In 1957 the idea for one of the greatest bands to this day was born in Liverpool, England. John Lennon, a guitarist, was hooked on rock & roll in the mid-‘50s, and introduced the band, The Quarrymen, to his high school. Around mid-1957, The Quarrymen added another guitarist, Paul McCartney to their group. A little while later McCartney's friend, George Harrison, joined as another guitarist. Eventually, the guys decided that not everyone in their band was compatible to their music style, and they reduced the band to McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison. They then changed their band name to The Silver Beatles in 1960. Shortly after changing their name, they dropped the silver, and became what we know them as today, The Beatles. Still in search for the rest of their band, Lennon invited his friend Stuart Sutcliffe to join as their bass, and later found Pete Best to join as their drummer in the summer of 1960.
In 1960 the group went to Hamburg, Germany to perform at one of the most notorious red-light districts in the world. When the group returned from Hamburg, they were suddenly the most exciting local act. Towards the end of 1961, The Beatles caught the attention of a local record store manager, Brian Epstein. After several tries, Epstein was able to find them a record to audition for, after their audition they then signed with George Martin at Parlophone, an EMI subsidiary. Their manager, Epstein told the group that they would need to change their looks, they went from leather jackets and trousers, to tailored suits and ties. In April 1962 Stuart Sutcliffe died of a brain hemorrhage, and shortly after in August of 1962 Pete Best was kicked out of the group. The Beatles then hired Ring Starr as their new drummer.
When it came to their music they produced 13 studio albums. Their first album in 1963 being, Please Please Me. Eight of the albums 14 songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. At this time it was not usual for a group to write their own music. Their next album was, With The Beatles, this album consolidated their position as the UK’s number one pop act. Again, seven of the albums 14 songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Another one of their albums, Beatles for Sale, was a turning point for Paul and John’s songwriting partnership. John Lennon wanted to start writing songs that had more of an autobiographical nature. These albums are just a few of their great albums, and show the early stages of development for The Beatles as performers. As the albums continued to be produced they began to show the maturing of their style. One of their finest albums was Revolver which was released in 1966, this album was supposed to announce to the world that they were not going to tour any more, now they were going to be free to explore and push their musical boundaries from within the studio. This album showed all four members of The Beatles working together, sharing their creative minds equally.
The last album that The Beatles recorded was Abbey Road, it is commonly thought that The Beatles knew beforehand that Abbey Road would be their final album. But, the group denies that they knew that they were going to split up after its release. The album was recorded during a time when The Beatles’ Apple empire was unravelling, as their money dwindled because of their bad business choices and their lack of direction. After their break-up in 1970 they each went on and enjoyed their own successful musical careers. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the only surviving members to this day, are still musically active. John Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and George Harrison died of lung cancer in November 2001.
