Schools : Let's celebrate John Lennon ! Resources

credits: Paul McCartney YouTube

Paul McCartney & John Lennon duet, 2022

 

“Got Back” tour 2022, when McCartney duetted with a video of John Lennon on the Beatles’ classic “I’ve Got a Feeling.”

Lennon 80

https://www.johnlennon.com/news/

"There’s a lot that can be said about John Lennon, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Even more can be said about the individual experiences people have had growing up with his music."

Mike Dutton, doodler

Happy Birthday, John

https://www.thebeatles.com/

Imagine! 80 years! John Lennon would be 80 years-old, this day, 9 October 2020. On 8 October 2010, Google celebrated his 70th anniversary with a poetic Doodle interactive. Imagine!

John Lennon, the Beatle singer was celebrated by Google on the 8 October 2010, but Lennon was born on 9 October.

When we entered on the search engine's home page we were greeted to an illustration which has been designed in celebration of a day before what would have been the singer-songwriter's milestone. 

Google doodle John Lennon's 70th birthday
doodler: Mike Dutton

https://www.google.com/doodles/

• Google Doodle:

Clicking on the doodle, it links to a 32 second track, which plays his popular song Imagine.

As it plays the doodle generates different pictures including that of a butterfly and a flower before turning back to a black and white version of the Google logo.

Students can then click through to the YouTube version of it if they want feel the musical experience online.

Lennon was shot dead outside his apartment in New York. He was a pacifist and his theme Imagine gained even more impact after his death.

via YouTube

He was killed on 8 December 1980. December 8th 2020, forty years ago John Lennon was murdered. The world lost one of its greatest artists of all time. A tribute to present what is his masterpiece, his greatest heritage. We miss you John!

Students can read Remembering John Lennon by Paul McCartney, Ringo Star and a few words by George Harrison on The Beatles official website.

Imagine

John Lennon
graffiti
credits: unknown

His window Yoko Ono encouraged this year, 2010, all fans around the world to send videos tribute  to YouTube to celebrate the very special day.

John Lennon in New York

credits: not identified

https://www.feelnumb.com/

John Lennon [1940-1980]

credits: Getty Images

John Lennon composed some of the greatest 'classics' in world music, such as Help, In my Life, Strawberry Fields Forever and Imagine.

Lennon also produced classics, on the Plastic Ono Band, alongside Yoko Ono, as Imagine, Jealous Guy and Mother, about his conflicted relationship with his mother.

The Beatles in 1962

credits: dpa/ pictures

In an interview, Lennon once spoke about the superhuman high expectations of fans: "They would expect to see God playing." 

He then wished each Beatles member individual happiness and added: "Whether collectively or not, we will see."

The official website The Beatles celebrates his 80th anniversary with the video below:

So, today October 8, marks what would have been the legendary John Lennon’s 80th birthday.

"Although gone for nearly 40 years – the same amount of time he was on Earth, the musician, songwriter and peace activist’s timeless and beloved music -  with The Beatles, his collaborations with his widow Yoko Ono Lennon and his acclaimed solo works – continues to thrill, inspire and lately resonate more than ever"

The Beatles

CD John Lennon The Hits

https://www.johnlennon.com/

"Love, heartbreak, peace, truth, lies, the media, racism, feminism, religion, mental well-being, marriage, fatherhood – he sang about it all, and one just needs to listen to his songs to know how he felt, what he cherished, what he believed in, and what he stood for."

The Beatles

The video Woman (Ultimate Mix, 2020) - John Lennon (official music video HD) is a tribute by his widow Yoko Ono on the day Lennon would be 80.

Education:

• Let's include John Lennon's message into Languages Civics and Music curriculum!

• Imagine lyrics are so beautiful to talk about some important values: peace, equality, justice, friendship, solidarity. And to play the song in the classroom.

• Woman an important theme to talk about women and equity.

• Invite students to visit and explore the two websites: John Lennon and The Beatles.

• In English curriculum as a foreign language, invite your students to work on the lyrics: pronunciation, vocabulary, values.
• 
  
• In the classroom or at the school library, display the biopic Nowhereboy. Nowhere Boy is a biopic about John Lennon's adolescence, the creation of his first band, The Quarrymen, and its evolution into The Beatles. 

• Invite your students to produce a short video in a cross-curricular project: Languages, Arts, Music, and display it at the school library, introducing the theme 'Peace'.
• 
  
• Organize an exhibition on the 80th anniversary: life, news, photos, CDs, open to all students, teachers, parents .

Resources: 

• Video: Premiered November 20, 2020

• Photos:

John Lennon's Life in Pictures

https://www.dw.com/en/imagine-lennon-would-have-turned-80/a-55203096

Nowhere Boy

Sam Taylor Johnson, 2009

https://www.imdb.com/

• Films & books:

Nowhere Boy is based on the book Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon by Julia Baird, 2007)

Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon

Julia Baird, 2007

https://www.amazon.co.uk/

A chronicle of John Lennon's first years, focused mainly in his adolescence and his relationship with his stern aunt Mimi, who raised him, and his absentee mother Julia, who re-entered his life at a crucial moment in his young life.

The 2019 romantic comedy Yesterday depicts a struggling musician who realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate timeline where they never existed.

Empire State Building

https://www.johnlennon.com/news/

"The Empire State Building will shine its world-famous tower lights in sky blue with a white peace sign rotating in the mast tonight, Thursday, October 8, 2020, in partnership with the John Lennon Estate and Universal Music Group to celebrate John Lennon’s life and legacy ahead of what would have been his 80th birthday, Friday, October 9. The lights will illuminate at sunset (approx. 6:25 pm EDT) and stay on until 2 am EDT."

John Lennon official website

John Lennon

https://www.johnlennon.com/

"You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one " 

John Lennon, Imagine

Some of the lyrics from Imagine became a hymn for peace in the world!

The Strawberry Fields memorial dedicated to John Lennon

 in New York City's Central 

Imagine! It would be impossible to me not to spread Lennon words about peace! Yes, I'm a dreamer too!

Lennon viewed his work as one rich story, one step on the journey to Creating a better world, one ongoing, never-ending search for truth.

‘I always consider my work one piece… and I consider that my work won’t be finished until I’m dead and buried – and I hope that’s a long, long time,’ 

John Lennon, words on the last day of his life. 

‘So to me it’s part of one whole piece of work from the time I became public to now…And the eighties is like, we’ve got a new chance.’

G-Souto 

08.10.10

update 08.10.2022

Copyright © 2020G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Schools : Let's celebrate John Lennon ! Resources by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Schools : Pop-rock music : Beatles' Abbey Road 50th anniversary : resources

The Beatles: Abbey Road 50 years

credits: Apple Corps/via BBC

"It’s hard to believe that Abbey Road still holds up after all these years. But then again it’s a bloody cool album."

Sir Paul McCartney, tweet

As my usual readers know I wrote on my post Music Day : the value of Music in public education and I include a brief note on The Beatles' Abbey Road number one in the UK, 50 years after it first topped the album charts.

The new version features original tracks such as Here Comes The Sun and Come Together as well as previously unheard material from the recording sessions.

Nothing better! Today, John Lennon would be 79 years-old. He was born on the 9 October 1940.

The Beatles: Abbey Road 50 years

credits: Apple Corps/via BBC

So, i'ts a beautiful day to write about Abbey Road, the last album of the group, produced by Sir George Martin. On the photo cover the group walk across the street in single file from left to right, with Lennon leading, followed by Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, 1960.

In September 1969, Lennon privately informed his bandmates that he was leaving the band.

The Beatles

Photo: The Beatles at Tittenhurst Park, 22 August 1969 

© Apple Corps Ldt

Despite being their penultimate release, Abbey Road was in fact the last album The Beatles ever recorded together. Let It Be, which came out the following year, had been recorded first, but was initially shelved over disagreements about its production.

The album has been newly mixed by producer Giles Martin and mix engineer Sam Okell, accompanied by 23 session recordings and demos, most of them previously unreleased.

The album, the last that the group recorded together, but released on 26 September 1969, before 1970’s Let It Be. The three-track ‘Something’ EP, featuring the 2019 Stereo Mix, the Studio Demo and Take 39 – Instrumental – Strings Only, can be streamed here.

Music video by The Beatles performing Something (2019 Mix / Audio). © 2019 Calderstone Productions Limited (a division of Universal Music Group)

“The magic comes from the hands playing the instruments, the blend of The Beatles’ voices, the beauty of the arrangements. Our quest is simply to ensure everything sounds as fresh and hits you as hard as it would have on the day it was recorded.”

Giles Martin, introduction

Education:

So... Let It Be! Consider to include into your school curriculum, The Beatles: Abbey Road 50 years, talking about Pop-rock music! That´s right! 

"Pop-rock music is a genre that has allured the attention of young people for more than 50 years of its existence. Its prejudices and benefits will be examined as the future of rock music in education is discussed through the methodology of a sample lesson plan."

Andre Firm, California State University

Students curiosity emerge when musical examples using pop-rock are presented. Certainly, their background can conducive to this, and teachers will note her enthusiasm.

The Beatles Abbey Road

via Vevo

Resources:

And of course, don't forger the great digital resource on Voyager Google Earth! Beattlemania published on my blog May 2017.

Euronews: Watch: It's 50 years since The Beatles' iconic Abbey Road photo was taken



G-Souto

09.10.2019
Copyright © 2019G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Schools : Pop-rock music : Beatles Abbey Road 50th anniversary : resources by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Schools : Let's enjoy Beatlemania on Voyager Google Earth

screenshot Beatlemania on Google Earth

https://earth.google.com/web/

“The Beatles weren’t the leaders of the generation, but the spokesmen.” 

Paul McCartney

And now, something new and very special on Google Earth Voyager. Very special for music, Beatlemania. Yah! 

It was 50 years ago (26 May 1967) The Beatles' classic and beloved album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in UK, 2 June 1967 in USA.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

http://sgtpepper.thebeatles.com/

Some facts:

The album which caused a major shift in modern music did help define the 1967 Summer of Love, but the hard work began in the winter of ‘66. Including 13 songs, the tracks were recorded in over 400 hours during a 129-day period.

On a return flight to London in November 1966, Paul conceived the idea for the album. Unable to sleep, he toyed with the idea of creating a new identity for the band, to allow them to experiment, with each Beatle taking on an alter-ego in the ‘Lonely Hearts Club Band’. 

During the flight, a conversation about the ‘S’ and ‘P’ markings on the salt and pepper sachets occurred between Paul and Mal Evans, the Beatles’ road manager, and sparked the idea for the title ‘Sgt. Pepper’.

The Beatles, 1967

https://www.digitaltrends.com/music/

Follow the Fab Four around the globe, from their beginnings in Liverpool and Hamburg, to spiritual awakenings in India.

We can see what the places The Beatles once performed at look like now, check the Google Earth tour out.

screenshot Strawberry Fields

Tourist attraction in New York City

https://earth.google.com/web/

The Strawberry Fields monument in Central Park is a tribute to John Lennon and is close to Dakota Apartments, the home he shared with Yoko Ono.

Fifty years ago, The Beatles released the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and took millions of listeners into a fantastical world. 

From last May 26, the Google Earth storytelling platform Voyager is celebrating not only this influential album but the whole of the Fab Four's contributions to rock'n'roll.

Ask your students to take a virtual tour around the real world of iconic places that helped form the legacy of The Beatles. Let them express their impressions or feelings.

The Beatles, 1967
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

https://en.wikipedia.org/

Aims:

Using its new Google Earth storytelling tool, Voyager, they will transported across the globe to nine different locations that represent pivotal moments in the Fab Four’s illustrious career. 

Note: All locations have text on the side to explain the historical significance.

screenshot Ed Sullivan Show

Los Angeles, California

https://earth.google.com/web/

For some locations in the tour, students are automatically zoomed into a view of the street. Others, like New York City’s Ed Sullivan Theater, they will need to click on the Street View icon in the lower left-hand corner and then click on the location pin to zoom into the hallowed halls where 

The Beatles gave their first televised performance to 70 million viewers in 1964.

screenshot Cavern Club, Liverpool, UK

https://earth.google.com/web/

The Beatles got their start at Liverpool's Cavern Club. This reconstructed venue, just steps away from the original, is home to 1960s memorabilia and hosts live tribute acts.

screenshot Penny Lane St

https://earth.google.com/web/

Liverpool street that inspired the Beatles' song Penny Lane, released in 1967 on a double A-sided single with "Strawberry Fields Forever". 

Prepare the video music or if the school or teachers have access to Spotify invite students to hear it.

Them students have chance to move along the street in Liverpool, England, that inspired the song Penny Lane. 

Indra Club 64, disco club

Hamburg, Germany

https://earth.google.com/web/

Indra Club 64 the small club is where the Beatles performed over 48 nights in 1960 during their first visit to Hamburg.

screenshot Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Ashram
Ashram in Rishikesh, India
https://earth.google.com/web/

After some other important places students get India where the Beatles arrived in February 1968, and spent some time at this spiritual Himalayan retreat learning meditation and writing music.

screenshot Hollywood Bowl

Concert hall in Los Angeles, California

https://earth.google.com/web/

Students will be able to look around the stands at the Hollywood Bowl where the band performed twice  on August 1964 and the same month in the following year, 1965. 

The gigs were recorded, complete with the screams of the young, fan-filled audience.

Live at the Hollywood Bowl

The Beatles

http://www.thebeatlesonline.co.uk/

Those performances were so good they were recorded and released as the 1977 Beatles live album The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl.

Abbey Road Studios

Recording studio in London, England

https://www.geek.com/

On August 20, 1969, all four members of The Beatles came to Abbey Road Studios to record music together for the last time as a band.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

anniversary edition

http://www.thebeatlesonline.co.uk/thebeatles/

"Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Anniversary Edition is Out Now. A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All.”

The Beatles, official website

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

anniversary edition

http://www.thebeatles.com/news

All of the original songs have also been given new stereo mixes produced by Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles producer, Sir George Martin.

The deluxe editions are available and are a definite must-have for any Beatles fanatic. Who knows if you have a Beatle 'fanatic' among your students?

So let them click here and begin their tour of Beatles moments around the globe.

Education:

"Music should be a very solid part of the education of young children."

Sir George Martin

Voyager allows Earth’s students to feed their wanderlust and pretend they are somewhere - anywhere - other than the classroom cubicle they are actually sitting in.

Say they've never know how The Beatles travelled from Liverpool to India? Voyager pairs the view provided by its maps with an image and a legend for the nine different locations.

Some thoughts:

I defend Music in school curriculum as a serious matter! I wrote about it in different occasions:

A DJ in the orchestra: what a Music lesson could be; International Music Day; Enjoy the Centenary of The Rite of Spring; Music at school : App for students with visual disabilities; Celebrate the International Jazz day playing and other. 

Sir George Martin was the first person to receive an honorary doctorate from Lund University's Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts and the Malmö Academy of Music (2010).

In this short interview, Sir George Martin talks about the importance of Music curriculum in public schools (elementary and secondary education).

He speaks about the minor role of Music teaching in public schools in UK. The picture is not different in public schools in other European countries.

Without any doubt, the importance of Music as social inclusion for kids  has a recognised value in  so many countries. There are wonderful experiments.

The holistic immersive approach of Music (rock, pop, classical) and the engagement of important and experencied musicians is central to achieving significant transformation, particularly to the lives of the most vulnerable children.

Curriculum: Cross-curricular

Levels: All levels

Target: Primary School to High Junior School; Music Vocational School.

"Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue."

Plato

G-Souto

30.05.2017

Copyright © 2017-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Schools : Let's enjoy Beatlemania on Voyager Google Earth by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Sources:

Beatlemania/ Voyager Google Earth

The Beatles

Blog Google