Spade 1 Sierra Spade (#30) Mr.

Herr Music History 23 November 2010 A Day In the Life Throughout history, there have been many different musicians who have introduced new styles of music. Some of them were successful while others were not. In the late 1950s, a new band got together performing like no other musicians; they called themselves The Beatles. The Beatles went on to become one of the most successful and well-known bands of the twentieth century. John Lennon was one of the first of the group to be involved with music. When he was a teenager, John was very rebellious. People thought he had a great deal of potential and talent, but he misdirected it by writing cruel and insulting poems, mocking teachers, and doing obscene drawings. As John grew into his early teens, he became more interested in music. The introduction of a low-tech musical style in which groups of kids got together and jammed on beat-up old instruments and washboards (known as skiffle music) prompted John to organize his own band. In July 1957, John and his band, Quarry Men, were offered a gig to perform at a local church. This was where John first met Paul McCartney. Paul McCartney was a very well-respected and disciplined teenager. He concentrated on doing well in school and showed success with leadership roles. After the death of his mother, Paul sought comfort from this tragedy in music. He received a lot of encouragement from his

Spade 2 father, who was Pauls strongest musical influence. Like John Lennon, Paul also did a few performances. As he continued to get more skilled at the guitar, he became friends with George Harrison. The two teens learned chords and played guitar together on a regular basis. Paul also met and became friends with Ivan Vaughan, who was a friend of John Lennon. Ivan was the one who convinced Paul to attend the church function, where John and Paul first encounter one another. Neither John nor Paul knew how important their meeting would eventually become. John was very impressed with Pauls ability to actually tune a guitar on his own and his knowledge for chords to many different songs. Paul was also impressed by Johns organization of a band and the fact that he was a leader figure. After John met Paul, John began to mature personally and realized that he wanted to start being very serious about making music his life. John put in much thought and he finally decided to invite Paul to join his band. At the end of the summer of 1957, Paul became a Quarry Man and began spending a lot of time with John. Pauls first gig with the Quarry Men started on October 18, 1957 at a music club in Liverpool. After playing only cover songs night after night, Paul decided to write his first song, which was entitled I Lost My Little Girl. This sparked John to begin to write his own songs as well. A few months after, John and Paul started writing songs together. John was the cynical poet, while Paul was the optimistic and romantic writer. These two differences artistically balanced them out, causing Paul and John to realize they really did need one another. In 1958, Paul convinced John to let his friend, George Harrison, to also join the Quarry Men. George had a natural talent and was able to play in many different styles of music. By mid-1959, they were playing and writing songs as much as they possibly could. Both John and Paul were determined to gain more success in music. They wanted a new name to change their

Spade 3 direction and give them a larger appeal. John had always liked the name of Buddy Hollys backup group, the Crickets. Trying to find a name closely related, they came up with several names before they finally decided on one. In June 1960, the group performed for the first time as the Beatles. In the beginning of their musical career as the Beatles, they had many hardships. A Liverpool entrepreneur, Allan Williams, gave them many gigs and even sent them to Hamburg, Germany. However, they didnt start off with much success. They were forced to stay in a rundown hotel and played for many hours straight at the Indra Club. George ended up being deported due to the fact that many people reported to the authorities that he was too young to be working. Paul and Pete Best, the drummer, were also forced to leave for supposedly setting their hotel room on fire. However, even though there were many downfalls to Hamburg, it prepared the Beatles for the pressures they were about to face as the worlds most popular band. As they became more and more popular, they were discovered by Brian Epstein who had heard their recording My Bonnie. Brian signed them a record deal with EMI and also provided them the idea of the suit and tie look. By August 1962, they began to record in EMI studio. Before they officially started recording, Pete Best was suddenly fired from the group and replaced by the drummer Richard Starkey, also known as Ringo Starr. They released two big songs, Love Me Do and Please Please Me. Within weeks, the Beatles became the most popular group in all Britain. In February 1963, the Beatles recorded their very first album, Abbey Road. This album contained eight original songs by both John Lennon and Paul McCartney, which was a very big accomplishment in that era. Most albums were usually versions of other peoples tunes at that time.

Spade 4 At the end of 1963 and the beginning of 1964, Beatlemania had spread across the world. Beatlemania was a term used to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward the Beatles during the early years of their success. The Beatles became an official phenomenon when more than 73 million people in American watched them perform live on television on the Ed Sullivan Show. Less than four weeks after this performance, the Beatles held the top five music singles in America. The level of the Beatles popularity was astounding. In the next five years, the Beatles go on to perform over 307 songs, including originals, covers, and instrumental songs. In September 1969, John officially calls it quits with the Beatles. John and Paul both go off to record solo albums. Paul also leaves the Beatles after his first solo album gets released in April 1970. On December 31, 1970, the Beatles were confirmed to be officially broken up after Pauls lawsuit against John to dissolve the Beatles. After this, they went off on their separate ways. Everyone around the world hoped the Beatles would someday get back together. That hope ended when John Lennon was assassinated in front of his apartment on December 8, 1980. The Beatles were the one of the most influential musical groups of all time. Many people were affected by their unique style of music. Their music reflected the rebellion of the youth of the 1960s. However, it also reflected the desire for change and for peace in the world. The Beatles may have only started out as four teenage boys trying to earn money, but they became a band that will never be forgotten.

Spade 5 Works Cited Glassman, Bruce. John Lennon and Paul McCartney: Their Magic and Their Music. Woodbrige, Connecticut: Blackbirch Press. 1995. Home Page. 2009. <www.thebeatles.com/history> The Beatles. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture v. 1. 2000.