The Beatles.docx

1、The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe impact ofthe Beatlesupon popular music cannot be overstated; they revolutionized the music industry and touched the lives of all who heard them in deep and fundamental ways. Landing on these shores on February 7, 1964, they literally stood the world of pop culture on its he

2、ad, setting the musical agenda for the remainder of the decade. The Beatles buoyant melodies, playful personalities and mop-topped charisma were just the tonic needed by a nation left reeling by the senseless assassination of its young president, John F. Kennedy, barely two months earlier. Even adul

3、ts typically given to scorning rock and roll as worthless kids stuff were forced to concede that there was substance in their music and quick-witted cleverness in their repartee. Without exaggeration, they transfixed and transformed the world as we knew it, ushering in a demographic shift in which y

4、outh culture assertively took over from its stodgy Eisenhower-era forbears.The long journey resulting in the mob scene that greetedthe Beatles arrival at Kennedy Airport began in Liverpool back in 1958. A series of groups, including the Quarrymen and the Johnny and the Moondogs, variously included L

5、iverpool nativesJohn Lennon,Paul McCartneyandGeorge Harrison. With a rhythm section consisting of bassist Stu Sutcliffe (an art student with great looks and scant musical ability) and drummer Pete Best, the group assumed the name the Beatles. The group became a fixture on the rough-and-tumble bar sc

6、ene in Hamburg, Germany, where their five-set-a-night marathons helped mold them into a tight performing unit. Their early repertoire consisted of well-chosen rock and roll and rhythm & blues covers, running the gamut fromChuck BerrytoLittle Richard. In April 1961, Sutcliffe left and McCartney switc

7、hed from guitar to bass. On the local scene in their hometown of Liverpool, the group landed a lunchtime residency at a club called the Cavern, where they were discovered by a local record merchant and entrepreneur, Brian Epstein, who became their manager in December 1961.Epstein helped polish the g

8、roups appearance, dressing them in dapper collarless gray suits and making them appear more friendly than menacing. After being rejected by Decca Records following a January 1962 audition,the Beatlessigned with EMI-Parlophone that April, having impressed producerGeorge Martin. In August, Ringo Starr

9、 (born Richard Starkey), whod been drumming with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, was brought into replace Pete Best. The groups first single, Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You, briefly dented the U.K. Top Twenty in October 1962, but their next 45, Please Please Me, formally ignited Beatlemania in their home

10、land, reaching the Number Two spot. It was followed by four consecutive chart-topping British singles, issued throughout 1963: From Me to You, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Cant Buy Me Love. They conquered the U.K., even inducing a classical music critic from the London Sunday Times to de

11、clare them the greatest composers since Beethoven. The groups success was based around the Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership, Harrisons guitar-playing prowess, and Starrs amiable disposition and artful simplicity as a drummer. The Beatles conquest of America early in 1964 launched the British

12、 Invasion, as a torrent of rock and roll bands from Britain overtook the pop charts. The Fab Fours first Number One single in the U.S. was I Want to Hold Your Hand, released on Capitol Records, EMIs American counterpart. This exuberant track was followed by 45 more Top Forty hits over the next half-

13、dozen years. During the week of April 4, 1964,the Beatlesset a record that is likely never to be broken when they occupied all five of the top positions on Billboards Top Pop Singles chart, with Cant Buy Me Love ensconced at Number One. Their popularity soared still further with the release of their

14、 playfully anarchic documentary film, A Hard Days Night, in August 1964. When all was said and done,the Beatlescharted 20 Number One singles in the States - a number even greater than runner-upElvis Presleys 17 chart-toppers. For such feats of sales and airplay alone,the Beatlescan unassailably be r

15、egarded as the top group in rock and roll history. Yet their significance as a band extends beyond numbers to encompass their innovations in the recording studio. The Beatles legacy as a concert attraction, during their harried passage from nightclubs to baseball stadiums, is distinguished primarily

16、 by the deafening screams of female fans overcome by the groups very appearance. Consequently,the Beatlesbegan to indulge their creative energies in the studio, layering sounds and crafting songs in a way no one had attempted before. The results included such musically expansive and lyrically sophis

17、ticated albums as Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966). For various reasons, ranging from safety concerns to frustration that no one could hear or was listening,the Beatlesretired from touring after a San Francisco concert on August 29, 1966. Ten months later, they released Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hea

18、rts Club Band, an album that has almost universally been cited as the creative apotheosis of rock and roll, a watershed event in which rock became serious art without losing its sense of humor (or sense of the absurd). Realizing the band members collective ambitions took four months and all the tech

19、nical wiles of producerGeorge Martin. A completely self-contained album meant to be played and experienced from start to finish, Sgt. Pepper broke the mold in that no singles were released from it. The albums heady artistic reach further cemented the notion of a viable counterculture in the minds of

20、 youthful dropouts everywhere. Anyone who was alive in the summer of 1967 can remember the pleasant shock of hearing it and the reverberations it sent outward into the world of rock and roll and beyond. In the wake of Sgt. Pepper,the Beatlesbegan to splinter in ways that were, at first, subtle but t

21、hat gradually grew more pronounced. Subsequent events included the death of manager Epstein due to an overdose of sleeping pills; the release of the TV film Magical Mystery Tour, which earnedthe Beatlessome of their first negative reviews; a trip to India to meditate with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, abou

22、t whom Lennon wrote the scabrous putdown Sexy Sadie; and the launching in January 1968 of Apple Corps, Ltd., a disastrously mismanaged entertainment empire that helped bring downthe Beatlesamid a tangled maze of money matters. Through all the chaotic events of the late Sixties,the Beatlesmanaged to

23、retain their integrity and focus as recording artists. Released in August 1968, the single Hey Jude/Revolution became their most popular single. The Beatles (1968), a double-LP popularly referred to as the White Album, was like a prism that found the group refracting into four individual and highly

24、estimable talents. The album and film Let It Be, recorded in 1969 but shelved until 1970, essentially documentedthe Beatles dissolution and breakup amid internal squabbles and the presence ofJohn Lennons new mate, Yoko Ono. Yetthe Beatlescame together and exited on a high note, uniting in the summer

25、 of 1969 to record their swan song, Abbey Road. On April 10, 1970,Paul McCartneyannounced his departure fromthe Beatles, and the group quietly came to an end. Throughout the Seventies, fans hoped for an eventual reunion, while the group members pursued solo careers with varying degrees of artistic a

26、nd commercial success. Those hopes were forever dashed by the murder ofJohn Lennonin New York City on December 8, 1980. July 7, 1940Ringo Starr was born.October 9, 1940John Lennonis born at Oxford Street Maternity Hospital in Liverpool, England, to Julia Stanley and Alfred Lennon.June 18, 1942JamesP

27、aul McCartneyis born in Liverpool, England. February 25, 1943George Harrisonwas born.1956Julia,John Lennons mother, bought him his first guitar through a mail order ad. His incessant playing prompts Johns Aunt Mimi to say, The guitars all very well as a hobby, John, but youll never make a living out

28、 of it. John forms his first group, the Quarrymen.July 6, 1957John LennonmeetsPaul McCartneyat the Woolton Parish Church in Liverpool during a performance by Johns group the Quarrymen. Impressed by Pauls ability to tune a guitar and by his knowledge of song lyrics, John asks him to join the group. F

29、ebruary 1, 1958Paul McCartneyintroducesGeorge Harrisonto the Quarrymen at a basement teen club called the Morgue. George joins the group. August 1, 1960The Beatles make their debut in Hamburg, West Germany, with Stu Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums.January 1, 1961The Beatles make their debut

30、 at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.November 1, 1961Local record store manager Brian Epstein is introduced tothe Beatles. He soon signs a contract to manage them.March 7, 1962The Beatles make their radio debut performing three songs, includingRoy Orbisons Dream Baby, on the BBC. April 10, 1962Stu Sutcl

31、iffe dies of a brain hemorrhage.June 1, 1962The Beatles audition forGeorge Martinat Parlophone/EMI Records. He agrees to sign the group, but insists that Pete Best be replaced. Within months, Richard Ringo Starkey joins the group.SEPTEMBER 4-11, 1962The Beatles record their first sessions at EMI Stu

32、dios in London, withGeorge Martinas producer.December 1, 1963I Want to Hold Your Hand,the Beatles first American single, is released by Capitol Records.January 26, 1964I Want To Hold Your Hand (The Beatles) was a hit.February 7, 1964The Beatles arrive in AmericaFebruary 9, 1964The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.February 11, 1964The Beatles begin their first U.S. tour at the Coliseum in Washington, D.C.March 15, 1964She Loves You (