Mike Zhivov

World Since 1945

The Beatles began when John Lennon formed a group in 1956

called the Quarry Men in Liverpool, England. They played at various

events and even auditioning for a television show, but lost out to a

midget. In July of 1957, the Quarry Men were playing at St. Peter’s

Parish Church, when a mutual friend introduced Paul McCartney to

Lennon. John was so impressed that Paul could play and knew all the

lyrics to Eddie Cochran’s “20 Flight Rock” that he immediately asked

him to join the group. Paul had a younger friend who also played guitar

named George Harrison, eventually after filling in for the band every

once in a while, joined the group in 1958. From there the band

continued to play smaller gigs, including one for George’s brother’s

wedding. They band went through a number of drummers that left for

various reasons. They began playing at the “Casbah Club” in 1959 and

were introduced to the owner’s son, Pete Best who was a drummer for

another group. In 1960, Lennon asked his best friend, Stuart Sutcliffe

to join the band, which he did. Stu played bass guitar, but really never

learned to play. He was more interested in his pursuits in the arts, but

he thought it would be fun for the time being (Davies,4-29).

Early in 1960 the band changed their name to The Moondogs and

hired a manager named Allen Williams, who found them their drummer
and began to try to find them work. Again they decided to change their

name Stu suggested “The Beetles” like Buddy Holly’s Crickets, John

thought it would look better spelled “The Beatles”. However, their

manager Allen Williams didn’t like it and wanted them to change it to

“Long John and the Silver Beetles”, John shortened it to just “The Silver

Beetles” and so once again they had a name. “The Silver Beetles”

began a tour of Scotland with Johnny Gentle, a few of them assumed

stage names for the tour, like Paul “Ramone”, Carl Harrison and Stu

deStael. After their tour, they came home and filled in on Monday’s at

Allen Williams “Jacaranda Coffee Bar” in Liverpool. Tommy Moore their

drummer decided to leave the band to return to his job as a forklift

driver. They auditioned Pete Best for their drummer and asked him to

become their permanent drummer. Williams then booked the group for

a two-month assignment in Hamburg, Germany. Before they leave

they make their final name change and become “The Beatles” (Capitol

Records, 23).

The group spent long nights playing first at the “Indra Club” from

August of 1960 to October. They played set after set for hours at a

time and often used “uppers” just to keep them awake on the stage.

They were lived in very poor conditions and were struggled with the

grueling schedule. Yet, they were able tto gain popularity and began to

develop a following. Their acclaim gained them a place at a more

popular club, “The Kaiserkeller” where they played from October until
November. During this period they met a drummer named Richard

Starky- “Ringo Starr” was his stage name,. In December, The Beatles

were forced to leave Hamburg due to a contract dispute, also George

was found to be under age and was deported, Paul and Pete in protest

to their living conditions tacked a condom to the wall of the club and lit

it on fire and were also arrested and deported. Stu had decided to

leave the band and stayed behind to pursue art and to live with his

girlfriend Astrid Kirscher, who was the woman who took the now

famous black and white photographs of the early Beatles. She and her

friends are said to have inspired the famous Beatle mop-top (Spitz,

58).

Back in Liverpool in 1961, The Beatles began to play at “The

Cavern Club”. A local record shop owner Brian Epstein stopped in to

hear a luncheon show and shortly after offered to become their

manager. In 1962, Epstein set up an audition for them at Decca

recordings, but they were rejected because according to Decca, “guitar

groups are on the way out.” Shortly after this John received the terrible

news that his friend Stuart Sutcliffe died of an apparent brain

hemorrhage at the age of 21, it is thought that it was the result of a

beating he and John had endured back in Liverpool. On June 4th The

Beatles signed with Parlophone Records, a branch of EMI. On June 6th

they began their first recording session at the EMI studios, later

renamed Abbey Road Studios. Shortly after their first recording

drummer because Pete just wasn’t that good. Later in August Pete was

fired from the group and replaced with Ringo Starr and they begin

recording again (Gallagher, 82).

On October 5, 1962 The Beatles released their first single “Love

Me Do” and it climbs up to number 17 on the charts. In February of

1963 they recorded their first album, in three sessions totaling 11

hours, called “Please Please Me”. In March they released they title

single, “Please Please Me” and it reached #1 on the Melody Maker

Chart and in May the album reached the top spot. They continued to

release hit after hit like “She Loves You”, “From Me To You” and “I

Want to Hold Your Hand.” In October they played at the London

Palladium and for the first time the term “Beatlemania” is used to

describe the fans hysteria. In November The Beatles gave a Royal

Command Performance in front of the Queen. It is during this

performance that John says his famous line, “Those of you in the cheap

seats if you would clap along and the rest of you if you could just rattle

your jewelry.” At the end of 1963 The Beatles released their second

album, “With The Beatles” (Capitol Records, 63)

In 1964 they did what no other British group had done they burst

onto the American scene with “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in the #1

spot on the American charts. They arrived in America and went on the

Ed Sullivan Show to the largest viewing audience in television history.

returned to Britain larger stars than ever imagined

(BeatlesHistory.net).

When they returned home they began filming their first motion

picture, “A Hard Days Night” in black and white. The film was released

to critical acclaim and their fans went crazy for it. It portrayed The

Beatles as themselves in situations they might find themselves in daily

with fans as well as displayed their charm and humor that won over

everyone. Their third album was released along with the film in 1964,

as it was its soundtrack and included such number 1 hits as “Can’t Buy

Me Love” and “A Hard Days Night.” Then at the end of the year they

released their fourth album, “Beatles for Sale” (Davies, 71)

In 1965 they received MBE’s (Members of the Order of the British

Empire) from the British Crown, which created a stir in Britain as the

honor was usually reserved for war heroes and other distinguished

Englishmen and several former receivers of the medal return it in

protest. In July the release their second motion picture, “Help!” which

is a crazy story in which a cult wants a ring that Ringo has for a

sacrifice. Once again, along with the film it’s soundtrack is released

whose title track and album both reach #1. In August, The Beatles

played a concert at Shea Stadium in New York that was attended by

55, 600 fans, setting a record for largest audience at a rock concert.

Near the end of ’65 they released their 6th album, “Rubber Soul”. This
album marked the transformation of their style and depth of meaning

in their songs. It included new instruments and new influences on their

music style such as Indian music especially present with the inclusion

of the sitar (Beatles-History.net).

Ixsn 1966 The Beatles performed their last concert in Candlestick

Park, San Francisco. They hadn’t announced it as their last concert, but

afterwards, paraphrasing John, they felt like they were a freak show

just on display to see and that no one was really listening to them

anymore. They released their 7th album, “Revolver” to high praises

from critics. Their song writing continued to improve and become more

meaningful or deeper in it’s meaning. Their musical style continued to

grow and expand too, interweaving different musical styles into their

own to create a new sound. This is also the year that John’s comments

taken out of context in an interview threatened the popularity of The

Beatles. He was quoted as saying that The Beatles were bigger than

Jesus. This quote was taken out of context of the interview many times

and protests were held at their appearances, as well as public burnings

of their records and other memorabilia (Spitz, 104).

In 1967 The Beatles release their most influential and

groundbreaking album, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” This

album is thought by many to be the greatest album in history.

The Beatles meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at a lecture on

transcendental meditation and began to study and train with him.

apparent overdose of sleeping pills. It was believed by many to be a

suicide as he was increasingly depressed over his lack of involvement

with The Beatles as well as his struggle to keep his homosexuality a

secret. Near the end of the year they released a TV movie on BBC

called, “Magical Mystery Tour”, along with a soundtrack album. The

film didn’t make any sense to fans and critics alike and both hated it

(Gallagher, 117) .

The Beatles flew to Rishikesh, India in 1968 and stayed there

from February until April, studying with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They

left in April because of a scandal involving Mahesh Yogi. Shortly after,

the Beatles formed their own recording label called Apple Corps and

used it to discover new music talent. They released their 9th album

simply titled “The Beatles”, but it has commonly become known as

“The White Album.” Ringo left the group during one of the recording

sessions, so Paul had to fill in on some of the drum parts for the album.

There was a great deal of tension within the group after the

“White Album”. the group members had begun to explore other

musical avenues separately especially John who released an album

with his soon to be wife Yoko Ono called, “Unfinished Music No. 1: Two

Virgins” (Davies, 132).

The band came back together in 1969 and began shooting a film

that was supposed to show them in the writing and recording process
of their next album, “Let It Be.” Instead, the tension within the group

overflowed onto the camera and being constantly filmed began to be

an annoyance. The recording and filming was stopped and they went

to Apple Saville Row Studios to finish the album. The recording

sessions finally ended in the famous “rooftop” concert. They went up

on the roof of Apple and began playing. As the crowd grew the police

eventually showed and ended the show, this was the last time The

Beatles performed live together (Sptiz, 137).

They later got back together to make what was to be their final

record, “Abbey Road” at the end of 1969 and released it shortly

afterwards. “Let It Be” was actually released after “Abbey Road” in

1970 due to the fact that there was a lot of production that had to be

done on the unfinished album, by Phil Spector, their producer. John had

not been with the group since November of ’69, although the group

worked with Spector to complete the album. The official break-up of

The Beatles was not officially announced until Paul walked out of the

sessions, April 10th, 1970 (Beatles-History.net).

Beatles History, The Complete Online Biography of The Beatles. Web.

01 Mar. 2011. <http://www.beatles-history.net/>.

Capitol Records. The Beatles. Hollywood, CA: Capitol, 2000. Print.

Davies, Hunter. The Beatles. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. Print.

Gallagher, Jim. The Beatles. Broomall, PA: Mason Crest, 2008. Print.

Spitz, Bob. The Beatles: the Biography. New York: Little, Brown, 2005.

Print.