When The Beatles Were More Popular Than Jesus

Oxford University Press Blog:

Forty-five years ago, in the spring of 1966, as swinging London and its colorful denizens attracted the attention of Time, the publishers of an American teen magazine found part of a recent interview with John Lennon to be of particular interest. A rapid disintegration ensued of the complex identity that the Beatles management, the media, the fans, and even the musicians themselves had constructed, setting in motion a number of dark forces.

Read the whole story: Oxford University Press Blog

Comments

[Rador]

04:53 PM on 04/05/2011

The Beatles were alot of fun. To hear them in interviews, I don't know if they got as much enjoyment out of touring/playing as I did listening. Lennon really knew how to provoke thought and anger. He had a rough childhood, I don't think he ever got over it. He did say that he had done all the superficial things in life and that he'd wrather be with his wife. That was a good thing to have learned and experienced in life.

So he said he had a problem with Christians and that ruined any affinity he might otherwise have had for the person of Christ. Fair enough. We can be a strange, misguided bunch. It's a shame though, I've always thought that if someone was left alone to ponder life's mysteries and by chance considered the life of Christ, it might turn out favorably. It did for me.

[The-JuRK]

07:29 AM on 03/21/2011

I read the article...is the author connecting Mark David Chapman to the KKK protesters from the 60s? Chapman didn't shoot Lennon because of his "bigger than Jesus" remark; he shot Lennon for being a "phony" as defined in his personal bible, "The Catcher in the Rye." Chapman felt betrayed that Lennon would emerge from his 5-year house-husband phase (and heroin cocoon) and brag that he was a very rich family man.

(And look back at that newsreel footage: it wasn't just KKK thugs destroying Beatles albums, it was their teenage fans).

[New Yorker]

06:04 PM on 03/20/2011

In a hundred years even the Jeopardy Champion won't remember the Beatles Band, but Jesus will be more popular than ever. Jesus Rules, even 2000 + Years after he left for Heaven, NOW THAT is Popularity !

[SaneThoughts]

09:11 PM on 03/19/2011

Easy, the Beatles are real. Christians don't really follow the teachings of mythical Jesus. Wasn't he a socialist? My Republican congressman say's the socialism is evil.

[The-JuRK]

07:22 AM on 03/21/2011

You must be absolutely exhausting to know....

[scottyknows]

08:48 PM on 03/16/2011

"As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower in the field so he flourishes. For the wind passes over, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more."
Psalm 103:15,16

[scottyknows]

08:42 PM on 03/16/2011

Two of them have met Jesus.

Wonder how that went....

[tagtron]

03:17 PM on 03/17/2011

No worse than it will go for all you faux Christians of Convenience

[susankhbelen]

01:53 PM on 03/16/2011

This is so wrong.
John L. WAS saying...how pitiful it was the way they were being feted.
Watch the video of the press conference.
This is sooooo tiring...what is this a slow news day or the pub needed to poke the un-informed Christians who see boogey men everywhere anyway?

[Rador]

06:51 PM on 04/05/2011

I guess it Was a slow news day. This is such an old topic but it never fails to get heated responses. That's probably why it was chosen. I'm sure the people that run this section would like more traffic. Anyway, If I recall, an interview I heard with John L did sound as though he was mystified by their popularity and not boasting or claiming superiority.

[COPESTIR3]

12:39 PM on 03/12/2011

After seeing the picketing of funerals, I hope the Beatles are more popular than Jesus.

[New Yorker]

08:52 AM on 03/08/2011

Christmas = Christ's Bithday

Does anyone even care what day the beatles were born ? Does anybody even know the dates ?

I rest my case.

[White Horse Seer]

05:52 PM on 03/06/2011

The Beatles were Fab'ricated

[White Horse Seer]

05:50 PM on 03/06/2011

WWJC ( what would john cut )

[FTracy3]

04:16 PM on 03/06/2011

Unfair comparison..Ed Sullivan refused to book Jesus on the show, and those guest spots on the Joey Bishop Show and as the mystery guest on What's My Line just didn't have the same ratings clout.

[genrel1248]

03:48 PM on 03/06/2011

The biggest difference between The Beatles and Jesus....The Beatles were REAL!

[gal416]

02:52 PM on 03/29/2011

I was going to say more number one songs on the Billboard charts.

[iLdoRight]

03:01 PM on 03/06/2011

Popularity and faithfulness to a cause are not the same, one can say "I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART" to a potential spouse and then later realize what they are really like. How many who claim to love Jesus have ever studied the Bible enough to know what He really believed ? You have to really know someone to honestly say you love them, you can say I love the way you look, but nobody living today knows what Jesus physical appearence was like. No photos only guesses, but one can find out what he was like by studing all the Bible in order to know what He believed. A recorded copy can be gotten free or a DVD with written words and audio sent to you for about $16.

[butchcliff]

08:01 AM on 03/07/2011

Don't disagree. As to Jesus appearance...suggest researching ..St Issa...Lost Years
of Jesus..Nicholas Notovich...If this was Jesus, there were paintings of him learning &
teaching in India in his missing years.

[COPESTIR3]

01:16 PM on 03/06/2011

I would rather have people following the Beatles than religious organizations that would picket funerals. Seems to me the Beatles were more righteous than that.