The Beatles

            On February 9, 1964, Ed Sullivan introduced America to the rising Liverpool band, The Beatles. With more than 40 hit songs (that reached #1 on charts), The Beatles were ready to grab Americans with their music. They left for the states on February 7, 1964 and made their first American appearance two days later. Their first American concert was in Washington on February 11. 1964. But the band didn’t start off so popular, and life got better and worse for the Fab Four. They produced many hits (songs and movies alike) throughout their career.

                                    The Making of The Beatles

            It was 1957, and Paul McCartney (15) went to a summer camp, where he met John Lennon (16) and his band, The Quarry Men on July 6^th. So Paul joined the band as a guitarist. In 1958, Paul introduced his good friend from school, George Harrison, to John. George was considered too young to join the band, but impressed the band with his amazing guitar skills. In 1960, The Beatles (consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe, and Pete Best) played in pubs in Hamburg, England.

            In 1961, Stuart Sutcliffe left the band. Also, Brian Epstein became the manager for The Beatles. In 1962, Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) joined the band, replacing Pete Best as the drummer. In 1963, The Beatles came out with their hit Please Please Me.

            In 1967, Brian Epstein died of a sleeping pill overdose and caused the band to enter a time of sadness (during this time they came out with the movie The Magical Mystery Tour). And sadly in 1970, The Beatles split up for good after filming Let It Be.

Music: The Hits

            The Beatles had many hits, so here are the top 40 songs.

1. I Saw Her Standing                                  21. Paperback Writer
2. Twist and Shout                                         22. Eleanor Rigby
3. She Loves You                                23. Here, There, and Everywhere
4. All My Loving                                        24. Strawberry Fields Forever
5. I Want to Hold Your Hand                      25. Penny Lane
6. And I Love Her                                       26. A Day in the Life
7. If I Fell                                                    27. I Am The Walrus
8. A Hard Day’s Night                              28. Blackbird
9. Eight Days A Week                              29. Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da
10. Ticket to Ride                                       30. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
11. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away          31. Revolution
12. Help!                                                       32. Hey Jude
13. I’ve Just Seen a Face                            33. Back in The U.S.S.R
14. Norwegian Wood                                34. I Will
15. Drive My Car                                  35. Birthday
16. Daytripper                                        36. Get Back
17. In My Life                                        37. The Long and Winding Road
18. We Can Work It Out                      38. Come Together
19. Nowhere Man                                39. Something
20. Got To Get You Into My Life         40. Here Comes the Sun

Albums 

            The Beatles also had many albums. The main ones are Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).  There were also albums such as Love, Past Masters Vol. 1, Past Masters Vol. 2, With The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles For Sale, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, White Album, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, Let It Be, 1962-1966, 1967-1970, Live at the BBC, Anthology 1, Anthology 2, Anthology 3, 1, and Let It Be…Naked. 

Movies

            The Beatles weren’t just about the music; they also made a few movies such as A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Let It be, and The Magical Mystery Tour. And they produced (but didn’t star in) Yellow Submarine. In 2007, Across the Universe was based on many of The Beatles songs.  Their first movie was A Hard Day’s Night. It came out in 1964. Their next movie was Help! (Made in 1965). When Brian Epstein died in 1967, The Beatles made the movie The Magical Mystery Tour. Their last movie, Let It Be, was a film about making a band.

Performances and Awesome Concerts

            In 1964, The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. But their biggest concert was in 1965 in Shea Stadium. 55,600 fans saw this amazing show in August of 1965. Another stunning performance was the Royal Variety for the Queen of England in 1963. There John said his hilarious words “Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands. And will everyone else rattle your jewelry.”  

            The last American concert they preformed was in Candlestick Park, San Francisco in 1966. And The Beatles last group performance was  in 1969 on the roof of Apple Recording Studio in England. There, the police showed up and almost arrested the Fab Four.

JR Beatles and Beatlettes

            The Beatles have had various wives and children through the years. John married Cynthia Powell, who appeared in A Hard Day’s Night. They had Julian Lennon on April 8^th, 1963. They divorced in 1968. In 1969, John married Yoko Ono.

            Ringo married Maureen Cox in 1965 and had Zak Starkey in September. Jason Starkey was born September 13, 1965.

            George married Patti Boyd in 1966.

            Paul married Linda Eastman and together they had Mary McCartney.

Deaths of Legends

            Of the four Beatles, 2 died; one to cancer, the other a murder. John Lennon was the first to pass when he was shot 4 times by a crazy fan, on December 8^th, 1980. John was in New York living with Yoko Ono when a crazed fan walked up to John and shot 5 times. One bullet went astray.

            The other death was that of George Harrison on December 1^st, 2001. He was 58 years old when he died of cancer. He had cancer due to smoking a lot. Before his death, George was stabbed many times by a psycho fan.

The Remaining Beatles Now

            Ringo and Paul are the two remaining Beatles. They’ve had good solo careers.

            Ringo believes he could’ve made it without The Beatles, but he also feels that he lost his brothers (when John and George died). He is now a solo artist. He is most proud of his Liverpool 8 album. He has an interesting way of drumming since he’s left-handed.

            Paul, now a billionaire, has had a rough time since his 1^st wife (Linda McCartney) died of breast cancer and since he and his 2^nd wife (Heather Mills, 38,) were divorced.  

                        The Beatles had a great career as a band and as solo artist. They made it through good times and bad together. They went their own ways, but were still brothers to each other. Their break up shocked fans and was a very sad thing in history. And the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison were also sad moments. Good things may end, but The Beatles will always be remembered.

Bibliography

1. Prili, Mytro “Beatles Page” Calendar
2. http://students.ceid.upatras.gr/~prili/beatles/biography.html
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles “The Beatles”
4. CNN News “Beatles George Harrison Dies” http://archives.cnn.com
5. “Murder of J.L.”
6. http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Keys/6624/shot.html
7. Baxter, Todd “My view: 40 Best Beatle Songs” Feb. 10, 2004 http://edition.cnn.com//2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/09/beatles.top.songs/index.html

8. Mayer, Catherine “10 Questions for Ringo Starr” Time December 14, 2004

9. Roberts, Sam “So Paul McCartney is 64. Now What?” http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/17/arts/music/17paul.html

10. Lennon, John, McCartney, Paul, Harrison, George, Starr, Ringo

“The Beatles Anthology”  Chronicle Books; 1 edition (Oct. 5, 2000)

     Here are some pics of The Beatles.

This was the first movie The Beatles made. For more of the movie go tho The Beatles page.