| The Beatles |
| This part of our site is dedicated to the greatest band of rock n' roll history, The Beatles. Now for a brief history... The members of The Beatles are John Winston (Ono) Lennon. B. Oct. 9th 1940- D. Dec. 8th 1980, Sir James Paul McCartney. B. June 18th 1942, George Harrison. B. Feb. 25th 1943- D. Nov. 28th, 2001, and Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) B. July, 7th 1940. All four of them grew up in Liverpool, England. Growing up they looked up to many American artists such as Elvis, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino and Chuck Berry. In March of 1957 John formed a skiffle group called the Quarry Men. Later that year at The Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete he was introduced to Paul. John later asked Paul to join the band. Then in February of 1958 George joined. The 3 of them later changed the name of the band to the Silver Beetles in 1960 and began playing nightclubs in Hamburg, Germany with their new drummer Peter Best and bassist Stuart Sutcliff. However, one year later back in Liverpool, Paul takes the role of bassist to replace Sutcliff who stays behind in Germany to be with his girlfriend Astrid. The group has a new name, The Beatles, when they return to Hamburg for a second time in 1961 to play at the Top 10 Club. By 1962 The Beatles have a new manager, a local owner of a Liverpool record and music store, Brian Epstein, and a new image, and a new drummer, Ringo Starr. On August 23rd John marries his girlfriend Cynthia Powell. The group's popularity increases greatly through the years until finally in 1964 their second U.S. LP, 'Meet the Beatles', goes to No.1 within 3 weeks. Then on February 7, 1964 The Beatles invaded America. They arrived at Heathrow airport greeted by 3,000 screaming fans. Then on the 9th they performed five songs on the Ed Sullivan Show to an estimated 72 million television viewers. Their continued fame increases into what the press called "Beatlemania". After their U.S. tour The Beatles head home and soon begin filming their first movie 'A Hard Day's Night'. The band continues to tour the world and in 1965 make another movie titled 'Help', this time it's in color. During the recording of their album Rubber Soul the Beatles are called to Buckingham Palace to recive the MBE medals from the Queen. Finally after too many planes, trains, cars, hotels and screaming fans, The Beatles play their final live show at Candle Stick Park on August 29, 1966. At the time bands didn't stop touring because there wasn't a thing like MTV to get their music and faces out into public. The band vanished from the public eye for some time. Many thought that it was the end of The Beatles, but boy did they have a surprise coming. In 1967 The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. It opened eyes and blew minds. The original idea for the album was to BE Sgt. Pepper, however the idea fell through and the only songs that follow this idea are the first two and the repeat of Sgt. Pepper at the end of the album. September 25th the fab four follow Guru Mahirishi Mahesh Yogi to a weekend seminar in Wales. On arrival back from their weekend, they are greeted with the shocking news that their manager and close friend Brian Epstein had been found dead in his London apartment, due to an overdose of sleeping pills. November 11th Paul gets the idea for Magical Mystery Tour. But with no Brian to look after details, they meet with every concievable problem. When the finished product aired at Christmas, the critics hammered it. They stated it was nonsense, rubbish, and a bore. The following year, 1968, driven by contractual obligation they authorize the production of a full length cartoon. They contributed four new songs, but nothing else. The name of the cartoon was "Yellow Submarine". Following this The Beatles continued to lead the way when they went off to India to study under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This inspired people to find enlightenment through Transcendentalist meditaion. Upon returning to England Paul married American photographer Linda Eastman. John upstages him by marrying Japanese artist, Yoko Ono in 1969. They begin work on a project, "Let it Be", which they hope will save the band. The plan is to have a camera on them at all times in the studio. Unfortunately, this causes more tension inside the band. To end the film they do a "jam" on Apple's roof. The album is not really finished. They moved on to record "Abbey Road". After the breakup, Phil Spector edited the "Let it Be" recordings and released the album. In the early months of 1970, John did stuff with the Plastic Ono Band, George toured with Eric Clapton, and Paul released his first solo album, "McCartney". However, it is Paul who in the end called quits to The Beatles. We choose to keep this story at the minimum of The Beatles only, nothing past that. Although they did do some wicked awesome solo stuff....check it out! If you see any flaws at all in our work, PLEASE inform us. Thanks! |