How the Beatles Broke Down Racial Barriers

February 7, 2019 Gregory Sirico Entertainment, Real World 0

The Beatles warming up for a gig at the Cavern Club on August 22, 1962. (Credit: Unknown)

By GREGORY SIRICO

Few bands have left as much of a lasting impact on the world as the Beatles. The Liverpudlian royalty started from nothing, growing up directly in the working class landscape of post World War II Europe, and would finish their career as titans of the industry.

Little known fact about the Beatles is they rose to super stardom during the height of the civil rights movement in America. While in the States they would have to face a lot of American customs that they were not in favor of such as segregated audiences and general tension between races.

“The Beatles were revolutionary because they got people to think about social issues in a way that wasn’t invasive. They broke down racial barriers,”said Andrew Kelly, a college student and lifelong fan of the Beatles.

A common misconception that often arises when talking about the Beatles is that they were an overnight success. The true story of the band’s ascension to super stardom was quite the opposite. Originally, the group wasn’t known as the Beatles,  and its starting lineup didn’t feature all the main fixtures as we know it today.

The Beatles warming up for a gig at the Cavern Club on August 22, 1962. (Credit: Unknown)
The Beatles warming up for a gig at the Cavern Club on August 22, 1962. PHOTO/Credit: Unknown

The Beatles began their career as the Quarrymen  in the late 50s and would go on to hold a number of monikers until they settled on the famous label. Their original lineup consisted of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison (eventual staples in the band), Stuart Sutcliffe, and Pete Best. Eventually, through a series of transitions, Sutcliffe and Best left the group and Ringo Starr, who left his original band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes to join, became a staple. By 1962, the full lineup as we know it today had been assembled and they were off running.

The Beatles started playing shows together at the infamous Cavern Club in downtown Liverpool. It was there that they really honed in on their skills and built a chemistry as a band that was unlike any other. Mick Jagger, the lead singer of the Rolling Stones, a career long friend and competitor with the Beatles, called them the “four headed monster” because they moved and acted as one. It was at the Cavern Club that the Beatles caught the attention of their future manager Brian Epstein, a Liverpool native and owner of a relatively popular record store.

Epstein became aware of the Beatles when one of his regular record store patrons came into his family’s store and asked if they had any Beatles 7-inch singles in stock. By that time the Fab Four had become a recognizable name in Liverpool and had gained a substantial local following. Despite their local popularity, Epstein had never heard of them and was intrigued.

It was in November of 1961, when Epstein attended one of the Beatles Cavern gigs, that he met the band for the band for the first time and the rest was history.

Following Epstein and the band’s first meeting all the pieces began to fall into place. Within a year, the Beatles began a long series of tours in the city of Hamburg, Germany and eventually got signed to Polydor Records and then to Capitol Records. It was at Capitol that the band began to work with George Martin, who would go on to be their career spanning producer.

In 1964 during the Beatles first trip to the United States, not only did they make an appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in New York City, a broadcast that 73 million people watched, but they also completed a tour of the Southern states. It was there that the Beatles were faced with the prospect of performing in front of segregated audiences. On Sept. 11, 1964, the Beatles were set to play the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. It was the groups first Southern gig and they refused to play the show until the crowd was desegregated.

In the documentary “Eight Days A Week,”  a film the chronicled the Beatles touring years, Ron Howard, the director touches on this obstacle. “We didn’t play for blacks and whites, we played for people and that’s how we looked at it,” Paul McCartney said in the film.

The 1960s in America were a highly volatile time period that was filled with much hate and racial aggression. Due to the social climate of the time, the Beatles received a lot of criticism for this from their Southern patrons who held different views. Ultimately went on to play in front of many desegregated audiences for the remainder of their Southern tour.

Following these tours, the Beatles went on to stop touring in 1966. During their time off the road, the Beatles got very invested in being experimental in the studio, eventually producing songs that would be difficult to play live. Some of the material put out by the group during this time, songs such as “Blackbird” and “Come Together”, spoke on topics such as racial tension and togetherness.