VGCC music instructor discusses conflict among the Beatles
Vance-Granville Community College music instructor Michael Stephenson brought a conclusion on April 27 to a series of four lectures from the college’s Arts and Sciences division under the umbrella title, “Earth’s Energy and Wave Motion: Harmony and Disharmony in Our Relationship with Nature and with Each Other.” Stephenson’s presentation in the VGCC Civic Center was entitled “Harmony and Discord in the Music and Personal Lives of the Beatles.”
Rather than looking at physical waves whose effects can be seen, such as ocean waves, Stephenson turned the focus of the lecture series to the individual “waves” of creativity that members of the iconic British rock group produced as they turned their sound waves into some of the twentieth century’s most memorable recordings. Specifically, the music instructor noted how the changing relationships among the band members, at times harmonious and at others discordant, affected their music and eventually led to the group’s break-up in 1970. Stephenson discussed the individual personality traits of each Beatle. “John Lennon was rebellious and aggressive with a sardonic wit,” the instructor said. “Paul McCartney was more well-behaved and good with public relations. George Harrison was the quiet, easy-going one, who looked up to John Lennon as an older brother and whose creativity was often marginalized by Lennon and McCartney. Ringo Starr, the last to join the group, was fun-loving but unsure of himself and a bit of an outsider.” Stephenson traced the group’s growth and success throughout the 1960s, using numerous audio and video clips to give attendees samples of the Beatles’ work as it changed over the years. As time went on, friction between the ever-competitive Lennon and McCartney increased, and personality and business conflicts brought the band to an end. Still, Stephenson said, “the lesson here is that creativity soars when differing personalities work together.”
The instructor noted that the Beatles continue to be relevant and influential. “I was drawn to the Beatles’ music from a young age,” Stephenson said. “They influence the way I perform and what types of music I perform.” Stephenson is part of the world-renowned New Century Saxophone Quartet, and he said that the music that group plays is typically written by contemporary composers who were influenced by the Beatles. “They raised music to a certain level that musical groups ever since have tried to emulate,” Stephenson said of the group. “They did not stay within the narrow ‘pop’ genre but were instead globally-minded in a time when that was not common. They made pop music mean something more than just teenage love songs.”
Above: VGCC music instructor Michael Stephenson discusses the Beatles during his April 27 lecture in the VGCC Civic Center. (VGCC photo)
For more on the previous lectures in this series, check out these articles:
