Beatles '64 instant reaction

I finally got around to firing up Disney+ and watching the recently released Beatles '64 documentary.

It's always fun to see footage of the Beatles, and there is plenty of this Maysles brothers stuff (which comprises a bulk of this new film) that I had never seen before. I fact, I've never seen the Maysles' 1964 documentary, What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A. 

This 2024 documentary includes talking heads discussing their Beatles memories and attempts to contextualize the band's arrival in the U.S. Did the Beatles help America heal after the JFK assassination? Perhaps? They certainly created a much needed distraction--for both kids AND many adults. The kids fell in love with the Fab Four while the adults seemed to be--by and large--bemused by the phenomenon.

For me, the highlight of the "talking heads" portion of the film was music producer Jack Douglas telling his story of traveling to Liverpool with a buddy during the height of Beatlemania--and then relating the story to John Lennon in 1971 while working on Lennon's Imagine album. Upon hearing Douglas's story, and discovering that Douglas and his friend were the American musicians who had made the Liverpool newspapers in '64, Lennon gave Douglas a promotion and kick-started a friendship and nine year long professional relationship. (I'm over-simplifying the story. Watch the film and you'll gain a larger appreciation).

Other fun stuff: all the teenage girls roaming the streets of 1964 Manhattan and camped outside the Beatles' hotel. They were dedicated and industrious. It was these girls' passion for the band that essentially made them the cultural force they were.