"The Beatles": composition, history and photos. The Beatles

To the question I would be very glad: who will name the real names and surnames Beatles? given by the author Victor the best answer is John Winston Lennon
James Paul McCartney
George Harrison
Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr)

Answer from V. Rednaya[guru]
John Lennon (1940-1980) (vocals, rhythm guitar)
George Harrison (1943-2001) (lead guitar)
Paul McCartney (vocals, piano, guitar)
Ringo Starr (Eng. Ringo Starr, real name - Richard Starkey, Richard Starkey,
genus. July 7, 1940, Liverpool, UK) - drummer
The roots of the ensemble go back to the mid-1950s. , the era of rock and roll, which shaped the outlook and musical tastes of the future The Beatles. In the spring of 1956, John Lennon (1940-1980) first heard the song "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley, which, according to him, meant the end of his entire previous life (it is interesting to note that Bill Haley, whom he heard before, is the most popular rock and roll before Presley - did not make much of an impression on him). By that time, John played the harmonica and banjo, now he began to master the guitar. Soon, together with schoolmates, he founded the Quarrymen, named after their school, Quarry Bank. The Quarrimes played skiffle - a British form of amateur rock and roll - and tried to sound like teddy boys. In the summer of 1957, during one of Quarryman's first concerts, Lennon met 15-year-old Paul McCartney, who impressed John with his knowledge of the chords and words of the latest rock and roll songs (in particular the song "Twenty Flight Rock" by Eddie Cochran) and the fact that he was clearly better developed musically (Paul also played trumpet and piano). In the spring of 1958, for episodic performances, and from autumn - constantly, they were joined by Paul's friend, George Harrison (1943-2001). It was these three who became the main backbone of the group, for the rest of the members of the Quarryman, rock and roll was a temporary teenage hobby, and they soon fell away from the team.
Group logo
Quarrymen occasionally played at various parties, weddings, social events, it didn’t get to real concerts and recordings (although in 1958, out of curiosity, they recorded a disc with two songs for their own money); several times the participants dispersed (for example, Harrison had his own group for some time). Lennon and McCartney, inspired by the example of Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran (they not only sang, but also played the guitars themselves and composed songs themselves, which was not a common practice in the music industry of that time), began to write their own songs together, while they decided to give they have a dual authorship by analogy with American groups of authors like Leiber and Stoller. In late 1959, the group included aspiring artist Stuart Sutcliffe, whom Lennon met at his art college. Sutcliffe's playing was not very skillful, which repeatedly annoyed the demanding McCartney. In this form, the composition of the ensemble was almost complete: John Lennon (vocals, rhythm guitar), Paul McCartney (vocals, piano, guitar), George Harrison (lead guitar), Stuart Sutcliffe (bass guitar). However, there was a problem - the lack of a permanent drummer, which prompted the musicians to even arrange joke contests, inviting the audience to the stage as drummers.
Name
By that time, the group was actively trying to integrate into the concert and club life of Liverpool and the outskirts. Talent competitions followed one after another, but the group was constantly unlucky. Such - more serious - events made the musicians think about a suitable stage name - none of the participants had any relation to Quarry Bank. So, for example, at a local television competition in December 1959, the group performed under the name "Johnny and the Moondogs", which was replaced by others at subsequent concerts. The name "The Beatles" appeared a few months later, in April 1960. There is still no clear answer as to who exactly coined this word. According to the memoirs of the group members, Sutcliffe and Lennon are considered to be the authors of the neologism, who were fascinated by the idea of ​​coming up with a name that had different meanings at the same time.
more -

Answer from Rosa Marena[guru]
Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison are real for sure, but Ringo Starr, I'm not sure, but it seems too))

Answer from Fedorova Renata[guru]
John Lennon,
James Paul McCartney,
George Harrison,
Ringo Starr
In the spring of 1956, 15-year-old John Lennon formed the Qurrymen, which performed skiffle, country and western and rock and roll songs. It was literally an amateur band.
On July 6, 1957, Paul McCartney heard the band for the first time in the garden of St. Petra in Liverpool's Woolton area. McCartney played the guitar much better than Lennon, and a week later Paul joined The Quarrymen.
In 1958, Paul advised John to invite his high school speaker George Harrison, a 15-year-old guitarist, to join the band. Soon, Lennon's team adopted the name "Johnny and the Moondogs", although they often performed under the former. Paul, John and George formed the core of the band, while the rest of the musicians were constantly changing.
In early 1959, Stuart Sutcliffe, a classmate of John Lennon, joined the team.
In November, the band adopted a new name, Long John And The Silver Beatles, soon shortened to The Silver Beatles. The word "beatles" combines 2 meanings - "beat" (blow, bit) and "beetles" (beetles).
In the autumn of '59, the group began performing at the Jacaranda club. In the summer of 1960, Koschmider, the owner of the Hamburg club, noticed them and invited them to Hamburg. The musicians once again had to look for a drummer. In this case, they chose Pete Best, whose band had just disbanded.
On August 16, 1960, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Sutcliffe and Best left England, and on the 17th they already entered the stage of the new Hamburg club "Indra". Soon, however, they began to perform at the "Kaiserkeller", which was most popular with local youth.
The quintet stayed in Hamburg for four and a half months. They became an experienced beat-group, easily and naturally performing both borrowed and own compositions.
New 1961 the group met in the rank of the best of the 350 beat-teams of Liverpool. The ensemble performed almost daily, gathering crowds of listeners. However, in terms of career, it was marking time, and in February they decided to go to Hamburg again.
Already in the first days of their stay there, they were recognized as the best of the groups touring in the city. In the spring of 1961, Sutcliffe decided to leave the band, and when he left, he gave his bass guitar to Paul.
Returning from Hamburg to Liverpool at the end of June, Paul, George, John and Pete were bringing home copies of their first single, just released in Germany, "My Bonnie" / "The Saints".
On Saturday afternoon, October 28, 1961, at about 3 pm, a young man named Kurt Raymond Jones entered the record store of the Liverpool trading company NEMS Ltd., owned by 27-year-old merchant Brian Epsatin, to buy the single "My Bonnie". Brian did not have such a record. He found its name only in the import catalog, and was extremely surprised to learn that it was not a German, but an English ensemble, which, moreover, performed literally 200 meters from Epstein's store, in the Cavern club. On November 13, the Beatles signed a contract with Brian Epstein as their official manager.
At the end of July, the head of the company "Parlaphone" George Martin offered the group to conclude a contract for a period of one year, with the obligation to release at least 4 singles, but on one condition: the drummer must be replaced. This requirement coincided with the opinion of John, Paul and George, who, secretly from Pete, had long ago obtained the prior consent of Ringo Starr to join their ensemble.
On August 16, Epstein officially announced to Best that he should leave the band. 17 Pete last time performed with the Beatles. And the 18th quartet debuted with a new drummer - Ringo Starr.

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2016-08-17
by: showbizby
Published in:

On the International Day of The Beatles, it is customary not only to sing the ageless hits of the Liverpool quartet, but also to recall the unusual facts and stories of the legendary band, especially since there were many of them for the rich creative history of the band.

None of the band members knew musical notation.

Exactly half of the quartet members are left-handed: Paul and Ringo.

John's aunt, Mimi, always repeated the phrase: "Guitar - good tool. However, it is unsuitable for making money.” After becoming rich, John bought his aunt a villa that had a marble wall with this saying.

John Lynn, the son of the owner of one of the venues where the Liverpool Four performed, told the Washington Post about the persistent smell of urine in concert halls after every Beatles concert. Bob Geldof, known to us as the lead actor in Alan Parker's film The Wall, based on the music of Pink Floyd, recalled: streams of urine ran - girls in literally pissed off with delight. Therefore, I personally associate The Beatles, first of all, with the smell of urine.

Harrison himself recalled: “My first intercourse took place in Hamburg in the presence of Paul, John and Pete Best. We slept in bunk beds and covered ourselves with sheets, but after I came, there was loud applause. Well, at least they didn’t interfere with the process!

In 1967, the musicians almost bought an island near Athens, where they planned to live with friends and relatives. John Lennon said about the Greeks: "They tried everything - wars, nationalism, fascism, communism, capitalism, hatred, religion ... Why are we worse?" Paul McCartney later recalled: “Thank God we didn’t do it then. After all, then in any case, someone would have to wash the dishes - and this would no longer be a utopia.

The group members were introduced to LSD at a dentist's appointment. "Mad Dentist" John Riley slipped LSD into Lennon's coffee, Harrison, their wives, and Patti Boyd. It is not known exactly how much the musicians themselves wanted this, but George claimed that they tried LSD by accident. After the musicians had coffee and wanted to go home, Riley convinced them to stay. He said something in John's ear, Lennon turned to Harrison and said: "We're on LSD." George did not understand at first and reacted: “So what? Let's go already!" But that day the musicians returned home very late.

In Hamburg, the musicians lived in the back room of the Bambi Kino cinema located near the toilets. The smell of urine was terrible. In the end, George Harrison was deported due to his minority. Moving from Bambi Kino, Paul McCartney and Pete Best decided to give themselves a decent send-off and set fire to a condom. The fire flared up quite strongly and the patience of the owner of the premises overflowed - he turned to the police. The Beatles were arrested. In the end, McCartney and Best were deported after Harrison.

In America, Beatlemania began with 15-year-old teenager Marsh Albert from Maryland. After watching a news release about the band, Albert called Washington radio and asked, "Why don't they play this kind of music in America?" The DJ turned on the song "I Want To Hold Your Hand", after which other radio stations immediately included the Beatles in their repertoire.

The fateful acquaintance of Paul McCartney and John Lennon took place on July 6, 1957 at a concert by Lennon's The Quarrymen. Paul was 15 years old, and John was 16. At the same time, John was pretty drunk.

The Beatles were the first group to place a drum kit at the forefront of the stage. The debut took place in his native Liverpool. After Pete Best was almost trampled by female fans who rushed onto the stage, such a move was canceled.

The band became the first in history to have the lyrics of all the songs printed on the back of an album cover. Album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The harmonica used in the song "Love Me Do" was stolen by John in the summer of 1960 from a music store in the Dutch town of Arnhem.

After the release of the track "Penny Lane" in 1967, the authorities of Liverpool suffered serious losses due to the constant theft of signs on houses. As a result, it was decided to write the name of the street and the number of the house directly on the walls of the buildings.

Is not only godfather Sean Lennon. He is also the author of one of John Lennon's favorite cover versions of the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". Moreover, so beloved that the track contains backing vocals and John's guitar.

To sit at Ringo Star's school desk, you need to pay five pounds sterling.

John Lennon was very fond of cats. He had ten pets when he lived in Weybridge with his first wife, Cynthia. His mother had a cat named Elvis as the woman was a big fan. Not surprisingly, Lennon later claimed that "there was nothing before Elvis."

During the week of April 4, 1964, as many as twelve Beatles songs entered the top 100 of the Billboard charts, while the group's compositions occupied the first five lines. This record has not been broken so far, although more than 50 years have passed.

In 1966, the Beatles wrote the song "Got to Get You into My Life". It was originally thought to be about a girl, but McCartney later claimed in an interview that the song was actually written about marijuana.

Film actress Mae West initially turned down an offer to have her image featured on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" but changed her mind after receiving a private letter from the band. Other famous women on the cover are Marilyn Monroe and Shirley Temple.

Frank Sinatra has often publicly expressed his admiration for the band, and once said that "Something" is the greatest love song ever written.

John Lennon said that the only real songs he ever wrote were "Help!" and Strawberry Fields Forever. He claimed that these were the only songs he wrote based on his own experiences and not just imagining himself in certain situations.

The closest the band came to a reunion after their breakup was at a wedding when he married Patti Boyd in 1979. George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr played together at the wedding - but John Lennon did not come.

The Vatican accused The Beatles of Satanism after John Lennon said the group was "more popular than Jesus." The Papacy "forgave" the Beatles only in 2010, which - as Ringo Starr said, was not at all necessary.

In the mid-sixties, John had a molar tooth removed and gave it to a housekeeper with instructions to throw it away somewhere. Instead, she kept the tooth as a souvenir for her Beatleman daughter. For many years, the tooth was kept in the house until it was put up for auction in 2011 and sold for a fabulous sum of $31,000. The buyers claim that the purpose of the acquisition is to clone Lennon.

During the Beatles' legendary tour of India, Ringo Star carried a suitcase full of roasted beans. The fact is that his stomach, after diseases suffered in childhood, could not digest spicy and spicy local food.

Lennon was a terrible driver. Having received a car license at the age of 24 (the last of the Beatles), John never learned to drive well. Lennon last drove in 1969 during a family trip to Scotland, which ended in an accident - the star received 17 stitches. After that, Lennon always used the services of a taxi or a personal driver.

Lennon is the only Beatle who didn't go vegan. George and Paul were forced to remove meat from the diet for religious reasons, Ringo - for poor health, but John, until the very last days, did not deny himself the pleasure of eating meat, for which he even received the insulting nickname "fat Beatle" from one of the journalists. Lennon's second gastronomic love was caffeine.

John Lennon was on the cover of the very first issue of Rolling Stone magazine. It happened November 9, 1969.

Lennon was unhappy with all of the Beatles' records. After the band broke up, John made a shocking announcement to his former producer George Martin that he would like to re-record every single Beatles song. Martin asked, "Even Strawberry Fields?" "Especially Strawberry Fields," was Lennon's reply.

It is not known where Lennon's remains are located. On December 9, the day after the assassination, John Lennon's body was cremated and his ashes handed over to his widow. What she did with the ashes, how she disposed of them - the Japanese devil Yoko Ono has not yet confessed.

About

Biography

The story of the British group The Beatles, which had the strongest influence on the development of popular music in the twentieth century and continues to have this influence to this day, has been told many times in the smallest details. The most meticulous biographers start in the spring of 1956, when 15-year-old John Lennon organized The Quarrymen (The Quarry Boys) in the working-class quarter of Liverpool, ...

Biography

The story of the British group The Beatles, which had the strongest influence on the development of popular music in the twentieth century and continues to have this influence to this day, has been told many times in great detail. The most meticulous biographers start in the spring of 1956, when 15-year-old John Lennon organized The Quarrymen (The Quarry Boys) in the working-class quarter of Liverpool, which performed compositions in country and rock and roll styles.

The second important date was July 6, 1957, when Paul McCartney ( Paul McCartney) first heard The Quarrymen perform in the square near St. Peter's Church in Woolton, Liverpool. Then Paul and John met and Paul was able to impress John by knowing guitar chords that were unknown to John. For this convincing reason, Paul received an invitation to become a member of the group.

A year later, in 1958, Paul brought his high school friend, George Harrison, into the ensemble. George was only 15 years old, but he played the guitar quite well. Paul, John and George became the core of the band, which John renamed Johnny and the Moondogs. In 1959 John's art college classmate, Stuart Sutcliffe, joined the group.

In the same 1959, John Lennon changed its name several times: first it was "Long John And The Silver Beatles", then the abbreviated "The Silver Beatles" appeared, and finally, simply "The Beatles". The word "beatles" liked John, a great lover of word play - it contained two meanings: "beat" as "blow", "pulsation" and "beetles" - "Beetles". It also echoed the very popular Cricket group at that time.

By this time, the ensemble began performing at the Liverpool club "Jacaranda". There they were noticed by a certain Koschmider, the owner of a club in Hamburg - he invited the musicians on tour to his place in Germany. At that moment the Beatles Once again looking for a drummer. The choice was stopped at Pete Best. The main argument was the fact that Pete had his own drum kit. As soon as the line-up was completed, the young artists immediately hit the road and on August 17, 1960, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Sutcliffe and Best took to the stage of the Hamburg Indra club. Later they moved to the more popular Kaiserkeller.

The musicians stayed in Hamburg for four and a half months - during this time they gained experience and significantly expanded their repertoire. Back in their native Liverpool, they were already considered one of the best local bands. Despite the fact that they performed almost daily, invariably gathering crowds of listeners, this did not give anything in terms of development. In February 1961, they again went to Hamburg, where they already had fans.

In Hamburg, they had to urgently reshape their entire repertoire, because Stuart Sutcliffe, who was predicted to have a great artistic career (he drew beautifully), decided to leave the ensemble. Leaving, Stu gave his bass guitar to Paul McCartney and he had to learn a new instrument. George Harrison instead of Paul was forced to become a solo guitarist. Stewart's German girlfriend, Astrid Kirkcher, provided the band with important assistance in establishing their own visual style. She designed for them special jackets without lapels and offered to cut their bangs and lengthen their hair so that the back of the musicians' heads looked like the backs of beetles.

In Hamburg, the Beatles entered the recording studio for the first time. Initially - as an accompaniment to the British guitarist and singer Tony Sheridan (Tony Sheridan). Before returning to Liverpool they recorded their own first single with two songs, "My Bonnie" and "The Saints". It was this record that a guy named Kurt Raymond Jones asked for on Saturday, October 28, 1961, at the record store of the Liverpool company NEMS Ltd., which was owned by 27-year-old Brian Epstein. Meticulous Brian did not have such a record in the store, but when he found it in the import catalog, he was very surprised to find out that the performers performed at the Cavern club, which was located next to the store. Epstein became curious and was not too lazy to stop by and listen to the band, since he was engaged not only in selling records, but also in promoting several local artists. After the concert, the Beatles received an offer of cooperation from him and signed a contract on November 13, according to which Brian Epstein became their official manager.

Being an active person, Epstein immediately attended to the release of the disc. It took him about six months to visit London, where he visited recording studios. Rejection followed rejection. Finally, in July 1962, the head of the Parlaphone company, George Martin, agreed to conclude a one-year contract with the Beatles, under which he undertook to release 4 singles. There was only one condition - to replace the drummer. Pete Best, although he had his fans, really lagged musically behind the other members of the Beatles. The offer to join the group was received by Ringo Starr, with whom the musicians were familiar from the Hamburg tour.

In early September 1962, the Beatles recorded their debut single "Love Me Do" / "P.S. I love you". Immediately after the release, he took the 17th place in the British national charts - it was a success that no one expected. Released in November, the second single "Please Please Me" / "Ask Me Why" has already topped the charts.

Catching the wind of success, the Beatles went on tour. They again visited Hamburg, gave a series of concerts in Sweden and traveled a lot to small towns in Britain. Having interrupted their tour for just one day, on February 11, 1963, the group in one go, in 585 minutes, completely recorded their debut album Please Please Me, which immediately jumped to first place in the charts and remained there for 6 months, giving way to only the next Beatles album.

Beatlemania was born on October 13, 1963, when the Beatles gave a concert at the London Palladium. Due to the mass hysteria of the audience, the musicians had to be evacuated from the hall with the help of the police.

The band's second disc "With The Beatles" set a world record for the number of pre-orders - there were more than 300,000 of them. Over a million copies were sold in a year. All subsequent singles by the Beatles sold a million copies immediately after release - this amazing record has not yet been broken by any performer.

In the United States, the Beatles were not accepted for a long time. The single "I Want To Hold You Hand" did not reach the first place of the charts until the beginning of 1964. However, when the musicians arrived on tour on February 7, at the airport. Kennedy came to meet them about four thousand fans. And in April, when the film “A Hard Days Night” and the new album of the same name were released, the songs of the Beatles occupied the first 5 lines of the American hit parade - this record also remains unbeaten.

The popularity and influence of the Beatles was growing: the new album "Beatles For Sale", which went on sale on December 4, 1964, sold 700,000 copies within a day. At very dense tour schedule the musicians managed to compose new songs and star in the next musical film. At the beginning of August 1965, the film and the disc "Help!" were released almost simultaneously, which, among other wonderful songs, contained the composition "Yesterday", which became the most performed melody of the 20th century.

The next two discs became a turning point not only for the work of the Beatles, but also for the development of world pop music in general. The compositions of the albums "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver", which were released in 1966, were so complex that they did not involve stage performance - there were so many studio effects. From that moment, the Beatles abandoned concert performances and switched to purely studio work.

Another reason for the refusal of concerts was a very big fatigue from continuous tours. The Beatles wanted and waited on all continents, they were lured by any means, but at the same time they became victims of provocations and speculation. Each concert performance turned into a battle with an army of temperamental fans who screamed so much that they drowned out the instruments. At the same time, in Japan, armed students in the city of Badokan threatened physical violence, and the Beatles had to literally flee from Manila after they aroused the wrath of the authorities by not appearing at an appointment with dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Because of John Lennon's accidental remark that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, members of the Ku Klux Klan in the southern United States began to publicly burn the Beatles' discs, demanding that they repent. Thus, having played the last concert of the American tour in San Francisco on August 29, 1966, the musicians never again appeared on the concert stage.

In the next compositions, many innovative techniques were used, the quintessence of which was the album “Sgt. Pepper "s Lonely Hearts Club Band" ("Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club") is the first concept album in history where everything, from the cover to the order of the songs, was subordinated common idea.

Album Sgt. Pepper "s ..." was the last major work for the Beatles. In the summer of 1967, a tragedy occurred - on August 27, Brian Epstein died of a drug overdose. Tensions arose within the group due to an unresolved problem - who would replace the manager, who, in fact, created success groups.

At the same time, creativity continued: a full-length film was released cartoon"Yellow Submarine", and on November 22, 1968, a new double album appeared, simply called "The Beatles". Soon the group took on a new unusual project. This time the idea was that complex compositions should be written in the studio as live ones, without stops and studio overdubs. And this whole process was to be shot on film and become the basis of the film. However, the task proved too difficult even for the Beatles. The camera blankly recorded endless stops and quarrels, about a hundred songs were recorded, even a concert was made on the roof of the Abbey Road studio, but in the end all the material was put aside "until better times."

In the summer of 1969, the musicians recorded the Abbey Road disc. This was their last collaboration in the studio. On the eve of July 4, 1969, John Lennon announced that, together with his wife Yoko Ono, he had organized a new group, the Plastic Ono Band. In addition, serious financial problems began - the creative company Apple Records, which was founded by the Beatles musicians in early 1968, having invested in it earned money, turned into an organizational nightmare, a black hole into which a lot of money fell.

Having not reached agreement on the question of who would become the new manager of the group, the musicians stopped communicating with each other and Paul McCartney, having released a solo album on April 10, 1970, placed an interview with himself on the envelope, in which he stated that he no longer plans to work in the group The Beatles. This message shocked millions of fans, although by that time George Harrison was already on a concert tour with a duet with Delaney and Bonnie, and Ringo Starr was acting in a movie - he had the main role in the film "Magic Christian".

In January 1970, EMI, which had by then acquired the Parlaphone, invited American producer Phil Spector, who was then considered the best, to deal with the musical and film material abandoned in the studio. Spector listened to the recordings and prepared the Let It Be album for release. Thus, this disc came out when the Beatles were practically non-existent.

The Beatles practically created a new musical era. They turned light music into a voluminous subculture, influencing lyrics, arrangements, behavior, hair and clothing design - almost every aspect of modern life. They became not just the voice of their generation, but its symbol.

The collapse of the Beatles paradoxically allowed each of the quartet to be realized more fully. Each released records and performed at concerts. After the tragic death of John Lennon in December 1980, all hopes of a Beatles reunion collapsed. However, the popularity of the songs created by the group during the decade never waned.

In the early 1990s, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono were finally able to sign a copyright agreement that allowed them to re-release material under the Beatles label. Thanks to this, in 1994 a double CD was released with BBC recordings made back in the early 60s. Then a multi-part documentary film "Anthology" was made about the history of the Beatles with musical material on six discs. This story was later published in the form of an illustrated book.

The death of George Harrison from throat cancer in 2001 was the cause of the deepest grief of fans around the world. As blasphemous as it sounds, but in the words of Lennon "The Beatles are now more popular than Jesus" there is some truth.

Today, the University of Liverpool has introduced Beatles to its curriculum. Upon graduation, graduates receive a master's degree in this subject. There are films and musicals based on the tunes of the Beatles, exhibitions are held, artifacts related to the history of the Beatles are sold at auctions for a lot of money. More than 8,000 books have been written about the group, and numerous

The Beatles formed in 1959 in Liverpool. The very first line-up of the group included Paul McCartney (bass guitar, guitar, vocals), John Lennon (guitar, vocals), George Harrison (guitar, vocals), Stuart Sutcliffe (bass guitar), Pete Best (drums). Who was in the original Beatles, how did Paul McCartney "die" and when will the remaining "bugs" sing together again? The Beatles are the greatest rock band of the century.

During its existence, The Beatles published 13 studio albums. After the breakup of the group, compilation albums were released by Apple & Parlophone studios. They became the first English band to have such a resounding success overseas. The group's business went into decline. In 1968, the band released a double album, which would become known among the band's fans as the "white album" due to the cover artwork.

In 1969, the group released one of their best songs, "Hey Jude". The single reached the top of the charts around the world and sold six million copies.

In April 1970, at the same time as the release of the solo disc, Paul McCartney officially announced that the Beatles were no more. The world's greatest rock band has broken up. By then, Stuart Sutcliffe had left the band, and Paul McCartney took over on bass. Then the group decided to stop the concert activity.

Relations in the group became strained, it was almost impossible to work together. In 1971, Paul McCartney created the group "Wings", which lasted until 1980. McCartney actively performed with concerts and composed music.

2. The founder of The Beatles, John Lennon formed his first group called The Quarrymen in 1956. The team included his friends from the QuarryBank school. 3. The name The Beatles was coined when new members came to Lennon's group - Paul McCartney, and after George Harrison - who had no relation to the Quarry school. 8. In 1961, during the band's second tour of Hamburg, Stuart Sutcliffe fell in love with a young artist and photographer, Astrid Kirchherr.

Sutcliffe made the decision to leave the group and stay in Hamburg with Astrid. 9. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best - in this composition The Beatles came to their first success. 10. Stuart Sutcliffe died in Hamburg from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1962. Despite the fact that Stewart was in the group for a very short time, he influenced all members of The Beatles. October 28, 1961 in a music store, he asked for a record with the song My Bonnie little known band The Beatles.

19. The film Hard Day's Night at the age of 13 starred the future star and leader of the Genesis band Phil Collins - he plays one of the fans. 29. Two members of the band are currently alive: Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. George Harrison died of cancer in 2001 and was given a Hindu burial.

John's father did not remind himself of himself for many years, but decided to meet him only at the height of Beatlemania and even released his own single with the song "Here is My Life". James Paul McCartney was born to James McCartney and Mary Mohin, and two years later they had a brother, Michael. Both brothers went to the same school and then to the prestigious Liverpool Institute. Paul was an excellent student, showing a penchant for English literature, and could well have entered the Semi-University.

Again, Lennon's obsession with the matter brought McCartney to Lennon's attention, and both quickly made the decision to play and compose as an ensemble. Together with the Beatles, Sheridan recorded the studio album Tony Sheridan and the Beatles. It was then in creative biography The Beatles made their first major international debut. After joint project with Sheridan, Brian Epstein, owner of a record store, became interested in the group.

The first independent album in the Beatles' biography was released in early 1963. By 1964, the whole world was crazy about the Beatles. By 1965, over one million copies of the album had been sold. In 1963-1964, the Beatles conquered America. Moreover, the Parlofon company did not dare to release the group's singles in the USA, precisely because of the short-lived popularity in the States of almost all musicians from Great Britain.

This fact of the Beatles' biography is one of the most significant: such a number of television audiences was recorded for the first time in the history of television. The careless statements of the members of the group led to scandals on a national scale. In addition, the stage limited their creative development - day after day they performed the same songs, under the terms of the contract they did not have the right to deviate from the program.

In February 1969, relations in the group finally went wrong due to disagreements over a new manager.

In 1967, the Beatles recorded a monumental and innovative album called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club. During the performance, a video version of the song "All You Need Is Love" was recorded. Shortly after this triumphant success, tragic death"fifth Beatle" band manager Brian Epstein. The album was very popular, but it was during the work on it that the first signs of a subsequent collapse appeared in the group.

IN next year, after the release of the second album "With The Beatles", began inexplicable phenomenon- Beatlemania. In 1965, Queen Elizabeth II recognized their contributions to British culture by awarding each member of the ensemble with the Order of the British Empire.

A year later, their most successful album, Revolver, was released, in which new directions gained a tangible character. On August 27, 1967, their manager Brian Epstein was found dead in his home. Having lost their manager, the musicians decided to run their own business and founded the infamous Apple company. For a while, the Beatles stopped playing music and spent three months in India studying Indian philosophy and meditation.

The group played in clubs and at parties, performing the then popular rock and roll. When Stuart Sutcliffe left the group in December 1961, the Beatles became a quartet. The 1994 film "The Beatles: 4+1 (The Fifth of the Four)" tells about this period in the history of the group. After leaving the Beatles in 1969, John Lennon formed the Plastic Ono Band with his wife Yoko Ono. His most famous songs were the anti-war "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance".

The Beatles made a great contribution to the development of rock music and became a striking phenomenon in the world culture of the sixties of the twentieth century. In this article, we will learn not only the history of the emergence of the Beatles. The biography of each participant after the collapse of the legendary team will also be considered.

Beginning (1956-1960)

When did the Beatles form? Biography and interest for several generations of fans. The history of the emergence of the group can begin with the formation of the musical tastes of the participants.

In the spring of 1956, the leader of the future star team, John Lennon, first heard one of Elvis Presley's songs. And this song, Heartbreak Hotel, turned the whole life of a young man upside down. Lennon played the banjo and harmonica, but new music made him take up the guitar.

The biography of the Beatles in Russian usually begins with the first group, organized by Lennon. With school friends, he created the Quarryman team, named after their educational institution. The teenagers played skiffle, a form of amateur British rock and roll.

At one of the group's performances, Lennon met Paul McCartney, who surprised the guy with his knowledge of the chords of the latest songs and high musical development. And in the spring of 1958, George Harrison, Paul's friend, joined them. The Trinity became the backbone of the group. They were invited to play at parties and weddings, but it never came to real concerts.

Inspired by the example of rock and roll pioneers, Eddie Cochran and Paul and John decided to write songs and play guitars themselves. They wrote the texts together and gave them double authorship.

In 1959, the group appeared new member- Stuart Sutcliffe, Lennon's friend. was almost formed: Sutcliffe (bass guitar), Harrison (lead guitar), McCartney (vocals, guitar, piano), Lennon (vocals, rhythm guitar). The only thing missing was a drummer.

Name

It is difficult to talk briefly about the Beatles group, even the history of the emergence of such a simple and short name of the group is captivating. When the band began to integrate into the concert life hometown, they needed a new name, because they no longer had a relationship with the school. In addition, the group began to perform at various talent competitions.

For example, at the 1959 television competition, the team performed under the name Johnny and the Moondogs (“Johnny and Moon Dogs"). And the name The Beatles appeared a few months later, in early 1960. Who exactly came up with it is unknown, most likely Sutcliffe and Lennon, who wanted to take a word that has several meanings.

When pronounced, the name sounds like beetles, that is, beetles. And when writing, the root of beat is visible - as beat music, a fashionable direction of rock and roll that arose in the 1960s. However, the promoters believed that this name was not catchy and too short, so the guys were called on the posters as Long John and The Silver Beetles ("Long John and the Silver Beetles").

Hamburg (1960-1962)

The skill of the musicians grew, but they remained just one of the many musical groups of their hometown. The biography of the Beatles, a summary of which you began to read, continues with the move of the team to Hamburg.

The fact that numerous Hamburg clubs needed English-speaking bands played into the hands of young musicians, and several teams from Liverpool proved themselves well. In the summer of 1960, the Beatles received an invitation to come to Hamburg. It was already serious work, so the quartet had to urgently look for a drummer. So Pete Best appeared in the group.

The first concert took place the next day after arrival. For several months, the musicians honed their skills in Hamburg clubs. They had to play music of different styles and trends for a long time - rock and roll, blues, rhythm and blues, sing pop and folk songs. It can be said that largely thanks to the experience gained in Hamburg, the Beatles group took place. The biography of the team was experiencing its dawn.

In just two years, the Beatles gave about 800 concerts in Hamburg and raised their skills from amateurs to professionals. The Beatles did not perform their own songs, concentrating on the compositions of famous artists.

In Hamburg, the musicians met with students of the local art college. One of the students, Astrid Kircher, began dating Sutcliffe and became actively involved in the band's life. This girl offered the guys new hairstyles - hair combed over the forehead and ears, and later characteristic jackets without lapels and collars.

Returning to Liverpool, the Beatles were no longer amateurs, they became on a par with the most popular groups. It was then that they met Ringo Starr, the drummer for a rival band.

After returning to Hamburg, the first professional recording of the band took place. The musicians accompanied rock and roll singer Tony Sheridan. The quartet recorded several own songs. This time their name was The Beat Brothers, not The Beatles.

The short biography of Sutcliffe continued with the exit from the team. At the end of the tour, he refused to return to Liverpool, choosing to stay with his girlfriend in Hamburg. A year later, Sutcliffe died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

First success (1962-1963)

The group returned to England and began to play in Liverpool clubs. On July 27, 1961, the first significant concert in the hall took place, which became a major success. In November, the group got a manager - Brian Epstein.

He met with a major label producer who showed interest in the band. He was not entirely satisfied with the demos, but young people fascinated him live. The first contract was signed.

However, both the producer and the band's manager were unhappy with Pete Best. They believed that he did not reach the general level, in addition, the musician refused to do his signature hairstyle, maintain the general style of the band, and often clashed with other members. Despite the fact that Best was popular with fans, it was decided to replace him. The drummer was replaced by Ringo Starr.

Ironically, it was with this drummer that the band recorded an amateur record at their own expense in Hamburg. Walking around the city, the guys met Ringo (Pete Best was not with them) and went to one of the street studios to record some songs just for fun.

In September 1962 the band recorded their first single, Love Me Do, which became very popular. The manager's cunning also played a big role here - Epstein bought ten thousand records at his own expense, which increased sales and aroused interest.

In October, the first television performance took place - the broadcast of one of the concerts in Manchester. Soon the second single Please Please Me was recorded, and in February 1963 the self-titled album was recorded in 13 hours, which included cover versions of popular songs and own compositions. In November of the same year, sales of the second album With The Beatles started.

Thus began the period of frenzied popularity that the Beatles experienced. Biography, a brief history of the beginning team, is over. The history of the legendary band begins.

The birthday of the term "Beatlemania" is considered to be October 13, 1963. In London, in the Palladium Hall, a concert of the group took place, which was broadcast throughout the country. But thousands of fans chose to gather around concert hall hoping to see the musicians. The Beatles had to make their way to the car with the help of the police.

The height of "Beatlemania" (1963-1964)

In Britain, the quartet was wildly popular, but in America the group's singles were not published, as usually English groups didn't have much success. The manager managed to sign a contract with a small firm, but the records were not noticed.

How did the Beatles get on the big American stage? The band's (short) biography tells that everything changed when a music critic of a well-known newspaper listened to the single I Want To Hold Your Hand, already very popular in England, and called the musicians "the greatest composers since Beethoven". The following month, the group was at the top of the charts.

"Beatlemania" stepped over the ocean. On the band's first visit to America, the musicians were greeted at the airport by several thousand fans. The Beatles gave 3 big concert and appeared on TV shows. All of America was watching them.

In March 1964, the quartet began creating a new album, A Hard Day "s Night, and a musical film of the same name. And the single Can't Buy Me Love / You Can't Do That, which appeared this month, set a world record for the number of pre-orders.

On August 19, 1964, a full-fledged tour of North America started. The group gave 31 concerts in 24 cities. It was originally planned to visit 23 cities, but the owner of the basketball club from Casas City offered the musicians $150,000 for a half-hour concert (usually the ensemble received $25,000-30,000).

The tour was hard for the musicians. They were like in a prison, completely isolated from the outside world. The places where the Beatles stayed were besieged around the clock by crowds of fans in the hope of seeing their idols.

The concert venues were huge, the equipment was of poor quality. The musicians did not hear each other and even themselves, they often got lost, but the audience did not hear this and practically did not see anything, since the stage was set very far for safety reasons. I had to perform according to a clear program, there was no question of any improvisation and experiments on stage.

Yesterday and Lost Recordings (1964-1965)

After returning to London, work began on the Beatles For Sale album, which included borrowed and own songs. A week after the publication, he soared to the top of the charts.

In July 1965, the second film, Help!, was released, followed by an album of the same name in August. It was this album that included the most famous song of the collective Yesterday, which became a classic of popular music. Today, more than two thousand interpretations of this composition are known.

The author of the famous melody was Paul McCartney. He composed the music at the beginning of the year, the words appeared later. He called the composition Scrambled Egg, because, composing it, he sang Scrambled egg, how I love a scrambled egg ... ("Scrambled eggs, how I love scrambled eggs"). The song was recorded with accompaniment string quartet, of the group members, only Paul participated.

On the second American tour, which started in August, an event took place that still haunts music lovers around the world. What did the Beatles do? The biography briefly describes that the musicians visited Elvis Presley himself. The stars not only talked, but also played several songs together, which were recorded on a tape recorder.

The recordings were never released, and music agents from all over the world failed to locate them. The value of these recordings cannot be estimated today.

New Directions (1965-1966)

In 1965, many groups entered the big stage, which made a worthy competition to the Beatles. The band started to create a new album Rubber Soul. This record marked a new era in rock music. Elements of surrealism and mysticism, which the Beatles are known for, began to appear in the songs.

The biography (short) tells that at the same time scandals began to arise around the musicians. In July 1966, the band members refused an official reception, which caused a conflict with the first lady. Outraged by this fact, the Filipinos almost tore the musicians apart, they had to literally run away. The tour administrator was badly beaten, the quartet was pushed and almost pushed to the plane.

The second big scandal erupted when John Lennon said in one of his interviews that Christianity was dying and that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus today. Protests swept across the United States, the group's records were burned. The leader of the team, under pressure, apologized for his words.

Despite the troubles, 1966 saw the release of Revolver, one of the band's best albums. His distinguishing feature in that the musical compositions were complex and did not involve live performance. The Beatles are now a studio band. Exhausted by the tour, the musicians gave up concert activities. In the same year, the last concerts were held. Music critics called the album brilliant and were sure that the quartet would no longer be able to create something as perfect.

However, in early 1967, the single Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane was recorded. The recording of this record lasted 129 days (compared with the 13-hour recording of the first album), the studio worked literally around the clock. The single was extremely complex musically and was a resounding success, being at the top of the charts for 88 weeks.

White Album (1967-1968)

The performance of the Beatles was broadcast to the whole world. 400 million people could see it. A television version of the song All You Need Is Love was recorded. After this triumph, the team's affairs began to decline. The role in this was played by the death of the "fifth Beatle", the band's manager Brian Epstein, as a result of an overdose of sleeping pills. He was only 32. Epstein was an important member of the Beatles. The biography of the group after his death has undergone major changes.

For the first time, the band received the first negative reviews regarding the new Magical Mystery Tour movie. A lot of complaints were caused by the fact that the tape was released only in color, while most people had only black and white TVs. The soundtrack was released as an EP.

In 1968, she was responsible for the release of albums. Apple company, so announced the Beatles, whose biography continued. In January 1969, the Yellow Submarine cartoon and its soundtrack were released. In August - single Hey Jude, one of the best in the history of the group. And in 1968 the famous album The Beatles, better known as the white album, was released. It got its name because its cover was snow-white, with a simple imprint of the title. The fans received it well, but the critics no longer shared the enthusiasm.

This record marked the beginning of the group's breakup. Ringo Starr left the band for a while, several songs were recorded without him. The drums were played by McCartney. Harrison has been busy with solo work. The situation was also tense because of Yoko Ono, who was present in the studio constantly and annoyed the band members in order.

Breakup (1969-1970)

At the beginning of 1969, the musicians had many plans. They were going to release an album, a film about their studio work, and a book. Paul McCartney wrote the song Get Back ("Come back"), which gave the name to the whole project. The Beatles, whose biography began so naturally, was approaching disintegration.

The band members wanted to show the atmosphere of fun and ease that reigned at the performances in Hamburg, but this did not work out. Many songs were recorded, but only five were selected, a lot of video material was filmed. The last recording was to be filming an impromptu concert on the rooftop of the recording studio. It was interrupted by the police, who were called locals. This concert was the last performance of the group.

On February 3, 1969, the team got a new manager, Allen Klein. McCartney was strongly opposed, as he believed that his future father-in-law, John Eastman, would be the best candidate for the role. Paul began legal proceedings against the rest of the group. Thus, the Beatles group, whose biography is described in this article, began to experience a serious conflict.

Work on an ambitious project was abandoned, but the group still released the Abbey Road album, which included George Harrison's brilliant composition Something. The musician worked on it for a long time, recorded about 40 ready-made options. The song is put on a par with Yesterday.

On January 8, 1970, the last album, Let It Be, was released, a reworking of material from the failed Get Back project by American producer Phil Spector. On May 20, a documentary about the band was released, which had already broken up by the time of the premiere. Thus ended the biography of the Beatles. In Russian, the title of the film sounds like "Let it be so."

After the collapse. John Lennon

The era of the Beatles is over. The biography of the participants continues with solo projects. At the time of the breakup of the group, all members were already engaged independent work. In 1968, two years before the breakup, John Lennon released a joint album with his wife Yoko Ono. It was recorded in one night and at the same time contained not music, but a set of various sounds, noises, screams. On the cover, the couple appeared in the nude. Two more records of the same plan and a live recording followed in 1969. From the 70th to the 75th year, 4 were released music albums. After that, the musician stopped appearing in public, devoting himself to raising his son.

In 1980, Lennon's last album, Double Fantasy, was released and was well received by critics. A few weeks after the album's release, on December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot several times in the back. In 1984, the musician's posthumous album Milk and Honey was released.

After the collapse. Paul McCartney

After McCartney left the Beatles, the musician's biography took on a new twist. The break with the group took a heavy toll on McCartney. At first he retired to a remote farm, where he experienced depression, but in March 1970 he returned with material for a solo album by McCartney, and soon released a second - Ram.

However, without the group, Paul felt insecure. He organized the Wings team, which included his wife Linda. The group lasted until 1980 and released 7 albums. As part of his solo career, the musician has released 19 albums, the last of which was released in 2013.

After the collapse. George Harrison

George Harrison even before the breakup of the Beatles released 2 solo albums - Wonderwall Music in 1968 and Electronic Sound in 1969. These records were experimental and did not have much success. The third album, All Things Must Pass, included songs written during the Beatles period and rejected by other band members. This is the musician's most successful solo album.

For the entire solo career, after Harrison left the Beatles, the musician's biography was enriched by 12 albums and more than 20 singles. He was actively involved in philanthropy and made a significant contribution to the popularization of Indian music and converted to Hinduism himself. Harrison died on November 29, 2001.

After the collapse. Ringo Star

Ringo's solo album, which he began working on as part of the Beatles, was released in 1970, but was declared a failure. However, in the future, he released more successful albums, largely due to his collaboration with George Harrison. In total, the musician has released 18 studio albums, as well as several live recordings and collections. The last album was released in 2015.

If in the second question "best band of all time" means "the most successful group of all times”, then such a statement can be explained by quantitative indicators and various regalia. In less than 10 years of the band's existence, they recorded 12 studio albums (or 13 - depending on what counts as an album) - more than 200!!! songs; The Beatles have received 26 Grammy nominations, winning 10, on the list the greatest performers of all time in Rolling Stone magazine, the Beatles take the honorable 1st place; the members of the group were awarded the Order of the British Empire (received a knighthood from the Queen of Britain) "for their outstanding contribution to the prosperity of Great Britain"; finally, the Beatles got into the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling group in the world - already in the early 2000s, more than a billion discs and cassettes associated with the name of the group were sold.

It is not easy to give a definite answer to the first question. But it becomes obvious that popular music cannot be fully described solely in musical, aesthetic terms. Of course, the group's success is largely due to the remarkable talent of the band members - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, their diligence, full dedication to their beloved music, willingness to change, bring new elements to their own work. But all this, in fact, cannot characterize the uniqueness of the Beatles in any way - in Liverpool alone in the late 50s and 60s there were many talented, hardworking, innovative bands. Here it is worth mentioning the features of the musical environment of the city. It's no secret that British rock is American youth pop music grafted with traditional British motifs. However, to describe the sound of Liverpool teams, the term Liverpool Sound (“Liverpool sound”) is used. Liverpool - was a major port city, which from all over the world flocked not only products of production, but also songs, music (for example, Jamaican, Indian, African). Diverse diasporas, and even simply arriving merchants and sailors, formed a special breeding ground in this city of thousands of music clubs, not limited to American pop and British folk music. It was in this environment that the Beatles brewed, although again, not only them.

Further, an important role in the success of the group was played by the awareness of the participants of the need to professionalize their activities. The invitation of Brian Epstein, the owner of a record store, to the role of band manager was one of turning points group history. He bought the Beatles' plastics at his own peril and risk, so that they would rise in the ratings, streamline the group's performance schedules, draw up performance programs, and work on the Beatles' stage image. Here we move on to another important component of success - the stage image. Regardless of who came up with the recognizable image of the group (this was claimed by various people who were related to the group) - a mop-top haircut, conservative black suits with collarless jackets (sometimes such jackets are called “Beatles”), “decent” behavior on scene. For stiff England, where the attitude to music is often determined by the moral and moralizing assessment of musicians (for example, the tour of the young, and later great, rock’n’roller Jerry Lee Lewis in Britain was disrupted due to his inappropriate behavior), the Beatles were given the incredibly beneficial label of "good-boys", as opposed to the bad boys of Rolling Stones, and sexually promiscuous strangers from the States. However, professionalization and imagery have been important elements of popular music since the 1930s, and there is nothing uniquely Beatles about it either.

Another aspect to consider when talking about the Beatles is finding the perfect sound and experimenting with sound and recording. George Martin - the fifth Beatle - the producer and sound engineer of the group, played a huge role here (although the participants themselves embarked on experiments with great interest, it is enough to point out George Harrison's flirting with oriental motifs in the second half of the 60s). Martin, brilliantly versed in music, made it possible to embody many of the bold ideas of the band members, and the embodiment is almost perfect in form (for example, the “symphonic” side of “Yellow Submarine” or the unity of “Strawberry Fields Forever”, composed of parts of different tempo and tonality ).

Finally, speaking of the worldwide popularity of the Beatles and the phenomenon of Beatlemania, which began with the appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, it is worth bearing in mind some of the historical circumstances that set the stage for the very possibility of success for British music in the United States. So, in the second half of the 50s, almost all the leading American pop musicians disappeared from the scene: in 1959 Buddy Holly died in a car accident, and Chuck Berry was sentenced to 5 years in prison, a year earlier Elvis went to the army, Little Richard retired from music to become a preacher in 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis was stonewalled for marrying an underage great-niece (the late 1950s is sometimes referred to, after Don McLean's song "American Pie", "the time the music died") . Actually, this vacuum in the youth popular music market was filled by the new British rock music, which was later called the "British Invasion". Although the Beatles were the first British group, which reached the top of the American charts, they were not the only ones.

Thus, all these reasons - the environment, talent, diligence, dedication, professionalism, experimentation, attention to the image of the group and performance, favorable market conditions, multiplied by the unique charisma and personal charm of McCartney and Lennon - it is important to consider when talking about uniqueness and group success. We can say that these are necessary elements of the greatness of the Beatles, but not enough: many groups could even surpass the Beatles in some ways, but did not achieve either such fame or such commercial success. In this sense, the uniqueness of the Beatles lies in the fact that it is impossible to give an exhaustive explanation of this uniqueness. But it's so easy to enjoy their music.