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 group’s fifth album. Over the course of 5 years, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” sold 1 million 509 thousand copies, including in the USSR, where the Fab Four had many fans. And although the Beatles’ concert in the country of the Soviets never took place, in the post-Soviet space their memory is immortalized not only in the hearts of fans and in all sorts of stories, sometimes close to mythical, but also in sculptural compositions.
The first Beatles monument in the CIS was installed in a Ukrainian mining town
The first monument to the legendary Liverpool Four in the CIS is the monument erected in Donetsk at the entrance to the Liverpool student cafe. The authorship of the monument belongs to the sculptor Vladimir Antipov. The 2-meter figures of musicians are made of plastic and painted bronze. It is worth noting that the author tried to achieve maximum similarity with the members of the Beatles and for this purpose he thoroughly studied the anthology of their performances. The hairstyles and clothing of the band members correspond to 1964. Only Lennon was depicted by the sculptor as he was in 1968. Lennon stands with a guitar behind his back and his hand thrown forward, as in the “Hello Goodbye” video, where he imitated Elvis Presley.
Particularly attentive admirers of the Beatles' work may notice that Paul McCartney's bass guitar has six pegs, although the guitar is 4-string, and Lennon's guitar has no pegs at all.
The monument is installed near a mosaic wall on which the British flag flaunts, and is accompanied by musical accompaniment - The Beatles songs are constantly playing near it.
Kazakhs erected 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 represents a park bench. John Lennon is sitting on it with a guitar, and the rest of the band are standing around. Local residents claim that official permission to install this monument was even received from Paul McCartney and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, but even if this is not the case, the monument is still quite interesting.
Belarusians immortalized the memory of the Beatles in high-tech style
In 2008, the monument to “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 Gomel automobile enterprises. The figures of the musicians are made from old car parts: shock absorbers and gears were used for the legs, the saxophone is made from a water pipe. Of course, it’s not easy to recognize musicians in a 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 replacement is acceptable in a futuristic composition.
The Russians erected a monument to the Beatles near 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. Built on the banks of the Iset River brick wall, and the space in front of the monument was lined with polished black granite. The monument itself consists of cast iron outlines of musicians slightly larger than human height. On the wall are words from The Beatles song “The love you take is equal to the love you make.”
The monument was erected with funds from 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, whose director is a Beatlemaniac.
The short-lived Beatles monument was erected in Novosibirsk
In 2005, a monument to the Fab Four appeared in Novosibirsk. True, it only stood for the winter, and melted in the spring - all because the monument was erected from snow. One can only regret that no one thought of making a plaster copy.
In the USSR they wanted to install the sculpture of Lennon next to the sculpture of Lenin
This may seem incredible, but a monument to the Beatles leader John Lennon appeared in the city of Mogilev-Podolsky (then Ukrainian SSR) even before the collapse of the USSR. Graduates of a local school decided to give their city a sculpture as a souvenir. Their initiative was supported by the second secretary of the local Komsomol district committee, Alexander Dembitsky, and sent the young people to the sculptor Alexei Aleshkin. The guys were fans of John Lennon and proposed erecting a monument in his honor, and the sculptor supported their idea. The schoolchildren brought a spire to the sculptor’s yard and the monument was made from it.
When the monument was ready, and they were going to install it in the park where the sculpture of the leader of the world proletariat V.I. Lenin stood, the city authorities were against it. They even decided to drown the monument in the Dniester, but the director of the local museum, then located in the church, agreed to take it. The monument stood there until 1992, and then it was moved to the park.
It is worth noting that The Beatles and the USSR are connected by many interesting facts, although the Fab Four never reached the country of developed socialism. Let's remember three of the most interesting stories:
The Beatles sang “Kalinka” with Zykina
Fans of the Beatles, even today, never tire of arguing over whether the concert actually took place. British group in the USSR. Someone claims that the Beatles sang directly on runway airport either in Moscow or in Tashkent after an emergency landing, someone says that the Fab Four performed in the Kremlin, the Politburo did not like it, and therefore there were no concerts in the USSR.
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 said at a press conference at RIA Novosti in 2009, she was at a concert 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 a diploma of honorary professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory
The fans never got to see the Beatles concert in the USSR, in a country where imported goods could only be bought in . Only on May 24, 2003, a Paul McCartney concert took place on Red Square in Moscow. In 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 a diploma of honorary professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
When asked by Paul McCartney why The Beatles were banned in the USSR, President Putin replied that, in fact, there was no ban. It’s just that the country at that time was “overly ideologized.”
One of the Beatles' songs is dedicated to the USSR
The idea to write a song about the USSR came from 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 on by the author of the idea himself. The song was written from the perspective of a native of the USSR living in the USA, who is returning to his homeland. McCartney once joked that this was the song of a “Russian spy.”
The first part is about monuments in Russia and the CIS
- second, about monuments in Europe...
Well, now the rest of the World!
John Lennon Brett-Livingston Strong Statue
This is the only statue of John Lennon created during the musician's lifetime. Its author is the Australian artist Brett-Livingston Strong (who, by the way, is the author of the portrait of Michael Jackson). It was created in 1980. According to the author, this statue reflects the life of John Lennon and his vision of world peace.
A copy of the statue was installed in 1981 in Los Angeles and was unveiled by Mayor Tom Bradley. Rumor has it that the statue has now been removed. In 1983, bronze John Lennon "took the stage" with U2 during a rock festival in America. The audience was more than 300,000 people.
In the early 80s, Rolling Stone magazine collected more than 250,000 signatures for the installation of a statue in Central Park New York, bypassing the moratorium, according to which a sculpture can only be installed in a park if it is dedicated to an event 25 years (or more) ago. Apparently nothing worked out then. Now, after 25 years, plans to install a monument have reappeared. Now the sculpture is in the Rock and Roll Museum.
Author's website
By the way, in Central Park in New York there is a memorial “Strawberry Meadow”, which is a triangle, the central part of which is a round mosaic, in the center of which the word “Imagine” is laid out. The entrance to the memorial section is located at the western end of the park, opposite the Dakota Apartments, where John Lennon lived recent years his life and was shot and killed by fan Mark Chapman.
Photo of the memorial
Monument to John Lennon in Lima (Peru)
In the capital of Peru, Lima, in the San Miguel district, on the shores of the Pacific (Pacific in English;)) ocean stands John Lennon... He surprises many tourists (a large hotel is located opposite the monument). At the foot of the monument there is a mosaic circle reminiscent of New York (I wrote about it above)The monument was opened in 2007 on the initiative of the mayor of San Miguel, Salvador Heresy, a Beatles fan.
About the monument (English)
Location of the monument on the map (comment in Spanish)
Beatles monument in Ulaanbaatar
But where no one expected the Beatles monument is in the very heart of Asia - in Mongolia... but stillOpened on October 9, 2008 on the street. Tserendorzha, opposite the central department store of Ulaanbaatar (“Ikh dalgur”). The project was supported by the Mongolian government. The country's Prime Minister Sanzhiin Bayar turned out to be an ardent fan of the group. Composition: silhouettes of the band members, cast in bronze, against the background of a wall shaped like the body of a guitar. Funds for the opening of the monument were collected in a short time. It was expected that the installation of the monument would cost one hundred thousand dollars. After its opening, it was reported that the costs were about 100 million tugriks. It is not known whether the monument was equipped with powerful speakers, as was originally intended, so that the songs of the Beatles and their Mongolian followers could be heard from them. Concerts will be held right in front of the monument.
By the way, the monument is “double-sided”.
Monument to John Lennon in John Lennon Park in Havana
Another, somewhat unexpected place for a monument to the Beatles, or rather their leader, John Lennon. Havana, the capital of Cuba, the Vedado district, there is a whole park named after John Lennon! And in the park there is a monument.Cast in bronze by Cuban sculptor José Villa Soberon, Lennon appears seated on a bench in a relaxed pose. According to the author, fans of the leader of the Fab Four will be able to approach Lennon and “talk to him as if he were alive.”
The sculptor wanted to represent the founder of the Beatles" not only as a great musician, but also as a revolutionary, a destroyer of all kinds of dogmas"Perhaps the artist from Liberty Island was inspired by the fact that in January 2000, another member of the Beatles, Paul McCartney, visited Cuban city Santiago de Cuba and in the book of visitors to the fortress of San Pedro de la Roca left a note: “Long live the Revolution!”
It must be said that Fidel Castro himself was present at the opening of the monument, who said that he always respected Lennon “for his revolutionary views.” Let us note that in the 60s, when the Beatles were at the zenith of their fame (as, indeed, was Comrade Fidel himself), the Cuban authorities condemned their music as decadent. But this time Fidel called Lennon a great revolutionary and expressed regret that he had never met him in person. "I am a dreamer who has seen some of his dreams come true," said Fidel, demonstrating a thorough knowledge of John Lennon's Imagine and an unconquerable belief in the Cuban revolution.
At the foot of the sculpture there is an inscription that reads: “Dirías que soy un soñador pero no soy el único”, a Spanish translation of a phrase from the song Imagine, translated " You could say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not alone»
By the way, Lennon is depicted without glasses (according to another version, they are constantly stolen), but visitors to the park put real ones on him...
About John Lennon Park
Another monument to John Lennon in Cuba
Another monument to John Lennon from Havana... In addition to Lennon, there is also a barefoot Lennon with a book on a park bench. Apparently in some hotel...Beatles monument in Houston
For some reason, this monument is heavily criticized... especially for its gigantic size. The height of the monument is about 12 meters (hello Tseretelli)
The author is sculptor David Adicks, a true monumentalist! Now the sculpture group is installed along Highway 10 in the center of Houston, where it is visible for several miles to everyone passing by. After standing for at least 10 years in Houston, the monument may move to the Rock and Roll Museum in Cleveland.
02:02 pm - Beatles monuments (part 1: Russia and the CIS)
I once wrote this post for my old blog. But now I decided to edit it a little, update it and post it here (when people move, they take expensive things with them, but I’ll “take away” posts that are dear to my heart =)
A long time ago, in those days when there was much more free time, I began to wonder how many monuments to the Beatles there are in the world. This interest was catalyzed by the fact that I visited the city of Donetsk and personally saw there
I saw the first monument in Donetsk, so we’ll start with that. It would be more logical to start from Liverpool... but I’ll first consider the post-Soviet space, and then I’ll “move beyond the border”
This monument is the first monument in the CIS. Installed in 2006 at the entrance to the Liverpool student canteen (by the way, it’s a good establishment - the food is delicious and there are photos of the Beatles on the walls). The figures of the musicians were made by Kharkov sculptor Vladimir Antipov from plastic and painted bronze. The band members' clothes and hairstyles correspond to the years 1963-1964, except for John Lennon, who is depicted in glasses (he began wearing them in 1966), with a hairstyle from 1967-1968. The monument is accompanied by musical accompaniment - Beatles songs are played near it. Of all the Beatles monuments in the post-Soviet space, the monument in Donetsk seems to me the best. And now about the rest!
About the monument on Wikipedia
In terms of perpetuating Beatlemania, Ukrainians can safely consider themselves the first in the CIS. The first monument to the entire four appeared in Donetsk, and the first monument to the leader of the Beatles John Lennon appeared in the city of Mogilev-Podolsky already in 1989!!! The history of its creation is quite interesting. It is described, below I give it in full
Graduates of the 9th grade of local school No. 6 Vlad Pervachuk, Borya Goretsky and Andrey Levin decided on behalf of their comrades to donate a sculpture to their city. They didn’t think for a long time about who they wanted to immortalize - they were all Beatles fans. And the personality of John Lennon, who died on December 8, 1980, was very close to the guys. Without worrying too much (perestroika was in full swing), they turned to the second secretary of the local district Komsomol committee, Alexander Dembitsky, who turned out to be a progressive leader of the youth. He directed the guys to local sculptor Alexei Aleshkin. “They even proposed starting a tradition - so that all graduates would leave sculptures for the city as a souvenir,” Aleshkin recalls. - And I liked the idea with Lennon. After all, my wife and I are from the Beatle generation. Therefore, together with the guys from the quarry, they brought a spire that looked like a guitar, and they began to create it right in my yard. When the monument was ready, we decided that we would erect it in December, on the anniversary of Lennon’s death.
The sculpture began to be installed in the park. However, then none of the children and adults thought that there was a monument to Lenin twenty meters away. The authorities arrived from the district party committee and were loudly indignant: “Who is this Lennon? Why didn’t you erect a monument to Pavlik Morozov or Alexander Matrosov?!” At this time, the guys held candles in their hands and sang Beatles songs with a guitar. And the frozen sculptor Aleshkin continued to carve the words on the monument: “Give peace a chance!” “The police caught up with so much,” the sculptor recalls. “But they didn’t dare to arrest us because there were a lot of people at the opening.” I was then called both an abstract artist and a homosexual, because on one side of the monument we depicted naked John and Yoko. I had to explain at length that I was a symbolist, not a homosexual. The Beatle was kept in the church. Then the guys played guitars all night. And in the morning they loaded the monument into a car and drove it... to drown it in the Dniester. Fortunately, local newspaper correspondent Nikolai Pasechnik saw all this. He blocked the road with his car. Then the director of the local museum, who was just on his way to work, came up and offered to take the sculpture to him. And the museum was then in the Church of St. Nicholas. John Lennon was taken there, where he stayed until 1992. When young Pyotr Brovko became mayor of Mogilev-Podolsky, the monument was moved from the church to the park.
Following Ukraine, a monument to the Fab Four appeared in Kazakhstan. It was installed there in May 2007 on Mount Kok-Tobe. Made of bronze. The composition represents a park bench on which John Lennon sits with a guitar, and the rest of The Beatles stand around him. Everything is life-size. The idea of its creation arose in 2003. They write that permission for the installation was given by Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney... this, of course, is not true, but the monument is still quite interesting.
In 2008, the Belarusians caught up and they probably had the most informal and unpretentious monument that brought smiles to everyone. The sculptors were employees of one of the Gomel automobile enterprises. They created a composition in high-tech style. The figures are made from old car parts: the legs are shock absorbers, the hips are gears, the saxophone is a water pipe. Of course, it's not easy to recognize John Lennon or Ringo Star in former scrap metal. However, the quartet collects large number spectators. The composition is especially popular among children. Many people say that this sculpture cannot be called the Beatles because the instruments do not match. I don’t know if, for example, Lennon played the saxophone... but in my opinion, in such a futuristic composition, such a replacement is acceptable!
And finally! First in Russia Beatles monument!!! It was opened in Yekaterinburg quite recently - on May 23, 2009.
Musicians from John Lennon's pre-Beatles group The Quarrymen Rod Davis, Colin Hunton and Len Harry (who are all these people) came to the opening of the Ural monument in Yekaterinburg. Of course, everyone regretted that Paul McCartney and Ringo Star were not at the opening.
The Yekaterinburg administration allowed the installation of a sculptural composition dedicated to The Beatles in the spring of 2007. From that moment on, they began to think about what to put... the forum on the website beatles.ru practically OnLine reflects the process of creating the monument
By the way, if you type “Beatles Monument” in Yandex or Google, then most of the articles will be about Ekaterinburg monument.
Video report
Kogalym Monument
However, the palm of Ekaterinburg is being challenged by the city of Kogalym.Back in 2003, a six-meter stele made in Ufa was installed here. It is made in the shape of an apple - the symbol of the Beatles apple, in the center of which is a gramophone record with the name of the group. The composition ends with an electric guitar with a five-pointed star. The stele, made of metal, concrete and ultra-light alpolik, is dedicated to “good old rock and roll.”
The creators of the monument are confident that it is their monument, and not the monument in Yekaterinburk, that should rightfully be considered the first Beatles monument in Russia!
- Frankly, it’s a little offensive. All my friends and I believed that our city was the winner, and we were proud of it,- says installer Denis Sligun.
- In essence and in form, this is a monument to the Beatles. And also the Komsomol era. After all, it was with the songs of this British group that the young cities of oil workers were built,- says the author of the project Farit Burganov.
Personally, he does not have the slightest desire to challenge the palm: “It’s not important. The more Beatles monuments, the better.” The Kogalym administration prefers not to comment on the situation.
- The fact is that the stele is not even included in the register of monuments,- admits the head of the department of culture and youth policy, Elena Berezhinskaya.
Ekaterinburg Beatlemaniacs say that they have all the documents, etc. monument to the Beatles, which means they are the first. But in my opinion it’s just a matter of PR. One way or another, I like the Kogalym monument more...
Beatles monument from Lipetsk sculptor Nikolai Rogatnev
The history of this monument is complex... it was created in 2007 in the city of Lipetsk by sculptor Nikolai Rogatnev. Afterwards, Rogatnev went to Liverpool and donated the sculpture to the Beatles Museum. And it seems like it’s installed there... only here’s where and how....And the monument became the object of quite a scandal. There is an opinion that the idea for the monument belonged to the Moscow journalist and designer Mikhail Eidinov, and the author insidiously appropriated it for himself... It’s difficult to say who is right and who is wrong...
ORT report about the monument
Snow monument to the Beatles in Novosibirsk
In 2005, a monument to the Beatles was erected in Novosibirsk. From the snow!It melted in the spring... it's a pity... they should have filled it with plaster...
By the way, I think a lot of similar monuments were created, from ice, from sand... but somehow I couldn’t find any more photographs...
By the way, Novosibirsk Beatles fans dream of creating their own Beatles monument... You can read more here
About the Novosibirsk snow monument
Project of the Beatles monument in Samara
Back in 2006, there were persistent rumors that the first Beatles monument in Russia would appear in Samara. The author of the project, sculptor Ivan Melnikov, prepared a miniature copy of the future monument. Well, a whole group of craftsmen from different cities of Russia were waiting to carve full-size two-meter statues from stone in the capital of the province. Moreover, there was a project to open a whole music park! What happened next... three years later the monument was unveiled in Yekaterinburg... and the people of Samara are still waiting. According to rumors, the monument will appear soon... but when.About the monument
More about the monument
Rumors about a Beatles monument in Tomsk and Moscow
In February 2011, information appeared that a Beatles monument would appear in Tomsk. Rector of the Siberian Medical University Vyacheslav Novitsky said that the monument will be located near one of the clinics of the medical university. According to the idea of the authors - Tomsk sculptors Nikolai and Anton Gnedykh, the monument was supposed to repeat the cover of the 1969 "Abbey Road" album, only the Beatles would cross Lenin Avenue. They promised to open the monument in the fall of 2011RIA Novosti happily reported that the figures of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison had already been made... although without specifying that the figures were made of clay, but there was no money for casting. And the money required was not small - 6 million rubles (!)
Already last spring, information appeared that perhaps the monument would be erected in another city, for example in Moscow... no clarifications or details followed.
By the way, I didn’t find any photographs, or even sketches of the monument, so let’s just let it be the cover of Abby Road
John Lennon Street in St. Petersburg
I want to end with my favorite city. There is no Beatles monument as such in St. Petersburg, but there is the art center Pushkinskaya 10. There is an entire John Lennon street here. It is home to the legendary Beatlemaniac Kolya Vasin, the main Beatlemaniac of the USSR, who dreams of building a temple of love and peace named after John Lennon. You can go visit him (I went myself), he will tell and show everything himself (and also sell cool souvenirs)...A couple of years ago, above the entrance to his office there are bas-reliefs created on Pushkinskaya 10 on October 9, 2006. Author - Stepan Mokrousov. Permission to install the bas-reliefs was obtained from the city administration, which means this can also be considered an official monument.
There are streets with the same name, of course, in Liverpool, Warsaw, Lvov, Chelyabinsk, Sofia and, I’m sure, in a dozen other cities. But the St. Petersburg street is still a little unique. Some people believe that “John Lennon Street” is a tiny space where you find yourself after passing the Fish Factory club (the entrance to the Art Center is from Ligovsky Prospekt). There is actually “Kolya Vasin’s house”, the “Kultprosvet” store... So this is not John Lennon Street at all. It is very difficult to find yourself on John Lennon Street, and even more difficult to walk along it. Because in fact it is vertical and goes up! Where there is sky, sun, peace and freedom!
To be continued....
p.s.
By the way, who is interested in St. Petersburg there is also a monument to Freddie Mercury)
Not long ago I was in the city of Donetsk and took a photo with the Beatles monument
Since I am a big fan of this band, I became interested in where else there are monuments to the Fab Four and what they look like... To my surprise and regret, I found little information about this on the Internet =(At least about the monuments to the Beatles for border... Most of them can’t be in the post-Soviet space? I’m sure that some Beatlemaniac has already conducted a similar, but more complete study, if you’ve seen it, share the link. I’d be interested... but here it is. what I found.
I saw the first monument in Donetsk, so we’ll start with that. It would be more logical to start from Liverpool... but I will first consider the post-Soviet space, and then “move beyond the border”
Beatles monument in Donetsk
This monument is the first monument in the CIS. Installed in 2006 at the entrance to the Liverpool student hall (by the way, there are photos of the Beatles on the walls there). The figures of the musicians were made by Kharkov sculptor Vladimir Antipov from plastic and painted bronze. The band members' clothes and hairstyles correspond to the years 1963-1964, except for John Lennon, who is depicted in glasses (he began wearing them in 1966), with a hairstyle from 1967-1968. The monument is accompanied by musical accompaniment - Beatles songs are played near it. Of all the Beatles monuments that I learned about, the monument in Donetsk seems to me the best... But about the rest...
Monument to John Lennon in Mogilev-Podolsky
In terms of perpetuating Beatlemania, Ukrainians can safely consider themselves the first in the CIS. The first monument to the entire four appeared in Donetsk, and the first monument to the leader of the Beatles John Lennon appeared in the city of Mogilev-Podolsky already in 1989!!! The history of its creation is quite interesting. It is described, below I give it in full
Graduates of the 9th grade of local school No. 6 Vlad Pervachuk, Borya Goretsky and Andrey Levin decided on behalf of their comrades to donate a sculpture to their city. They didn’t think for a long time about who they wanted to immortalize - they were all Beatles fans. And the personality of John Lennon, who died on December 8, 1980, was very close to the guys. Without worrying too much (perestroika was in full swing), they turned to the second secretary of the local district Komsomol committee, Alexander Dembitsky, who turned out to be a progressive leader of the youth. He directed the guys to local sculptor Alexei Aleshkin. “They even proposed starting a tradition - so that all graduates would leave sculptures for the city as a souvenir,” Aleshkin recalls. - And I liked the idea with Lennon. After all, my wife and I are from the Beatle generation. Therefore, together with the guys from the quarry, they brought a spire that looked like a guitar, and they began to create it right in my yard. When the monument was ready, we decided that we would erect it in December, on the anniversary of Lennon’s death.
The sculpture began to be installed in the park. However, then none of the children and adults thought that there was a monument to Lenin twenty meters away. The authorities arrived from the district party committee and were loudly indignant: “Who is this Lennon? Why didn’t you erect a monument to Pavlik Morozov or Alexander Matrosov?!” At this time, the guys held candles in their hands and sang Beatles songs with a guitar. And the frozen sculptor Aleshkin continued to carve the words on the monument: “Give peace a chance!” “The police caught up with so much,” the sculptor recalls. “But they didn’t dare to arrest us because there were a lot of people at the opening.” I was then called both an abstract artist and a homosexual, because on one side of the monument we depicted naked John and Yoko. I had to explain at length that I was a symbolist, not a homosexual. The Beatle was kept in the church. Then the guys played guitars all night. And in the morning they loaded the monument into a car and drove it... to drown it in the Dniester. Fortunately, local newspaper correspondent Nikolai Pasechnik saw all this. He blocked the road with his car. Then the director of the local museum, who was just on his way to work, came up and offered to take the sculpture to him. And the museum was then in the Church of St. Nicholas. John Lennon was taken there, where he stayed until 1992. When young Pyotr Brovko became mayor of Mogilev-Podolsky, the monument was moved from the church to the park.
Beatles monument in Almaty
Following Ukraine, a monument to the Fab Four appeared in Kazakhstan. It was installed there in May 2007 on Mount Kok-Tobe. Made of bronze. The composition represents a park bench on which John Lennon sits with a guitar, and the rest of The Beatles stand around him. Everything is life-size. The idea of its creation arose in 2003. They write that permission for the installation was given by Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney... it’s hard to believe the latter, but the monument is still quite interesting.
Beatles monument in Gomel
In 2008, Belarusians joined in and here, probably, the most informal and unpretentious monument appeared, bringing smiles to everyone. The sculptors were employees of one of the Gomel automobile enterprises. They created a composition in high-tech style. The figures are made from old car parts: the legs are shock absorbers, the hips are gears, the saxophone is a water pipe. Of course, it's not easy to recognize John Lennon or Ringo Star in former scrap metal. Nevertheless, the quartet attracts a large number of spectators. The composition is especially popular among children. Many people say that this sculpture cannot be called the Beatles because the instruments do not match. I don’t know if, for example, Lennon played the saxophone... but in my opinion, in such a futuristic composition, such a replacement is acceptable!
Beatles monument in Yekaterinburg
And finally! The first Beatles monument in Russia!!! It was opened in Yekaterinburg quite recently - on May 23, 2009.
Musician Rod Davis from the Quarrymen group (Lennon and McCartney played in it before the Beatles) and friends of the Fab Four Colin Hunton and Len Garry came to Yekaterinburg for the opening of the Ural monument. Many regretted that Paul McCartney and Ringo Star were not at the opening. Their doubles tried to replace the famous musicians.
The Yekaterinburg administration allowed the installation of a sculptural composition dedicated to The Beatles in the spring of 2007. From that moment on, we began to think about what to put... .
By the way, if you type “Beatles Monument” in Yandex or Google, then most of the articles will be about the Yekaterinburg monument.
Perhaps in the coming months I will visit Eburg, I hope to see this monument too!
Kogalym Monument
However, the palm of Ekaterinburg is being challenged by the city of Kogalym.
Back in 2003, a six-meter stele made in Ufa was installed here. It is made in the shape of an apple - the symbol of the Beatles, in the center of which is a gramophone record with the name of the group. The composition ends with an electric guitar with a five-pointed star. The stele, made of metal, concrete and ultra-light alpolik, is dedicated to “good old rock and roll.”
- Frankly, it’s a little offensive. All my friends and I believed that our city was the winner, and we were proud of it,- says installer Denis Sligun.
- In essence and in form, this is a monument to the Beatles. And also the Komsomol era. After all, it was with the songs of this British group that the young cities of oil workers were built,- the author of the project Farit Burganov explains to the RG correspondent.
Personally, he does not have the slightest desire to challenge the palm: “It’s not important. The more Beatles monuments, the better.” The Kogalym administration prefers not to comment on the situation.
- The fact is that the stele is not even included in the register of monuments,- admits the head of the department of culture and youth policy, Elena Berezhinskaya.
Ekaterinburg Beatlemaniacs say that they have all the documents, etc. monument to the Beatles, which means they are the first. But in my opinion it’s just a matter of PR. One way or another, I like the Kogalym monument more...
Well, now we “went abroad” to see the monuments to the Beatles. Let's start with Liverpool, of course!
Monument to John Lennon at Liverpool Airport... named after John Lennon
In 2002, Liverpool Airport was renamed in honor of John Lennon. At the same time, a monument to the legendary Beatle was erected near the registration hall. And the airport’s motto became: “ Above us only sky"(Only the sky above us") - a line from the song "Imagine".
In 2005, a yellow submarine also appeared opposite the airport.
Monument to John Lennon in Liverpool at the entrance to the Cavern club
There is a street in Liverpool - Mathew Street. This street is one of the main attractions of the city. And everything on it breathes the Beatles!
It was on this street that in 1961 the group’s first performance took place at the Cavern Club. And opposite it is the “Cavern Pub”, in Russian - pub. It was opened thanks to the crowds of “Beatle” missionaries who came to the “Cavern Club” as if for worship, in order to relieve the work of the club at least a little. The appearance of the pub occurred at a time when The Beatles were already thundering around the world. The entrance to it is “guarded” by a statue of John Lennon himself, and nearby there is a pink wall of fame with discs on which the names of famous rockers are written.
Beatles monument in Liverpool above a souvenir shop
Further along Mathew Street you can find the Beatles shop. The soul of any “Beatlemaniac” rejoices and soars here: you can buy anything with the symbols of “The Beatles” and “Cavern Club”, from CDs and vinyl to utility nets and ceremonial rugs.
Eleanor Rigby monument in Liverpool
Eleanor Rigby is the saddest and most heartfelt Beatles song. The composition tells the story of a lonely girl and a priest. The heroes of the song are deeply lonely people whose destinies are intertwined only when a girl dies in the church where the priest preaches.
Paul talked for a long time about the names of the heroes... but one way or another, in Woolton Cemetery, where he and John often smoked and sunbathed, there is the grave of a certain Elinor Rigby. A few yards to the right of the grave of a man named Mackenzie...
In December 1982, in Liverpool on Stanley Street, not far from Mathew Street, a monument was erected - a statue of Eleanor Rigby, a woman sitting alone on a bench. This place has become a permanent symbol of lonely people all over the world. The plaque next to the statue bears the dedication: Eleanor Rigby. " All the lonely people..."(Eleanor Rigby. Dedicated to all the “lonely people”).
The real Eleanor Rigby was born in 1895, married a man named Thomas Woods, and lived her life in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool. Elinor died on October 10, 1939, aged 44.
Monument to John Lennon on the facade of Hard Day's Night Hotel in Liverpool
In 2008, the Beatles' hotel "Hard Day's Night Hotel" opened in Liverpool. They say it is very expensive. But everything there is decorated in the style of the Beatles. Actually, with such a number of hairdryers that flood Liverpool, it is quite logical to open such an establishment
By the way, originally there was a monument at the entrance to the club "Cavern"
Live Beatles monument in Liverpool
One of the most unusual monuments Beatlam.... Actually, comments on it are unnecessary.
Beatles monument in Liverpool
But I still haven’t figured out what kind of monument this is and where it came from. But I found enough photos of it... judging by the background, it is set in a shopping center. In general, if you know something, share the information - it’s interesting!
This is where the monuments of the city of Liverpool end... let's move on!
Beatles monument in Hamburg
Hamburg....the second iconic city for every Beatlemaniac. It was here, in rather hot clubs, that the Beatles began their career. Forty-five years after this, a monument was erected to them. The installation was organized by the radio station Oldie 95. The monument is made of steel and is located on the edge of the St Pauli area near the clubs where the group revealed its name to the world. The Beatles are standing on a huge vinyl record... The square where the monument was erected was named "Beatles Platz". I don't think it needs translation!
By the way, in this monument there are not four, but five figures: Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and also, standing a little to the side, Stuart Sutcliffe - the Beatle, who died in Hamburg in 1962. The figure of the drummer is a hybrid of Ringo (who did not perform in Hamburg) and his predecessor Pete Best. Thus, this is the only monument in the world to the 6 members of the Beatles!
In the dark, the monument is so gracefully illuminated that it seems as if the Beatles are coming to life.
Beatles monument in Houston
For some reason, this monument is heavily criticized... especially for its gigantic size. The height of the monument is about 12 meters (hello Tsereteli).
The author is sculptor David Adicks, a true monumentalist! Now the sculpture group is installed along Highway 10 in the center of Houston, where it is visible for several miles to everyone passing by. After standing for at least 10 years in Houston, the monument may move to the Rock and Roll Museum in Cleveland.
Beatles monument in Ulaanbaatar
But where no one expected the Beatles monument was in the very heart of Asia - in Mongolia... but still.
Opened on October 9, 2008 on the street. Tserendorzha, opposite the central department store of Ulaanbaatar (“Ikh dalgur”). The project was supported by the Mongolian government. The country's Prime Minister Sanzhiin Bayar turned out to be an ardent fan of the group. Composition: silhouettes of the band members, cast in bronze, against the background of a wall shaped like the body of a guitar. Funds for the opening of the monument were collected in a short time. It was expected that the installation of the monument would cost one hundred thousand dollars. After its opening, it was reported that the costs were about 100 million tugriks. It is not known whether the monument was equipped with powerful speakers, as was originally intended, so that the songs of the Beatles and their Mongolian followers could be heard from them. Concerts will be held right in front of the monument.
By the way, the monument is “double-sided”.
Monument to John Lennon in John Lennon Park in Havana
Another, somewhat unexpected place for a monument to the Beatles, or rather their leader, John Lennon. Havana, the capital of Cuba, the Vedado district, there is a whole park named after John Lennon! And in the park there is a monument.
Cast in bronze by Cuban sculptor José Villa Soberon, Lennon appears seated on a bench in a relaxed pose. According to the author, fans of the leader of the Fab Four will be able to approach Lennon and “talk to him as if he were alive.”
The sculptor wanted to represent the founder of the Beatles" not only as a great musician, but also as a revolutionary, a destroyer of all kinds of dogmas"Perhaps the artist from Liberty Island was inspired by the fact that in January 2000, another member of the Beatles, Paul McCartney, visited the Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba and left a note in the book of visitors to the San Pedro de la Roca fortress: "Long live the Revolution!"
It must be said that Fidel Castro himself was present at the opening of the monument, who said that he always respected Lennon “for his revolutionary views.” Let us note that in the 60s, when the Beatles were at the zenith of their fame (as, indeed, was Comrade Fidel himself), the Cuban authorities condemned their music as decadent. But this time Fidel called Lennon a great revolutionary and expressed regret that he had never met him in person. "I am a dreamer who has seen some of his dreams come true," said Fidel, demonstrating a thorough knowledge of John Lennon's Imagine and an unconquerable belief in the Cuban revolution.
At the foot of the sculpture there is an inscription that reads: “Dirías que soy un soñador pero no soy el único”, a Spanish translation of a phrase from the song Imagine, translated " You could say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not alone»
By the way, Lennon is depicted without glasses (according to another version, they are constantly stolen), but visitors to the park put real ones on him...
Monument to John Lennon in Verdun
I remember the city of Verdun thanks to Remarque’s books... and it also turns out that in 1966, Richard Lester’s film “How I Won the War” was filmed in this city, in which Lennon played the role of the soldier Gripvid. On April 5, 2008, a memorial monument appeared here.
The monument consists of three concrete steles. Each of them has a memorial plaque. On one there is a portrait of a man in a helmet and with a dove of peace. The famous round glasses and an ironic smile leave no doubt that this is the legendary Beatle. The second plaque explains why the monument is located in this particular place. The third bears the names of people whose donations made the installation of the monument possible. The cost of the monument was 2.6 thousand euros.
To be honest, it’s somehow not very clear to me why they wasted so much money? Three concrete pillars and four iron signs??? In general, apparently the bulk of the money went to schnapps... and the monument, IMHO, is boring and uninteresting.
Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik
In 2007, the Peace Tower, a monument dedicated to John Lennon, was opened in Reykjavik. The ceremony was dedicated to the birthday legendary singer and composer - on October 9 he would have turned 67 years old. The monument in the form of a huge well, from the depths of which light shines, was opened by Yoko Ono, the musician’s widow. According to her, John came up with this tower 40 years ago as a symbol of the desire for peace on the planet. " This monument is a gift to the people of Iceland and the world from John and Yoko. I'm happy that our dream has finally become a reality. The tower lit up, although not in John's garden. But who knows, maybe this is his garden", Yoko Ono said at the opening ceremony. Also present at the opening of the tower were Lennon's son Sean and Ringo Star, drummer of the Beatles. The tower in the capital of Iceland will glow from the inside until December 8, when the anniversary of the death will be celebrated.. And maybe it still glows.. .
Beatles monument from Lipetsk sculptor Nikolai Rogatnev
The history of this monument is complex... it was created in 2007 in the city of Lipetsk by sculptor Nikolai Rogatnev. Afterwards, Rogatnev went to Liverpool and donated the sculpture to the Beatles Museum. And it seems like it’s installed there... only here’s where and how....
And the monument became the object of quite a scandal. There is an opinion that the idea of the monument belongs to the Moscow journalist and designer Mikhail Eidinov... It’s difficult to say who is right and who is wrong...
Project of the Beatles monument in Samara
Back in 2006, there were persistent rumors that the first Beatles monument in Russia would appear in Samara. The author of the project, sculptor Ivan Melnikov, prepared a miniature copy of the future monument. Well, a whole group of craftsmen from different cities of Russia were waiting to carve full-size two-meter statues from stone in the capital of the province. Moreover, there was a project to open a whole music park! What happened next... three years later the monument was unveiled in Yekaterinburg... and the people of Samara are still waiting. According to rumors, the monument will appear soon... I’ll be sure that by next year, when I might end up in Samara...
John Lennon Street in St. PetersburgI want to end with my favorite city. There is no Beatles monument as such in St. Petersburg, but there is the art center Pushkinskaya 10. There is an entire John Lennon street here. It is home to the legendary Beatlemaniac Kolya Vasin, the main Beatlemaniac of the USSR, who dreams of building a temple of love and peace named after John Lennon. You can come visit him (I went myself before McCartney’s St. Petersburg concert), he himself will tell and show everything...
A couple of years ago, above the entrance to his house there are bas-reliefs created on Pushkinskaya 10 on October 9, 2006. Author - Stepan Mokrousov. Permission to install the bas-reliefs was obtained from the city administration, which means this can also be considered an official monument.
There are streets with the same name, of course, in Liverpool, Warsaw, Lvov, Chelyabinsk, Sofia and, I’m sure, in a dozen other cities. But the St. Petersburg street is still a little unique. Some people believe that “John Lennon Street” is a tiny space where you find yourself after passing the Fish Factory club (the entrance to the Art Center is from Ligovsky Prospekt). There is actually “Kolya Vasin’s house”, the “Kultprosvet” store... So this is not John Lennon Street at all. It is very difficult to find yourself on John Lennon Street, and even more difficult to walk along it. Because it is vertical and goes up! Where there is sky, sun, peace and freedom!
Original post:
Beatlemania is a phenomenon that has spread throughout the world since the appearance of the famous rock band. However, despite huge amount fans of The Beatles in Russia, not a single monument dedicated to the group existed in the country until 2009. The Ural Beatles Club and ordinary fans from Yekaterinburg corrected this misunderstanding. A monument to The Beatles appeared in Russia - in Yekaterinburg (it is shown in the photo).
Fab Four
One of the most famous and still popular rock groups - The Beatles - was founded in Liverpool (England) in 1960 and lasted only ten years. However, during this time the group achieved such popularity and such enormous musical progress that there is still no one to compare with it. Are there many foreign monuments in Russia? The fact that there is a monument to The Beatles also speaks to the band's widespread and undeniable popularity.
Monument to The Beatles, Yekaterinburg: description
The monument to the group consists of two-meter-tall figures mounted in a brick wall, made of cast iron according to the design of Vadim Okladnikov “The Beatles on the Wall”. The creators explain the choice of contour figures by the “ephemerality” of the group for Soviet fans - listening was not approved, but records with Beatles songs were still released, sometimes without titles (“Melodies and Rhythms of Foreign Pop”, and the songs under the authorship: Lennon-McCartney). That is, the group did not seem to exist, but at the same time many people knew about it and listened to it.
The figures were cast at an iron foundry in the city of Mikhailovsk ( Sverdlovsk region) in 2007, two years before the opening of the monument. Interesting fact: John Lennon's outline was cast on October 9th - the musician's birthday. When the figures were completed, a brick wall was built on the banks of the Iset River, and the surrounding space was decorated with polished granite. Along the wall there is also a quote from the song The End (Abbey Road album, 1969):
The love you take is equal to the love you make. - The amount of love you receive is the amount you give.
Today you can easily find a monument to The Beatles in Yekaterinburg. Its address can be found on any online maps: Gorky Street, 8.
To whom does the monument owe its appearance?
Members of the Ural Beatles fan club collected money, as they say, through universal efforts for six years. The city budget refused to allocate money for this project, so enthusiasts held auctions, music marathons, concerts with voluntary fundraising and other similar events. In total, the project cost two and a half million rubles.
The monument was unveiled on May 23, 2009. The honorary participants of the opening were the participants The group Quarryman - created by John Lennon, then brought there by Paul McCartney, who, in turn, brought George Harrison. After the creation of The Beatles, the remaining composition The Quarryman simply split up, but in 1994 two former members- Rod Davis and John Lowe - reunited for further creativity. They were the ones who opened the monument.
Other Beatles monuments
Despite the fact that the monument to The Beatles in Yekaterinburg is the first and only one in Russia, other monuments dedicated to the rock group still exist in the territory of the former USSR.
The first among them was installed in Donetsk in 2006. It is located at the entrance to the Liverpool Cafe. It was created by sculptor Vladimir Antipov. The material from which the monument is made is plastic in bronze paint. The height of the figures is about two meters, the group is depicted during a performance against the backdrop of a mosaic British flag.
Next in the Commonwealth independent states opened a monument to the Beatles in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2007. The bronze figures depict John Lennon sitting on a bench with a guitar, with the rest of the band behind him. The sculpture was made by Eduard Kazaryan and is located on Mount Kok-Tyube.
There are speakers around, from which Beatles songs are constantly playing. In St. Petersburg they have not yet managed to create a monument dedicated to the Beatles.
But there is John Lennon Street, as well as a museum located on Ligovsky Prospekt and bas-reliefs depicting the Yellow Submarine and portraits of the famous four.
Is it the first?
After the Beatles monument was unveiled and Yekaterinburg declared itself the first Russian city to do so, fans from the city of Kogalym (Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug) were outraged. It turned out that back in 2003, a six-meter-high stele was created there: an apple with a Beatles record in the center, a star and an electric guitar. Materials: concrete, steel and apolyc. But this stele was not positioned as a monument dedicated specifically to the group; it was dedicated to “good old rock and roll” in general. However, one of the installers of the stele, Denis Sligun, did not want to give the palm to Yekaterinburg. The author of the project, Farit Burganov, said that by all indications this is a monument dedicated specifically to the Beatles, but he is not going to argue: “The more Beatles monuments, the better!”
But this stele was still not included in the register of monuments, which means that officially the Beatles from Yekaterinburg remain the first and only ones in Russia. The main thing is that the group is remembered to this day, and even children know its songs.
