The Beatles
click on thumbnails below to view
The Beatles are considered by many to be the most successful rock band of all time. They were together from 1960 through 1970 where they conquered the UK, the US and the world. They consisted of four members: John Lennon (rhythm guitar, harmonica), Paul McCartney (bass guitar), George Harrison (lead guitar) and Ringo Starr (drums, from August 1962 - 1970).
CLICK HERE FOR A UNIQUE SELECTION OF THE BEATLES VIDEOS.
The band began as a skiffle group formed by John Lennon in Liverpool, UK in early 1957 called The Quarrymen. On 6th July 1957 Paul McCartney met John Lennon at a Quarrymen performance and within a few days had joined the band. George Harrison was introduced to John and the rest of the band by Paul in February 1958, but was not invited to join right away due to his only being 14 years old. Since John and Paul were playing rhythm guitar and they needed a suitable lead guitarist, George was eventually let into the group as the lead guitarist in March 1958. Original Quarrymen drummer Colin Hanton left the band in 1959 and they had to go through a few other drummers and sometimes let drummers from other bands fill in for them. In January 1960, Stuart Sutcliffe, John's close friend from art college joined the band as bassist, agreeing to learn how to play and to remain sort of in the background until he became proficient with his instrument. Over these forming years came changes in name. For a short time they were calling themselves Johnny and The Moondogs. Stuart Sutcliffe suggested Beetles at some point as a similarity to Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Liking the idea, the band changed their name to Long John and The Silver Beetles. This was shortened to The Silver Beetles and then, by August 1960, The Beatles, using an 'a' in the spelling as a pun meant to suggest "beat music".
Why Not Check Out:
Have You Seen This???
The acting manager of The Beatles got them slated to perform gig's at the Indra Club in Hamburg, Germany beginning in August 1960 and The Beatles had to quickly find a drummer. They hired Pete Best, son of Mona Best, owner of the Casbah Coffee Club where The Beatles/Quarrymen would sometimes play. By October 1960, the band switched clubs and began playing at the Kaiserkeller. Indra Club owner Bruno Koschmider took it personally and reported to the authorities that George Harrison had lied about his age. He was deported from the country in November. The rest of the band eventually made their way back to Liverpool except Stuart Sutcliffe, who decided to remain in Hamburg to be with his new German fiance Astrid Kirschherr. In February 1961 the group began playing in Liverpool's Cavern Club before returning to Hamburg in April 1961 to play at the Top Ten Club. During this time they were recruited to be a back-up band for a recording session by Tony Sheridan, who also performed at the Top Ten. The following October Polydor Records issued a single from these sessions of the song "My Bonnie". A few copies were also released in the US and the UK. When the band returned after their second Hamburg stint, Stuart Sutcliffe had quit the band to remain in Hamburg with Astrid, and Paul McCartney took over bass duties. After returning to Liverpool, The Beatles became regulars at The Cavern Club.
Brian Epstein, manager of North End Music Stores (NEMS) met the band at The Cavern Club in November 1961 and by December it was agreed that he would become their manager. By New Years Day 1962, Epstein had set up an audition in London with Decca Records who turned them down.
During April 1962, while in Hamburg with Astrid, Stuart Sutcliffe died suddenly from a brain hemmorrhage.
Eventually Brian Epstein met up with George Martin, who was running EMI's Parlophone record label and he signed them up, initially only on a one-year renewable contract. George Martin had a problem however with Pete Best's drumming and suggested to Brian using another drummer while in the studio. Since he had also missed a number of engagements due to illness and was not willing to conform to the unified look and hairstyle adopted by the rest of the band, Brian dismissed Pete on 16th August 1962. Richard Starkey accepted the invitation to replace Best. Known as Ringo Starr, he had sat in for The Beatles on numerous occasions already and was previously the drummer for rival band Rory Storm and The Hurricanes.
The first session with George Martin was in June 1962 with Pete Best and did not yield anything worthy of releasing. In September 1962 they recorded their first UK hit single "Love Me Do", which peaked at No. 17 on the British singles charts. The band estblished themselves with the follow up single which they recorded in November 1962 called "Please Please Me". It reached No. 1on the British Melody Maker charts on 2nd March 1963. Less then 3 weeks earlier on 11th February, The Beatles recorded their "Please Please Me" LP in just one day and by the first week in May it also topped the British charts remaining their for an astounding 10 weeks. Their follow up single released in April 1963, called "From Me To You", also topped the British charts. The Beatles fame became the frenzy known as "Beatlemania," but it didn't hit the US right away, where they weren't used to the idea of "foreign" rock stars. Once records were released in the US, other factors hampered their success including lack of adequate promotion by minor record labels, royalties issues, and public disapproval of The Beatles hairstyle. Because their hair covered their foreheads it was considered too long to be seen on men and it took a little time for the majority of Americans to accept this in those days. However, by December 1963, the success of The Beatles in Europe had grown so immense that an adequate promotional campaign in the US could no longer be denied. Their "I Want To Hold Your Hand" single was released on Capitol Records that month, and by the first week in February, it was No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. With their appearance on America's Ed Sullivan Show before 74 million viewers (which represents approximately half of the entire American population at that time) occurring that same week, Beatlemania became rampant in America. Soon afterwards, all of their British releases were re-released in the US and became overwhelmingly successful, along with a motion picture starring The Beatles called "A Hard Day's Night".
Over the next few years The Beatles continued to dominate the record sales charts on both sides of the Atlantic with hit singles like "Can't Buy Me Love", "And I Love Her", "I Feel Fine", "Eight Days A Week", "Ticket To Ride", "Help!", "Yesterday", "Nowhere Man", "We Can Work It Out", "Day Tripper", "Yellow Submarine", "Eleanor Rigby", "Paperback Writer" and more. On 4th April 1964 they held the entire top 5 singles positions on Billboard magazine's singles chart in the US, a feat that has not been topped to this day. Their album sales also dominated the music scene throughout 1964 and 1965.
In 1965 Queen Elizabeth II appointed each of them Members of The Order of the British Empire (MBE). In August of that year they met and jammed a little with Elvis Presley. That same month they played the first stadium sized rock concert at New York's Shea Stadium. The release of their second movie "Help!" was a tremendous success at the box office. By the end of the year they had released their "Rubber Soul" album, regarded as a significant step forward in terms of the seriousness and complexity of their music.
In 1966, The Beatles began to recognize that because they could not hear themselves play at their own shows, due to the frenzy of the screaming fans, their playing was growing sloppier. This, along with the more complex arrrangements their music was taking, made it hard to perform live with the technological limitations of the equipment in 1966. For this reason, as well as some threats toward their safety, they elected to quit touring altogether after 1966. Their last full concert was at San Francisco's Candlestick Park on 29th August 1966. August 1966 also saw the release of their "Revolver" album, giving the first hints of a more pychedelic approach to their music.
Why Not Check Out:
John Lennon
During late 1966 and early 1967, the band recorded their album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', regarded by many publications, critics and music analysts as being the most influential album of all time. Rolling Stone magazine lists it as the greatest album of all time in a 2003 ranking. The album was released in June 1967, preceded by the double a-side No. 1 hit single "Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane". The hit single "All You Need Is Love" followed the Sgt. Pepper album release in July 1967 and also topped the charts in Europe and America.
On the 27th August, 1967, manager Brian Epstein died of an accidental drug overdose. At first it as decided that they would not worry about replacing Brian and carry on by managing themselves. This turned out to be a major source of tension in the months to come.
Later in the year, The Beatles released their "Magical Mystery Tour" double EP set to accompany a television special of the same name that was put together by the band. In the US the double EP was extended into a full length album by adding the single tracks from the two earlier singles in the year and the newest single, "Hello Goodbye".
After recording their first single of 1968, "Lady Madonna", The Beatles visited Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India to study transcendental meditation. By the time they returned, John and Paul had written enough music to make the next release a two-record set. They formed Apple Records as their own record label. "Hey Jude", their first single under the new label, topped the American singles charts for an incredible 9 weeks. When recording for the next album began in late May 1968, dissent was evident within the group. Their individual styles were emerging to the point where they were in disagreement much of the time in the studio. At one point, Ringo quit the band, causing Paul to have to play drums on several of the tracks. The final product became a double album simply titled "The Beatles". It was an ironic title as the collection of songs were the least group-like effort to date. It was much like a collection of songs by four different solo artists with the other band members acting as supporting musicians. The album featured Ringo's first Beatles composition of his own called "Don't Pass Me By". After its release, the album was dubbed "The White Album" due to its plain white jacket. The album topped the charts during January through early March 1969. Also in 1968, The Beatles appeared in animated form in the movie "Yellow Submarine", which was a fantasy story of a war between the town of Pepperland and the notorious Blue Meanies. The songs "Yellow Submarine" (previously released on their Revolver album) and "All You Need Is Love" appeared on the soundtrack along with some unused recordings from the recent "White Album" and "Sgt. Pepper" sessions.
In January 1969, The Beatles began working on a film documentary project of the recording of their next album originally to be called "Get Back". The band made their last live performance, a short 40 minute set on the rooftop of their Apple Headquarters in London, during the filming. The project was temporarily shelved; however the band did release a single from the sessions titled "Get Back". Keyboardist Billy Preston played with the band on this hit song as well as a few others in the Get Back sessions. In late spring they followed up with another single called "The Ballad Of John and Yoko", before going into the studio together in the summer of 1969 to record their final album together: "Abbey Road".
"Abbey Road" contained the double a-sided single "Something/Come Together". "Something" was the first George Harrison song to appear on the a side of Beatle's single. The overdub session on 20th August 1969 for the track "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" would be the last time all four Beatles worked together in the studio. The album was a tremendous success and again topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. In March 1970, the "Get Back" sessions tapes were given to American producer Phil Spector, who worked on the tapes over the next month. With some added overdubs done the previous January and the recording of George's track "I, Me, Mine" done without John Lennon in the studio, Phil produced the "Let It Be" album. In March the "Let It Be" single was released, and in May 1970 the release of the "Let It Be" album and "The Long and Winding Road" single concluded the recording career of The Beatles as a band. Paul McCartney officially announced the breakup of The Beatles on 10th April 1970, one week before the release of his first solo LP, "McCartney".
Each of The Beatles went on to have successful music careers after the official breakup of the band. On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman, a deranged fan. In February 1994, the three surviving Beatles reunited to produce and record additional music for two of John Lennon's unfinished home recordings. The resulting tracks, "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love", premiered on the television documentary "The Beatles Anthology" in 1995. These songs were also included in the three "Beatles Anthology" 2-CD sets released in 1995-96 which also contained a large collection of never before released Beatles material.
In the late 1990's George Harrison was diagnosed with lung cancer and died on November 29, 2001.
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
Post new comment