TheBeatlesOnline

It's not that they've sold more than 1bn records worldwide. It's not that they've had 21 no 1 singles in the US alone. And it's definitely not their haircuts…

In just seven years the Beatles made a string of unforgettable albums. They set new standards for composing, performing and recording popular music. They blended music of many genres and experimented with instruments that had never before been heard on pop records. They were commercially successful and artistically stimulating at the same time. The Beatles defined a generation by breaking new barriers and by showing a reluctance to compromise.

Chapters:

Where did it all start? - The Beatles hit America - Chemistry and understanding -
Talent and sophistication - Dylan makes an impression - A new direction -
Rubber Soul: a turning point - The psychedelic experience - The final show -
An unexpected death - The Beatles in India - Get back - Abbey Road: the end

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Where did it all start?

A beginning took shape in Liverpool, England, in 1957. John Winston Lennon (born October 9, 1940) formed a skiffle group with friends. The group called themselves the Quarry Men. Some of the members played on real instruments, while others played on wash boards etc. The Quarry Men performed at low key events in Liverpool. They played folk, country and rock music. The group's line up changed frequently.

On July 6 1957, the Quarry Men played at a garden fete of St Peter's Church in Woolton, Liverpool. After the concert, John Lennon was introduced to James Paul McCartney (born June 18, 1942) for the first time. McCartney was playing his guitar backstage, and Lennon was impressed by his skills.

"I saw he had talent," Lennon recalled in 1980. "I turned around to him right then on the first meeting and said: Do you want to join the group?"

"I think he said yes the next day."

In February 1958, George Harrison (born February 25, 1943) also joined the Quarry Men. George had been introduced to John through Paul.

On July 15 the same year, John's mother Julia died in a hit-and-run accident. John was then 17 years old. He had lived most of his short life separated from his mother. His parents' marriage only lasted two years, and when John was five, Julia had a child with another man. John was then taken care off by Julia's sister Mimi and her husband, George Smith. John, however, continued to see his mum, who encouraged his passion for music and taught him to play the banjo. When uncle George died in 1955, John and his mother developed a closer relationship.

His mother's death left John emotionally devastated. Fortunately, John had a new friend in Paul, who he could relate to. Paul's mother Mary had died when he was just 14. Paul's background was however quite different to John's. He came from a disciplined working class family, with a father (James, also a musician) who worked hard to make ends meet. John, on the other hand, was brought up in middle-class surroundings, but experienced more emotional instability as a child because of his parents' absence.

Their personalities could not have been more different. Paul was polite and diplomatic, while John's mood would change from one extreme to another frequently.

Nevertheless, their shared experience of loss helped them to develop a close friendship. In addition, they shared a passion for music in which they both could express emotions, whether joy or grief.

They continued to perform under the name the Quarry Men until January 1960, when John's friend from art school, Stuart Sutcliffe, joined on bass guitar. After that, the group changed their name several times, to the Beatals, Silver Beats and the Silver Beetles.

Later that year, Pete Best joined the band on drums. The group then traveled to Hamburg, Germany, where they played more than 100 concerts at the Indra Club and the Kaiserkeller. The band's name had by then changed to the Beatles. The Beatles would return to Hamburg several times between 1961 and 1962, and in February 1961 they played at the infamous Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time, where they soon became regular performers.

The Beatles were initially inspired by black, R&B and Motown music. They liked Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent and Fats Domino, to name a few. The Beatles had black leather jackets, long hear combed forward and cheeky humor. Even in the early pre-fame days, they stood out from most other contemporary bands, because of their scruffy look and energetic live concerts.

It was during a lunchtime performance at the Cavern Club in November 1961 that the Beatles were discovered by Brian Epstein, who soon after became the group's manager.

In January 1962, the Beatles auditioned for Decca Records in London. The group failed to make an impression, and Decca turned them down. Manager Epstein was furious:

"You must be out of your minds. These boys are going to explode. I am completely confident that one day they will be bigger than Elvis Presley!"

Fortunately, shortly after, Epstein got in touch with George Martin, who was the head of Parlophone, a part of EMI records. Martin, a classically trained musician and producer, would play a key role in the Beatles' career in the years to come. Today, some refer to him as the "fifth Beatle", because of his undeniable musical influence on the group.

Meanwhile, on April 10 1962, Stuart Sutcliffe, the band's bassist, died of a brain hemorrhage while in Hamburg with his girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr, a German photographer.

Soon after, George Martin decided to give the Beatles a chance, and on June 4 1962, the group signed with EMI in London.

"I've got nothing to lose," George Martin said at the time.

There was one problem, however: Martin was not is not impressed with the band's drummer, Pete Best. The Beatles had no choice but to let Best go. In August 1962, they recruited a new drummer. His name was Richard Starkey (born July 7, 1940), AKA Ringo Starr.

The Beatles' line up was now as follows:

John Lennon (vocals, guitar)
Paul McCartney (vocals, bass guitar)
George Harrison (vocals, guitar)
Ringo Starr (drums)

When George Martin offered the Beatles a record deal, the plan was that the group would record songs written by others, like most pop groups did at the time. It was almost unheard of that pop groups wrote their own music. Even the Beatles' pre-fame live repertoire consisted almost exclusively of cover songs.

Martin had no idea that Lennon and McCartney were aspiring song writers, and he was therefore presented with a big surprise on September 4, when the Beatles turned up for their second recording session at EMI's studios in Abbey Road, London.

After recording How Do You Do It, a song written by Mitch Murray, which George Martin had handpicked for the Beatles, the group insisted on recording one of their own songs. Martin was hard to convince, however. He didn't think the Beatles would have any potential hits up their sleeves. But the group insisted, and in the end Martin let them play him their song. It was called Love Me Do, and had been written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Martin was perhaps not blown way by what he heard, but he was still quite impressed. The song had potential, that was for sure. He suggested that John played some harmonica on it, just to give the arrangement something extra.

In an interview with Mark Lewisohn for the book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, first published in 1988, Paul McCartney said:

"Love Me Do was us trying to do the blues. It came out whiter because it always does. We're white and we were just young Liverpool musicians. We didn't have any finesse to be able to actually sound black. But Love Me Do was probably the first bluesy thing we tried to do."

Love Me Do was released as a single in the United Kingdom in October 1962, where it reached number 17 on the charts. Almost two years later, in May 1964, the song went to number one on the American charts. How Do You Do It was never released by the Beatles, but later became a hit with Gerry and the Pacemakers, also a Liverpool band.

The Beatles' next single, entitled Please Please Me, was a Roy Orbinson inspired Lennon/McCartney song. It was released in January 1963, and by March it had climbed all the way to number two on the British charts.

The group's big break through came in May the same year, when both their debut album, Please Please Me, and the single From Me To You, written by Lennon/McCartney, reached number one in Britain.

Beatlemania was spreading across the UK and Europe. America would soon follow.

The Beatles hit America

April 4 1964 is historical date in the history of popular music. On this day, the Beatles held the FIVE TOP POSITIONS on the American charts.

In fact, in 1964 the group topped the American charts from the beginning of February to the end of June.

That's almost six months!

This was of course a remarkable achievement in itself, but there were at least two other factors that made it even more remarkable.

Firstly, it was unusual that British artists troubled the US charts in the first place. Popular music in the US was then, as it still is today, dominated by American artists. Who would have thought that four youngsters from Liverpool with strange haircuts and even stranger accents would take complete control of the American charts?

Secondly, the biggest achievement of it all was that all the songs, with the exception of Twist And Shout, were composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the group's two front men. At the time, it was unusual for artists to compose their own music. Elvis Presley, for example, America's most popular artist before the Beatles, was a singer and performer, not a songwriter.

But the Beatles insisted on doing everything their own way. They didn't necessarily respect rules or traditions within the pop genre. They did what they wanted to do. Hence, on April 4 1964, the Billboard charts in the US looked as follows:

1. Can't Buy Me Love
2. Twist and Shout
3. She Loves You
4. I Want to Hold Your Hand
5. Please Please Me

The Beatles' first hit in the US was I Want To Hold Your Hand. The song went to number 1 on the US charts on February 1 1964, and stayed at the top for seven weeks.

A few days later, on February 9, the Beatles performed live at the Ed Sullivan TV show in the US. 73 million American viewers tuned in to watch, a new record.

The Beatles' invasion of the US charts was followed by a successful American tour in August and September 1964. In New York, the group was introduced to Bob Dylan. Dylan's influence was soon to be traced in the Beatles' music, particularly in songs like I'm A Loser and You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, both penned by Lennon.

Chemistry and understanding

Between 1963 and 1970, the Beatles enjoyed tremendous success all over the world. Their success has since been unrivaled. Today it remains the most popular band of all times.

A great deal of the band's success must be attributed to the songwriting partnership of Lennon and McCartney. The two songwriters had a natural gift for crafting compelling melodies, and seemed to have access to a bottomless well of ideas. They contemplated and inspired each other, particularly in the early years, and both shared a desire to try the unexpected and to make the impossible work.

It's beyond comprehension how Lennon and McCartney could write around 200 songs in just seven years without compromising on quality. They always delivered the goods for the next Beatles single or album, despite being under immense pressure and often stretched for time, especially in the early years of their career.

Yet the importance of the chemistry between all four members cannot be underestimated. Insiders have talked about the telepathic understanding between Paul, Ringo, John and George during recording sessions. Perhaps this explains why none of their solo efforts never ever matched anything they recorded as a group. The Beatles was a four-piece band, and all four played important roles, although in different ways.

George Harrison, the youngest member, had a guitar playing style that perfectly fitted in with the Beatles' sound. Just listen to his guitar licks on I Want To Hold Your Hand. It gives the song the perfect "hook." It's simple but effective, and just right.

In 1965, Harrison introduced the Beatles to Indian music. The song Norwegian Wood on the album Rubber Soul became the first western pop song ever to feature an Indian sitar - played by George himself. From then on, Indian instruments were frequently used on Beatles records.

Harrison's song writing skills also developed extensively throughout his career with the Beatles. His early efforts, such as Don't Bother Me and If I Needed Someone, had showed promising signs. It was between 1968 and 1969 however that Harrison really began to peak as a songwriter. In this period, he delivered classics such as While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Something and Here Comes The Sun, which were on par with Lennon and McCartney's best songs.

Harrison also contributed to many of the vocal harmonies on Beatles songs. He was a confident backing vocalist, which added even greater depth to the voices of John and Paul. It sounded astonishing when John, Paul and George sang together as a trio, just listen to songs like The Word, It Won't Be Long and Because.

Ringo Starr never blossomed as a song writer, but he had a tremendous impact on the Beatles' sound. One of his strengths was that his drumming never interrupted the flow of a song. If a song needed a simple beat, then he kept it simple. But Ringo could also come up with creative beats when it was called for, just listen to his work on songs like Rain, She Said She Said and Hello Goodbye, to name a few.

As a lead singer Ringo had his limitations, but Lennon and McCartney would occasionally write songs specifically for him to sing. With A Little Help From My Friends and Good Night are two examples of how well Ringo would master the lead vocal, if the song was right for him.

Ringo contributed with two self-composed Beatles songs, Don't Pass Me By in 1968 and Octopus Garden in 1969. He was also credited for co-writing What Goes On and the instrumental Flying.

It's also worth to point out that Ringo invented the phrases A Hard Day's Night and Eight Days A Week, in which Lennon and McCartney incorporated into songs. He also came up with the title for Lennon's Tomorrow Never Knows.

Talent and sophistication

One of the Beatles' foremost strengths was the diversity of their songs and their reluctance to repeat themselves. Each record was different, since the Beatles always searched for new sounds and new ways to express themselves. The musical development from the group's first release, to the complexity of later recordings, showed a great ability to continuously reinvent themselves, while simultaneously staying loyal to their unique musical talent and sophistication.

The Beatles' debut album in the UK, Please Please Me, consisted of 8 Lennon/McCartney songs plus some cover songs. Although it cannot be ranked as one of their finest albums, it nevertheless showed promising signs. The album was recorded in just over nine hours, or 585 minutes to be precise. The date of recording was February 11 1963. It was winter in England and John Lennon suffered from a strong cold.

At 10pm that evening the Beatles had almost finished recording the entire album. They needed to record one more song though, but were not sure which one to do. Someone suggested that they could record Twist And Shout, an old Isley Brothers number. The Beatles decided to go ahead with it, with John taking the lead vocal.

John was shattered and had a soar throat, but that didn't stop him. He gave everything and nailed the song in the first take. Producer George Martin tried to record a second take, but John's voice had gone by then. That didn't matter, of course. Lennon had already delivered one of the best vocal rock and roll performances ever!

Please Please Me was released in April 1963, and topped the UK charts for 30 (!) weeks. In the US, it was released in July the same year, but with the title Introducing The Beatles. The American version did not include the songs Please Please Me or Ask Me Why and failed to make it to the charts. When the album was re-released in the US in January 1964, the two "missing" songs were included, and the album went to number two on the charts.

Introducing The Beatles had been released on the little-known Vee Jay label in the US, but all other Beatles records in the US were released on Capital Records, sister company to EMI (until 1968, when the Beatles started the ill-fated Apple project, their own record label.) In the UK, Beatles records were released on Parlophone, which was owned by EMI.

Because the albums were released by different record companies in the UK and in the US, and also because the Beatles shot to fame later in the US, the records had different content: different songs, different titles and different cover photographs. That changed in 1967, however, with the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. From then on, Beatles records in the US and UK contained the same songs. Today, it is the UK versions of the records that are available on Compact Disks.

The Beatles' follow-up to Please Please Me was entitled With The Beatles. It was released in the UK in November 1963. This record is a milestone in popular music. It featured 7 Lennon/McCartney songs plus a fine number by Harrison (Don't Bother Me). The sheer quality of the compositions put the Beatles light years ahead of other contemporary bands. The vocal performances were at times mind blowing, and the arrangements, crafted with invaluable support from producer George Martin, were spot on.

In the US, the same record was released with the title Meet The Beatles! in January 1964. It went to number one on the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Beatles' success continued with A Hard Day's Night, released in July 1964. Every song on the album was a Lennon/McCartney original, and many of them were written for the movie with the same title, in which the Beatles themselves played leading roles. The album was a good mix of up-beat rock songs as well as more tender and reflective songs such as Things We Said Today and I'll Be Back.

The first single to be released from A Hard Day's Night was McCartney's Can't Buy Me Love. It sold more than two million copies within a week in the US. In the UK, advance orders alone passed the 1 million mark.

The American version of A Hard Day's Night only featured seven sound track songs plus I'll Cry Instead. The rest of the album was, for some reason, made up by producer George Martin's orchestral versions of Beatles songs. It still topped the US charts for fourteen weeks.

Dylan makes an impression

In November 1964, the Beatles released the single I Feel Fine, which was followed by the album Beatles For Sale (US: Beatles '65) in December.

This album marked a shift in the song writing of Lennon and McCartney. The lyrics became more personal, often expressing loneliness. Song titles such as No Reply, I'm A Loser and I Don't Want To Spoil the Party really speak for themselves.

The Beatles For Sale was the group's fourth record in 21 months (they aimed at releasing two albums per year.) At this point, the band was exhausted from constant touring, and this affected the mood of the record.

The influence of Bob Dylan also made an impact. The Beatles' lyrics had taken a more narrative approach, adding more detail and meaning. Dylan's influence can particularly be traced in Lennon's I'm A Loser.

Interestingly, in the heydays of Beatlemania, when the Beatles enjoyed incomparable success all over the world, John Lennon sang about being a loser. Soon he would even cry for help!

Although Beatles For Sale featured a string of fine new songs, it was still a minor disappointment considering the group's recent form and progress. Lennon and McCartney had not been given sufficient time to write new songs, and the Beatles had to rely on old cover favorites in order to fill the album. Beatles For Sale was still a commercial success, topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

A new direction

1965 turned out to be yet another eventful year for the Beatles. They received MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire) from the Queen (Lennon returned his in 1969), they played in front of 56,000 hysterical fans at the Shea Stadium in New York, they met Elvis Presley and participated in the filming of their second movie Help! on locations all around the world.

And they had of course new records to make…

It's worth taking into consideration how young the Beatles still were at this point. In 1965, Harrison, the youngest, had just turned 22, McCartney was turning 23, while Lennon and Starr were going on 25.

As young men in their early 20s the Beatles had conquered the hearts and minds of a whole generation of record buyers worldwide. In addition, John Lennon and Paul McCartney had established themselves as the world's most gifted song writers, although now writing songs more independently from each other.

The Beatles were always looking for new directions and new influences, that's why their records sound so different. And 1965 marked yet another turning point in their musical development.

That year, John Lennon and George Harrison had been introduced to LSD, a dangerous chemical drug which had gained popularity among certain artists and intellectuals in the USA. LSD was supposed to inspire artistic creativity through hallucinating experiences, but the drug had nasty side effects and destroyed some of the finest pop talents at the time, including Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

The Beatles, in particular Lennon and Harrison, would start taking the drug regularly between 1966 and 1968, but they were fortunate enough to escape any form of lifelong mental illness.

Another sign of the Beatles' new musical direction came with the release of the single Ticket To Ride in April 1965. Penned mostly by Lennon, the song had a slower tempo and a more passive approach than earlier Beatles singles. It was also 3 minutes long, which was considered over the "radio friendly" limit. Ticket To Ride "only" topped the US charts for one week, before it was replaced by Help Me Rhonda by the Beach Boys. In the UK, the single held the no 1 spot for three weeks.

Ticket To Ride was followed by the movie and soundtrack album Help!, released in the summer of 1965. On the new album, two songs in particular pointed to a new direction in the Beatles' music. Help!, the title track, was according to Lennon himself a deeply personal song, which described his emotions and anxieties at the time. You've Got To Hide Tour Love Away, also written by Lennon, was a Dylan inspired folk-rock song, which appeared to be somewhat critical of mainstream society.

The album also featured Paul McCartney's perhaps most famous Beatles song to date, Yesterday, which became a mayor hit in the US (it was the Beatles' 10th no 1 single in the US), and still is one the most played songs on American radio stations.

On the American version of Help!, some songs were, oddly enough, replaced by instrumental soundtrack cuts by producer George Martin. Nevertheless, the album topped both American and British charts for nine weeks.

Rubber Soul: a turning point

Songs such as Ticket To Ride, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away and Help! had signaled a shift in the Beatles' musical direction. The release of the album Rubber Soul in December 1965 confirmed this change. Rubber Soul was pop music unlike it never before had been presented. The songs were just as catchy as before, but they had a darker undertone and a somewhat urgent appeal.

This was particularly apparent in the songs Nowhere Man, The Word and We Can Work It Out, although the latter song was not included on the album, but released as a single together with Day Tripper (unlike most contemporary artists today, the Beatles often tried to avoid releasing a song as a single if it also featured on one of their albums).

With Rubber Soul, the Beatles reached a new level of musical sophistication. The album was way ahead of its time in terms of both song writing and production. New and exciting sounds had been developed, such as Harrison's Indian sitar on Norwegian Wood, the baroque-style piano on In My Life (played by George Martin) and McCartney's fuzz bass on Think For Yourself. In addition, the lyrics were more reflective and diverse than on previous albums.

"Every cut was very artistically interesting and stimulating," said Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. In fact, Rubber Soul inspired Wilson to record his own master piece, Pet Sounds, released in 1966, which in return had a big influence on the Beatles, particularly on McCartney.

Rubber Soul was a turning point in the Beatles' career. It was a statement that the band would let their talents and creativity lead them in new musical directions regardless of whether it would harm their popularity and commercial value.

Although the Beatles had started experimenting with new sounds and instruments, it was again the sheer quality and uniqueness of the songs that made the album stand out. It was a record that captured the Beatles in a transition period, from childhood to manhood, and some would say it offered the best of both worlds.

Four of the songs on Rubber Soul were not included on the US version of the album; Drive My Car, Nowhere Man, If I Needed Someone and What Goes On. Instead, these songs ended up on the album "Yesterday"… and Today, which was released in the US in June 1966.

The psychedelic experience

"They have an instinctive awareness of what they do.
They are always ahead of everyone else."

George Martin, Beatles producer.

Geoff Emerick will never forget Wednesday April 6, 1966, the day the Beatles began recording the album that would eventually be entitled Revolver. A few weeks beforehand, 18-year old Emerick had been promoted to replace Norman Smith, who had decided to move on to produce a promising new band called Pink Floyd.

Emerick had already worked as an assistant on many Beatles recording sessions, but he was still very nervous going into his first session as the group's chief engineer.

And that morning, young Emerick was put on the spot immediately by John Lennon who announced that he wanted the vocal on his new song, later entitled to Tomorrow Never Knows, to sound like the "Dalai Lama chanting from a mountain top, miles away."

It was of course a mammoth task for the teenage engineer. This was 1966 and very few studio effects were available at the time. Remarkably Emerick solved it, by feeding the microphone through Leslie organ amplifier in order to create the eerie, distant sound Lennon was after.

And Lennon was thrilled with the result!

Lennon's Dalai-Lama-on-mountain-top request pretty much summarized the Beatles' spirit during the recording of Revolver:

They wanted everything to sound different!

They introduced tape loops, varispeed and backwards recording (recordings played back faster and/or played back backwards) and Indian instruments such as the sitar and the tambura.

Paul McCartney's somber master piece Eleanor Rigby, featured an eight piece string quartet, but no guitars or drums. Lennon's Tomorrow Never Knows had a multitude of effects, and the lyrics were based on Timorhy Leary's book The Psychedelic Experience from 1964, which referred to experiments with LSD. George Harrison's Love You To was a pure Indian composition, with Indian musicians participating on the recording.

In short, a pop record had never before sounded like this. With Revolver, the Beatles had once again turned the world of pop upside down.

But despite their experiments with new sounds and instruments, Lennon and McCartney, and also Harrison, remained faithful to their fundamental musical talents. The melodies they crafted were as compelling and diverse as before. It was the presentation that had changed.

Revolver topped the US and UK charts for six and seven weeks, respectively.

The final show

The Beatles' final concert ever (with the exception of the unannounced roof top concert in 1969) took place in Candlestick Park, San Francisco, on August 29 1966. At that point, the Beatles, and in particular George Harrison, were sick of touring and decided to put and end to it.

The good news was that the band could now spend more time in the recording studio.

In November 1966, the Beatles started recording the album that would become the legendary Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Beatles spent more than four months recording this album, which was unheard of at the time (the Beatles' first record, Please Please Me had been recorded in just 9 hours).

It's however worth pointing out that there had been a shift in the group's leadership at this point.

Before Sgt. Pepper, John Lennon had been the natural leader of the Beatles. It was Lennon who formed the Quarry Men back in the late 1950s, and he had also been the group's most dominant song writer.

By late 1966, this had changed. McCartney now wrote most of the songs, and seemed to have most of the ideas, while Lennon, for the first time, appeared to be more in the background. (It was, for example, McCartney's idea to perform as the fictional Sgt. Pepper band on the album's opening and closing cuts.)

Insiders have said Lennon was constantly taking the drug LSD during this period, and that this made him passive and less bossy. Lennon had also recently met the Japanese artist Yoko Ono, who he married in 1969, and whom many have said that took his attention away from the Beatles.

It's however dubious if Yoko Ono had any direct influence on Lennon's career at this stage, since he was still living with his first wife, Cynthia Lennon (born Powell).

Nevertheless, Lennon may not have been as proactive during the Sgt. Pepper sessions as before, but he still delivered some awesome songs for the album. A Day In The Life, the album closer, was a fifty-fifty Lennon and McCartney collaboration, although it had been written as two separate songs. Lennon also penned Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Good Morning Good Morning and Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite. He also wrote the superb Strawberry Fields Forever, which was released as single together with McCartney's Penny Lane (the two songs were not included on Sgt. Pepper). Interestingly, in the US, Penny Lane shot to number 1 on the billboard charts, while Strawberry Fields Forever only made it to number 8.

Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band turned out to be a huge success, and it is probably the most famous pop record ever made. The album topped the charts for 15 weeks in the US and for 27 weeks in the UK.

The time devoted to studio recording gave unusual results, and the Beatles once again broke new barriers in their quest for new and exciting sounds. Classical orchestras and brass bands were ambitiously used to enhance the arrangements of songs like She's Leaving Home and A Day In The Life. The distorted vocal and organ on Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds created a whole new experience for the listener, while Harrison's Within You Without You blended Indian and western classical instruments, which never before had been recorded together.

The Beatles had done it again. With Sgt. Pepper the group had yet another pop sensation on their hands. They had reinvented themselves once more, but without losing their identity. And once again they had conquered the top spot of the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

How could they possibly top this?

An unexpected death

On August 27 1967, Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, was found dead in his London apartment. The circumstances surrounding his death have never been resolved. He died of an overdose of tranquilizers, but some claim it was suicide. Epstein, a homosexual, was the man who spotted the Beatles at the Cavern Club in 1961 and who secured them record deal with EMI after convincing George Martin they were worth a try.

When Epstein died, the Beatles lost more than a friend; they also lost control of their finances.

Two and a half years later, in February 1969, the Beatles hired American businessman Allen Klein to look after their business. McCartney disliked the appointment of Klein, and would rather see their finances controlled by a law firm which belonged to the family of his future wife, Linda Eastman. The dispute split the group deeply, and it was one of the key factors that eventually lead to their break up.

Considering the time and effort the Beatles had put into making the Sgt. Pepper album, it would have seemed natural for them to rest on the laurels a bit and to take a long break.

But that didn't happen.

Only a few days after Sgt. Pepper had been completed, in late April 1967, the Beatles were back in the recording studio to work on the soundtracks for their next two movie projects: Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine.

Yellow Submarine was a cartoon film, and the soundtrack featured only four new Beatles songs. The rest of the album was made up by two previously released songs, All You Need Is Love and Yellow Submarine, plus classical instrumentals scored by producer George Martin. It was not released until January 1969 (number 2 US, number 4 UK).

The movie Magical Mystery Tour was financed, scripted and directed by the Beatles, and they also acted in it. Released in the UK on Boxing Day 1967, it was a critical failure, but the soundtrack featured new and exciting Beatles material, including Lennon's superb I Am The Walrus.

The Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack was released as an album in the US, where it reached number 1 on the charts, and as a double EP in the UK, reaching number 2.

The Beatles in India

When the Beatles had put the Magical Mystery Tour project behind them, they almost immediately headed for new adventures. In February 1968, the band traveled to Rishikesh in India to study Transcendental Meditation under the Indian meditation guru Maharishi. Some have also said the purpose of the stay was to clear their minds after some heavy use of chemicals drugs, which had persisted over time.

Staying in the Rishikesh community was also folk singer Donovan. Interestingly, he taught the Beatles a particular finger picking guitar style, which can be traced in many of the songs they wrote in India, such as Lennon's Dear Prudence and McCartney's Blackbird.

The first Beatle to leave India was Ringo, who returned to London in early March. McCartney soon followed, while Lennon and Harrison left in April.

Some say Lennon lost trust in Maharishi, because he allegedly had made sexual advances to a female member of the community (This apparently inspired Lennon to write the song Sexy Sadie).

Nevertheless, the Beatles returned from India with plenty of new material, and in May 1968 they began recording their next album, which would be given the title The Beatles (AKA the "White Album" because of its white cover).

Before the White Album sessions, the Beatles had been very careful of inviting outsiders to the studio. They would sometimes invite guests on very special occasions, such as on June 25 1967, when they performed All You Need Is Love in front of 400 million TV viewers worldwide. On that occasion, friends such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Marianne Faithfull, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash and Keith Moon of the Who were invited to join in.

But that was an exception. There were rarely guests in the studio during ordinary sessions. The only people who were present on a regular basis, in addition to George Martin and his engineers, was Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall, who acted as roadies, carrying and setting up equipment.

But that was before John turned up with his lover, Yoko Ono.

John Lennon had first been introduced to the Japanese artists at an exhibition in November 1966. By June 1968, when the recording of the White Album began, Yoko was in the studio every minute John was there. The two were inseparable.

Although Yoko never said much, the constant presence of an outsider annoyed the other three members. Or perhaps it was more the fact that John gave her a lot of attention and sometimes asked for her musical opinion. Nevertheless, things would never be the same again after that, as Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick points out in his book:

"We recognized the impact of her being there from the very first day. And from that point, everything was different."

Emerick describes how the atmosphere in the studio gradually got worse and worse, until he one day had enough and walked out. He did not return before the recording of Abbey Road.

Even Ringo got fed up and left the band, but he came back a few days later. On his return, he was greeted by a studio decorated in flowers, and a message on his drum kit which read: Welcome Back Ringo.

Still the tense atmosphere continued. As George Harrison later summed it up: "[By 1968] the rot had already set in."

Consequently, the four Beatles were now working more separately in the studio, often in different rooms. They also became shy of offering opinions and suggestions to each other. Songs like Martha My Dear and Mother Nature's Son were sheer solo recordings by McCartney, and only Ringo was asked to help out on Why Don't We Do It In The Road?

By October 1968, the Beatles had recorded 30 songs which they decided to release as a double-album, despite producer George Martin's suggestion to cut it down to one single LP.

Martin's view is shared by many, and perhaps not all the songs on the White Album are up to the high standard expected from the Beatles. Others hold the album as their all time favorite, because of its incredible diversity and unusual mix of songs. It should also be said that Paul McCartney has spoken highly of the album in recent years.

The Beatles (AKA the White Album) was released in November 1968, to mixed reviews from the critics. It was a best-seller around the world, however, and sold nearly two million copies within the first week in the US alone.

Get Back

Unfortunately, the disharmony that had sprung up during the recording of the White Album continued on to the Beatles' next project, which had the working title "Get Back."

It was Paul McCartney's idea to make a back-to-basic album free from the experimentation, technical trickery and perfectionism that had defined many of the Beatles' recent records. The new album should be recorded as 'live' as possible, with a minimum of overdubs - even mistakes would be tolerated.

The idea was that Get Back should bring the Beatles back to their roots, back to the days when they played in front of real audiences. In addition, the plan was that the new material should be performed live on a TV show, transmitted worldwide. Concerts were also considered.

It was perhaps a good idea, but John and George only half-heartedly agreed to pursue it.

Rehearsals for the planned TV show started in January 1969 in Twickenham Film Studios in west London. A film crew was also there to film the rehearsals.

On January 10 George Harrison walked out after an argument with McCartney. He returned a few days later, but he had made his point: the plans for the TV show and the concerts were scrapped.

Still the recording of the Get Back album went ahead. The Beatles and the film crew moved to a new recording studio, which, on their own request, had been built in the basement of their Apple headquarters in central London.

But the bad atmosphere would not go away. George Harrison later described the Get Back sessions as "the low of all-time," while Lennon called it "the most miserable sessions on earth."

On January 22, George Harrison spotted the American organist Billy Preston in the reception area of the Apple headquarters. The Beatles had known Preston from the Hamburg days in 1962, when he was a part of Little Richard's backing group. Harrison immediately invited Preston to join the Beatles in the studio. He hoped the presence of an outsider would ease the tension. As a result, Preston's distinctive organ is audible on many of the songs from the Get Back sessions.

Although the plans for a TV show and concerts had been scrapped, the Beatles decided to fulfill some of the original Get Back plan in the end.

They would indeed perform the new material live - on the high roof of the Apple headquarters in central London! On January 30, the Beatles played the Apple roof top for 42 minutes in freezing cold weather. The concert was never announced, but people were hanging off balconies and out of office windows to get a glimpse of the show.

The Get Back album never really materialized. By March 1969, the Beatles had already abandoned the idea, and the tapes from the January sessions were given to engineer Glyn Johns who was faced with the task of putting it together to an album (it worth noting that producer George Martin had been mostly absent during the Get Back sessions). Johns did indeed finish Get Back, but the Beatles could not decide whether they liked it or not.

In the end, the tapes were handed over to the infamous American producer Phil Spector, on request by Lennon and Harrison, who was given the daunting task of finishing the record. It was eventually released under the title Let It Be in May 1970.

The Let It Be album is, perhaps, the Beatles' only real disappointment, despite the fact that it topped the charts all over. Its content often appears half-finished and uninspiring, despite some fine efforts here and there.

Fortunately though, Let It Be was not the last album to be recorded by the Beatles, although it was their last release.

The Beatles did indeed manage to record one more album album that was worthy of having their name on it. In fact, many Beatles fans hold it as their favorite. It was given the title Abbey Road, named after the EMI Abbey Road studios, where the Beatles had made so many great records.

Abbey Road: the end

"And in the end, the love you take
is equal to the love you make"

Paul McCartney, The End, Abbey Road.

Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick described the making of Abbey Road as "walking on eggshells." After the tense moments during the recording of the White Album and Let It Be, the Beatles seemed to do their best to avoid falling into arguments.

It didn't start too well though. In the summer of 1969, John and Yoko had been in a car accident while in Scotland, and the doctor had ordered Yoko to stay in bed for some time.

The others could not believe their own eyes when, on July 9, John and Yoko turned up in the studio with a big bed for Yoko to rest in! For the next several weeks, Yoko practically lived in that bed. John even requested a microphone to be set up for her so that he could hear her through the headphones.

Back on July 1, when the Lennons were still in hospital, McCartney, Harrison and Starr had started working on two songs intended for the new album: Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight and Maxwell's Silver Hammer. It's worth noting, however, that some of the songs on Abbey Road were well on their way before this time. Early takes of I Want You (She's So Heavy), Oh Darling!, Something and Octopus's Garden had in fact been recorded between February and May 1969, but underwent numerous perfections during the Abbey Road sessions, which lasted from the beginning of July to August 25.

It was McCartney's idea to link some of the songs on Abbey Road together to one continues piece, using You Never Give Me Your Money as a medley. The result was quite astonishing, and the songs really flow into one another naturally.

Abbey Road also benefited from having producer George Martin back in a more proactive role. Martin at times been absent during the recording of the White Album and Let It Be.

Although not as proactive as in earlier days, Martin was now back doing what he did best; arranging classical scores and vocal harmonies that fitted the songs perfectly. Engineer Geoff Emerick had also returned. He had walked out on the group the year before, but Paul McCartney had personally asked him to come back to help out on the new record.

At this point, however, it was rare that all four Beatles were in the studio at the same time, and they did quite a lot of recording separately, as they had done on the White Album sessions.

There were some good team efforts though, such as the wonderful vocal harmonies on the Because, in which John, Paul and George spent hours working on until it was considered perfect.

But there were also tense moments at times. One example of this is the infamous "biscuit incident." One day, Yoko Ono had gained some strength and jumped out of her "sick bed" to nick one of George Harrison's biscuits from a packet he had put on his guitar amplifier (it was considered a taboo to touch any of the food in the studio that belonged to the Beatles.) Harrison made it clear that Yoko had crossed the line, to put it mildly, and an argument broke out between him and Lennon. Fortunately it died out pretty quickly.

Nevertheless, the biscuit incident pretty much summed up how fragile the relationship between the four Beatles was at this point.

John Lennon had taken quite a passive role during the Abbey Road sessions, and it was Paul who was running the show most of the time. At times, Lennon seemed to distance himself from the project, and there are several songs in which he doesn't participate on at all. It has since been known that he was addicted to heroin at this stage, which can explain his mood swings. He still delivered some excellent tunes for the album though, including Come Together, I Want You (She's So Heavy) and Because.

George Harrison was peaking as a songwriter at this point, and delivered two of the album's many highlights: Here Comes The Sun and Something. The latter song was admired by both McCartney and Lennon and became the first Harrison composition to feature on the A-side of a Beatles single. It was released together with Come Together, as a double A-sided single (no 1 US, no 2 UK.) Harrison also shaped many of the sounds on Abbey Road with his Moog synthesizer and slide guitar technique.

Ringo Starr's drumming was excellent throughout, and he even reluctantly agreed to do a drum solo after Paul McCartney had convinced him to do it. Octopus's Garden, his second main song writing effort, also deserves its place on the record.

Abbey Road was released in September (US) and October (UK) 1969, and shot straight to number one on the charts around the world. And what an album it was! It was a superb last effort from a group that gave and achieved so much over the years, ever since their first recording session that September day in 1962.

Now the Beatles had grown apart, they were shattered and exhausted, disillusioned and fed up. But they had managed to finish the fairy tale on a high note - at least musically.

On April 10 1970, Paul McCartney announced the break up of the Beatles.

Almost ten years later, on December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot dead by Mark David Chapman, a mentally ill fan. Lennon's death buried any hopes of a Beatles reunion.

In March 1994 and February 1995, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr reunited to finish two songs, Free As A Bird and Real Love, which had been recorded on a home demo by Lennon in 1977 and 1979. They had been given the tapes by Yoko Ono.

On November 29 2001, George Harrison also passed away. Both Paul and Ringo played at his memorial concert the same year.

"Everything Must Pass," Harrison said in his own words…

…but the music of the Beatles will live on forever.

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Further reading:

Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey:

Here, There and Everywhere
My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles (2006)

Review:

This is the story about the Beatles told by somebody who was there, working closely with the band over several years.

Geoff Emerick had just turned 16 when he worked on his first Beatles session, and at the age of 18 he had become the group's chief engineer.

Emerick tells it like it was; the good times, the bad times, why he walked out on the group - and why he came back. It's a subjective account, and some readers may at times dislike the way he portrays the personalities of Lennon, Harrison and Starr. However, the fact that Emerick shares his personal views ultimately adds value to the book.

Here, There and Everywhere is a must read for every Beatles fan.

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Mark Lewisohn:

The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (1988)

Review:

If you really want to find out how the Beatles made their records, then this book is for you.

Mark Lewisohn has compiled data from every Beatles session at EMI studios, and interviewed people who participated on the recordings; engineers, producers, session musicians and so on.

It's a day-by-day account, from the first Beatles session in 1962, to the last some seven years later.

The book also includes an interview with Paul McCartney.

Highly recommended.

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Steve Turner:

A Hard Day's Write
The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song (1994)

Review:

This book is a good introduction for those who want to find out more about the songs of the Beatles.

Steve Turner has managed to track down several real-life people who are portrayed in their songs; Polythene Pam, the girl in She's Leaving Home and Lucy from Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, to name a few.

Even expert Beatles fans are likely to be surprised by some of the information here.

Recommended.

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Ian MacDonald:

Revolution In The Head
The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (1994)

Review:

It's unbelievable that Ian MacDonald could dismiss so many great Beatles tracks:

Savoy Truffle is described as "pointless", Lady Madonna as a "moderately entertaining let-down" and Day Tripper as "musically uninspired."

This book will most certainly provoke many readers, although to the author's defense it should be said that he does take time to explain his often controversial views.

The book is still useful though, since it comes with a who-plays-what section for every song.

It also has a good historical overview of the Beatles period.

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