Biography of the Beatles - early years.
The legendary group The Beatles originated in 1959 in the UK, in the city of Liverpool. The very first line-up of the group included Paul McCartney (bass, guitar, vocals), John Lennon (guitar, vocals), George Harrison (guitar, vocals), Stuart Sutcliffe (bass), Pete Best (drums).
At first the group was known only in Liverpool, then, when the musicians left for Germany in 1960, Tony Sheridan, who was very popular at that time, drew attention to them. famous performer rock and roll. Together with the Beatles, Sheridan recorded the studio album "Tony Sheridan and the Beatles". It was then that the Beatles made their first serious debut at the international level in their creative biography.
After joint project Brian Epstein, the owner of a record store, became interested in the group. Since the fall of 1961, he became their manager. When Stuart Sutcliffe left the group in December 1961, the Beatles became a quartet. Then the composition of the group underwent another change: the record company with which Epstein was negotiating, for its agreement to cooperate with the Beatles, demanded a change in drummer Pete Best.
The Beatles' first original single, called "Love me do", was recorded on a then little-known recording studio"Parlophone" in December 1962. Brian Epstein, trying to arouse public interest in the band's new hit, took a rather risky step - he bought the first ten thousand copies himself. This commercial trick was a success - interest in the instantly scattered record attracted a lot of buyers. The first independent album in the Beatles' biography was released in early 1963. By 1964, the whole world was crazy about the Beatles.
The official “birthday” of the Beatlemania phenomenon is the day of the Beatles’ performance at the London Palladium on October 13, 1963. Their concert was broadcast on television and attracted approximately fifteen million viewers. At the same time, thousands of fans of the group, instead of watching the TV show, chose to gather near the concert hall building, hoping to see their idols in life.
On November 4th of that year, the Beatles performed at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Their performance became highlight of the program
Royal Variety Show. The Queen Mother herself expressed admiration for the Beatles' song "Till There Was You". Soon the Beatles' second album, entitled " With The
Beatles", which broke all existing records for the number of advance purchase requests. By 1965, the album had sold more than one million copies. In 1963-1964, the Beatles conquered America. They became the first English group , which was such a resounding success overseas. Moreover, the Parlofon company did not risk releasing the group’s singles in the USA, precisely because of the short-lived popularity in the States of almost all musicians from the UK. Brian Epstein tried to attract the attention of the American public by releasing the singles "Please Please Me" and "From Me To You" and the album "Introducing The Beatles
", but they were not successful.
Popularity came after the release of the single “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in the United States at the end of 1963. One of the famous music critics after this song called Lennon and McCartney “the greatest composers since Beethoven.” In January 1964, the album “Meet the Beatles!” was released in the United States, which already received gold status in February.
The quartet went on tour to the United States, where they gave three concerts, and also twice took part in the popular television program “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The Beatles attracted forty percent of the US population to their television screens - that's about seventy-three million people. This fact of the Beatles’ biography is one of the most significant: such a number of television audiences was recorded for the first time in the history of television. This was the height of Beatlemania: their next creative project , musical film "Evening have a hard day
"and the album of the same name, received three million advance requests, foreign tours were a triumphant success. The Beatles were called "the best songwriters since Schubert." However, the quartet soon had to put an end to concert performances: the public was ready to tear their idols to pieces, the fans did not give the musicians passage, so the Beatles were practically isolated from the whole world. In 1965, global popularity showed its: protests against the Beatles began, their records, portraits, and clothes were burned. Careless statements by group members led to scandals on a national scale. In addition, the stage limited their creative development - day after day they performed the same songs, under the terms of the contract, not having the right to deviate from the program. The Beatles' stage biography ended, and the musicians decided to devote themselves entirely to studio work. On August 5, 1966, one of the best albums
The Beatles - "Revolver". The album was distinguished primarily by the fact that most of its songs did not involve stage performance - the studio effects used here were so complex.
In 1967, the Beatles recorded a monumentally innovative album called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club. It was a real revolution in the world of rock music: the album was the first impetus for the new musical directions that subsequently appeared, such as art rock, hard rock and psychedelia.
Biography of the Beatles - mature years. In June 1967, a Beatles concert was broadcast around the world. In this they also became the first - about four hundred million people saw their performance; no other musical ensemble has ever achieved such great success. During the performance, a video version of the song “All You Need Is Love” was recorded. Soon after this triumphant success came tragic death
the "fifth Beatle" of the group's manager Brian Epstein. The group's affairs began to decline.
In 1968, the band released a double album, which later became known among fans of the band as the "white album" due to the cover art. The album was extremely popular, but it was during the work on it that the first signs of subsequent disintegration appeared in the group. The atmosphere began to heat up, and scandals broke out between the musicians from time to time. contributed to the improvement of the group's condition.
In 1969, the group released one of their best songs, “Hey Jude.”
In April 1970, simultaneously with the release of his solo disc, Paul McCartney officially announced that the Beatles were no more. The greatest rock band in the world has broken up. In 1979, McCartney made attempts to reunite the group with the same lineup. But this was never destined to happen - a year later John Lennon was killed.
The Beatles are a phenomenon group without which contemporary music would be completely different. Every second musician today declares that he was influenced by the work of the Beatles, regardless of what country he lives in. The group's total sales of records, cassettes and discs exceeded 1 billion copies. The style of the Beatles cannot be confused with anyone else - you may not listen to them, but it is impossible not to know them.
History of creation and composition
The history of the band began in Britain in the 50s, during the era of the general boom. musical groups. Everyone who knew even a little how to play the guitar, drums or banjo wanted to get into the band.
When school was left behind and they had to decide what to do next, all three chose music without hesitation. The participants agreed that the group needed a new name. We went through a lot of options: “Rainbows”, “Johnny and Moon Dogs", "Beetles" - The Beetles. The latter option formed the basis of the original name.
There is a legend that Lennon saw the word Beatles in a dream - supposedly a man in flames appeared to him and dictated what the band should be called. According to a simpler version, the word was chosen because it contained the root beat, meaning a rhythmic beat or drumbeat.
In January 1960, Stuart Sutcliffe joined the musicians, becoming a bass guitarist, although he had to learn to play literally “on the fly.” During this time, the group performed in their native Liverpool and occasionally toured the UK. In the summer, the Beatles were invited to give concerts in Hamburg. In order to accept the invitation and appear on stage as a classic beat band, they had to urgently find a drummer. It was Pete Best, who had previously performed in the Liverpool ensemble The Blackjacks.
First foreign tours took place in conditions close to extreme: they had to work a lot, the pay was low, problems arose with documents, due to which the musicians were eventually deported from the country. Despite this, a year later the Beatles soloists, having received a second invitation to Hamburg, agreed, and this time everything went much calmer.
In Germany, the musicians met Astrid Kirchherr, an art college student who began an affair with Sutcliffe. It was she who organized the first professional photo shoot for the group and came up with an original image for them: new hairstyles, instead of the previous concert leather jackets - jackets without collars and lapels.
Hairstyles and costumes of The Beatles The Beatles returned home as a quartet: the bass guitarist decided to stay in Germany with Astrid. There Stewart became famous as talented artist, but his creative biography turned out to be very short: at the age of 21, the young man died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
For the next 2 years, the musicians regularly performed in their hometown, at the Cavern club. Between 1961 and 1963 they played 262 concerts there. The group's popularity grew, although at that time their repertoire consisted mainly of other people's musical works. The writing duo of Paul and John created new songs, but preferred to put them “on the table”, not hoping for success. The works only saw the light of day when the Beatles found a producer, Brian Epstein.
Before this, Epstein had no professional experience in promotion: before meeting the musicians, he sold records, but the work of the young Beatles seemed promising to Brian. Most labels did not share his enthusiasm, but he managed to get a contract with EMI with the condition that the guys would write at least 4 more singles.
“He laid out exactly what we had to do, which made it seem more real,” Lennon recalled. “Until Brian came along, we were living like a dream.”
Before recording the first album, Pete Best left the band. The girls' favorite and the most attractive member, he could not cope with the studio work, which turned out to be much more difficult than the concert work, and was forced to leave the group. On August 16, 1962 he joined The Beatles.
Music
The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, was released in 1963. The material was collected at an accelerated pace and was completed in almost a day. In addition to other people's hits, it included original songs by Lennon and McCartney. The musicians agreed in advance that they would sign the compositions with exactly two names, and maintained this tradition until the end, even despite the fact that the last songs were written separately.
Song Love Me Do by The BeatlesIn the same year, the Beatles' discography was replenished with the second album With the Beatles, which became the beginning of Beatlemania in the musicians' homeland. The scale of the hobby, dubbed “national hysteria” by the media, turned out to be extraordinary: whole crowds came to the performances, listeners tightly packed not only the halls, but also the surrounding streets, they were ready to stand on the street for hours to hear even the echoes of the concert. The applause and delight sometimes became so stormy that the musicians at the performance could not hear themselves.
Song She Loves You by The BeatlesIn 1964, the Beatlemania epidemic swept the United States. For the next 2 years, the musicians live according to a schedule planned down to the minute: tours, concerts, studio work, TV appearances, radio broadcasts and filming did not give the slightest respite. During this time, the British rock band from Liverpool recorded 5 albums and 2 videos – Paperback Writer and Rain.
Despite the crazy work schedule, the musicians also found time for their personal lives, trying, however, to hide it from their fans. John Lennon married first, in 1962. The marriage, in which a son, Julian, was soon born, lasted 6 years and broke up when the musician met. The extravagant Japanese woman changed Lennon’s whole life and actively interfered in the affairs of the group, for which the rest of the musicians disliked her. It was to her that Lennon dedicated the ballad Don’t Let Me Down.
Song Don't Let Me Down groups The BeatlesThe second to marry Ringo Starr- They lived with Maureen Cox for 10 years and gave birth to three children. George Harrison married Pattie Boyd in 1966, but his wife left him in 1974. Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman in 1968, with whom he lived until the end of her life.
In 1965, the group received the Order of the British Empire for their contribution to cultural development, which caused a great scandal. Before the musicians there were no such high awards among the winners, and some gentlemen expressed their reluctance to stand “on the same level as pop idols.” 4 years later, Lennon protested against British intervention in the Biafro-Nigerian War and returned the Order.
Movie
The Fab Four first appeared in films in 1964. "A Hard Day's Night" was created in the genre of a fiction film and was prepared in just 8 weeks. There was no special acting required from the musicians: it was a movie about the daily life of the group - concerts, fans, tours. The film was a success among fans and was twice nominated for an Oscar, and the soundtrack was released as a separate album.
Song Yesterday by The BeatlesThe following year the film “Help!” was released. featuring the Beatles. The famous Yesterday, which was included in the Guinness Book of Records for the number of arrangements and interpretations (more than 2 thousand are known today), appeared for the first time on the album with music for it.
Song Yellow Submarine by The BeatlesIn 1968, the musicians became heroes of the Yellow Submarine cartoon. Before this, the group members tried to create their own movie, but the film Magical Mystery Tour received rather low ratings from both the public and critics.
Decay
In 1966, the group stopped giving live concerts and plunged headlong into studio work. A year later, the album Sgt is born. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which many consider the best in the history of the band. Meanwhile, the musicians' relationship is cracking. The Beatles, tired of fame, announced their desire to take up personal projects.
"Come Together" by The BeatlesIn 1967, Brian Epstein suddenly died from an overdose of sleeping pills. They couldn’t find a full-fledged replacement for him, but, having joined forces, the Beatles recorded 3 more records: “ White Album"(1968), "Abbey Road" (1968) and "Let it be" (1970), as well as the single Come Together (1969).
The first one comes out soon after. solo album Paul McCartney. In the interview, he actually draws a line under the history of The Beatles. Latest photos of the team in in full force taken on August 22, 1969, near John Lennon's estate, in Tittenhurst Park.
After the breakup, a series of legal battles began over copyrights to sheet music, song lyrics and the band’s logo, the results of which still contain conflicting information on the Internet.
10 years later, the musicians began to think about a revival, but these plans were not destined to come true. In 1980, John Lennon was murdered by a mentally unstable fan. Along with his death, hope for the restoration of the group also died. So the great Beatles are finally a thing of the past.
In 2001, George Harrison died of a brain tumor.
The Beatles now
Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney remain on stage. In January 2014, they became laureates of an honorary Grammy Award for their contribution to the development of music of the 20th century.
Former drummer Pete Best's career hasn't been easy. He changed several bands and tried to do solo work, but was unsuccessful.
In 1968, he decided to quit music and entered the civil service, but 20 years later he began to appear in public again and created his own group, The Pete Best Band, which now regularly performs in concerts in the USA.
Discography
- 1963 – Please Please Me
- 1963 – With The Beatles
- 1964 – A Hard Day's Night
- 1964 – Beatles For Sale
- 1965 – Help!
- 1965 – Rubber Soul
- 1966 – Revolver
- 1967 – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- 1967 – Magical Mystery Tour
- 1968 – The Beatles (“White Album”)
- 1969 – Yellow Submarine
- 1969 – Abbey Road
- 1970 – Let It Be
Clips
- 1963 – Please Please Me
- 1964 – I Should Have Known Better
- 1996 – I Wanna Hold Your Hand
- 1967 – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
- 1969 – Don't Let Me Down
- 1969 – Get Back
- 1968 – Glass Onion
- 1968 – All Together Now
- 1968 – Lady Madonna
- 1970 – The Long And Winding Road
- 1973 – You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
The popular group the Beatles, they are far from short biography, the composition of The Beatles and the history of the group in the decades since its collapse do not lose relevance. New messages about the Beatles appear briefly or in detail with frequent frequency. There is information about the Beatles online short message and vice versa, we tried to combine all the available information about The Beatles into one, short and informative one.
Absolutely everyone has heard of the Beatles, even if only summary. This team of 4 guys has become so firmly entrenched in 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, deep love to 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 generated 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, love and freedom has actively flourished in Europe.
It is impossible to fully appreciate the importance The Beatles played in the culture of mankind, and it is unlikely that any of the team fully understood where their joint creativity would lead.
Liverpool, the city that was home to the founders of the team, was in fact the interesting place. It was here that fresh ideas were brewed that 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 creative style was related to the British version of rock and roll - skiffle. McCartney charmed his new acquaintance because he turned out to be a multi-instrumentalist - trumpet, piano and guitar, and also knew the chords and lyrics of all greatest hits that time. But besides this, Paul showed John the first developments of the compositions, and John also wanted to create his own songs. The competitive spirit made them both work hard. They became closer later as a result of tragic events - the death of their mothers.
Less than a few months later, they not only played together, but also went on stage. Harrison helped them in this; George was Paul's close friend. A little later, Stuart Sutcliffe, who studied with Harrison at the same college, also joined the newly formed team.
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 profession. However, all members of the four were too passionate about the musical theme. Only Harrison's mother was warm to their activities.
What do you name the boat?
Row successful performances gave the musicians the idea that it was time to find a suitable name. All members of the team had great ambitions, and even though all their appearances on stage could hardly be called 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. Performing under the name Quarrymen, they tried their hand at creative competitions over and over again, but nothing resembling success came out. 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 even today there is debate about how it came about. 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 inspiration from beetles, they changed the letter to make a reference to beat, because this 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 were invited on a short tour of cities in Scotland, and this was the starting point that helped them rise above the numerous bands playing 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 did not bring only positive impressions. During the concerts, the team quarreled with the manager and did not receive payment on time. IN hometown they returned earlier than expected by the agreement. The drummer, who suffered a concussion on tour, left the team.
Big start
In 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 reach Europe, as they would say today. The most curious thing is that in reality this choice was quite strange. The group did not have a permanent drummer, which made the work difficult, and it was not particularly well 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 brought Pete Best into the team - almost by accident.
Of course, there were some difficulties - the tour to Germany became a big challenge. For almost seven months abroad, the Beatles performed at the Indra and Kaiserkeller clubs. The concert schedule turned out to be very intense, because the concerts then went on non-stop, and in no case could one lose face. Leaving their own compositions for a more convenient occasion, the team began performing variations, improvisations and arrangements.
It was impossible to relax. The Beatles played the blues, processed folk songs, performed blues, rock and roll, selected and sang pop compositions. It turned out to be a good experience: over the seven months of the tour, the skill grew noticeably.
The team's return was also appreciated by familiar clubs. The Beatles sounded different.
However, not only this mark was left by the first tour in the team’s history. Stuart Sutcliffe met and began a relationship with Astrid Kirchherr. This is her photo shoot in a Hamburg park. And it was she who suggested that the team choose a new image.
New stylish hairstyles and neat jackets without collars and lapels from Cardin became the updated image of the team. It can be considered that german girl acted as an image maker.
Epstein era
Returning to Liverpool, the team began to play regularly at the Cavern. More experienced musicians quickly moved forward and became quite widely known in the city. However, they also had competitors, such as Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Ringo Starr played drums in this very popular group at that time.
Everyone managed to get acquainted with the Beatles team on the same German tour. They recorded a record with these guys together - playing along as session players. However, in the end it was a fateful event.
By the way, having made a memorable trip to Hamburg, the Beatles went there a second time in 1961. This time the tour took three months. Germany gave the band the opportunity to record in a studio for the first time, as they performed alongside Tony Sheridan. On the record the group was identified as The Beat Brothers.
At Cavern, the team was noticed by Brian Epstein, who worked in one of the record stores. He was so inspired that he began negotiations with record companies, but received many refusals, until finally Parlophone decided to sign a group that few had heard of.
George Martin, who served as the studio's producer, said that it was not the quality of the music or the craftsmanship that attracted him. The Beatles won over with their wit, openness and even slight arrogance. They charmed Martin so much that he opened the way for them to Abbey Road, to 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 created a buzz around the rising stars.
This brought the team to television screens, and, of course, the number of fans began to grow at an unprecedented speed. Now singles appeared, concerts were organized, and yet the first album was released. 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. There were 300 thousand pre-orders for this album alone. Over a million records were sold within a year!
Greatest Composers
Britain loved the four, but no one in America had heard of them yet. The re-release of hits that Epstein tried to negotiate did not happen. However, when I Want To Hold Your Hand was recorded, Richard Buccle spoke about it in the pages of the very popular publication The Sunday Times. Speaking about the work of musicians, he expressed the opinion that the names of McCartney and Lennon will appear in the history of music immediately after the name of Beethoven. Such praise aroused interest, and so the Beatles' songs began to sound in the United States.
It didn’t take long before the first five compositions of America’s national hit parade 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 have appeared from all over, and today there are at least two thousand variations.
Work in the studio
In 1965, rock 'n' roll underwent a rebirth and evolved from entertainment music into something new. Leading the wave group The The Beatles, who released Rubber Soul. A year later, they released Revolver, which contained so many effects that it would have been impossible to perform the compositions live.
So touring faded into the background, and the team began to work seriously in the studios. In 1966, recording began for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which lasted almost 130 days.
This album is still considered an evolution of the genre, a musical triumph. However, things got worse after that.
In 1967, Epstein died from an overdose of sleeping pills.
The White Album is now called the first signal of the team's breakup.
Unfortunately, at that time tensions were 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 got new project, although he was still a member of The Beatles, McCartney went solo. By mid-1969 there was no collaboration, but the fans seemed unaware of such an unpleasant situation.
When McCartney announced in 1970 that he was leaving the project, it shocked everyone. However, the band broke up happily - each musician found his own path.
Fans dreamed of a reunion, but in 1980 Lennon died, and it became clear that the era of The Beatles was gone unconditionally, which did not at all affect the scale of popularity. And today the band’s albums are listened to and known everywhere.
Some facts
In 1965, Great Britain awarded all team members the Order of the British Empire.
Popular magazine among music lovers Rolling Stone called the Beatles the greatest performers of all time. The Beatles' album took first place among the top five hundred albums.
The Beatles' performance, 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: a format that was unusual at that time appeared - Yellow Submarine, a full-length cartoon. It featured many songs, especially everyone remembered Hey Jude, which Lennon dedicated to his son Julian.
Ringo and Paul can still delight fans with new music today.
The Beatles are a symbol of modern pop culture and the music industry, perhaps even more significant than such musical “monsters” as Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Madonna and Michael Jackson. And The Beatles - the best-selling music brand in history (more than 1 billion records sold worldwide) - changed the music world forever.
1. John Lennon originally named the band differently
John Lennon founded the group in 1957 and called it Quarry Men. Later he invited Paul McCartney to the group, who brought George Harrison. Ringo Starr became the last of the "Fab Four" after he replaced Peter Best as drummer.
2. Quarry Men, Johnny and the Moondogs...
The group changed its name many times before settling on the name
The Beatles. In addition to the Quarry Men, the group also went by the names Johnny and the Moondogs, Rainbows and the British Everly Brothers.
3. “Beetles” (beetlles) and “Rhythm” (beat)
Although no one can say for sure where the band's final name came from, most fans believe that John Lennon suggested the name in honor of American group"Crickets" by Buddy Holly. Other sources emphasize that the name deliberately combined two words - “beetles” and “rhythm” (beat).
4. "From Me To You"
The Beatles called their first British single "From Me To You", getting the idea from the letters section of the British magazine NME, which was then called "From You to Us". They wrote this song on a bus while touring for Helen Shapiro.
5. There was nothing before Elvis
John Lennon loved cats very much. He had ten pets while living in Weybridge with his first wife Cynthia. His mother had a cat named Elvis because the woman was a big fan of Elvis Presley. Not surprisingly, Lennon later claimed that “there was nothing before Elvis.”
6. "Abbey Road"
The band originally wanted to call the song "Abbey Road" "Everest". But when their record company invited the group to visit the Himalayas to film a video there, the Beatles decided to rename the song after the name of the street where the recording studio was located.
7. A hit for your main competitors
Very few people know the fact that John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the first hit song for their main rivals, the Rolling Stones. "I Wanna Be Your Man" was released in 1963 and peaked at number twelve in the UK charts.
8. "Good Morning Good Morning"
John Lennon wrote: "Good Morning Good Morning" after being enraged by a Kellogg cereal ad.
9. Billboard Hot Record Breakers
During the week of April 4, 1964, as many as twelve Beatles songs were among the top 100 Billboard Hot singles, including the group's top five singles. This record has not yet been broken for fifty-two years.
10. The Beatles sold 178 million records
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Beatles sold 178 million records in the United States. This is more than any other artist in US music history.
11. "Got to Get You into My Life"
1966 The song "Got to Get You into My Life" appeared. It was initially thought to be about a girl, but McCartney later claimed in interviews that the song was actually written about marijuana.
12. "Hey Jude"
If you listen closely to the words of the legendary song "Hey Jude", you can hear Paul swearing dirty after making a mistake while recording the song.
13. "New Disease"
Many people mistakenly believe that the term "Beatlemania" first appeared in 1963 after a review in the Daily Mirror. However, the term was actually invented by Canadian Sandy Gardiner and first appeared in the Ottawa Journal in November 1963, where the word was used to describe a “new disease” sweeping the globe.
14. ...well, if they ask
Mae West initially turned down an offer to have her image featured on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, but she changed her mind after receiving a personal letter from the band. Other famous women on the cover include Marilyn Monroe and Shirley Temple.
15. "Something" - the greatest love song
Frank Sinatra often publicly expressed his admiration for the group, and once said that "Something" was the greatest love song ever written.
16. "Help!" and "Strawberry Fields Forever"
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, rather than simply imagining himself in certain situations.
17. Beatles records were publicly burned in the South
In March 1966, John Lennon noted that Christianity was in decline and that the Beatles were becoming more popular than Jesus. His remarks led to protests in the American South, where the band's records began to be publicly burned. The protests even spread to other countries such as Mexico. South Africa and Spain.
18. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. All four of its members were also inducted into the hall of fame individually from 1994 to 2015.
19. The Beatles hold the record for hits...
As of 2016, the Beatles still hold the record for the most hits (20) to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Elvis Presley and Mariah Carey are tied for second place with 18 songs each. The Beatles also hold the record for the most number one albums in the US and UK charts.
20. Unfulfilled dream
The Beatles were so passionate about Tolkien's work that they wanted to star in the film The Lord of the Rings, which was to be directed by Stanley Kubrick. Fortunately, Kubrick and his record company did not find this idea attractive, and several decades later Peter Jackson created his famous cinematic masterpieces.
21. The Beatles broke up because...
Nobody is 100 percent sure why the Beatles broke up. When Paul McCartney was asked why the band split up, he stated that it was due to "personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all, the fact that he enjoyed spending time with his family much more."
22. Missed opportunity
The closest the band came to a reunion since their 1970 breakup was at Eric Clapton's wedding when he married Pattie Boyd in 1979. George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr played together at the wedding, but John Lennon did not attend.
23. Bands with guitars are out of fashion.
The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records on January 1, 1962, but were turned down because "guitar bands were going out of style" and because "the band members lacked talent." The Decca label instead chose a group called the Tremeloes, who no one remembers today. This is widely considered the biggest mistake in twentieth-century music history.
24. The Beatles bought the island...
In 1967, when the Beatles were at the height of their drug addiction, they decided to buy their own island. After throwing in some money, the band members bought a beautiful private island in Greece where they wanted to live together, away from the screaming fans. Unfortunately, when the group broke up, the island was also sold.
25. Beatles songs heal
Some scientists have suggested that some Beatles songs may help children with autism and other disabilities. In particular, they reference the songs "Here Comes The Sun", "Octopus's Garden", "Yellow Submarine", "Hello Goodbye", "Blackbird" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
Not long ago it appeared on the Internet, which will certainly be of interest to all fans of this group.
If in the second question under " best group of all time" is understood as "the most successful group of all time", then this statement can be explained by quantitative indicators and various regalia. In less than 10 years of the group's existence, they recorded 12 studio albums(or 13 – depending on what you count as an album) – more than 200!!! songs; The Beatles received 26 Grammy nominations, winning 10, among the greatest artists of all time. Rolling magazine Stone Beatles take an honorable 1st place; the band members were awarded the Order of the British Empire (received a knighthood from the Queen of Britain) “for their outstanding contribution to the prosperity of Great Britain”; finally, the Beatles entered the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling group in the world - already in the early 2000s, more than a billion discs and tapes associated with the name of the group were sold.
It is not at all easy to give an unambiguous answer to the first question. But it becomes obvious that popular music cannot be fully described solely in musical, aesthetic terms. Of course, the success of the group is largely due to the remarkable talent of the band members - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, their hard work, complete dedication to their favorite business of music, willingness to change, to introduce new elements into their own creativity. But all this, in fact, cannot in any way characterize the uniqueness of the Beatles - in Liverpool alone in the late 50s and 60s there were many talented, hardworking, innovative teams. Here it is worth mentioning the peculiarities of the city's musical environment. It's no secret that British rock is American youth pop music infused with traditional British motifs. However, the term Liverpool Sound is used to describe the sound of Liverpool teams. Liverpool was a large port city, into which not only industrial products flowed from all over the world, but also songs and music (for example, Jamaican, Indian, African). Various diasporas, and simply arriving merchants and sailors, formed in this city of thousands of music clubs a special breeding ground, not limited exclusively to American pop and British folk music. It was in this environment that the Beatles brewed, although, again, they were not the only ones.
Further, the participants’ awareness of the need to professionalize their activities played an important role in the group’s success. The hiring of record store owner Brian Epstein to act as the band's manager was one of the turning points in the band's history. He bought plastics of the Beatles at his own peril and risk, so that they would rise in the ratings, organize the group’s performance schedules, draw up performance programs, and work on the stage image of the Beatles. Here we move on to another important component of success - the stage image. Regardless of who came up with the recognizable image of the group (this was claimed different people, related to the group) - mop-top haircut, conservative black suits with jackets without collars (sometimes such jackets are called “Beatles”), “decent” behavior on stage. For prim England, where the attitude towards music is often determined by the moral and moralizing assessment of musicians (for example, the tour of the young, and later great, rock’n’roller Jerry Lee Lewis in Britain was disrupted because of his inappropriate behavior), the Beatles received the incredibly advantageous label of “good-boys,” as opposed to the bad boys of the Rolling Stones and the sexually promiscuous outsiders from the States. However, professionalization and image are important elements popular music, dating back to the 1930s, and there’s nothing uniquely Beatlesque about it either.
Another aspect to consider when talking about the Beatles is finding the perfect sound and experimenting with sound and recording. George Martin, the fifth Beatle, the group's producer and sound engineer, played a huge role here (although the participants themselves experimented with great interest; just point out George Harrison's flirting with oriental motifs in the second half of the 60s). Martin, who had a brilliant understanding of music, made it possible to realize many bold ideas members of the group, and the embodiment is almost ideal in form (for example, the “symphonic” side of “Yellow Submarine” or the unity of “Strawberry Fields Forever”, composed of parts of different tempos and tonality).
Finally, when talking about the worldwide popularity of the Beatles and the phenomenon of Beatlemania that began with their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, it is worth keeping in mind some historical circumstances that prepared the way for the very possibility of success of British music in the United States. Thus, in the second half of the 50s, almost all leading American pop musicians disappeared from the stage: in 1959, Buddy Holly died in a car accident, and Chuck Berry was sentenced to 5 years in prison; a year earlier, Elvis went to the army, Little Richard moved away from musical activity After becoming a preacher in 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis was filibustered for marrying his teenage cousin (the late 1950s are sometimes called, after Don McLean's song "American Pie," "the time the music died"). Actually, this vacuum in the market for youth popular music was filled with new British rock music, which was later called the “British Invasion.” Although the Beatles were the first British group to reach the top of the American charts, they were not the only ones.
Thus, all of the above reasons - environment, talent, hard work, dedication, professionalization, experimentation, attention to the group’s image and performance, favorable market circumstances, multiplied by the unique charisma and personal charm of McCartney and Lennon - are important to take into account when talking about the uniqueness and group success. We can say that these are necessary elements of the Beatles' greatness, but not sufficient: many groups could even surpass the Beatles in some ways, but did not achieve such fame or such commercial success. In this sense, the uniqueness of the Beatles lies in the fact that it is impossible to give an exhaustive explanation for this uniqueness. But you can enjoy their music so easily.