13 questions · Music
When four young men from Liverpool in England took to the stage in the early 1960s, no one guessed they would change pop music forever. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, guitarist George Harrison and drummer Ringo Starr became the ‘Fab Four’ and set off a worldwide hysteria called ‘Beatlemania’: screaming fans, sold-out stadiums, police escorts. Yet the Beatles were more than teen idols. Catchy earworms like ‘Yesterday’ (reportedly composed by McCartney in a dream) gave way within a few years to bold studio art. With the 1967 concept album ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ they were the first to treat pop as a serious art form. Much of their music was recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios: they named their final album together ‘Abbey Road’ after it, and its zebra-crossing cover remains a place of pilgrimage. In 1970 the band broke apart over inner tensions and solo plans; their music, though, lived on forever. Good to know: In their early years they often played the Star-Club in Hamburg, where they honed their sound.
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Liverpool
In their early years they often played Hamburg clubs such as the Indra, Kaiserkeller, Top Ten and Star-Club, where they honed their sound.
💡 Did you know? The name plays on ‘beat’ and the insect ‘beetle’.
4
Ringo Starr replaced original drummer Pete Best in 1962.
💡 Did you know? Before Ringo, Pete Best was the drummer.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The album is seen as a turning point: pop taken seriously as an art form.
💡 Did you know? Its celebrity-collage cover is one of the most famous in music history.
John Lennon
Lennon was killed outside his home, the Dakota Building.
💡 Did you know? His song ‘Imagine’ became an anthem for peace.
Abbey Road
‘Let It Be’ was released later but largely recorded earlier.
💡 Did you know? The cover shows the band on a zebra crossing: now a place of pilgrimage.
Beatlemania
Screaming fans followed the band everywhere from 1963 on.
💡 Did you know? In 1964 a TV appearance conquered the USA for them.
Yesterday
McCartney reportedly wrote the melody in a dream.
💡 Did you know? There are thousands of cover versions.
1970
Tensions and solo plans led to the end.
💡 Did you know? All four went on to solo careers afterwards.
George Harrison
Harrison brought Indian influences (sitar) into pop music.
💡 Did you know? Even Frank Sinatra praised his song ‘Something’.
Abbey Road Studios
Much of their work was recorded here.
💡 Did you know? The London studio still exists today.
Ringo Starr
His real name is Richard Starkey.
💡 Did you know? He sang ‘Yellow Submarine’, among others.
England
Liverpool is in north-west England.
💡 Did you know? The Queen made them members of the Order of the British Empire in 1965.
Foto: Dezo Hoffmann, Distributed by Capitol Records · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
The Beatles
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