The Beatles song that convinced Brian May they were “magic”
Like many of his generation, Queen guitarist Brian May was galvanised by The Beatles. The arrival of the Liverpudlian quartet was akin to the big bang of popular culture. They took the rock ‘n’ roll of the 1950s by the lapels and dragged it into the future by imbuing it with foresight and genuine innovation. After the pop-leaning twists of their early years, they embarked on a magical mystery tour that saw them experiment with drugs, production techniques and genres. This voyage saw them redefine what a band could and should be.
Despite their waning relevance to contemporary times, The Beatles changed the world. I don’t think anyone who wasn’t around during this period can fully comprehend the gravity of their efforts. This has made those lucky enough to witness John Lennon, Paul McCartney and the rest of the band in their prime such stoic defenders of the cause, like Brian May. In an interview, May reflected on those heady days, revealing that one Beatles song convinced him they were “magic”.
Speaking to Louder Sound in 2020, May revealed his parents’ adverse reaction to The Beatles when he was younger. “I wasn’t allowed to go to see The Beatles in concert when I was a kid,” he said. “My parents thought pop concerts were attended by the wrong sort of people. So I never got to see the 20th century’s biggest phenomenon live.”
It wasn’t all bad, though. May explained that 1962’s ‘Love Me Do’ was the track that convinced him The Beatles were “magic”. The Queen man continued: “But from the moment I heard ‘Love Me Do’ on the radio, I knew this bunch of guys were magic … that they voiced all my hidden joy and yearnings as a teenager struggling to make his way into the world of the ’60s”.
In that extensive love letter to The Beatles, Brian May also said he believes their late frontman, John Lennon, was the most talented member of the four. Whilst he labelled them the “perfect rock group to inspire all rock groups”, May has no doubt that Lennon was at the heart of their operations.
“It is impossible to doubt that the combination of the four lads was unique, a piece of magic in a million — the perfect rock group to inspire all rock groups, and rewrite the framework of not only popular music, but the whole culture of the young,” he said. “But, as time went on, it became apparent that John Lennon was at the heart of this awesome power.”
Listen to ‘Love Me Do’ below.
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