Library Exhibition to Celebrate the Beatles’ Time in New York
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first visit to New York, and the “Ed Sullivan Show” appearances that lit the fuse on Beatlemania in America, the New York Public Library and the Grammy Museum are collaborating on a multimedia exhibition, “Ladies and Gentlemen … The Beatles!”
It will run from Feb. 6 through May 10 at the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, at Lincoln Center, and will include tour memorabilia, historic film clips, video interviews with musicians, as well as interactive exhibits.
The installation is primarily a traveling exhibition assembled by the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. But it is having its debut in New York - other cities have not yet been determined - and Bob Santelli, the Grammy Museum’s executive director, said that it would draw on the library’s archival holdings for material about the group’s stay in New York.
The Beatles landed at the newly renamed Kennedy Airport on Feb. 7, and besides the first Ed Sullivan performance, on Feb. 9 (another was taped the same day for broadcast on Feb. 23, after they returned to England), the highlights of their New York visit included two concerts at Carnegie Hall on Feb. 12.
The exhibition, Mr. Santelli said, will look beyond New York to include material from their three summer tours of North America, from 1964 through 1966.
“We are exploring the Beatles’ arrival and the results of it,” Mr. Santelli said, “meaning everything from their impact on American music to the commodification of rock ‘n’ roll. To illustrate what we mean by commodification, we’ll have a recreation of a teenager’s bedroom and a Woolworth’s window, with T-shirts, Beatle wigs, lunchboxes and all the Beatles items you could buy at the time.”
Other memorabilia on display will include handwritten lyrics and ticket stubs, but Mr. Santelli notes that the Beatles’ personal items are not the thrust of the exhibition - partly because he wanted to explore a different theme, but also because the more personal items the museum has access to, like stage suits and instruments, are currently on display at the museum’s own Ringo Starr exhibition, “Ringo: Peace & Love,” which runs through March 30.
“It’s more of a cultural and musical exhibition,” Mr. Santelli said. “We have a section devoted to American musical artists and forms that influenced the Beatles in their development as songwriters, pieces from Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins and Little Richard, for example, that show how their sound came about and why it’s exciting. We have an exclusive interview with Ringo, remembering the time, and we’re hoping to get one with Paul McCartney. And we have interviews with about a dozen American musicians the Beatles influenced, including members of the Rascals, Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick and John Fogerty.”
Mr. Santelli said that the exhibition would also include an interactive exhibit for young music fans - “We pride ourselves on creating things for younger viewers,” he said - as well as an oral history booth, where visitors can record their memories of the Beatles era.
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