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“Mihai Bravu” Technical College

The Beatles

Student: Coordinating teacher :


Iancu Andrei Vasilescu Ani

May 2018
Introduction
I have chosen The Beatles because I consider that this band is the best of the world and
their music is great. The Beatles were an English rock band, started in Liverpool, England in
1960 until they broke up in 1970. They are the most successful and influential band in the history
of music. In a course of 8 years, they changed not only rock and roll, but also the face of all
music forever.The Beatles drew influences from many music genres through their career,
including 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, classical, psychedelia, and Indian music, and
their songs ranged from pop ballads to hard rock.

The Beatles became the most successful act of the 20th century. They contributed to
music, film, literature, art, and fashion. They made a continuous impact on popular culture and
the lifestyle of several generations. Their songs and images carrying powerful ideas of love,
peace, help, and imagination evoked creativity and liberation and contributed to breaking walls in
the minds of millions, thus making impact on human history.
The Beatles are the best-selling band in history, with estimated sales of over 800 million
physical and digital albums worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British
charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act.
They are also the best-selling music artists in USA, with 178 million certified units. In
2008, the group topped Billboard magazine's list of the all-time most successful artists; as of
2017, they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Hot 100 Chart with twenty.
They have received seven Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song
Score and 15 Ivor Novello Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 1988, and all four main members were inducted individually from 1994 to 2015. They were

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also collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most
influential people.

History of The Beatles


The members of the band were Paul McCartney (vocals, bass guitar, rhythm and lead
guitar, keyboards, drums), John Lennon (vocals, rhythm and lead guitar, keyboards, harmonica,
bass guitar), George Harrison (lead and rhythm guitar, vocals, sitar, keyboards, bass guitar),
Ringo Starr (drums, percussion, vocals).

Sir James Paul McCartney, (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and
composer, and one of the most successful musicians in the world. With John Lennon, he wrote
most of the group's songs.
McCartney began writing songs before he was sixteen, and has written well over two
hundred. His most famous song is Yesterday, recorded by The Beatles in 1965. Since then around
2000 artists have recorded the song. Other songs written by McCartney for The Beatles include
Can't Buy Me Love, Hey Jude, Penny Lane, Eleanor Rigby and Let It Be.
Along with popular music, McCartney also began composing classical music, including
an oratorio about Liverpool. McCartney was knighted for his contributions to music and to
British culture, and for his charity work. He bought John Lennon's former school, Quarry Bank,
which he then turned into a performing arts school.
In 1990, the minor planet 4148 was named McCartney in his honour. In 2010, he was
honoured by President Barack Obama with the Gershwin Prize for his contributions to popular
music. He returned to the White House later that year as a recipient of the Kennedy Center
Honors. In 2012, he became the last Beatle to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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John Winston Lennon, (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer,
songwriter and artist. After The Beatles stopped making records in 1970, he lived in USA with his
wife Yoko Ono, and continued his music career up until his death in 1980.
Lennon recorded several albums and singles after The Beatles disbanded. The best-known
one was Imagine. He made many records with Yoko Ono. On some records they called
themselves the Plastic Ono Band. Lennon and Ono worked with different musician friends,
including Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Elton John. Lennon's solo music was different from his
Beatles songs. He spoke more directly about his own feelings, and sometimes used harsh
language or loud sounds. This upset a few fans, who wished for more Beatles music from him.
George Harrison, (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician. He
was born and grew up in Liverpool, England. After the group broke up, he had a solo career. He
made many albums and worked with other musicians including Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and
Ravi Shankar. He was also interested in Eastern mysticism and charitable causes.
George's best-known album was All Things Must Pass, which he made just after The
Beatles broke up. Harrison owned a mansion in England called Friar Park, where he lived from
1970 until he died. He built his own recording studio inside the mansion. Having a private studio
meant Harrison could work on songs and recordings anytime he wanted.
Sir Richard Starkey, (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an
English musician and actor. He joined the group in 1962 as a replacement for their first drummer.
He quickly became well-liked and very popular. He sang lead on some of the band's songs
including Yellow Submarine, Act Naturally, Don't Pass Me By, and Octopus's Garden.
In July of 1957, in Liverpool, Paul McCartney met John Lennon. Both were teenagers.
Starting in 1957, John Lennon and several of his friends played in a British band called the
Quarrymen. Paul impressed John with his mastery of acoustic guitar, and was invited to join
Lennon's group. George Harrison joined them in February of 1958.
In 1959 they played regular gigs at a club called The Casbah. They were joined by
vocalist Stuart Sutcliffe, and by drummer Peter Best, whose mother owned The Casbah club. The
group went through several names. They adopted names such as the Johnny and The Moondogs,
The Silver Beetles, The Beatals, The Silver Beatles. John Lennon dreamed up the band's final
name, The Beatles, a mix of beat with beetle.
In 1960 The Beatles toured in Hamburg, Germany. There they were joined by Ringo Starr,
who previously played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. In Hamburg, The Beatles made their
first studio work as a backing band for singer Tony Sheridan's recordings for the German Polydor
label.
From February 1961 to August 1963, The Beatles played a regular gig at The Cavern.
They were paid five pounds for their first show, rising to three hundred pounds per show in 1963.
In two and a half years, The Beatles gave 262 shows at The Cavern in Liverpool.

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Toward the end of 1961, Brian Epstein, whose family owned the furniture/record store
NEMS, began to hear about The Beatles and their record My Bonnie, on which they performed as
the backup group for another English performer, Tony Sheridan. Brian checked into the record,
and ordered some to sell. To Epstein's surprise, the records sold as fast as he could put them on
the shelves.
Eventually, Brian Epstein decided to go see this group for himself. When he arrived at
The Cavern, he was amazed at what he saw. Liverpool was full of guys like that at the time, but
The Beatles had charisma.
Brian Epstein was invited to be the manager of The Beatles in November 1961. By
January 1962, Brian was officially their manager. He changed their early image for the good.
Brian Epstein made them wear suits and ties, classic shoes, and newer haircuts. They were
advised to update their manners on stage and quit eating and drinking in public. Brian Epstein
worked hard on both The Beatles' image and public relations. He improved their image enough to
make them accepted by the conservative media. Most of their communication off-stage was
managed by Brian Epstein.
George Martin produced all of their albums and singles except for the album Let It Be,
which was produced by the famous 1960s producer Phil Spector. Almost all of their music was
recorded at Abbey Road studios in London. They did not have their first hit until 1962.
On January 1, 1962, The Beatles came to London and recorded fifteen songs at the Decca
Records. They were not hired, but the material helped them later. During the year 1962, they
made several trips to London and auditioned for various labels. Brian Epstein was persistent in
trying to sign a record deal for The Beatles, even after being rejected by every major record label
in UK.
On June 6, 1962, at the Abbey Road Studios, they passed Martin's audition with the
exception of Pete Best. Being asked by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison,
Epstein fired Pete Best. After a mutual decision the band was completed with Ringo Starr, who
duly became the fourth Beatle. In September of 1962 The Beatles recorded their first hit Love Me
Do, which charted in UK, and reached the top of the US singles chart.
London became their new home since 1963. On February 11, 1963, The Beatles recorded
the entire album Please, Please me in one day, working non-stop during ten-hour studio session.
Their song, Please Please Me, reached the number 1 position on the British charts. This was the
first of a record 15 British number 1 singles.
In August of 1963, their single She Loves You became a super hit. Their October 1963
performance at the London Palladium made them famous in Great Britain and initiated the
Beatlemania in the UK. The show at the London Palladium was broadcast live and seen by
twelve million viewers. Then, in November 1962, The Beatles gave a charity concert at the
Prince of Wales Theatre in London.

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They first came to USA in 1964. They were met at the airport by thousands of screaming
American teenagers. The Beatles were so popular that they were attacked by screaming fans
everywhere they went around the world.
The Beatles made their first live American television appearance on The Ed Sullivan
Show on 9 February 1964. About 74 million viewers, about half of the American population,
watched the group perform on the show. The show became the highest rated show in television
history to that date. It was also claimed that there was not one reported crime during the time the
performed. Beatles songs soon filled the top 5 places on the American top 40 chart. This record
that has never been matched.
The Beatles had reached a level of popularity that even outshone their pre-eminence in
Britain. They had established Liverpool as the pop music capital of the world and the beat boom
soon spread from the UK across to the USA. In common with Bob Dylan, The Beatles had taught
the world that pop music could be intelligent and was worthy of serious consideration beyond the
screaming hordes of teendom.
During the 1964 US tour, the group were confronted with the reality of racial segregation
in the country at the time, particularly in the South. When informed that the 11 September show
in Jacksonville, Florida was to be held at a segregated venue, the Beatles expressed astonishment
and announced that they would refuse to perform unless the show become integrated. Lennon
stated: "We never play to segregated audiences and we aren't going to start now… I'd sooner lose
our appearance money."
The group’s stand drew controversy in the local media, but city officials relented and
agreed to allow an integrated show. On the tour the group also refused to stay in segregated
hotels. Documents reveal that for their subsequent US tours in 1965 and 1966, The Beatles
included clauses in contracts stipulating that shows be integrated.
After that The Beatles endured several years of extremely intensive recording, filming,
and touring. They stopped public performances after 1966, but continued their recording
contracts. By 1985 The Beatles had sold over one billion records. Music became their ticket to
ride around the world. Beatlemania never really ended since its initiation. It still lives as a
movable feast in many hearts and minds, as a sweet memory of youth, when all you need is love
and a little help from a friend to be happy.
Their hairstyle, unusually long for the era and mocked by many adults, became an
emblem of rebellion to the burgeoning youth culture. Their popularity generated unprecedented
interest in British music, and a number of other UK acts subsequently made their own American
debuts, successfully touring over the next three years. The Beatles' success in the US opened the
door for a successive string of British beat groups and pop acts such as the Dave Clark Five, The
Animals, Petula Clark, The Kinks, and The Rolling Stones to achieve success in America. So
many British bands became popular after The Beatles' success that this time became known in
America as the British Invasion.

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By the summer of 1966, the group were exhausted and defeated and played their last
official performance at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, on August 29. Exactly one year later,
while The Beatles were in India seeking enlightenment, Brian Epstein was found dead at his
home.
After 1966, The Beatles retreated into the studio, no longer bound by the restriction of
having to perform live. Their image was also undergoing a metamorphosis and when they next
appeared in photographs, all four had moustaches, and Lennon even boasted glasses, his short-
sightedness previously concealed by contact lenses.
Towards the mid 1960s, The Beatles became bolder with their style of music. This largely
started in 1965, with the release of the album Rubber Soul, and hit a peak in 1967 with the release
of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was named as the greatest album of all time by
Rolling Stone Magazine.
They were also named the most influential artists of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine,
because their music, clothing style, and attitudes shaped much of what was popular among young
people in the 1960s.
In early performances The Beatles included popular songs from the 40s and 50s. They
played rock-n-roll and rhythm and blues-based pop songs while they gradually worked on
developing a style of their own. Their mixture of rock-n-roll, skiffle, blues, country, soul, and a
simplified version of 1930s jazz resulted in several multi-genre and cross-style sounding songs.
By 1965 their style absorbed ethnic music influences from India and other Oriental
cultures, and later expanded into psychedelic experiments and classical-sounding compositions.
Their creative search covered a range of styles from jazz and rock to a cosmopolitan cross-
cultural and cross-genre compositions.
Initially The Beatles were a guitars and drums band. In the course of their career every
member became a multi-instrumentalist. George Harrison played the lead guitar and also
introduced such exotic instruments as ukulele, Indian sitars, flutes, tabla, darbouka, and tampur
drums. John Lennon played a variety of guitars, keyboards, harmonicas and horns. Paul
McCartney played bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, piano and keyboards, as well as over
40 other musical instruments.
The Beatles were the first popular band that used a classical touch of strings and keyboard
instruments; their producer George Martin scored Baroque orchestrations in several songs, such
as Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, In My Life, and a full orchestra in Sgt. Pepper. John Lennon and
Paul McCartney played piano in many of their songs. Their jamming on a piano together led to
creation of their best-selling hit I Want to Hold Your Hand in 1963.
The Beatles became so popular that no regular concert venue was big enough for their
concerts. This led to them playing the first ever stadium rock concert at Shea Stadium in SUA, to
around 50,000 people. The Beatles stopped touring and playing live music in 1966 because they
were sick of audiences screaming so loudly that their music could not be heard. They were also

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tired of the pressures of touring. Among other things, they were so popular that thousands of
people would gather outside the hotels they stayed in day and night meaning that they could
never leave their rooms unless they were playing a concert.
The Beatles' first two feature films, A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965), were
made in collaboration with an American director, Richard Lester. Their humorous, ironic, and
farcical film performances are reminiscent of the Marx Brothers' comedies. Later The Beatles
moved into the area of psychedelic innovations with the animated film Yellow Submarine (1966).
Their surrealistic TV movie The Magical Mystery Tour (1967) became the cause for the
first major criticism of their work in the British press. Their film music was also released as
studio albums. Original music by The Beatles as well as re-makes of their songs has been also
used, often uncredited, in music scores of feature films and documentaries.

On June 25, 1967, The Beatles made history becoming the first band globally transmitted
on TV to an estimated 400 million people worldwide. The Beatles were a segment in the first-
ever worldwide satellite hook-up and their new song All You Need Is Love was broadcast live
during the show.
Two months later The Beatles lost their creative manager, whose talent for problem-
solving was unmatched. “That was it, the beginning of the end”, said Lennon. With spiritual
guidance from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, The Beatles took Epstein's death calmly. They
decided to look after their business affairs without a manager. Evolution of each member's
creativity and musicianship also led to individual career ambitions.
The Beatles continued on, with McCartney stepping up and trying to take over the
management role. But during this time their lives began to go in different directions. In 1967
John Lennon met Japanese artist Yoko Ono, whom he later married. George was seeking
enlightenment from Ravi Shankar, and Paul fell into the arms of photographer Linda Eastman.

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John Lennon was experimenting with psychedelic poetry and art. His creativity was very
unique and innovative. Lennon wrote Come Together, Girl, Revolution, Strawberry Fields and
many other Beatles' hits. An out-of-context reprinting of Lennon's remarks on the Beatlemania
phenomenon caused problems in the media. His comparison of Beatles' popularity to that of Jesus
Christ was used to attack them publicly, causing cancellations of their performances and even
burning of their records. Lennon had to apologize several times in press and on TV, including at a
Chicago press conference.
George Harrison was the lead guitar player and also took sitar lessons from Ravi Shankar.
Harrison had his own inner light of creativity and spirituality, he wrote Something, Taxman, I me
mine, and other hits.
Ringo Starr sang Yellow Submarine and a few other songs. He has made a film career and
also toured with his All Stars Band and released several solo albums. His 1973 release Ringo was
the last album to feature all four living Beatles, although not on the same song.
The Beatles created over 240 songs, they recorded many singles and albums, made films
and TV shows. Thousands of memorable pictures popularized their image. In their evolution from
beginners to the leaders of entertainment, they learned from many world cultures, absorbed from
various styles, and created their own. Their cross-style compositions covered a range of
influences from English folk ballads to Indian raga; absorbing from Bach, Beethoven,
Tchaikovsky, Stockhausen, Elvis Presley, Little Richard and others.
They admitted their interest in the music of Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Little Richard and
other entertainers of the 40s, 50s and early 60s. By 1965 their style absorbed ethnic music
influences from India and other Oriental cultures, and later expanded into psychedelic
experiments and classical-sounding compositions. Their creative search covered a range of styles
from jazz and rock to a cosmopolitan cross-cultural and cross-genre compositions.
The songwriting and performing talents of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George
Harrison, and Ringo Starr, fused in The Beatles' music. Lennon and McCartney initiated changes
in music publishing industry by breaking the Tin Pan Alley monopoly of songwriting. Their
legacy became possible due to highly professional work by Brian Epstein and George Martin.
In 1994 three surviving members reunited and produced Lennon's previously unknown
song Free as a Bird. It was preserved by Yoko Ono on a tape recording made by Lennon in 1977.
The song was re-arranged and re-mixed with the voices of three surviving members. The Beatles
Anthology TV documentary was watched by 420 million people in 1995.
The Beatles represent the collective consciousness of several generations. Millions of
viewers and listeners across the universe became conditioned to the sounds and images of The
Beatles. Their influence on the modern world never stopped.
The Beatles made impact on human history, because their influence has been liberating
for generations of nowhere men living in misery beyond the Iron Curtain. Something in their
songs and images appealed to everybody who wanted to become free as a bird. Their songs

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carrying powerful ideas of real love, peace, help, and imagination evoked creativity that
outperformed the rusty Soviet propaganda and contributed to breaking chains and walls in the
minds of millions.
The Beatles expressed themselves in beautiful and liberating words of love, happiness,
freedom, and revolution, and carried those messages to people across the universe. Their songs
and images helped many freedom-loving people to come together for revolutions in Prague and
Warsaw, Beijing and Bucharest, Berlin and Moscow. The Beatles has been an inspiration for
those who take the long and winding road to freedom.

After breaking up
Releasing album after album and motion pictures, The Beatles were indeed on top of the
world. But in August 1969 Lennon announced that he wanted a divorce from the group, the band
was finished. He insisted, however, that the break up remain quiet. It was kept hidden until April
10, 1970 when McCartney decided to formally dissolve the group. Many blamed the break up of
the Beatles on Yoko Ono and Linda McCartney. Others felt that The Beatles had run their course,
and it was just their time. Whatever was the cause of their break up, it ended an era but left
behind a legacy that will never be forgotten.
The Beatles broke up because of the pressures of fame and each member becoming more
independent both in their personal lives and musically. In 1973 the two-disc sets the Red Album
and the Blue Album were released. These were both re-released on CD in 1993.
Even after The Beatles had gone, the individual members continued to spread their
message; from the concert for Bangladesh by George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1971, to 2003
Back in USSR concert by Paul McCartney on the Red Square in Moscow, and his 2004 show near
the Tsar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg where the Communist Revolution took place.
The band was still very popular all over the world after they broke up. According to the
Guinness Book of World Records, they are the highest-selling recording artists ever. They have
sold more than one billion records, including albums and singles. Their music is still important
and still influences many musicians. Musicians today perform cover versions of Beatles songs,
and people everywhere still listen to their music. Their song 'Yesterday' has been recorded by
more artists than any other song. It is also the song that has been played the most on radio ever.
After The Beatles broke up, all four members started their own solo careers. John Lennon
became a famous peace activist in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He wrote successful songs
including Give Peace a Chance, Imagine, and Happy Xmas (War Is Over). John Lennon was
murdered on December 8, 1980 outside his home in New York. Part of Central Park in New York
and an airport in Liverpool are named in his honor.
The other three Beatles got together in the 1990s to make two new records. They used
demo recordings of two John Lennon songs and added their own new parts. Producer Jeff Lynne

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helped them so all four members could appear on the songs. The songs were Free as a Bird and
Real Love. Both were top 5 hits in the UK in 1995 and 1996.
Paul McCartney started the band Wings with his wife Linda. In 1977 his song, Mull of
Kintyre, became the biggest selling single in British history. It sold even more copies than The
Beatles' singles. Paul McCartney was knighted in 1997.
George Harrison and Ringo Starr had early success as solo artists but were less successful
later on. George formed the group The Traveling Wilburys in the 80s with other rock legends Bob
Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne. George Harrison died of cancer on November
29, 2001. Ringo still tours the world with his All Starr Band and was knighted in 2018.
In 2005 the Entertainment magazine poll named The Beatles the most iconic entertainers
of the 20th Century. In July of 2006, the guitar on which Paul McCartney played his first chords
and impressed John Lennon, was sold at an auction for over $600,000.

In July 2012, Paul McCartney rocked the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer
Olympics in London. He delivered a live performance of The Beatles's timeless hit Hey Jude and
engaged the crowd of people from all over the world to join his band in a sing along finale. The
show was seen by a live audience of 80,000 people at the Olympic Park Stadium in addition to an
estimated TV audience of two billion people worldwide.

Albums
The Beatles made 13 very successful albums during their active years from 1960-1970.
Listed below are the albums made during their career.
Please Please Me (1963), With the Beatles (1963), A Hard Day's Night (1964), Beatles
for Sale (1964), Help! (1965), Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts
Club Band (1967), Magical Mystery Tour (1967) (Double EP), The Beatles (better known as the
White Album) (1968), Yellow Submarine (1969), Abbey Road (1969), Let It Be (1970).

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Biography:
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ba-Be/Beatles.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles

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