The USSR Minister of Culture Yekaterina Furtseva (1960-1974) called the Director of “Gosconcert” on the phone and asked two tickets for the “Beatles” for her daughter. When the Director told the Minister that the concert of the “Beatles” Quartet is not scheduled even in the near future, Mrs. Furtseva expressed bewilderment. “Then, what posters are spread out in Moscow?” It turns out that rumors are spread out that the Armenian Beatles have arrived in Moscow for guest performances. As to which Armenian band this boom was about, they could not give a specific answer and only mentioned that in those times, Shirkhan Rafo was organizing the guest performances of the “Krunk” and the “Dreamers” vocal-instrumental ensembles. Naturally, the matter was about one of those ensembles.
“Aravot” got acquainted with the advance copy of the “Beatles” book-album published by “Antares” in the fall, first time in the Armenian reality. It is a story about the wonderful Quartet, starting from the streets of Liverpool when the band members were still a start-up musicians and ending with the multi-thousand spectacular concerts around the world and their quest to perfection. The Beatles were awarded the British Empire Medals by the Queen Elizabeth II, their recordings have sold in millions of copies.
In 1960, the musicians of the “Beatles” rock band: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, with their unique style, revolutionized the world. The band has had a significant impact on the rock music and has been recognized by the experts as the most successful band of the 20th century, both in terms of creativity and commercially. The band gained international fame in 1963, after the release of “Please Please Me/Ask Me Why” single, and with its creativity, it laid the foundation of a global phenomenon under the name of “Beatle mania”.
Samvel DANIELYAN, “Aravot” daily
