Older than dirt?
Hardly.
But I have circled the sun a few times round. And I recall that chill night in February 1964, when as but a wee slip of a lad I sat on the couch with Mom and Dad and watched Ed Sullivan introduce "The Beatles!"
I don't remember what songs they sang.
But I do indeed remember quite clearly Dad's assessment:
"They need haircuts."
(As an ex-Marine, what else could he say?)
Thus the Fab Four entered my existence, where they've remained ever since.
Which is why I was so jazzed when I learned that Peter Jackson of LOTR fame had pulled together 60-odd hours of found footage to create a new Beatles documentary "Get Back."
Released in three parts this past Thanksgiving weekend, I invested the full 8-hours or so necessary to consume it in its entirety.
And did I like it?
You betcha.
But not just for the new revelations into what's well-known to be a rocky end to their relationships.
(Hint: there wasn't nearly as much nastiness as I'd been led to believe, leastways not that came through in this telling of the tale.)
I found it irresistible viewing for the way it pulled back the curtain on their creative process.
First, it was news to me just how versatile every band member was.
Sure, I knew that Paul played bass and guitar and a little piano too. But I had no idea just how accomplished he was on all three - plus he was no slouch on drums either.
So too was I impressed to see John pick up the drumsticks to play. As well as George - who could also tickle the keys in quite fair fashion as well. As did Ringo.
It's like every one of them was a band unto themselves.
Second, in the moments between coming up with their own tunes, they would oft-times dive into refrains of a zillion popular tunes of the day, from a number of other artists - Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, the list goes on and on.
And finally, the power of having a DEADLINE drove them to overcome squabbles, creative differences, and uncertainty.
They were on a mission to perform a real song set of new music together on a specific date.
Nothing was going to stop them from making that happen.
The end result was awesome and for the ages - their final live performance as a band atop a London rooftop.
IMO, it was all applicable to writing copy.
Because it was clear from the onset, that even though they were making art, music was their BUSINESS.
And they were quite serious about it.
1) They had made the effort to master the ins-and-outs of all aspects of their craft.
2) They had invested time and energy into absorbing the lessons of the greats about them and before them.
3) They focused on getting this project DONE - the deadline to them was real and it would be met.
Lessons learned.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Write Faster. Write Better. Right Now.
- Jack Turk
"World's Fastest Copywriter"