History of Soviet Beatlemania: famous and not so famous monuments of The Beatles on the territory of the former USSR

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Exactly 50 years ago, on November 29, 1963, the Beatles recorded the song I Want To Hold Your Hand, which was later released on the band's fifth disc. For 5 years "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was sold in a circulation of 1 million 509 thousand copies, including in the USSR, where the Liverpool four had many fans. And although the concert of the "Beatles" in the country of the Soviets never took place, on the territory of the post-Soviet space their memory is immortalized not only in the hearts of fans and in all kinds of stories, sometimes close to mythical ones, but also in sculptural compositions.

The first monument to the Beatles in the CIS was erected in a Ukrainian mining town

The first monument to the legendary Liverpool Four on the territory of the CIS is a monument erected in Donetsk at the entrance to the student cafe "Liverpool". The authorship of the monument belongs to the sculptor Vladimir Antipov. The 2-meter-high figures of the musicians are made of plastic and painted in bronze. It should be noted that the author tried to achieve maximum similarity with the members of the Beatles and for this he thoroughly studied the anthology of their performances. The hairstyles and clothing of the band members correspond to 1964. Only Lennon was portrayed by the sculptor as he was in 1968. Lennon stands with the guitar behind his back and with his hand thrown forward, as in the video "Hello Goodbye", where he parodied Elvis Presley.

Particularly attentive admirers of the Beatles' creativity may notice that Paul McCartney's bass has six pegs, although the guitar is 4-string, and Lennon's guitar has no pegs at all.

The monument is erected against a mosaic wall, on which the British flag flaunts, and is accompanied by musical accompaniment - the Beatles' songs are constantly heard near it.

Kazakhs erect a monument to the Beatles on the mountain

In 2007, a monument to the British group "The Beatles" was erected in Kazakhstan, on Mount Kok-Tobe. The bronze composition is a park bench. John Lennon is sitting on it with a guitar, and the rest of the band are standing around. Locals claim that they even received official permission to erect this monument from Paul McCartney and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, but even if this is not the case, the monument is still quite interesting.

Belarusians immortalize the memory of the Beatles in hi-tech style

In 2008, the monument "The Beatles" appeared in Belarus, and it can be considered the most informal and most unpretentious monument that makes everyone smile. The sculptors were employees of one of the auto enterprises in Gomel. The figures of the musicians are made of old car parts: shock absorbers and gears were used for the legs, the saxophone is made of a water pipe. Of course, it's not easy to recognize the musicians in the pile of yesterday's scrap metal. But this composition is very popular in the city. Gomel fans of the Beatles believe that even if Lennon did not play the saxophone, such a substitution is acceptable in a futuristic composition.

The Russians erected a monument to the Beatles at a brick wall on the river bank

The first monument to The Beatles in Russia was erected in May 2009 in Yekaterinburg. The author of the monument is Vadim Okladnikov. A brick wall was erected on the bank of the Iset River, and the space in front of the monument was laid out with polished black granite. The monument itself represents the cast-iron contours of the musicians a little more than human height. On the wall are the lyrics from The Beatles' song “The love you take is equal to the love you make”.

The monument was erected at the expense of the members of the Beatles Club, and the figures were cast at a factory in the town of Mikhailovsk in the south of the Sverdlovsk region, the director of which is the Beatleman.

The most short-lived monument to the Beatles was erected in Novosibirsk

In 2005, a monument to the Liverpool Four appeared in Novosibirsk. True, it stood only for the winter, and in the spring it melted - all because the monument was erected from snow. It remains only to regret that no one thought of making a plaster copy.

They wanted to install Lennon's sculpture in the USSR next to Lenin's sculpture

It may seem incredible, but a monument to the leader of the Beatles, John Lennon, appeared in the city of Mogilev-Podolsky (then the Ukrainian SSR) even before the collapse of the USSR. Graduates of the local school decided to donate a sculpture to their city as a keepsake. Their initiative was supported by the second secretary of the local district committee of the Komsomol, Alexander Dembitsky, and sent the young people to the sculptor Alexei Aleshkin. The guys were fans of John Lennon and offered to erect a monument in his honor, and the sculptor supported their idea. The schoolchildren brought a spire to the sculptor's yard and a monument was made from it.

When the monument was ready, and they were going to erect it in the park, where there was a sculpture of the leader of the world proletariat V. I. Lenin, the city authorities were against it. They even decided to drown the monument in the Dniester, but the director of the local museum, which was then located in the church, agreed to take it. The monument stood there until 1992, and then it was nevertheless moved to the square.

It is worth noting that "The Beatles" and the USSR are connected by a lot of interesting facts, although the Liverpool four never made it to the country of developed socialism. Let's remember three of the most interesting stories:

The Beatles sang "Kalinka" with Zykina

Fans of the "Beatles" and today do not get tired of arguing about whether the concert of this British group in the USSR actually took place. Someone claims that the Beatles sang right on the airport runway, either in Moscow or in Tashkent after a forced landing, someone says that the Liverpool quartet performed in the Kremlin, the Politburo did not like, and therefore their concerts in the USSR was not.

But it is known for certain that on January 16, 1964, in one of the Parisian restaurants, the Beatles met the Soviet singer Lyudmila Zykina. After 2 days, as the singer herself told at a press conference in RIA Novosti in 2009, she was at a concert of the legendary group, and the musicians invited her to sing with them. “We sang Kalinka, and it turned out well,” said Lyudmila Georgievna.

Paul McCartney received an honorary professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory

The Beatles concert in the USSR, in a country where imported goods could be bought only in shops "Birch", the fans did not wait. Only on May 24, 2003, a concert by Paul McCartney took place on Red Square in Moscow. For 3 hours he sang about 40 songs, including songs from the Wings repertoire, hits from The Beatles and songs from the musician's solo period. McCartney visited the Kremlin, met with Vladimir Putin and his wife, and also visited the school where Pyotr Tchaikovsky studied. At the same time, Paul McCartney was awarded the diploma of honorary professor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

When Paul McCartney asked why The Beatles were banned in the USSR, President Putin replied that, in fact, there was no ban. The country was simply “overly ideologized” at that time.

One of the Beatles songs is dedicated to the USSR

The idea to write a song about the USSR was born to Paul McCartney, because, although the musicians could not get behind the Iron Curtain, they knew that they also had fans in the country of the Soviets.

The song "Back In The USSR" was recorded in August 1968 in just 2 days. True, Ringo Star quarreled with McCartney and flew to the sea. The role of the drummer was taken over by the author of the idea. The song was written on behalf of a native of the USSR living in the United States, who is returning to his homeland. Once McCartney joked that it was a song by a "Russian spy."