Ever heard of the word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”? That is how most would describe The Beatles. A band of four, they have been the most important influences in the music scene since the early 1960’s and till date their songs remain strikingly relevant. Their style of music, the song writing process, and recording techniques put them on the top of charts frequently, hence having some of the best-selling albums under their name. Having to get the iconic band name and famous line-up, the band had to go through several band-mate replacements and name changes. They changed the face of music and many artists, musicians, bands etc, have been influenced by The Beatles.
Origins:
1)John Lennon-
Born on 9th October, 1940 as John Winston Ono Lennon in Liverpool, had troubled childhood that molded him into the artist he turned out be. Some people described him as disruptive, and sometimes even called him a bad influence. Growing up, he lived his mother while his father set out to the seas as merchant navy. That made it hard for him to see his father on a regular basis, all he saw for a while were the cheques that were sent from overseas by his dad, which stopped coming after 6 months. This is when his father came back to take care of the family, as Lennon’s mother was finding it difficult to do so. However things took a dark turn when his parents decided to separate and John had to choose between them, choosing his dad twice but later on stayed with his Aunt and her husband. They bought him various books of short stories, a mouth organ and crossword puzzles. When he visited his mother from time to time, she played him Elvis Presley’s songs and taught him how to play the Banjo. Lennon joined Quarry Banks High School in Liverpool. His mother was killed by car, on the way home on June 15, 1958,causing him way much distress and starting failing in certain subjects, after which he joined the Liverpool College of Arts where he was a troublemaker. His aunt bought him his first guitar the previous year. She wanted him to grow bored of music when having noticed Lennon wasn’t into having an proper career to make a living out of.
2) Paul McCartney
Born on 18th June 1942, in Liverpool, Paul McCartney was raised by his mum who was a nurse, and by his dad who was a firefighter for Word War 2 and also a Trumpet player and Pianist for the Jim Mac’s band in the early 1920’s. Paul had a younger brother. Though born Christian, his father was agnostic hence so were the family. Paul attended Stockton Wood Road Primary School and then got transferred to Junior School in Belle Valle. On acing his 11-Plus exams he went to Liverpool Institute, a grammar school. Paul met George Harrison on the bus from his home. Paul’s father has a piano in the living room and urged Paul to take piano lessons but he decided to learn by ear. On his 14th Birthday, he was gifted a silver-plated trumpet but soon traded it for an acoustic guitar since Rock and Roll was catching up. McCartney found it hard to play the guitar right-handed until he saw advertising poster for a concert which a photograph of a front-man playing the guitar left-handed, Paul quickly reversed the order of the strings. He wanted to be able to sing while playing. On 31st October 1956, his mum died of an embolism. This paved way for stronger bond with Lennon, who also had lost his mother.
3) George Harrison
George Harrison was one of the four children born to Harold and his wife, in 23rd February 1943 at 12 Arnold Grove, England. His mother was a shop assistant while his father was a bus conductor who worked in a ship called the White Star Line as a steward. His mother wanted all of her children to be happy and noticed making music made George happy. She was a loud singer according by her peers and when she was pregnant with George she used to play songs that used the sitars and tablas. George had one sister and two brothers. He attended Dovedale Primary School in 1948, after which having passed 11-Plus exams he joined the Liverpool Institute. He was disappointed when it came to his notice that the music classes that were being offered were lacking guitar classes. In 1956, Harrison had an epiphany while riding the cycle as he heard Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” playing loud from a neighbour’s window. From that very instant George’s interest in Rock and Roll shot through the roof. He sat in the back during classes and kept on drawing guitars on the class desks. His father, Harold, wasn’t to keen on his Harrison picking up a music career but ended up buying him a Dutch Egmond Top Flat guitar. Harold’s friend taught his son how to play songs like “Whispering, Sweet Due and Dinah”. On the process of pursuing a music career he formed a skiffle band called “The Rebels” with his friend and his brother.
4) Ringo Starr
You might be wondering why I’v’e chosen a photograph of Ringo smiling, well that’s only to contradict how people call him the “sad-eyed/ the sad Beatle”. Born as Richard Starkey in 7th July 1940, at 9th Madryn Street in Dingle, Liverpool, he went through a hard childhood, falling sick and contracting infections. His mother shared the hobby of singing and dancing with his father, as they always spent their free time at local ballroom circuit prior to his birth. They stopped going there post Ringo’s birth and his mother raised him with an overprotective method. By then his father gained interest in drinking and dancing, going on for several days at once while loosing all interest in the family. In 1944 they moved to Admiral Grove in Dingle to stay in an affordable place, but a year’s time, his parents split and he stayed with his mother, while rarely visiting his father. Ringo’s mother had to switch up bunch of different jobs before securing one as local bar-maid. At the young age of 6, he had appendicits and later contracted peritonitis that made him fall into a coma for several days. Staying absent in school and showing up after a long time, he felt awkward socially at school and gradually failed his subjects. Academically, to catch up with his friends Ringo’s surrogate sister and neighbour tutored him. But in 1953 he contracted tuberculosis and was admitted into a sanatorium for 2 years, where he was encouraged among other patients to join the hospital band. His first instrument was percussion, a mallet from cotton bobbin, which he used to strike the cabinets next to his bed. Since then, he found his fascinating passion for drums. He recalls his grandparents buying him the banjo, mandolin, harmonica etc, including the fact they had a piano too but they never had drums. Ringo kept shifting to different places, he couldn’t ace the 11-Plus exams and was unemployed at different situations. He decided to stop going to school and decided to learn music. In 1956, midway, Graves scored Ringo a job as a machinist at a equipment manufacturing facility in Liverpool, where he became friends with Ray Trafford. Starr picked up interest quickly in skiffle music when introduced to it by Trafford.
From Quarrymen to the Iconic Beatles:
Lennon, back in 1956, formed a skiffle band with several friends, called “Blackjacks” but upon notice of another band that went by the same name, they changed to “Quarrymen”. Pete Shotton came up with the band name and they started playing gigs at parties, school dances and various skiffle contest. Paul McCartney joined the band in the year 1957 and invited George Harrison along but Lennon thought he was too young to join the band. Initially, Paul’s first gig with the Quarrymen didn’t end up the way he practiced for it, messing up the guitar rhythm for the song “Raunchy”. Lennon however, found Paul’s overconfidence amusing and laughed about the gig. A meeting was arranged for Harrison, Lennon and his band on top of a bus, where he played the same song Paul couldn’t. George Harrison joined hence joined the band in February, 1958. The band name changed to “The Rainbows”, then “Johnny and the Moondogs”. At some point Lennon and McCartney did duo gigs under the name “Nerk Twins” but later the band went back it’s original name. Stu, a close friend of Lennon, came up with the name “The Beetles” because of the band’s admiration for Buddy Holly and his group called “The Crickets”. Although Paul never liked the name, the band used it and came up with several alternatives like “Silver Beetles, The Beatals, Silver Beats, Silver Beatles, Long John and the Silver Beatles” before sticking to “The Beatles”. Ringo used to play drums with other bands in Hamburg, he’d jam with the Beatles when drummer Pete Best didn’t show up. This lead to hiring Ringo and firing Pete, causing controversies. In a documentary, George reveals the band name was from a Marlon Brando film called “The Wildone”, in which Marlon played a character called Johnny and had a biker gang called The Beetles.
The First Hit:
The First single called “Love Me Do” which was released on Oct 5th 1962, had a middling success. However, their second single “Please Please Me” was their first hit. Lennon wrote the song in his Childhood house(Aunt Mimi’s home). His inspiration for it was “Only the Lonely” by Roy Orbison, so it came out as a slow-paced ballad. The band went into the studio for their first recording session under producer George Martin, on September 6th 1962. Martin thought the song wasn’t in the best version but signed them because he felt good to be with them, and thought the audience would feel good if the band played onstage. On September 11th, they recorded for the second time, but producer Martin still wasn’t impressed. He asked Lennon to make changes in the song, giving importance for the tempo. After two and a half months, Please Please Me was recorded successfully in 18 takes. Martin congratulated the band on making their #1 hit song before it even released. On 11th January 1963, Please Please Me hit the top spot in many music charts and gave The Beatles the recognition needed. It stayed #1 in 3 important international music charts like Melody Maker, New Musical Express and BBC’s Pick of the Pops. Some irrelevant music charts put this song at #2 spot(one of them from UK). Nevertheless, there are fans who say their 3rd single “I Saw Her Standing There” is the Beatles’ first hit.
Beatlemania:
To begin with, Beatlemania is a term given for the intense fan frenzy the Beatles had. By the photographs, you can easily tell how the band became the world’s ecstasy and still remain like that till date. By the time Beatles came popular, they started touring in May and June 1963, with Roy Orbison. The next month they released a new single “She Loves You” which became a massive hit. In October, they performed at the London Palladium in Great Britain that was witnessed by 12 million viewers. At this point, UK got hooked onto the Beatlemania. The very next month the Beatles played at a charity concert at the Prince Wales Theatre in London, where Lennon made a famous statement:
Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hand? and the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewelry.
On February 9th 1964, they made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, performing “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. The viewers grew massive in number to 73 million, that’s 37% of the American population. They also made a second appearance on the same show much later. By now, the Fab Four’s songs were all over the television and radio. They Beatles toured Europe earlier before touring in U.S.A, then countries like Switzerland, Hong-Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Sometimes concerts got cancelled because there were huge riots and massive crowds invading concert places, all in the name of Beatlemania. They’ve even met famous personalities along the way, specifically, Muhammed Ali.
Beatles With a Pinch of India:
The year was 1965, George Harrison the “Silent Beatle”, was introduced to Ravi Shankar’s music, by the Byrds. Since then, he became an ardent learner of the sitar, learning from the Indian Maestro. Later on, a lecture was held by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the Park Lane in Hilton Hotel, London. The Beatles attended it except for Ringo, who just had a new born. Patie Harrison encouraged the Beatles for it. The eastern philosophy was intriguing for the Harrisons which led them to a trip to Bombay, in 1966. The following year, on May 26th, they came out with their 8th studio album “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”. The album was an instant hit, spending 27 weeks at #1 in 15 countries. Apart from winning 4 Grammy Awards, it was praised for it’s distinctive production, songwriting, graphic design, bridging a culture divide presenting the generation. Patie then attended a transcendental meditation lecture at the Caxton Hall, London. She asked George to come see what’s going on there. The next thing they attended was the 10 day summer conference on the Spiritual Regeneration Movement at Wales. This path they were on, took them to Rishikesh, India,where the band attended the Maharashi Spiritual Spiritual Camp, in 1968. During their stay, McCartney wrote 12 songs, Harrison about 6, Lennon 15, and even Starr had written his first song. 10 days into Spiritual Camp, Ringo left, in March Paul left due to some business concerns, George and John left on April 11th.
Beatles Post Breakup:
It came as a dreadful shock to the millions of Beatles fans, when they heard about the band breaking up. The break up didn’t have one reason, but many. Some say it’s Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono, who made the band split, while others they the Lennon-McCartney lyricism took one an other side because Lennon wanted to show seniority. Paul stated that the band lived out to the fullest and had done everything they wanted. You could see the band’s distress in the Rockumentary “Let It Be”. Perhaps the serious potential could’ve been the death of their manager Brian Epstein. George Harrison’s emergence as a composer and song-writer were one of the reasons as well as business related situations. The spiral of reasons is endless. Lennon privately informed the band he’s going his own way and later on so did Paul. There were now artistic differences, some left the band in between in mid 1969. By 1970, they band members have been pursuing solo careers are singers, song writers and artists. Going solo, the fans now listened to their songs as from four individual artists and not as a group or band. All the four had a lot of hit solo songs that are still played here and there in today’s world.
Dire Times:
Going their own ways brought the world fruitful songs, each one having a particular direction or cause to be conveyed. The real tragedy came when John Lennon was murdered by stalker fan named Mark David Chapman in December 8, 1980 in the archway of Dakota, Lennon’s residence in New York City. He got shot at 5 times, where 4 bullets pierced through his body and 1 missed. He fell down bleeding to death and managed to crawl into the reception. He was with his wife Yoko On as they were returning from Record Plant Studio at night. Lennon seemed to recognize Mark from the previous encounter earlier that day. Ex-band mates found his demise very unsettling. 21 years later, on November 29th 2001, aged 58. The reason behind his demise was lung cancer. 3 weeks before it, he was visited by Paul. Harrison died at a friend’s home, in Los Angeles. His body was cremated and his ashes were spread in the River Ganges. Paul and Ringo are the two only former Beatles members to be alive and they been collaborating with other musicians as well.
Changing the World:
Being the best band globally back in those days, Beatles had an impact on the world in several ways. First, the way they dressed, before it was collarless suits and then vibrant Indian dresses during the psychedelic era. Fans decided to dress like the Beatles. Their unique hairstyle called the “Mop-top” was such a massive trend that it was called the Beatle-cut and even wigs of the same style were being made by Lowell Toy Manufacturing Corp, in New York as they were the only one to have the authentication for it. The Beatles played out to a massive stadium audience of 55,600 people for the first outdoor concert that sold out in under 17 minutes. Their album covers are pure art and they focus on artistic side of the album, which meant they didn’t include their singles in the albums. A compilation album of their greatest hits were made quickly sold 3.1 million albums in 1 week and 13 million in one month. It was also a #1 hit in 28 countries, hence the impact of the Beatles on the world will never change!
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