Staging the Beatles: ephemerality, materiality and the production of authenticity in the museum

Abstract

This article examines how popular music and its material culture have been exhibited within museums. More specifically, it is concerned with how decision-making and processes within museums impact on how materials are interpreted and presented to museum visitors. The article uses one central case study relating to a highly mythologised moment within popular music history, claimed as the starting point of the Beatles. On 6 July 1957, John Lennon, member of the Quarrymen, was introduced to Paul McCartney at St Peter’s Church fete in Liverpool. Consideration will be given to how the church stage on which the Quarrymen played, along with a sound recording of their performance, have been presented within displays by National Museums Liverpool. Drawing on interviews with staff, the article will discuss how the curatorial and conservation treatment of the stage aimed to intensify its connection to a moment in history. It will also discuss to what extent a sound recording can capture and communicate the ‘presentness’ of a musical performance. The article raises a number of issues concerned with the production of authenticity, the ‘reliability’ of material evidence, and the extent to which sound recordings and material culture can enable museums to represence the past.