And I can't play it either.

But the Beatles were able to communicate musically to me in very profound and delightful ways. Yes, the lads definitely had it.

There's been a few documentaries on TV lately about them, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Ed Sullivan show debut (yes! I watched it!). Invariably, these documentaries feature some contemporary film of a journalist or critic of that era looking sagely at the camera and pompously droning on about how silly these boys and their hair, and their music are.

PS. It is now believed that the fact Liverpool was a busy seaport contributed to the musical renaissance there in the early 60s. Seamen would bring 45 singles from the US, and the locals fell for American rock, R&B, and of course, the blues. We owe the Brits a great deal.

My own personal theory is that the British working class understood perfectly the music of the American Negro--they had a lot in common with them and identified with them on an emotional level. Without the Brits, the blues might have vanished forever. By the 50s, even American blacks had moved on to other genres.