How time, place and a fraught friendship made the Beatles the Beatles

Washington Post

3 days ago

John Lennon once defined himself as a 'record man' — he preferred listening to records over attending live performances. Though I saw the Beatles live in Ed Sullivan's studio, I have to agree with John: Records provide a repeatable pleasure that's often exclusively personal, a romance between the singer's voice and the listener's ear. Records are material, tangible and portable; they enter history in a way live performances can't.