ABSTRACT
History and historiography, privileged by this matrix, can develop an awesome personality of its own. 'Beatlesology' has indeed done so, for there are literally hundreds of texts including many 'vanity'-style publications that place each writer at the centre of the narrative. One might suggest that the historicism of the popular music-past via such a minuscule historical sample as the Beatles and their immediate milieu can only ever be a limited way of thinking about that past, especially when local conditions and peculiarities influence all outcomes in many disparate, decisive ways. Lonnie Donegan openly conspired in his own success and was neither a provider of a musical 'ur-history' for a rock music narrative, nor a prototype 'beatnick' for later generations to corral into position. In Liverpool, the owner of the Cavern club Alan Sytner recognized distinct class differences between those who came to listen to jazz, to skiffle, and those who were drawn to rock 'n' roll.
