The Beatles

The Beatles are, without doubt, the most influential rock group of all time. Their influence reshaped music, and set the trends that other groups followed, whether they wanted it or not.

Everybody knows, or has at least heard about how they made countless hit records. Who doesn't know 'She loves you', 'Yesterday' and 'Yellow submarine'. After all those years, these songs are still played on the radio.

As many pop groups, The Beatles didn't start off as 'The Beatles', and they saw many group-members come and go.

It all began in Liverpool in the late 1950's, when John Lennon formed 'the Quarrymen' having just got his first guitar. Within two years, the line-up originally consisting of Lennon's school friends, changed beyond recognition, and by the end of 1959 only Ringo Starr was missing from the most famous line-up in the world.

In 1960, Lennon's talented art school classmate Stuart Sutcliffe joined the band and he suggested a change in band name to the Beetles which later became the Silver Beetles. Another subtle change followed several months later when the band became known as The Beatles, with 'Beat' emphasizing their style of music.

By that time, drummer Pete Best had joined the band, and they went to Hamburg, West Germany, where they became quite popular in the local clubs. In 1961, Sutcliffe was replaced by McCartney.

Back in Britain, the Beatles were attracting a huge following in Liverpool, and Lennon and McCartney were beginning to show their song writing talents.

Their new manager, Brian Epstein, got them a recording contract and replaced Pete Best by Ringo Starr, which was not received well by the female fans.

Probably thanks to Epstein, the single 'Love Me Do' became a success, and only a few months later, they recorded their debut album 'Please Please Me'. The title track of the album got the band their first number 1 single.

The success of their recordings together with a few live performances at the BBC was the very beginning of 'Beatlemania'.

Shortly after 'Please please me' followed their second album, 'With the Beatles', and from 1964 on, the Beatlemania reached America.

Also in 1964, The Beatles made their first film, 'A Hard Days Night'. Surprisingly, the film received good reviews and the soundtrack album also became a success.

After the release of their third album 'Beatles for Sale' by the end of 1964, they made their second film 'Help' in 1965, which was a parody on the James Bond films. 'Yesterday', which can be found on the soundtrack album was declared one of the finest ballads ever written, and it has been recorded by over 1000 different artists since it was written by McCartney.

Afterwards, the band began to concentrate on their musical development, which became clear in the release of 'Rubber Soul'.

By 1966 the touring had taken it's toll and Lennon's 'more popular than Jesus' quote shocked people, which effectively signaled the end of the Beatles as a touring band. They recorded 'Revolver' in August 1966, and their performance at Candlestick Park, San Francisco a month later was their last live concert.

On August 1967, their manager Brian Epstein died of a drug overdose, but the band decided not to replace them with a new manager and started a new project alone. The BBC Tv film 'Magical Mystery Tour' was heavily criticized and in some eyes sparked the end for the Beatles. 'Penny Lane' and 'Strawberry fields forever' were