In the Spotlight

The Beatles: A Musical History Tour

In February 1964, Ed Sullivan introduced the Beatles to America. More than 73 million people watched as four handsome young men from Liverpool performed songs including "All My Loving," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You," "I Saw Her Standing There," and "I Want to Hold Your Hand." This debut appearance created a media frenzy and is considered one of the most significant events in rock-and-roll history.

This performance and many others are documented in "The Beatles: A Musical History Tour" at Northwestern University Library. The exhibit chronicles the Beatles rise to fame and the spectacular popularity of their music. The exhibit is scheduled to run through Dec. 19 and is free and open to the public.

The exhibit includes several original lyric manuscripts by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, lyrics in watercolor by McCartney, and letters from John and Yoko Ono to composer John Cage. These artifacts are part of Northwestern University Library's John Cage Notations Collection, which includes approximately 400 samples of music notation gathered from composers during the 1960s.

Also on exhibit are original American and British album covers, songbooks, sheet music, magazine covers, photos, facsimiles of manuscripts owned by the British Library, an unused ticket from a 1964 Beatles concert, and an autographed brochure of Astrid Kirchherr's famous Hamburg photos of the Beatles. An envelope with the signatures of all four Beatles is prominently displayed among the memorabilia. Many of the materials for the exhibit are on loan from Dawson's personal collection.

Visitors to the Northwestern exhibit can also listen to the music that made the Beatles famous and watch video clips of their concerts, films, and media events. A multimedia display features audio and video clips that track the Beatles from Liverpool to the last album.

For more information on the exhibit, contact Birdi Dawson at (847) 491-3297. For Music Library hours, call (847) 491-3434. Northwestern University Library is located at 1970 Campus Drive on the Evanston campus. The exhibit is on the second floor of Deering Library, which can be entered through the Main Library.