Magical Mystery Tour

Northwestern University's Gary Kendall is no fool on the hill. The music professor's "The Beatles: An Interdisciplinary Mystery Tour" has confounded his department's expectations and become one of the school's most popular courses.

In a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Kendall explains the draw of the course: "It connects to social history, film history, issues about songwriting and its relevance to people's lives -- there are a million things tied to this class… For students, the class becomes a mythic journey."

Kendall believes the most powerful session is the one about death -- not the deaths of the two deceased Beatles, but rather the deaths of the mothers of the main songwriting team, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The loss of their mothers deeply affected the two, and it was a strong influence in their writing.

Kendall explains, "We deal with the issue of loss and how important it is in people's lives. There are always people with tears in their eyes when they see how everything comes together."

His favorite Beatle? Kendall tries to keep an even hand, but he admits, "I'm definitely a John person."

Check out the course home page, which contains the course syllabus, lists of readings, and projects from past classes.

Visit Professor Kendall's home page

Related artifacts are currently on exhibit at Northwestern's Music Library (through Dec. 2003)

Read the Chronicle article (excerpted here, or complete article for subscribers only)