FEATURES ARCHIVE

On the eve of The Beatles Illuminated: The Discovered Works of Mike Mitchell, we asked Christie's specialists to share some of their favorite moptop memories.

Kerry Keane, Head of Musical Instruments, New York

This auction totally excited me when I first heard about it. I was about ten years old in 1964, the year these photographs were taken, and at the time I remember listening to an interview with the band on the radio and finding it difficult to decipher their different regional accents. Today I can’t think of a Beatles song that I don’t like. On the surface, they may sound very simple, but when you peel back the structure, you find them to be incredibly complex and wonderfully crafted pieces of songwriting—both in the music and the lyrics.

John Hays, Deputy Chairman, Head of American Furniture & Decorative Arts, New York

I had a roommate in college who played the Beatles’ White Album over and over and over again. It’s a wonder that he didn’t break the record—or the player. Today my children love to listen to their music— it’s a true testament to the band’s longevity. My favorite Beatles song? I’d have to put “Imagine” at the top of my list. The lyrics play on such a simple melody, but the words are what give it a sense of poetry.

Sara Friedlander, Specialist, Post-War & Contemporary Art, New York

Growing up in the 1990s was all about grunge and heavy metal, but the Beatles were completely present in the musical education of my youth. I danced to “Something” at my senior prom—it was the last slow dance of the night. A few years later, I heard Eric Clapton cover it at a concert in Barcelona, but it never sounded the same to me as it did that night on the D.J.’s copy of Abbey Road blasting in my high school gym.

Laura Paterson, Specialist, Photographs, New York

I love the early albums and movies, Hard Day’s Night and Help! This was the Fab Four at their most carefree and surreal (Yellow Submarine notwithstanding). By the time I reached my teens, they simply weren’t cool (Granny liked them, after all), and I switched my allegiance to their rivals, the much edgier seeming Rolling Stones (Granny hated them). Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate their immense influence on popular music and culture. The Beatles define superstardom; from L.A. to Ulaanbaatar, everyone knows who they are.

Tom Lecky, Head of Books & Manuscripts, New York

The Beatles were the first to really show the path from the popular to the avant-garde, from the past to the future in contemporary music. In so many ways, they set the standard. And we still feel the effects today: from the technological advances they pushed their engineers and their great producer, George Martin, to make, to the continual challenges they set for both themselves and their audience to hear the world in a new way.

Five Things Every Fan Should Know About the Beatles' First U.S. Tour

A Cool Coiffure: Shortly after the band’s arrival, U.S. Press Secretary Pierre Salinger remarked that he wished his kids wouldn’t try to look like the Beatles. It was, perhaps, a popular parental sentiment at the time—haircuts emulating the Fab Four’s famous moptops soared in popularity during the mid-1960s.

Uniting A City: A phenomenal 75% of New York City television sets were tuned in to The Ed Sullivan Show to watch the Beatles’ U.S. television debut, according to Nielsen ratings.

Freedom Of The Press: Hoards of screaming teenage fans were a testament to the Beatles’ rapid ascent to superstardom, but reporters at The Washington Post weren’t ready to give in to Beatlemania when the group landed stateside calling their performance “a commonplace, rather dull act” and likening them to “hillbillies who look like sheep dogs and sound like alley cats in agony.”

What’s In A Name: At concerts, U.S. fans greeted the band by throwing Jelly Beans onto the stage. George Harrison had previously remarked that he liked Jelly Babies, which are similar to Gummy Bears and popular in the U.K. The nature of the confection was lost in translation, and American fans unknowingly pelted the group with the wrong candy.

Music Appreciation: The set list from the Washington Coliseum concert featured the newly released “I Want to hold Your hand,” along with numbers from other artists such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard. Also included was the song “Till There Was You,” from the musical, The Music Man.