The Beatles

Arguably the greatest group in the history of popular music. The fact that their musical appeal has spanned several generations - and they still manage to make top honors in almost every rock an roll list - makes you forget they were a recording group for a mere 8 years (1962 - 1970).

The Beatles' story begins in the late 1950s, when John Lennon (1940-1980), met Paul McCartney (1942- ) at a local Church picnic. John - who already had a band of his own, the Quarry Men - was impressed by the fact that Paul not only knew how to tune his own guitar, but he also knew all the words to Twenty Flight Rock and Long Tall Sally. This alone won John over. Shortly thereafter, he asked Paul to join the band. Paul had a schoolmate by the name of George Harrison (1943- ), who could play pretty good guitar, and Paul invited him to meet John. Unfortunately, George was a bit younger and John didn't like the idea of him tagging along. On the top of a double-decker bus on a late-night trip, George "auditioned" for the group with his own raunchy version of Raunchy. John was quite impressed with the youngster, so George was "in".

John, Paul, George and Stu Sutcliffe (doesn't quite have the same ring, does it?), an art-school friend of John's, became the first incarnation of "The Beatles. The name was a tribute to Buddy Holly's Cricketts. Beatles was spelled with an "A" as a tribute to rock and roll; the back-beat. After countless gigs at local dance halls and bingo parlors, they got the opportunity to travel to Germany, along with a bunch of other rock acts, to bring American rock and roll into the nightclub strip of Hamburg', West Germany.

Picking up a local drummer to flesh out the band, Pete Best - The Beatles headed to Hamburg, where they played all-night sets in a number of seedy clubs. With the help of very little sleep, lots of alcohol, and an unending supply of amphetamines -the band honed their skills and became the most popular group on the strip. Wherever they played - the people went. They soon moved up to bigger and better clubs, causing troubles with their former club management. Word got out that George was indeed underage (only 17), and Paul and Pete set a small fire in their apartment which was set above the club (in response to hassles for changing clubs) - soon all 3 were deported back to Liverpool. John soon followed, but Stu stayed behind with his German girlfriend Astrid Kirschherr. Stu was a gifted artist, and never really wanted to be in a rock band. Stu died of a brain hemorrhage (possibly brought on by the many scuffles he and John encountered) in 1962.

All the hard work in Germany paid off. The band was tighter than ever. Paul McCartney took over Stu's position on bass (simply because everyone else refused). He is now known as one of the most original and revered bass players in rock and roll. Once George came of legal age, the Band returned to Hamburg for another stint. During this time, they served as the back-up group for singer Tony Sheridan. Under the pseudonym, "The Beat Brothers", they recorded six songs with Sheridan, including a rock and roll version of My Bonnie.

Back home in Liverpool, the NEMS record shop was flooded with orders. This caught the attention of store manager Brian Epstein. Not having the record, Epstein visited the Cavern Club - located just down the street - where the Beatles played regularly. He offered to manage the band and got them an audition with Decca Records soon afterwards. Unfortunately, their demo tape didn't adequately showcase the groups' musical talent and roots - and it failed to win the Beatles a contract with Decca.

It was Epstein who decided to clean up the Beatles image, and convinced them to change from their usual leather outfits to "respectable" suits. After sending more demos out, the band auditioned for George Martin, a producer with EMI's Parlophone Records. George saw something special in their "cheekiness" and tight musicianship, and although he had never produced rock and roll, he decided to give them a chance. Ironically, EMI was known for its comedy and classical music production; both characteristic of the Beatles' humor and musical creativity that was to be their trademark.

Unimpressed with Pete Best's drumming, Martin, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison decided to fire him. Best was replaced by Ringo Starr (aka Richard Starkey 1940- ). Ringo - named for the many rings he wore on his fingers - had sat in with the band several times during gigs in Hamburg, and they got along well. From then on Ringo was *the* backbeat of The Beatles (although another drummer was used for the Beatles' two recordings, Love Me Do and P.S. I Love You).

Their first single Love Me Do, made top 20 (no 17) in Britain and the follow up, Please Please Me went to number one. An album of the same name followed, along with many hit singles, including She Loves You, From Me To You and I Want To Hold Your Hand. All were number one hits and at the end of 1963, the Beatles had released their second album, With The Beatles.

With so many hits under their name, the time had come for them to break into the American market. Many English groups had made the trip - but had returned unsuccessful. As confident as they were, it was to their great surprise that as their plane landed at JFK airport in February of 1963, thousands of fans were there to greet them. It was teenage-hysteria, the likes of which the American Press had never seen before. Their performance on Ed Sullivan show set records in television history for audience numbers. It is even reported there were no criminal acts during that show's time-slot.

They returned to Britain after a very successful tour - knowing they had conquered the hardest market and the home of their beloved rock and roll - America. Later in the year and began filming their first movie, A Hard Days Night. Their next album became the soundtrack to the movie and included the number one singles Can't Buy Me Love and A Hard Days Night. At the end of the year they released their fourth album Beatles For Sale.

They filmed and released, their second motion picture, Help! in 1965. The soundtrack album and single of the same name were both British number one hits. Their next album, Rubber Soul, showed a considerable amount of growth in lyrics as well as musical style. Popular music was being challenged to go beyond the limits of songs about girls and cars, and into the more abstract areas of social awareness and personal poetry, most notably by Bob Dylan, whom the Beatles highly respected. This magic combination expanded the scope of popular music and many groups began to follow the trend.

Endless touring (worldwide) and constant exposure left the Beatles road-weary and fed up. With the release of Revolver, which contained the other-worldly track Tomorrow Never Knows, the Beatles stopped touring in favor of in-studio experimentation. 1966 saw the Beatles last concert in Candlestick Park, San Francisco, and a public absence of the band for 6 months.

Whereas previously they had released one to two albums per year - not to mention singles (most of which that were *not* included on their albums) - the fans saw this as the possible end to their beloved Beatles. Little did they know the band was hard at work on what would become possibly the most famous album in the history of rock and roll.

The first glimpse into the result of their "time off" was the double A-sided single Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane (recently voted #2 in Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Singles Of All Time poll). Although it was the first Beatle's single that failed to reach number one in Britain (being kept off by Englebert Humperdinks's Please Release Me), it showed the public that a "new" Beatles were emerging.

On June 1, 1967, a monumental musical event occurred. It was, of course, the release of the ground-breaking Beatles album Sgt.Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album which influences musicians to this day. The album contained hints of classical orchestration, indian mysticism and of course the ever present backbeat. Spurred on by the effects of mind-altering drugs - which all the Beatles regularly experimented with - the album was creatively beyond anything that had ever come before. While their musical collaboration was at its strongest, The Beatles themselves were becoming more and more individuals. By this time, John, George and Ringo were married with families. Paul remained a bachelor for the time and delved heavily into the art scene in London. Each Beatle was contributing to side-projects and were busy entertaining their own interests.

While on vacation in India, following the practice of "Transcendental Meditation" through the teachings of Maharishi Maresh Yogi - the Beatles learned of the death of their manager, Brian Epstein. During this crucial time where they were slowly growing apart, he was their cornerstone. Without Brian, the Beatles felt lost. They continued plans with their third film, Magical Mystery Tour, and a soundtrack EP of the same name. The film was shown on the BBC on Boxing Day. Shot in full color with kaleidescope pans of glaciers and cast of crazy characters(many of them personal friends of the Beatles) - but shown in black & white, many people failed to see the point. One redeeming point of 1967 was the first world-wide satellite broadcast - the Beatles performance of All You Need Is Love to thousands of people, live from Abbey Road Studios.

1968 saw the release of The Beatles, renamed by the public as the White Album due to it's drastically stark, all-white cover. The album included many songs written during the Indian "summer camp" vacation. Although the album was a huge commercial and critical success, a keen observer could see that in contrast to the title "The Beatles", the album was mostly a collection of solo-artist songs. At various times during the recording of The Beatles, Ringo, George and John threatened to - or did quit - only to be lured back into the fold by Paul. Without the guidance of Brian to lead the band, Paul stepped in to fill the void, much to the chagrin of the other Beatles.

The band's most successful single, Hey Jude (recently voted #5 in Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Singles Of All Time poll) was not included on the album, but, clocking in at seven minutes, became the longest UK number one to date. After the tension of the White Album sessions, the Beatles reassembled at Twickenham film studios, trying to produce a film showing them composing, rehearsing and finally performing new material live. The sessions repeatedly broke into arguments - which are documented in the final film, Let It Be. The film ends with the rooftop (of Apple Studios) performance of Get Back. This was to be the Beatles final live performance together. The album was shelved for the time being.

Problems continued. George was not satisfied with his usual allotment of two songs per album as his songwriting interest and skill grew. Ringo was feeling under-appreciated in general, and being the drummer, most of his time was spent waiting for the others to pull it together. John had met avant-garde artist Yoko Ono and insisted on her being present at all sessions, which caused more tension. Meanwhile McCartney had met American photographer Linda Eastman. The two couples were married within 10 days of the other in 1969. Family responsibilities and priorities had taken hold. The band had simply grown apart - musically and personally.

To the surprise of their producer, George Martin, the Beatles decided they wanted to record another album "the way they used to". Martin reluctantly agreed, and the result was the masterpeice, Abbey Road, released in 1969.

Renowned producer Phil Spector continued work on the Let It Be album, which was finally released in 1970. John had since quietly left the band in November of '69, but the Beatles split wasn't made public until Paul walked out of sessions on April 10th, 1970. He announced his departure as his first solo album, McCartney, which ironically coincided with the release of Let it Be, in May 1970. The news spread quickly around the world - The Beatles had broken up.

The individual members went on to successful solo careers. Seemingly, all members had since "made up" and occasionally contributed to each other's albums throughout the 1970s. To the shock and horror of fans, after the release of the his "comeback" album Double-Fantasy, John Lennon was murdered in front of his apartment by an insane "fan" on 12.9.80.

The Beatles' legacy to popular music is unquestionable, and their popularity continues more than 35 years after their first release. In 1995 and 1996, the Beatles released a series of three two-disc sets of outtakes and previously unreleased materials, collectively known as The Beatles Anthology. Each set went to number one, and two singles, Free As A Bird and Real Love (uncompleted Lennon songs completed by McCartney, Harrison, and Starr), entered the Billboard Top 40 singles charts.

Update: 12.16.99

George Harrison, the "quiet" Beatle, was attacked in his home by a disturbed "fan" the day after Christmas in 1999. Although he was stabbed in the chest 4 times, he received only minor injuries and did not require surgery.

"...And in the end, the love you make is equal to the love you take"

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The Wallflowers have covered several Beatles' songs in their live concerts. Among them are Two of Us, Ticket to Ride, Don't Let Me Down and Cry Baby Cry.

On the FANatic episode, in response to the question, "What CD would you guys suggest that every one have in their collection besides your own of course?", Rami replied "Every one has to have 'Revolver' by The Beatles."

Barrie Maguire: ''I remember the '70s, and I had hippie parents, so my '70s were really just discovering my parents' '60s,'' he said. He's a big fan of the Grateful Dead (''Phil Lesh is pretty close to God'') and the Beatles. ''I don't talk about the Beatles anymore, though - it's too hard to think about it because they're so close to perfection. I can get depressed if I think about them.'' (Orlando Sentinel 11.6.92)