Musical Bios: The Beatles

Pony Without a doubt, The Beatles are the greatest rock band of all time. Nobody can argue about that fact, and besides, everybody loves The Beatles. Whether it be boy band gold from "Please Please Me", or the psychedelic days from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". While many people know the story about them, others don't know what's the big deal about The Beatles. And that's what I'm here to talk about the story of the best rock band of all time, The Beatles.
It all started when John Lennon created The Quarrymen at age 16. Later on, Stuart Sutcliffe and Paul McCartney joined him. George Harrison also saw the band, but he couldn't join because he was "too young". One month later, Harrison became their lead guitarist. The men actually became a quintet when drummer Pete Best joined the band. Also, their name was changed to "The Beatals", in honor of Buddy Holly and the Crickets, which later formed into "The Beatles". They played in a few bands, but later got caught for numerous misdeamors. Sutcliffe's wife, Astrid Kircherr, created the famous mop-top hairdo for Sutcliffe. Speaking of Sutcliffe, he left the band to pursue his artwork in Germany. However, he sadly died of a brain hemmorage in 1962.
Things were starting to change, however, when The Beatles met their future manager, Brian Epstein. After famously getting rejected by Decca Records, The Beatles and Epstein would find a record company that would hire them, and that company was called Parlephone Records. They were hired by George Martin, a producer. It was Martin who complained about Best's drumming, and soon Best was kicked out of the band. He was replaced by Ringo Starr, of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Soon, The Beatles were on their way to making their first album. When they started recording, Ringo Starr wasn't the drummer. Instead, it was Andy White, because at first Ringo started off a little shaky. George Martin predicted "I think you've made your first number 1.".
And it was. Recorded in just one day, "Please Please Me" was a massive sucess, both critically and commercially. Soon enough there was dozens of screaming fangirls and many critics praising this new band. The Beatles only got more sucessful when they recorded their single "She Loves You". It was the first Beatles single to reach a million copies, and it was the best-selling single in the UK for a long time. In other words, 1963 was the year of The Beatles, and this started the period known as "Beatlemania".
The follow up, "With The Beatles", became as sucessful as "Please Please Me". Fans and critics loved "With The Beatles" as much as "Please Please Me", if not even more. Many critics praised the album as "a sequel" to "Please Please Me". The Beatles also recorded their single "I Want To Hold Your Hand". The band's press officer, Tony Barrows, even called them "the fabulous foursome", otherwise known as the "Fab Four".
In America however, The Beatles were largely unknown. It wasn't until a certain record player in Chicago discovered The Beatles, and not too long after The Beatles came to America, the extremely famous "British Invasion" started. After they famously appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show", they began working on their next album, "A Hard Day's Night". The name comes from a quote from Ringo Starr, and their was a movie accompanying it. The movie and the album were sucessful, both critically and commercially.
After those three albums, The Beatles were extremely exhausted. The Beatles famously smoked pot with Bob Dylan. Also, Harrison was given his 12- String Rickenbacker as a gift. Their fourth album, "Beatles For Sale", was just like any Beatles album- a massive sucess. By this point, The Beatles were starting to mature a little. However, the next set of events changed The Beatles for good.
In early 1965, Lennon and Harrison's dentist slipped some LSD into their coffee. Lennon and Harrison's experience was mixed, while McCartney was reluctant to try it until 1966. The next Beatles movie, "Help!", was mixed, however, the album got much better reception. The Beatles also played their most famous concert in Shea Stadium. Fans and critics alike loved every minute of The Beatles, even though their might of been too much of The Beatles.
By this point, The Beatles were starting to get a little different. By that, I mean they were starting to smoke marijuana and expand their repertoire. "Rubber Soul" was praised by critics for many reasons; The Beatles were maturing, the use of a sitar, and the folk- rock sound of the album. Even though The Beatles were starting to change, "Rubber Soul" would be their last album of the "Beatlemania" era.
The Beatles were starting to become a different band. They stopped touring, George Martin became more part of the band, and their next album would change their style. In the middle of these events, John Lennon said that "we're more popular than Jesus now". To say that fans were outraged is an understatement. When "Revolver", whose cover was designed by good friend Klaus Voorman, it changed a lot of people's view of the boy band. Critics loved the album, and this was the start of the experimentation of the band.
The Beatles were no longer a boys band. In fact, the band even got rid of their moptops for longer hair and grew beards. The Beatles were men, and when "Sgt. Pepper" came out, suddenly it was hard to realize that the same band who brought you "Please Please Me" also created this psychadelic masterpiece. With songs like "A Day In The Life", The Beatles became the ultimate experimental and psychadelic band for anyone who grew up in the Sixties.
However, the band was shocked to realize that Brian Epstein had died of an accidental overdose. Harrison later started visiting Marahishi Mahesh Yogi, who would inspire him in some way. The final Beatles movie, "Magical Mystery Tour", was a flop, but the album itself was a masterpiece, with gems like "I Am The Walrus", "Hello Goodbye", and "All You Need Is Love". Their next album, "The Beatles" would mark The Beatles as one of the best bands, ever.
"The Beatles", better known as "The White Album", was the longest of all of The Beatles recordings. There was often many pressure, and even Ringo Starr left the band for a brief period. It was all worth it in the end, however, when basically everybody raved about the album. It is the most diverse album in history, going from happiness in "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", from plain weirdness in "Wild Honey Pie", to sadness in "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", to epic rocking in "Helter Skelter", and even downright scariest in "Revolution 9". John Lennon met Yoko Ono, and "The White Album" was released in their new record company, Apple Records. The Beatles also recorded "Yellow Submarine", which was mixed.
Even though "Let It Be" was released after "Abbey Road", it was largely recorded before "Abbey Road". "Let It Be" was supposed to get The Beatles back together, but because of the difficult experience recording the album, that never happened. However, after the recording of "Abbey Road", The Beatles once again gained the praise of critics, some calling the album " the best Beatles album". It just so happens that "Abbey Road" is my favorite album, along with "Dark Side Of The Moon". "Let It Be", however, was slightly mixed.
By the time "Let It Be" was released, The Beatles were no longer a band. Personal conflicts, stressful experiences for the last few albums, and other stuff were the reasons each of the Fab Four went their separate ways, with each of them getting sucessful solo careers. Unfortunately, two of the Beatles died; Lennon was murdered by a mentally insane person in 1980, and Harrison died from lung cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr are still alive today. Also, Pete Best is still alive as well.
The Beatles left a huge impact on music as we know it. If we never got to experience The Beatles, rock music would be very different than it is right now. The Beatles are so great because they didn't just came and left; instead they had a repertoire of overall good music, with changes along the way. I would like to congratulate ANY person who worked with The Beatles at some point. Sure, The Beatles broke up in a bittersweet fashion. But what matters is the fact that their songs still sound great even after they age. What you have just read was a LONG, but magical, mystery tour.

Comments

I'm very proud of this. - Pony

You should do a bio on Marilyn Manson. Only if you want to. Just curious. - visitor

Thanks for the information. - visitor

. - Musicfans