In 1965, as The Beatles stormed the world and a new revolution in rock began, Jūratė Dineikaitė, a young female in Lithuania who had trained in classical music, was captivated by the new rock sound and formed an all-female six-member rock band called The Bees that would become bigger than she ever imagined.
Fantagraphics’ The Bees: The Women Who Rocked Lithuania, written and drawn by Akvilė Magicdusté and translated by Erika Lastovskyté, tells Jūratė’s story, from her childhood to the glory days when The Bees rocked Eastern Europe. This charming book traces the bittersweet progression through The Bees’ rise and fall.
History’s nothing if not cyclical, and many of the problems Jūratė and her band faced back then are still being faced today by many female bands. Notably, they had to play ten times better than the male bands to be accepted by audiences, most of whom were raging hormonal young men or drunken older ones who wanted to see The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. What impressed me most about the band was the variety of instruments they incorporated in their music. In addition to the standard lead guitar, bass guitar and drums, they added a saxophone, piano, and classical instruments. It was something The Beatles and The Beach Boys would tinker with in their later work, but in 1965 The Bees’ experimentation with a wide variety of instruments was pretty ground-breaking.
The book also gives an eye-opening firsthand account of life in Eastern Europe, where governments changed as the wind blew and the Soviet Union was a constant threatening monolith to all the surrounding countries. Russia and many of the Eastern European countries held an iron grip on the populace and every bit of entertainment was monitored to ensure it didn’t run counter to the “values” imposed by the draconian rulers. I knew things were pretty difficult in those countries but the book really opened my eyes to how bad it truly was.
The book captures the anxiety and danger of The Bees’ travels, where one harmless song on their playlist could be misconstrued by an overeager bureaucrat, threatening the band members’ lives and careers. The middle of the book is the strongest part by far, as we follow the band on their tour. It’s a rollercoaster ride of joy, disappointment and terror as they never know what awaits them at the next stop. It’s amazing what the band endured in such a short period of time.
I wasn’t a fan of the artwork throughout the book; it’s a style I felt was more suited to a fantasy tale than a real life documentary story.
Overall though, the book’s fascinating and gives us a window into a time period when rock was blasting in every corner of the world and a band of Lithuanian women sung and played their way into history. The Bees’ story is fascinating, giving insights into their music and life in Lithuania, including the terrors and triumphs of performing in Eastern Europe in the 1960s.
