The Beatles years John Lennon enjoyed the most: “It was really a good time”
Looking back, it can be difficult to see what all the fuss was about regarding Beatlemania. As the decades have rolled on, similarly histrionic fan communities have formed around everyone from the Bay City Rollers to BTS. In hindsight, it’s easy to say that that’s just what hormonal teenagers do when confronted with the biggest pop acts of the day. However, what you’ve got to remember is that, as with basically most things in pop music, The Beatles did it first.
Thus, absolutely no one knew how to handle the sheer level of ferocity The Beatles’ fandom demonstrated. Supplies of their records barely met demands anywhere other than in major cities. In countries where their music was forbidden, like South Africa, Russia, and Cuba, a thriving trade of Beatles bootlegs started.
Arguably, even the most infamous example of the hysteria that surrounded The Fabs came from how unprepared the industry was for them. The reason that The Beatles couldn’t hear themselves perform live over the screaming was partially because of how loud the fans were. However, it was mostly because no other act had ever had to play over noise that loud in venues. Straight up, they barely knew how to make a concert in a stadium work, let alone with the crowd themselves screaming at 138 decibels.
It’s stories like these that make The Beatles’ experiences with fame sound pretty harrowing, like if A Hard Day’s Night was an A24 psychological horror film and not the joyous comic knockabout that still holds up today. However, fame has a way of kicking off as a pretty incredible experience, and that was no different for Lennon, McCartney and co.
How did John Lennon face fame?
In a 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, Lennon talked about the early days of not only his own time in the limelight but the rise of London itself as the cultural capital of the world. Somewhat shockingly he discussed a time where not only could a Beatle swan around London and not get mobbed by legions of Beatlemaniacs, but they could also do so accompanied by, of all people, a Rolling Stone.
He says, “We were like kings of the jungle then, and we were very close to the Stones. I don’t know how close the others were, but I spent a lot of time with Brian and Mick. I spent a lot of time with them, and it was great. We all used to just go around London in cars and meet each other and talk about music.” A reminder that this collection of some of the most famous people on the planet, above all, was young men in their early 20s.
This fact isn’t lost on Lennon, and it sounds like he appreciated those times he could feel like a (relatively) normal 20-something as he went on to say, “It was really a good time, that was the best period, fame-wise. We didn’t get mobbed so much. It was like a men’s smoking club, just a very good scene.” Before too long, he’d never be able to be that man again in his too-short life, but at that moment, it’s nice to know he enjoyed his time.
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