The Aging of Beatlemania : A Mature Crowd Flocks to Buy Group’s ‘Anthology Vol. I’

Beatlemania returned to Ventura County record stores Tuesday, but the ‘90s fans in search of the new Beatles anthology tended to be the suit, tie and Rolaids crowd rather than screaming teeny-boppers.

“The majority that were here today were middle-aged--in their 30s and 40s,” said Larry Horowitz, media department manager of the Oxnard Best Buy electronics store.

More than 300 copies of “The Beatles Anthology Vol. I,” the first collaboration from the former mop tops in a quarter of a century, went out Best Buy’s doors between 12:01 and 1 a.m. And a line of more than 20 people greeted clerks when the store reopened at 10 a.m.

Best Buy actually began selling the album Monday, matching a move made by a supermarket chain in an attempt to get a jump on the competition. The breaking of the industry taboo led to disappointing sales at more restrained retailers.

“It hardly met expectations,” Lana Cherches, acting manager at Tower Records in Thousand Oaks, said of the 50 or so copies the store had sold by midafternoon Tuesday.

Tower had hoped to sell more than double that the first day.

Still, Thanksgiving came early for fans who had waited years for new Beatles music to satisfy their sense of nostalgia and curiosity. The new anthology contains “Free as a Bird,” the first new Beatles song since the band broke up 25 years ago.

“As you get older, music is less a part of your life,” said Jeff Haines, 38, manager of Salzer’s in Ventura. “This is something that reminds them of the old days.”

That was true for suit-and-tie clad Jim Kenney, 42, who heads the music department at Oxnard College and has taught a class on the history of rock music since 1983.

Kenney described the Beatles as the “Beethoven of rock music” and conceded he is as much a fan as a teacher. Hearing John Lennon’s vocals on “Free as a Bird” helped heal painful memories of the slain Beatle.

“There was some sadness,” Kenney said. “It’s very poignant. I can’t listen to [Lennon’s last album,] ‘Double Fantasy.’ I don’t think I’ll ever be able to listen to that album again.”

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Meanwhile, 29-year-old Scotty Morris, lead singer of popular Ventura band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, is introducing a new generation to the Beatles. His 1-year-old daughter Syd happily gnawed on a copy of “Anthology” at Salzer’s.

“I’ve been playing the Beatles for her since Day 1,” he said. “ ‘Rubber Soul’ and ‘Revolver’ are her favorites.”

It was hard to find a non-Beatles fan in record stores Tuesday. At Tower in Thousand Oaks, the Beatles album outsold Bruce Springsteen’s latest release, which also hit the stores Tuesday, by more than a 2-to-1 margin, Cherches said.

A lone holdout at Best Buy was Kevin Smith, 22, who was grasping two copies of the new Garth Brooks album released Tuesday. But Smith noted that he lives in San Antonio, Tex., deep in country-Western music territory, so he has a good excuse.

“I never really have been a big Beatles fan,” he said. “I think Garth Brooks will still be around, still be listened to, 25 years from now.”

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His father, Camarillo resident Jerry Smith, 47, agreed with his son: “After ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,’ they went downhill as far as I’m concerned.”

A few others hadn’t succumbed either.

At Wild Planet in downtown Ventura, store manager Leann Engeldrum ordered 20 copies of the latest from Santa Barbara band Lagwagon, twice as many as the new Beatles CD.

“This isn’t a Beatles kind of store,” she said. “We ordered 10 [CDs], but I doubt we will sell them. We will probably have to send them back.”

Early Tuesday, Piru punk fan Jeff Anderson was one of the first customers in the alternative music store, picking up a copy of the new Amps album.

“I’m not into the Beatles,” the 19-year-old said almost apologetically. “It’s a little before my time.”

But older fans said the Beatles are as much about today as yesterday.

Arnold Reyes, 42, of Camarillo, had primed himself with old Beatles tunes on the CD player in his car for two weeks and eagerly scooped up three copies of the new album Tuesday.

“My children can now sing the songs with me,” he said. “They sing harmony and stuff. It’s one of the things that give me pleasure in my life.”

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