The Beatles! Backstage and Behind the Scenes at CBS!
April 4 to November 2008 (extended)
The exhibition documents the whirlwind few months of 1964 when the Beatles took America by storm and changed pop music for ever.
The early years of Beatlemania are captured in the first special exhibition to take place in the Beatles Story’s new expansion.
Taken around the Beatles’ first North American appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the images are taken from the archives of CBS Television and Life photographer, Bill Eppridge. Previous to arriving in Liverpool the exhibition has been on show in Washington’s world famous Smithsonian Institute, where it was visited by over 3 million people!
By 1964, The Beatles were already a phenomenon in the UK both as musicians and songwriters. Add the visual element, made possible by television, and their US television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show became a cultural event shared by millions. The Beatles, who opened the show, sang All My Loving, ‘Till There Was You, She Loves You, I saw Her Standing There and I Want To Hold Your Hand. In the few minutes of that first performance they were watched by an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for an American television audience.
This appearance is now considered a milestone in American pop culture and marked the beginning of the so called British Invasion. The Beatles became “arguably the most popular, influential and enduring rock group of all time, the Beatles almost instantaneous acceptance delivered music from regional and national roots to international audiences,” explains Vickie Rehberg, president of ArtVision Exhibitions (www.artvisionexhibitions.com) who organise and circulate the exhibit worldwide.
Bill Eppridge is an international award winning photojournalist of 40 years with National Geographic, LIFE, People, and Sports Illustrated magazines. Eppridge’s unique style in documentation and fine art photography brought him history-making assignments as diverse as the wars in Panama and Vietnam, the original Woodstock concert, Robert Kennedy’s 1966 and 1968 campaigns, America’s Cup and the Beatles’ first tour to the United States. His images depict the Beatles—young, exuberant, always upbeat, and followed by throngs of fans who dreamed of becoming part of the group’s skyrocketing story. “I shot photographs, they shot quips, and history shot us all into the record books,” recalls Eppridge.
Jerry Goldman, Managing Director of the Beatles Story said “The images in this award-winning exhibition represent the very best of sixties photojournalism and show the Beatles at a pivotal moment in their career. We are hugely excited to welcome this exclusive and award winning exhibition to the Beatles Story for its UK premier.”