"We were just a band who made it very, very big, that's all." - John Lennon

The Beatles are the most important band that rock 'n' roll ever produced, period. They piloted rock music through its most creative and productive years, the 60s. They gave rhythm 'n' blues an injection of pure fun and energy we had not seen before.

If it had only been the music, that surely would have been enough. But it wasn't. They were also at the forefront of a cultural revolution that included new ideas about politics, religion, sex, and fashion.

On Saturday, 6th July 1957, the historic first meeting of this century's two most famous singer/songwriters happened at St. Peter's Church in Liverpool. That afternoon, the 15 year old Paul McCartney went there to see the Quarry Men which teenage rebel John Lennon formed. Paul was mightily impressed by John Lennon who had stumbled over the words of every song and had improvised. Later, he met the Quarry Men through the introduction of Ivan Vaughan, a class-mate. Paul showed them how he played "Twenty Flight Rock," "Be Bop A Lula" and other songs from his repertoire. Not only did Paul know all the words but he could also play proper chords and tune a guiter. On that day, John wanted Paul in the group. Thus, the Quarry Men were joined by Paul McCartney on 18 October, 1957.

A bit later the group were joined by George Harrison, a friend of McCartney's. After changing lineups constantly, the Quarry Men changed their name to the Silver Beatles in 1960, quickly dropping the "Silver" to become just the Beatles. The Beatles were joined by Lennon's art college friend Stuart Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best as a permanent drummer. After a several-month stint in Hamburg, Germany, the Beatles became the most exciting act in Liverpool, constantly gigging at the legendary Cavern Club.

As Sutcliffe dropped out of the band to concentrate on his art school studies, however, McCartney took over on bass; Harrison settled in as lead guitarist; Lennon had rhythm guitar. In mid-1961 the Beatles made their first recordings in Germany, as a backup group to Tony Sheridan. Near the end of 1961, the local record store manager Brian Epstein took it upon himself to manage the band. On January 1, 1962, the Beatles had an audition at Decca Records, though Decca turned them down. Epstein's perseverance was finally rewarded with an audition for producer George Martin at Parlophone, an EMI subsidiary; Martin signed the Beatles in mid-1962.

In August 1962, drummer Pete Best was kicked out of the group; he was replaced with Ringo Starr, the then drummer with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Starr joined in the Beatles for a few weeks when they recorded their debut single, "Love Me Do," in September 1962.

Their debut single peaked at number 17 in the UK charts. However, their second single "Please Please Me" topped the UK charts in early 1963. And their debut album "Please Please Me" topped the UK charts for an astonishing 29 weeks, establishing the Beatles as the most popular rock'n'roll act ever seen in the UK.

In fact, the Beatles generated a string of nine consecutive number one albums in the UK -- "Please Please Me," "With The Beatles," "A Hard Day's Night," Beatles For Sale," "Help!," "Rubber Soul," "Revolver," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "The Beatles." Although "Yellow Submarine" peaked at number 4 in the UK charts, the Beatles soon returned to the top of the UK charts with the following two albums: "Abbey Road" and "Let It Be."

As for their singls, the Beatles generated a string of twelve consecutive number one hits in the UK -- "Please Please Me," "From Me To You," "She Loves You," "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "Can't Buy Me Love," "A Hard Day's Night," "I Feel Fine," "Ticket To Ride," "Help!," "Day Tripper"/"We Can Work It Out," "Paperback Writer" and "Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby." Although "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane" became the Beatles first UK single since "Love Me Do" not to reach the number one spot - it stalled at number two in the UK charts, the Beatles soon generated a string of six consecutive number one hits in the UK -- "All You Need Is Love," "Hello Goodbye," "Lady Madonna," "Hey Jude," "Get Back" and "The Ballad Of John And Yoko." The last two singles, "Something"/"Come Together" and "Let It Be," became the Beatles another two UK singles not to reach the number one spot, though -- the former peaked at number 4 and the latter stalled at number 3.

Anyway, the Beatles became the group not merely as a successful pop act, but as a phenomenon never before seen in the British entertainment business. After some celebrated national TV appearances, Beatlemania broke out across the British Isles in late 1963, the group generating screams and hysteria at all of their public apperances, musical or otherwise.

In the United States, the Beatles' television appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on the 9th of February in 1964 launched Beatlemania and the entire British Invasion on an even bigger scale than it had reached in the UK; it was the day when the Beatles conquered America. In fact, the legendary show made television history immediately -- the Nielsen ratings system estimated that the Ed Sullivan Show had been watched by 73 million people in 24 million households; in other words, more than 60% of all American TV viewers - the world's largest TV audience - had tuned in to watch the Beatles play. George Harrison later said: "Afterwards they told us that there was no reported crime. Even the criminals had a rest for ten minutes while we were on."

On April 4th 1964, the Beatles held the top five spots on the US singles chart; the songs in order were: "Can't Buy Me Love," "Twist And Shout," "She Loves You," "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "Please Please Me." They also had the top two slots on the US album charts. The following week they had placed fourteen songs in Billboard's Hot 100. No one had ever dominated the market for popular music so heavily; it is doubtful whether anyone will do it again. Even in the United States, anyway, the Beatles had continued to reach #1 with most of their singles and albums until their 1970 breakup. Thus, they became the first British rock group to achieve worldwide prominence, launching a British Invasion that made rock truly an international phenomenon.

As Mick Jagger stated in 'Rolling Stone' in 1995, "The Beatles were so big that it's hard for people not alive at the time to realize just how big they were. There isn't a real comparison with anyone now. They were so big that to be competitive with them was impossible. I'm talking about in record sales and tours and all this. They were huge!"

Musically, the Beatles had taken the best elements of the rock and pop they loved and made them their own; it was producer George Martin who was the perfect foil for the group, refining their ideas without tinkering with their essence. During the last half of their career, especially, Martin's ability was indispensable for them, for Martin has the ability to translate their concepts into arrangements that required complex orchestration, innovative applications of recording technology, and an ever-widening array of instruments. But on the other hand, the Beatles' strength began to unravel at a surprisingly quick pace, especially after Brian Epstein's death from a drug overdose in August 1967. By the early 1969, the Beatles' quarrels were intensifying in a dispute over management: McCartney wanted their affairs to be handled by his new father-in-law, Lee Eastman, while the other members of the group favoured a tough American businessman, Allen Klein. In late 1969, Lennon threatened to resign the Beatles, although he was dissuaded from making a public announcement.

In fact, there had been no recording done by the group as a four-man unit since August 1969. Each member of the Beatles had already started solo careers. On April 10, 1970, Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles. Thus, the Beatles were officially dead.

The Beatles released 12 original albums in Great Britain during their recording history from 1962 to 1970, as well as numerous EP's and singles.

Afterwards there were periodic rumours of reunions throughout the 1970s; no group projects came close to materializing. Any hopes of a reunion vanished when John Lennon was assassinated in New York City on December 8 1980.

In 1988, everything that had been officially recorded and released by the Beatles was available on compact disc.

In 1994, "The Beatles Live At The BBC," a double CD of BBC sessions from the early and mid-'60s, was officially released.

The Beatles Anthology, three double CD sets of outtakes, alternate and live performances the group never before thought good enough to release, was released during years from 1995 to 1996; "Anthology 1" includes the first new Beatles' song in over twenty-five years, "Free As A Bird"; "Anthology 2" includes "Real Love". Whether this constitutes the actual long-awaited "reunion" is the subject of much debate. Anyway, the three surviving Beatles embellished a couple of previously unreleased solo demos by John Lennon with overdubs to create two new tracks that were billed as actual Beatles recordings.

"The point is, we were working with John. That was the fantastic thing. We got the attitude right." - Paul McCartney

In 1996, "The Beatles Anthology" was released on VHS, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Music Video Chart, and in 1997, won 3 Grammy Awards -- Best Music Video Long Form for the Anthology VHS Box Set, and Best Music Video Short Form as well as Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the single "Free As A Bird."

On August 30, 1999, the 1968 animated film "Yellow Submarine," in which The Beatles are enlisted by the leader of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to help save Pepperland from the music-hating Blue Meanies, was officially relaunched in Liverpool, after being overhauled by MGM. It was released on video, LD and DVD worldwide on September 13, 1999. The soundtrack was also polished up, and released worldwide as "Yellow Submarine Songtrack" on September 13, 1999.

On October 5, 2000, "The Beatles Anthology" book was finally published worldwide. It contains 340,000 words and over 1,300 images, including unseen photographs and personal memorabilia. And it's all by, or authorized by, the Beatles. According to publishers, more than 1.5 million orders were placed worldwide before October 5 for the book, which was printed in eight languages and released in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, and Norway, among other countries. George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono Lennon have spent six years compiling the work; the late John Lennon's accounts have been drawn from the hundreds of interviews he conducted over the years. Also included are Beatles producer George Martin, the late Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, and the group's former road manager Neil Aspinall, who is now head of Apple Corps, the organization that oversees the Beatles' interests. Thus, here, for the first time in print, is the history of The Beatles by the Beatles.

On 13 November 2000, the Beatles released the collection of 27 Number One songs, simply entitled "1," worldwide. The album became the Christmas number one hit in both the U.K. and U.S. in 2000. In the UK, the collection broke records and became the biggest selling album of 2000 in only five weeks. And it's also topped charts in 34 countries worldwide. Besides, the Beatles won Album of the Year for "1" at the 2001 Billboard Music Awards. "1," which stayed at the top of the Billboard charts for eight weeks, has also topped the year-end album chart for 2001. Thus, it's very likely that the Beatles "1" album will become not only the biggest-selling group release beating the Eagles' Greatest Hits 1971-75 collection with 25 million sales but also the biggest seller of all time beating Michael Jackson's "Thriller" with 47 million sales.

In the meantime, concerns over George Harrison's health began to arise. He issued a statement asking fans not to be worried about rumours that he was battling cancer. On 29 November 2001, however, George Harrison has died at the age of 58 after losing his battle against cancer. Therefore, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are the only two surviving Beatles.

On March 31, 2003, "The Beatles Anthology" was finally released on DVD. Not only does the Anthology DVD Box Set include all of the original eight episodes that was featured on the 1996 "Beatles Anthology" video, but it also includes the intimate footage of a reunion performance by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison that was not featured on the 1996 "Beatles Anthology" video. "The Beatles Anthology" DVD debuted at the number one position on the Billboard Music Video Chart, having sold nearly 59,000 units in the first week.

Well, as a good introduction to the music of the Beatles, check out two double CD sets, "The Beatles/1962-1966" and "The Beatles/1967-1970", or the collection of number ones, "1".

Go back to Waterfalls: The Beatles Fan Site main page.