The+Beatles

The Beatles top to bottom.
March 1957 John Lennon started a skiffle group called "the quarrymen." At the Woolten Garde Fete at St. Peters church Lennon met drummer Paul McCartney on july 6 1957. On february 6 1958 the young guitarist George Harrison was invited to watch the group (who played under a variety of names) at Wilson Hall, Garston, Liverpool. McCartney had become acquainted with Harrison on the morning school bus ride to the liverpool institute, as they both lived in speke, At McCartney's insistence, Harrison joined the Quarrymen as Lead guatarist, after a rehearsal in March 1958, overcoming Lennon's initial reluctance because of Harrison's young age.The Quarrymen went through a progression of names "Johnny and the Moondogs" and "Long John and the Beatles". stuart sutcliff lennons friend joined the beatles when they were called the silver beatles.During an interview in 2001, Paul McCartney took credit for the peculiar spelling of the name, saying that "John had the idea of calling us the Beetles, I said, 'how about the //Beatles//; you know, like the beat of the drum? At the time, everyone was stoned enough to find it hilarious. It's funny how history is made." John lennon was extremely motivated by the early Elvis Presley and knew what he wanted to do after he heard "Heart Break Hotel."

The Beatles first hit was Love Me Do and reached number 17 on the U.K. charts Three months later, they recorded their first album (also titled Please please me). The band's first televised performance was on the //People and Places// programme, transmitted live from Manchester by Granada tv. on october 17 62'. As The Beatles' fame spread, the frenzied adulation of the group, predominantly from teenage female fans, was dubbed // Beatlemania.

The First Beatles hit in america was "please please me" and "From me to you" On 7 February1964, a crowd of four thousand fans at Heathrow Airport waved to The Beatles as they took off for their first trip to the United States as a group They were accompanied by photographers, journalists (including Maureen Cleave), and Phil Spector, who had booked himself on the same flight. The pilot had radioed ahead, and as they prepared to land, he was told, "Tell the boys there's a big crowd waiting for them." Their first live American television appearance was on the //The Ed Sullivan Show// on 9 February1964. The next morning many newspapers wrote that The Beatles were nothing more than a "fad", and "could not carry a tune across the Atlantic".Their first American concert appearance was at Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C. on 11 February 1964. On 15 August 1965, the Beatles performed the first major stadium concert in the history of rock 'n' roll at Shea Stadium in New York to a crowd of 55,600. Their sixth album, //Rubber Soul//, was released in early December 1965. It was hailed as a major leap forward in the maturity and complexity of the band's music.
 * Beatles In America ** //

media type="youtube" key="C3eBaJY3sKU&hl=en" height="355" width="425"The Beatles Performance at shea Stadium. 55,600 in attendance.

Timeline of The Beatles!!! 1957 The Quarry Men perform at St. Peter's Church Garden Fete. John and Paul meet and the pair find out that they have similar pop idol interests: "Paul, what kind of music do you like?" asked John. "Well I used to like Lonnie Donnegan but now that skiffle is fading out I love the music of Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochrane, Gene Vincent, Little Richard..." "Hey," John interrupted, "they're all the people I'm into." John Lennon commences studies at the Liverpool College of Art 1958 The Quarry Men perform at the Cavern. This would be the only performance billed as The Quarry Men at the club. It would be a long wait, an amazing three years before the band would turn up again at the Cavern but under their new name as //The Beatles//. The Cavern is located in Liverpool's market district. The Quarry Men play at the Wilson Hall in Liverpool, whereupon George Harrison decides to join the Quarry Men. George Harrison (recalling those early days): "I was very impressed by John, probably more than Paul, or I showed it more. I suppose I was impressed by all the Art College crowd. John was very sarcastic, always trying to put you down, but I either took no notice or gave him the same back, and it worked." Julia Lennon, John's mother, is fatally struck down by a car driven by an off-duty drunken police officer named Eric Clague (When the trial ends, the officer was acquitted of the offence). As a result, John becomes more bitter and cynical than ever before about his life. Eric Clague: "Mrs Lennon just ran straight out in front of me. I just couldn't avoid her. I was not speeding, I swear it. It was just one of those terrible things that happen." 1960 The Quarry Men now become The Silver Beetles. Around this time, Allan Williams - club owner of the "Jacaranda" - becomes the group's part time manager. He arranges with Larry Parnes, an impresario for British pop stars, to audition The Silver Beetles. The band fails the audition as backing group to Billy Fury. Instead, Parnes chooses the band as a backing group for Johnny Gentle. On May 20, Gentle and The Silver Beetles begin a 9-day tour in northern Scotland. First professional performance of The Silver Beetles held at Neston Institute. Pete Best leaves the Blackjacks and becomes The Silver Beetles' drummer. The band's current line-up would now included John, Paul, George, Pete and Stuart Stutcliffe. On this date, the band travels to Hamburg, Germany. New stage name and first performance as "The Beatles" at the Indra Club in Hamburg, Germany. Paul McCartney (on discussing performing and other things they learned in Hamburg): "Sex...was one of the first things 'cause we were kids just let off the leash, you know. And then there was like, the amount of music we played -- we played -- the shear amount of music. Some evenings I think we probably...we played eight hour periods 'cause you'd come on and another band would take an hour and you'd take an hour, so we probably played four hours but we had to stretch it over an eight hour period. And that's an awful long time, man, to play. I mean even bands now with three or four hours sets is a hell of a long time." The Beatles luck in Hamburg runs out: - Harrison is deported for being underage for working in a night club; - McCartney & Pete Best are arrested for pinning a condom to a brick wall and then igniting it. The two are told to leave Germany. The band returns home, discouraged. 1961
 * July 6**
 * September**
 * January 24**
 * February 6**
 * July 15**
 * May 5**
 * June 2**
 * August 16**
 * August 18**
 * December 5**

February 9 On this date the group makes their first lunchtime debut as //The Beatles// for a session at the Cavern. The Beatles first night-time appearance at the Cavern. The band gets paid a mere $42.00 per night. Recalls Gerry Marsden (of Gerry and the Pacemakers) on a particular visit to the Cavern: "I couldn't believe how good they were. The energy, the way they shaped up to the microphone together, you know - Paul the left-handed bass player, John standing there, couldn't give a shit, the attitude of the man. I thought: 'They'll be the first band out of Liverpool to make it.'" Beatles leave to go back to Hamburg, Germany. On this date, Tony Sheridan and The Beatles do first session recordings for Bert Kaempfert with the following songs: //My Bonnie (Lies Over the Ocean)//; //The Saints (When the Saints Go Marching In); Why; Cry For a Shadow; Ain't She Sweet;Take Out Some Insurance On Me Baby// and //Nobody's Child.// And according to Eric Krasker's book, "The Beatles Investigation of a Myth 1960-1962, the Beatles would record one more time for Bert Kaempfert on May 24, 1962, to re-record and provide backing vocals and instrumental tracks for //Sweet Georgia Brown// and //Swanee River.// Tony Sheridan's vocal's were recorded two weeks later for those numbers on June 7, 1962 under an operation known as "synchronization." John Lennon would give the publisher an interview on how the name "Beatles" came about: "Many people ask what are Beatles? Why Beatles? Ugh, Beatles? How did the name arrive? So we will tell you. It came in a vision - a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, 'From this day on you are Beatles with an "A"'. 'Thank you Mister Man', they said, thanking him. And so they were Beatles." The band returns to England from Hamburg, Germany. MY BONNIE / THE SAINTS (WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN) (single) is released in Germany (Decca Records) Hal Fein, an associate of Bert Kaempfert and owner of Roosevelt Music publishing company recalls that the single did reasonably well. "When the record was released, the initials sales were about 180,000 copies, a fair-sized hit for Germany," said Fein. "Due to its success in Germany, it was played on Radio Luxembourg -- one of the most powerful stations in Europe, beaming in all directions - into Germany, into England, and south into the continent." Brian Epstein's first awareness of the Beatles: My Bonnie record makes its way into NEMS stores. Contrary to Epstein's accounting in "A Cellarful of Noise", young Raymond Jones who supposedly requested the record, remains more fiction than actual fact to this very day. Alistair Taylor, Epstein's assistant explains: "I got fed up with youngsters coming in asking for The Beatles record. So I put a name, Raymond Jones, in the order book. I just made it up. Otherwise Brian wouldn't have paid any attention." Epstein visits the Cavern Club to see the band perform. Epstein offers to manage Beatles: "Quite simply, you need a manager. Would you like me to do it?" asked Epstein. "Right, then, Brian, manage us now. Where's the contract? I'll sign it," retorted Lennon. 1962 Beatles do a test record with Decca Records in London. After audition, Decca decides not to sign them to a record deal. They were later turned down by just about every record company except Parlophone. George Martin: "But Brian...got them to sign a contract because they hadn't got a manager at all that was any worth while...and so he promised them the earth: 'I'll get you a record contract'. And of course he didn't. He tried everywhere and everyone turned him down. And they were getting fed up and thought they were never going to make it. Brian had this unswerving conviction that they were great and that they were going to make it and I think without that conviction -- without that sincerity, I don't think that I would have brought them down from Liverpool to listen to them. And I think it's a tribute to him." FIRST RADIO APPEARANCE ON THE B.B.C. LIGHT PROGRAMME'S "Teenager's Turn" Beatles leave once again for Hamburg, Germany. They would shortly return back home after learning of a pending record deal with Parlophone. After receiving the good news from Brian Epstein, the band wrote back to him... Paul: "Please wire £10,000 advance royalties." George: "Please order four new guitars." John: "When are we going to be millionaires?" Stu Sutcliffe dies of a brain hemorrhage MY BONNIE / THE SAINTS (USA single) is released (Decca Records) [|Telegram] The Beatles Last Recording Sessions for Burt Kaempfert and Polydor Records Beatles go in and re-record the backing vocals and instrumentals for "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Swanee River" Brian Epstein and Beatles officially sign record deal with Parlophone/E.M.I. The Beatles audition their music with music producer George Martin at Abbey Road Studios. Brian Epstein forms NEMS Enterprises Pete Best loses drummer role with Beatles Brian Epstein informs Pete Best of bad news: Ringo Starr is to become the band's new drummer. Neil Aspinall would later recall how it came about: "...so I drove him (Pete Best) into town to see him. I was in the record store looking at records, and he came down and said he had been fired. He was in a state of shock, really. We went over to the Grapes pub in Matthew Street, had a pint." Ringo Starr joins Beatles as their new drummer John Lennon marries Cynthia Powell. The marriage took place at Mount Pleasant Register Office in Liverpool The Beatles begin their second recording session at Abbey Road The Beatles begin their third Abbey Road session, and record LOVE ME DO LOVE ME DO / P.S. I LOVE YOU (single) is released (Parlophone Records). Featured on this song is John Lennon's harmonica playing which became an integral part of the Beatles early recordings. According to Beatle author Ray Coleman, Lennon's harmonica playing was influenced by the American hit "Hey Baby" by Bruce Channel. THE BEATLES FIRST TELEVISION APPEARANCE ON "People and Places" (Granada Television) Pre-filmed in the Cavern on August 22, the show's producer, Johnny Hamp had this to say: "I first saw the Beatles in a club in Hamburg. They were very scruffy characters - but they had a beat in their music which I liked...I got into a lot of trouble over it. Everyone said they were too rough, too untidy. But I liked them. I put them on again and again." LOVE ME DO (Parlophone single) enters at 48th spot on Melody Maker hit parade Beatles leave for their final trip to Hamburg, Germany. The band would play at the Star-Club for fourteen days. 1963 The Beatles begin their concert tour in Scotland The Beatles begin British tour with Helen Shapiro as the top act on the bill LOVE ME DO / P.S. I LOVE YOU is released as a single in Canada (Capitol Records) Historical significance: The first true Beatles single is released in North America. Paul White, then Capitol Canada record executive, had this to say on why he decided to release the Beatles first single: "I used to listen to about fifty new records a week. Then one day I put on "Love Me Do" by a group called the Beatles. I immediately sat up and took notice. The sound was so different, so completely fresh. "I'm certainly not going to claim that I could read the future and already knew how big the Beatles were going to be, but I did like them a lot and wanted Capitol of Canada to get in on the ground floor. I decided to release Beatles' records in Canada". PLEASE PLEASE ME / ASK ME WHY (single) is released in USA (Vee-Jay Records) PLEASE PLEASE ME - their first album, is released in England, on Parlophone Records FROM ME TO YOU / THANK YOU GIRL (single) is released (Vee-Jay Records) This single peaked at No. 116 on the Billboard music chart in August. SHE LOVES YOU / I'LL GET YOU (single) is released (Swan Records) On this date, Cohburn & Company print up 6,000 album cover slicks for Vee-Jay's "Introducing the Beatles" LP but Vee-Jay's manufacturing plans for pressing the actual vinyl are quickly scuttled. Two reasons that delayed this album release are: 1) On August 8, Transglobal in America who was a subsidiary of EMI in England, was told by EMI to legally inform Vee-Jay to "cease production and distribution of all Frank Ifield and Beatles records" until such times as the royalties were paid up. 2) By September, Cohburn and Company sued Vee-Jay for over $50,000 owed on the account for various album cover slicks they had manufactured for Vee-Jay. The end result of this delay meant that the next issue of either a Beatle album or single on the Vee-Jay label would not occur until January 1964, just in time to capitalize on "Beatlemania". The Beatles appear for the last time at the Cavern Club During this month, George Harrison along with his brother Peter, visits their sister Louise in Benton Illinois in the USA. While there he would buy a guitar and also sat in at a few clubs performing with a local band called The Four Vests. George also went camping with the family and also took in some points of scenic interest in Southern Illinois. Anxious to get to get the Beatles known in America, George and his sister visit a local Benton radio station one Saturday and meet up with a very young DJ named Marsha Schaffer who hosted a 1-hour rock and roll program. There they persuade the DJ to play "Please Please Me" along with another Beatle single possibly making this the first time Beatle records are heard over the radio in the USA. Today both record and the turntable which was used to spin the disc at the radio station are located at the Hard Day's Night Bed and Breakfast mini-Beatles museum on 113 McCann Street, once home to Louise Harrison. At the "Royal Variety Show," held in Prince of Wales Theatre, London, the Beatles perform before the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon. John Lennon humorously tells the audience: "Those of you in the cheaper seats - clap your hands; and those of you in the more expensive seats - just rattle your jewelry." "With the Beatles" (lp) is released in Britain (Parlophone Records) Track listing, Side One: 1) It Won't Be Long 2) All I've Got To Do 3) All My Loving 4) Don't Bother Me 5) Little Child 6)Till There Was You 7) Please Mister Postman Side Two: 1) Roll Over Beethoven 2) Hold Me Tight 3) You Really Got A Hold On Me 4) I Wanna Be Your Man 5) Devil In Her Heart 6) Not A Second Time 7) Money "Beatlemania With The Beatles" (lp) is released in Canada (Capitol Records) Historical significance: The first true Beatles album is released in North America that contained same track listing as "With the Beatles" which was released only a three days earlier in Britain. 700,000 advance orders for "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by British fans In Britain, the Beatles Fan Club peaks at 80,000 strong. A London Times music critic names them "outstanding English composers of 1963." The Sunday Times critic declares them "greatest composers since Beethoven." "BEATLES CHRISTMAS RECORD" is sent out to fan club members The concept was thought up by their press agent, Tony Barrow who also wrote the basic script for the first three Christmas records. [|You can listen to Tony Barrow's lovely recounting of how the Beatles Christmas Record came about by clicking here]. CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite airs a film about the Beatles phenomenon in England that was filed by their U.K. correspondent, Alexander Kendrick. The film contained a clip of the band performing "She Loves You" along with some interviews. The sounds of this British rock and roll combo performing "She Loves You" had created a strong and favorable impression on Marsha Albert, a 15-year-old girl from Silver Spring, Maryland. She would later be acknowledged by the Washington Post as the first Beatle fan who kick started the whole "Beatlemania" craze on USA radio. However, while teenagers eventually went crazy over Beatles and their music, Walter Cronkite recalls his viewpoints as being a little less than favorable with regards to the English quartet: "In the wake of the [John F. Kennedy] assassination story, nothing else was happening in the world, at least in the United States -- stuff that was important, that is. So we actually had an opportunity to use it. "I was not entirely thrilled with it myself, to tell you the truth. It was not a musical phenomenon to me. The phenomenon was a social one, of these rather tawdry-looking guys, we thought at the time, with their long hair and this crazy singing of theirs, this meaningless 'wah-wah-wah, wee-wee-wee' stuff they were doing." The importance of Beatles music came to Carrol James's attention through Marsha Albert. She remembered being impressed with the Beatles performance of "She Loves You" from the CBS news broadcast. Said Marsha: "It wasn't so much what I had seen, it's what I had heard. They had a scene where they played a clip of 'She Loves You' and I thought it was a great song. I wrote that I thought [the Beatles] would be really popular here, and if [James] could get one of their records, that would really be great." According to the Washington Post, Carrol James "thought maybe the girl was onto something, and he got the station's promotion director to contact a local agent for BOAC (now British Airways)" to procure a copy of the band's latest record, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" which was currently unavailable in the USA marketplace. James eventually obtains a copy from the local BOAC agent. Said Marsha: "Carroll James called me up the day he got the record and said 'If you can get down here by 5 o'clock, we'll let you introduce it.' " Which Marsha did: "Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time on the air in the United States, here are the Beatles singing 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.' " A few days later, Capitol Records threatened WWDC radio by suggesting they would consider using a legal injunction to block airplay of "I Want To Hold Your Hand", because technically, the song wasn't supposed to be released until January 13 in the new year. However, both Carrol James and the radio station ignored the threat and continued to spin the disc over the airwaves. In the end, Capitol never sued WWDC and decided on more positive course of action. I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There (Capitol Records) is released Though scheduled for a January 13 release date, momentum in the airplay of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" continued. By now Carrol James had already sent out copies of the Beatle single to a fellow DJ in Chicago and also to a DJ in St. Louis. Sensing the single is gaining momentum both in terms of airplay and interest from teenagers, Capitol Records decided to financially capitalize on the opportunity: on this date they rush-release copies of "I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There" into the marketplace. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" becomes the fastest selling British single in America. Introducing the Beatles (lp) (version #1 - Vee-Jay) is released According to Bruce Spizer, author of //Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles on Vee-Jay//, that Vee-Jay's "invoice summary sheets indicate that 79,169 mono and 2,202 stereo copies of //Introducing the Beatles// were shipped to distributors during the first fifteen days of the year before sales were halted by the temporary injunction prohibiting Vee-Jay from issuing Beatles product." On this album, "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" are listed in this track listing. However, due to a copyright disagreement with the music publisher Beechwood, these two songs were later removed and substituted with "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why" in version #2 album of //Introducing the Beatles//. Track Listing, Side One: 1) I Saw Her Standing There 2) Misery 3) Anna 4) Chains 5) Boys 6) Love Me Do Side Two: 1) P.S. I Love You 2) Baby It's You 3) Do You Want To Know A Secret 4) A Taste of Honey 5) There's A Place 6) Twist and Shout Also released on Vee-Jay to distributors during first fifteen days of the new year was the single: "Please Please Me / From Me To You". In the USA, the "Jack Paar Show" airs the Beatles' Bournemouth performance of "She Loves You" which was originally filmed on November 16, 1963. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" makes #1 spot on the Australian music charts. Beatles perform for three weeks in France at the Paris Olympia "I Want To Hold Your Hand" enters at No. 45 on the American Billboard music charts. MEET THE BEATLES (lp) is released (Capitol Records) MY BONNIE / THE SAINTS (single) is released (MGM Records) "I Want To Hold Your Hand" reaches No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard music charts, selling 2,000,000 units ("She Loves You" sells 1,000,000 units in the U.S.) THE BEATLES WITH TONY SHERIDAN (lp) is released (MGM Records) Beatles return from Paris, France Pan Am Yankee Clipper flight 101: Beatles land at Kennedy Airport in the USA. The lads are greeted by 3,000 screaming fans. New York DJ Murray the "K" heavily promotes the Beatles records over the radio and provides "live" interviews with John, Paul, George and Ringo. Murray the "K" would dub himself as "the 5th Beatle." A reporter for the Saturday Evening Post noted: "Anyone listening to a pop radio station in New York would hear a Beatle record every four minutes and anyone listening to a juke box might hear one right after the other." [|Beatlemania] had arrived!! Beatles debut on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York; 50,000 apply for 728 available seats. An estimated 73 million viewers watch that night (or 23,240,000 households, based on a Nielsen rating)
 * March 21**
 * March 24**
 * June 22 & 23**
 * Beatles perform as back-up musicians to Tony Sheridan**
 * July 6**
 * Bill Harry publishes "The Mersey Beat" newspaper**
 * July 3**
 * August**
 * October 28**
 * November 9**
 * December 3**
 * January 1**
 * March 8**
 * April 8**
 * April 10**
 * April 23**
 * May 9**
 * May 24**
 * June 4**
 * June 6**
 * June 9**
 * Beatles Welcome Home Show**
 * June 26**
 * August 16**
 * August 18**
 * August 23**
 * September 3**
 * September 11**
 * October 5**
 * October 17**
 * October 27**
 * December 17**
 * January 1**
 * February 2**
 * February 4**
 * February 20**
 * March 22**
 * May 6**
 * July 22**
 * July 23**
 * Cohburn & Company prints cover clicks only for "Introducing the Beatles"**
 * August 3**
 * September**
 * November 4**
 * November 22**
 * November 25**
 * November 29**
 * December**
 * December 6**
 * December 10**
 * CBS News airs a film clip on The Beatles**
 * December 17**
 * Carrol James of WWDC radio in Washington becomes the first DJ in the United States to play "I Want to Hold Your Hand".**
 * December 26**
 * January 3**
 * January 15**
 * January 18**
 * January 20**
 * January 27**
 * February 1**
 * February 3**
 * February 5**
 * February 7**
 * February 9**

this timeline was taken from http://beatles.ncf.ca/timeline.html