The Beatles group: a brief biography, the composition of The Beatles, history. The Beatles

This site requires Javascript to function properly - please enable Javascript in your browser

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 group, 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: “The guitar is a good instrument. 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 that stood 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 - the girls literally pissed 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 Patty 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 proper 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.

He is not only the godfather of 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. Religious reasons forced George and Paul to remove meat from the diet, Ringo - poor health, but John did not deny himself the pleasure of eating meat until the very last days, 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. Even after the group broke up, John made a shocking statement 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 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, ...

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 heard The Quarrymen for the first time 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 were 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 set. 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 after finding 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 record. 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 group'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, about four thousand fans came to meet them at Kennedy Airport. 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. With a very busy touring 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 was released on August 5, 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, 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 became more popular than Jesus, the Ku Klux Klans in the southern United States began to publicly burn the Beatles' discs, demanding repentance from them. 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 repaired by a single plan.

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 animated film “Yellow Submarine” was released, 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 he and his wife Yoko Ono 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 in an envelope, in which he stated that he no longer plans to work in a 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 playing in the movie - he had a major role in the film "Magic Christian".

In January 1970, EMI, which had by then acquired 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 has 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 caused 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 Studies into 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 are a British rock band. She is originally from Liverpool. The Beatles existed from 1960 to 1970. Its composition was not formed immediately, the name also changed several times. All this, as well as the success story of this world's greatest musical group, we will tell in detail below.

The Rise of The Blackjack and The Quarrymen

John Lennon (1940-1980), having learned to play the guitar, founded a group with his comrades, which they called The Blackjack. A week later, however, the name changed to The Quarrymen (the school where the guys studied was called Quarry Bank). The group performed skiffle, a special British style of rock and roll.

Formation of The Quarrymen

John Lennon (pictured below) in the summer of 1957, after performing at a concert, met another future member of the band - Paul McCartney.

He surprised John with his knowledge of the words and chords of the latest in the world of music. They were joined in the autumn of 1958 by George Harrison, a friend of Paul. George, Paul and John became the main ones in the group, for the other members of The Quarrymen this group was only a temporary hobby, and they soon left the band. The musicians played in episodes at various events, weddings, parties, but it didn’t get to recordings and concerts.

The group broke up several times. George Harrison had his own group. And Paul McCartney and Lennon began to write songs, sing and play together, inspired by Buddy Holly, who was his own producer and played his own songs. The group at the end of 1959 included Stuart Sutcliffe. John Lennon knew him in college. His playing skills were not distinguished, which often irritated Paul McCartney, a demanding musician. The group in this composition was practically formed: vocals and rhythm guitar - Lennon, vocals, rhythm guitar and piano - McCartney (his photo is presented below), lead guitar - George Harrison, bass guitar - Stuart Sutcliffe. However, the problem of the musicians was the lack of a permanent drummer.

Some other group names

The Quarrymen actively tried to fit into the club and concert life of Liverpool. Talent competitions were held one after another, but the group was not lucky. She needed to think about changing her name. No one had anything to do with Quarry Bank school anymore. At a local television competition held in December 1959, this group performed under a different name - Johnny and the Moondogs.

History of the name The Beatles

In 1960, in April, the participants came up with this name. Its authors, according to the memoirs of members of the group, are Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon. They dreamed of a name that had a double meaning. For example, B. Holly's group was called The Crickets, that is, "crickets". However, for the British there is another meaning - "the game of cricket." As John Lennon said, this name came to him during sleep. He saw a man engulfed in flames, who advised them to call the group the Beetles (beetles). However, this word has only one meaning. Therefore, it was decided to replace the letter "e" with "a". A second meaning appeared - "bit", for example, in rock and roll music. Thus the Beatles were born. At first, the musicians were forced to change the name somewhat, since the promoters considered it to be very short. At various times, the group performed under such names as The Silver Beatles, Long John and The Beatles.

First tour

The musical skill of the band members grew very quickly. They were increasingly invited to perform in small clubs and pubs. The Beatles went on their first tour in April 1960. It was a tour of Scotland, and they performed as an accompanying group. At this time, they have not yet received much fame.

Band play in Hamburg

The Beatles, whose lineup had not yet been finalized, were invited to play in Hamburg in the middle of 1960. Already at that time, several professional rock and roll bands from Liverpool played here. Therefore, the musicians from the Beatles decided to urgently look for a drummer. The composition of the group needed to be replenished in order to comply with the contract and be at the level of professionals. They chose Pete Best, who played very well. The history of the Beatles continued with the fact that in 1960, on August 17, the first concert took place in Hamburg, at the Indra club. Here the group played until October under a contract, and then, until the end of November, they performed at the Kaiserkeller. The schedule of performances was very tough, the participants had to crowd into one room. A lot of material had to be played on stage besides rock and roll: rhythm and blues, blues, old jazz and pop numbers, folk songs. The Beatles had not yet performed their own songs, as they believed that in the surrounding modern music there was a lot of material suitable for them, and there was also no necessary incentive for this. It was the daily hard work and the ability to perform different styles of music, mixing them, that became one of the main factors in the formation of the group.

The Beatles become famous in Liverpool

The Beatles returned to Liverpool in December 1960. Here they turned out to be one of the most active groups, competing with each other in terms of the number of fans, repertoire and sound. The leaders among them were Rory Storm, who played in the best clubs in Hamburg and Liverpool. At this time, musicians from the Beatles met and quickly became friends with the drummer of this group, R. Starr. The composition of the group will be replenished with them a little later.

Second tour in Hamburg

The group in April 1960 went back to Hamburg for a second tour. Now they were playing in Top Ten. It was in this city that The Beatles made their first professional recording, performing as an accompanying ensemble for singer T. Sheridan. The Beatles were also allowed to make some of their own compositions. Sutcliffe decided to leave the band at the end of the tour and stay in Hamburg. Paul McCartney had to play bass. And a year later, in 1962 (April 10), Sutcliffe (pictured below) died of a brain hemorrhage.

Performances in Liverpool in 1961

The Beatles since August 1961 began performing at the Liverpool club (the name of the club is Cavern). They performed 262 times in a year. The following year, on July 27, the musicians gave their concert at Litherland Town Hall. The concert in this hall was a great success, after which the press dubbed this group the best in Liverpool.

Acquaintance with George Martin

The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, met with George Martin, a producer from the Parlophone label. George became interested in the young band and wanted to see it perform at Abbey Road Studios (London). The recordings of the group did not impress George Martin, but he fell in love with the musicians themselves, attractive, cheerful and a little arrogant guys. When J. Martin asked if they liked everything in the studio, Harrison replied that he did not like Martin's tie. The producer appreciated this joke and invited the group to sign a contract. It was from the tie story that the Beatles' direct, blunt, and witty responses to interviews and press conferences became their signature style.

Ringo Starr Becomes a Drummer

Only Pete Best did not like George Martin. He believed that Best was not up to the level of the group, and suggested that Epstein replace the drummer. In addition, Pete defended his own individuality and did not want, like other members of the Beatles, to make a signature hairstyle to match the overall style of the group. As a result, in 1962, on August 16, Pete Best leaves the group, which is officially announced by Brian Epstein. Starr (pictured below), who played in the Rory Storm band, was taken in without hesitation.

First singles and first album

Soon the members of the Beatles began studio work. The first recording did not bring any results. The Beatles released their first single, Love Me Do, in October 1962, which reached No. 17 on the charts. It was a pretty good result for the young Beatles. In the same year, on October 17, the first concert of this group on television took place in Manchester broadcast (People and Places program). Then the Beatles recorded a new single, Please Please Me, which took first place in the charts. In 1963, on March 22, the group finally released their first album with the same name. In just 12 hours, the material for it was created. This album topped the national hit parade for six months, bringing great success to the Beatles. The hits of this group became popular throughout the country.

Resounding success

Beatlemania's birthday is October 3, 1963. The group was deafeningly popular. Its participants gave a concert in the Palladium Hall in London, from where the Beatles were broadcast throughout the UK. The group's hits were listened to by approximately 15 million viewers. Many fans filled the streets near the concert hall, eager to see the Beatles live. On November 4, 1963, the band played a concert at the Prince of Wales Theatre. The Queen herself, Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret attended, and the Queen admired the game. The Beatles released their second album, With The Beatles, on November 22. Over a million copies of this record had been sold by 1965.

Brian Epstein signed a US contract with Vee Jay, which released the singles From Me To You and Please Please Me, as well as the album Introducing The Beatles. However, they did not bring success in the US and did not even hit the regional charts. In the United States at the end of 1963, the single I Want To Hold Your Hand appeared, which changed the situation. The very next year, on January 18, he was in first place in the table of the American magazine Cash Box and in third place in the table of the weekly called Billboard. US label Capitol released Meet the Beatles' gold album on February 3rd.

Thus, Beatlemania crossed the ocean. In 1964, on February 7, the band members landed at the New York airport. They were met by about 4 thousand fans. The group played three concerts: one at the Coliseum (Washington) and two at Carnegie Hall (New York). The Beatles also performed twice on television on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was watched by 73 million viewers - a record in the history of television! The Beatles spent their free time interacting with journalists and various musical groups. They returned to their homeland on February 22.

The group after a trip to the US began recording new songs, as well as filming the first musical film (A Hard Day's Night). The single titled Can't Buy Me Love on March 20 attracted a lot of pre-orders - about 3 million.

First major tour

The band embarked on their first major tour through Holland, Denmark, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia on June 4, 1964. The Beatles tour was a resounding success. In Adelaide, for example, a crowd of 300,000 met the musicians at the airport. On July 2, the Beatles returned to London. And three days later there was the premiere of A Hard Day's Night, after which the album of the same name was released.

Difficulties faced by the group

The North American tour started on August 19 of the same year. The Beatles covered 36 thousand kilometers in 32 days and visited 24 cities, playing 31 concerts. About 30 thousand dollars (today it is equivalent to about 300 thousand dollars) they received for one concert. However, the musicians were not worried about the money, but about the fact that they became prisoners, completely isolated from the rest of society. Around the clock, the hotels where the group stayed were besieged by the crowd.

At that time, the equipment on which the musicians played in huge stadiums would not satisfy even a seedy restaurant ensemble. Technique for a long time lagged behind in development from the pace set by the Beatles. Due to the deafening roar of the people in the stands, the musicians often did not hear themselves. They lost their rhythm, they lost their tonality in the vocal parts, but this was not noticed by the audience, which also practically did not hear anything. The Beatles in such conditions could not progress and experiment on stage. Only behind the scenes in the studio could they create something new and develop.

Continued success

Returning to London on September 21, the musicians immediately began recording a new album - Beatles For Sale. Many styles of music, ranging from rock and roll to country and western, were presented on this record. Already on December 4, 1964, on the first day of release, it sold 700,000 copies and soon topped the English hit parade.

In 1965, on July 29, the premiere of the film Help! in London, and the album of the same name was released in August. The Beatles embarked on a tour of the United States on August 13. They visited Elvis Presley himself, where they not only talked, but also played, recording several songs on tape recorders. Unfortunately, these recordings were never published, because they were not found, despite all the efforts made. Millions of dollars today are estimated their cost.

Rock and rock 'n' roll in the middle of 1965 turned from entertainment and dance music into a serious art. Many bands that emerged at that time, such as the Rolling Stones and The Byrds, made The Beatles serious competition. The Beatles in October of the same year began recording a new album - Rubber Soul. He showed the whole world the growing up Beatles. Again, all competitors were far behind. On the day the recording began, October 12, the musicians did not have a single finished song, and already on December 3, 1965, this album was on store shelves. Elements of surrealism and mysticism appeared in the songs, which were subsequently included in many Beatles songs.

State awards

Members of the group in 1965, October 26, were awarded state awards at Buckingham Palace. They received the Order of the British Empire. Some other holders of this order, military heroes, were outraged by the presentation of the award to the musicians. In protest, they returned the orders, as they, in their opinion, depreciated. However, no one paid much attention to the protesters.

Conflicts and proceedings

The Beatles were in serious trouble in 1966. Due to a conflict with the first lady of the Philippines during the tour, the musicians refused to come to an official reception at the presidential palace. The angry mob almost tore the Beatles apart, they barely managed to get their feet out of this country. After the group's return to England, there was a big buzz in the US due to Lennon's statements that the Beatles were now more popular than Jesus. In the UK, this was soon forgotten, but in America, protests swept against the musicians - they burned their portraits, records on which the songs of the Beatles were recorded ... The musicians themselves perceived this with humor. However, under pressure from the press, John Lennon was nevertheless forced to publicly apologize for his remarks. It happened in Chicago in 1966, on August 11th.

New breakthrough, termination of concert activity

The musicians, despite these trials, released at that time one of their best albums called Revolver. Since very complex studio effects were used, the Beatles' music did not involve stage performance.

The Beatles became a studio band. Tired of touring, the musicians decided to stop their concert performances. In 1966, on May 1, their last performance took place in the hall of Wembley Stadium (London). Here they participated in a gala concert and appeared for only 15 minutes. The last tour took place in the USA in the same year, where the Beatles made their last appearance on stage in San Francisco on August 29. Meanwhile, Revolver was leading the world charts. It was praised by critics as the culmination of all the work of this group. Many newspapers believed that the group decided to stop on this high note, but this did not occur to the musicians themselves.

Latest albums

In the same year, on November 24, they began recording another album. Recording it lasted 129 days, and it became the greatest album in the history of rock music. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in 1967, on May 26. It was a phenomenal success and lasted 88 weeks at the top of various charts.

In the same year, on December 8, the band released their 9th album called Magical Mystery Tour. On June 25, 1967, the Beatles became the first band in history to have their performance broadcast worldwide. It was watched by 400 million people. However, despite this success, the Beatles' business began to decline. Brian Epstein died on August 27 from an overdose of sleeping pills. The Beatles at the end of 1967 began to receive negative reviews about their work.

The group spent early 1968 in Rishikesh where they studied meditation. McCartney and Lennon, after returning to the UK, announced the creation of a corporation called Apple. They started releasing records under this label. The Beatles released the film Yellow Submarine in January 1968. On August 30, the Hey Jude single went on sale, and by the end of the year, sales of the record reached 6 million. The White Album is a double album released in 1968, November 22. Relations between the musicians during his recording deteriorated greatly. Ringo Starr left the band for a while. Because of this, McCartney played the drums on several songs. Harrison (his photo is presented below) and Lennon, in addition, began to release solo records. The inevitable breakup of the group was approaching. Later came the albums Abbey Road and Let it be - the last one released in 1970.

Death of John Lennon and George Harrison

John Lennon was assassinated on December 8, 1980 by Mark Chapman, a US citizen, in New York. On the day of his death, he gave an interview to journalists, and then approached the house with his wife. Chapman fired 5 shots into his back. Now Mark Chapman is in prison, where he is serving a life sentence.

George Harrison died on November 29, 2001 from a brain tumor. He was treated for a long time, but it was not possible to save the musician. Paul McCartney is still alive, he is 73 years old today.

The popular Beatles group, its far from short biography, the composition of The Beatles and the history of the group over the decades since its collapse do not lose their relevance. New reports about the Beatles appear briefly or extensively at frequent intervals. There is a short message about the Beatles on the net and vice versa, we tried to combine all the available information about The Beatles into one, short and informative.

Absolutely everyone has heard about the Beatles, even if only a brief summary. This team of 4 guys has become so firmly merged into the history of mankind that it still provides food for research for everyone who cares about music, be it a music lover or a critic.

The magnitude of popularity, which still makes itself felt today, a deep love for creativity, is really difficult to explain, but the fact remains that in the sixties the four turned the whole world upside down.

How it all began

For almost twenty years, the Beatles were considered the standard of musicians. The Beatles spawned a huge wave of imitation - both among ordinary fans and among other bands. The band's music inspired entire generations. It is she who is responsible for the fact that the movement for peace, for love and freedom actively flourished in Europe.

It is impossible to fully appreciate the importance The Beatles played in the culture of mankind, and hardly anyone from the team fully understood where the joint work would lead.

Liverpool, the hometown of the founders of the team, was actually an interesting place for the musicians of England. It was here that fresh ideas were brewed, which inspired Paul and John to study music.

In 1957, Paul McCartney met Lennon for the first time. John was already considered the leader of the Quarrymen, even though he was only seventeen. The style of creativity belonged to the British version of rock and roll - skiffle. McCartney charmed a new acquaintance because he turned out to be a multi-instrumentalist - trumpet, piano and guitar, and besides, he was familiar with the chords and lyrics of all the best hits of that time. But besides that, Paul showed John the first compositions, and John also wanted to create his own songs. The competitive spirit made them both work hard. They became close later as a result of tragic events - the death of their mothers.

In less than a few months, they not only played together, but also took to the stage. Helped them in this Harrison, George was a close friend of Paul. A little later, Stuart Sutcliffe, who studied with Harrison at the same college, joined the team that had just appeared.

It should be noted that the parents practically did not know what their sons were doing. They were really convinced that they wanted to get a working specialty. However, all the members of the four were too passionate about the musical theme. Only Harrison's mother was warm to their studies.

What would you name the boat

A number of successful performances led the musicians to the idea that it was time to choose a suitable name. The ambitions of all members of the team were great, and even if it was difficult to call all their appearances on stage concerts, and no one would offer to record their music, they were still full of enthusiasm.

To do this, I had to join the Liverpool club life. Speaking under the name Quarrymen, they tried their hand at creative competitions over and over again, but nothing like success came of it. As a result, we had to think about which version of the name would better describe their approach to creativity.

Reflections led to The Beatles, and today there are disputes about how it appeared. Members of the team have repeatedly mentioned that the name was invented by Stuart and John. It occurred to them to create a name with a double meaning. Taking off from beetles, they changed the letter to make a reference to beat, because this particular style of music was especially popular.

Whether the name was responsible for the fact that the Beatles were noticed among others, no one can say for sure, but young people really began to be approached for performances.

1960 had barely begun when the band was called on a brief tour of the cities of Scotland, and this was the starting point that helped to rise above the numerous bands that performed similar music in Liverpool. The team was supposed to work on the same stage with Johnny Gentle, a popular singer at that time.

Unfortunately, the Scottish tour brought not only positive impressions. During the concerts, the team quarreled with the manager, did not receive payment on time. They returned to their hometown earlier than expected by the agreement. The drummer, who received a concussion on the tour, left the team.

big start

From the summer of 1960 The Beatles received an invitation to a concert in Hamburg. For all the members of the Beatles, this was a great chance to demonstrate themselves outside their native country, to enter Europe, as they would say today. The most curious thing is that in fact such a choice was quite strange. The band did not have a permanent drummer, which made it difficult to work, and it was not particularly known to anyone. However, it so happened that at that time the more popular bands could not go on a long tour, and Allan Williams managed to push the beginners forward. Before the tour, a long search for a drummer led Pete Best to the team - almost by accident.

Of course, it was not without difficulties - the tour to Germany was a big test. For almost seven months abroad, the Beatles performed at the Indra and Kaiserkeller clubs. The schedule of concerts turned out to be very busy, because the concerts then went on without stops, and in no case was it possible to lose face. Leaving their own compositions for a more convenient occasion, the team hit on the performance of variations, improvisations and arrangements.

It was impossible to relax. The Beatles played blues, processed folk songs, performed blues, rock and roll, selected and sang pop songs. It turned out to be a good experience: in the seven months of the tour, the skill has grown noticeably.

The return of the team was also appreciated in familiar clubs. The Beatles sounded different.

However, not only this trace was left by the first tour in the history of the team. Stuart Sutcliffe met and started a relationship with Astrid Kirchherr. She owns a photo shoot in the Hamburg Park. And it was she who suggested that the team choose a new image.

Stylish new hairstyles and neat jackets without collars and lapels from Cardin have become an updated image of the team. We can assume that the German girl acted as an image maker.

Epstein era

Back in Liverpool, the team began playing regularly at the Cavern. More experienced musicians quickly moved forward, and the city became known quite widely. However, they also had competitors, such as Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Ringo Starr sat on drums in this very popular group at that time.

Everyone managed to get acquainted with the Beatles team on the same German tour. With these guys, they jointly recorded a record - playing along as session players. However, in the end it was a fateful event.

By the way, remembering in Hamburg, the Beatles went there for the second time in 1961. This time the tour took three months. Germany gave the band the opportunity to record in the studio for the first time, as they performed with Tony Sheridan. On the record, the band was referred to as The Beat Brothers.

In Cavern, the team was noticed by Brian Epstein, who worked in one of the record stores. He was so enthusiastic that he began negotiations with record companies, but received many rejections, until finally Parlophone decided to sign a contract with a group that few had heard of.

George Martin, who was the studio's producer, said it wasn't the quality of the music or the craftsmanship that attracted him. "The Beatles" took wit, openness and even a little arrogance. They so fascinated Martin that he opened the way for them to Abbey Road, the famous London studio.

By mid-autumn 1962, Love Me Do appeared. No one can say whether the single would have sold worse if Epstein had not personally bought 10,000 records, which caused a buzz around rising stars.

This brought the team to TV screens, and, of course, the number of fans began to grow at an unprecedented rate. Now singles appeared, concerts were organized, and yet the first album saw the light of day. This was also a wonderful event: Please Please Me rose to the top of the national charts and did not leave the top lines for six months.

We can say that in 1963 a new phenomenon appeared - Beatlemania.

The next record, called With The Beatles, appeared a little later and brought a new record. Only pre-orders for this album collected 300 thousand. Over a million records were sold within a year!

Greatest Composers

Great Britain adored the four, but in America no one has yet heard of it. The hit re-releases that Epstein tried to negotiate didn't happen. However, when I Want To Hold Your Hand was recorded, Richard Buckle spoke about it in the very popular The Sunday Times. Speaking about the work of musicians, he expressed the opinion that the names of McCartney, Lennon will rise in the history of music immediately after the name of Beethoven. Such praise aroused interest, and so the songs of the Beatles sounded in the United States.

Not much time passed, as the first five compositions of the national hit parade of America belonged to them.

Albums continued to be recorded, and the team even made films. When Help! appeared, the whole world unanimously recognized Yesterday as the most magnificent composition. Covers sounded from all over, and today there are at least two thousand variations.

Studio work

In 1965, rock 'n' roll experienced a renaissance and turned from entertainment music into something new. The Beatles led the wave with Rubber Soul. A year later, they released Revolver, which had so many effects that it would have been impossible to perform the compositions live.

So the tour went into the background, and the team began to work seriously in the studios. In 1966 the recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which lasted almost 130 days.

This album is still considered the evolution of the genre, a musical triumph. However, things got worse after that.

Epstein died of an overdose of sleeping pills in 1967.

White Album today is called the first signal of the breakup of the team.

Unfortunately, at that time tension was growing in the group, the music was not created jointly, but became a reason for competition among themselves. In addition, John had Yoko, and the other members of the team did not like her at all.

Sunset

Lennon had a new project, although he was still listed as part of The Beatles, McCartney hit solo work. By mid-1969, there was no co-creation, but the fans seemed to be unaware of such an unpleasant situation.

When in 1970 McCartney announced that he was leaving the project, everyone was shocked. However, the team broke up safely - each musician found his own path.

Fans dreamed of a reunion, but Lennon died in 1980, and it became clear that the era of The Beatles had gone unconditionally, which did not affect the scale of popularity at all. And today the band's albums are listened to and known everywhere.

Some facts

Great Britain in 1965 awarded all members of the team with the Order of the British Empire.

Popular magazine among music lovers Rolling Stone called the Beatles the greatest performers of all time. The first place among the five hundred best albums was taken by the album of the Beatles.

The performance of The Beatles, which took place in 1967, was watched by 400,000,000 spectators. It was shown in Our World. It was there that All You Need Is Love received a video version.

1969: an unusual format at that time appeared - Yellow Submarine, a full-length cartoon. Many songs sounded in it, especially Hey Jude, which Lennon dedicated to his son Julian, was remembered by everyone.

Ringo and Paul can still please fans with new music.

Trying to write an article about the Fab Four is a lousy business. There is enough material for a multi-volume book, and it is extremely difficult to throw out words from a song. But still, we decided to collect a few facts from the history of the British "bugs", which you may not have known.

1. John Lennon's father worked on a merchant ship, Paul McCartney's father was an employee, George Harrison's dad was a sailor, and Ringo Starr was a baker.

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. They had nothing to do with the Quarry school.

Popular

4. The Beatles is a play on words, a mixture of the words "bugs" (beetle) and "bit" (beat).

5. At the time of joining the group, George Harrison was only 16 years old.

6. John Lennon and Paul McCartney became close not only because of their love for music, but also because of a common tragedy: in 1956, Paul's mother died of cancer, and two years later, Lennon lost his mother in a car accident.

7. The composition of the legendary four changed five times. In January 1960, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were joined by John's art college classmate Stuart Sutcliffe, who became bassist. Later that year, The Beatles were invited to play their first overseas concert in Hamburg. Under the contract, the group needed a drummer, who urgently became Pete Best, the son of the owner of the Liverpool nightclub, where The Beatles often performed.

8. In 1961, during the band's second tour of Hamburg, Stuart Sutcliffe fell in love with a young artist and photographer, Astrid Kirchherr. It was she who came up with the legendary Beatle haircuts and suggested that the guys wear Pierre Cardin-style jackets instead of frayed leather jackets - without collars. She also held the first professional photo shoot of The Beatles in a new image. 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. He was posthumously given the nickname of the Fifth of the Four. The 1994 film The Beatles: 4+1 (The Fifth of the Four) chronicles this period in the band's history.

11. Kurt Raymond Jones - the first Beatleman in history to influence the development of the group. On October 28, 1961, in a music store, he asked for a record with the song My Bonnie by the little-known band The Beatles. The seller did not know anything about the team, but on the advice of the buyer he asked.
This seller was the legendary Brian Epstein, the permanent manager of the group, who achieved the first professional recordings for the guys and organized concert activities for them.
Epstein died on August 27, 1967, and his functions were partially taken over by Paul McCartney.

12. In 1962, before the first contract, Epstein replaced drummer Pete Best, who did not reach the general level, with Ringo Starr, a longtime friend of the musicians. So the final composition of The Beatles was established, but in 1964, before touring Scandinavia, Starr came down with a cold, and was replaced by Jimmy Nichol.

13. Ringo Starr's real name is Richard Starkey.

14. Love Me Do and Please, Please Me became the first hits of the Liverpool Four.

15. The Beatles' first album was called Please, Please Me (1963), the last was Let It Be (1970). In total, the group released 13 albums.

16. In 1965, The Beatles were awarded the Order of the British Empire, but in 1969, John Lennon returned his order in protest against England's support for US aggression in Vietnam.

17. On June 25, 1967, The Beatles became the first band to have a performance broadcast worldwide by the BBC via satellite.

18. The Beatles released three comedies: Hard Day’s Night, Help! and Magical Mystery Tour. Soundtracks have been released for all three films as independent albums.

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. The picture was twice nominated for an Oscar, a Grammy and a BAFTA award.

20. Steven Spielberg learned editing on Magical Mystery Tour. This tape was filmed by The Beatles on their own and utterly smashed by critics.

21. The Beatles created some of the first music videos in television history. This was done because the guys did not have time to participate in the show and filming due to the tight schedule.

22. Long before Steve Jobs was born, Paul McCartney and John Lennon founded Apple to release music and movies.

23. John Lennon met artist Yoko Ono at an exhibition in 1966. John was married, and Yoko, wanting to draw attention to herself, sat for hours on his porch, sending threatening letters.

24. In September 1969, several American students claimed to have figured out the Beatles' clues leading to Paul McCartney's death in a car accident in 1966 and his replacement with a doppelgänger. The Beatles gave secret clues in their songs, but the most famous clues are the album covers of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, Abbey Road and Let It Be.

The album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band seems to depict a funeral procession over a fresh grave, where the Beatles are lined with flowers, “Paul?” is read in the guitar below, and famous dead people are depicted behind the group: Marilyn Monroe, Edgar Poe, former member of the Stewart band Sutcliffe, and writer Stephen Crane holds his hand over McCartney's head. On the Magical Mystery Tour album cover, McCartney is the only one wearing black. The photo on the cover of Abbey Road symbolizes the funeral procession: McCartney walks barefoot, eyes closed, out of step with the others. Lennon, in a white suit, symbolizes God, Starr, in black and white, is a priest, and Harrison, who brings up the rear, is the undertaker. On the Let It Be album cover, Paul is depicted in front of a red background, with the rest of the band looking away from him. These and many other signs in the group's images and lyrics became the "Paul is dead" hoax, one of the most celebrated legends of the 20th century. Many fans think that this is just a series of coincidences, although some are sure that the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcreating the legend belonged to Brian Epstein or the musicians themselves.

Surely there is not a single person in the civilized world who has not heard of the group at least once.

Music historians, critics and music lovers are still trying to unravel the phenomenon of this four.

Is it possible to explain such massive popularity and truly popular love for British musicians, who turned the world upside down in the 1960s.

At the origins of The Beatles

It is impossible even to imagine the culture of the past century without the legendary four. For at least 20 years, they have been a role model not just for musical groups and individual performers, but for entire generations of young people. It was they who managed with their creativity to instill love and peace in the souls of Europeans, exhausted by the war. It is difficult to overestimate the importance in world culture. Could at least one of the members of the group have guessed what peak they would fly to when they got to know each other and decided to create together.

And it all started way back in 1957. Then the very young met a slightly older one. He was the leader of the Quarrymen at the age of 17 and was a fan of rock and roll. The group adhered to the skiffle direction in their work - it was the British model of rock and roll. Paul made an impression on a new acquaintance - he knew the chords and words of all rock and roll hits, knew how to play the trumpet and was taught to play the piano. A few months later, they began joint performances, which were joined by one of Paul McCartney's friends, George Harrison. This is how the permanent basis of the future group appeared, and later bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, John's classmate in art college, joined them.

Looking for a name

After several performances at city events, young people decided that they had already become a close-knit team of like-minded people and began to develop musical skills and abilities. Of course, there were no real concerts yet, one could only dream of recording a record, but this did not bother the ambitious comrades in the least.

The musicians began to actively establish contacts in order to join the club life of Liverpool and begin concert performances. They did not miss a single more or less significant creative competition, but this did not bring the expected results. And then the guys thought about changing the name of the group. The Quarrymen first became Johnny and the Moondogs, then the Silver Beetles, and eventually became just . The origin of this name is still disputed. The Beatles themselves said that it was a joint idea of ​​John and Stewart. They wanted to come up with a word that would have a double meaning. They took beetles (“beetles”) as a basis, and then replaced one letter in it and got beatles. It sounded the same, but the root beat meant beat music.

It cannot be unequivocally stated that the name change affected the activity of the group, but soon after that the musicians began to receive offers to perform. In early 1960 the band even went on a short tour of Scotland. They just needed to break out of a number of Liverpool's numerous unknown bands that performed similar music.

With a new look to a new life

In the summer of 1960, a new stage in creativity begins - the group was invited to perform in Hamburg, which meant that there was a great chance to show themselves to Europe. Just before the German tour, the long search for a drummer was crowned with success and Pete Best was accepted into the group. A trip to Germany and the first performances abroad became a real test of strength for the team. The Beatles spent seven months in Hamburg, where they were met first by visitors to the Indra club, and then by the regulars of the Kaiserkeller.

Astrid Kirchherr and The Beatles

The busy schedule did not give the musicians a day to relax, concerts in clubs continued non-stop, some groups replaced others, and the Liverpool team had to constantly improve in order not to embarrass themselves in front of the German public. On stage, they performed jazz compositions, blues, pop and even folk songs in rock and roll arrangement. It was the German tours that helped to hone the skills of the performers, which was immediately noticed by music lovers in their hometown.

Another event in the history of the group happened in the glorious port city. There, the musicians met a couple of students from the local art college - Klaus Forman and Astrid Kirchherr. The girl soon began a romantic relationship with Stuart Sutcliffe, she also made the group's first professional photo shoot in a Hamburg park, and during their next tour in 1961, she invited the musicians to change their image. The transformation consisted in creating new hairstyles with hair down to the forehead and ears and replacing concert costumes with jackets without lapels and collars, which were promoted by the famous Pierre Cardin. Thus, Astrid actually became their first real image maker.

Brian Epstein era

In Liverpool, the band began playing regularly at the Cavern Club and were already in contention for leadership in the city. The main competitors of the four were the Rory Storm and the Hurricanes team. Its members also came on tour to Hamburg, where the Beatles saw their drummer Ringo Starr, who later replaced Sutcliffe, who left the group.

Brian Epstein and The Beatles

During the second long tour in Germany, the first professional recording was made for the first time. Then they accompanied Tony Sheridan and received permission to record several of their songs.

In the Cavern club, the performance of the Beatles was noticed by an employee of one of the records stores, Brian Epstein, and set about promoting the career of musicians. He negotiated with several record companies, but they refused to work with a little-known team, but Parlophone took a chance and signed a contract with the group.

Later, the producer of the company, George Martin, admitted that he agreed to work with the team not because of their high professionalism, but solely because of their human qualities. Wit, good nature, openness and a little impudence attracted a venerable producer, who brought them to the Abbey Road studio in London.

And then the life of the musicians began to spin like in a kaleidoscope. In October 1962, their first single, Love Me Do, was released. Brian Epstein went to the trick and bought 10,000 records, which created an unprecedented hype around the group.

Then performances on television began, which gathered millions of people at the screens, concerts, new singles, and finally the recording of the full-fledged album “Please Please Me” took place. He headed the British national charts for six months. This is how the real Beatlemania began in 1963.

The second album of the Liverpool four "With The Beatles" was not long in coming either. And again there was a record - the stores received 300 thousand preliminary applications for its purchase! Over a million copies were sold in a year.

Almost like Beethoven

However, the popularity of the quartet in Britain did not affect their positions in America. Record companies were slow to re-release the band's singles, despite the best efforts of the nimble Epstein. The turning point was the release of the record with the recording of the song "I Want To Hold Your Hand". flattering review it was published in the authoritative newspaper The Sunday Times by critic Richard Buckle. Among other things, he placed Lennon and McCartney in the list of the greatest composers immediately after. The article did its job, and the victorious march of the Beatles across America began. In early 1964, the top five of the 14 songs on the US national chart belonged to .

At home, the members of the quartet continued to record albums, made films (“A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!”) And toured around the world. After the release of the album "Help!" the song "Yesterday" was recognized as one of the greatest musical compositions. Many ensembles and singers began to perform it, there are now about two thousand such interpretations!

The Beatles - studio band

The turning point for rock music was 1965. New artists began to appear who turned rock and roll from entertainment into an art. And again they were ahead of the rest with their new album "Rubber Soul". Even after a year full of creativity, one of the four’s iconic albums appeared - “Revolver”, which was filled with complex studio effects and did not imply a concert performance. From that moment on, the band's exhausting touring activity ended and only studio work began.

1966 began a 129-day recording of the album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", which became a real triumph of pop music, the evolution of the entire genre. But the success did not last long, and the group's affairs were shaken. Not the last role in this was played by the death in 1967 of Brian Epstein from an overdose of sleeping pills.

The recording of the next album "White Album" was the first signal of the breakup of the group. Disagreements arose between the musicians, they no longer wrote music together, each sought to prove his superiority. The new wife of John, who did not arouse sympathy among the members of the group, also added to the creative atmosphere.

Sunset at its peak

It became obvious that the history of the group was nearing its end. John Lennon began to perform with a new group (official announcements of his departure were persuaded not to give), Paul McCartney released his records. Since the middle of 1969, the group did not record anything together, but the fans still did not suspect anything. Therefore, McCartney's announcement in 1970 that he was leaving the group sounded like thunder.

It is worth recognizing that the collapse of the team benefited its members. Each began an independent creative path and achieved a certain recognition. They did not maintain almost any relationship with each other, communication was even a burden for them.

The murder of Lennon by a fanatic in 1980 destroyed the last hopes of fans about the reunion of the legendary group. The musicians continued to work separately, but began to live independently in the hearts of music lovers, without losing popularity and having passed the test of time for half a century.

DATA

In 1965, the participants received the Order of the British Empire. This is the first time in British history that this has happened. that the highest state award be given to pop musicians with the wording "for their contribution to the development of British culture and its popularization around the world."

In 1967, 400 million viewers were able to see the performance in the program "Our World", during which the video version of the single "All You Need Is Love" was recorded.

The group released the 1969 feature-length cartoon "Yellow Submarine". In the same year, one of their best songs "Hey Jude" appeared, dedicated to John Lennon's eldest son, Julian.

The Beatles updated: April 9, 2019 by: Elena