoff Wonfor. UK: Apple.
Beatles. 1965. ‘In My Life’. In Rubber Soul (Sound recording: LP), PMC 1267. London: Parlophone.
—1970. Let It Be (Sound recording: LP), PCS 7096. London: Apple/EMI.
—1994. Live at the BBC (Sound recording: Audio CD), PCSP 726. London: Apple/EMI.
—1995. Anthology 1. (Sound recording: Audio CD), 34445. London: Apple/EMI.
—1996. Anthology 2. (Sound recording: Audio CD), 34448. London: Apple/EMI.
—1996. Anthology 3. (Sound recording: Audio CD), 34451. London: Apple/EMI.
—2000. 1. (Sound recording: Audio CD), 529 9702. London: Apple/EMI.
—2003. Let It Be… Naked. (Sound recording: Audio CD), 07423 59571324. London: Apple/ EMI.
—2006. Love (Sound recording: Audio CD), 379 8082. London: Apple/EMI.
8 Mile. 2002. [Film]. Directed by Curtis Hanson. US: Imagine Entertainment.
Harrison, G. 1970. ‘All Things Must Pass’. In All Things Must Pass (Sound recording: LP), STCH 639. London: Apple/EMI.
—1970. ‘Isn’t It A Pity’. In All Things Must Pass (Sound recording: LP), STCH 639. London: Apple/EMI.
—1970. ‘Run Of The Mill’. In All Things Must Pass. (Sound recording: LP), STCH 639. London: Apple/EMI.
—1970. ‘Wah-Wah’. In All Things Must Pass (Sound recording: LP), STCH 639. London: Apple/EMI.
Lennon, F. 1965. ‘That’s My Life’ b/w ‘The Next Time You Feel Important’ (Sound recording: single), 7N 35290. London: Pye Records.
Lennon, J. 1971. ‘How Do You Sleep’. In Imagine (Sound recording: LP), PAS 10004. London: Apple/EMI.
Lennon, J./Plastic Ono Band. 1970. ‘God’. In Plastic Ono Band (Sound recording: LP), PCS 7124. London: Apple/EMI.
Let It Be. 1970. [Film]. Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. UK: Apple.
McCartney, P. 1971. ‘Dear Boy’. In Ram (Sound recording: LP), PAS 10003. London: Apple/ EMI.
The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash. 1978. [Film]. Directed by Gary Weis and Eric Idle. UK: Above Average Productions, Inc.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 1978. [Film]. Directed by Michael Schultz. USA: RSO.
Radio and television programmes
The Beatles (Cartoon). [TV programme]. UK: ITV/Granada-TV, 1988.
The Beatles Story [Radio programme]. UK: BBC Radio 1, 1971–1972.
The Birth of The Beatles. [TV programme]. US: ABC-TV, 1979.
Published
2011-11-21
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Tessler, H. (2011). The role and significance of storytelling in the creation of the ‘post-Sixties’ Beatles, 1970–1980. Popular Music History, 5(2), 169-189. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v5i2.169
