新編大學(xué)英語第二冊(cè)u(píng)nit7 Text B: The Beatles

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UNIT 7 AFTER-CLASS READING 1; New College English (II)

The Beatles

1 When John Lennon was murdered in 1980 outside his New York apartment by a young man for whom he had earlier autographed a record cover, it signaled the end of an era. The faint hope that one day the Beatles might get together again had gone forever, but, more importantly, gone were the optimism that they represented and the social consciousness that they spread.

2 George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr formed the Beatles in Liverpool in 1960. Harrison, Lennon, and McCartney had gained experience playing at a club in Hamburg, Germany, but it was at the Cavern, in Liverpool, their home city, that the Beatles' career really began to take off.

3 Their first single record, "Love Me Do", was released in October 1962. Four months later, their second, "Please, Please Me", went straight into the top ten and soon reached the coveted number one spot, while their first LP became the fastest-selling long-playing record of 1963. Although the group broke up, millionaires all, in 1970, their records still sell over the world. What is it that made the Beatles special?

4 As a group they were competent, and their voices were pleasant, but this would not have been enough. They were probably lucky in their influences: the colorful Merseyside environment from which they sprang, combined with an admiration for Afro-American rhythm-and-blues also, they were fortunate in the rapport that they found with one another and with their audience while the songwriting partnership of Lennon and McCartney produced a stream of brilliant hits.

5 At first, their themes were precisely those that occupied and concerned their young audience: love, sorrow, good luck, bad luck, and the quaint characters that are always to be found in any big city. Later, they reflected the climate of the 1960s and sang of social inequality and political injustice. In addition, they created melodies that were rich and original enough to be played and sung by musicians of the caliber of Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald.

6 The Beatles were special because they believed in their own talents. They copied no one, and they were strong enough not to allow themselves to be destroyed by the overnight achievement of success beyond the reach of the imagination. In this they probably owed much to their record producer, George Martin, and their manager, Brian Epstein. The Beatles were also special because they were a strong positive force in a time of great social and political disenchantment. They were a voice for the young people of the time.