The more time that passes between now and then, the more remarkable The Beatles become. And if you've any doubts about the veracity of that statement, Ron Howard has put together an impressive cinematic book of evidence.
Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years (to give the film its full, unwieldy title) is a quite stunning documentary about the Fab Four during their touring heyday, which lasted from their sudden stardom in 1963 to the final concert, at San Francisco's Candlestick Park in 1966.
Some of the footage is amazing, with colour film of The Beatles performing in Manchester a particular treat. And you really get a flavour of what it must have been like living in the Beatle bubble. It must have been insane.
Director Howard went further than merely compiling footage, as he and his team edited out the screaming fans that made their live performances inaudible, so what you get here is the sound of the mop tops playing live. To use the vernacular of the day, it's gear to hear.
The film also manages a number of celebrity fan recollections, but this isn't like those annoying BBC or Channel 4 nostalgia fests where talking heads too young to remember an era recall it with ersatz or ironic fondness. No, this is the real stuff.
For example, some eagle-eyed genius spotted a then 14-year-old Sigourney Weaver in audience footage from a 1964 show. Naturally enough, Weaver's wheeled in to share her mop top memories.
There's no footage of Whoopi Goldberg at a gig, but she paints an evocative picture of her mother taking her on a "mystery tour" that ended at New York's Shea Stadium for the Beatles' legendary live show, their biggest, at the now demolished home of the New York Mets.
Whether you're a fan or a curious newbie, Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years offers a compelling insight into a foursome that arguably became the greatest cultural phenomenon of the 20th Century.
It's an exceptional treat to see it all unfold on the big screen.
