The Beatles (1960 to 1970)

In 1958 on February 6, the Quarrymens played at the Wilson Hall in Liverpool-Garston. George Harrison, who was 14 years old at the time, visited his friend Paul McCartney for the event. After the concert they went home with them and Harrison played a song called Raunchy during the concert. He was also accepted into the band because of it. John Lennon later said that he had chosen Harrison and McCartney and had practically thrown the others out. That's just the way it was. The friendship between Lennon and McCartney became closer when Julia Lennon, John's mother, died in a car accident on July 15, 1958. McCartney had already lost his mother to breast cancer two years earlier in 1956, so he knew how Lennon was doing. Harrison kept a low profile during this time precisely because of the age difference.

In the middle of the year the band, still called The Quarrymen, went to Percy Phillips' home recording studio in Liverpool for private purposes. They recorded the two songs That'll Be the Day and In Spite of all the Danger, which was released a few years later. The band at this point consisted of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Colin Hanton and John Lowe a pianist. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison wanted to raise their profile and the three of them took part in a talent contest organized by an entrepreneur named Caroll Levis. On November 15, 1959, Johnny and The Moondogs, as they called themselves, qualified for the final round in Manchester. However, for financial reasons they had to drop out at the last second and travel back to Liverpool.

In January Stuart Sutcliffe joined the band Moondogs as a bass player. He was an old friend of Lennon's from art school and was a budding painter. With the proceeds of one of his paintings, he was able to buy a bass guitar. In the weeks that followed, the band called itself first The Crickets, then The Silver Beetles, and later The Silver Beatles. Lennon said ironically in an interview that a man appeared to them in a vision on a burning cake and gave the idea for the name. Beatles was a mixture of beat and beetles. From August 1960, the group called themselves only The Beatles.

In May, The Beatles were allowed to accompany singer Johnny Gentle on his tour of Scotland. However, this trip ended in fiasco. The band struggled with hunger, exhaustion and money problems. One member was also injured in a car accident in the meantime, and they didn't have much of an audience at the concerts either. In the summer of 1960, the Beatles accepted an engagement in Hamburg and traveled to Germany. Bruno Koschmider was a promoter and was looking for an English music group for his Hamburg night clubs. The band now consisted of the previous 4 and a new drummer Pete Best. On August 17, 1960 they played for the first time in the red light district of St. Pauli. From now on this was their everyday life and they slipped further and further into the scene of alcohol, drugs, sex and violence. Soon they were dependent on stimulants to get them through the nine-hour working day, to stay awake and to put on one show after another. Their performances long ago ended in wild scenes, making them an insider's tip in that community.

During this time they met the photographers Astrid Kirchherr and Jürgen Vollmer, who were the first to photograph them. Jürgen also contributed significantly to the later typical "mushroom head" hairstyle. They also met a budding artist named Klaus Voormann, who later became their stylist. In November, George Harrison was expelled from the country because he was only 17 years old and Paul McCartney and Pete Best because of alleged arson. John also finally traveled back to the UK in December. Stuart Sutcliffe was the only one who stayed in Germany to be with his girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr. But he died at the age of 21 on April 10, 1962, as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage. Because Sutcliffe was no longer with them, they finally decided to stay as a foursome.

On December 27, 1960, the Beatles played at the Litherland Town Hall in Liverpool. This performance gave the band several chances to play in other clubs. They became more and more famous. On June 22 and 23, 1961, the Beatles traveled to Germany again to accompany British singer Tony Sheridan on some of his recordings. Some songs of them were My Bonnie, The Saints and Ain't she sweet. The entire recordings of these were not released until April 1964 under the album title The Beatles' First.

In late October 1961, the Beatles came to the attention of Brian Epstein, who offered to manage them during a visit on November 9. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Pete Best accepted the offer. From that moment on, the Beatles, who had been traveling around without a fixed program, had to accept a change. Epstein demanded proper suits, decent behavior at performances and a fixed stage program. In addition, as manager, he organized an audition with the record company Decca in London. Unfortunately, they did not get the contract, because the jury was of the opinion that guitar groups were going out of fashion.

On March 7, 1962, the Beatles recorded tracks for the first time for the BBC radio program. George Martin of London's Abbey Road Studio took notice of them and the Beatles played to him and another producer named Ron Richards. Martin was thrilled and offered them a recording contract. Shortly before the first recording, the Beatles swapped their drummer Pete Best with Ringo Starr. The dismissal suggests that Pete Best was considered rather an outsider in the group and not very sociable. The first concert in this constellation took place on August 18 in the Hulme Hall of Birkenhead. On August 22, the first television appearance took place. On October 5, the Beatles released Love Me Do, their first official single. The piece was in the meantime at number 17 in the British single charts. In December they traveled to Hamburg again and played at the Star-Club where they also released their album Live! At the Star-Club in Hamburg Germany; 1962, which was released in 1977.

The Beatles released their second single Please Please Me on January 11, 1963, which made it to number two in the British charts. This success earned them many radio and television appearances. At this time, the Beatles traveled from gig to gig in a small second-hand bus. On February 2, 1963, the Beatles began their first tour of Great Britain as the opening act for 16-year-old singer Helen Shapiro. Another followed on March 9 alongside Tommy Roe and Chris Montez. Just one day later, the Beatles were announced as the main group due to their popularity with the public. On April 18 they played at London's Royal Albert Hall and on April 21 in front of 10,000 people at Wembley's Empire Pool.

On March 22, the first album called Please Please Me was released. The whole record was apparently recorded in just twelve hours at Abbey Road studios. It rose to the top of the British charts like almost all of their LPs by 1970. Already on April 11, the third single From Me to You was released, which Lennon and McCartney composed together. It sold over 650,000 copies.

From May 18 to June 9, 1963, the Beatles went on tour in England with Roy Orbison and Gerry & the Pacemakers. This time, too, Orbison had to step back as the actual main act and make way for the Beatles. During this time, the band had its own radio show at the BBC with Pop Go tot he Beatles which was broadcast weekly. More and more it was noticed that the Beatles had especially female fans. When their next single She Loves You appeared on August 23, it became clear what extent this had. The concerts were always accompanied by high police protection and again and again it got out of control. Public appearances became mass events. The single was sold 1.6 million times.

The final breakthrough of the Beatles happened with an appearance in the program Sunday Night at the London Palladium. This was watched by 15 million people and was subsequently called a "hysteria". For example, hundreds of fans outside the theater caused traffic chaos by their screeching. When the Beatles returned from their Swedish tour on October 31 in pouring rain, they were met at Heathrow airport by thousands of screaming fans. A day later they went on tour in Great Britain, this time as the main band from the beginning. All the time the police tried to fight against the strong mass of female fans to protect the band. Especially after the concerts, they either couldn't get out of the halls at all or couldn't get very far by car on the street. So they had to get creative and dressed up as policemen, for example. After a concert in Plymouth, they fled through the city's canal system. Meanwhile, the police had to use water cannons against the fans.

On November 4, 1963, the annual Royal Variety Performance took place and the Beatles played in front of Queen Elizabeth, Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret at London's Prince of Wales Theatre. Before their last song, Lennon spoke, "For our last number I'd like to ask your help: Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellery!"

The Beatles released their second album, With the Beatles, on November 22, 1963. The single I Want to Hold Your Hand followed on November 29. In England alone, there were one million pre-orders for it. The song was later recorded in German along with Sie Liebt Dich to accommodate the German market. In the USA they have not had any success yet. Despite attempts by their manager Brian Epstein, their music did not catch on in the United States. Only when Capitol Records, with the help of newspapers and promotion, did everything possible in December to ensure that the single I Want to hold Your Hand reached the American people, did they achieve a breakthrough there as well. On January 16, 1964, while the Beatles were in a hotel room in Paris, they got the news that their single was playing at the top of the charts in the United States. In the end, 60 percent of all singles sold in the U.S. the next year were Beatles productions.

On February 7, 1964, The Beatles landed in New York for a performance on Ed Sullivan's show. Their first appearance in America. They were welcomed by 5000 fans and 200 journalists on the tarmac and gave a press conference while still in the airport terminal. Two days later they gave the concert with five of their songs, while watching 73.7 million viewers on TV.

In March, the boys tried their hand at the movie business. They shot the music comedy Yeah Yeah Yeah and had great success with it. The matching soundtrack album followed in the summer. The Beatles took almost a month off in May, before they left on June 4 for the world tour. Ringo Starr was represented in Europe and Hong Kong by Jimmi Nicol due to a severe tonsillitis. When the Beatles gave concerts in the USA in August and September, they actively participated in the fight against racism. They refused to play in concert halls where racial segregation was practiced. Their opinion prevailed and they were desegregated for those evenings. On August 28, Bob Dylan visited the boys and offered them marijuana. The boys were already familiar with drugs from their time in Hamburg, but here they had a new experience.

On November 23, the Beatles released their single I Feel Fine and a short time later the album Beatles for Sale. Only 8 of 14 songs on the record were self-penned, which led critics to believe that the Beatles were flagging. In fact, they were under enormous time pressure and thus had fewer opportunities to write new songs. In December, the guys performed 39 times in three weeks with their second edition of Beatles Christmas Show.

On February 23, 1965, the Beatles began filming their second movie, Hi-Hi-Help! in the Bahamas. Unlike their first, this one was in color. The world premiere of it took place on July 29 in London. Among others, Princess Margaret was present. The matching single Help! and the soundtrack album were released at the end of July and beginning of August. On June 14, the Beatles produced Yesterday, one of their most famous songs. Paul McCartney once called this song Scrambled Eggs during its creation. From mid-June, the Beatles again traveled to Europe and then to the United States. On August 15, they played in an open stadium in New York in front of 55,600 spectators. Never before had a pop band played in front of such a large audience. During the concert, despite a 40,000-watt amplification system, the band as well as the audience could not hear the music because the screaming of the fans was too loud.

On October 26, the Beatles were awarded the Order of MBE by the British royal family at Buckingham Palace in London. Some veterans and military personnel who had received the same order through their years of working for the crown felt hurt by this and gave up their award.

At the end of 1965 the Beatles started their last Great Britain tour. They also had their last performance in Liverpool, where, among others, many of their friends and relatives were sitting.

On June 24, the Beatles embarked on another world tour, starting in Germany. When they arrived in Japan, there were protests from traditionalists who fought for the hall, which was otherwise reserved for martial arts, not to be used for the concert. At the end of the tour, the wife of the Philippine dictator Imelda Marcos sent an invitation to dinner. This was declined by the manager Epstein on behalf of the band. Because of this, they were forced to leave the country as soon as possible. At the airport they were attacked by security forces so that a chauffeur suffered a broken rib and Ringo Starr went down after a hook to the chin.

In the summer of 1966, professional music videos were shot for the singles Paperback Writer and Rain. With their next album Revolver, they struck out in a new direction musically. Many of the songs on this album were written under the influence of drugs, but they were also more elaborately produced. Also during this time, McCartney wrote the children's song Yellow Submarine. Apparently for Ringo Starr who was rather limited vocally.

After their tour in the fall of 1966, the Beatles decided to stop with them. On the one hand, it was nerve-wracking for the four members to perform so often in a short time and to attend all press conferences and appointments. The incident in Asia still preoccupied them and besides, the noise level stressed them. The four men had to think about themselves and get some distance from the concerts before everything became too much for them. From now on, they wanted to concentrate on the studio. The Beatles ended the tour with their last public performance on August 29, 1966 in Candlestick Park, San Francisco. Afterwards they went on vacation for three months. After the vacation, things looked different. McCartney composed a soundtrack for the movie The Family Way. All four members grew mustaches and changed their suits into colored clothes. John Lennon even had his mushroom head haircut cut off due to a role in a movie. The Beatles took the next few months very much in the studio and wrote new songs.

On June 15, 1967, the Beatles performed for the first time in a while. They played the song All You Need Is Love on the BBC television program Our World in front of 400 million viewers. A month later when they were vacationing in Greece with their wives, they considered buying a private island. However, the Greek government was using their visit as a tourist advertisement at the time, so they decided against it.

The Beatles kept trying different drugs which also brought them into the direction of meditation. In the summer of 1967, they attended a lecture by the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who spoke on this very subject. Harrison in particular became increasingly involved with meditation and Hinduism. The Beatles were invited to an introductory weekend in Bangor. During these days they learned of the sudden death of their manager Brian Epstein. He was found dead in his apartment on August 27, 1967, at the age of only 32.

Despite the shock, the Beatles started filming their third film Magical Mystery Tour. McCartney took on the role of director, since there was no script, but everything came about spontaneously. This led to upsets with Lennon and Harrison. The soundtrack was released in November, shortly before the world premiere of the film. The work was a failure and destroyed by the press and critics.

In mid-February, the Beatles and their wives traveled to India to see Maharishi. They all left the country after different time and returned to London. During this time, the four members composed 48 songs in seven weeks. That year, the four founded the Beatles' company, Apple. Lennon and McCartney traveled to New York in May where they introduced it at press conferences and on television. Apple served to discover and promote new music, film and art talent. Despite their efforts, Apple was unsuccessful and ran up huge debts. Before Brian Eppstein's death, he took care of the financial matters and with the business acumen of the Beatles and their employees, the company didn't stand a chance.

Also in this year there were some crises in the band. John Lennon met a woman named Yoko Ono at the end of 1966, because of whom he divorced his wife Cynthia in May 1968. Ono wanted to be present at every studio recording and distracted Lennon from his work and communication with the other band members. Lennon said afterwards that he didn't pay attention to the others anymore, but only sat in a corner with Yoko Ono and chatted. He didn't realize how much this annoyed the others. Also during the production of their double album in May the mood in the team became worse and worse. Ringo Starr left the band in the meantime because of a quarrel, but could be persuaded to return. The album was finally a success, but the work on it had not been a pleasure. At the end of August, the band released the single Hey Jude. McCartney composed the song for Lennon's son, who suffered from the separation of his parents. On September 4, they played for the last time on a television show, and in November they released their White Album. This was printed with consecutive numbers, which is why each record was unique. At the end of the year, three of four members released solo albums or their own projects.

On January 2, filming began for the music documentary Get Back, which was later renamed Let it Be. The goal was to film and document the Beatles during their work and production of a new album. Once again there were tensions among the four men. John Lennon seemed to be spiritually absent and increasingly let his girlfriend Yoko Ono speak for him, which drove the rest of the group crazy. Another point was the role of Paul McCartney who kept playing the director. On January 10, Harrison finally stormed out of the studio after McCartney criticized him on camera for his playing. The group had a clarifying talk and got Billy Preston as a keyboard player in the team, who could lay the tensions a little. Finally, at the end of January, the planned live performance took place on the roof of the Apple studios. Due to the noise, many residents felt inconvenienced and there was almost traffic chaos on the street because of the onlookers, which is why the Beatles broke off the recording earlier than expected.

The Beatles became more and more entangled in problems. They put shares of sales rights higher without informing each other and hired a new manager over the Beatles against the will of some members. They continued to record music together, but increasingly focused on solo projects. On August 20, the four stood together in the studio for the last time and a few days later took the last photos. A month later, on September 20, John Lennon announced his departure from the band. However, he asked not to make it public yet. After he said this, there was a discussion between im and McCartney who wanted to keep the band together a little longer. According to some interviews from that time, all involved were pleased about the breakup. The Beatles had been going for 10 years and now it was time for everyone to go their separate ways before it choked them. Six days later, the album Abbey Road was released, on the cover of which you can see the Beatles crossing a crosswalk of London's Abbey Road.

Despite their separation, other projects already started were still finished and released. John Lennon spoke openly in an interview that the Beatles thing was over. However, there was no big response to this from the press and it was not followed up. McCartney, Harrison and Starr kept calling each other a few months after Lennon's exit, wondering if it was really the end of the band. Could it be that it is only a phase of Lennon and he stands suddenly again? John Lennon however stayed with his wife Yoko Ono in Denmark and was determined. The other three released the single Let it Be during this time and took the lyrics to heart for the band. They knew it was finally over. It was not until April 10, 1970 that Paul McCartney officially announced this to the press.