By 1962, the group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). The band had their beginnings in skiffle and 1950s rock and roll. Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. This term originatedin the United States in the first half of the twentieth century and was popular in the UK in the 1950s.
According to Wikipedia:
The group later worked in many genres ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. The nature of their enormous popularity, which first emerged as "Beatlemania", transformed as their songwriting grew in sophistication. They came to be perceived as the embodiment of ideals of the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.
Initially a five-piece line-up of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe (bass) and Pete Best (drums), they built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960. Sutcliffe left the group in 1961, and Best was replaced by Starr the following year. Moulded into a professional outfit by their manager, Brian Epstein, their musical potential was enhanced by the creativity of producer George Martin. They achieved mainstream success in the United Kingdom in late 1962, with their first single, "Love Me Do". Gaining international popularity and acquiring the nickname "Fab Four" the following year, they toured extensively until 1966. The band then retreated to recording studios until their break-up in 1970. Each subsequently found success in independent musical careers. More here.
You can say that I grew up with The Beatles for my childhood days were spent singing songs such as Yellow Submarine, Obladi-Oblada, Hey Jude, Let It Be, And I Love Her, Michelle, It's Been A Hard Day's Night, I Wanna Hold Your Hand etc. Watching The Beatles cartoons was another unforgettable activity in the early afternoons. Very often, my Facebook updates are postings of their oldies and from there, an interesting thread of discussion will fill my wall.
There is so much that one can write about The Beatles. For today, I'd like to share with you a very interesting article which Angela sent me. Here it is:
"GET BACK"
In their early days, The Beatles played in clubs for hours most nights, but by 1967, they stopped touring. This single was advertised as "The Beatles as nature intended."
McCartney: "We were sitting in the studio and we made it up out of thin air... we started to write words there and then... when we finished it, we recorded it at Apple Studios and made it into a song to roller coast by."
The character 'JoJo' was based on Joseph Melville See Jr., Linda McCartney's first husband. He was from Tucson , Arizona , and killed himself there in 2000.
The missing verse from Get Back: "Meanwhile back at home there's nineteen Pakistanis, living in a council flat/Candidate for Labour tells them what the plan is/Then he tells them where its at". ("Council flat" is the British equivalent for "housing project"). Early versions include the line "I dig no Pakistanis." The song began as a commentary about immigration, telling people to "Get Back" to their own countries. It was meant to mock Britain 's anti-immigrant proponents. Paul McCartney thought better of it and made the lyrics more obscure.
Paul looked at Yoko in the studio when he sang the line "get back to where you once belong." John thought he was disrespecting her.
There was a rare quote by Paul that said "I don't take any notice of her. She's John's wife so I have to respect her for that, but I don't think she's the brightest of buttons.
She's said some particularly daft things in her time. Her life is dedicated to putting me down but I attempt very strongly not to put her down."
They eventually became friends even if it did have to be after John was murdered. Ringo was the only one who would accept Yoko in the beginning when she first came in the picture, both during and after The Beatles.
Billy Preston played piano and became the only guest artist to get a credit on a Beatles single - "The Beatles with Billy Preston." George Harrison had left the recording session one day and saw Preston in concert with Ray Charles. The Beatles had met Preston back in 1962 when they were both playing in Germany , but they hadn't seen each other since. Harrison asked Preston to come by the studio the next day. Having him in the studio eased the tension and made it easier for The Beatles to put personal conflicts aside and record the album.
On the clip you can briefly see a young Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts from the Rolling Stones in the booth. Phil Spector was the guy with the glasses.
-Author Unknown-
The email did not come with a video clip but I managed to find the following in YouTube:
The Beatles Get Back Recording Session
The Beatles Get Back Recording Session #2
I don't know about you, BUT I L.O.V.E. The Beatles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You should be glad you are not my neighbour :-) because I sing their songs A LOT and ALOUD!!! :-) *grins widely*
CLICK HERE to view The Beatles selection in YouTube.
Here are some of my favourites..er I cannot decide cos I LOVE ALL THEIR SONGS!!!!
If you are a Beatles fan, please leave a comment! Thanks! Am going for the Hash House Harriers meeting later so the next post will be up in a while. Do swing by again. Have a lovely evening!
Unknown Comment from reader J.N. sent via email:
Here's my Beatles' story.
Standing beside a camera at Pinewood Studios watching The Beatles being filmed singing "Hey Jude".
Abiding memories include:
1. Girl beside me nearly fainted when George said "hello" to her.
2. Paul playing the piano and singing "Tom Dooley" but the minute the clapper board sounded, he turned to the camera and broke into "Hey Jude" so nonchalantly.
3. It needed about 16 takes before John was happy with the result. Although it was Paul's song, I felt that John was the leader of the band.
4. The orchestra was unusually seated by a wall, row upon row of them, totalling about 5 rows high.
5. Yoko Ono sat by herself in a corner throughout the entire shoot.
6. David Frost walked in, whispered something into the Director's ear and then looked into a camera and said "And now, The Beatles", and then walked off. Later, when I watched his show, it looked as though the Beatles appeared in his show.
7. There was a drunken old man who seemed to be a fan and friend of The Beatles (his suit was adorned with Beatlemania bric a brac) who constantly interrupted the shoot. John refused to have him thrown out much to the Director's chagrin.