50 Years of the Beatles and growing up in the '60's

HI Folks, Yesterday turned out to be the perfect day for a motorcycle ride and to take advantage of the opportunity to exchange a few stories about 27 cent cigarettes and 19 cent-a-gallon gasoline. If stories like that were not enough to remind us of our "elderliness", here is one more chance to feel a little grayer. I just read an article about the 50th anniversery of the establisment of the Beatles. 50 years?! You have got to be kidding me! The Beatles approximately 7 year run was one of the most exciting and, yes, tumultuous times in American history. Beginnning in the late '50's, Beatlemania" really took hold in the early '60's, driving what many believe was the greatest 'American Revolution" since the, well, American revolution. The Beatles were not just a band. They were an obsession. I recall Craig and I putting our money together to buy a "45" entitled "I Want to Hold our Hand." We played that song endlessly on our record player, virtually ignoring the fact that the flip, or "B" side held another great song, " I Saw Her Standing There." We knew the words to the songs of the Beatles almost as well as we knew the words to "Hail Mary, Full of Grace", the prayer that I was told to say countless times after weekly confession. (I was a bit of a bad boy as a young Catholic). The Beatles influence spawned countless copiers. Remember the "Dave Clark 5"? And who can forget the "Ed Sullivan Show" performance where those of us at home could hardly hear the "Fab Four" for the screaming girls in the audience? As the Beatles music morphed from the fresh, plucky sound first introduced in "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to the physchadelic mindbending of "The Magical Mystery Tour", a collection that helped many of us envision the meaning of life (with a little help from our friend "Mary Juana"), America was changing before our eyes. From Viet Nam to Woodstock to putting a man on the moon along with the assinations of the Kennedy's and MLK, America was rocking and rolling. Breathtaking was one way to describe this period. I am not a historian by any means but we, the '69"ers, grew up in a time when America was really jumping. We were strong, vibrant, confused and ready for anything. Most importantly, we were "alive". Things were constantly changing in our young world and we were there to witness, nay, live each and every moment. I miss those times. Reading the article about the Beatles at 5:50AM this morning triggered something in me that I had not considered in quite some time. We, the "'69ers" grew up in a most remarkable era. It was a time when things that mattered really mattered. A time when we believed that those people entrusted to lead us would, well, actually lead us. It was a time when we questioned everything. And it was a time when it felt good not to be afraid to question everything. Above all it was a time when music, in particular Beatles music, gave us all something hang on to as "Rocketship America" went speeding through space. It was a great time to grow up in America and I, for one, would not have missed it for the world. Tim M.