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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum Opens The Beatles Exhibition

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame presents The Beatles a new exhibition on view now.


The Beatles Exhibition Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum

The impact of the Beatles has often been noted but cannot be overstated. The “Fab Four” from Liverpool, England, startled the ears and energized the lives of virtually all who heard them. Their arrival triggered the musical revolution of the Sixties, introducing a modern sound and viewpoint that parted ways with the world of the previous decade. In a career that lasted less than a decade, the Beatles changed the course of rock and roll and popular music. After launching the British Invasion of the United Stated and scoring 20 Number One hits, the Beatles went on to indulge their creative energies in the studio, layering sounds and crafting songs in a way that was experimental yet still accessible. This retreat from the ceaseless mayhem of pop celebrity yielded such musically expansive and lyrically sophisticated albums as Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966). The group retired from touring in August 1966, and 10 months later, they released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album that has almost universally been cited as the creative apotheosis of rock and roll, a watershed event in which rock became “serious art” without losing its sense of humor. The group continued to break new ground with the White Album and Abbey Road before calling it quits in 1970. All of the band members went on to successful solo careers. The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

BEATLES EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS:

The exhibit includes nearly 70 artifacts, including a few that have not been exhibited before:

– George Harrison’s striped suit from the 1966 US tour

– Ringo Starr’s red military-style jacket from the “Strawberry Fields Forever” promo film

– John Lennon’s black wool coat worn in Help!

– Paul McCartney’s handwritten arrangement for “Birthday”

Additional highlights include:

– John Lennon’s Gibson J-160E acoustic guitar. Lennon used this guitar to record “Norwegian Wood” and “Give Peace a Chance” and numerous other classics.

– George Harrison’s Rickenbacker 425 electric guitar. Harrison purchased the guitar in 1963 on his first visit to the U.S. He played it throughout the fall of 1963.

– Ringo Starr’s “drop-T” Beatles logo drum head from the kit he used on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964

– Paul McCartney’s jacket from Help!

– A page from Stuart Sutcliffe’s sketch pad that shows his self-portraits, his illustration of John Lennon and Lennon’s illustration of Sutcliffe.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s first redesign in its 15-year history is nearly complete and includes several vibrant new exhibit spaces, state-of-the-art interactive technology and lighting, improved way-finding and hundreds of new artifacts, including the most comprehensive collection of Beatles’ items; a number of which are on display to the public for the first time.

“The Rock Hall’s extensive redesign includes the most comprehensive, artifact-driven Beatles exhibit in the world,” said Jim Henke, the Museum’s Vice President of Exhibitions. “For many years now, we have been fortunate to have a great relationship with Yoko Ono, which enabled us to have many John Lennon artifacts. This time around, we were able to work with Ringo Starr and with George Harrison’s estate, so they are well-represented in the exhibit. We also worked with some collectors who had other key Beatles pieces, and before we knew it, we had an absolutely incredible collection.”

rockhall.com

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