BERNSTEIN ON THE BEATLES

It turns out that Lenny B., after dismissing 95 % of rock and roll as ‘trash’, had a genuine affection for–and admiration of–The Beatles. Above is a seven minute clip of him in 1967 dissecting various aspects of the Fab Four’s music, at one point likening the melody of ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ to Schumann. His entire acceptance of rock hinging on the work of The Beatles is somewhat nose-holding and pious, like a cineaste disdaining all comedy except Chaplin. Nonetheless, Lenny is sincere and quite elucidating about the hidden classical pleasures inherent in the music. One wonders if George Martin and company were thrilled with this acknowledgement…or scornful. By the way, Lenny’s teleprompter technique is unrivaled in my opinion. It ain’t easy to make speaking naturalistically while reading look that effortless, as the sentences race by and you’re forced to abandon listening to yourself in an effort to simply stay in time with the non-stop onslaught of quick-to-vanish words. I know from having failed at this task (more than once).

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