Case study by: Iqra Iqbal

Origins

The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, are often recognized as the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed act in popular music.

From 1962, the group consisted of:

John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals)

Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals)

George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) Ringo Starr (drums, vocals)

Origins

Rooted in skiffle (a former primitive style of jazz or folk music) and 1950s rock and roll, the group later worked in many genres ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic rock (rock music inspired by or related to drug-induced experience), often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways.

The nature of their enormous popularity, which first emerged as the "Beatlemania" fad, transformed as their songwriting grew in sophistication. The group came to be perceived as the embodiment of progressive ideals, seeing their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.

History and significance

The long journey resulting in the mob scene that greeted the Beatles' arrival at Kennedy Airport began in Liverpool back in 1958.

A series of groups, including the Quarrymen and the Johnny and the Moondogs, variously included Liverpool natives John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. With a rhythm section consisting of bassist Stu Sutcliffe (an art student with great looks and scant musical ability) and drummer Pete Best, the group assumed the name "the Beatles."

The group became a fixture on the rough-and-tumble bar scene in Hamburg, Germany, where their five-set-a-night marathons helped mold them into a tight performing unit. Their early repertoire consisted of well-chosen rock and roll and rhythm & blues covers, running the gamut from Chuck Berry to Little Richard.

History and significance

In April 1961, Sutcliffe left and McCartney switched from guitar to bass. On the local scene in their hometown of Liverpool, the group landed a lunchtime residency at a club called the Cavern, where they were discovered by a local record merchant and entrepreneur, Brian Epstein, who became their manager in December 1961.

Epstein helped polish the group's appearance, dressing them in dapper collarless gray suits and making them appear more friendly than menacing.

After being rejected by Decca Records following a January 1962 audition, the Beatles signed with EMI-Parlophone that April, having impressed producer George Martin. In August, Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey), who'd been drumming with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, was brought into replace Pete Best.

History and significance

The group's first single, "Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You," briefly dented the U.K. Top Twenty in October 1962, but their next 45, "Please Please Me," formally ignited Beatlemania in their homeland, reaching the Number Two spot.

It was followed by four consecutive chart-topping British singles, issued throughout 1963: "From Me to You," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Can't Buy Me Love."

They conquered the U.K., even inducing a classical music critic from the London Sunday Times to declare them "the greatest composers since Beethoven."

The group's success was based around the Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership, Harrison's guitar-playing prowess, and Starr's amiable disposition and artful simplicity as a drummer.

History and significance

The Beatles' conquest of America early in 1964 launched the British Invasion, as a torrent of rock and roll bands from Britain overtook the pop charts.

The Fab Four's first Number One single in the U.S. was "I Want to Hold Your Hand," released on Capitol Records, EMI's American counterpart. This exuberant track was followed by 45 more Top Forty hits over the next half-dozen years.

During the week of April 4, 1964, the Beatles set a record that is likely never to be broken when they occupied all five of the top positions on Billboard's Top Pop Singles chart, with "Can't Buy Me Love" ensconced at Number One.

Their popularity soared still further with the release of their playfully anarchic documentary film, A Hard Day's Night, in August 1964.

History and significance

When all was said and done, the Beatles charted 20 Number One singles in the States - a number even greater than runner-up Elvis Presley's 17 chart-toppers. For such feats of sales and airplay alone, the Beatles can unassailably be regarded as the top group in rock and roll history.

Yet their significance as a band extends beyond numbers to encompass their innovations in the recording studio.

The Beatles' legacy as a concert attraction, during their harried passage from nightclubs to baseball stadiums, is distinguished primarily by the deafening screams of female fans overcome by the group's very appearance.

History and significance

Consequently, the Beatles began to indulge their creative energies in the studio, layering sounds and crafting songs in a way no one had attempted before.

The results included such musically expansive and lyrically sophisticated albums as Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966).

For various reasons, ranging from safety concerns to frustration that no one could hear or was listening, the Beatles retired from touring after a San Francisco concert on August 29, 1966.

Ten months later, they released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album that has almost universally been cited as the creative apotheosis of rock and roll, a watershed event in which rock became "serious art" without losing its sense of humor (or sense of the absurd).

History and significance

Realizing the band members' collective ambitions took four months and all the technical wiles of producer George Martin.

A completely self-contained album meant to be played and experienced from start to finish, Sgt. Pepper broke the mold in that no singles were released from it.

The album's heady artistic reach further cemented the notion of a viable counterculture in the minds of youthful dropouts everywhere.

Anyone who was alive in the summer of 1967 can remember the pleasant shock of hearing it and the reverberations it sent outward into the world of rock and roll and beyond.

History and significance

In the wake of Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles began to splinter in ways that were, at first, subtle but that gradually grew more pronounced.

Subsequent events included:

1. the death of manager Epstein due to an overdose of sleeping pills; 2. the release of the TV film Magical Mystery Tour, which earned the Beatles some of their first negative reviews; 3. a trip to India to meditate with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, about whom Lennon wrote the scabrous putdown "Sexy Sadie"; and 4. the launching in January 1968 of Apple Corps, Ltd., a disastrously mismanaged entertainment empire that helped bring down the Beatles amid a tangled maze of money matters.

History and significance

Through all the chaotic events of the late Sixties, the Beatles managed to retain their integrity and focus as recording artists.

Released in August 1968, the single "Hey Jude"/"Revolution" became their most popular single. The Beatles (1968), a double-LP popularly referred to as "the White Album," was like a prism that found the group refracting into four individual and highly estimable talents.

The album and film Let It Be, recorded in 1969 but shelved until 1970, essentially documented the Beatles' dissolution and breakup amid internal squabbles and the presence of John Lennon's new mate, Yoko Ono.

Yet the Beatles came together and exited on a high note, uniting in the summer of 1969 to record their swan song, Abbey Road.

History and significance

On April 10, 1970, Paul McCartney announced his departure from the Beatles, and the group quietly came to an end.

Throughout the Seventies, fans hoped for an eventual reunion, while the group members pursued solo careers with varying degrees of artistic and commercial success.

Those hopes were forever dashed by the murder of John Lennon in New York City on December 8, 1980.

History and significance

The impact of the Beatles upon popular music cannot be overstated; they revolutionized the music industry and touched the lives of all who heard them in deep and fundamental ways.

Arriving in the United States on February 7, 1964, they literally stood the world of pop culture on its head, setting the musical agenda for the remainder of the decade.

The Beatles' buoyant melodies, playful personalities and moptopped charisma were just the tonic needed by a nation left reeling by the senseless assassination of its young president, John F. Kennedy, barely two months earlier.

Even adults typically given to scorning rock and roll as worthless "kid's stuff" were forced to concede that there was substance in their music and quick-witted cleverness in their repartee.

History and significance

The impact of the Beatles upon popular music cannot be overstated; they revolutionized the music industry and touched the lives of all who heard them in deep and fundamental ways.

Arriving in the United States on February 7, 1964, they literally stood the world of pop culture on its head, setting the musical agenda for the remainder of the decade.

The Beatles' buoyant melodies, playful personalities and moptopped charisma were just the tonic needed by a nation left reeling by the senseless assassination of its young president, John F. Kennedy, barely two months earlier.

Even adults typically given to scorning rock and roll as worthless "kid's stuff" were forced to concede that there was substance in their music and quick-witted cleverness in their repartee.

History and significance

What was that made them so distinctive? How come no other band equaled their success?
Might have been for the fresh breath of hope expressed trough their songs given that the Vietnam War was the time when they had the chance to express their political views trough their music. "Hope never dies" as the good old proverb says and it is maybe a fresh, renewed hope that they transmitted through their songs that made the public love them. British rock and roll became famous all over the world and The Beatles success is still unequaled to this day.

They influenced the people, that generation not only in their musical preferences but also in the way they dressed and felt about one another. They transmitted all there was to share trough their music and lyrics.

History and significance

What was that made them so distinctive? How come no other band equaled their success?
The impact of the Beatles not only on rock & roll but on all of Western culture is simply incalculable. As musicians, the Beatles proved that rock & roll could embrace a limitless variety of harmonies, structures, and sounds; virtually every rock experiment has some precedent on Beatles records.

As a unit the Beatles were a musically synergistic combination: Paul McCartney's melodic bass lines, Ringo Starr's slaphappy no-rolls drumming, George Harrison's rockabilly-style guitar leads, John Lennon's assertive rhythm guitar and their four fervent voices.

The Beatles discograhy

In their native United Kingdom during 19621970, The Beatles released 12 studio albums, 13 EPs (extended plays), and 22 singles.

However, the band's international discography is complicated, due to different versions of their albums sometimes being released in other countries, particularly during their early years on Capitol Records in the United States.

The Beatles' discography was originally released on the vinyl format, with full-length long plays (LPs), shorter EPs, and singles (SPs).

The Beatles discograhy

Over the years, the collection has also been released on cassette, 8-track,compact disc (CD), and on a USB flash drive in MP3 and 24-bit FLAC format.

Although their output has come to include vault items and remixed mash-ups, the core Beatles discography recorded during the 1960s is 217 tracks and approximately ten hours of music.

Most of The Beatles' albums were released in both mono and stereo. Since mono record players were the most common at the time, The Beatles and their regular producer George Martin gave more time and attention to preparing mono mixes of their recordings.

The Beatles discograhy

The Beatles had only involved themselves in creating the mono mixes for the first four albums; the stereo mixes were prepared without their supervision.

However, because by the late '60s stereo record players became more common, their final two albumsAbbey Road and Let It Bewere mixed and released in stereo only.

From 1968, in both the UK and the US, starting with the single "Hey Jude" and the album The Beatles (better known as the "White Album"), new releases appeared on the Apple label. Parlophone and Capitol catalogue numbers continued to be used for contractual reasons.

The Beatles discograhy

The Beatles' UK discography was released on CD in the late 1980s. According to the official editions of the first four albums, they were released in mono. The remaining albums were then issued in stereo only.

However, the sound of the digital transfers of the discs, produced by George Martin in 1987 and 1988 using the best equipment available during the early days of the format, no longer met the standards achievable of 21st century techniques.

From 2005, over a four-year period, the original recordings were remastered using the latest technology. Apple and EMI released these versions of The Beatles' catalogue on CD on 9 September 2009 in mono and stereo.

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK 63 1 1

Chart position US

12-Bar Original A Beginning A Day in the Life A Hard Day's Night A Shot of Rhythm and Blues A Taste of Honey A World Without Love Across the Universe Act Naturally Ain't She Sweet All I've Got to Do All My Loving All Things Must Pass All Together Now All You Need Is LoveAnd I Love Her

1965 1968 1967 1964 1963 1963 1964 1968 1965 1961 1963 1963 1969 1967 1967 1964

Anthology 2 Anthology 3 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band A Hard Day's Night Live at the BBC Please Please Me Let It Be Help! Anthology 1 With the Beatles With the Beatles Anthology 3 Yellow Submarine Magical Mystery Tour A Hard Day's Night

1 47 19 45 1 12

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK 7 1 19 1

Chart position US 67 34 1

And Your Bird Can Sing Anna (Go to Him) Another Girl Any Time at All Ask Me Why Baby It's You Baby, You're a Rich Man Baby's in Black Back in the U.S.S.R. Bad Boy BecauseBeing for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! Bsame Mucho Birthday Blackbird Blue Jay Way Boys Can't Buy Me Love Carnival of Light

1966 1963 1965 1964 1962 1963 1967 1964 1968 1965 1969 1967 1962 1968 1968 1967 1963 1964 1967

Revolver Please Please Me Help! A Hard Day's Night Please Please Me Please Please Me Magical Mystery Tour Beatles for Sale The Beatles Beatles VI Abbey Road Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Anthology 1 The Beatles The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour Please Please Me A Hard Day's Night

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK 2 4 1

Chart position US 6 1 5 2

Carol Carry That Weight Catswalk Cayenne Chains Christmas Time (Is Here Again)Clarabella Come and Get It Come Together Cry Baby Cry Cry for a Shadow Crying, Waiting, HopingDay Tripper Dear Prudence Devil in Her Heart Dig a Pony Dig It Dizzy Miss Lizzy Do You Want to Know a SecretDoctor Robert

1963 1969 1962 1960 1963 1967 1963 1969 1969 1968 1961 1963 1965 1968 1963 1969 1969 1965 1963 1966

Live at the BBC Abbey Road Anthology 1 Please Please Me The Beatles' Christmas Album Live at the BBC Anthology 3 Abbey Road The Beatles Anthology 1 Live at the BBC Past Masters Volume 2 The Beatles With the Beatles Let It Be Let It Be Help! Please Please Me Revolver

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK 1 2 1 1

Chart position US 35 1 11 1 6 41 1

Don't Bother Me Don't Ever Change Don't Let Me Down Don't Pass Me By Drive My Car Eight Days a Week Eleanor Rigby Etcetera Every Little Thing
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My MonkeyEverybody's Trying to Be My BabyFixing a

Hole Flying For No One For You Blue Free as a Bird From a Window From Me to You From Us to You Get Back

1963 1963 1969 1968 1965 1964 1966 1968 1964 1968 1964 1967 1967 1966 1969 1995 1964 1963 1963 1969

With the Beatles Live at the BBC Past Masters Volume 2 The Beatles Rubber Soul Beatles for Sale Revolver Beatles for Sale The Beatles Beatles for Sale Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Magical Mystery Tour Revolver Let It Be Anthology 1 Past Masters Volume 1 Live at the BBC

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK 1 1 1

Chart position US 7 1 1 1

Getting Better Girl Glad All Over Glass Onion Golden Slumbers Good Day Sunshine Good Morning Good Morning Good Night Got to Get You into My Life Hallelujah, I Love Her So Happiness Is a Warm Gun Hello, Goodbye Hello Little Girl Help! Helter Skelter Her Majesty Here Comes the Sun Here, There and Everywhere Hey Bulldog Hey Jude Hippy Hippy Shake

1967 1965 1963 1968 1969 1966 1967 1968 1966 1960 1968 1967 1962 1965 1968 1969 1969 1966 1968 1968 1963

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Rubber Soul Live at the BBC The Beatles Abbey Road Revolver Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band The Beatles Revolver Anthology 1 The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour Anthology 1 Help! The Beatles Abbey Road Abbey Road Revolver Yellow Submarine Past Masters Volume 2 Live at the BBC

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK 1 8

Chart position US 56 39 1 14 53

Hold Me Tight Honey Don't Honey Pie How Do You Do It? I Am the Walrus I Call Your Name I Don't Want to See You Again I Don't Want to Spoil the Party I Feel Fine I Forgot to Remember to Forget I Got a Woman I Got to Find My Baby I Just Don't Understand I Lost My Little Girl I Me Mine I Need You I Saw Her Standing There I Should Have Known Better I Wanna Be Your Man

1963 1964 1968 1962 1967 1964 1964 1964 1964 1964 1963 1963 1963 1962 1970 1965 1963 1964 1963

With the Beatles Beatles for Sale The Beatles Anthology 1 Magical Mystery Tour Past Masters Volume 1 Beatles for Sale Past Masters Volume 1 Live at the BBC Live at the BBC Live at the BBC Live at the BBC Let It Be Help! Please Please Me A Hard Day's Night With the Beatles

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK 1

Chart position US 1 53 25 95

I Want to Hold Your Hand I Want to Tell You I Want You (She's So Heavy) I Will If I Fell If I Needed Someone If You've Got Trouble I'll Be Back I'll Be on My Way I'll Cry Instead I'll Follow the Sun I'll Get You I'll Keep You Satisfied I'm a Loser I'm Down I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You) I'm Happy Just to Dance with You I'm In Love I'm Looking Through You I'm Only Sleeping

1963 1966 1969 1968 1964 1965 1965 1964 1963 1964 1964 1963 1963 1964 1965 1963 1964 1963 1965 1966

Past Masters Volume 1 Revolver Abbey Road The Beatles A Hard Day's Night Rubber Soul Anthology 2 A Hard Day's Night Live at the BBC A Hard Day's Night Beatles for Sale Past Masters Volume 1 Beatles for Sale Past Masters Volume 1 Live at the BBC A Hard Day's Night Rubber Soul Revolver

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK 1 2

Chart position US 4 1

I'm So Tired I'm Talking About You In My Life In Spite of All the Danger It Won't Be Long It's All Too Much It's for You It's Only Love I've Got a Feeling I've Just Seen a Face Jazz Piano Song Johnny B. Goode Julia Junk Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey Keep Your Hands Off My Baby Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand Lady Madonna Leave My Kitten Alone Lend Me Your Comb Let It Be

1968 1962 1965 1958 1963 1967 1964 1965 1969 1965 1969 1964 1968 1968 1964 1963 1964 1968 1964 1963 1969

The Beatles Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962 Rubber Soul Anthology 1 With the Beatles Yellow Submarine Help! Let It Be Help! Live at the BBC The Beatles Anthology 3 Beatles for Sale Live at the BBC Past Masters Volume 1 Past Masters Volume 2

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK 4

Chart position US 1 17

Like Dreamers Do Little Child Lonesome Tears in My Eyes Long, Long, Long Long Tall Sally Looking Glass Love Me Do Love Me Tender Love of the Loved Love You To Lovely Rita Loving You Lucille Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Madman Maggie Mae Magical Mystery Tour Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues Martha My Dear Matchbox Maxwell's Silver Hammer

1962 1963 1963 1968 1964 1962 1962 1962 1962 1966 1967 N/A 1963 1967 1969 1969 1967 1969 1968 1964 1969

Anthology 1 With the Beatles Live at the BBC The Beatles Past Masters Volume 1 Please Please Me

Revolver Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Live at the BBC Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Let It Be Magical Mystery Tour Anthology 3 The Beatles

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK

Chart position US

Mean Mr. Mustard Memphis, Tennessee Michelle Misery Money (That's What I Want) Moonlight Bay Mother Nature's Son Mr. Moonlight No Reply Nobody I Know Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) Not a Second Time Not Guilty Nothin' Shakin' (But the Leaves on the Trees) Nowhere Man Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da Octopus's Garden Oh! Darling Old Brown Shoe One After 909 One and One Is Two

1969 1963 1965 1963 1963 1963 1968 1964 1964 1964 1965 1963 1968 1963 1965 1968 1969 1969 1969 1969 1964

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK

Chart position US

Some Other Guy Something Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias Strawberry Fields Forever Sun King Sure to Fall (In Love with You) Sweet Little Sixteen Take Good Care of My Baby Taxman Teddy Boy Tell Me What You See Tell Me Why Thank You Girl That Means a Lot That'll Be the Day That's All Right (Mama) The Ballad of John and Yoko The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill The End The Fool on the Hill The Honeymoon Song

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK

Chart position US

List of The Beatles songs

Titles

Year

Album

Chart position UK

Chart position US