The Beatles

My earliest memory of The Beatles is listening to Ob-La-di-Ob-La-da when my father played it at home. It is one of those fuzzy memories which I cannot vividly recall as I may have been a toddler. But the melody stayed with me. Later in life, when lyrics start to take importance you realise the simplicity of songs by the band. This particular song, in under three minutes summarises the entire life of a couple from courtship to a seemingly happy married life. The other song of the band from my childhood years was Back in the USSR. Something about the rhythm and beat attracted me to it. 

Despite growing up in a house that had a ton of Beatles music lying around, I got myself busy with Pop & Bollywood music of the 80s and 90s. Michael Jackson was a big influence of any kid growing up in urban India with a slight bent for International music. MJ was cool even if I didn't understand a word of what he sang. In 1995, MJ's album HIStory released. A double album that was an absolute must have. In the days of no internet, I'd to either be nice to someone in the family and con them into buying it for me or find a friend who bought it and make a copy. I was lucky to have a friend and so I  immediately made a copy for myself. Apart from the popular hits, one song that really stood out for me was 'Come Together'. I played this for my father and asked him if he still thought there was no greater artist than MJ for this century. He smiled (a classic 'hold my beer' moment), walked up to his music cabinet, pulled out the LP of Abbey Road and played the original. I was stumped! 

A few years down the road, trying to get through Engineering college, I started to sift through Dad's music collection as my interest in music had expanded to Rock and a little bit of Jazz. Listening to songs by The Beatles made me realise why they may have been as popular and in a way timeless. The simplicity of the lyrics, the melody and the willingness to experiment with sounds from every genre meant that you couldn't ignore them in any way. The album 'The Beatles 1' which released in 2000 - a collection of all their Number 1 songs got me hooked. 

My favourite songs include the following

1. Let it Be
2. Come together
3. Can't buy me Love
4. Yesterday
5. The long & winding road
6. Hey Jude
7. Hello Goodbye

 

Dave Mwaniki photographed in April 2010

A personal memory of mine from London in a way also is thanks to The Beatles. In April 2010, while walking around Covent Garden in London, I sat to watch a Busker perform The Long & Winding Road on a chilly spring afternoon. The performance moved me and I would've liked to speak with him but since he continued to sing, I dropped off some change and made my way back to meet with the rest of the family. Cut to June 2018 and we're again wandering around Covent Garden and this time inside the building I see the same man performing something. This time I was determined to talk to him and tell him that even though I saw him 8 years ago, I vividly remember him singing that song. During his break we spoke for a bit and he was mighty touched that I remembered him and even played The Long & Winding Road again on request!

Dave Mwaniki photographed in June 2018

The artist's name is Dave Mwaniki and if you ever are in Covent Garden and have the good fortune to listen to him, you will not be disappointed. Given below are pictures I took of him back in 2010 and again in 2018. This time, he was kind enough to give me a CD of his called 'Songs from the Garden' which include lovely cover songs with just an acoustic guitar.

To think that if it weren't for that song, I may not have stayed to listen to him. The song moved me and I was lucky to see him again.





Another song which is a sort of Karaoke special is Hey Jude and this wonderful article published in The Guardian in 2018 captures the essence of why the song is a crowd favourite and how many adaptations there are of it. If you're interested, read the article here.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/21/how-hey-jude-became-our-favourite-beatles-song

Truth be told, I may still have heard only around 30% of the total music they put out before disbanding. I continue to find new songs and be amazed. The beauty of their songs to me is that most of them are under 3 minutes and easy to listen to.

If you're a fan too and have a personal memory associated with the band, I'd love to hear from you. If you haven't heard anything from the Beatles, do give them a try. You won't be disappointed.

Cheers,
Avi

My collection of The Beatles can be accessed with this link: The Beatles