[beaver fever]

"Didn't Beatle Lennon once say that they were more popular than Jesus?"

Yes he did and he meant that as a criticism.

The Beatles hated Beatle Mania and the quasi religous ferver of 100,000 screaming fans gave them the creeps.

That's why they stopped touring after the US tour where they opened at Shea Stadium.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

I can understand that Lennon was a R&R pioneer and an anti-establishment soul who got "caught up in it all" -- easy to see at his tender age. I certainly admire his entrepreneurship and tenacity. I can see how he would have recoiled against even his own accolades via the US media and corporate interests. As a poet/songwriter, he was intuitive and brilliant (albeit 60's angst Marxist delusional).

Nonetheless, I accede to your point that, as a tender youth (smarter than I had been at his age, to be sure) he had rebelled against the ongoing "packaging" of the Beatles "product" in the USA, and that he had meant his commentary to be purely cynical. I can well imagine the battles between Lennon and his business managers at the time. Thanks for your POV.