Although the Beatles only existed for ten years from their establishment to their disbandment, as a revolutionary music culture, the band not only has the highest records in the world, but also has records that are difficult for future generations to match. sales records, and their cultural influence has long exceeded their art itself. Over the past few decades, the Beatles have become a symbol of popular music and culture, and have also become a trademark of British culture and British history. Some of their members have also been knighted by the Queen of England.
The Beatles led the direction of pop culture in various countries around the world in the 1960s and 1970s, becoming a fashion icon. Everything about the Beatles has become a commodity with the most cultural connotation. , and anything ever used by the Beatles can be auctioned off for astonishing amounts of money. In addition to being on countless covers of various magazines, the Beatles are often featured on stamps, postcards and other souvenirs from many countries around the world. They have countless related themed museums and documentaries, movies and other related cultural materials. Storage organization. In addition, there are still a large number of professional imitators of Beatles members in the world, as well as institutions and organizations that professionally organize and judge imitation competitions. The Beatles and Beatle culture have long since become an important part of human culture in the 20th century and will be forever engraved. As a trademark of the popular culture of the last century, they have never been challenged by any challenge.
Initially, the beginning of this fabulous band started in the famous British city of Liverpool. As early as five or six years before the Beatles recorded an album that shocked the world, this music group, which did not look much different from other unknown bands, had already begun their legendary experience. In the 1950s, noise jazz became popular in the UK, and John Lennon (born on October 9, 1940, assassinated in New York, USA on December 10, 1980), who was only a teenager at the time, was chasing the trend. A rebellious youth, in 1956, 16-year-old John Lennon met Paul McCartney (born on June 18, 1942), who was two years younger than him, in a church in Liverpool. Both of them left each other A very deep impression, two of the greatest pop stars in the history of pop music came together. In March 1957, Lennon, who was in high school, purchased a guitar and formed a noise jazz band called the Quarrymen on the high school campus. The band's name came from their school, Quarry Bank High School. Paul McCartney immediately joined Lennon's band as another guitarist, and soon McCartney's good friend George Harrison (born February 25, 1943, November 2001) Died of malignant brain tumor in Los Angeles, USA on September 29th) also joined the band and became the third guitarist. At the same time, other musicians gradually joined and quit the band on the high school campus. Among them, they stayed in the band. The longer-term member was drummer Colin Hanton, who joined in 1957 and quit in 1958. Eventually, three Liverpool guitarists, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, formed the core stable lineup of the Quarrymen in the late 1950s.
In March 1960, John Lennon’s college classmate and good friend, the talented bassist Stuart Sutcliffe (born June 23, 1940, 1962 died of sudden cerebral hemorrhage on April 10) joined the Quarrymen, and he suggested that the band be renamed the Beatles. In the summer of 1960, the Quarrymen changed their name to the Silver Beatles. , the band, which had been lacking a permanent drummer, also found a suitable drummer, Pete Best (born on November 24, 1941, in Madras, India) to join. In August of the same year, the band was officially named The Beatles. ). The Beatles then went to Hamburg in the Federal Republic of Germany as the band's starting point in Europe, but the experience in Hamburg poured cold water on the Beatles. In Hamburg, although the Beatles were very successful in some local clubs and became a well-known and popular local band, at the end of 1960, because George Harrison was underage, they After being deported by West Germany, the Beatles returned to Liverpool, England, but the band gradually became a well-known small band in the local area through some performances in Liverpool.
In March 1961, the Beatles returned to Hamburg, Germany, to participate in the recording of the album as the back-up band for Hamburg singer Tony Sheridan. During this period, the Beatles The band also wrote some songs, but they were not published, but these songs were released one after another after the Beatles became famous. These early works proved that they had begun to show their talents from this time on. At the same time, the Beatles' career in Liverpool became increasingly brilliant. Performances in local clubs and bars gradually brought them from an underground band to the forefront of local music culture. In Liverpool and Merseyside (Merseyside) area, the Beatles already have a large number of loyal fans and listeners, and their regular performances at the Cavern Club have long become a legend in the pop music industry. Throughout 1961, The Beatles' series of activities laid a very solid foundation for their future success, but also in 1961, the band's bassist Stuart Sutslieffe returned to college to complete his studies. , Paul McCartney became the band's new bassist, George Harrison became the lead guitarist, John Lennon played rhythm guitar, and Peter Best played drums, but at the same time they sang and performed. From time to time, they often exchange and play various other instruments, and almost everyone is the lead singer of the band.
In 1961, when the Beatles played and performed in Liverpool, the band went from singing only cover songs to later writing their own songs, especially John Lennon and Paul The two McCartneys collaborated with each other to create a large number of songs that would become popular in the future. At the same time, they also began to explore their own musical styles, from the initial noise jazz to gradually drawing from folk, blues, R&B music and rock music. The essence was integrated to form his own style. At the same time, he began to explore the playing skills of various instruments and integrate them into the band's music. In the same year, Astrid Kirchherr, a loyal fan of the Beatles and the girlfriend of the band's former bassist Suzlieffe, suddenly had the idea to let all members of the band cut their hair into a mop-top hairstyle. The weird idea became a reality, and this hairstyle became one of the trademarks of the Beatles after they became famous, and led to the subsequent popular direction. However, not every member of the band is very willing to cut their hair into a mop-top hairstyle. The band's drummer Best has a completely different hairstyle from the other members of the band.
At the end of 1961, the great potential of the Beatles was recognized by Liverpool record store owner Brian Epstein (born September 19, 1934, died of a drug overdose at his home in London on August 27, 1967) Discovered and soon became the Beatles' manager, his successful operation was about to bring the Beatles to the pinnacle of world music.
On January 1, 1962, the Beatles went to Decca Records to audition, but were eventually rejected by record company manager Mike Smith, who claimed that the guitar band had no future. . They had been rejected by many record companies before, but under the leadership of Epstein, the Beatles once again went to Parlophone, a subsidiary of EMI Records, to try their luck. After auditioning, record company producer George George Martin officially signed with The Beatles on May 9, 1962. In addition to being busy negotiating with the record company, the Beatles also continued to perform in Germany and the United Kingdom. After successfully signing with the record company, Epstein began to concentrate on packaging the band's image. In addition to the hairstyle that had been formed, he also On August 16, 1962, the unsociable drummer Peter Best was expelled from the band by Epstein. This decision caused widespread and lasting controversy, and his expulsion There are various reasons for this. Some say that Best left the band because of his unsuitable dress and hairstyle. Others say that Best left the band because of his eccentric and changeable personality and other members of the band being jealous of his good image. He was fired especially because of his status among female fans, and there are also claims that producer George Martin was dissatisfied with his drumming skills. In the end, Liverpool-born drummer Ringo Starr (formerly known as Richard Starkey, born July 7, 1940) was recruited into the band to replace Peter Best, and the band members also achieved uniformity. Liverpool local. Another important event for the Beatles in 1962 was the death of the band's former bassist Stuart Sutslieffe due to cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 22. After Ringo Starr joined, the Beatles immediately began recording the band's first single, "Love Me Do/PS I Love You." After the single was released, it successfully ranked in the top 20 of the British singles chart. It is said that Epstein spent his own money to buy 10,000 copies of the band's single to make it into the chart. At the same time, the Beatles also Officially becoming a regular guest performer on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), from 1962 to 1964, the Beatles performed more than 50 performances on the BBC.