The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With a line-up comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they are often regarded as the most influential band of all time. The group were integral to the evolution of popular music as an art form and to the development of the counterculture of the 1960s. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways, and they later explored music styles ranging from ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. They also pioneered recording techniques, advanced new methods of artistic presentation, and were commonly viewed as emblems of the era’s sociocultural movements.

Innovation was the most striking feature of their creative evolution.

According to music historian and pianist Michael Campbell: “‘A Day in the Life’ … highlights key features of their music: the sound imagination, the persistence of tuneful melody, and the close coordination between words and music. It represents a new category of song – more sophisticated than pop … and uniquely innovative. There literally had never before been a song … that had blended so many disparate elements so imaginatively.”

Philosophy professor Bruce Ellis Benson agrees: “the Beatles … give us a wonderful example of how such far-ranging influences as Celtic music, rhythm and blues, and country and western could be put together in a new way.”

The song Yesterday was first released on the album Help! in August 1965, except in the United States, where it was issued as a single in September. The song reached number 1 on the US charts.

According to biographers of McCartney and the Beatles, McCartney composed the entire melody in a dream one night in his room at the Wimpole Street home of his then girlfriend Jane Asher and her family. Upon waking, he hurried to a piano and played the tune to avoid forgetting it.

“Yesterday” is one of the most recorded songs in the history of popular music. Its entry in Guinness World Records states that, by January 1986, 1,600 cover versions had been made.

The song Hey Jude was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles’ first release on their Apple record label.

“Hey Jude” was a number-one hit in many countries around the world and became the top-selling single of 1968 in the UK, the US, Australia and Canada. Its nine-week run at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 tied the all-time record in 1968 for the longest run at the top of the US charts.

It has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on music critics’ lists of the greatest songs of all time.

I Want To Hold Your Hand

The song was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded on October 17, 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment.

“I Want to Hold Your Hand” stayed at number 1 for five weeks and remained in the UK top 50 for 21 weeks in total.

Along the years it became the Beatles’ best-selling single worldwide selling more than 12 million copies. In 2018, Billboard magazine named it the 48th biggest hit of all time on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Beatles performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

Let It Be

The song was released on 6 March 1970 as a single, and (in an alternate mix) as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney. McCartney said he had the idea of “Let It Be” after he had a dream about his mother during the tense period surrounding the sessions for The Beatles (“the White Album”) in 1968.

Naomi Shemer wrote the song “לו יהי” influenced by the lyrics and rhythm of “Let it Be”.

Yellow Submarine

The song was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, with lead vocals by Ringo Starr. It was included on their 1966 album Revolver and issued as a single, coupled with “Eleanor Rigby”. The single went to number one on every major British chart, remained at number one for four weeks, and charted for 13 weeks.

Strawberry Fields Forever

The song was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on 13 February 1967 as a double A-side single with “Penny Lane”. It represented a departure from the group’s previous singles and a novel listening experience for the contemporary pop audience. While the song initially divided and confused music critics and the group’s fans, it proved highly influential on the emerging psychedelic genre. Its accompanying promotional film is similarly recognised as a pioneering work in the medium of music video.

Help!

The song served as the title song for the 1965 film and its soundtrack album. It was released as a single in July 1965, and was number one for three weeks in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Credited to Lennon–McCartney, “Help!” was written by John Lennon with some assistance from Paul McCartney.

The Beatles are recognised for many more songs:

• Please Please Me (1963)
• With the Beatles (1963)
• A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
• Beatles for Sale (1964)
• Penny Lane
• Rubber Soul (1965)
• Revolver (1966)
• Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
• Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
• The Beatles (“The White Album”, 1968)
• We Can Work It Out
• Abbey Road (1969)
• Something
• All you need is love

and many many more!

To Sum Up,

The Beatles were loved by many people across the world because the songs they wrote were simple yet smart; Their melodies were amazing and the harmony of their voices was beautiful – they brought a new type of music that stays forever. Their early songs were simple pop songs (for example, Love me do) but as the years flew by, their songs became deeper, more complicated but still beautiful and meaningful (for example, Yesterday).

On a personal note

I chose to write an E-Book about The Beatles because both my parents were big fans of The Beatles and as kids we grew up on their songs – thats when my love to them began. I think that their songs are calm and relaxing and I think that the biggest reason why people loved their songs is that they were pleasent to hear.

On the next page you can see my mother on the famous cross-road on Abbey Road.