The story of one of the greatest rock bands ever started on a day in 1957 when Ivan Vaughn introduced John Lennon, born October 9th, 1940, to Paul McCartney, born June 18th, 1942. They form a group called the Quarrymen that same year. The Quarrymen soon began performing at The Cavern Club in Liverpool. In 1958, The Quarrymen got George Harrison, born February 24, 1943, to be its next member. Later in the year they would record their first single, the A side being Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day". The B side was an original track by Paul and George called "In Spite Of All The Danger".
The next year, the Quarrymen changed their name to Johnny And The Moondogs and played dead end gigs in Liverpool. In January of 1960, John's art school friend Stuart Sutcliffe, born June 23, 1940, joined on bass. They would continue without a regular drummer until August when Pete Best, born November 24, 1941, joined the band. The band renamed itself the Silver Beatles, then just the Beatles that same year. Soon after the name change, The Beatles travelled to Hamburg, Germany and began a 17-day residency at the Indra Club, before moving to the larger Kaiserkeller Club. The Beatles went into a studio in Hamburg and recorded "Summertime". Pete Best was absent during this session. His seat was filled by Richard Starkey a.k.a. Ringo Starr, born July 7th, 1940.
The Beatles left Germany, with Stuart staying behind by request, at the end of 1960. The band began a residency at their old Quarrymen hangout, The Cavern Club, in February of 1961. During one of these gigs, they met Brian Epstien, who would become their manager. The next year, The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records, but were turned down. About three months after the Decca audition, the Beatles received word that Stuart Sutcliffe had died of a brain haemorrhage. He was only 21 years old. Later in the year, the Beatles were signed to EMI Records, where they met George Martin, who would produce the band through much of their career. On August 14th, 1962, Pete Best was fired from the group. Ringo Starr was his replacement. The Beatles recorded "P.S. I Love You", "Ask Me Why", and "Love Me Do" later in the year. By the end of the year, "Love Me Do" would reach #17 on the UK charts.
At the beginning of 1963, the Beatles began their first headlining tour. Soon after the tour, the Beatles released their debut album, Please Please Me. It shot up to #1 on the UK charts. Later in the year, they released With The Beatles. It too was a smashing success. At the beginning of 1964, the Beatles landed in the US. Their first album in the US was an exact copy of With The Beatles, but titled Meet The Beatles. Beatlemania had begun.
On February 9th, 1964, the Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. This performance would become legendary. On February 29th (leap year), the Beatles' latest album, Introducing...The Beatles shot up to US #2, where it was behind Meet The Beatles. On July 6th, A Hard Day's Night was released. The movie/album would become a smashing success, climbing to #1 on both the US and UK charts. In late August, the Beatles released Beatles For Sale, another #1. The beginning of 1965 brought the release of Beatles '65, which, of course, climbed to #1 on the charts. The Beatles released yet another album in July. It was titled, "Beatles VI". Like all of the Beatles albums before it, it was a smashing success. The Beatles were on top of the world.
August brought the release of the Beatles' second movie, Help!. The soundtrack would shoot up to #1, where it would stay for nine weeks. On December 3rd, the Beatles began their final UK tour, with only 9 dates. The end of the year brought the release of Rubber Soul, an experimental album that marked a departure from the typical pop songs they had been playing before. But even though it was so different from the albums before it, Rubber Soul ascended to #1 in both the US and UK. In early 1966, John said in an Evening Standard interview that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus". John would apologize for the statement later in the year. In July of that same year, Yesterday And Today was released. It's original album cover, featuring the Beatles dressed up as butchers with dismembered dolls and bloody cuts of meat surrounding them, was taken off the shelves and replaced with an alternative cover.
On August 13th, 1966, Revolver was released. It was another experimental album, and marked the beginning of the later half of the Beatles' career. On August 29th, the Beatles played their final US concert in San Francisco, California. The band had more creative choices now that they wouldn't have to play live. Their next album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, was their most experimental yet, featuring orchestras and horns. Soon after, Brian Epstein died of an overdose at the age of 33. In September of 1967, the Beatles began filming their TV movie, Magical Mystery Tour. The soundtrack would be released a few months later. It was around this time that John first met Yoko Ono, who he began dating. Soon after, the Beatles form Apple Records. One of the first bands signed onto the new label was Badfinger.
In 1968, Yellow Submarine, the soundtrack to the animated film of the same name, was released. The Beatles didn't actually supply the voices for their characters in the movie and only made a cameo appearance at the end. Later in the year, John's wife, Cynthia, divorced him because of his affair with Yoko Ono. In December of 1968, the Beatles released a self-titled double album that would usually be referred to as The White Album because of its white cover. In 1969, the Beatles began recording Get Back. The album project was abandoned and the Beatles began working on Abbey Road, which was revolutionary. Also around this time, the Beatles played for 42 minutes on top of the Apple building until they were stopped by the police. In March, John married Yoko. Tension was building between the Beatles, partially because of Yoko. The Beatles' reign of success would soon end.
In 1970, the Beatles finished Get Back and released it as Let It Be. It would be the Beatles' last album. The band split in April. John went on to have a successful solo career until he was murdered in 1980. Paul formed Wings and also had a successful solo career. George, just like John and Paul, had a great and influential solo career. He died in 2002. Ringo too had a solo career, but his was a little more low-key. The Beatles are remembered today as one of the most influential rock bands ever. Their influence is shown in many classic and modern rock bands. Their legacy will never be forgotten.
No comments:
Post a Comment