Photo number 3 of the LEGO Beatles Christmas gift from my
girls (see prior posts for images of John and Paul). People that casually know of
the Beatles know they are John, Paul George and Ringo, but it didn’t start that
way. Here’s a little info you may not know.
A 16-year old John Lennon (born
John Winston Lennon October 9, 1940) of Liverpool England got his first guitar
in late 1956, and began playing using banjo chords taught to him by his mother.
In November of that year he formed a group with his friends and called
themselves the Quarry Men. They played a type of music called Skiffle, popular
in England at the time.
One of group members introduced John to a boy named
Paul McCartney (born James Paul McCartney June 18, 1942) at one of the Quarry Men’s
gigs on July 6, 1957. Paul, also a guitar player himself, watched John with interest
during the show, not quite able to follow the chords John was playing since
they were banjo chords, but he could see John was quite the entertainer. The
two talked after the show and Paul showed John a few things he knew on the
guitar and even though John felt a little threatened by Paul’s ability, he
thought it’d be better to have Paul as a bandmate than as a rival in another
band. The following day, John asked Paul if he’d like to join the group. Paul
played his first official gig with the Quarry Men on October 18, 1957. John and
Paul were together almost daily now and began writing their own songs.
In February
1958, Paul introduced John to a friend, George Harrison (born February
25, 1943). John wasn’t too keen on hanging around with such a young kid, (George
was not yet 15), since John was all of 17 at the time, but he could see George
was a more skilled guitar player than either he or Paul. Soon, John asked
George to join the group as well.
By this time, skiffle was on its’ way out and
rock and roll was in. Elvis, Little Richard and Buddy Holly and the Crickets
were making music that teenage kids wanted to hear. The band, featuring the
three guitar players would sometimes play under the name Quarrymen and Johnny
and the Moondogs through the fall of 1959, including an event in August where
they played at a newly opened venue, the Casbah Club, run by a woman named Mona
Best.
In early 1960, one of John’s friends from art school, Stuart Sutcliffe,
won an art contest and John convinced him to use his winnings to buy a bass
guitar. Even though he had no skill at playing, Stu bought a bass guitar and
amp on January 21, 1960 and was now a member of the band, now with 4 guitar
players and no drummer. The boys taught Stu a few chords for the bass but he
was so shy about his lack of playing ability that he often played with his back
to the audience. The band would occasionally pick up a drummer here and there
but no one seemed to click with the rest of the band.
A club owner and manager,
Allan Williams, helped get more playing dates for the boys including a booking in Germany in
August of 1960, but he told the band they must add a drummer to be recognized
as a complete band. Their minds went back to the Casbah Club owner, Mona Best,
whose son Pete had a drum set. Pete didn’t play them often and wasn’t very
good, but needing a drummer badly before they could head to Germany, they auditioned
Pete on August 12, 1960.
Meanwhile, John, Paul, George and Stu had talked of
names for the new band and since they enjoyed the music of Buddy Holly and the
Crickets they toyed with the Beatals, Beetles, Silver Beetles among others, but
John, with his love for word play, made the final decision, and on August 17,
1960, the 5 boys headed to Hamburg playing under the name of The Beatles. Their
agreement for their first season at a seedy nightclub in Hamburg was to play for
4 ½ hours a night Tuesday through Friday and 6 hours a night on the weekends,
for the next 48 nights. When that gig ended in October, they signed on with
another venue up the street for another 58 nights. The demanding schedule only
helped to sharpen their skills...all except Pete...but he was a favorite with the girls in the audience who swooned over his good looks. The rest of the band didn’t know how to dump him, so he stayed on.
During one of their rare nights off, they took in a show at another Hamburg
club where Liverpool’s top group at the time, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes was
playing. They had a unique playing style and a very good drummer. He wasn’t
flashy, but he was able to keep the beat and had an outgoing personality, much
like John, Paul and George. His given name was Richard ‘Richy’ Starkey (born July
7, 1940). Richy had a passion for rings, one that his mom had given him for his
16th birthday, another being the wedding ring of his recently
deceased grandfather. When he added a third ring, people started calling him
‘Rings’, and over time Rings became Ringo and Ringo Starkey eventually became
Ringo Starr.
After more than 3 months in Hamburg, the boys, returned
to Liverpool with improved skills and were a big hit with the locals. In April
1961, they returned again to Hamburg for a 13-week engagement and while there, played
backup musicians to a singer named Tony Sheridan, and were credited as the Beat
Brothers on his record, ‘My Bonnie’ when it was released in August. By this
time, Stuart had decided to stay in Hamburg with his girlfriend Astrid
Kirchherr and resume his artistic career. Paul became the new bass player for the band.
Once back in Liverpool, the four remaining Beatles fame and following continued to grow
and on October 28, 1961, one of their fans stopped by a record store, owned and
ran by a man named Brian Epstein, and asked if he had a copy of ‘My Bonnie’ for
sale. Brian’s policy was to obtain any record a customer ordered and set about
to find it. In the process he heard that the musicians the kids wanted to hear
were playing in a nearby venue called The Cavern. The Beatles first gig at the
Cavern was Feb 9, 1961 and when Brian stopped by for a lunchtime show on November
9, 1961, the Beatles had a fan base that was nothing short of electric to be a
part of. Brian was impressed by their musical skills but moreso by their
personality and the way they interacted with their audience. Brian was
mesmerized and soon set up a meeting with the band and offered himself as their
manager. They were impressed by Brian more than with previous managers and
agreed.
Brian increased the number of play dates and cleaned them up, getting them out of their leather outfits and sloppy clothes into suits and ties. On January 1, 1962 the Beatles got an
audition track recorded for Decca Records but neither Decca nor other record
producers were interested in the boys. In fact, one executive is famous for
saying, ‘groups of guitarists are on their way out’. While Brian continued to find a
record company that would audition the boys, they kept a prior agreement to
return to Hamburg in April 1962 for 13 weeks and upon their arrival, were met
by Astrid who told them their friend Stuart had died of a brain hemorrhage just a
few days before.
Days later they began their 7-week residency at the nightclub,
this time playing 7p-2am weekdays and 8p-4am weekends. Their skills continued
to improve with this heavy playing schedule and they became as popular in Hamburg as
they were back in Liverpool. While in Hamburg, Brian sent a message for them to
begin working on new material as he had secured a contract with EMI records in
England for an audition.
On June 6, 1962, they arrived at Abbey Road Studios to
meet with record producer George Martin. George thought their music was fair, it had potential, but their charisma and charm was off the charts. The one
band member he didn’t like was the drummer Pete Best who he felt just couldn’t
keep the beat and threw the rest of the boys off. A follow up session was
scheduled in August but the boys were told Mr. Martin would supply a session drummer
because he didn’t want Pete Best. Brian was given the task of firing Pete and
two days later Ringo joined the group for their first concert.
The new Beatles, John, Paul, George and Ringo recorded
‘Love Me Do’ and ‘PS I Love You’ as their first single and it was released in Britain on October 5, 1962, eventually rising to #17 on the record charts. On November 1 they
started another 14-night engagement in Hamburg and upon their return recorded
‘Please Please Me’. On December 18 they made their final return to Hamburg for
a 13-night engagement while their single Please Please Me became
their first Number 1 hit.
On February 2, 1963
they began their first British tour and their album titled Please Please Me debuted on
February 11. As they toured more of England intermixed with more
recordings with George Martin, their fame exploded across England, yet they were
unknown in America...until their song 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' was released in
December 1963 in America and quickly rose to Number 1. Based on the excitement their music and personalities created, Ed Sullivan signed them to appear on his weekly Sunday Night
entertainment program and on February 9, 1964, the Beatles were seen by 73
million viewers on The Ed Sullivan Show…becoming worldwide sensations. And...as they say...the
rest is history.
REMEMBER:
Be a reflection of what you’d like to see in
others. If you want love, give love. If you want honesty, give honesty. If you
want respect, give respect. You get in return, what you give.
Be talkin’ to ya.
Dan
