Musicians | SeeingTheEnglishWorld

The Beatles crossing in London, 1968.

This English rock band was formed in Liverpool in 1960. The musicians of the band were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star.

THE ORIGIN OF ‘THE BEATLES’

John Lennon, aged 16, formed a group with several friends; they called themselves the Blackjacks (1957).

The Blackjacks was formed in 1957. ◄ (John Lennon on the left, playing the piano)

But they discovered that another local group was already using that name. So they changed it to the Quarrymen.

After two months, Paul McCartney, aged 15, joined the group after he and Lennon met that July. In February 1958, McCartney invited also his friend George Harrison to watch the band. George made an was 14 and he was too young to join the band too, thought Lennon; although he was very good at playing the guitar. So after a month he joined the group.

By January 1959, they left the group and Lennon began his studies at the Liverpool College of Art. Stuart Sutcliffe was a Lennon’s friend made in the College and he was who suggested changing the band’s name to Beatals as a tribute to Buddy Holly and the Crickets, he also joined this group as a bass guitarrist. By July, they changed their name to the Silver Beatles and by the middle of August to the Beatles. The band was now a five-piece band.

The Silver Beatles, on the left. ► The Beatles with Sutcliffe, on the right.

During the next two years the Beatles were resident for periods in Hamburg. When Sutcliffe decided to leave the band early that year and resume his art studies in Germany, McCartney took up the bass. A producer contracted what was now a four-piece group through June 1962 and he used the band on a series of recordings.

The Beatles enjoyed increasing popularity in Liverpool (mostly Merseyside). However, they were also growing tired for numerous appearances night after night. During one of the group’s frequent appearances at the Cavern Club, in November, a local record store owner and music columnist, Brian Epstein, was there. He really liked what he heard and he courted the band over the next couple of months. They finally appointed him manager in January 1962.

Tragedy greeted upon they return to Germany when they met a man at the airport with news of Sutcliffe’s death the previous day determined as a brain haemorrhage. In mid-August they replaced him with Ringo Starr, who left his previous group Rory Storm and the Hurricanes to join them, as the new group’s drummer.

Their fist recordings together were ‘Love Me Do‘, ‘Please Please Me‘ and ‘P.S. I Love You‘. In early October, ‘Love Me Do’ peaked at number 17 on the Record Retailer chart.

In December 1962, the Beatles concluded their fifth and final Hamburg residency. By 1963, all four members agreed to contribute vocals to their albums, including Starr, despite his restricted vocal range, just to validate his standing on the group.

The band’s success grew. So Epstein, in an effort to maximize their potential commercial, encouraged them to adopt a professional approach to performing.

In February 1963, the Beatles recorded 10 songs on the album “Please Please Me”,during a single marathon studio session. The song ‘Please Please Me’ was successful becoming number one on every chart in London except Record Retailer, where it stalled at number two.

“Please Please Me”→ the Beatles’ first album (1963).

FAME

The music changed everything- but that’s only half the story. This music keeps on changing completely generation after generation of listeners. The Beatles recording career lasted just a little over seven years, from September 1962 until the autumn of 1969. Although the group had fans of all ages, it is safe to say that their greatest initial impact was on people born between 1945 and 1957, the kids who screamed at Beatles concerts, collected Beatles souvenirs and bought each new Beatles record as it was released. Those first fans grew up on The Beatles, experiencing the band as hip older brothers who let them know what was coming next. A fan born in early 1950 would have been fourteen when introduced to the witty boys of A Hard Day’s Night, seventeen when things went psychedelic with Sgt. Pepper, and twenty when the group signed off with Let It Be. The Beatles covered enough ground to last a lifetime.

Songs

1. Love Me Do

2. Please Please Me

3. From Me To You

4. She Loves You

5. I Want To Hold Your Hand

6. All My Loving

7. Can’t Buy Me Love

8. A Hard Day’s Night

9. And I Love Her

10. Eight Days A Week

11. I Feel Fine