The Beatles
BY VERONICA WHIT TAKER
Biography
Paul McCartney
• Born in Liverpool on June 18th 1942
• Displayed a passion and talent for music at a
young age
• Began performing at churches in Woolton
during his early years
• Met John Lennon shortly after while
performing at a church picnic
• During this time Lennon established his own
band; “The Quarryman”
John Lennon
• Born October 9th 1940 in Liverpool England
• Lennon soon took notice to McCartney's
guitar playing skills and asked him to join
the
“Quarryman”
• The band soon added George Harrison as
lead guitar and Pete Best to the drums
• From this point John Lennon and
McCartney begin writing and playing music
together
• Lennon playing backup the band soon
changed their name to “The Beatles”
Before Discovery
Early performances at “The Cavern”
Brian Epstein
• November 9, 1961 The Beatles were
performing at “The Cavern” to a full house
during a lunch time show when Epstein heard
them perform live
• The music store manager fell in love with the
band almost instantly
• He credited them soon after saying; “The group
would become internationally famous.”
• Epstein spoke with George Martin head of
EMI's Parlophone label in May of 1962 and
signed the Beatles
• In August of 1992, Pete Best was asked to leave
the group. He was then replaced by Ringo Starr
Changing their Image
The Beginning of “The Beatles”
• With Ringo now apart of the band and George,
Lennon and Paul McCartney all on board; The
Beatles were an instant success
• On March 22, 1963 the Beatles released their first
ever single; "Love Me Do”
• The following releases proved to be just as popular
and on April 4, 1964 The Beatles occupied the top
five spots on the billboard hot 100 singles chart
with;
• #1 “Cant By Me Love,
• #2“Twist and Shout”,
• #3“She Loves Me”,
• #4“I want to hold your hand” and #5“Please
Please me.”
Meeting the Queen of England
• Following the renown success of The Beatles,
one of the greatest accomplishments they
achieved was shortly after in June of 1965 when
the queen of England announced that the
Beatles were going to be awarded with the MBE
also known as the (Member of the Order of the
British Empire)
• On October 26, 1965, Lennon did the
unthinkable and tried to return his MBE medal
in a gesture to pose for the antiwar movement
in 1969
• It proved unsuccessful, for the honor can not be
returned and Lennon remained with the MBE.
Controversy surrounding the Beatles
The summer of 1966 John Lennon
spoke to the British Newspaper
Reporter stating;
• “Christianity will go. It will
vanish and shrink. I needn't
argue with that; I'm right and
will be proved right. We're
more popular than Jesus
now.” Thus causing an
immediate uproar
• The group had been scheduled to tour two
weeks before the outbreak, shortly after
Lennon's speech they received death threats
• Following this was the uproar from anti-Beatles
advocates in both the U.S as well as the UK
• John Lennon apologized shortly after at a
Chicago press conference
• The Beatles soon after gave up touring on August
29, 1966 and stuck with in studio recording
sessions
Documentary-”Bigger Than Jesus”
The documentary discusses
the controversy surrounding
John Lennon's famous quote;
"Christianity will go. It will
vanish and shrink. I needn't
argue about that. I'm right
and I will be proved right.
We're more popular than
Jesus now. I don't know which
will go first - rock 'n' roll or
Christianity."
The Beatles Change their Sound
• The Beatles sound began to take a
dramatic turn after this point, as such that
they began experimenting with exotic
instruments such as tape abstractions as
heard in; “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
• The popular song filled the year long gap
between albums and left fans curious at
what was to come such as; “Taxman” and
“Love You to.”
• The album was released in June of 1967
titled; “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band,” with its electronic songs and
unique mix of rock and psychedelic
sounds its was no surprise it sold over 8
million copies
Break up of the Beatles
•
•
•
•
•
•
In 1968 John Lennon married Yoko Ono, which caused
much conflict between the band members
Yoko Ono has been credited as being the sole reason
the band split
Paul McCartney announced on April 10th 1970 he was
leaving the Beatles.
McCartney went on to form his own band called the;
“Wings.” Which soon gathered much success
Soon after followed by McCartney's successful solo
career which featured Ringo Starr by his side
They recently toured throughout the US and UK
through the early 2000's, and then into now
Where are the Beatles now?
•
•
•
In 1973 Lennon moved to Los
Angeles and soon after Yoko and
Lennon prepared to have a son
Lennon shortly after chose to
leave music and focus on being a
full time father and husband to
his family.
In the year 1980 Lennon
recorded “Double Fantasy,” not
soon after it was released to the
public Lennon was shot and
murdered by Mark David
Chapman outside the entrance of
his home in New York City on
December 8, 1980
•
•
George Harrison in 1997 was
diagnosed with throat cancer
and passed away on
November 29,2001. He died
peacefully, surrounded by
loved ones and his family.
Ringo Starr pursed his solo
career with Paul McCartney off
and on through the 20th
century, as well as started his
acting career which was short
lived. Ringo Starr released his
solo album titled; “Liverpool
8.”
Composition History
“I am the Walrus”
• “I am the Walrus” was written by John Lennon in 1967
• John Lennon claimed that the first two sentences of the
song were written on two different acid trips that he
had experienced
• Lennon composed the unique song by combining three
different pieces of music he currently had been working
on
• Lennon also added an entire verse of nonsense lyrics to
the song, when he found out his primary school teacher
was having his students analyze and critique The Beatles
music and lyrics.
• Music critic Ian MacDonald argued that “I Am the
Walrus” was Lennon's “final creative water mark” with
the Beatles
“A Day in the Life”
• “A Day in the Life” according the the Rollings Stones is
the 26th greatest song to be written of all time
• The song is a combination of two different songs that
were written, one by Paul McCartney and the other by
John Lennon
• The track was the final piece on the Sgt.Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band, and The Beatles 1967 album
• The first article was featured in the Daily Mail in 1967,
and regarded the growing amount of potholes that
occupied a town in Lancashire, otherwise known as
Blackburn
• The inspiration for “A Day in the Life” came from Tara
Browne who died on December 18, 1966.
Imagine
• Imagine was released in 1971 and was the first
track featured on the “Imagine” album
• It was solely written and performed by John
Lennon and it's message was that of world peace
• The song was written during the Vietnam War,
and was targeted to all members of society and
not just to The Beatles devoted fans and
audience
• Imagine called for social reform and was very
political in that it addressed the war and society
as a whole during that vital time period
• The song was John Lennon's best-selling single of
his solo career
• “Imagine” sold over 1.6 million copies in the UK
alone
Listening Guide
“I am the Walrus”
0:00- Introduction
The song starts with the siren-sounding electric keyboard playing, while the maracito shakers play into the first verse. The intro is seven
measures long; which flows into the second measure when the orchestra begins to play, shortly after the drums merge into a dynamic
forte.
1:01-Chorus
The chorus immediately starts out with Lennon singing; “I am the eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the Walrus, Goo goo g'joob.” The
vocal line rising with each chord that is being sung, followed with each measure the cello playing a slurred down tempo. Ringo playing a
light tapping of the drums following the next verse.
2:18-Bridge
The song returns back to the refrain, John explains; “Goo, goo, gajoob, ga, goo, goo, gajoob.” During this portion we hear the radio
playing; “The Tragedy Of King Lear.”
Coda 3:26Next comes Mike Sammes singers (“ho, ho, hee, hee, ha, ha, ha.”) The cellos rising in the last and final measure of the piece, and the
orchestra instruments repeating the same mysterious rhythm, that gradually descends and fades out.
Outro-4:00
Static from BBC broadcast eventually fades completely out at 4:13, and the static dissipates.
“A Day in the Life”
0:00-Introduction
Guitar starts playing from 0:00-0:08 when it gradually begins to pick up in tempo and rhythm. Then slowly emerging from the background
and gradually gathering recognition is the subtle plucking of the “C” string on the cello, which creates an additive balanced overall texture
to the piece while McCartney begins to sing.
1:15-Chorus
The cello continues to pluck, as well as the strumming and faint guitar emerging after the drums on each beat. McCartney opens singing;
“ I saw a film today, oh boy.” As heard in Verse 1. Followed then by; “The English Army had just won the war.” The drums begin to pick up
tempo now, adding to the rhythm.
3:50-Bridge
Then the piano picks up in the melody and Paul sings; “I'd love to turn you on...” Then the orchestra begins to pick up in tempo, starting
into a lively crescendo as Paul finishes his line.
4:03-Coda
The song starts to come to an obvious close, as the orchestra picks up pace again in a skewed and assortment of notes. Then the piano is
pounded, in one quick motioning sound and the note's are carried out until they fade into the rhythm and cease into a calando.
4:46-End
“Imagine”
0:00 - Introduction
The song starts with nothing but piano repeating a simple yet elegant 8 bar melody at a somewhat slower and deliberate tempo that evokes a calm and almost
ethereal quality.
0:41 - Refrain 1
The drums kick in over the piano as it then changes into a slightly different chord progression with the rhythm. While the tempo remains constant, the simple
addition of percussion over such a sparse piece escalates the song through the chorus. The lyrics in the chorus suggest to us what the results would be in the
world we are asked to imagine during the verse.
1:34 - Bridge
With a slight hesitation at the end of the chorus as the dynamics shift here at 1:42, we are lead into the most musically and lyrically contrasting portion of the
song. The Piano and string melody are distinctly altered, and the lyrics speak about the singer directly for the first time in the song.
2:40 - Bridge repeated
The bridge repeats with the same lyrics as before. Arguably this could make it a chorus, however, the contrast the bridge brings both musically and lyrically to
every other portion of the song seems more typical of a bridge in concept.
3:01 -Bridge resolves into Coda
This second bridge also serves as a coda as it devolves musically into an outro in the last few measures with the lyrics finishing over the top.
3:07- Ends
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