Everyone picked the Barenaked Ladies. Which is a very good guess. I do love them. But of all time?? No. That title goes to the greatest band of all time. I mean John, Paul, George and Ringo. THE BEATLES!!! So how did a girl who was not only born after the band broke up, but who was also raised by parents who favored Johnny Mathis, Elvis, Willie Nelson, The Platters and various other non-British Invasion musical artists??
For my love of The Beatles, I have to thank Peter Frampton, the Bee Gees and my aunt Sharon. An odd combination, I will admit, but bear with me.
I don't remember how old I was, but I went to visit my cousin Melissa outside of Buffalo one summer. And part of the Buffa-low down included watching a cheesy movie musical on HBO. The movie? Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Starring Peter Frampton, the Bee Gees, George Burns, Steve Martin, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith... I could go on (and there is probably a special circle in Dante's Inferno for each and every one of them for making this movie)... BUT, while the plot was, in a word, awful, the music was amazing!!! I loved every single song and sang them out loud!
My aunt sighed, and said, if you like the music, at least listen to the real thing. And placed in my hands her very own Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band record album. I was sucked in. We played it on her stereo. All the lyrics were right there to read along. All the songs from the movie weren't on it (the rest of the songs were pulled from Abbey Road) but it was a start.
Ever since then, it's been the Fab Four for me. I had their stuff on cassette, and then on CD. I've seen Paul in concert twice. The first time was in Toronto. He sang Michelle, and I knew that even though he was a speck on a far-away stage, he was singing right to me. Then I saw him again in Atlanta with Kara, a fellow Beatles lover, and her parents. Awesome show. He sang Something as a tribute to George, and Here Today for John.
(My mother has since admitted that when I was about 3 years old, I used to sing two songs at the top of my lungs to anyone who would listen: Delta Dawn by Helen Reddy, and Yellow Submarine by The Beatles.)
I have their music on CD, and I got the Anthology coffee table book from my parents on my 30th birthday. I know Paul's name is actually not Paul (It's James. Paul is his middle name). And I know that the last time they were all together was outside Abbey Road Studios in 1970. I used to know the exact date, but I lost that page from the 365-days of The Beatles calendar. I've also been to Abbey Road Studios. Well, outside on the sidewalk. I signed the wall through my tears.
So, when I still lived in Atlanta, and my aunt Sharon and uncle Joe were preparing to move from there to South Carolina, I went up to help them pack. Or just for cocktails and dinner... Any-who... she showed me some stuff she was planning on tossing. And in the "to go" pile was that original Sgt. Pepper album. Along with The White Album and Rubber Soul (which, by the way, features Michelle). Horrified, I grabbed them, along with a jacketless Beggar's Banquet by The Rolling Stones and that Christian band Stryper's album. Which was my cousin Marty's. And I did give it back to him. At Thanksgiving. In front of his girlfriend. I did it with love (Happy Birthday, Marty!!! It was yesterday).
Anyway, I have had those albums ever since. Jenny had to actually send them to me after I moved. And today, Two of them got some special treatment. Now, they are not in the greatest condition. My aunt actually played her albums. But I think they look nice in their new home.
Now I'll have to get a frame for the poster that came inside The White Album.
And I am waiting patiently until September 9th, when all of The Beatles' CD's will be re-issued in all of their remastered fabulous in-stereo glory!!! "Penny Lane is in my ears, and in my eyes......"
PS... I have that movie on VHS. I just discovered it's now on DVD.... My birthday is January 15th. I'm just saying....
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