The Beatles Essays - Counterculture Of The 1960s, Free Essays

The Beatles Essays - Counterculture Of The 1960s, Free Essays The Beatles The Beatles The Beatles started out in the British city, Liverpool where music was a way of life for many people. The Beatles were preceded by a John Lennon fronted band called the Quarry men. The group invited a 15 year old boy named Paul McCartney to see them perform a show. The then 16 year old John Lennon took to McCartney, thats when a unique and amazing song writing partnership began. The Quarry Men ended up falling apart at the seams. John Lennon and Paul McCartney kept in touch and eventually asked George Harrison to join theyre group, tentatively named the Silver Beatles. The band talked a friend of theirs, Stuart Sutcliff, into buying a bass guitar, and added Pete Best on drums. They began getting recognition around Liverpool. That was around that time that Brian Epstein heard them playing and proposed that he assume position of their manager. The Beatles agreed and Epstein quickly arranged for them to go to Hamburg, Germany to play the local music clubs. While in Germany the band met Ringo Star, who later officially joined the band, taking over for Pete Best. When the band was to return to England, Stuart decide that he wanted to stay in Germany with the girl he had met and fallen in love with there. So Paul picked up the bass guitar, they dropped the Silver from their name, and the Fab Four, as we came to know them, was ready for success. The Beatles were now ready to record their first album. Epstein introduced the band to the man sometimes referred to as the 5th Beatle, George Martin. Martin went on to produce all but one of the Beatles albums. Love me Do was their first record, released in October 1962. It did jump into the British Top 20 briefly but never really succeeded. It was the second song Please Please me released in early 1963 which made them #1. The single topped the British charts for 30 weeks, an unheard of feat in the UK music market. Theyre second album is what really put them over the top in terms of popularity. In 1963 with the release of With the Beatles, the band found success in both the UK and US, with the single I wanna hold your hand. In February the Band visited the US to play on the Ed Sullivan show. Many people consider the Ed Sullivan show appearance to be the coming out party for the Beatles especially in America. For many it was their first glimpse of the fab four. There was much hype even before the broadcast. It was a time in America when Elvis had lost his edge, Ricky Valines, and the Big Bopper were killed, also the beloved president, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The Beatles promised something new and fresh and had an attitude people liked. Anthony Corbett, a noted English psychologist praised the Beatles as having provided a desperately needed release for the inhibitions that exist in all of us. Whatever it was, the Beatles had something the people needed because like so many bands of toda y their success didn't end there. Next, the Beatles made their first movie, A Hard Days Night. Followed by extensive touring, and dominance of the billboard charts. Then their second movie Help was released to sell out box offices across the world. Fredric Lewis of a London newspaper examined the sociological implications of Beatle-Mania and said they are working class and their roots and their attitude are firmly in the north of England. They are part of a strong-flowing reaction against the soft, middleclass south of England, which has controlled popular culture for so long He added Because of their success, they can act as spokesman for the new, noisy, anti-establishment generation which is become a force in British life. One can assume then, that people were ready for a change. The Beatles were one band that could offer change. With forthcoming albums ,such as Revolver, Rubber Soul, and Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles proved that change was a very good thing. Sgt. Peppers was considered the first concept album(songs unified by a common theme). No longer singing just dopey