The Beatles in America
The Beatles. The name of a band that every person in America knows, no matter how young or old they may be. The band was started in Liverpool, England with John Lennon. The other members where picked up in different places along the way. McCartney was added to the mix after July 6, 1957. Lennon and McCartney were the ones who came up with the name the Beatles. George Harrison was the next of the final members, to be added to the group. That was after February of 1958. Ringo Star was the last to be added to the band. The first recording of the final four were made in October of 1960. They ended up trying a various type of music genres over time. Lennon played acoustic guitar, McCartney did vocals and bass, Harrison played electric guitar and was lead guitarist, and Ringo Starr was the drummer to the band. They had two other members in the beginning. There was Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe joined and played bass for the band in January of 1960. He died in April of 1962. Best joined the band on August 12th 1960 and was dismissed on the 16th of August in 1962.
When their songs were re-released in the US, most hit Americas top ten in a very short time. The Beatles faced all sorts of controversy when they went on tour in Germany, the Philippians, and the US. Their first public appearance was on the Ed Sullivan’s TV show. Beatlemania soon encompassed all of the US shortly after 1962. It spread like wild fire in homes across the world. Nearly three thousand fans greeted the Beatles when they landed in the US. They performed their last concert in august of 1966 in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park.
The Beatles have had more number one selling singles and albums than any other band has had yet. There first single released was the song “Love Me Do”, followed closely by “Please Please Me”. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band was rated as the world’s greatest album of all time by The Rolling Stones. The songs “Strawberry Fields Forever” and Penny Lane” where released together and made number two in top singles. “A Hard Days Night” was released in August of 1964. It is the name of one of there first movies. “Hey Jude” was released in 1968 and was written by McCartney for Julian, Lennon’s son, during Lennon’s divorce. In the US, the single was number one for nearly nine weeks. “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” was the Beatles worldwide best selling single. It had been originally recorded in 1963. The popular song, “Yellow Submarine” was written and released in 1966. Bad publicity on this song originated from rumors that the song was written about drugs. “The Ballad of John and Yoko” was released in May of 1969, and it was written about John’s marriage to Yoko Ono. Another famous song by the Beatles is “Cant Buy Me Love”. It was part of their sixth single released.
