Artist Discussion Series: The Beatles

[AwallaceUNC]

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The Beatles

<img src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/localhis ... m_lead.jpg">
Primary Genres: Rock, Pop
Seconday Genres/Styling: R&B, Folk, Psychadelia
Permanent Band Members: John Lennon (lead vocals, guitar) Paul McCartney (lead vocals, bass), George Harrison (lead vocals, guitar), Ringo Starr (lead vocals, drums)
Temporary Band Members
Estimated Total Worldwide Sales: 250,000,000 to 1,000,000,000+
US #1 Singles (Any Chart): 20
UK #1 Singles (Any Chart): 17
UK #1 Albums: 15
US #1 Albums: 19
UK Top 40 Singles (UK Singles Chart): 29
US Top 40 Singles (US Hot Chart): 51
Grammys: 15
Living: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr
Dead: John Lennon (1940-1980), George Harrison (1943-2001)
Active: No
Received Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994 (soon removed and rededicated in 1998)
Inducted Into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988

Official UK Discography
<table width="75%" border="1"><tr><td width="42%">Please Please Me (1963)</td><td width="25%">Yellow Submarine (1968)</td><td width="33%">1 (2000)</td></tr><tr><td>With the Beatles (1963)</td><td>Abbey Road (1969)</td><td>Let It Be... Naked (2003)</td></tr><tr><td>A Hard Day's Night (1964)</td><td>Let It Be (1970)</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Beatles for Sale (1964)</td><td>1962-1966 (1973)</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Help! (1965)</td><td>1967-1970 (1973)</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Rubber Soul (1965)</td><td>Live at the BBC (1994)</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Revolver (1966)</td><td>Anthology 1 (1995)</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)</td><td>Anthology 2 (1996)</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Magical Mystery Tour (1967)</td><td>Anthology 3 (1996)</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>The Beatles [White Album] (1968)</td><td>Yellow Submarine Songtrack (1999)</td><td>-</td></tr></table>


Unofficial Discography
To see US discography and other limited or unofficial releases, click here.


Select Filmography
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
Yellow Submarine (1968)
Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
Help! (1965)
A Hard Day's Night (1964) </center>

Most Popular Songs
Let It Be
Hey Jude
Come Together
Eleanor Rigby
Help!
With A Little Help From My Friends
Yellow Submarine
Something
Penny Lane
Strawberry Fields Forever
All You Need Is Love
Hello Goodbye
A Hard Day's Night
Love Me Do
Can't Buy Me Love
I Am the Walrus
Lady Madonna
Yesterday
From Me To You
I Want To Hold Your Hand
Revolution
I Feel Fine
Ticket to Ride
Norwegian Wood
Paperback Writer
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
She Loves You
We Can Work It Out
Get Back
Real Love
Roll Over Beethoven
Twist and Shout
When I'm Sixty-Four
Here Comes the Sun


Notable Facts
*One of several artists claiming to be the most successful of all time. The RIAA certifies The Beatles as most successful in the US.
*Responsible for "BeatleMania" cultural movement
*John Lennon was murdered in 1980
*George Harrison died of cancer in 2001
*Their break-up is often blamed on Yoko Ono, John Lennon's wife
*Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and John Lennon launched very successful solo careers after the band's break-up (McCartney's continues to this day)
*Ringo Starr saw some success after The Beatles, but his solo career has never thrived like that of this bandmates
*Their music remains tremendously popular and a success on radio and sales charts to this day
*John Lennon once famously remarked that The Beatles were "bigger than Jesus," igniting controversy and later prompting an apology
*A popular urban legend that Paul McCartney died in 1969 and was replaced by a look-alike persists to this day. Central to the theory is an alleged series of hidden messages on the cover of <i>Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</i>. Read More
*<i>Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</i> is often called the most influential rock music album of all time
*Joe Cocker's cover of "With a Little Help From My Friends" served as the theme song for the ever-popular TV series "Wonder Years"
*Contrary to popular belief, the very popular "Wonderful Christmas Time" is a Paul McCartney solo song, not a Beatles track.
*The Beatles are among the most-covered artists and "Yesterday" is the single most-covered original song in popular music history, with more than 3,000 renditions. Aerosmith is known for having found success with numerous Beatles covers.
*Their record label, Apple, was recently in the news for a legal dispute with Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store
*They famously championed religious and drug experimentation
*The only artist or band to fill Billboard's Top 5 singles slots and have another 9 elsewhere in the Top 100 all in one week (14 at once, itself a record)
*They sold over 25 million albums inside the US in 1964 alone
*Hold the record for most #1 albums in the UK (15)
*Hold the record for most #1 albums in the US (19)
*Hold the record for most #1 singles in the UK (17)
*Hold the record for most #1 singles in the US (20)
*Spent more time at #1 in the US or UK than any other artist
*The first group to replace themselves at #1 on the US singles chart twice (Usher recently tied the record)
*Their music saw a resurgance in mainstream popularity when the Cirque Du Soleil show, Love, and its respective soundtrack premiered, offering remixes of sorts of many Beatles songs


Mini-Biography
The Beatles were an English Pop/Rock group from Liverpool, who continue to be held in high esteem for their artistic achievements, their huge commercial success, their groundbreaking role in the history of popular music, and their contributions to popular culture. The innovative music and style of John Lennon (1940–80), Paul McCartney (1942–), George Harrison (1943–2001), and Ringo Starr (1940–) helped to define the 1960s.
The Beatles were, by most definitions, the biggest musical act of the 20th century. In the United Kingdom alone, they released more than 40 different singles, albums and EPs that reached number one. This commercial success has been repeated in many other countries: EMI estimated that by 1985, the band had sold over one billion records worldwide.[1] The RIAA has certified The Beatles as the top selling artist of all time. [2]
Their early original material fused elements of early American rock 'n roll, pop, and R&B into a new form of popular Rock 'n Roll, and established the prototype for the "self-contained" rock group, breaking the long-established stronghold that composers had had with record producers (thus beginning the demise of London‘s so-called “Tin Pan Alley“, which was based in and around Soho's Denmark Street). The band almost single-handedly kick-started the British Invasion of the US and laid the groundwork for the rock culture of the 1960s. They helped to pioneer more advanced, multilayered arrangements in both Rock and Pop and were instrumental in the development of some of the 1960s dominant musical styles, such as folk-rock, hard rock and psychedelia. Ironically, and perhaps inevitably, the band's music in the early 21st century has been subject to many re-reevaluations and attempts at historical revisionism, partly due to the increasing amount of printed literature and numerous biographical accounts—whether authorised or not—that have appeared over the decades. Nevertheless, The Beatles remain as an undisputed influence on popular music.
To a significant extent, the impact of The Beatles extended well beyond their music. Their clothes, hairstyles, statements, and even their choice of instruments made them trend-setters (see The Beatles' influence on popular culture) throughout the 1960s, while their growing social awareness—reflected in the development of their music—saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.
(Biography from Wikipedia.com)

Official Websites: www.beatles.com

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Past Artist Discussions:
1. Aerosmith
2. Elvis Presley
3. Michael Jackson
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-Aaron

[DaveWadding]

Aw man, The Beatles. I LOVE them. My favorite Beatles song is Day Tripper, and my favorite alum overall is Rubber Soul (followed closely by Sgt. Pepper's)

[my chicken is infected]

I'm not really a big fan, (I know, ZOMG BLASPHEMY!!!111) but I get pissed off when people say they suck or contributed nothing to music. Yeah, go on thinking that, peabrain...

[tinkerbell-cup]

my friend got me into them recently and i think they're fantasitc, i used to think they weren't very good because i would just think of "Yellow Submarine". My favourite members were John and George, but i like Ringo a lot as well they all have a sense of humour. My favourite song does change from time to time, but it usually is "In my life".

[Just Myself]

I don't know as much about the Beatles as most music freaks should, but I do love their works and think Lennon and McCartney are musical geniuses, and are two of the rare exceptions where their single work was as good as their work with the band. My favorite Beatles song is A Day In The Life, while my favorites from John and Paul are Imagine (think that's what it's called) and Live and Let Die, respectively. (Okay, I know, McCartney did LALD with Wings, !)

Meh. Too lazy for signature.

[crunkcourt]

I love them, but who doesn't? One of my favorite experiences was taking the tube out to Abbey Road to see their studio. I walked in the crosswalk that's pictured on the cover of Abbey Road; signed a wall in front of their studio (everybody does); and then saw Paul McCartney's old house (it's about a block or so from the studios). Also if you're a big fan and ever in London I suggest that you head to the National Portrait Gallery. There are several amazing portraits of them in the more contemporary section.

[Mr. Toad]

love them - it was amazing how much better let it be was once they stripped all those terrible Phil Spector strings and studio tricks. Just a beautiful simple album.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Simply classic.

[dvdjunkie]

My knowledgeof the Beatles and their music won me a set of tickets and a meet and greet with Paul McCartney in Dallas last year.

The question was "What was the working title of 'Yesterday' while McCartney was putting it together?"

Anyone know the answer? I will post it at the end of this little rant about the Beatles.

While with the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service in 1963, I got to host a live concert at Olympia Hall in Paris, France that featured Trini Lopez, The Beach Boys and this little-known group from Britain called The Beatles. I found them to be very nice gentlemen, even then, and I knew that they would become something big in the years to come.

I have been to The Cavern where they go their start and to the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany where they practiced the tools of the trade to become what they were. I love their music, and getting to meet Paul McCartney, even though I am two years older than him, was a treat beyond description.

The correct answer to the question was "Scrambled Eggs" was the working title of "Yesterday".

Did ya' know that??

[Mr. Toad]

The Beattles and the Beach Boys in 1963. So kewl. I was three when the Beattles broke up and by the time I got to be concert going age the Beach Boys were a pathetic retro act without Bryan Wilson.

[AwallaceUNC]

Thanks in part to TurdBizzler's obsession with them, I've come to really like The Beatles over the last few years. They're way to hippy for me, of course, but I do like their music. My favorite songs include Let it Be, Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, Hey Jude, Come Together, Strawberry Fields Forever, Something, Hello Goodbye, Norwegian Wood, Revolution, In My Life, Here Comes the Sun, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, and I am the Walrus.

I must confess it bothers me, though, when people refuse to acknowledge The Beatles as anything other than "rock." '60s rock, yes. Old school British rock, yes. After all, the British Invasion came before the days of metal and the forms of rock that followed (the stuff more commonly thought of as "rock" today). And yes, they wrote their own music and played their own instruments. Still, by today's standards, their music comes off more as pop than rock (maybe pop with a slight rock edge). In my book, there's nothing wrong with that. I just wish the Beatlemaniacs wouldn't act as if it's blasphemy not to pretend that they are anything other than hardcore rockers. Yes, they were extremely influential in the progression of popular music around the world, and yes they were essential to the development of rock 'n roll. At the end of the day, though, they were a boy band, only unlike the Backstreet Boys, they actually lived up the "band" half.

-Aaron

[MickeyMousePal]

The Beatles were a great band just like Elvis and the Beach Boys they helped the United States get back on it's feet. It made the United States have feelings, passion, wealth and love....
We needed that kind of music to forget all the Russia communist crap.
I know that my parents listen to that kind of music. RAD.

[chaychay102royal]

While the Beatles contributed greatly to popular culture and two of their members are considered musical geniuses by many, I'm not that big of a fan. My favorite Beatles song, however, is "Paperback Writer."

[Zoltack]

Whoooo go Beatles. Isn't all of their songs the most popular songs? I love the movie Yellow Submarine with the Blue Meanies and when they went on their mystical journey. I mean my favorite album is The Yellow Submarine so go figure. I wonder if they would of still been around if it wasn't for that Yoko but maybe it was a good thing that they separated because John Lennon probably wouldn't have wrote Imagine.

[Finchx0rz]

I wonder if they would of still been around if it wasn't for that Yoko

Yoko drove a wedge between John and Paul, but she's really not the reason the band split up. There were other problems plaguing the band:

1. The death of Brian Epstein and the ensuing managerial problems
2. Apple Corp's rough start
3. Magical Mystery Tour (the movie originally flopped)
4. George's resentment of not being given enough album time for himself
5. Creative drain after so many years of working together

[Lazario]

I somewhat recently pulled out a couple of Beatles CD's, borrowed from a friend. Overall, they sound incredibly dated. But they do have a couple songs from those 2 albums that I really, really loved - "Misery," and what's my favorite Beatles song right now, "It's Only Love" from the Help! album. Most of their older songs just bore me to tears though. Which is good. I don't need to like too many more songs - I'm a songaholic as it is. And my brain's about to burst being the only one I know who truly appreciates the kinds of music I already love.

But I also really love "Strawberry Fields Forever," and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." And overall, I like their more drug-influenced, trippy stuff. I cannot lie. I've never done a drug in my life, but I adore heady, hazy music.

[Luke]

I enjoy The Beatles. Like most things that are so overwhelmingly popular, I find myself for some reason looking for a little distance so as to never be one of the crowd. And, truth be told, I don't listen to their music very much out of the "it's good, I get it" feeling that accompanies all of their hits. I find some of their less conventional anthems tend to have more holding power, like the aforementioned "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "I Am The Walrus." I'm more apt to listen to those two than most of the usual suspects.

Finally, I agree with you, Aaron, labelling them as simply rock illustrates the limitations of such a label. Whatever you want to call them, though, they're good and highly influential.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Who doesn't like the Beatles? The Beatles are the greatest! My favorite song would have to be....................... sorry, I don't have one, they are all great!

[memnv]

Growing up I was a huge Beatles fan, I also liked the Monkeys....
Anyways my favorite songs are Sgt Peppers, Lucy in the sky with Diamonds, Back in the USSR, Yesterday, Elenor Rigby, Yellow Submarine (when we where on the bus going to summer camp, we always sang this tune but changed Submarine to school bus). Help, and more....
My uncle who was in his young 20's at the time had Beatle pics all over his room, and even the local cheap movie theater had a hand painted mural of Sgt. Peppers lonely heart club band, looked just like the characters in Yellow Submarine

[Wonderlicious]

The most famous of the Beatles songs are essentially the musical equivalent of The Wizard of Oz (as in the 1939 film). Everybody's heard of them, nearly everybody's listened to their most famous tunes and little of that group actually hate them. I have to follow most as I do like The Beatles. My favourite songs from them are "All You Need Is Love", "Hey Jude", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", "Ticket to Ride" and "Penny Lane." I've actually been down the original Penny Lane in Liverpool (which is a 30 minute drive away from where I live) and listened to this song at the same time.

On the topic of "are the Beatles rock?", I have to say that I believe they are. Like Aaron said, they may sound like pop as we know it today (though undeniably at the higher end of the quality spectrum), but I think that one must look at them in context. When they first arrived, there were no hardcore rock bands around; the Beatles would have filled the title of rockers easily. Then again, I guess that the Beatles can be defined as pop as rock is simply a type of pop music. Most chart music is pop music as it basically defines what pop actually means; it is popular music. It's when manufactured sludge that's lumped into the category of pop (since there's nowhere else to put it) that rock ends up becoming not a subdivision of pop music but a whole different musical breed and music snobs are born.