"Beatles" Make the Grade at Elementary School

The audience would be made up of five- to ten-year-olds. The Beatles had been broken up for more than four decades. What could these kids know about the sixties and the music that continues to have such a significant influence on my life?

An office worker buzzed us in at the door and directed us to the auditorium. As we began loading in our gear, a teacher pointed out colorful drawings that lined the walls on each side of the stage. The common theme shared by the handmade images and letters stood as evidence that the young students at this school had been introduced to the legacy of John, Paul, George and Ringo, and, judging by the artwork on display, the response was enthusiastic.

The entire student body had been studying a different country each week during the school year. We had been invited on the final day of “England Week” to perform an hour-long all-Beatles concert.

After we were set up, with instruments tuned and sound check completed, an egress door opened with a metallic clunk that echoed through the empty hall. They entered silently and in a practiced formation, like miniature foot soldiers. Led by the smallest, and presumably the youngest, they filed along the back of the room. Left turn, down the middle aisle. Another left and along the first row, where they began dropping into their seats like falling dominoes. The rows fill up from front to back, left to right, then right to left, until everyone was settled.

They watched us patiently as their principal stepped up to the mic and welcomed us. We broke into our first song, "Thank You Girl." They were quiet, attentive, and when the song ended, they applauded politely, like adults obligated to sit through an elementary school play. The irony was unsettling.

I introduced our “Ed Sullivan Set," consisting of the first three songs that the Beatles performed during their earliest live US television appearance in 1964. “The kids in the audience were screaming and cheering and going wild,” I said. No reaction from our audience. So I repeated myself, this time with just a bit more force: “I said, ‘the kids were screaming and cheering and going wild.’”

And the auditorium erupted, as if our students had been waiting for permission to cut loose and have a good time.

Permission granted.

For the next 50 minutes, they whooped and squealed and danced in their seats. During the slower numbers, a group of eight to ten stood up, raised their arms in the air and swayed back and forth in unison.

Between songs, I mixed in brief Beatles history lessons, but I soon realized that they had already covered much of this material in the classroom. I held up a vinyl record. “Does anyone recognize this?”

“A 45,” someone shouted.

Right.

“Before iPods and mp3s we used to put one of these on a turntable, drop a special needle into grooves on the 45 and we would hear one three minute song. Then we would have to flip the 45 in over to play a second song. The A-side, and..."

“The B-side!” someone else yelled out as I turned the vintage black disc over in my hand.

So much for my lessons.

After the concert ended, we slipped out the stage door and waited in the hallway. As the students exited the auditorium and headed back to the classroom, they each slapped our outstretched hands. After 80 or more smacks, my hand was stinging. But my spirits were soaring.

Even though these young music fans were born about 30 years too late to have experienced Beatlemania for themselves, they were outwardly appreciative of our efforts, and we were grateful for the opportunity to provide just a small sample of what they missed.