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The Beatles began in 1957
with a group called "the Quarrymen" that John
Lennon originally put together while in art school.
He was subsequently joined by Paul
McCartney, George Harrison,
and Stu Sutcliffe. Rumor has it that John initially did
not want George in the band, because he felt he was too
young.
The group changed their
name to the Beatles in 1960, after Lennon dreamed he saw a
man in a flaming pie who told him: "you shall be
Beetles with an a". That same year drummer Pete Best
joined the group.
In 1961, Sutcliffe left
the band, and later died of a brain hemorrhage. In
November of that year, the Beatles were introduced to
Brian Epstein, who discovered them at their daily gig at
the Cavern Club. Brian Epstein became their manager, and
brought The Beatles to the attention of producer, George
Martin at EMI records.
In an interview, George
Martin describes the early days like this, "..one
day, Brian Epstein walks into my office with a disc of
this group he had in Liverpool. I must admit, I didn't do
a handstand and say, "This is the next coming."
I said it was OK, interesting, and that I'd like to meet
the guys, spend an afternoon in the studio with them, and
we'll see what we can do.
I spent the afternoon at
Abbey Road with them, fell in love with them and signed
the Beatles immediately.
The very first record I
made with them was "Love Me Do". Nobody wanted
to hear it, particularly the people from EMI. When I
announced at a meeting that I was issuing a new group
called the Beatles, they all fell around laughing,
particularly because of the way it was spelled. They said,
"It's another one of your funny ones, George, isn't
it?" I said, "No, it's not funny. It's rock 'n'
roll".
Brian and George signed
the Beatles' first record contract on May 9, 1962.
During this time, the
Beatles fired Pete Best and hired Ringo
Starr to replace him. The Beatles had known Ringo
for a few years, and used to listen to his group play at
the local bars. The new line up released their first
single, "Love Me Do", and followed with a string
of hits in 1963, which included: "From Me to
You", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold
Your Hand" and "Can't Buy Me Love".
The Beatles came to America in 1964, and the hysteria
that overcame their fans has never been reproduced. They
were also the band that launched the "British
Invasion"; a term referring to the invasion of
British bands on American soil and in the US music charts.
That same year, the
Beatles attained their first US Number 1 single with
"I Want to Hold Your Hand"; the flipside of the
45 was "I Saw Her Standing There". Later that
year the Beatles set a record when they occupied all five
of the top positions on Billboard's Top Singles chart,
with "Can't Buy Me Love" at number one, and
their albums "Meet the Beatles", and
"Introducing the Beatles" at numbers 1 and 2.
They also released the successful documentary film,
"A Hard Day's Night", the summer of that year.
From 1965 - 1968, the
Beatles had an amazing run of nine consecutive number 1
albums. Included in this list is "Rubber
Soul" (1965), which contained the hits:
"Nowhere Man", "In My Life",
"Norwegian Wood" and the beautiful
"Michelle". The Beatles followed in 1966 with
"Revolver"; one of
the most successful albums of all time. During the tour
that followed, The Beatles played their last large venue
concert due to safety concerns. The concert was held at
Candlestick Park in San Francisco on August 29, 1966.
This was a time when
Beatles records were being burned in the south because of
Lennon's statement in an interview by London's 'Evening
Standard': "We are more popular than Jesus now".
It was also a time when assassination threats were being
made against them by the Ku Klux Klan. A few years later,
the band made one last public performance on the rooftop
of the Apple headquarters in Savile Row, London, during
the filming of "Let It Be".
"Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was released
in 1967, and although the LP was a huge success, no
singles were released from the record. The entire album
was meant to be listened to continuously from beginning to
end. Instead of the traditional breaks in between songs,
each song merged into the next, connected by sounds of the
Beatles talk, laughter, as well as psychedelic noise.
That same year, the
Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, was found dead from a drug
overdose. The group moved forward after his death and
produced two films: "Magical Mystery Tour", and
"Yellow Submarine". "Magical
Mystery Tour" was written during a period when
John was experimenting heavily with LSD.
The making of the Beatles next album, "The
White Album", was plagued with problems and
marked the beginning of the end. The Beatles were not
prepared to take over for Brian Epstein. In addition,
George and Paul were at odds over who would write the
songs, and whose songs would make it onto the album;
Lastly, Yoko Ono's constant presence in the studio drove
all but John crazy.
Ringo actually quit after
a fight with Paul during the recording of "Back In
The USSR". He came back when he discovered they had
continued the album without him, and that Paul had played
the drums in his place. In spite of all the tension, the
album was one of their best sellers and included classics
like: "Julia", "Blackbird",
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Ob-La-Di,
Ob-La-Da", "Helter Skelter" and "I
Will".
"Abbey
Road", although the last studio album the
Beatles produced, was released next, and a barefoot Paul
on the cover fueled the rumors that Paul McCartney was
dead. Although the album was written amid mounting
tensions between the members of the Beatles, it produced a
medley of great songs including: "Mean Mr.
Mustard", "Polythene Pam", "She Came
in through the Bathroom Window", "Golden
Slumbers", "Come Together" and
"Something".
George Martin remembers
producing their final albums like this, "I was amazed
it lasted so long. I mean, it lasted eight years. It was
1962 when I started with them, and we made the last record
in 1970. That's a hell of a long time for four people to
live in one another's pockets.
I thought it was all over
during the Let It Be time because it was so uncomfortable
with John, Paul and George all fighting. They hated each
other's guts, and the women were doing the fighting for
them, and money entered into it. It was a messy scene. I
was unhappy about it, but I was just a bystander.
I was very surprised when
Paul rang me up after Let It Be and said, "Will you
come back and make another record with us"?
I said, "Well, not Let It Be".
He said, "We want to do a good record. Will you
produce it"?
I said, "If you allow me to produce it."
He said, "I promise you, we will".
So we went back and we made Abbey Road. The boys were
wonderful on that. I think they knew it was the last
record. They all tried to make good. Even John tried to
settle his differences with Paul".
The last album the
Beatles released while still a band was, "The Beatles
Again" with their number one hit "Hey
Jude". The album and film "Let
It Be", was actually recorded in 1969, and
released after they had broken up.
The "Let It Be" film documented the mounting
friction among the Beatles, as well as their ultimate
breakup. The album produced their last number one song:
"The Long And Winding Road". On April 10, 1970,
Paul McCartney beat John to the press when he announced he
was leaving the Beatles. Fans watched the most loved band
in history came to an end, and always hoped for a reunion.
The tragic murder of John Lennon in New York City on
December 8, 1980 ended those hopes forever. In 1988, The
Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
but it hardly seemed like the Beatles with John gone and
McCartney a no-show.
In the 1990's, the
surviving Beatles finally reunited to record the songs,
"Free as a Bird," and "Real Love". The
songs were given to them by Yoko Ono and were demos John
had made in 1977 and 1979. The two songs were released on
their Anthology albums, and were responsible for moving
the Beatles back to the top of the charts again.
Paul and Ringo are
releasing a new version of their album "Let It
Be", re-titled, "Let It Be
Naked". The two have spent months working on
the album, which includes the classics "Long and
Winding Road" and "Get Back". The pair have
stripped back the Wall Of Sound effect put on the LP by
producer Phil Spector, so that just the Fab Four
themselves can be heard. The new album is scheduled for an
October 2003 release.
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