Let It Be

"Let It Be" is a song by The Beatles, released in March 1970 as one, and as the title track from their album Let It Be. Although credited to Lennon / McCartney in general received a Paul McCartney composition.

Album reached # 1 in the United States, Australia, Italy, Norway and Switzerland and # 2 in the UK. It was the final single released by the Beatles while the band is still active. Both the album Let It Be and the only one that is long and winding road that is released after the band announced their break-up.

INSPIRATION
McCartney says he has the idea "Let It Be" after he dreamed about his mother during the tense period of sessions for The Beatles (the "White Album"). McCartney explained that his mother-who died of cancer when McCartney was fourteen-the inspiration for "Mother Mary" lyric. McCartney then said, "It was good to visit with her again. I feel very blessed to have a dream. So that I can write 'Let It Be'." He also said in an interview later about the dream that his mother had told him, " That will all be good, leave it. "


THEMES PIANO
Piano is the main theme of the Let it be, in C Major, introducing the song, but wise in the series of strong cadences, which consists of four healthy normal-bar triads increased above the left hand piano notes tempered single keystrokes, all the harmonic drive, from the start sense of confidence arises (first measure), for the melancholic and anxious sentiment (second and third step) and return to a certain gratitude, self-confident attitude (last measure).

The effects of defense gloomy mood achieved by McCartney in a mixture of primary 6. And 7. Interval, when playing chords F and C, in the middle of the theme. Harmony is as circumscribed by bass tones, inversions is also a feature worth mentioning is often in the composition, which ultimately form the settling of the tune's emotional intent.

RECORDINGS
Let It Be recording took place at Twickenham Film Studios on 3 January 1969, where The Beatles had started the previous day, which became Let It Be film. During this stage, only the group's film on a mono recording is used for syncing to film camera, and does not create multi-track recording to release. Recorded one take, only with Paul McCartney on piano and vocals. Business groups that first made on 8 January. Continue to work on the track throughout the month. Multi-track recording began on 23 January in the Apple Studio.

Master taking recorded on 31 January 1969, as part of the 'Apple Studio performance' to Get Back project. McCartney played piano (a Blüthner Flügel of Leipzig), Lennon played bass, Billy Preston played organ and George Harrison, Ringo Starr and the role they assumed in the conventional guitar and drums. This is one of the two performances of the song. The first version, which lasted 27-A, will serve as the basis for all officially released versions of the song. The other version, take 27-B, conducted as part of a 'live studio performance', along with "Two of Us" and "The Long Road and winding." This performance, in which Lennon and Harrison's harmonised with McCartney and Harrison lead vocal contribution to the soft guitar solo, it can be seen in the film Let It Be.

On 30 April 1969, Harrison overdubbed a new guitar solo in the capture of 31 January that year. He overdubbed solo on 4 January 1970. First solo overdub the original one used to release, and the second is used to overdub solo album release of the original. Some fans believe that one of two versions of the song-based foundation that, in general, different guitar solos, but also some differences in the overdubs and Mixes.

Singing With The Beatles

Singing With The Beatles
Singing With The Beatles

NEW YORK, FRIDAY - The Beatles Fans around the world will have a new toy can make them singing with the four boy from Liverpool. This is the beatles video game - first in the world.

The four personnel of the pop band, The Beatles, will be present together in the digital video game around September. It was disclosed Thursday (5 / 3) by Apple Corps and MTV Viacom incl Network, a cooperation deal with this video game.

Software video game called "The Beatles: Rock Band" will be selling them at 59.99 U.S. dollars. However, the fans at least akan fish pocket of 99.99 U.S. dollars to buy this instrument.

Simultaneously this video game will be valid in several countries in the region of Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and right on 9 months 9 months 2009. Use of the date, month and year that imply formation 999.

Unfortunately, there is no definitive explanation particulars of the number. That, the video game was popular impressions of MTV titled "Rock Band" will make the fans can bernostalgia to play the guitar, singing, membetot bass, drums beat and the style of John, Paul, George and Ringo. They will feel happy onstage ala four young Liverpool throughout his career in which they make on the world scene until the end of the 60-70th.

MTV and Apple plan, peranti "The Beatles: Rock Band" is intended to offer Microsoft (Xbox 360), Sony (Playstation 3), and Nintendo (Nintendo Wii). If this new toy bercokol already in the market, will be guaranteed the band's first video game in the world.

As it notes, to far songs The Beatles are not yet available in the iTunes digital music outlets. Nothing more, considering the rest of the personnel and representatives of other family members of personnel to maintain the strict distribution of songs owned by the band that has been "late" is.

Like other bands to legendary rock n roll another kind of Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones or AC / DC. They have put their music in digital format and sold with a license online "Rock Band" or "Activision Blizzard".

The Days Leading To 1963

The Days Leading To 1963
The Days Leading To 1963
The Days Leading To 1963

“The story began in Harold Macmillan’s “never had it so good” ’50s Britain. It should be fiction: four teenagers with no more than eight O’Levels between them, running and biking and busing and busking all over Liverpool in search of new chords and old guitars and half-decent drum kit and any gig at all.

They were determined to amount to something – in George’s words “we just had this amazing inner feeling of: ‘We’re going to do it’. I don’t know why... we were just cocky” – and make a record (in Ringo’s words you’d kill for that bit of plastic and make some money and have a laugh and shout. That would do to be going on with.

The Beatles

Six years later, they were the four most famous and musical men on earth, the best dressed and on a good day the most captivating people anyone can remember. The narrative that began where Paul met John and clicked at a garden fete in leafy Liverpool, and ended in high dudgeon in high-end London, is so far fetched that it needs the power of a song punctuating every page to remind you with a joyous jolt that it was all true.

We didn’t dream it... though it came out of John’s dream of the “man on a flaming pie” who said “You are Beatles with an ‘A’”. It did all happen. The whole wonderful thing did happen, a long time ago, on the Mersey, on the Elbe, by the Thames and the Hudson River.

Chronicles of The Beatles

Chronicles of The Beatles
Chronicles of The Beatles

The History of The Beatles can be traced back to March 1957, when John Lennon and his childhood friend, Pete Shotton started a group called "The Black Jacks" to play Skiffle and America Rock and Roll. They soon change the name to "The Quarry Men". Their gigs were mostly neighborhood events.

July 6, 1957, John Lennon along with "The Quarry Men" had just finished performing at St. Peter's Parish Church in Woolton, Liverpool when fellow group member and childhood friend Ivan Vaughn introduced him to a guitarist named James Paul McCartney who played "Twenty Flight Rock" for John. A recording was made of the Quarry Men's performance by Bob Molyneux, a member of St Peter's Youth Club. Paul was asked by Pete Shotten to join the band, during a chance encounter on July 20. On Oct 18, Paul made his debut performance.

In Sept John entered "The Liverpool College of Art". Paul and George Harrison were students at "Liverpool Institute High School for Boys". During their daily hour-long bus commute, they became friends discovering a mutual interest in music.

On Feb 6, 1958, Paul introduced George to John. George persisted over time to convinced a reluctant John to allow him to join The Quarry Men-even following him on his dates with his future wife Cynthia Powell.
on Aug. 29th, 1958, John accepted George into The Quarry Men, which would then grow into seven members.
During that Summer of 1958, The Quarrey Men (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, playing guitars, John Lowe on piano, and Collin Hanton on drums) made two demo recordings: That'll Be The Day" and "In Spite Of All The Danger", the latter being a McCartney-Harrison composition.


The Quarry Men disbanded in 1959 due to lack of gigs. George joined another group which disbanded, then, he and fellow group member Ken Brown united with John and Paul for seven Saturday performances at the new Casbah Club, from Aug 29, 1959 until Oct 10 when a financial dispute ended their relationships with the club and Ken Brown. The trio continued as "Johnny and the Moondogs" with Paul on drums. Ken formed a group with Pete Best, the son of the Casbah's club owner and continued performing there.

In Jan. 1960, John invited a fellow art student Stu Sutcliff to join the group on the condition he got his own bass. In May They renamed themselves The "Beetles" (as a tribute to Stu's favorite band "Buddy Holly & The Crickets", then, The"Silver Beetles". Allan Williams became their manager. In June, they modified their name to the "Silver Beatles".


In early May a 25 year old drummer - Tommy Moore - joined them. On May 18th they began a nine day tour in Scotland backing performer Johnny Gentle. Tommy left the group afterwards due to financial obligations.


In July 1960 they discover a drummer - Norman Chapman - who joined them until he was called for national service duty.


On Aug 6th, 1960, they invited their friend Pete Best to become their permanent drummer after having played together several times during their performances at the Casbah club Their manager Alan Williams, having been told about the vivid night-life and the love of rock and roll in Hamburg Germany, arrainged gigs for some of the groups he managed. On Aug 18th, 1960, posing as students, The Beatles began a series of gigs in Hamburg, and John renamed the group The Beatles. They initially stayed in Hamburg until Dec 1st. The atmosphere was filled with promiscuity, booze and pills. They would return periodically until Feb, 1962.


The line-up of The Beatles now comprised John Lennon (rhythm/ vocals), Paul McCartney (rhythm/vocals), George Harrison (lead/ vocals), Stuart Sutcliffe (bass/vocals) and Pete Best (drums).
After their first Hamburg tour ended (George was deported for being underage, and their dispute with their current boss lead to a police complaint about an attempted fire to his premises. - resulting in the arrest or Pete and Paul) Stu left the group after becoming engaged to photographer Astrid Kirchherr who was partially responsible for The Beatles' "Mop Tops") the beatles broke up for about a month, and Paul was urged by his father to get a job in a factory.


Pete Best became the sex symbol of The Beatles, and his distinctive drumming style was nicknamed by the press the "atom beat". However, his popularity caused jealousy among the rest of the Beatles.
On Feb 9th 1961, The Beatles first performed at the Cavern Club; Pete's mother -Mona- assisted in getting them this booking. They returned to Hamburg Apr 1st1961, to work at the "Top Ten" club until Jul 2nd. A dispute started by John over discontinuing the paying of percentages to their manager Alan Williams for that gig, lead to Alan terminating his relationship with The Beatles.


The Beatles were approached by Producer Bert Kampfert ("Wonderland By Night") at the Top Ten Club and asked if they would be willing to record with Tony Sheridan. The Beatles were soon signed to a Polydor recording contract as the Beat Brothers, and from June 22nd to 23rd they recorded "My Bonnie", "In the School Hall", "Cry for A Shadow" and "Ain't She Sweet".
Saturday Oct 28th. 1961, Brian Epstein, received three requests at his record store for "My Bonnie" by The Beatles. You was informed that they were currently performing at The Cavern Club. After watching the beatles perform at the Cavern Club in Liverpool He introduced himself. Later, he consulted with his friend Alan - who was then still bitter about their disloyalty - about his wishes to Manage them. He took over their management at a 25% percentage.

On New Year's Day 1962, the group was granted an audition with Decca's A&R department, headed by Dick Rowe with his assistant Mike Smith. Mike liked them, as well as The Tremeloes who were also auditioning that day, but was forced to select only one by Dick. Brian Poole And The Tremeloes were selected because of their superior performance (The Beatles has partied until 4:30 am that morning-and were tired), and because The Tremoloes lived just a mile away and would cost the company less in travel expenses.
On Jan 24th, the band signed a management contract with Brian Epstein.
April 10 th, Stu Sutcliff died of a brain hemorrhage; he had been complaining of headaches ever since their first Hamburg tour.


June 4th, The Beatles auditioned for George Martin and EMI/Parlophone Records, and was offered a contract, however, George expressed concern about the drumming skills of Pete Best, asking them to bring in a session drummer.


Ringo Starr had been playing with The Beatles on several dates when Pete Best was sick. George began urging the others to replace Pete - who was perceived to have prompted jealousy among the other members because of his good looks and sex-appeal.

Enter Ringo Starr
Aug 16th, The Beatles persuaded Brian Epstein to fire Best; Jimmy Hutchinson was first offered the drumming spot but declined, and Ringo Star was hired, due in part because of his superior drumming, and his more compatible personality. Although, he had an offer from Gerry and the Pacemakers, he finaly settled on The Beatles because they had gotten a record contract.

Sept 4th,Producers George Martin and Ron Richards began their first Beatles recording session in which "Love Me Do" -written by Paul in 1958- was recorded in Mono on a two-track tape, with Ringo on Drums. Martin complained about Ringo's timing to John, Paul and George, and indicated that he would hire a session drummer, and suggested that John include the harmonica solo.


"How Do You Do It" was Martin's choice for their first single, however "Love Me Do" won out and "How Do You Do It" was offerred to Gerry and the Pacemakers. This lineup was on the initial Parlophone 45 release of October 5, 1962. 


Sept 11th, A new Mono recording session for "Love Me Do" & "PS I Love You" with Session Drummer Andy White, and Ringo on the Tamborine and Maracas. This lineup was on the album version, and the U.S. release on April 27, 1964 on Tollie Records. "Please Please Me" was originally planned for the B-side, however George Martin insisted it's pace was too slow. Although The Beatles attempted a faster-paced version, they were not satisfied with the results, and put off re-recording their first number 1 song until Feb 11th 1963. 


Love Me Do
U.K. Chart Entry Date : 11th October 1962
Highest Position : 17     Weeks on Chart : 18 Weeks
During Oct. '62, The Beatles performed in England on the bill with Little Richard - who was backed on organ by sixteen-year-old Billy Preston.
They again performed with them in Hamburg during Nov and Dec '62.

EMI, approached Vee Jay Records in the Summer of 1962, after Capitol Records turned down their U.S. option for the distribution of "I Remember You", by Frank Ifield, and The Beatles' releases.
Vee Jay released the single Please Please Me b/w Ask Me Why in the US, on 25 February 1963 (VJ 498) under the name "Beattles". 


The Beatles next U.S. release, on May 27 1963 - Vee Jay (VJ522)- "From Me To You" b/w Thank You Girl peaked at #116 on Billboard, August 10th, 1963. Their U.S.next release "She Loves You" - Sept.16, 1963 , failed to chart at all it's first time. It entered the charts on Jan 25th, 1964 and reached #1. On Feb. 9th 1964, The Beatles Debuted on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York City.

The Beatles 68 Up To 70

The Beatles 68 Up To 70
The Beatles 68 Up To 70


Apple, the Rooftop and Abbey Road. And in the end, these last years were a time of plentiful confusion a time to break down and a time to build up. The Beatles started their own company, Apple Corps with five creative divisions – records, films etc – and then went public with an offer that anyone with an artistic need could come to them and get help. Is there, even now, a machine to count such numbers?

The promise was that all sincere supplicants would be given encouragement, succour, a contract and maybe an envelope full of money. At the same time, The Beatles flew to foothills of the Himalayas to learn meditation. There, between sessions with the Maharishi, they wrote songs for what would become The ‘White’ Album. When recording started, the songs had come in such profusion that, famously, The White Album had thirty of them – enough for two high-class musicals. They sped from one track to another, content that the unity of the album would transcend the disparity in the style and content of the tracks.

It was always their strength that they wrote bewitching singles. New songs were written to suit themselves; sometimes written alone. This new work could virtually be recorded solo, spontaneously, simply. Following the White Album(and the magnificent Hey Jude) they made Let It Be and with the final regal glory of Abbey Road they left their grieving fans a legacy that will never be matched. In the inevitable breaking down of old liaisons, there was room for growth.

John met and married Yoko; Paul met and married Linda. George matured far beyond his years, settled into his spiritual space and expressed himself writing classic songs; Ringo was now writing his own numbers and was widely acknowledged as a supreme drummer and a very good actor. To everything there is a season. That the rift between The Beatles, evolved with much public angst was a pity but this is not a perfect world is it? Relationships anyway, were repaired long ago. And in the end, the equation between the love they took and the love they made was intact into infinity. They still represent the twentieth century’s greatest romance.

The Beatles 65 Up To 67

The Beatles 65 Up To 67
The Beatles 65 Up To 67


These were the years of dash and daring. Sweeping out of the final (and wonderfully old-fashioned) 1964 family Christmas Shows into the wider world of 1965, The Beatles would soon find themselves figureheads of a movement far beyond “pop” where a counter-culture / alternative society was made flesh. National boundaries were presumed to be doomed. Millions of minds were to become expanded and many trousers would soon be spandex though the music would continue to pour out of them breaking in great waves over uncharted, challenging Reason and warming the heart, the Beatles would tire of those great sweating stadiums where they now played to screaming crowds who could no longer hear them. In the studio years (1966 onwards), supported by the steady hand of the great George Martin, they would produce songs which would be forever fresh and which still set the standards against the newcomers have to test themselves. Greatly turned on by the Spirit of the Age and by the “tea-parties” of those times, the Beatles provided a sound-track for the plottings of the baby boomers – millions of them – whose enlightenment (however compromised it may have been by the material world in the harsh times since) still provides a hedge against humankind’s grosser instincts.

They go into the studio which brings an amazed world the mighty whirligig of Sgt Pepper, Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields here on the screen in surreal and glorious colour. They sing Baby You’re A Rich Man and they all are, but they don’t buy an island in Greece. It was the great glory of The Beatles that they could absorb and transmute so much, first in those tiny houses in Liverpool, listening to eclectic 1940s wireless, then to r’n’r and r&b and to Dylan and the poets and soon to music and messages from India. Unafraid of growth, dogged individuals with a powerful devotion to the group ethic, The Beatles accepted each other’s offerings and really “cooked” to make each record a feast that left us breathless with admiration. They never stood still.

The Beatles Films

The Beatles Films
The Beatles Films
The Beatles appeared in five motion pictures, all of which featured associated soundtrack albums. The band played themselves in two films directed by Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965). The group produced, directed, and starred in the hour-long television movie Magical Mystery Tour (1967).


The psychedelic animated film Yellow Submarine (1968) followed the adventures of a cartoon version of the band; the members did not provide their own voices, appearing only in a brief live-action epilogue. Their final film, the documentary Let It Be, released in 1970, followed the rehearsals and recording sessions for the early 1969 Get Back project and won the Academy Award in 1971 for Best Original Song Score. During 1965-1969, The Beatles were the subject of their own Saturday morning cartoon series, which loosely continued the kind of slapstick antics of A Hard Day's Night. Two Beatles songs were played in each half-hour show, with The Beatles' cartoon counterparts "lip-synching" the actual Beatles recordings.

Some of the song performances, such as those from A Hard Day's Night, appeared to have been rotoscoped. The regular speaking voices of the characters were not supplied by The Beatles themselves, but rather by voice artists Paul Frees and Lance Percival.

The Beatles Evo

The Beatles Evo
The Beatles Evo

The Beatles Evolution

The Beatles constant demands to create new sounds on every new recording, combined with George Martin's arranging abilities and the studio expertise of EMI staff engineers such as Norman Smith, Ken Townsend and Geoff Emerick, all played significant parts in the innovative sounds of the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). The Beatles continued to absorb influences long after their initial success, often finding new musical and lyrical avenues by listening to their contemporaries. Other contemporary influences included the Byrds and the Beach Boys, whose album Pet Sounds was a favourite of McCartney's.


The Beatles producer George Martin stated that "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds." After Sgt. Pepper was released, Beach Boys' leader Brian Wilson was so despondent that he went to bed for months. Lennon also named Elvis Presley as a spark that interested him in music: It was Elvis who really got me buying records. I thought that early stuff of his was great. The Bill Haley era passed me by, in a way. When his records came on the wireless, my mother used to hear them, but they didn’t do anything for me. It was Elvis who got me hooked on beat music. When I heard 'Heartbreak Hotel', I thought ‘this is it’ and I started to grow sideboards and all that gear...."

Along with studio tricks such as sound effects, unconventional microphone placements, tape loops, double tracking and vari-speed recording, The Beatles began to augment their recordings with instruments that were unconventional for rock music at the time. These included string and brass ensembles as well as Indian instruments such as the sitar in "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" and the swarmandel in "Strawberry Fields Forever". They also used early electronic instruments such as the Mellotron, with which McCartney supplied the flute voices on the intro to "Strawberry Fields Forever", and the clavioline, an electronic keyboard that created the unusual oboe-like sound on "Baby You're a Rich Man".

Beginning with the use of a string quartet (arranged by George Martin with input from McCartney) on "Yesterday" in 1965, The Beatles pioneered a modern form of art song, exemplified by the double-quartet string arrangement on "Eleanor Rigby" (1966), "Here, There and Everywhere" (1966) and "She's Leaving Home" (1967). A televised performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 directly inspired McCartney's idea to include a piccolo trumpet on the arrangement of "Penny Lane". The Beatles moved towards psychedelia with "Rain" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" from 1966, and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "I Am the Walrus" from 1967.

The Beatles

The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in 1960 in Liverpool, England by John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). The Beatles are regarded by many to be the greatest Rock and roll band of all time. Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and skiffle, the group worked with different musical genres, ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, style and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.

After the band broke up in 1970, all four members embarked upon successful solo careers. The Beatles are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music, selling over one billion records internationally. In the United Kingdom, The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number one, earning more number one albums (15) than any other group in UK chart history. This commercial success was repeated in many other countries; their record company, EMI, estimated that by 1985 they had sold over one billion records worldwide. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, The Beatles have sold more albums in the United States than any other band.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles number one on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. According to that same magazine, The Beatles' innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s, and their influence on pop culture is still evident today. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of top-selling Hot 100 artists to celebrate the chart's fiftieth anniversary; The Beatles topped it.

History The Beatles

History The Beatles
History The Beatles
1957–60: Formation Main article:
The Quarrymen In March 1957, while attending Quarry Bank Grammar School in Liverpool, John Lennon formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen. Lennon met guitarist Paul McCartney in St. Peter's Church, on 6 July 1957; Lennon added him to the group a few days later. On 6 February 1958 the 14-year-old guitarist George Harrison was invited to watch the group, which was then playing under a variety of names, at Wilson Hall, Garston, Liverpool.

McCartney had become acquainted with Harrison on the morning bus ride to the Liverpool Institute, as they both lived in Speke. Despite Lennon's initial reluctance due to Harrison's young age, Harrison joined the Quarrymen as lead guitarist at McCartney's insistence after a rehearsal in March 1958. Lennon and McCartney both played rhythm guitar during that period and, after original Quarrymen drummer Colin Hanton left the band in 1959 following an argument with other band members, had a high turnover of drummers. Lennon's art school friend Stuart Sutcliffe joined on bass in January 1960. The Quarrymen went through a progression of names, including "Johnny and the Moondogs" and "Long John and The Beatles".

Sutcliffe suggested the name "The Beetles" as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets. After a tour with Johnny Gentle in Scotland, the band changed their name to "The Beatles". Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Lennon, suggested that Lennon came up with the name The Beatles at a "brainstorming session over a beer-soaked table in the Renshaw Hall bar."Lennon, who was well known for giving multiple versions of the same story, joked in a 1961 Mersey Beat newspaper article that "It came in a vision — a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, 'From this day on you are Beatles with an A'".During an interview in 2001, McCartney took credit for the peculiar spelling of the name, saying that "John had the idea of calling us the Beetles; I said, 'How about The Beatles; you know, like the beat of the drum?' At the time, everyone was stoned enough to find it hilarious.

It's funny how history is made." In May 1960, the then Silver Beetles toured northeast Scotland as a back-up band with singer Johnny Gentle, whom the band had met an hour before their first gig. McCartney referred to the tour as a great experience for the band. For the tour, the often drummer-less group secured the services of Tommy Moore, who was considerably older than the others. Moore left the band soon after the tour and went back to work in a bottling factory as a forklift truck driver. Norman Chapman was the band's next drummer, but was called up for National Service a few weeks later. His departure posed a serious problem, for the group's unofficial manager, Allan Williams, had arranged for them to perform in clubs on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, West Germany.

1960–62:

Hamburg, Cavern Club and Brian Epstein Finding themselves without a drummer before their upcoming engagement in Hamburg, the group invited Pete Best to become their drummer on 12 August 1960. Best had played with The Blackjacks in The Casbah Coffee Club, owned by his mother, Mona Best; a cellar club in West Derby, Liverpool, The Beatles played there and often visited. Four days after hiring Best, the group left for Hamburg. The Beatles began playing in Hamburg at the Indra Club and moved to the Kaiserkeller in October 1960.

They were required to play six or seven hours a night, seven nights a week. On 21 November 1960 Harrison was deported for having lied to the German authorities about his age. A week later, having started a small fire at their living quarters while vacating it for more luxurious rooms, McCartney and Best were arrested, charged with arson, and deported. Lennon followed the others to Liverpool in mid-December while Sutcliffe stayed behind in Hamburg with his new German fiancée Astrid Kirchherr. The reunited group played an engagement on 17 December 1960 at the Casbah Club, with Chas Newby substituting for Sutcliffe.

The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, performing at the "Top Ten Club". While playing at the Top Ten Club, they were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert. Kaempfert signed the group to its own Polydor contract at the first session on 22 June 1961. On 31 October Polydor released the recording "My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)", which appeared on the German charts under the name "Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers", a generic name used for whoever happened to be in Sheridan's backup band.

A few copies were also pressed under the Decca label for United States disc jockeys, as American Decca had a distribution deal with Polydor parent Deutsche Grammophon. When the group returned to Liverpool, Sutcliffe stayed in Hamburg with Kirchherr. McCartney took over bass duties. The band returned to Liverpool from Germany, and on Tuesday, 21 February 1961, they made their first lunchtime appearance at The Cavern Club in Mathew Street.

Their stage show had been through a lot of changes, and some in the audience thought they were watching a German band. From 1961 to 1962 The Beatles made 292 appearances at the club, culminating in a final appearance there on 3 August 1963. On 9 November 1961, Brian Epstein, owner of the North End Music Store (NEMS) on Great Charlotte Street, saw The Beatles for the first time in the club. Epstein became aware of the group after he received requests for the Sheridan/Beatles recording of "My Bonnie."

In a meeting with the group at North End Music Store on 10 December 1961, Brian Epstein proposed the idea of managing the group. The Beatles signed a five-year contract with Epstein on 24 January 1962.He then formed the management company NEMS Enterprises. Epstein led The Beatles' search for a British recording contract. Epstein had been manager of the record department at NEMS, an offshoot of his family's furniture store. He played on the status of NEMS as a major record dealer to gain access to producers and recording company executives.

When Epstein contacted Kaempfert about the Polydor contract, Kaempfert told Epstein he was only interested in The Beatles as Sheridan's backup group. Kaempfert then agreed to release The Beatles from their Polydor contract. In a now-famous exchange, Decca Records A&R executive Dick Rowe turned Epstein down flat, informing him that "guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein." (See The Decca audition.) While Epstein was negotiating with Decca, he also approached EMI marketing executive Ron White. White, who was not himself a record producer, in turn contacted EMI producers Norrie Paramor, Walter Ridley, and Norman Newell; all of them declined to record The Beatles. White did not approach EMI's fourth staff producer — George Martin — who was on holiday at the time. The Beatles returned to Hamburg from 13 April to 31 May 1962, where they performed at the opening of The Star Club. Upon their arrival, they were informed of Sutcliffe's death from a brain hemorrhage.

1962: Record contract
After failing to impress Decca Records, Epstein went to the HMV store on Oxford Street in London to transfer the Decca tapes to discs. There, recording engineer Jim Foy referred him to Sid Coleman, who ran EMI's publishing arm. Epstein eventually met with Martin, who signed the group to EMI's Parlophone label on a one-year renewable contract. The Beatles' first recording session was scheduled for 6 June 1962 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in north London.

Martin had not been particularly impressed by the band's demo recordings, but he liked The Beatles' personalities when he met them. He concluded that they had raw musical talent, but stated in later interviews that what made the difference for him was their wit and humour. Martin had a problem with Pete Best, whom he criticised for not being able to keep time. Martin privately suggested to Epstein that the band use another drummer in the studio. There was speculation by some that Best's popularity with fans was another source of friction.

In addition, Epstein became exasperated with his refusal to adopt the distinctive hairstyle as part of the band's unified look. Best also had missed a number of engagements because of illness. The three founding members of the band enlisted Epstein to dismiss Best, which he did on 16 August 1962. They asked Richard Starkey, known as Ringo Starr, to join the band; Starr was the drummer for one of the top Merseybeat groups, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and had performed occasionally with The Beatles in Hamburg. The first recordings of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr together were made as early as 15 October 1960, in a series of demonstration records privately recorded in Hamburg while acting as the backing group for singer Lu Walters. Starr played on The Beatles' second EMI recording session on 4 September 1962, but Martin hired session drummer Andy White for their next session on 11 September. White's only released performances were recordings of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You", found on The Beatles' first album.

Their recording contract paid them one penny for each single sold, which was split amongst the four Beatles — one farthing per group member. This royalty rate was reduced for singles sold outside the UK, for which they received half of one penny (again split between the whole band) per single. Martin said later that it was a "pretty awful" contract. The Beatles' first EMI session on 6 June 1962 did not yield any recordings considered worthy of release, but the September sessions a few months later produced a minor UK hit "Love Me Do", which peaked on the charts at number seventeen. "Love Me Do" would reach the top of the U.S. singles chart over eighteen months later in May 1964.

1962–63: Fame in the UK
On 26 November 1962 the band recorded their second single "Please Please Me", which reached number two on the official UK charts and number one on the NME chart. Three months later, they recorded their first album, also titled Please Please Me (1962). The band's first televised performance was on the People and Places programme, transmitted live from Manchester by Granada Television on 17 October 1962. As The Beatles' fame spread, the frenzied adulation of the group, predominantly from teenage female fans, was dubbed "Beatlemania".

The band also began to be noticed by serious music critics. On 23 December 1963, The Times music critic William Mann published an essay extolling The Beatles' compositions, including their "fresh and euphonious" guitars in "Till There Was You", their "submediant switches from C major into A flat major", and the "octave ascent" in "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The Beatles themselves were perplexed by this analysis by Mann: "...one gets the impression that they think simultaneously of harmony and melody, so firmly are the major tonic sevenths and ninths built into their tunes, and the flat-submediant key-switches, so natural is the Aeolian cadence at the end of 'Not a Second Time' (the chord progression which ends Mahler's 'Song of the Earth')."

In was also in 1963 that the Beatles' iconic logo (referred to as the "drop-T" logo) made its debut. The logo, with an extended "T" emphasizing the word "Beat", was designed by Ivor Arbiter, music store proprietor, who sold Epstein a new kit. Arbiter was paid £5 for the design, which was painted on the bass drum by a local sign-writer.


1963–64: American success
Although the band experienced huge popularity on the British record charts in early 1963, EMI's American operation, Capitol Records, declined to issue the singles "Please Please Me" and "From Me to You", their first official number one hit in the UK. Vee-Jay Records, a large independent (mostly R&B) Chicago label, issued the singles as part of a deal for the rights to another performer's masters. Art Roberts, music director of popular Chicago radio station WLS, placed "Please Please Me" into radio rotation in late February 1963, arguably the first time a Beatles record was heard on American radio. Vee-Jay's rights to The Beatles were later cancelled for non-payment of royalties.

In August 1963, Philadelphia-based Swan Records released "She Loves You", which also failed to receive airplay. A testing of the song on Dick Clark's TV show American Bandstand produced laughter from American teenagers when they saw the group's distinctive hairstyles. In early November 1963, Brian Epstein persuaded Ed Sullivan to present The Beatles on three editions of his show in February, and parlayed this guaranteed exposure into a record deal with Capitol Records. Capitol committed to a mid-January release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand". On 10 December 1963, a 5-minute story shot in England about the phenomenon of Beatlemania was shown on the CBS Evening News.

The segment first aired on the CBS Morning News on 22 November and had originally been scheduled to be repeated on that day's Evening News, but regular programming was cancelled following the assassination of John F. Kennedy that day. The segment inspired a teenage girl named Marsha Albert living in Silver Spring, Maryland to write to Carroll James, a disc jockey at Washington DC's WWDC radio station, requesting that he play records by The Beatles.

Carroll James had seen the same news story and arranged through a friend to have a copy of The Beatles' new single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" sent over to him in Washington DC. Immediately after debuting the record on December 17, the station received overwhelming positive audience reaction, with the station escalating airplay of the record. Made aware of the overwhelming listener response, Capitol Records president Alan Livingston decided a few days later to take advantage of the response and rush-release the already-prepared single three weeks ahead of schedule on 26 December 1963.

Several New York radio stations began playing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on its release day. The positive response to the record that had started in Washington was duplicated in New York and quickly spread to other markets. The record sold one million copies in just ten days, and by 16 January 1964, Cashbox magazine had certified the record number one, in the edition datelined 23 January.


Source : http://wikipedia.org/