I was 11 years old when the Beatles landed in the USA in 1963. I had been aware of rock and roll an pop music on the radio before then, but nothing prepared me for how the Beatles would affect my life.
Either it was me, or kids grew up slower back then. Today you have 7 year old girls into Brittany Spears,etc, but I was pretty naive when I first heard the Beatles. I remember the Ed Sullivan show appearnces like it was yesterday, watching with my brother on the upstairs portable tv, as my parents wanted no part of it.
The first album I bought was 'Meet the Beatles', which I played to death on my parents ancient 'entertainment system'-a combo radio, record player, and 13"tv.
Anyway, to shorten a long story, I pretty much tracked my life through the 60's with the Beatles, and felt like they grew and changed as I did. I wasin junior high when they came out with "Rubber Soul", which blew me away. Suddenly the songs were more introspective, and just seemed better. There's something a little funny about a 14 year old relating to "In My Life", but I would listen to that song over and over and think about the future.
"Revolver" was just as hugefor me. It seemed as I was growing up, the Beatles were growing with me.
Then Sgt Peppers hit. Like so many others, I also discovered pot around this time. I don't think you can blame the Beatles, or Sgt Pepper for my involvement with pot at that age, but I know I turned to it partially as a search for identity, and an escape from the pain of adolesence. It was actually a year after Pepper that I started, and I found that Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, and Lord help me-'Iron Butterfly" were more conducive to listening to while stoned.
The 60's rolled on and the signs that all was not well in Beatle world were there. The white album came out, and clearly reflected the change. It was more like a collection of solo songs than a standard Beatle album. They were going through struggles and so was I. When they broke up in 1970, it made perfect sense to me. I had just graduated college, and my life was in disarray. I felt I understood John Lennon perfectly.
Theres more to say about this, but I'll do it later.
Thanks again to Ted for his insights here