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Муниципальное общеобразовательное учреждение
Средняя школа № 51
Пыхтина Сергея
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1) John Lennon………………………………………………………………………….….2
2) Paul McCartney………………………………………………………………………….5
3) George Harrison…………………………………………………………………………10
4) Ringo Starr………………………………………………………………………………..14
John Lennon
John Lennon was born on October 9,
1940 in
With his aunt, Lennon experienced a quiet and undisturbed working class upbringing that left him with many happy memories. Some of these would later result in some of his best work. (Strawberry fields forever, the masterpiece single released before Sgt. Pepper was based upon his childhood recollections of happiness). Ever since his early childhood his artistic side found a way up to the surface of his personality and young Lennon began to express himself through sketches and artwork. A few of his teachers were impressed with his work, and suggested The Liverpool art school for the boy. Although John Lennon was (even by his own admission) a "child genius", he decided for this option, over a regular academic schedule. During this period, at fifteen years of age, John met Paul McCartney, at a Wooten Parish Garden Fete. The result of their conjoined musical talents was a band called "The Quarrymen", named after Quarry Banks, the school that they attended. Years later this band would become the greatest musical influence of recent recording history, and would define an entire generation. This would be under another name, though:: The Beatles.
At age
18, John's life underwent a drastic change, when, shortly after having reunited
with his son, Julia Stanley Lennon, died. She was hit by a bus driven by
an off -duty policeman in
Back in
In
John Lennon and Paul McCartney close songwriting collaboration was clearly always the driving force of the Beatles' success. They also had very definite roles within the group. John always wrote songs or contributed with lyrics that highlighted his strong rock and roll roots and surfaced his feelings and raw emotions. He was the strong minded and outspoken genius. Paul was the directing part of the duo. He orchestrated the signature catchy tunes that placed the band in the charts. Although they differed vastly in their points of view, their songwriting efforts produced more hit singles (59) and innumerable masterpieces than any other musical partnership in recording history, left as an enduring legacy of their work.
For
the next seven years, John got caught up on a ongoing cycle of bliss, fame,
controversy, drugs and rock and roll that ultimately led him nowhere. In 1964
the Beatles were awarded the MBE (members of the
John's disappointment with the music business can be witnessed by listening to some of the songs he contributed to the Beatles's albums released in the period. After a the first fecund years of boundary-pushing lyrics and melodies he stopped challenging his own songwriting capabilities and simply gave up. Shortly after Sgt. Pepper, his songs clearly reflect how much of his early enthusiasm was gone, specially his contributions to the Yellow Submarine soundtrack and The White album, although it contains some of his best compositions ever.
In the mist of the sixties' psychedelic, and after a great disillusion with the spiritual world, John met the woman who was to become his life partner: Yoko Ono. She was an avant-garde, Japanese American artist, six years his senior. Soon after they met, and in spite of public outrage they were inseparable. John decided to leave his wife and marry Yoko, who was being dubbed by the press as "the dragon lady", the woman who had cast a spell on "prince charming". They didn't seem to care.
John
married Yoko in
John
and Yoko settled in
But
as fond as John and Yoko were of
The pressures of their hectic lifestyles, combined with the ones of the outside world, finally affected the couple. After only three years of marriage, John and Yoko decided to take a brake from each other. That two year period would later be known as John's infamous "lost weekend". John took off May Pang, his assistant and with some of his old friends, feeling carefree for the first time since he was 20. He reunited with Ringo, and helped him work on his album, and also played with the likes of David Bowie and Elton John. He was a bachelor once again, but only enjoyed it for a short period, before he started to long for home.
Yoko Ono developed into her own person, after being criticized for so long, and being in the shadow of the genius of John. She became very active in the Avant-garde New York scene, regaining her place as an accomplished artist. She would often check in with May Pang, to catch up with his life without him finding out.
John's work during this 18 month period clearly reflect the pain that being away from his beloved Yoko caused him. "What you got" "Nobody loves you when you're down and out" and "Sweet bird of paradox" share the same theme: Fear of abandonment and isolation. Even «whatever» gets you through the night, the peppy single that propelled him back to the top of the charts, was based on the assumption that getting by alone is not easy. Soon it became clear to everyone who knew him that Yoko was not only the woman under John's shadow; she was also indispensable to him.
John and Yoko finally got back together in 1974, after being set up at an Elton John concert, where John was making a guest appearance. They would remain together for the rest of his life. In 1975, John retired from public life, after releasing his last album of new material. On October 9 of that same year, Yoko gave birth to Sean Lennon, after several miscarriages. John was delighted with his life as a "house husband" and decided to stay home, to take care of Sean, while Yoko took care of business. He felt no urge to record or release any music during the next five years, although he continued to write songs as always. From time to new he would release statements, or give interviews, but amazingly he managed to regain his private person status and his inner peace. Sean had given him a second chance at parenting just as Yoko had given him a second shot at love. He kept away from the same music business he had pursuit with so much enthusiasm before.
With the release of 1980's "Double Fantasy" John came back to the
public eye. In this album, at the age of 40 he targeted audience had changed
from screaming teenage girls to an entire generation: His generation, his age
group. "How did things turn out for you" he seemed to asked the same
persons he had moved to believe that "all you need is love" and to
Imagine. The album was an immediate success, mainly because of the honesty of
the songs it contained. The plans of a follow up album were cut drastically
short, as so was his life. In
John Lennon's legend lives on and will remain alive as long as his vision of peace and love keep inspiring new generations of dreamers - To Love and Imagine.
Paul McCartney
Paul
McCartney was born in 1942 in
In 1957 Paul joined Quarrymen, in 1960 re-named in Beatles. There he was since 1970 with John Lennon, Gorge Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Out
of all the former Beatles, Paul McCartney by far had the
most successful solo career, maintaining a constant presence in the British and
American charts during the '70s and '80s. In
Following his first marriage to
Linda Eastman on
He
wanted to be in a rock band. Within a year after the Beatles' break-up, McCartney had formed
Wings. In December 1971, Wings released their first album, "Wings Wild
Life." However, the album was greeted with poor reviews and was a relative
flop. After they released three singles: "Give Ireland Back to the
Irish," "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and "Hi, Hi, Hi" in
1972, Paul McCartney & Wings released "Red Rose Speedway" in
1973. Regardless of weak reviews, the album became McCartney's second American
number one album, and generated his number one hit single "My Love."
That same year they scored another Top 10 hit with "Live and Let
Die," the theme to the James Bond movie. In December 1973, Paul McCartney
& Wings released their best-reviewed album "Band on the Run." The
album became a number one hit in the
Following
the success of "Band on the Run," Wings released "Venus and
Mars" in May 1975. The album also hit number one in the
After
the world tour completed, Paul McCartney released "Thrilling ton," an
instrumental version of "Ram," under the pseudonym of Percy
"Thrills" Thrilling ton in 1977. Later that year, Wings released
"Mull of Kindred," which became the biggest-selling British single of
all time, selling over two million copies. It was followed several months later
by the 1978 album "London Town," which became a Top 10 hit in the US
and UK. Later that year, Wings released their first Greatest Hits album
"Wings Greatest." After its release, Wings released "Back to the
Egg" in 1979. But the album was a relative flop, though it became a Top 10
hit in the
In
May 1980, Paul McCartney released "McCartney II," which was a one-man
band effort like his solo debut. It was more successful than Wings' "Back to
the Egg." Later that year, however, McCartney was thunderstruck at the
news of John Lennon's assassination. The following year, he effectively broke
up Wings. McCartney entered the studio with Beatles producer George Martin to
make his solo album "Tug of War." In April 1982, he released
"Tug of War." The album received the best reviews of any McCartney
record since "Band On The Run," which became a number one hit in the
US and UK. It also produced the number one single "Ebony and Ivory,"
a duet with Stevie Wonder that became McCartney's biggest American hit. Later
that year, "The Girl Is Mine," a duet with Michael Jackson, was
released as the first single from Michael Jackson's blockbuster album
"Thriller"; the single became a Top 10 hit in the US and UK. In 1983,
Paul released "Pipes Of Peace." Though the album was a relative flop,
it spawned the number one single "Say -Say -Say," a duet with Michael
Jackson that is currently the last number one single of his career in the
In
1984, McCartney released the soundtrack, "Give My Regards to
In
1991, McCartney released another live album in the form of
"Unplugged," which was taken from his appearance on MTV's acoustic
concert programme of the same name; it was the first "Unplugged"
album to be released. Later that year, he unveiled his first classical work,
"Liverpool Oratorio." Early in 1993, McCartney released "Off the
Ground." Though the album was mauled by the critics and was a flop, he
supported the album with his successful "New World Tour." Later that
year, he released another live album "Paul Is Live"; he also released
an ambient techno album, "strawberries oceans ships forest", under
the pseudonym of the fireman. On
In April 1998 Paul McCartney was bereaved of his beloved wife Linda McCartney by reason of her disease: breast cancer. Later that year, however, McCartney unveiled his second ambient dance album, "Rushes," under the pseudonym of the Fireman. On the solo album from Linda McCartney, titled "Wide Prairie," he sings backing vocals and plays a variety of instruments; Paul produced the album as the definitive collection of all the songs recorded by Linda over the past 25 years. Beyond a total heartbreak, Paul McCartney is getting back to where he should belong.
Paul
McCartney was honored on
Paul
McCartney had done his first exhibit: the Painting of Paul McCartney in
In October, 1999, "Run Devil Run," Paul's first album since Linda's death in April 1998, was released worldwide. Recorded in two quick-burst sessions at Studio 2, Abbey Road, from 1 March to 5 May, 1999, the 15-track album includes his interpretations of 12 songs chosen not for musical merit but for reasons of pure nostalgia that were his favorite '50s rock'n'roll as a teenager, as well as three new songs Paul wrote in a '50s style. The hand-picked band was the classic rock'n'roll line-up of bass, guitar and drums. McCartney (bass, guitar, vocals) - accompanied by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour (guitar), Mick Green (guitar), Deep Purple's Iran Piece (drums), Pete Winfield (keyboards), Dave Mattacks (drums), Geraint Watkins (keyboard) and Chris Hall (Accordion) - recreated that golden age of rock'n'roll. Although recent Beatle myth has enshrined John Lennon as the Beatles' rocker and Paul McCartney as the Beatles' balladeer, "Run Devil Run" must remind you of Paul as the rocker. (You know Paul composed not only the best-known ballade such as "Yesterday" and "Let It Be" but punchy hard rock such as "I'm Down" and "Helter Skelter".)
On the other hand, Paul McCartney unveiled his third
classical album, titled "Working Classical," in the
On
In
February, 2000, "a Garland for Linda" was released; it features new
choral works by the nine contemporary British composers: John Tavener, Michael
Berkeley, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Giles Swayne, John Rutter, Roxanna
Panufnik, David Matthews, Judith Bingham and Sir Paul McCartney and
"Silence and Music" originally composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams for
"A Garland for the Queen," in which ten leading British composers
contributed new works for a musical celebration of the coronation of Queen
Elizabeth II in 1953. The inspiration for "a
On
On
In May 2001, Paul McCartney released "WINGSPAN -
Hits and History -," the 40-song collection from Paul McCartney and Wings.
"Wingspan" is the soundtrack of a two-hour film of the same title
that is a television documentary about the formation and history of the band
Wings. The double-album not only made its debut at No.2 on the Billboard album
charts as of May 26, 2001, but marked the fastest-selling release of the
McCartney post-Beatles era; it went Gold, Platinum and double Platinum, earning
Paul his 21st gold record. Later that year, he released "Driving Rain," the first studio album of
new songs from Paul McCartney since 1997's "Flaming Pie." Though the
album peaked at No.26 on the Billboard album charts, "Driving Rain" was certified gold on
On
On
On
Anyway, I recommend "All the Best" or "WINGSPAN - Hits and History -" as a good introduction to Paul McCartney. Check it out!
George Harrison
The
youngest of four children, George was born
George began his education at Dove dale Primary. In September 1954, George began attending the Liverpool Institute where Paul McCartney was already a student. They often met on the bus going home and soon became friends.
Influenced by Carl Perkins, Lonnie Donegan and others, by age 13 George had developed a strong interest in music. His wonderfully supportive mother bought George a used guitar and encouraged him when he became frustrated learning to play the more difficult chords. Long before Paul met John Lennon, George and Paul spent many an afternoon going through George's chord manual together. In 1956, George, his brother and friends performed once as the Rebels. After that, George sat in on gigs with other groups, and worked Saturday mornings in a butcher shop. One of the butcher's assistants was in a group with whom George also played. Through this group, George met Pete Best, future drummer for the Beatles.
At this point, history gets a little shaky with contradictory accounts. Possibly upon Paul's suggestion, George saw the Quarrymen perform, and met John backstage. With the hope of joining the Quarrymen, George impressed John and Paul, who by now was also a member of the group, with his rendition of "Raunchy." John was unsure at first, George being three years younger than him. But George's ever-growing knowledge of chords inspired John and Paul's songwriting. By early 1958, in part possibly to irritate his Aunt Mimi who saw George as a bad influence, John relented and George became lead guitarist for the Quarrymen.
By August 1962, Pete Best was out, Ringo Starr was in, and the Beatles were born.
On
On
It was Patti who opened George's heart and mind to "all things Indian" an ongoing passion that has not diminished for more than 30 years.
In summer 1966, George met classical guitarist Ravi
Shankar. In September, George visited
The
next year, at Patti's suggestion, the Beatles went to
Late 1968 saw the release of the soundtrack to the film "Wonder wall," composed and produced by George. It was the first solo album by a Beatle, and the first album issued on the Beatles' Apple label. (While Paul helped write the soundtrack to the film "The Family Way" the year before, George Martin wrote the score. Paul wasn't as extensively involved in "The Family Way" as George Harrison was with "Wonder wall." However, the point is arguable :-))
Starting in 1968, George performed and recorded with friends he'd made while a Beatle. After years of being eclipsed by the brilliant genius of John and Paul, of having to fight for every song he wrote that was included on an album, superstars such as Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan treated George as an equal. No longer was second fiddle, George recognized as a great musician in his own right.
In 1970, George bought the gothic and ornate Friar Park, complete with a 120-room mansion, fantastical caverns (including a skeleton cave!), underground lakes, stone-carved gnomes and gargoyles, acres of meticulously cared-for gardens . . . and some say even the ghost of Friar Park's designer, Sir Frankie Crisp.
At
How far George had come! The gawky 15-year-old who
tagged along at the heels of his idol, John, was now master of
Long in coming, by April 1970 it was no longer a secret that the Beatles had broken up. Though legal entanglements would maintain the Beatles' existence on paper, they no longer functioned as a musically productive entity.
On
1971 was George's year to shine! That year he was
unquestionably the most successful Beatle. On August 1, The Concert for
In 1974, George went on a North American concert tour -- the first Beatle to have done so. On a personal level, his marriage to Patti was at an all-time low. Years earlier, Eric Clapton had declared his love for Patti. At first Patti put him off, but in time came to return his love. On the plus side, George met his wife-to-be, Olivia Trinidad Arias, an employee at A&M Records, the distributor for George's Dark Horse Records.
With the 1976 release of "Thirty-three & 1/3," things started looking up. That is, until George lost his copyright infringement case over "My Sweet Lord." Its melody and chord structure were similar to the 1963 song "He's So Fine." George was found guilty of "subconscious plagiarism."
On
In May 1978, George's father died from emphysema. As did his wife, Mr. Harrison enjoyed chatting with George's fans, and by all accounts was a delightful gentleman.
On
George's new career as a film producer came about as the result of generosity and friendship. In 1978, after the original backers backed out, Handmade Films was formed to fund Monty Python's movie "The Life Of Brian." Handmade Films made possible fascinating films that in time became cult classics, as well as popular films which, if not for George's farsightedness, might never have seen the light of day. Among them are "Time Bandits," "Nuns On The Run," and "Shanghai Surprise" starring then-husband and wife Madonna and Sean Penn. Altogether, Handmade Films produced about 26 movies. George made cameo appearances in and wrote the soundtracks or songs for a few. In the late 1980s, Handmade Films had a run of bad luck, and was acquired by Paragon Entertainment Corp. in May 1994. Eight months later, George sued his former business partner, Denis O'Brien, for $20 million for breach of contract and fiduciary duties, and disposition of assets. George was awarded $10.9 million by the court, but has yet to collect this money.
George's
autobiography, "I Me Mine," was published on
On
In 1988, George formed the Traveling Wilbur’s. The other Wilbur’s were Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orison. Both albums were highly successful. "The Traveling Wilbur’s, Vol. 1" went multi-platinum and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance.
In 1990, Olivia founded the Romanian Angel Appeal to aid Romanian orphans. George and Olivia gave much of their time and money to this most worthy cause.
In late 1991, George and Eric Clapton embarked on a
tour of
Because
he released no solo albums during the 90s, fans have the false impression that,
except for the Beatles' "Anthology," George was not active
professionally. Not true! As he had since the Beatles were still together,
George continued to work with many artists. All in all, George has produced and
performed on more non-solo albums than any other Beatle. Between 1990 and 1999,
George was involved with over two dozen albums and singles.
[Please click here for the Discography of George's work with other artists]
George survived a knife attack and three occurrences
of cancer. In 2001, he and Olivia bought a villa near the ocean in the south of
George was in the final stages of recording a new solo album, as well as a box set of demos, outtakes and other unreleased material. Wait, there's more! Ownership of his solo Dark Horse 1976-92 catalogue and the two Traveling Wilbur’s albums were to have reverted back to George, and he had been considering re-circulating these currently out-of-print CDs with possible bonus tracks. All of this is now in Olivia's (and maybe Danni’s) more than capable hands.
On a
On
Gardener, musician, composer, film producer, record producer, philanthropist, car racing enthusiast, spiritual seeker and slide guitarist extraordinaire, the multi-faceted George Harrison continues to enrich our lives. His inner light will shine forever.
Ringo Starr
Richard
Starkey Jr. was born in the front room of
At the age of six he was taken to the Royal Children's Infirmary suffering from acute abdominal pains. A ruptured appendix was diagnosed and this led to an inflamed peritoneum and the first of several operations for the young Richard. He went into a coma for two months during which several more operations were made. Richard was known to be accident prone. After he woke up from the coma he tried to hand a toy bus to the boy in the next bed. Richard fell over head first onto the floor resulting in a concussion. He remained in the hospital for several more months.
When
he finally returned to school, he found himself far behind in his school work
which gave him an undeserved reputation of being stupid. In 1953, at the age of
thirteen, Richard caught a cold which turned into chronic pleurisy
necessitating another stay at
By this time Elise had married Harry Graves, whom
Richard referred to as his "step ladder". For a short time he had a
job as delivery boy for British Rail. He next took on a job as barman on a
ferry to
Richard
bounced around from band to band but he finally found a home with "Rory
Storm & the Hurricanes". Rory Storm was a showman and he insisted that
Richard add some flare to his act by renaming him Ringo Starr. To which he
eventually legally change his name. The Hurricanes became one of the most
popular groups in
The Hurricanes were by now being out shown by The Beatles and Gerry & the Pacemakers. Ringo had thought about leaving The Hurricanes and joining another group called "The Seniors". After a brief lull period, Ringo decided to fill the spot of drummer for The Hurricanes once again. Ringo, feeling like he was going nowhere thought about taking up his apprenticeship at Hunt's again, when fate stepped in.'
The
Beatles were now the top band in
When Ringo went to record with The Beatles for the first time George Martin had already hired a session drummer, Andy White. Ringo was devastated and the fact that at first the fans didn't take kindly to him didn't help matters either. When Ringo first appeared with The Beatles at The Cavern Club, the fans still upset over Pete getting fired, started shouting "Pete forever, Ringo never!"
As it turned out, Ringo was perfect for The Beatles and at one time was the most popular member of the group with American fans. He also proved to be more of a natural actor than any other members of the group and received favorable reviews for his performance in "A Hard Day's Night". Because of this, Ringo was placed in the center of the spotlight in The Beatles second film "HELP!".
Ringo
married his long-time girlfriend Maureen Cox on
While with The Beatles, Ringo had two songs that were
"original Starr compositions". They were "Don't Pass Me By" on The White Album and
probably his most famous one "Octopus's Garden" on
After
many years out of the limelight, during which he did voice-overs for the
children's TV series "Thomas The Tank Engine" and experienced
drinking problems, which resulted in himself and Barbara attending a drying out
clinic. He reappeared on the scene sober with an All-Starr Band to tour
This proved to be so successful that he formed another All-Starr Band in 1992, which began an American and European tour in June 1992. Members comprised his son Zack, guitarists Dave Edmunds, Nils Lofgren, Todd Rundgren and Joe Walsh, saxophonist Tim Cappello, bassist Timothy B. Schmit and keyboards player Burton Cummings.
Lennon met McCartney on July 6, 1957 at the annual St. Peter's Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete. Lennon was in a skiffle group called The Quarry Men who were performing at the event. Lennon was impressed by McCartney as he knew the words to several rock 'n' roll songs (Lennon would just make his own words up), and because he taught him some guitar chords (Lennon only knew the banjo chords taught to him by his mother Julia). McCartney subsequently joined the band, and brought Harrison along soon after, on February 6, 1958. In 1958, The Quarry Men recorded a demo of two songs; the first was an original Harrison/McCartney tune called "In Spite Of All The Danger"; the other was a cover of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day". A number of songs that were later recorded for Beatles records, were originally written at this time including "I'll Follow The Sun" (which McCartney had written independently), "When I'm Sixty-Four" and "One After 909".
After a brief split, the Quarry Men regrouped in 1960 as The Fabulous Silver Beatles, later shortened to The Beatles. The name was a tribute to Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets, combined with beat music, a common British term for rock and roll at the time. In another tribute, they had sometimes called themselves the Foreverly Brothers.
The reformed band consisted of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, plus Stuart Sutcliffe on bass. Allan Williams served as their first manager. They were offered a gig in Hamburg, West Germany, but they had no drummer. Pete Best, who had played occasionally with the Quarry Men, was auditioned on August 12th, 1960. Four days later, the group (with new member Pete Best) left for Hamburg. Hamburg was a wild place for the young men. They were featured at a small club and were playing to Germans who often didn't understand English. They were uninhibited on stage, drinking alcohol, sometimes goading the crowd and acting unruly, but such was the club's atmosphere. The Beatles playing together in Hamburg had the group becoming more tight-knit, better musicians and better showmen. When Harrison was deported for being underage, they returned to Liverpool.
In March 1961, the Beatles played their first gig at Liverpool's 'Cavern Club' before returning to the lucrative Hamburg scene with a now legal Harrison. During their stay in Germany they were hired by Bert Kaempfert to record backing for the singer Tony Sheridan. A single, "My Bonnie", was released in Germany on the Polydor label in August 1961, credited to Tony Sheridan and the Beat Boys. It was the Beatles' first commercial release.
In the Spring of 1961, while still in Hamburg, Sutcliffe decided to leave the band in order to concentrate on his art studies. While Sutcliffe had had little musical impact on the group, he had influenced their appearance and sense of style. McCartney, who had been playing guitar, replaced him on bass.
In their early days, the Beatles composed and rehearsed their songs at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool, the home of Paul McCartney, and now a National Trust property open to the public.
The Beatles, as individuals and as a group, soaked up influences from performers enjoying popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. Besides the previously mentioned Buddy Holly and Everly Brothers, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney were enamored with early Elvis Presley recordings. George Harrison liked American “rockabilly” guitar styles. The Beatles were also directly influenced by Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, the Isley Brothers, and the Motown stars and groups. The Beatles were an opening act for Roy Orbison during one of Orbison’s overseas tours, and his influence can be heard in some of McCartney’s early melodies. Ringo Starr had a fondness for straight-ahead country & western music. Guitar-based American blues had little influence on them until the late ?60s, although they recorded the old Blind Lemon Jefferson song “Matchbox Blues” (but in a country & western style). By the mid sixties, Bob Dylan’s “folk rock” was an influence on John Lennon’s lyrical attitudes and content. Still later, American mainstream amplified-guitar blues had an influence on the Beatles, but probably more by way of Eric Clapton and Cream, and other British bands that had been steeped in that influence for years, by this point.
On December 10, 1961, Brian Epstein agreed to become the band's full-time manager, after receiving requests for the band's music two months earlier in his record store ("My Bonnie by The Beatles" - Epstein couldn't find it) and watching them perform at the Cavern Club on November 9, 1961. Epstein arranged for the Beatles to audition for Decca Records on January 1, 1962. Decca, in one of the most embarrassing business decisions in music history, rejected the band, on the grounds that guitar music was "on the way out". The Decca audition has subsequently accumulated significant legend.
The Beatles auditioned for EMI's Parlophone label on June 6, 1962. George Martin, who was at first unimpressed by the band's demos, liked them as people when he met them, and they were signed. Not only did he feel that they had musical talent, but he also felt that their wit and humor made them extremely "likeable." When he asked them if there was anything they wanted to change, Harrison said, "I don't like your tie". Martin informed the Beatles that he was signing them in late July.
Martin did have a problem with Best however, whom he criticised for not being able to keep time. For this and other reasons, the Beatles let Best go on August 16, 1962, although it was left to Brian Epstein to tell him. They immediately asked Starr, whom they had met and even performed with previously, to join the band permanently. Starr had been the drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, at a time when they seemed a bigger group than the Beatles were. Martin, unaware of this personnel change, hired session drummer Andy White to play drums on the Beatles' first studio session on September 4, 1962. Andy would be the session drummer during their 3rd EMI session on September 11, 1962.
The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do", was released on October 5, 1962 and became a minor hit. The Beatles recorded their first full length album, often "live" in the studio, on February 11, 1963 in one 12 hour session; it was released as Please, Please Me in March. On February 22, 1963 the Beatles' second single, "Please Please Me" went straight to No. 2 in the U.K. "From Me to You" and "She Loves You" (with its instantly memorable "Yeah, yeah, yeah" refrain) followed to the top of the U.K. charts.
Beatlemania as a chaotic cultural phenomenon began in Britain on October 13, 1963 with a televised appearance at the London Palladium.
Meet the Beatles, the first Beatles album in the United States, was released on January 20, 1964. On February 7, 1964 The Beatles traveled to New York for a number of U.S. television appearances and performances. Upon arriving at JFK airport, The Beatles noticed thousands of kids screaming and awaiting the plane's arrival. They assumed that there must have been someone important on the plane with them and were a bit shocked to learn that the crowds were actually there for them.
On February 9, 1964 The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. Their appearance made their popularity explode across the country. To this day it remains one of the highest rated television programs of all time, with 73 million people tuning in. The Beatles made four more live appearances on the show in months to come. Two days later, on February 11 in the Washington Coliseum, The Beatles made their first live stage appearance in the United States.
On April 4, 1964, The Beatles set a record that has yet to be broken when they occupied all five top positions on Billboard's Hot 100 (they first appeared on Billboard on January 18th that year). Their single "Can't Buy Me Love" was at number one. In August of that year, The Beatles' first motion picture was released, A Hard Day's Night. They started filming their second film, Help! on February 23, 1965 in the Bahamas.
From mid 1964 all the band members became habitual smokers of marijuana after reportedly being introduced to it when they met Bob Dylan for the first time in New York. In mid 1965, according to Lennon and Harrison, they were unwittingly 'dosed' with LSD at a party by their dentist. (The dentist, however, never admitted that he had put anything unusual in Lennon's or Harrison's tea).
Nevertheless, in the ensuing years, the Beatles met with psychedelic counterculture icon Timothy Leary, and began experimenting with the psychedelic drug - though McCartney claims today he only took the drug once. Two albums released during this period, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band were both clearly influenced by the band's experimentation with LSD. Around this same time, Geoff Emerick took over as the new recording engineer at the beginning of the Revolver sessions. With Emerick's help, the group incorporated a new sound into these two groundbreaking albums, one which represented a radical alteration compared to their previous studio work. A key innovation in their recording was the use of automatic double tracking, invented by Abbey Road staff engineer Ken Townshend, which allowed the group to automatically 'double' their vocals in recordings. Townshend reportedly came up with the technique because of Lennon's well-known dislike of tracking sessions. In 1966 McCartney worked with George Martin on the film score for "The Family Way" that allowed him to use orchestration, another element that featured in the following albums, and he subsequently won an Ivor Novello award for the score.
On June 12, 1965, HRH Queen Elizabeth II created each Beatle Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). This appointment is bestowed by the monarch (under advisement by the Prime Minister) for important services rendered to the nation. Many opposed the decision, and some recipients of the Order returned their own honours in protest, claiming that the honorary title had been "devalued." It should be remembered that at the time, many were veterans of World War II. Lennon would return his own in 1969 with the note:
"Your Majesty, I am returning my MBE in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against 'Cold Turkey' slipping down in the Charts.
"With love,
"John Lennon of Bag"
On August 15, 1965, The Beatles started their second North American tour at Shea Stadium, which was the first rock concert to be held in a venue of that size. The concert also set two new world records, one for attendance (55,600+) and one for revenue.
On March 4, 1966, in an interview for the London Evening Standard with Maureen Cleave, John Lennon made the following statement:
"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first? rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."
The statement was part of a two page interview and went virtually unnoticed in Britain. In July of that year, Lennon's words were reprinted in the United States fan magazine Datebook, leading to a backlash by conservative religious groups mainly in the rural South and Midwestern states. Radio stations banned the group's recordings, and their albums and other products were burned and destroyed. Spain and the Vatican denounced Lennon's words and South Africa banned Beatles music from the radio. On August 11, 1966 Lennon held a press conference in Chicago in order to address the growing furor. He told reporters:
"I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it. I'm sorry I opened my mouth. I'm not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I was not knocking it. I was not saying we are greater or better."
On June 5, 1966, The Beatles returned to The Ed Sullivan Show, this time with a taped appearance, where they introduced their two new music videos, "Rain" and "Paperback Writer". In later years, The Beatles would appear on the show to introduce more music videos for the songs "Hello Goodbye", "Penny Lane", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Two Of Us", and "Let It Be".
On July 2, 1966, The Beatles became the first musical group to perform at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo. The performance ignited a lot of protest from local citizens who felt that it was inappropriate for a rock-and-roll band to play at Budokan.
By the end of July, the band headed to the Philippines for a series of shows. The Beatles, while relaxing in their hotel room, read in the newspaper that they would visit the Malacanang Palace of President Ferdinand Marcos. This came as news to the Beatles, who were tired from the tour and otherwise had a strict policy of keeping their rare days off to themselves so as to be consistent about their obligations. They spent a relaxing evening in the hotel, and awoke the next morning to death threats and newspaper headlines like "Imelda stood up!" and "The Beatles snub the First Lady!". Epstein attempted to make a televised apology for the incident, but none of the local stations would air it. The following day, armed guards attempted to keep the band from leaving the country until they paid a fee of some kind. The Beatles, who hadn't been paid for their shows in the country, paid out of their own pockets. The Beatles literally had to fight their way to the airplane. Decades later with the fall of the Marcos regime and the full exposure of its abuses, the members of the band took some pride that they stood up to the Marcos' in some small way.
Events like those in the Philippines, in addition to the fact that the fans screamed so loud at their concerts that they couldn't even hear themselves perform, led to the band deciding to quit touring altogether. The band performed their last concert (at least on a large scale) at San Francisco's Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966.
With the distractions of touring behind them, The Beatles began recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on November 24, 1966. The album took so much time to record (for a Beatles record anyway) that the press started to suggest that the Beatles had "lost it" and had run out of creativity. Three early tracks, "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane", and "Only A Northern Song", were left out of Sgt. Pepper as it was not then customary to include singles releases on albums. Some were saved for later albums: the latter song becoming part of the "Yellow Submarine" film, but George Martin still refers to the omission of "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" from Sgt. Pepper as the greatest regret of his career. Ironically, the "Penny Lane" / "Strawberry Fields Forever" double A side was the first Beatles single not to make UK number 1 since their first release. It was kept from the top spot by Engelbert Humperdinck's "Release Me".
Nonetheless, Sgt. Pepper's release on June 1, 1967, was a high point both for the band and for all of rock music, for it was the first-ever widely-popular concept album (built around a particular theme) and helped to launch what we know today as the "Classic Rock" format.
On June 25, 1967 The Beatles performed "All You Need Is Love" for the Our World television special. It was the first television special to air worldwide. Singing backup for the Beatles were a number of artists including Eric Clapton, and members of the Rolling Stones and The Who.
Manager Brian Epstein died of a drug overdose on August 27, 1967, while the Beatles were in Bangor, Wales, attending a weekend conference given by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The death was officially ruled accidental, although it has often been speculated that it was a suicide. Epstein had managed every aspect of the Beatles' career, and his absence was immediately noticeable. The Beatles' business affairs began to unravel.
In January 1968, The Beatles launched Apple Corps, a disastrously mismanaged entertainment company that included a recording studio, a record label (Apple Records), a film division and clothing store. In addition to Beatles records, Apple released albums by James Taylor, Mary Hopkin, Billy Preston, Badfinger, Ravi Shankar and other artists.
Towards the end of the 1960s, members of the band began to pursue their own musical interests and were writing together less and less. This became more and more obvious on releases like 1968's The Beatles (a.k.a. "The White Album"), and Let It Be. The Beatles was largely written during the band's visit to India, where they stayed at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's retreat. With the exception of Harrison, the Beatles eventually rejected the Maharishi, particularly after he was publicly disgraced. Lennon, disillusioned, wrote the song "Sexy Sadie" (originally titled "Maharishi") about their former teacher. A number of unreleased songs from the Let It Be sessions also make reference to the Maharishi. The Beatles went on to become their biggest selling LP in the United States and one of the US top ten selling albums of all time. The double album has often been criticised for its varying quality and including too many tracks on what should have been a single LP release. The Beatles released two albums in order to be free of their EMI contract which stipulated a total number of recorded songs. However, in the words of McCartney: "It sold, it was the bloody Beatles' White Album, shut up!"
It was during sessions for The Beatles that the band recorded "Hey Jude", a seven-minute magnum opus which turned out to be the biggest-selling single of the group's entire career.
In January of 1969, The Beatles began rehearsals for a new album project (at the time entitled Get Back). The rehearsals at Twickenham Film Studios made it the first album the group had made away from Abbey Road and without the guidance of George Martin. The recording sessions at Apple Studios were filmed for what would eventually become the Let It Be movie. Many ideas had been thrown around for the Get Back album, including the idea of recording it live during a surprise concert performance on top of a submarine, in an amphitheatre, or in a dance hall. None of these happened, but they did end the project with a live performance on top of the Apple Corps building in Savile Row, London, which was cut short when a local bank manager called the police to complain about the noise. This impromptu concert, held on January 30, 1969, was to be the Beatles' last public performance. An edited version of the performance can be seen in the documentary film "Let It Be". Eventually the band gave up on the project. After the release of "Abbey Road", Lennon turned the Get Back sessions over to producer Phil Spector, with controversial results. Spector's signature "Wall of Sound" production was in direct opposition to the original intent of the record, which had been to bring the band full circle, and record a stripped-down live studio performance just as their first album had been. McCartney in particular was critical of the results, particularly on tracks like "The Long and Winding Road".
The Beatles began recording their final album in July of 1969, entitled Abbey Road, returning to the EMI studios in West London and the production team led by George Martin. It proved to be a relatively smooth and peaceful production and a highly acclaimed album. Lennon announced to the other Beatles that he was leaving the band just before that album's release but was persuaded to remain quiet in public.
In September of 1969, Russell Gibb, a radio DJ in Detroit, Michigan, announced that Paul McCartney was dead. Other DJs, television news reporters, newspapers and magazines picked up on the story and began to look for clues. This snowballed into what is commonly referred to today as the Paul Is Dead hoax. People that believed the rumors, claimed that McCartney had died in a car accident and was replaced by a look-alike named William Campbell. Numerous clues were supposedly hidden in album artwork, lyrics, and recordings themselves (fans even went so far as to play Beatles records backwards, for instance the words "number nine, number nine" on the song "Revolution#9" on The Beatles (a.k.a. "The White Album") became "turn me on, dead man, turn me on, dead man" when played counterclockwise). Another key clue apparently was the cover of the album Abbey Road in which Paul held a cigarette with his right hand, indicating his becoming reduced to ashes. Paul is left-handed. The legendary hoax has been the subject of several books.
The band officially broke up in 1970. The last Beatles studio session that included all four band members took place on August 20, 1969. The song they had finished had a fitting title: "The End". The final Beatles session was on January 4, 1970, with Paul, Ringo, and George recording "I Me Mine".
EMI released Let It Be, the result of the Spector rework of the Get Back sessions, in May of 1970, and the film of the same name shortly after (for the main purpose of fulfilling the group's contract with United Artists).
On April 10, 1970, McCartney announced that the band had officially broken up. The cause of the breakup has been debated by fans and historians ever since that day, and ultimately they came up with several factors that could have easily contributed to the breakup. It is likely that the world will never know what caused the break-up, following are some theories.
On August 29, 1966, the Beatles played their final live concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It was the concluding concert in a series of short tours in the summer of 1966 that had several unhappy incidents. Viewed in hindsight, the occurrences were perhaps not as grave as they seemed at the time, but for a band that had toured almost without negative incident throughout 1964 and 1965 (although FBI files reveal an extortion threat in Denver, Colorado on August 26, 1964[1]), the existence of troubles during their tours was a straw that broke the camel's back. Performing live was becoming a stressful chore rather than the satisfying experience it had been in their earlier days.
The problems started during their tour of Japan, where they were scheduled to play at the famous Budokan Hall, despite the large protests against it. The performance was in front of a very quiet audience. This was a change from the band's usual, in front of fans that couldn't hear the music.) Due to the sudden ability to hear the band, it seemed that their ability to perform had degraded; a majority of the fans who have the bootleg of the show agree with this.
Philippines. Problems started with the band being denied permission to leave the hotel by the police. Then, shortly after their concert, the First Lady Imelda Marcos 'invited' them to a social event for her family and friends; however, neither the band nor manager Brian Epstein had been informed of this invitation in advance, and Epstein sent away the guards sent to escort the band to the First Lady. This was perceived as a snub by Marcos.
The next morning the local newspaper headlines proclaimed that the Beatles had stood up the First Lady. Angry riots broke out as the band tried to escape the country, and drummer Ringo Starr received rib injuries trying to reach their airplane. Numerous other Beatles touring crew members were also injured. Their instruments were lost, they were 'taxed' all the money they were due to have received from their concert, and several members of the touring party were left behind in the airport scuffles.
After the band's summer tour of the US ended, George Harrison by some accounts informed Epstein that he was quitting the band. If this conversation did occur, his decision was obviously rescinded. The thought behind it may be attributed to the growing discontent arising from the conflict between the desire to create music and the technical limitations of playing music live in the mid-1960s owing to the primitive amplification equipment of the era. The Beatles decided to make a wholesale change in their lives.
Instead of continuing the standard pattern of an endless succession of recording and touring, they decided to give up live performance in favor of focusing on recording and other projects. Given the growing sophistication in their composing and recording, as evidenced by the albums "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver", they regarded this as a step forwards - an opportunity to devote whatever time was needed to creating music in the studio, without the usual pressures to record swiftly in order to meet commercial deadlines, or to have 'product' ready to promote on tour. The first results of this new philosophy were the single "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane" and their 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". The new music resulting from this commitment to spend unlimited time on creating music in the studio was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful.
The decision to give up live performance was quite a revolutionary step for successful musical performers in the 1960s, and was probably alarming to those who had a traditional view of how entertainers should conduct their careers. However the Beatles were clearly forging a new path as creative artists in which fulfilling their artistic urges was more important than toiling unhappily just because it was expected of them, or simply to make money. This approach was followed by many musical artists in the late 1960s and thereafter.
Eventually, the lack of live performance did lead to strains within the band. Paul McCartney in particular started to miss the positive aspects of playing live. This led to conflicts, especially with George Harrison, who came to believe that the Beatles iconic status with pop fans was incompatible with the band being able to play live as serious musicians in the same way as some of the newer progressive rock bands. Harrison wanted the Beatles to be appreciated for their newer music. He felt that live performances would be marred by fans screaming for their 'moptop' era pop songs. McCartney, however, felt that the essence of the band lay in live performance. Lennon and Starr vacillated between support of McCartney's and Harrison's viewpoints. After the issue of a possible return to live performance first surfaced, in late 1968, there was never a time that all four Beatles were in agreement on the topic. This factor probably contributed to their eventual break-up.
On August 27, 1967, the group's longtime manager Brian Epstein died of an overdose of Carbitol, a sleeping pill.
This marked the end of an era for the band; he had kept them together through the years of touring, and kept them doing something. From the time of his death onwards, the band was mostly aimless and drifted apart as a power vacuum was left open for who decided what the Beatles did, and when. This resulted in a struggle between Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Lennon himself stated that this was a major factor in the breakup of the band in a series of interviews for Rolling Stone magazine (1970):
"We got fed up with being side men for Paul, after Brian died that's what began to happen to us you know ... after Brian died we collapsed. Paul took over and supposedly led us, but what is leading us when we went around in circles. We broke up then"
Beatles Ltd. was a company founded by The Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein, to handle merchandising and other business affairs for the band. The company was dissolved in 1968 to form Apple Corps Ltd. and its record division Apple Records.
Shortly after its founding, due to the band's lack of experience at business matters, John Lennon announced that in his opinion it would go broke in six months. The level of work required to run the company resulted in a lot of stress, frustration, and fracturing of their friendships as the company wasted money almost nonstop.
When they decided to find someone experienced enough to run Apple, the band was divided. Paul McCartney wanted to hire Lee Eastman, but the other three wanted to hire The Rolling Stones' manager, the notorious Allen Klein. Klein won, but it was evidently too little and too late as the company stopped releasing records in 1975. Aside from the release of a few Beatles disks in the 1990s, the company remained unproductive.
In January of 1969, Paul McCartney came up with the idea for the band to spend hours in Twickenham Studios being filmed rehearsing material for what would become the Let It Be album. They originally planned a TV special, a live performance, and other things but these were never realised and after a month of work the original project ended in failure. The band was forced to work together as relationships strained to the breaking point, George Harrison's songs were thoroughly ignored, and at one point he stormed out of the sessions claiming he was quitting.
Often cited as a large factor of the breakup is when Lennon and McCartney limited Harrison's song contributions to one or two tracks per album. By 1967, Harrison was writing songs of finer quality than his earlier 1963-5 efforts. However Lennon and McCartney had been established as the group's primary songwriters since its earliest days - and they were astonishingly prolific. Though they acknowledged the considerable growth in the quality of Harrison's songwriting they continued to allocate him just a token presence on most Beatles records. The three tracks he was accorded on the 1966 album Revolver was an improvement on his average one-song per album.
An example of this is when Harrison contributed songs like "Hear Me Lord" and "Let It Down" during the 1969 Get Back sessions. The bootlegs show that he ran through the songs on a guitar a few times and then it was dropped when band members decided to do something else. A similar thing happened to "All Things Must Pass" when they performed it several times during the sessions and then completely dropped it.
Though he was only a very occasional composer - Ringo Starr was treated in a similar way, and he was given only rare opportunities to have any of his songs included. According to him, he had written "Don't Pass Me By" as shown by the Top Gear program on the BBC promoting A Hard Day's Night. The chatter introduction to "And I Love Her" includes an exchange between McCartney and Starr in which McCartney sings an early and unmistakable rendition of the song, as well as Starr chiding McCartney for promising to record it. He asked the band to record it every time a new album was recorded. It wasn't recorded until the White Album. Study of the Get Back session bootlegs reveals that the band expressed scant interest in another Starr song, "Octopus's Garden" finally recorded for Abbey Road.
Starr did not regard himself as a songwriter so the neglect of his occasional compositions was not a major issue to him. But Harrison, who had growing pride in his development as a songwriter became frustrated that Lennon and McCartney tended to still treat him as the 'baby' of the band and were not giving him the respect he believed he deserved as a songwriter.
A jam session between John Lennon and Paul McCartney was recorded on March 31, 1974, when McCartney visited Lennon in Los Angeles, California. They played with a number of other musicians, including Stevie Wonder. Believed to be the last time the pair recorded together, this tape has been released on bootleg as A Toot and a Snore in '74.
On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was murdered in front of his New York City apartment by a mentally deranged fan, Mark David Chapman, thus forever crushing any hope of a Beatles reunion. His death was mourned by millions of fans around the world.
In February of 1981, the then-three surviving Beatles reunited for the first time since the break-up for George Harrison's tribute to fallen Beatle John Lennon, "All Those Years Ago". It was expressly a Harrison single off his album, Somewhere In England, but in a series of recording sessions McCartney contributed bass guitar and vocals [wife Linda also contributed vocals], and Starr played the drums, all of which was mixed into the final recording.
Singer Michael Jackson bought the publishing rights for most of the Beatles' music, on August 10, 1985, for $47 million. McCartney, who had been attempting to purchase the rights himself, had told Jackson that he should get into publishing. McCartney did not expect Jackson to purchase the Beatles' music. "I wrote a couple of letters and I said, Michael, don't you think that even if I was just a writer on the payroll after 30 years of being reasonably successful to this company that you now own, don't you think I could have a raise?" said McCartney. "And he said 'Oh Paul, that's just business'. He won't even answer my letters, so we haven't talked and we don't have that great a relationship. The trouble is I wrote those songs for nothing and buying them back at these phenomenal sums... I just can't do it." This is an example of how future royalties of an entertainment work are difficult to value and how creators should be cautious in making business decisions. However, McCartney is not short of a few bucks: He has always received his standard songwriter's share of the royalties to those songs and is by far the richest musician in UK history.
In 1988, The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison were also inducted separately in later years (1994, 1999, and 2004, respectively).
On November 30, 1994, Apple Records released a 2 CD collection of early Beatles performances on the BBC, entitled Live At The BBC.
In February of 1994, the then-three surviving Beatles reunited again (since the recording of "All Those Years Ago") to produce and record additional music to a few of Lennon's old unfinished demos, with Jeff Lynne co-producing. The first new song, "Free As A Bird", premiered November 19, 1995 as part of The Beatles Anthology series of television specials on the ABC network in the US and ITV in the UK. The song was also included on a CD with the same title, which was released on November 21, 1995. The following year, a second "new" track was released, entitled "Real Love", on March 4, 1996. That song was also included on the second Anthology collection which was released on March 18, 1996. A third Anthology collection followed on October 12, 1996, but did not include any new material. At least one other song, entitled "Now And Then", was worked on during these sessions, but remains unreleased.
In 2000, The Beatles released a best of collection, entitled 1. The CD included 27 number one hits by the band and, within five weeks, became the best selling album of the year. Later that year, The Beatles released the Anthology book, which included interviews with all four band members and others involved, plus rare photos. The book went straight to the top of the New York Times bestsellers list.
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications reportedly sent out of a list of 150 songs that were recommended to be pulled from airplay. Four Beatles songs were on the list: "A Day in the Life", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Ticket To Ride", and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". John Lennon's "Imagine" was also listed.
George Harrison fought a long battle with lung and brain cancer throughout the 1990s, finally succumbing and passing away on November 29, 2001.
In 2002, the Let It Be film was being restored and prepared for future release on DVD, but due to continuing legal issues, its release has been delayed for some years, and no firm release date has been announced. It is expected that this DVD, if is ever released at all, will include additional footage, not seen in the original film. The album Let It Be... Naked, featuring stripped-down (but intended) versions of the original album, was released in November, 2003.
In January, 2003, following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recovered nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people were arrested. The tapes have been used for bootleg releases for years.
In March, 2003, the Anthology television series was released on DVD with additional bonus material.
Several individuals who played an important role in the history or promotion of the band have at various times been called, or called themselves, the "fifth Beatle".
On December 15, 2005, Paul and Ringo along with the families of John and George sued EMI in a royalties dispute in which Apple claimed EMI owes The Beatles £30 million.
The following were regular members of the band:
Original drummer Pete Best was asked to leave the group in August 1962 just before it started recording, and was replaced by Starr. Earlier, in January 1961, original bass player Stu Sutcliffe had decided to leave the band and remain in Hamburg, Germany with his girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr where the Beatles had played several long engagements; McCartney took over the bass role. Sutcliffe would later die of a brain hemorrhage. His life, and his friendship with John Lennon, was fictionalised in the 1993 movie Backbeat.
Only primary instruments are listed; at one time or another, each of the four Beatles played other instruments on record as well.
The following individuals were irregular members of the band before the Beatles achieved international success:
The following individuals have played a role in the studio when Beatles records were recorded:
Others have been associated with the Beatles in several ways. These include:
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