More popular than Jesus

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" More popular than Jesus " ( English : More popular than Jesus') was a controversial remark by John Lennon , singer and guitarist of the British rock band The Beatles was made 1966th Lennon said Christianity was in decline and the Beatles had become more popular than Jesus Christ . The note had little effect when originally published in the United Kingdom , but there was anger in Christian communities when the note was printed in the United States five months later .

Lennon originally made the statement in March 1966 during an interview with Maureen Cleave for the London Evening Standard , which did not attract any public reaction. When Datebook , an American magazine for teenagers, quoted Lennon's testimony in one of its articles in late July 1966, extensive protests broke out in the south, particularly in the Bible Belt , of the United States. Some radio stations stopped broadcasting Beatles songs, their albums were publicly burned, press conferences were canceled, and threats were made. The controversy coincided with the planned US tour of the Beatles in August 1966, which is why Lennon and Brian Epstein tried to calm the dispute with a series of press conferences. A few concerts before concerts there was disruption and intimidation, including the picket line of the Ku Klux Klan . The controversy contributed to the Beatles' decision to stop performing live. The 1966 US tour was the last they did.

background

In March 1966 there was a weekly series of articles in the London Evening Standard entitled “How does a Beatle Live?” (English: 'How Does a Beatle Live?'). The articles featured John Lennon, Ringo Starr , George Harrison, and Paul McCartney . The reports were conducted by journalist Maureen Cleave, who knew the Beatles well and had interviewed them regularly since Beatlemania started in the UK. Three years earlier, she wrote that the Beatles "the baby of Merseyside " (English: the darlings of Merseyside ') are, and they accompanied the band on the plane on their first US tour in February 1964. For their lifestyle series interviewed they group the group individually rather than all together as was customary.

Cleave interviewed Lennon on March 4, 1966. At his home in Kenwood, St. George's Hill ( Weybridge ), she found a crucifix , a gorilla costume, medieval armor and a well-stocked library of works by Alfred Tennyson , Jonathan Swift , Oscar Wilde , George Orwell , Aldous Huxley , and the Passover plot by Hugh J. Schonfield that Lennon's opinion had influenced Christianity respect. Cleave's article mentioned that Lennon had "read extensively about religion" and cited a comment he made:

“Christianity will pass. It will go away and shrink. I don't need to discuss that; I'm right and I'll be right We're more popular than Jesus right now; I don't know which will pass first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was okay but his disciples were stupid and simple-minded. Your twisting spoils it for me. "

Cleave's interview with Lennon was published in the Evening Standard in March 1966 and did not spark any public reaction in the UK. Attendance at churches was steadily declining and the Christian communities made no secret of their efforts to transform their image into something relevant.

Reaction in the US

The day after Cleave's article was published in the Evening Standard , Tony Barrow, the Beatles' press secretary, offered Datebook the rights to all four interviews. Barrow believed these were important to show fans that the Beatles had progressed beyond simple pop music and produced more intellectually sophisticated work.

In July 1966, about five months after their publication in the UK, the interviews were republished in Datebook . However, layout designer Art Unger decided to put Lennon's quote on Christianity on the front page. In Birmingham ( Alabama ) Tommy Charles, radio presenter at the transmitter WAQY of the quote from his colleagues Doug Layton and was angered immediately heard. Charles and Layton asked for comments from their listeners and received mostly negative feedback. Al Benn, then office manager of United Press International News, heard the WAQY broadcast and filed a report in New York that culminated in a headline in the New York Times on August 5th. About two dozen other radio stations followed WAQY's announcement that they would no longer broadcast Beatles songs. Some stations in the US Deep South went a step further and organized campfire demonstrations that attracted hordes of teenagers to publicly burn Beatles albums and other merchandise.

Epstein was so worried by the reactions that he considered canceling the upcoming US tour, fearing the band could be seriously injured. He flew to the United States to hold a press conference in New York City . Epstein's efforts met with little success as the controversy surrounding the quote quickly spread beyond American borders. In Mexico City , there were demonstrations and in a number of countries, including South Africa and Spain , it did not come to play in the decision, the music of the Beatles on national radio stations. The Vatican State condemned Lennon's comments in a public statement.

During the performance at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee , a firework exploded on the stage on August 19, 1966.

The Beatles began their US tour on August 11, 1966. There were protests and riots. There were telephone threats and concerts were blocked by the Ku Klux Klan. Memphis City Council - knowing that a Beatles concert was planned at the Mid-South Coliseum - voted to cancel the concert. The city council said: "The Beatles are not welcome in Memphis." In addition, the Ku Klux Klan nailed Beatles albums to wooden crosses and swore "revenge", while conservative groups once again held public burnings of fan merchandise and albums. Pastor Jimmy Stroad announced that the Memphis Christians' rally "is an opportunity for the youth in the central south of the United States to show that Jesus Christ is more popular than the Beatles." The Memphis concerts were held on August 19, 1966. The afternoon performance went as planned, however, there was a bit of a panic when fireworks exploded on stage during the performance, leading the band to believe they were under attack.

The group hated the tour, partly because of the arguments and reactions to Lennon's comments, and partly because they were unhappy with Epstein, who kept organizing gigs that kept them from their work in the recording studio. Harrison seriously considered leaving the band, but was persuaded to stay on the condition that from now on they would only produce songs in the studio and not give any more performances.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Jonathan Gould: Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles and America . Piatkus, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7499-2988-6 , pp. 307 .
  2. ^ Gareth Pawlowski: How They Became The Beatles . McDonald & Co, 1990, ISBN 978-0-356-19052-5 , pp. 175 .
  3. ↑ Bill Harry: The John Lennon Encyclopedia . Virgin Books, 2000, ISBN 978-0-7535-0404-8 , pp. 449 .
  4. ↑ a b c Jonathan Gould: Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles and America . Piatkus, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7499-2988-6 , pp. 208 .
  5. ↑ Patrick Cadogan: The Revolutionary Artist: John Lennon's Radical Years . CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4357-1863-0 , pp. 4 .
  6. ^ Maureen Cleave: The John Lennon I knew . 2005 ( telegraph.co.uk [accessed August 5, 2014]).
  7. ^ A b Jonathan Gould: Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles and America . Piatkus, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7499-2988-6 , pp. 342 .
  8. ↑ a b c Paolo Hewitt: Love Me Do: 50 Great Beatles Moments . Quercus, 2012, ISBN 978-1-78087-559-0 , pp. 83 .
  9. ↑ Maurice Chittenden: John Lennon forgiven for Jesus claim . In: The Sunday Times , November 23, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2011. 
  10. ↑ a b c d e Jonathan Gould: Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles and America . Piatkus, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7499-2988-6 , pp. 346-347 .
  11. ↑ South Africa Squashes Beatles . In: St. Petersburg Times , August 9, 1966, p. 6 
  12. ^ Jon Wiener: Come Together: John Lennon in His Time . University of Illinois Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-252-06131-8 , pp. 12 .
  13. ↑ Jonathan Gould: Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles and America . Piatkus, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7499-2988-6 , pp. 340-341 .
  14. ^ Jon Wiener: Come Together: John Lennon in His Time . University of Illinois Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-252-06131-8 , pp. 11 .
  15. ↑ Jay Spangler: Beatles Interview: Memphis, Tennessee . Beatles interviews. August 19, 1966. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
  16. ^ Ian MacDonald: Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties . 3. Edition. Chicago Review Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-55652-733-3 , pp. 212-213 .
  17. ^ Ian MacDonald: Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties . 3. Edition. Chicago Review Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-55652-733-3 , pp. 213 .