The Beatle who kept the Fab Four modest, according to Mick Jagger
If you look up any musician that you’re a fan of from the last 50 years or so and scan through the interviews they’ve done throughout this period, there will be a section dedicated to the first time that they heard The Beatles. Bruce Springsteen, Ozzy Osbourne, Mick Jagger; it doesn’t matter who you’re looking at, they will know precisely the date and time they first heard the Fab Four and the bizarre impact that it had on them.
There is no doubt that in 1964, when the band made their way over to America, there was some excitement in the air. Their song ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ was doing well in the States, and they had been booked to play the Ed Sullivan Show. That being said, British artists had had hits in the States before, but that was nothing new, and they will have likely assumed their fate would be similar to those of other one-hit wonders who had previously played overseas. What happened was very different.
There was a cataclysmic shift in the atmosphere the night The Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. The Fab Four took to the stage and changed the course of music history forever. All of a sudden, every budding musician, amateur, intermediate, and expert wanted to be in a band. People were emptying their garages to make them rehearsal spaces and trying out different British-sounding band names in a bid to emulate this new talent from Liverpool.
There was no escaping their influence, either. Everywhere that The Beatles went, they were met with adoring fans who wanted an autograph, a smile or a comment. There was more Beatles merchandise than you could ever expect, and the magnitude of the band reached heights that were previously unprecedented. The idea that they were bigger than Jesus might have offended many, but it was also borderline true.
Despite this undeniable level of fame, however, the band always remained relatively humble. It was all part of their image. Not only were they a great band, but they were also likeable and witty, the kind of people you could go to the pub with. It was important for them to stay grounded, even as the entire world was throwing itself at them.
Their friend and musical contemporary from the time, Mick Jagger, recalled knowing the band during these early stages. He said that it was vital for them to stay grounded and that John Lennon played a big role in that. His sarcastic nature meant that when one of the band members seemed to be overstepping the mark, he quickly called them out.
“[John] was educated and very smart and cynical and funny and really amusing company,” said Jagger, “He had a very funny take on the rest of The Beatles. If they boasted too much about how great they were, he had ways to shut them up. He’d say, ‘Don’t worry, he’s just getting used to being famous. Shurrup!’”
The cracks in the band eventually started to show, which led to them breaking up towards the end of the ‘60s; however, their humility meant that we got a lot of great work from the Fab Four before this split came. If not for the occasional wit of Lennon, that split could have come a lot sooner.
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