Baby's In Black

A coupla months ago I mentioned The Beatles refusing to play concerts in the US unless they were integrated; here's a bit more about their first US tour, during which their being outsiders and foreign to racism as policy led to their speaking out:

The Fab Four’s outspokenness certainly stood in sharp contrast to the behavior of most American pop stars, who were coached to stick to safe topics like favorite desserts and most embarrassing personal habits. “At that time, no one that I knew of really took the initiative to address any kind of social issues,” says Mark Lindsay, lead singer of Paul Revere & The Raiders. “I can see The Beatles coming over here and being assailed by this weird, unfair policy of segregation. They were not just good musicians. They had intellect. They spoke up...Paul McCartney summed up their position when he told a reporter in 1966, "It wasn’t out of any goody-goody thing; we just thought, ‘Why should you separate black people from white? That’s stupid, isn’t it?’”

When you think of The Beatles, "black people" may not be the first thing that springs to mind, but I for one will never forget when I bought Please Please Me at the Wal-Marts, and the 300-lb black lady checking me out looked at it and said "oh, I love this one!" and belted out the "ooooooh!" from I Saw Her Standing There.

Besides, The Beatles could always get away with the 'ol 'hey, I'm not racist - I have a black friend!"