The Beatles Were the biggest rock band in history it is impossible to talk about the history of Rock & Roll without at lest mentioning the Beatles. The only two stars that came close to their level of success were Michael Jackson and Elvis. The Former of Which allegedly molested children and had alleged plastic surgery. The Latter of which of which had an alleged drug problem and an alleged weight problem, which led to his alleged death.

I’m not saying that those singers are without merits themselves or that the Beatles were perfect. As a matter of fact all of these rock sensations were very human and therefore unprepared for the limelight.

If that is so why didn’t the Beatles loose their cool like Michael Jackson and Elvis? They certainly did their share of drugs and they certainly definitely weren’t perfect witness the breakup in 1970. But I think the secret to how the Beatles kept their sanity all those years was there were four of them not just one. Sure Elvis had those four guys with him and Michael Jackson had the other four of the Jackson five. But there was only who knew how it felt to be a superstar like Michael Jackson or Elvis. And it’s lonely on the top if you’re the only one. But in order to really understand the Beatles we have to go back to the very beginning.

John

John Lennon was born on October 1940 in the then unsung port town of Liverpool during the darkest days of World War II for Britain. To many people John Lennon is known as a working class hero but the Lennon’s were a reasonably well of family who used to be wealthy land owners an had recently drifted down to being middle class, and John started out life with two loving parents but John’s childhood did have other problems. When he was only four years old he was planning to go with his father to Australia. But his mother Julia looked so sad about loosing him; he chose to go live with his mother. Unfortunately his mother was only fourteen when she had him so he had to go and live with his aunt Mimi. John didn’t like the discipline in his aunt’s house so he started rebelling, and against his own better judgment became a bully. To make matters worse he couldn’t see very well and thought glasses were sissy so he lost most of the fights he picked.

However in one day probably in 1956 John heard a style of music that would change his life forever. Rock& Roll by stars like the fore mentioned Elvis the first Non black Rhythm & Blues singer to swivel his hips Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis with their crazy piano acts buddy holly the lead guitarist who wasn’t afraid to be a nerd and wear glasses and chuck berry with his highly original lyrics and Original guitar playing which practically every rock star to this day owes something to. This music was so exciting that the following year 1957 John started a group of his own band; originally the black jacks, but soon called the quarrymen after John’s school.

Paul

That same year the then 17 year old John Lennon met a young fifteen year old by the name of Paul. James Paul McCartney was born into a poor put loving family however his parent insisted on him speaking the kings English. His father was musical and he started by playing the trumpet but soon changed to the guitar so he could sing while playing. In fact he was a better guitarist better singer and better looking than John Lennon. But whereas most 17 year old roughs if they had a singer in their band who made the look bad would get rid of them post haste. John said he looks like Elvis and he would make the band sound better he’s in.

A Year later Paul presented john with a friend a shy fifteen-year-old guitarist named George Harrison who came from an Irish family on February 25 1943 with a lot of brothers and sisters and was the only Beatle who was encouraged by his family to be a rock musician. Anyway he was a better guitarist than either John or Paul so after a short debate he was in. Sadly that year John Lost his Mother in a car crash he would never recover this loss but things were about to look up

Johnny and The Moondogs

Shortly after this they changed their names to Johnny and The Moon dogs and John That year met an art student Stuart Sutcliffe who became a bass player in 1959 only he couldn’t play but at least now they had a bass player. That same year the newly renamed Beatles went on a show to spot talent with four young men with nicknames Power Eagar Gentle and Fury and guess which one they got. That’s right here’s Johnny Gentle. He suggested they change their names to Long John Silver and the Beatles. The ended up being Long John and the silver Beatles: with Paul Ramon Carl Harrison (after Carl Perkins) and Stuart de Stael (after the French writer Madame de Stael).

The tour was utterly unsuccessful but the Following year in 1960 the Beatles had their first big gig in Hamburg Germany but they needed a drummer the next day. So George said he found this drummer born in India but white and raised in Liverpool who was handsome and they had to go tomorrow so Pete Best was in.

However the club at Hamburg they were commissioned to play at turned out to be a sleazy club at first but luckily a better club hired them. Unfortunately Stuart didn’t want to play the bass any more and perused a career in the arts in Germany. And so Paul took up the bass when they left Hamburg. And the following year Sutcliffe died at the tender age of twenty-one.

That same year the Beatles played with Tony Sheridan and Recorded a Rockin’ Version of “My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean”. Meanwhile back in England someone request to a Twenty Seven year old Gay Jewish manger named Brian Epstein The album “My Bonnie” by Tony Sheridan and The Beatles his immediate reply was who are the Beatles he met them at the cavern club which they had played since 1957. The Beatles were dressed in black leather suits and cowboy boots and playing guitars and drums he was immediately struck by their joking banter and Decided to become their manger. The First thing he did was make a recording of several songs the Beatles performed on stage but not before teaching them stage etiquette, replacing their leather gear with matching suits and giving them matching Vox amps. John Quipped ”It was Brian’s Idea to have matching suits and matching amps, so why not matching black guitars?”

Ringo Starr

Then in 1962 time had come for Brian to try the band out with a producer. They ended up with a then unknown producer who would remain with the band to the end. This man called George Martin had an excellent education and a vast musical knowledge. His first change was to insist that Pete Best the current drummer had to go. John Paul and George had been dissatisfied with him for two years now. They had a then twenty two year old drummer who kept showing up for the sessions instead of Pete Best named Richard Starkey. He was born on July 7 1940 into extreme poverty with ailing health although his father did make cakes so at least they didn’t starve. But when he was twelve he had burst appendix but fortunately he survived. Richard in 1959 Joined Rory storm and the Hurricanes as the drummer and changed his name to the now legendary Ringo Starr. Anyway when he sbstituted for Pete Best the beatles always sounded better. So when George Martin Asked for a new drummer it was only natural that Ringo would succeed Pete best.

However George Martin Had already drove the first drummer out and he had no idea who this Ringo guy was. He had the Professional Drummer Andy White in Mind and poor Ringo was crushed He was Forced to Play tambourine and maracas on their first two songs Paul’s love me do and Ps I love you. However Andy white wasn’t doing things so great that Ringo couldn’t copy him. So on the next single John’s Ask me why and Please Please Me Ringo became the official Beatles drummer. Incidentally Love Me Do Please Please Me, and the next single From Me to You featured John the Rhythm Guitarist on Harmonica.

Rags To Riches

George Martin Wanted to record a full album on the Beatles but he couldn’t find time in their busy schedule but on march 11 1963 he finally had time to cut the first Beatles album Please Please Me. Which featured among other songs I saw her standing there and the final track twist and Shout. John had to save that song till the end so he didn’t rip his throat apart. The Album featured a simple cover taken in the staircase to the studio.

The Next album with the Beatles showed a bit more experimentation plus a cover of the Beatles in shadows with their trademark mop top haircuts shown off. With the Beatles, which featured the first song George Wrote Don’t Bother Me Hammond organ on I Wanna be you’re man bongos and acoustic guitars on till there was you and George Martin on Piano. It was the First rock album that was not mererly a vehicle for the singles.

Fame and fortune Brought the Beatles both perks and stress The Beatles steadily climbed up the ladder over the course of the year. This level of fame and fortune was so new to all of them that they would always eat a celebratory dinner when a song went to number one on the charts however they had to stop this when they started gaining too much weight. There were negative side effects for instance the screaming fans that they started out enjoying but it quickly got old and it became a hazard rather than a perk.

The Beatles got to play at the Palladium and even for the queen and were going to play in America however they refused to go to America until they got their first number one there because they’d seen really big stars from Brittan like cliff Richard become subsidiary to one hit wonders like Fabian. They were also worried because Kennedy had been shot so they didn’t know how mad the US would be. The only record labels that would pick them up in the USA were Swan and Vee Jay. They released Please Please Me Flop released From Me To You flop changed record labels released She Loves You they had all be big hits in Britain. However the news from Britain they were a hit group and the fact that Swan and vee Jay records were selling meant they hat to take this new group from England more seriously so capital was forced to release I want to hold you’re hand.

In 1964 January The Beatles were greeted to a screaming reception they were puzzled they thought the president must have been on the plane but it as all for them. They were as always greeted with a reception of screaming fans which was growing increasingly irritating Beatle mania Had taken off almost immediately there were Beatle bubble baths Beatle bubblegum Beatle dolls Beatle perfume Beatle posters and of course Beatle records. This did however mean that groups like The Drifters The Supremes The Beach Boys The Shirelles were forced to take a back seat to them. In fact the only reason why Motown was lucky enough to survive because it was so far away from what the Beatles were doing.

A hard Days Night

This same year a young director Richard Lester took an Interest in the Beatles he was originally commissioned to do a film of the Beatles by way of making a soundtrack album. Rock and roll was already an entertainment form in which the artists could get in films however not all of those rock stars were actors and neither were the Beatles for that matter but Richard Lester solved that problem by making the film a sort of exaggerated day in the life of the Beatles, and by putting them in situations they were all too familiar with. The film was shot in black and white not color beause they wanted the feel of a documentary, which were all made in black and white in those days.

Wilfred Brambel played the Paul’s almost villainous fictional Irish grandfather. He usually played a character that was a dirty old man named Steptoe but in reality he was only forty something and very nattily dressed. In this film he was referred to as a Clean old man. The Characters Shake and Norm were based on the Beatles actual roadies Neil and Mal. Their implied homosexual film director was based on Brian Epstein. This film broadened the popularity of the Beatles to the older generations who up till now regarded them as a noisy nuisance. The album A hard Days Night was also a success with their first and only album with all Lennon McCartney Numbers and George using the new fangled 12-sting electric guitar. In fact it was the film A hard Days Night that started the Byrds career and inspired them to be a folk rock stars they were also heavily influenced by the music of bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan who was a pioneer of folk songs of protest lyricist composer and performer of gritty poetic radically liberal song,s and unfortunately a marajauna user thought like many others that I can’t hide on I Want to Hold Your Hand was I get high. That was his justification for giving the Beatles Marijuana, which was their first introduction to mind altering drugs. Paul became convinced that he had found the secret to life that night only to wake up the next morning and read, “there are seven levels.” However this meeting also fueled positive reactions for instance Bob Dylan said John never had anything to say which got john thinking about writing from the heart and from his own beliefs. John started Instead of writing the title first than the music and finally the words he started writing the words first than the tune and finally the title. Paul also started writing from the heart a lot of his best songs of this time came from his relationships with Jane Asher. He unfortunately like so many other young men in his position at this time treated his Jane Asher as a prize not letting her have a voice she was to be a pop stars girlfriend and nothing more naturally she was frustrated by thisbecause she already had a careerer as an actress but Paul insisted that she saw things his way. However this spurred some of his best songs in this and the next two years like We Can work it out and For No One

Ringo’s Tonsils

Ringo had his tonsil removed in the same year and they had a new drummer Jimmy Nicol the substitute wasn’t a very good fit at first but got better all the time. Ringo became a bit upset he though they didn’t love him any more especially when they went touring without him. Fortunately after a successful operation he was their drummer again by the time they recorded Beatles for sale at the end of 1964, which featured new innovations in the Beatles music like baby’s in Black The First Beatles Song with No Bass Ringo Playing a Tympani In Every Little thing and John paul and George martin on one Piano in Rock and Roll Music.

Help

In 1965 the Beatles made a new movie but unlike A Hard Days Night this film was made in Color and was a James bond spoof there was an evil eastern Religious Cult led by Clang Leo Mckern out to return his sacrificial ring or else sacrifice Ringo himself which Ahme Eleanor Bron is opposed to and wants to save him and there were also two mad scientists bent world domination all of this comic mayhem was mixed with beach and skiing scenes. In fact the problem with the film was that although both the Beatles and the spy plot were great they didn’t go well together watching this film is rather like eating a spaghetti sandwich two good things that don’t really go together too well.

The films however was a hit and does even today have its fans. I think Eleanor Bron saves the film for me. The Album itself had some new things to offer You’ve got to hide you’re love away a Dylan influenced song about his unhappiness as a Beatle incidentally it was the Beatles first all acoustic track. Ticket to ride with a new hard driving song with Paul (not George) on lead guitar he also played it on another girl. Paul also wrote a song that would reunite popular with classical music yesterday was first heard by Paul in a dream he thought it sounded farmiliar but nobody could recognise it. George Martin thought the song would be too heavy with Electric Guitars and Drums and so he recorded it in the studio with just his acoustic guitar. George martin wanted a big string group but Paul said He wanted a small string group so George Martin arranged a string Quartet 2 Violins a Viola and a Cello

The Film Help also inspired George with a fascination with all things Indian because the eastern country in help most closely resembled India. He was intriuged by the music of Ravi Shankar and wanted to play the sitar which he ended up doing on Rubber Soul

Rubber Soul and Revolver

Rubber Soul Had Even More Innovations like The Prominent Bass On Michelle and Think For Yourself The Trebly Guitars on Nowhere Man the First beatles ong not in any way alove song What Goes on was written in part by Ringo There was also a baroque style piano on In my life and Georges Sitar on Norwegian Wood.

The Beatles Recorded their next album Revolver in 1966 Which had even more innovations for example the first song on the album Taxman was written and sung by George then the next Eleanor Rigby no Beatles were playing instrument instead the music was created by Four Violins two violas and two cellos Paul s Vocal supported by John and George and it was about poor elderly lonely people who most people in Paul situation would ignore there was an eastern number by George a number with backwards guitars and six numbers with orchestral or eastern instruments this also was the album where George really came into his own as a singer songwriter with Taxman Love You to and I Want To Tell You and Ringo came into his own as a singer witth Yeellow Submarine.

The Tour to End All Tours

The Beatles also went on what they thought would be an uneventful tour of the Middle East but it didn’t turn out that way. The tour started in Japan everything seemed all right at first, but it turned out the parents in Japan were worried about the Beatles leading their children astray from the traditional values of respecting your elders working together and honour. Actually the Beatles weren’t attacking any of these values it was just a miscommunication. The Beatles weren’t actually much better imformed either. John like many westerners of the time saw the Japanese as fighters and said What are a bunch of singers against a bunch of fighters if a dancing troupe from Japan wants to come to England no one is going to say that they’re against our values. However look at all the controversy on Japanese cartoons in America.

Their next destination was the Philippines where they were going to perform for the Dictaiors the Marcos’s but the Beatles said that they wouldn’t perform at a very special private performance for the Marcoses andd their elite guests because they were so tired. And they went the next morning in their hotels to turn on the television and there was a horrific TV show of Madame Marcos screaming they’ve let me down. They tried to get in to perform but they couldn’t get there with some angry people kicking them. And they finally left. However later they learned that it was Ferdinand Marcos and Imelda Marcos and what they had been doing to their people and the people of the Philpeenes actually really liked the Beatles. So the Beatles must have been among the very few people who had dared snub the Marcos's so they were glad that they didn’t show up.

They went to America unfortunately it proved to be the most dangerous of the three places, for the Beatles at least. The Beatles were always telling the people in the church of England that if they wanted to get more converts the ought to try to throw out the old hymns and get some young people to write some exciting new ones, understandably the church objected. However in the US the southern church had adopted these types of ideas and was thriving. John meant to say that they were more financially successful than the church but he naturally (being John Lennon) had to make a wild crazy dangerous statement so he said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus the paper blew that up saying he said they were bigger than Jesus implying bettertha Jesus or even greater than God. Naturally when the church in the south heard about this they were understandably upset. There were already ideas that rock was the devils music here was proof so they actually went and told people to burn their Beatles albums and a lot of people did. The burning of the albums didn’t hurt the record sales that much because of course people just bought them over again. There were even demonstrators by the K.K.K. who the Beatles no doubt would have violently opposed.

After all this the Beatles decided to stop touring it was getting to be a drag anyway and so they temporarily drifted their separate ways. John took part in the Richard Lester Film how I won the war which didn’t do well at the box office although he actually was a highlight of the film. George went to India, Paul composed music for the film the family way ,and Ringo stayed at home. In the end of 1966 they returned to the studio, little did anyone know what genii they would let out of the bottle.

Sergeant Pepper

They were not planning to do an album or anything they just wanted a break from having to be Beatles John, who was sill morose on what had occurred from the “bigger than Jesus” controversy a few months before, wrote a song trying to figure out who he was because no one thought exactly like him he was either a genius or insane. I think he was a mad genius. The Song was called Strawberry Felids Forever about a park in Liverpool the used to go to. Paul wrote a similar more upbeat song penny lane about a street they used to play around in Liverpool Penny Lane. These were they’re magical places but they made these everyone’s magical places through their music and lyrics. Neither of these were on sergant Pepper but they helped pave the way for the new album.

Sergeant Pepper turned out to be their most influential album to date with practically every song having either classical or eastern instruments An old world 19^th and early 20^th century marching band with spangle sawdust and color mixed with the flower power psychadellia of the sixties working perfectly together. Who had this brilliant idea? Believe it or not it was none other than their producer George Martin. The Beatles now thought of themselves as adults not kids anymore, and George martin would realize their dreams not just set the times for each take.

There was Sergeant Pepper with its Rockin opening leading into horns and then the Beatles sing as the band. There was Lucy and the sky with diamonds with mystic sitar chirping organ and Lewis Carroll like lyrics. Numbers as diverse as the Children's song in with a little Help from my Friends sung by Ringo with cheerful piano and bright harmonies by John and Paul to in A day in the life Starting as a simple folk song, with Johns eerie voice then Paul's more clear over a constantly changing backbeat, leading up to a classical crescendo that concludes the album. There is the Surreal circus number where we really do smell the sawdust as john wanted and we are part of the carnival, in Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite. And an exotic eastern number full of real eastern music in George Harrisons within you without you. And a boucy cheerful softshoe 20s Jazz type number in When I’m Sixty Four the album is so diverse that the whole really is greater than the sum of it’s parts.

However this wasn’t the first concept album or even the first rock concept album. it didn’t even fully follow the ideal of a concept album. arguably it wasn’t their greatest album either some fans prefer rubber soul revolver The white alum or abbey road. But what it did do was take advantage of studio facilities that most rock bands just used to recapture live performances and turned it into magic. There has never been an album quite like it and probably never will be. It also captured the new uprising and flower power culture perfectly. But of course many people wanted to find a deeper alterior meaning.

An Album this popolar usualy has it’s detractors and according to some it had the alterior motive of promoting drugs. Lucy in the sky with diamonds was supposeedly about LSD fixing a hole was a heroin fix The references to tea in Lovely Rita and Good Morning good Morning were both alegedly about marijuana in Being For the benefit of Mr. Kite’s line about Henry the Horse seed to spell Heroin, and even A Little help from my friends was a thouht to be a reference to getting high with drugs, but it turned out to be mostly paranoia.

The real truth was the Beatles didn’t feel the need to promote drugs Lucy in the sky with diamonds was about a drawing John’s son Julian drew about his school friend Lucy. Although John did not consciously think LSD he pmay very wll have unconsiously. John saw Lucy as a dream girl who would rescue him from being trapped with the Beatles who turned out to be Yoko. The images weren’t based on an LSD trip they were based on Louis Carroll’s book Alice in Wonderland, and that they resemble very much. Meanwhile Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite was based on a poster John found about a circus that he pretty much copied word for word except he put it into rhyming verse. And the references for tea were indeed about the drink. Fixing a hole was literally about fixing a hole on a the roof of Scottish cooting paul was staying at. Getting high in A little help from my Friends was the Beatles way of using get high in a non drug situation. In fact the only drug reference in Seargent Pepper was the line in A Day in the Life “I’d love to turn you on”.

All You Need is Love

The Beatles were soon asked to perform for an around the world broadcast which they would let the Beatles do any song they wanted. Whether All You Need is Love was written before the worldwide Television gig or not is a matter of some conjecture. The point is it suits the worldwide broadcast perfectly. They were spreading the message of world peace although maybe it was harder than they though to achieve it. The song however was a big hit. It started with the French national anthem ended with a chorus including Mick Jagger Kith Richards Marianne Faithful Jane Asher Mike McCartney Patti Harrison Eric Clapton Graham Nash Keith Moon Hunter Davies Gary Leeds and others and was sung live on the television cameras although the Beatles weren’t really playing their instruments live.