1964 Beatlemania Reaches the U.S.

It’s hard to believe there was ever a point in time in which the Beatles were not revered as one of the greatest musical groups of all time, well… believe it.  Pre-1964 the Beatles had already been topping music charts across the UK for two years but such was not the case within the US. They were considered by many in the US music industry to be a ridiculous fad and not worth the investment. Several times managers for the Beatles reached out to large US record companies in an attempt to get Beatles songs on US airwaves but they were quickly laughed out of the building.

A case could be made that the Beatles burgeoning success within America can be predominately attributed to news anchor Walter Cronkite. Cronkite, disenchanted with the hordes of depressing news stories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, re-ran a story documenting Beatlemania in December 1963. Although no direct correlation has been made, soon after the program was aired "She Loves You" became a radio regular.

Kennedy Airport: The Beatles wave to the thousands of screaming   teenagers after their arrival”

By January 1964 the release of their single "I Want to Hold Your Hand," had sold 1.5 million copies in the US within a few weeks of its release. The Beatles sound, which consisted of beat, rock and roll and skiffle, was something entirely new to the music industry, which up until that point had been dominated by the Elvis-driven musical style rockabilly which fused country-western, rhythm and blues and pop music.

Beatlemania had finally consumed the US and in February, 1964 John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr headed off to New York City for their first televised concert in the U.S. on the Ed Sullivan Show. Over 73 million viewers (34% of the population) tuned in making if the largest TV audience thus recorded for an American television program.

“Introducing the Beatles”

Two days later they played their first US concert at Washington Coliseum in front of 8,000 fans. The Beatles played two more concerts in the US before heading back to Britain, one in Carnegie Hall and another in Miami, which was again broadcast live on the Ed Sullivan Show to the delight of over 70 million viewers. The Beatles went on to become what many to consider the greatest and most influential rock band in history with 21 #1 hits and 600 million albums sold worldwide.

The Beatles visit to the US marked a turning point in their careers and lead the way for other British bands, so many in fact that it was dubbed “The British Invasion.” Throughout the next year the Beatles came back to the US for a month long tour and were quickly followed by other British bands such as The Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits and The Dave Clark Five to name a few.

Fun Facts:

• After their Ed Sullivan Show performance, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” sold another 2 million copies.
• There were 0 crimes reported in New York City on February 9, 1964 when the Beatles performed.
• The famous song “Yesterday,” originally had the working title “Scrambled Eggs.”

Lindsay Dwyer,
Reference & Instruction Librarian

Sources Consulted:

Cloud2013. (2014, June 29). Introducing the Beatles. Retrieved from: https://flic.kr/p/o9w5EQ

Library of Congress. (1664). Kennedy Airport: The Beatles wave to the thousands of screaming   teenagers after their arrival. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

Loder, Kurt. "The Beatles. (Cover Story)." Time. 151.22 (1998): 144. Military & Government Collection. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

Perone, James E. Mods, Rockers, and the Music of the British Invasion. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2009. Internet resource.

Sexton, Paul. "British Invasion.." Billboard. 120.38 (2008): 26. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

“The Beatles: 50 Facts for the 50th Anniversary.” Edsullivan. SOFA Entertainment, n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

This blog post is the 10th in a series produced in coordination
with Albertsons Library’s 50th Anniversary. #BoiseStLibraryat50

The Legacy of Miss Ruth McBirney

Figure 1. Ruth McBirney, Evenlyn Evarts (left), and Lois Hansen (right).
Boise Junior College librarians. University archives photo.

A new exhibit celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Albertsons Library is now up! This second exhibit of the year showcases Ruth McBirney, Head Librarian from 1954 to 1977. But, who was this woman? Why is there an entire exhibit on her? Ruth was a key figure that helped transform Boise Junior College into Boise State University. With her strong commitment to education and to Boise State, Ruth worked effortlessly for 23 years to ensure the library kept up with academic needs.

Ruth, a Boise native, was born on January 16, 1918. Graduating from Boise High School in 1935, Ruth attended one year at Boise Junior College. A year later, Ruth entered Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where she studied French and Music. Ruth graduated from Whitman in 1939, and later received her bachelor’s in Library Science from the University of Washington in 1940. Ruth then returned to Boise where she worked as a librarian for Boise Junior College and the Boise Public Library for two years.

In 1942, Ruth went to New York, where she worked for the Music Library at Columbia University.  Her French degree suited her well as she traveled to France to be a reference librarian in 1947. She later was appointed head librarian. Her experiences in France are well documented and can be found within her files in Special Collections and Archives. Ruth returned to Boise in 1954, when she agreed to step in as head librarian of Boise Junior College while the current head librarian was ill. Ruth would find herself in this position for the next 23 years.

Figure 2. Ruth, Robert Overstreet (Board of Trustees), and a
construction official with the cornerstone of the library, 1963.
University archives photo.

During her 23 years in that post, Boise Junior College became a four-year college and, in 1974, Boise State University. As head librarian, Ruth oversaw the construction of a new library building and built the collection from one of 20,000 volumes to one containing 300,000 volumes.

She was instrumental in bringing the congress classification system you see today. Her efforts in establishing a university archives was tremendous, having donated a few of her own personal books to get it started.

Ruth was a woman of stature and character, but was headstrong and fought for Boise State students. Under Ruth’s leadership, the Boise State library became one of the biggest and most efficient libraries in Idaho, despite its rather secluded location. During her tenure, Ruth became involved with the Soroptimist Club of Boise, served as president of the Idaho Library Association, and attended the First Presbyterian Church. With her busy schedule, Ruth always took time to do what she loved the most, traveling. While at Boise State, and after her retirement, Ruth traveled to distant places. China, France, Europe, Italy, and India are among her many destinations.

Figure 3. Ruth at her desk, 1969.
University Archives photo.

In 1977, Ruth retired from Boise State University. Her retirement prompted many acknowledgments from Boise State employees and even Senator Frank Church.

After her retirement, Ruth donated almost $16,000 to form the Lois and Chaffee Scholarship. This scholarship benefited many students studying Music, History, and English. Ruth McBirney died in Boise, Idaho on March 20, 1991.

For more information on Ruth McBirney, be sure to check out the exhibit! It will be up for the remainder of the Fall semester. Be sure to also check out the permanent exhibit located inside the Ruth McBirney room on the second floor.

All materials from this exhibit can be located in Special Collections and Archives in the Ruth McBirney files (MSS 113).

Arthur Aguilera
Student Library Assistant

#BoiseStLibraryat50

ANSWERS TO MYSTERIES REVEALED!

You may have noticed announcements about the library celebrating the 50th anniversary of its building, and yet, we have this cornerstone the clearly says 1995. What gives? Discover the answer to this and other library history questions at a brownbag lecture by Boise State’s university archivist, Julia Stringfellow. It’s happening this Thursday (11/13) from noon in LIB201C. Just by attending you’re automatically entered in a drawing to win a portable power pack, useful for recharging on the go.

Elizabeth Ramsey,
Reference Librarian

This blog post is the seventh in a series, produced in coordination with the celebration of Albertsons Library’s 50th Anniversary. #BoiseStLibraryat50

50 Years of The Beatles

By United Press International, photographer unknown
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Is there a certain song that instantly transports you back in time? The melody accompanying a road trip where you watched the familiar melt away, and the new surround you. The song that filled a room full of spinning lights and laughter at a school dance. The tune a family member used to hum while they completed a mundane task. The entire album of the first band you fell in love with that you sang at the top of your lungs, windows rolled down. Memories that can not be separated from their soundtrack.

The Beatles are who I remember playing in the background while we sang and danced along. They were playing while we cleaned the house, while we had a lazy morning, and while we drove down the road to new adventures. Sure, there were plenty of other bands and songs playing in the background, but The Beatles have stuck with me my whole life. Their songs still make me smile, make me tap my fingers on the steering wheel, and make me want to dance. They were one of the few bands that as technology changed, I replaced their albums with the latest format, from vinyl, to tape, to CD, to MP3. The movies they made also represent an evolution in technology, from black and white, to color, to cartoon!

Beatlemania hit the United States in 1964, the same year the Albertsons Library opened. The Beatles performance on the Ed Sullivan Show was undoubtedly the turning point for many of their fans. According to this documentary, not only did the crime rate drop that day, but 40% of the TOTAL U.S. population watched their performance. Go back and read that again, let it sink in. Forty percent! 

One thing about Beatlemania I’ll never understand is, why did all those people buy tickets to hear a band play, but spend the whole time screaming so loud they probably didn’t hear a single song? 

Dig the Beatles? Check ‘em out from the Albertsons Library!

Yellow submarine record, http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/42531861
Help! record, http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/4331454
We're Going to See the Beatles!" ebook  http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/870597460
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band CD http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/15860942
The Beatles Anthology DVD, http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/51961909

Deana Brown,
Reference Librarian

 


















This blog post is the fifth in a series, produced in coordination with the celebration of Albertsons Library’s 50th Anniversary. #BoiseStLibraryat50

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!

Eddie Vedder, Sandra Bullock, Rob Lowe, Stephen Colbert, Courtney Love, Bobby Flay, Sarah Palin, Michelle Obama… Albertsons Library? We were all born in 1964! Well, construction on the new building started in 1963, but the library held its first open house for the public in August, 1964. The library was not named Albertsons until 1995, after Albertsons Inc. donated six million dollars toward the library expansion and renovation. Still, we’ve decided to celebrate our Golden Anniversary this year, and you can expect a number of opportunities to join in the festivities.

To commemorate the event we’re producing a publication that will be hosted on ScholarWorks, and we welcome your contributions to that publication. If you have an anecdote, fact or photo about the library in the past fifty years, please send it to the library’s Outreach Coordinator, Elizabeth Ramsey at elizabethramsey@boisestate.edu. As part of the celebration we currently have a great photo exhibit up on the 2nd floor of the library from Special Collections, Broncos Through the Decades, and Special Collections will also be creating new exhibits monthly from the University archives.

We’ll be keeping you up-to-date on all the groovy anniversary happenings throughout our social media outlets. You can join the conversation on Twitter, where we’re using the hashtag #BoiseStLibraryat50. We’ll also be posting regularly on:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/albertsonslibrary?ref=hl

Instagram http://instagram.com/albertsonslibrary

Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/albertsonslib/

and this blog, so stay tuned! Here’s to fifty years of knowledge, growth and innovation!

This blog post is the third in a series, produced in coordination with the celebration of Albertsons Library’s 50th Anniversary.

KAPOW! Batman swag on the Quad!

Albertsons Library is not the only institution celebrating a birthday this year. Batman has us beat by a full 25 years. The cowled crusader first appeared in a DC comic in 1939, and has since grown to be, as Warner Brothers claims, “the single most successful film franchise in history,” with additional appearances on TV series, in video games, and publishing and merchandise.

We’ll be celebrating Batman’s birthday on Wednesday, July 23rd from 11am on the Quad as various Bat Girls and mini Batmen hand out swag bags. With limited quantities available, it’s a good idea to get there quickly! If you miss it, or need an additional Batman fix you might check out these resources available at the library:

On our shelves
Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack2nd Floor, Compact Disc M1527.Z55 D37 2008

DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore3rd Floor, PN6727.M664 A6 2006

Batman: the Dark Knight Strikes Again3rd Floor, PN6728.B36 M546 2002

eBooks
Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Iconhttp://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/857365220

Fan Phenomena: Batmanhttp://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/856869786

Hunting The Dark Knighthttp://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/851315641

Online
DC Comics 75thhttp://bit.ly/1hZzMol

“Batman: Strange Days” official 75th short film
http://bit.ly/1ev2A67

TIME Magazine’s history of Batman logohttp://time.com/41410/batman-logos-gif/

This post is the second in a series celebrating Albertsons Library’s 50th [#BoiseStLibraryat50]

Elizabeth Ramsey & Deana Brown,
Reference Librarians