"I hope all's well with you and Ottawa Beatles chums. This is a reminder
that HOW THE BEATLES ROCKED THE KREMLIN will be broadcast on the PBS Network
on November 9th - the 20th anniversary of the downing of the Berlin Wall."

As important to us in the western hemisphere, The Beatles were far
more important to the kids in the USSR...The Beatles were *illegal*.
Their fans REALLY loved them.

I love the fact that a legendary *secret* concert is rumored to have
taken place as The Beatles flew to Japan...they stopped in the USSR to
play...secretly. WOW!

Bootleg records created from old X-ray cels. Wow.

See it!

The documentary was pretty good.

One question though - throughout the show - i heard background music that
sounded like it could have been the Beatles, but not official releases -
were these audio bytes actual Beatles recordings (radio broadcast, bootleg
demo tapes, etc) or was it just filler sound-a-like music recorded by 2009
musicians? (or even something else?)

thanks

chris hoelscher

--

What is fascinating is that we here in the West were presented with
The Beatles, and we loved them. It is a testament to that *charisma*
that in the USSR they were forbiden, yet that charisma...and
moreimportantly, the MUSIC still reached into that country and grabbed
the kid's attention...with NO (official) PR. Really quite remarkable.
The Beatles managed to cause *change* in that rigid society too...at
arms length.

I can't get over the inventiveness they went to to make the music
available for listening, by cutting the recordings to old x-ray cels
from pirated tapes...that is determination. The whole history of The
Beatles in the USSR adds a BIG piece of the the puzzle that is The
Beatles and their impact on the 20th century.

As our Mr Carter likes to point out...NOTHING is Beatle-proof!

www.Shemakhan.com

--

It's a quote from a movie, written by a scriptwriter.  :-)

As for the thesis that The Beatles pulled down the Soviet Empire... I
still think that it's far fetched.  

There's no doubt that they had a great deal of influence on Soviet youth
-- more than is/was generally realised - and that attitudes imported to
the Soviet Union via The Beatles, and I assume other bands!,  helped.

But to assign a **MAJOR** role (which is what the documentary sets out
to do) does not fly (IMHO).  Non-trivial... OK - but not major.

--
steve.hat.stephencarter.not.com.but.net
Nothing is Beatle Proof!!
Mr Kite posters and more at http://www.zazzle.com/mr_kite*
Mr Kite posters and more at http://www.zazzle.co.uk/mr_kite*

--

This doc wasn't the first time the Beatles were credited with the fall
of the USSR.  Try watching Paul's Red Square DVD.  If you can sit
through all the fast editing without having a seizure you'll hear all
about how the Beatles allegedly brought down communism.

--

  http://beatles.ncf.ca/guardian.html

which goes back to a 2000 tv documentary.  And I cannot swear that's the
oldest reference.  

Not that any of that disproves the claim, merely its novelty.  (BTW: I
always had the impression that Paul picked the idea up from Pelyushonok's
documentary.  No proof of that, of course.  But I don't recall him
mentioning this before 2000.)

--
-= rags =-
<www.math.mcgill.ca/rags>
rags _at_ math _dot_ mcgill _dot_ ca

--

But that is not quite as *romantic* as having The Beatles be the
source of the downfall. Legends are not born of economic insecurities.

"All you need is Love"

www.Shemakhan.com

--

   Leslie Woodhead makes the point known at the beginning of his documentary
that the Beatles played an important factor in the downfall of communism.
It was just one of many other factors or influences that made it happen, not
*major* but certainly one of the important ones.  And in the same breath
here, Dr. Yury Pelyushonok makes the exact same claim -- check out his video
where you see "Main Feature"  http://yuryspace.yolasite.com/

   John Whelan
   Ottawa Beatles Site

"Stephen X. Carter" <st...@giganews.com> wrote in message
news:4afb51a6.10627890@news.iinet.net.au...

I recall several reports out of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, etc.
back in those days that lend substantial credence to this.

The Soviet "satellites" had gradually let their guard down, permitting
Western acts to perform.  There was one particular Queen concert in
Budapest in 1985 or so that brought the house down that I'm familiar
with, and I'm sure there were uncountable others.

The Iron Curtain had begun to crack, not only with the (sometimes
officially sanctioned) infiltration of Western music but also art and
literature.  The genie had escaped from the bottle.

--

"When the Beatles were still together, they were feared, like other pop
groups by the Soviet authorities, partly because they sprang from a
capitalist society, partly because of the hysteria they were known to cause
at concerts and partly because their music and way of life seemed to inspire
disrespect for tradition and authority.
"This did not stop Beatle music gushing into the Soviet Union through a
variety of inconspicuous inlets."

http://beatles.ncf.ca/beatles_influence_in_the_USSR_p1.html

   From that point forward, not much more was reported in the media until
the 2000 TV documentary, "The Beatles Revolution" by ABC Television.  Now,
when the production got under way, several months before this Yury
Pelyushonok's book "Strings for a Beatle Bass - The Beatles Generation in
the  USSR" was already in the offices of Apple records. Yury had went to
England and dropped off a copy at Apple. It was read by Neil Aspinal. To
coincide with the release of "Beatles 1", ABC Television in New York began
commencing work on their documentary called "The Beatles Revolution." Both
Tony Copple and myself received e-mail notices simultaneously from ABC
Television requesting contact information regarding Yury Pelyushonok. They
wanted to interview him. It was during the interview process with the
director that Yury was curious to know how ABC Television found out about
his chapter from his book at the Ottawa Beatles Site. Yury questioned the
director. The director replied that it was Neil Aspinal who suggested to ABC
Television to contact the Ottawa Beatles Site regarding Yury Pelyushonok and
how to contact him. When we received the emails from ABC Television, we told
Yury who immediately sent off a copy of his book to them thus guarenteeing
himself an appearance in the show. My only main concern for Yury before he
went down was for him to speak slowly in clear English. I coached him a bit
on that point. If he is too emotionally charged by the Beatle bug, sometimes
Yury will talk fast with his thick burly Russian accent and the listener can
sometimes lose track of what he's trying to convey. But he did well in that
program and did well once again in "How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin."

  MPL Communications requested copies of Yury's manuscript. Both Tony Copple
and myself first received the email request from Robby Montgomery. We gave
him Yury's phone number but Yury was out of town at the time which became a
bit of a frustrating situation for MPL Communications. But when Yury came
back home, Geoff Baker finally connected over the phone with Yury. He sent
out copies of his manuscript which were received on January 14, 2003,
according to FedEx records. Yury's book was used by Mark Haefeli as a
research tool for the "Paul McCartney In Red Square" concert/documentary. I
think the use of Paul's music and comments from Russian nationals makes for
a very interesting historical documentary! It's well done and Paul was
certainly in top form on the night he gave his concert performance. "Back in
the U.S.S.R. really meant something very special to the Russian nationals on
an emotional level that really can't be described in words. But you can
certainly feel the vibe from the audience as you watched it!

  It is interesting to note that while Yury wrote a truthful book about what
went on behind the Iron Curtain and the Beatles influence, other Russian
nationals (that appear on "How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin") who lived
under the surpressed regime pretty well collaborate some of the elements
found in Yury Pelyushonok's book, i.e.. "ribs on bones" etc. And since
Yury's book was printed in a very small number, I doubt if many of the
Russian nationals have ever read his book. I don't think that the
documentary done by Leslie Woodhead can be anymore objective than that.

  John Whelan

--
-= rags =-
<www.math.mcgill.ca/rags>
rags _at_ math _dot_ mcgill _dot_ ca

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAO-zSomKxQ&feature=related

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www.Shemakhan.com

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