The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University will present a symposium on Saturday, February 3, 2024 that celebrates the arrival of the Beatles in America sixty years ago. Titled Get Back…To 1964, the day-long event will include panel discussions, interviews, book signings, and musical performances of early Beatles’ songs performed by regional musicians. Participants in the symposium include Beatles’ authors Ken Womack (Living the Beatles Legend), Bruce Spizer (The Beatles Please, Please Me); Rob Sheffield (Dreaming The Beatles), Ken Campbell (The Beatles & the 1960s), radio personalities Dennis Elsas (WFUV and Sirius XM Radio) and Tom Frangione (Sirius XM Radio); musicians, Jim Babjak (Smithereens) and Glen Burtnik & Bob Burger (The Weeklings) and former John Lennon assistant, May Pang (The Lost Weekend: A Love Story). The symposium will also include a special, intimate performance by Weeklings’ members, Glen Burtnik and Bob Burger. “The arrival of The Beatles in February 1964 profoundly changed the course of American music,” said Bob Santelli, Executive Director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music. “They inspired musicians here from New York to San Francisco and brought to rock & roll brand new ideas as to how the music could be made.” “The Beatles transformed American music, fashion and culture. Their mop-top hair styles, Beatle boots and mod clothing became an overnight obsession in the 1960’s”, said Eileen Chapman, Director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music. “They encouraged the younger generation to take a deeper look at what was happening in the world.”
The symposium, which is open to the public, will be held in the auditorium of Monmouth University’s historic Great Hall. Tickets are $64 and can be purchased online or at the Monmouth University Box Office in the Ocean First Bank Center.
