The History Of The Beatles Essay Research

The History Of The Beatles Essay, Research Paper

The Beatles

The Beatles are known to many as one of the greatest bands of all time. Their music has

influenced many people, including the Queen of England, future musicians, parents, and teens. All

four, Ringo Starr, Paul McCarteny, John Lennon, and George Harrison, were knighted by the

Queen. The controversy of the statement made by John Lennon that “sparked protesters

everywhere to burn countless records. Teens were influenced by the peaceful lyrics and hippie

messages. Numerous musicians of today count the Beatles among of their inspirations. The modern

rock band “Oasis” has stated that they get their greatest influence from the Beatles” (Lewisohn, 56).

This great band had small beginnings, however.

On October 9, 1940, John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool, England. He was raised

by his aunt Mimi after his parents divorced. He attended an art school after doing very poorly in all

aspects of school except art. He began his first band, The Quarrymen, in 1956 (Wiener, 5). He

met Paul through a mutual friend at the Garden Fete in Liverpool. Very impressed that Paul could

play Eddie Cochran, he then asked him to join The Quarrymen (Dowlding, 30).

James Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942 in Liverpool, England. His mother was

a nurse, and his father was a salesman and musician, who played piano in a ragtime band (Wiener,

5). Paul’s mother died when he was fourteen. Paul had been around music his entire life because of

his father, but didn’t become interested until the days of Elvis. After he joined The Quarrymen with

John, they both began writing songs such as “Love Me Do,” and “One After 909″ (Schaffner, 18-

19).

The third Beatle to enter the band was George Harrison. He was born in Liverpool on

February 25, 1943. He was the youngest, but the most talented musically. He had an Irish heritage,

and was “the son of a friendly local bus conductor” (Schaffner, 19). George was only sixteen when

he joined the band, which was, at that time, The Quarrymen. He was allowed to join because John

was very impressed that he could play “Raunchy,” a popular song at the time, note for note

(Lewisohn, 3). As soon as George joined, he, Paul, and John dropped out of school (Schaffner,

19).

This band had three guitarists, singers, and songwriters, but no bass or drums. After trying

many people, they finally settled on Pete Best on drums. They recruited Stuart Sutcliffe on bass, and

although he was a talented artist that John had met at school, he could hardly play his instrument

(Wiener, 4). The new band had no name, and their early inspirations were Buddy Holly, and the

Crickets. John created the name “Beatles,” because “‘I [John] was looking for a name like the

Crickets that means two things. From Crickets I went to Beatles… when you said it people thought

of crawly things, when you read it it was beat music.’” (Schaffner, 20). So the Beatles were born.

They began to play at a club called The Cavern in Liverpool, after a destructive tour in Hamburg,

Germany. Soon after this, Stuart became engaged and left the band. To compensate, Paul picked

up the bass and became the permanent bassist. After hearing the young Beatles at The Cavern,

Brian Epstein signed on as manager. Soon after, George Martin became their producer on the

Parlophone Records label. Later, Pete Best was fired from the band, because Paul, John, and

George did not like him. This caused some people to become terribly angry, but it did not do too

much damage to the Beatle’s popularity. They signed their friend and later permanent Beatle, Ringo

Starr, on as drummer (Schaffner, 21).

Ringo Starr was born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940 in Liverpool. He had a sickly

childhood and spent most of his time in and out of hospitals. He had virtually no formal education,

and his family came from the slums of Liverpool. His father was a baker and his mother was a

housewife. Prior to the Beatles, Ringo was the drummer for The Hurricanes (Wiener, 6).

The Beatles, with all their members permanently in place, began the attempt to become

famous. With John on guitar and vocals, Paul on bass and vocals, George playing guitar and backup

vocals, and Ringo drumming, they were destined to become a sensation. Their first recordings were

of “That’ll be the Day” by Buddy Holly, and “Inspite of all the Danger,” one of Paul’s originals

(Miles, 12). “Love Me Do” was the first single produced by George Martin. It was released on

October 5, 1962 and got to number 17 in a matter of two weeks. It sold over 100,000 copies.

“Please Please Me” came next, topping the charts. The boys cleaned up their acts, started “to wash

their mops more regularly” (Schaffner, 21), and dress more nicely. They then created their first ever

full length album. Titled “Please Please Me,” the record included the title track, “Do You Want To

Know a Secret.” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “From Me To You,

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