THE BEATLES Everything you wanted to know about the Beatles but were afraid to ask

JOHN LENNON n Born in 1940 in Liverpool n Father Freddie deserts mother Julia n John raised by aunt and uncle n John always fighting, shoplifting, cruel to others n Mother encourages rebel n Julia dies in car accident n Lowest level of school n No musical training n Influenced by Bill Haley and the Comets, Lonnie Donnegan, Elvis Presley n First band - Quarrymen

PAUL McCARTNEY n Born in 1940 in Liverpool n Father played piano n Mother dies of cancer when Paul is 14 n Brother a photographer n Very dedicated n Played guitar left- handed n Influenced by Elvis n Member of Quarrymen

GEORGE HARRISON n Born in Liverpool in 1943 n Beatle with the most stable home life n rebelled by wearing tight pants and long hair n Youngest of all the Beatles

HAMBURG TOURS n First tour in 1960 n Very rough city, high crime rate - drugs, prostitution, violence n Played in a club but slept in cellar of movie house n 6-12:30/7 nights a week (sometimes ‘til 2a.m. n Sometimes 12 hours/day n Diet pills for throat problems, other pills to stay awake

MORE HAMBURG INFO n Met Ringo Starr n Met college crowd - different type of people than ever associated with n Astrid Kirchherr n Stuart Sutcliffe - original bassist in group - no technique n Pete Best - original drummer

MORE HAMBURG INFO 2 n Roles of members –John, leader –Paul, most friendly with audience –Stu, most intellectual –George, youngest, stayed in background

MORE HAMBURG INFO 3 n George deported because too young for work permit n Astrid responsible for early photos and for new hair style n Stu stays in Germany to marry Astrid n In 1962 Stu dies from brain hemorrhage from street brawl

BRIAN EPSTEIN n Family -owned record store n Became manager in 1961 n Changed Beatles image n Set up record audition n Turned down by several companies n Signed with Parlophone n George Martin - record producer n Pete Best fired, Ringo brought in n First record - Love Me Do and P.S. I Love You

RINGO STARR n Born in 1940 in Liverpool n Richard Starkey n Very sickly as a child, spent time in hospital rather than school

THE FAMOUS BEATLES n By Sept in Britain, top LP, top EP, top single n Beatlemania reigns from Oct n London Palladium - chaos n Beatle paraphernalia n In 12 months of first release, known all over Britain

THE BEATLES IN THE USA n Ed Sullivan 50,000 people apply for 728 seats n Carnegie Hall at each 25 minute perf, $3-$4.50 / ticket n 1964 tour - Europe, Far East Australia, USA (32 days and 24 cities) n 1965 & tours / yr, 3 sngles and 1 LP/yr n Shea Stadium n Last live performance , Candlestick Park in San Francisco

TOUR PROBLEMS n No anonymity n John - “Beatles more popular than Christ” n Klu Klux Klan and Bible belt n Can have same sounds live as those acquired in studio n Yoko Ono arrives

OTHER ENDEAVORS n “A Hard Day’s Night” - first movie, a day in the life of a Beatle n Indian music influence - George, Maharishi n “Magical Mystery Tour” - first failure n John writes book

END OF FIRST STAGE n Brian Epstein dies of drug overdose in 1967 n Experimentation begins –Sitar and tabla –Classical influence - string quartet, piccolo Trumpet, bassoon –Drug induced recording

COUNTERCULTURE IN USA n Hippies - peace and love –Under 30, white, well to do background n Long hair n Marijuana and mind-bending drugs n Rock music

IMPORTANT TUNES n Love Me Do n A Hard Day’s Night n All My Loving n Yesterday n Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds n Penny Lane n Eleanor Rigby n I Am the Walrus n Long and Winding Road n Hey Jude

APPLE CORPORATION n Established by Beatles to manage themselves after Epstein died n Was to help struggling artists n Big money troubles n Beatles became very independent of each other, did little recording together n Beatles split up in 1970

WHAT THEY ARE DOING NOW n Paul - Wings, solo albums, James Bond theme (Live and Let Die) n George - very private, did some solo work - died from cancer is 2001 n Ringo - acting career n John- albums with Yoko Ono, killed by crazed fan in 1980