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This article is about the band. For other uses, see The Beatles (disambiguation).
| The Beatles | |
|---|---|
 (left–right) Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Liverpool, England |
| Genre(s) | Rock, popThe Beatles touched upon and helped popularize many subgenres of rock and pop. They are too numerous to list here. |
| Years active | 1960–1970 |
| Label(s) | Parlophone Capitol Odeon Apple Vee-Jay Polydor Swan Tollie United Artists Records |
| Associated acts | Tony Sheridan, The Quarrymen, Plastic Ono Band, The Dirty Mac, Wings, Traveling Wilburys, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Ringo Starr All-Starr Band, Billy Preston |
| Website | www.beatles.com |
| Members | |
| John Lennon Paul McCartney George Harrison Ringo Starr | |
| Former members | |
| Stuart Sutcliffe Pete Best | |
The Beatles were a pop and rock group from Liverpool, England. They are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music. The Beatles: Biography. Rolling Stone. rollingstone.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-29. The band\'s principal members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
In the United Kingdom, The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number one. This commercial success was repeated in many other countries; their record company, EMI, estimated that by 1985 they had sold over one billion records worldwide. Shelokhonov, Steve. The Beatles - Biography. IMDB.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-06. The Beatles are the best-selling musical act of all time in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.The American Recording Industry Announces its Artists of the Century. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) (1999-11-10). Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles #1 on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.The Immortals: The First Fifty. Rolling Stone Issue 946. Rolling Stone. According to that same magazine, their innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s and their influence on pop culture is still evident today.
The Beatles led the mid-1960s musical "British Invasion" into the United States. Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and homegrown skiffle, the group explored genres ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, styles, and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.
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In March 1957, while attending Quarry Bank Grammar School in Liverpool, John Lennon formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen.AMG biography Retrieved: 29 January 2007 Lennon and the Quarrymen met guitarist Paul McCartney at the Woolton Garden Fête held at St. Peter\'s Church on 6 July 1957 and added him to the group a few days later. Spitz 2005. p93 On 6 February 1958, the young guitarist George Harrison was invited to watch the group (who played under a variety of names) at Wilson Hall, Garston, Liverpool.Ray O\'Brien, There are Places I\'ll Remember: Volume 1, 2001 McCartney had become acquainted with Harrison on the morning school bus ride to the Liverpool Institute, as they both lived in Speke. At McCartney\'s insistence, Harrison joined the Quarrymen as lead guitarist, after a rehearsal in March 1958, overcoming Lennon\'s initial reluctance because of Harrison\'s young age. Miles 1998. p47 Spitz 2005. pp126–127 Lennon and McCartney both played rhythm guitar during that period, and had a high turnover of drummers. The Quarrymen went through a progression of names — "Johnny and the Moondogs" and "Long John and the Beatles". Lennon\'s art school friend Stuart Sutcliffe joined on bass in January 1960, when they were called "The Silver Beetles" (derived from Larry Parnes\' suggestion of "Long John and the Silver Beetles") — before settling on "The Beatles" in August 1960. Sutcliffe suggested \'The Beetles\' as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets, which he and Lennon then thought of changing to \'The Beatals\'. They changed their name again to the \'Silver Beats\', The Silver Beetles, and the \'Silver Beatles\', but Lennon shortened it to The Beatles, to avoid being introduced as "Long John Silver of the Silver Beatles", which was too similar to \'Johnny and the Moondogs\'. After a tour with Johnny Gentle in Scotland, they changed their name to the \'Beatles\'.Coleman, Ray (1984). Lennon: The Definitive Biography. Pan Books. p212. Cynthia Lennon – “John”. p66. Cynthia Lennon suggests that Lennon came up with the name Beatles at a "brainstorming session over a beer-soaked table in the Renshaw Hall bar." Cynthia Lennon – “John” 2006. p65 Lennon, who was well known for giving multiple versions of the same story, joked in a 1961 Mersey Beat magazine article that "It came in a vision — a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, \'From this day on you are Beatles with an A\'".Davies, Hunter. The Beatles (1981 edition) During an interview in 2001, Paul McCartney took credit for the peculiar spelling of the name, saying that "John had the idea of calling us the Beetles, I said, \'how about the Beatles; you know, like the beat of the drum?\' At the time, everyone was stoned enough to find it hilarious. It\'s funny how history is made." Ray O\'Brien – There Are Places I\'ll Remember: The "Beatles" Early Venues in and Around Merseyside London, 2001. p22
In May 1960, the Silver Beetles toured northeast Scotland as a back-up band with singer Johnny Gentle.Coleman, Ray (1984). Lennon: The Definitive Biography. Pan Books. p212 They met Gentle an hour before their first gig, and McCartney referred to the tour as a great experience for the band. Spitz 2005. pp188–193 For the tour the often drummerless group secured the services of Tommy Moore, who was considerably older than the others.Lewisohn, Mark (1992). The Complete Beatles Chronicle. Chancellor Press. ISBN 1-85152-975-6 Moore left the band soon after the tour and went back to work in a bottling factory as a forklift truck driver.Coleman, Ray (1984). Lennon: The Definitive Biography. Pan Books. p213 Norman Chapman was the band\'s next drummer, but was called up for National Service a few weeks later. His departure posed a serious problem as the group\'s unofficial manager, Allan Williams, had arranged for them to perform in clubs on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Germany.Lewisohn, Mark (1996). The Complete Beatles Chronicle. Chancellor Press. ISBN 1-85152-975-6
John Lennon said: "It was Elvis who really got me buying records. I thought that early stuff of his was great. The Bill Haley era passed me by, in a way. When his records came on the wireless, my mother used to hear them, but they didn’t do anything for me. It was Elvis who got me hooked on beat music. When I heard \'Heartbreak Hotel\', I thought ‘this is it’ and I started to grow sideboards and all that gear...."Ze King and I. Retrieved 2007-06-05 He also commented: "Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn\'t been an Elvis, there wouldn\'t have been a Beatles."Quoted in: Cook, Graceland National Historic Landmark Nomination, p35 (See also the Beatles musical evolution, below.)
Finding themselves drummerless before their upcoming engagement in Hamburg, on 12 August 1960 the group invited Pete Best to become their drummer. Best had played with The Blackjacks in The Casbah Coffee Club, owned by Pete\'s mother, Mona Best.From Blackjacks to Beatles: How the Fab Four Evolved. Retrieved on 2006-06-21. From Blackjacks to Beatles Retrieved: 29 January 2007 This was a cellar club in West Derby, Liverpool, where The Beatles played and often visited.Casbah Club Retrieved: 29 January 2007 In the documentary The Compleat Beatles, Williams said that Best "played not too cleverly, but passable".
Four days after hiring Best, the group left for Hamburg. The Beatles began playing in Hamburg at the Indra Club and moved on 4 October 1960 to the Kaiserkeller. They were required to play six or seven hours a night, seven nights a week. On 21 November 1960, Harrison was deported for having lied to the German authorities about his age. Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006. p93 A week later, having started a small fire at their living quarters while vacating it for more luxurious rooms, McCartney and Best were arrested, charged with arson, and deported. Lewisohn. p24 Lennon followed the others to Liverpool in mid-December while Sutcliffe stayed behind in Hamburg with his new German fiancée Astrid Kirchherr. The reunited group played an engagement on 17 December 1960 at the Casbah Club (with Chas Newby substituting for Sutcliffe). Spitz 2005 pp4-5
The Indra Club, where the Beatles first played on arriving in Hamburg, as it appears today.
The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, performing at the "Top Ten Club".Photos of Clubs in Hamburg[1] Retrieved: 29 January 2007 While playing at the Top Ten Club they were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006. p97 produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert.null Kaempfert signed the group to its own Polydor contract at the first session on 22 June 1961. On 31 October Polydor released the recording "My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)", which appeared on the German charts under the name "Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers", a generic name used for whoever happened to be in Sheridan\'s backup band. Spitz 2005. p250 In addition to the legend that this record led to the group\'s eventual meeting with Brian Epstein, it also resulted in their first mention in the American press.
Around the beginning of 1962, Cashbox mentioned "My Bonnie" as the debut of a "new rock and roll team, Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers". A few copies were also pressed under the Decca label for U.S. disc jockeys, as American Decca had a distribution deal with Polydor parent Deutsche Grammophon.Palowski, Gareth L. How They Became The Beatles. Plume. ISBN 978-0452265066 When the group returned to Liverpool, Sutcliffe stayed on in Hamburg with Kirchherr. Lewisohn. p25 By then McCartney had taken over bass duties. Miles 1998. p74. It was Astrid Kirchherr who shot the famous black and white headshots, but contrary to popular belief, did not invent the distinctive haircut of the group
In a meeting with the group at NEMS on 10 December 1961, Epstein proposed the idea of managing the group. Miles 1997 p85 The Beatles signed a five-year contract with Epstein on 24 January 1962. Miles 1997 p88 Epstein led The Beatles\' quest for a British recording contract. Epstein had been manager of the record department at North End Music Store (NEMS), an offshoot of his family\'s furniture store. He played on the status of NEMS as a major record dealer to gain access to producers and recording company executives. In a now-famous exchange, Decca Records A&R executive Dick Rowe turned Epstein down flat, informing him that "Guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein."The Beatles. The Beatles Anthology. Chronicle Books, LLC, 2000 (See The Decca audition.) While Epstein was negotiating with Decca, he also approached EMI marketing executive Ron White.Coleman pp88–89 White (who was not himself a record producer) in turn contacted EMI producers Norrie Paramor, Walter Ridley, and Norman Newell, all of whom declined to record The Beatles.Coleman p93 White did not approach EMI\'s fourth staff producer—George Martin—who was on holiday at the time.Coleman pp93–94
Their third stay in Hamburg was from 13 April to 31 May 1962, when they opened The Star Club.null Upon their arrival, they were informed of Sutcliffe\'s death from a brain haemorrhage. Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006. p109
After failing to impress Decca Records, Epstein went to the HMV store on Oxford Street in London to transfer the Decca tapes to discs. There, recording engineer Jim Foy referred him to Sid Coleman, who ran EMI\'s publishing arm. When Coleman heard the demo tapes he suggested taking the tapes to George Martin, who, Coleman explained, "does comedy records" and headed the Parlophone label at EMI. Epstein eventually met with Martin, who signed the group to EMI on a one-year renewable contract and scheduled their first recording session on 6 June 1962 at EMI\'s Abbey Road Studios in north London.Davies, Hunter. The Beatles (1981 edition). pp 178 Martin had not been particularly impressed by the band\'s demo recordings, Spitz 2005. p318 but he instantly liked them as people when he met them. He concluded that they had raw musical talent, but said (in later interviews) that what made the difference for him was their wit and humour. Spitz 2005. pp318-319
Martin did have a problem with Pete Best, Spitz, Bob 2005. p318 whom he criticised for not being able to keep time. He privately suggested to Epstein that the band use another drummer in the studio. There was speculation by some that Best\'s popularity Spitz 2005. p322 with fans was another source of friction. In addition, Epstein had become exasperated with his refusal to adopt the distinctive hairstyle as part of their unified look. Best also had missed a number of engagements because of illness. The three founding members enlisted Epstein to dismiss Best, which he did on 16 August 1962. Spitz 2005. p330 They asked Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey), the drummer for one of the top Merseybeat groups, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, to join the band; Starr had performed occasionally with The Beatles in Hamburg. Spitz 2005. p328 The first recordings of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr together were made as early as 15 October 1960, in a series of demonstration records privately recorded in Hamburg while acting as the backing group for singer Lu Walters.Lu Walters\' recording session Retrieved: 29 January 2007 Starr played on The Beatles\' second EMI recording session on 4 September 1962, but Martin hired session drummer Andy White for their next session on 11 September. Spitz 2005. p353
Their recording contract paid them one penny for each single sold, which was split amongst the four Beatles — one farthing per group member.[2] Mirror of "Beatles History: 1962" at Beatles Discography. Retrieved: 29 January 2007 This royalty rate was further reduced for singles sold outside the UK, on which they received half of one penny (again split between the whole band) per single. Martin said later that it was a "pretty awful" contract.
The Beatles\' first EMI session on 6 June 1962 did not yield any recordings considered worthy of release, but the September sessions a few months later produced a minor UK hit, "Love Me Do", which peaked on the charts at number 17. Love Me Do Retrieved: 29 January 2007 ("Love Me Do" reached the top of the U.S. singles chart over 18 months later in May 1964.) On 26 November 1962, they recorded their second single "Please Please Me", which reached number two on the official UK charts and number one on the NME chart. Three months later, they recorded their first album (also titled Please Please Me). The band\'s first televised performance was on the People and Places programme, transmitted live from Manchester by Granada Television on 17 October 1962. Bill Harry The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia p516 As The Beatles\' fame spread, the frenzied adulation of the group, predominantly from teenage female fans, was dubbed Beatlemania.
The band also began to be noticed by serious music critics. On 23 December 1963, The Times music critic William Mann published an essay extolling The Beatles\' compositions—their "fresh and euphonious" guitars in "Till There Was You", their "submediant switches from C major into A flat major", and the "octave ascent" in "I Want to Hold Your Hand", for example. The Beatles themselves were perplexed by this analysis by Mann: "...one gets the impression that they think simultaneously of harmony and melody, so firmly are the major tonic sevenths and ninths built into their tunes, and the flat-submediant key-switches, so natural is the Aeolian cadence at the end of \'Not a Second Time\' (the chord progression which ends Mahler\'s \'Song of the Earth\')."Pedler, Dominic (2003). "\'Exotic birds\'... and the Great Aeolian Cadence Mystery", The Songwriting Secrets of The Beatles. Omnibus Press, pp. 122–3. ISBN 0-7119-8167-1. In 1980, Lennon commented, "To this day I don\'t have any idea what [Aeolian cadences] are. They sound like exotic birds."
Although the band experienced huge popularity on the UK record charts in early 1963, EMI\'s American operation, Capitol Records, declined to issue the singles "Please Please Me" and "From Me to You" (their first official number one hit in the UK).JPGR Retrieved: 29 January 2007 Vee-Jay Records, a small Chicago label, issued the singles as part of a deal for the rights to another performer\'s masters. Art Roberts, music director of popular Chicago radio station WLS, placed "Please Please Me" into radio rotation in late February 1963, arguably the first time a Beatles record was heard on American radio. Vee-Jay\'s rights to The Beatles were later cancelled for non-payment of royalties.The Beatles on Vee Jay Records. Retrieved on August 19, 2006. Retrieved: 29 January 2007
In August 1963, Philadelphia-based Swan Records released "She Loves You", which also failed to receive airplay. A testing of the song on Dick Clark\'s TV show American Bandstand produced laughter from American teenagers when they saw the group\'s distinctive hairstyles. Spitz 2005. p461 In early November 1963, Brian Epstein persuaded Ed Sullivan to present The Beatles on three editions of his show in February, and parlayed this guaranteed exposure into a record deal with Capitol Records. Capitol committed to a mid-January release for "I Want to Hold Your Hand".JPGR I Want to Hold Your Hand releaseRetrieved: 29 January 2007 On 10 December 1963, a 5-minute story shot in England about the phenomenon of Beatlemania was shown on the CBS Evening News. (The segment first aired on the CBS Morning News on 22 November and had originally been scheduled to be repeated on that day\'s Evening News, but regular programming was cancelled following the assassination of John F. Kennedy that day.) The segment inspired a teenage girl named Marsha Albert living in Silver Spring, Maryland to write to Carroll James, a disc jockey at Washington DC\'s WWDC radio station, requesting that he play records by The Beatles. Carroll James had seen the same news story and arranged through a friend to have a copy of The Beatles\' new single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" sent over to him in Washington DC. Immediately after debuting the record on December 17, the station received overwhelming positive audience reaction and the station escalated airplay of the record. Made aware of the overwhelming listener response, Capitol Records president Alan Livingston decided a few days later to take advantage of the response and rush-release the already-prepared single three weeks ahead of schedule on 26 December 1963.I Want to Hold Your Hand Retrieved: 29 January 2007
Several New York radio stations—first WMCA, then WINS and WABC—began playing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on its release day. The positive response to the record that had started in Washington was duplicated in New York and quickly spread to other markets. The record sold one million copies in just ten days, and by 16 January 1964, Cashbox magazine had certified the record number one (in the edition datelined 23 January). Aware that the Ed Sullivan Show was scheduled to present The Beatles live in early February, the Jack Paar Show licensed a film clip of The Beatles performing "She Loves You" from Britain\'s BBC and aired the footage on 3 January 1964, enabling Paar to claim that he had beaten his rival Sullivan to showing The Beatles on a network TV show.
On 7 February 1964, a crowd of four thousand fans at Heathrow Airport waved to The Beatles as they took off for their first trip to the United States as a group. Spitz 2005. p457 They were accompanied by photographers, journalists (including Maureen Cleave), and Phil Spector, who had booked himself on the same flight. Spitz 2006. p458 The pilot had radioed ahead, and as they prepared to land, he was told, "Tell the boys there\'s a big crowd waiting for them." New York\'s newly-renamed JFK Airport had never experienced such a crowd, estimated at about 3,000 screaming fans. Spitz 2005. p459 After a press conference (where they first met Murray the K) they were put into limousines and driven to New York City. On the way, McCartney turned on a radio and listened to a running commentary: "They [The Beatles] have just left the airport and are coming to New York City...". Spitz 2005. p462 After reaching the Plaza Hotel, they were besieged by fans and reporters. Harrison had a fever of 102 °F (39 °C) the next day and was ordered to stay in bed, so Neil Aspinall replaced him for the first television rehearsal. Spitz 2005. p464
Their first live American television appearance was on the The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964. The next morning many newspapers wrote that The Beatles were nothing more than a "fad", and "could not carry a tune across the Atlantic". Spitz 2005. p473 Their first American concert appearance was at Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C. on 11 February 1964.Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated.
After The Beatles\' huge success in 1964, Vee-Jay Records and Swan Records took advantage of their previously secured rights to the group\'s early recordings and reissued the songs, all of which reached the top ten the second time around. (MGM and Atco also secured rights to The Beatles\' early Tony Sheridan-era recordings and had minor hits with "My Bonnie" and "Ain\'t She Sweet", the latter featuring John Lennon on lead vocal.) In addition to Introducing... The Beatles, which was essentially The Beatles\' debut British album with some minor alterations, Vee-Jay also issued an unusual LP called The Beatles Vs The Four Seasons. This 2-LP set paired Introducing... The Beatles and The Golden Hits Of The Four Seasons, another successful act that Vee-Jay had under contract, in a \'contest\' (the back cover featured a \'score card\'). Another unusual release was the Hear The Beatles Tell All album, which consisted of two lengthy interviews with Los Angeles radio disc jockeys (side one was titled "Dave Hull interviews John Lennon", while side two was titled "Jim Steck interviews John, Paul, George, Ringo"). No Beatles music was included on this interview album, which turned out to be the only Vee-Jay Beatles album Capitol Records could not reclaim.
The Vee-Jay/Swan-issued recordings eventually ended up with Capitol, which issued most of the Vee-Jay material on the American-only Capitol release The Early Beatles, with three songs left off this final US version of the album. ("I Saw Her Standing There" was issued as the American B-side of "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and also appeared on the Capitol Records album Meet The Beatles. "Misery" and "There\'s a Place" were issued as a Capitol "Starline" reissue single in 1964, and reappeared on the 1980 Rarities compilation album.) The early Vee-Jay and Swan Beatles records command a high price on the record collectors\' market, and all have been copiously bootlegged.Rare Beatles Retrieved: 29 January 2007 The Swan tracks ("She Loves You" and "I\'ll Get You") were issued on the Capitol LP The Beatles\' Second Album. (Swan also issued the German-language version of "She Loves You", called "Sie Liebt Dich". This song later appeared (in stereo) on Capitol\'s US version of the Rarities compilation album.)
The Beatles received their MBEs at Buckingham Palace.
In mid-1964 the band undertook their first appearances outside of Europe and North America, touring Australia without Ringo Starr, who was suffering from tonsillitis and was temporarily replaced by session drummer Jimmy Nicol. In Adelaide they were greeted by over 300,000 people who turned out at Adelaide Town Hall.Ficher, P. and Seamark, K. H. (2005). Vintage Adelaide. East Street Publications, 70–71. ISBN 1-921037-06-7. Ringo had rejoined by the time they arrived in New Zealand on 21 June 1964.Beatles in New Zealand Retrieved: 11 July 2007
In June 1965, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed the four Beatles Members of the Order of the British Empire, MBE. The band members were nominated by Prime Minister Harold Wilson (who also was the M.P. for Huyton, Liverpool). Spitz 2005. p556 The appointment – at that time primarily bestowed upon military veterans and civic leaders – sparked some conservative MBE recipients to return their insignia in protest. Spitz 2005. p557 The first two were returned on 14 June 1965, before The Beatles received theirs on 26 October.Napier Chronicles Retrieved: 29 January 2007
On 15 August 1965, the Beatles performed the first major stadium concert in the history of rock \'n\' roll at Shea Stadium in New York to a crowd of 55,600. The Beatles Off The Record. London: Omnibus Press p193. ISBN 0-7119-798-5-5 Their sixth album, Rubber Soul, was released in early December 1965. It was hailed as a major leap forward in the maturity and complexity of the band\'s music.Allmusic Rubber Soul review. Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
In July 1966, when The Beatles toured the Philippines, they unintentionally snubbed the nation\'s first lady, Imelda Marcos, who had expected the group to attend a breakfast reception at the Presidential Palace. Spitz 2005. p619 When presented with the invitation, Brian Epstein politely declined on behalf of the group, as it had never been the group\'s policy to accept such "official" invitations. Spitz 2005. p620 The group soon found that the Marcos regime was unaccustomed to accepting "no" for an answer. After the \'snub\' was broadcast on Philippine television and radio, all of The Beatles\' police protection disappeared. The group and their entourage had to make their way to Manila airport on their own. At the airport, road manager Mal Evans was beaten and kicked, and the band members were pushed and jostled about by a hostile crowd. Spitz 2005. p623 Once the group boarded the plane, Epstein and Evans were ordered off, and Evans said, "Tell my wife that I love her." Spitz 2005. p624 Epstein was forced to give back all the money that the band had earned while they were there before being allowed back on the plane. Spitz 2005. p625
Almost as soon as they returned from the Philippines, an earlier comment by Lennon made in March that year launched a backlash against The Beatles from religious and social conservatives in the United States. In an interview with British reporter Maureen Cleave,"The John Lennon I Knew" from The Telegraph, 5 October 2006. Retrieved: 29 January 2007 Lennon had offered his opinion that Christianity was dying and that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus now".Cleave, Maureen (1966). "How Does a Beatle Live? John Lennon Lives Like This". London Evening Standard 4 March 1966. Retrieved: 29 January 2007 Afterwards, a radio station in Birmingham, Alabama, ran a story on burning Beatles records, in what was considered to be a joke. However, many people affiliated with rural churches in the American South started taking the suggestion seriously. Towns across the United States and South Africa started to burn Beatles records in protest. Attempting to make light of the incident, Harrison said, "They\'ve got to buy them before they can burn them."Blecha, Peter (2004). Taboo Tunes: A History of Banned Bands & Censored Songs. Backbeat, 181. ISBN 0-087930-792-7. Under tremendous pressure from the American media, Lennon apologised for his remarks at a press conference in Chicago on 11 August 1966, the eve of the first performance of what turned out to be their final tour. Miles 1998. pp293-295
The group\'s two-year series of Capitol compilations also took a strange twist in the United States when one of their publicity shots, used for a Yesterday and Today album and a poster promoting the UK release of "Paperback Writer", created an uproar, as it featured the band dressed in butchers\' overalls, draped in meat and plastic dolls. A popular, though apocryphal, rumour said that this was meant as a response to the way Capitol had "butchered" their albums.The Beatles Story, Liverpool. But see also http://www.eskimo.com/~bpentium/whobutch.html Thousands of copies of the album had a new cover pasted over. Years later, a commentator linked the cover shot with the group\'s interest in German expressionism. Miles 1998. pp293-295. Uncensored copies of Yesterday and Today command a high price today, with one copy selling for $10,500 at a December 2005 auction.Gaffney, Dennis, The Beatles\' "Butcher" Cover, <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/roadshow/series/highlights/2004/chicago/follow1_2.html>. Retrieved on 6 September 2007
Elvis Presley disapproved of The Beatles\'s anti-war activism and open use of drugs, later asking President Richard Nixon to ban all four members of the group from entering the United States. Peter Guralnick writes, "The Beatles, Elvis said, [...] had been a focal point for anti-Americanism. They had come to this country, made their money, then gone back to England where they fomented anti-American feeling."Peter Guralnick, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, p420. Guralnick adds, "Presley indicated that he is of the opinion that The Beatles laid the groundwork for many of the problems we are having with young people by their filthy unkempt appearances and suggestive music while entertaining in this country during the early and middle 1960s."Guralnick, Careless Love, p426. On Presley badmouthing The Beatles to President Nixon, see also Geoffrey Giuliano and Vmda Devi, Glass Onion: The Beatles in Their Own Words-Exclusive Interviews With John, Paul, George, Ringo and Their Inner Circle (1999) Despite Presley\'s remarks, Lennon still had some positive feelings towards him: "Before Elvis, there was nothing." CNN.com Elvis is still everywhere August 16, 2002. [3]
In contrast, Bob Dylan recognised the Beatles\' contribution, stating: "America should put up statues to The Beatles. They helped give this country\'s pride back to it."Sounes, Howard, Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan (Doubleday 2001; ISBN 0-55299929-6) p203
In April 1966, the group began recording what would be their most ambitious album to date, Revolver. During the recording sessions for the album, tape looping and early sampling were introduced in a complex mix of ballad, R&B, soul, and world music.
The Beatles performed their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 29 August 1966. Miles 1998. pp293-295 ”The Beatles Anthology” DVD 2003 (Episode 6 - 0:21:34) McCartney talking about Candlestick Park. McCartney asked Tony Barrow to tape the event, but the 30-minute tape he used ran out halfway through the last song. The concert lasted a little under 35 minutes.Barrow, Tony. John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me. ISBN 1-86200-238-X
From then on, The Beatles concentrated on recording. Less than seven months after recording Revolver, The Beatles returned to Abbey Road Studios on 24 November 1966 to begin the 129-day recording sessions for their eighth album, Sgt. Pepper\'s Lonely Hearts Club Band, released on 1 June 1967.
On 25 June 1967, The Beatles became the first band globally transmitted on television, before an estimated 400 million people worldwide. The band appeared in a segment within the first-ever worldwide television satellite hook-up, a show titled Our World. The Beatles were transmitted live from Abbey Road Studios, and their new song "All You Need Is Love" was recorded live during the show, albeit to the accompaniment of a backing track they had spent five days recording and mixing in the studio prior to the broadcast.Miles p354
The band\'s business affairs began to unravel after manager Brian Epstein died of an accidental prescription drug overdose on 27 August 1967 at the age of 32. At the end of 1967, they received their first major negative press in the UK with disparaging reviews of their surrealistic TV film Magical Mystery Tour.Magical Mystery Tour Retrieved: 2 July 2007 Part of the criticism arose because colour was an integral part of the film, but in 1967 few viewers in the UK had colour televisions. The film\'s soundtrack, which features one of The Beatles\' few instrumental tracks ("Flying"), was released in the United Kingdom as a double EP, and in the United States as a full LP (the LP is now the official version).
The group spent the early part of 1968 in Rishikesh, Uttar Pradesh, India, studying transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Miles 1998. p397 Upon their return, Lennon and McCartney went to New York to announce the formation of Apple Corps. The middle of 1968 saw the band busy recording the double album The Beatles, popularly known as The White Album because of its plain white cover. These sessions saw deep divisions opening within the band, with Starr temporarily walking out. The band carried on, with McCartney recording the drums on the songs "Martha My Dear", "Wild Honey Pie", "Dear Prudence" and "Back in the USSR". Among the other causes of dissension were that Lennon\'s new girlfriend, Yoko Ono, was at his side through almost all of the sessions, and that the others felt that McCartney was becoming too domineering.Spitz 2005. pp777–779 Internal divisions had been a small but growing problem in the band; most notably, this was reflected in the difficulty that Harrison experienced in getting his songs onto Beatles albums.
On the business side, McCartney wanted Lee Eastman, the father of his then-girlfriend Linda Eastman, to manage The Beatles, but the other members wanted New York manager Allen Klein. All past Beatles decisions had been unanimous, but this time the four could not agree. Lennon, Harrison and Starr felt the Eastmans would put McCartney\'s interests before those of the group. In 1971, it was discovered that Klein, who had been appointed manager, had stolen £5 million from The Beatles\' holdings. Years later, during the Anthology interviews, McCartney said of this time, "Looking back, I can understand why they would feel that he [Lee Eastman] was biased for me and against them."
3 Savile Row in 2007.
Their final live performance was on the rooftop of the Apple building at 3 Savile Row, London, on 30 January 1969, the next-to-last day of the difficult sessions for what eventually became the Let It Be album, along with assistant engineer Alan Parsons.http://www.alanparsonsmusic.com/bio.php Most of the performance was filmed and later included in the film Let It Be. While the band was playing, the local police were called because of complaints about the noise. Although the group was simply asked to end their performance, the band members later remarked in the Anthology video that they were disappointed they were not arrested – pointing out that the police hauling the band members off in handcuffs would have been "an appropriate ending" for the film.
The Beatles recorded their final album, Abbey Road, in the summer of 1969. The completion of the song "I Want You (She\'s So Heavy)" for the album on 20 August 1969 was the last time all four Beatles were together in the same studio. Lennon announced his departure to the rest of the group on 20 September 1969, but agreed that no announcement was to be publicly made until a number of legal matters were resolved. Their final new song was Harrison\'s "I Me Mine", recorded 3 January 1970 and released on the Let It Be album. It was recorded without Lennon, who was in Denmark at the time.Mark Lewisohn. The Beatles Box Set booklet
In March 1970, the Get Back session tapes were given to American producer Phil Spector, who had produced Lennon\'s solo single "Instant Karma!". Spector\'s Wall of Sound production values went against the original intent of the record, which had been to record a stripped-down live performance. McCartney was deeply dissatisfied with Spector\'s treatment of "The Long and Winding Road" and unsuccessfully attempted to halt release of Spector\'s version of the song. McCartney publicly announced the break-up on 10 April 1970, a week before releasing his first solo album, McCartney. Pre-release copies included a press release with a self-written interview explaining the end of The Beatles and his hopes for the future. Spitz 2005. p853 On 8 May 1970, the Spector-produced version of Get Back was released as Let It Be, followed by the documentary film of the same name. The Beatles\' partnership was finally dissolved in 1975.The Beatles\' partnership was legally dissolved in 1975 bbc.co.uk Retrieved: 26 January 2007
Shortly before and after the official dissolution of the group, all four Beatles released solo albums, including Lennon\'s John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, McCartney\'s McCartney, Starr\'s Sentimental Journey, and Harrison\'s All Things Must Pass. Some of their albums featured contributions by other former Beatles; Starr\'s Ringo (1973) was the only one to include compositions and performances by all four, albeit on separate songs. Harrison showed his socio-political consciousness and earned respect for his contribution for arranging the Concert For Bangladesh in New York City in August 1971 along with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.
Other than an unreleased jam session in 1974 (later bootlegged as A Toot and a Snore in \'74), Lennon and McCartney never recorded together again.
In the wake of the expiration in 1975 of The Beatles\' contract with EMI-Capitol, the American Capitol label, rushing to cash in on its vast Beatles holdings and freed from the group\'s creative control, released five LPs: Rock \'n\' Roll Music (a compilation of their more uptempo numbers), The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl (containing portions of two unreleased shows at the Hollywood Bowl), Love Songs (a compilation of their slower numbers), Rarities (a compilation of tracks that either had never been released in the U.S. or had gone out of print), and Reel Music (a compilation of songs from their films). There was also a non-Capitol-EMI release entitled Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962, which was a recording of a show from the group\'s early days at the Star Club in Hamburg captured on a poor-quality tape. Of all these post-breakup LPs, only the Hollywood Bowl LP had the approval of the group members. Upon the American release of the original British CDs in 1986, these post-breakup Capitol American compilation LPs were deleted from the Capitol catalogue.
John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman on 8 December 1980 in New York City. In May 1981, George Harrison released "All Those Years Ago"; a single written about Harrison\'s time with The Beatles. It was recorded the month before Lennon\'s death, with Starr on drums, and was later overdubbed with new lyrics as a tribute to Lennon. Paul and Linda McCartney later contributed backing vocals to the track.Badman, Keith (1999). The Beatles After the Breakup 1970-2000: A day-by-day diary. London: Omnibus Press, 284. ISBN 0-7119-7520-5.
The BBC has a large collection of Beatles recordings, mostly comprising original studio sessions from 1963 to 1968. Much of this material formed the basis for a 1988 radio documentary series The Beeb\'s Lost Beatles Tapes. In 1989, many outtakes from The Beatles sessions appeared on the radio series The Lost Lennon Tapes. Later, in 1994, the best of the BBC sessions were given an official EMI release on Live at the BBC.
In 1988, The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a group during their first year of eligibility.Hall of Fame Retrieved: 29 January 2007 On the night of their induction, Harrison and Starr appeared to accept their award along with Lennon\'s widow Yoko Ono and his two sons. McCartney stayed away, issuing a press release citing "unresolved difficulties" with Harrison, Starr, and Lennon\'s estate. Solo Beatles later inducted were Lennon in 1994, McCartney in 1999 and Harrison in 2004.
In February 1994, the three surviving Beatles reunited to produce and record additional music for a few of Lennon\'s home recordings. "Free as a Bird" premiered as part of The Beatles Anthology series of television documentaries and was released as a single in December 1995, with "Real Love" following in March 1996. These songs were also included in the three Anthology collections of CDs released in 1995 and 1996, each of which consisted of two CDs of never-before-released Beatles material. Klaus Voormann, who had known The Beatles since their Hamburg days and had previously illustrated the Revolver album cover, directed the Anthology cover concept. 450,000 copies of Anthology 1 were sold on its first day of release. In 2000, the compilation album 1 was released, containing almost every number-one single released by the band from 1962 to 1970. The collection sold 3.6 million copies in its first week (selling 3 copies a second) and more than 12 million in three weeks worldwide. The collection also reached number one in the United States and 33 other countries, and had sold 25 million copies by 2005 (about the ninth best selling album of all time).
In the late 1990s, George Harrison was diagnosed with lung cancer. He succumbed to the disease on 29 November 2001.
In 2006, George Martin and his son Giles Martin remixed original Beatles recordings to create a soundtrack to accompany Cirque du Soleil\'s theatrical production Love. In 2007, McCartney and Starr reunited for an interview on Larry King Live to discuss their thoughts on the show. Beatles widows Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison also appeared with McCartney and Starr in Las Vegas for the one-year anniversary of Love.
Also in 2007, reports circulatedMcCartney plans last "great" song that McCartney was hoping to complete "Now and Then", the third Lennon track the band worked on during the Anthology sessions, as a "Lennon/McCartney composition" by writing new verses, laying down a new drum track recorded by Starr, and utilizing archival recordings of Harrison\'s guitar work.
Towards the end of 2007, the surviving members of The Beatles and relatives of John Lennon and George Harrison were asked to go to Israel and be part of Israel\'s 60th anniversary celebration. This was 43 years after the group was banned from performing there.Invitation to Israel
The Beatles\' constant demands to create new sounds on every new recording, combined with George Martin\'s arranging abilities and the studio expertise of EMI staff engineers such as Norman Smith, Ken Townsend and Geoff Emerick, all played significant parts in the innovative sounds of the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper\'s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).
The Beatles continued to absorb influences long after their initial success, often finding new musical and lyrical avenues by listening to their contemporaries. Among those influences were Bob Dylan, who influenced songs such as "You\'ve Got to Hide Your Love Away" and "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)".Geocities Retrieved: 29 January 2007 Other contemporary influences included the Byrds and the Beach Boys, whose album Pet Sounds was a favourite of McCartney\'s. Miles 1998. pp280–281 Beatles producer George Martin stated that "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn\'t have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds."http://www.brianwilson.com/brian/quotes.html After Sgt. Pepper was released, Wilson was so despondent that he went to bed for months.Brian Wilson went to bed: bbc.co.uk Retrieved: 3 February 2007 (See also Pet Sounds.)
Along with studio tricks such as sound effects, unconventional microphone placements, tape loops, double tracking and vari-speed recording, The Beatles began to augment their recordings with instruments that were unconventional for rock music at the time. These included string and brass ensembles as well as Indian instruments such as the sitar as in "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" and the swarmandel as in "Strawberry Fields Forever". They also used early electronic instruments such as the Mellotron, with which McCartney supplied the flute voices on the intro to "Strawberry Fields Forever", and the ondioline, an electronic keyboard that created the unusual oboe-like sound on "Baby You\'re a Rich Man".
Beginning with the use of a string quartet (arranged by George Martin with input from McCartney) on "Yesterday" in 1965, The Beatles pioneered a modern form of art song, exemplified by the double-quartet string arrangement on "Eleanor Rigby" (1966), "Here, There and Everywhere" (1966) and "She\'s Leaving Home" (1967). A televised performance of Bach\'s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 directly inspired McCartney\'s use of a piccolo trumpet on the arrangement of "Penny Lane". The Beatles moved towards psychedelia with "Rain" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" from 1966, and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "I Am the Walrus" from 1967.
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Throughout their relatively short career, the Beatles set a number of world records— most of which have yet to be broken. The following is a partial list:
The arrival of the Beatles is seen in radio as a touchstone in music signalling an end to the rock-and-roll era of the 1950s. Program Directors like Rick Sklar of WABC in New York went as far as forbidding DJs from playing any "pre-Beatles" music.Fisher, Marc. Something in the Air. Random House, 198. ISBN 978-0-375-50907-0.
