by Bob Spitz
Hey Jude. February 26, 1970. Apple SW-385 (stereo only)
A: “Can’t Buy Me Love” “I Should Have Known Better” “Paperback Writer” “Rain” “Lady Madonna” “Revolution”
B: “Hey Jude” “Old Brown Shoe” “Don’t Let Me Down” “The Ballad of John and Yoko”
Let It Be. May 18, 1970. Apple AR-34001 (stereo only)
A: “Two of Us” “I Dig a Pony” “Across the Universe” “I Me Mine” “Dig It” “Let It Be” “Maggie Mae”
B: “I’ve Got a Feeling” “One After 909” “The Long and Winding Road” “For You Blue” “Get Back”
PHOTOGRAPHS
The ten-year-old John Lennon in 1951, standing outside Mendips, his aunt Mimi’s home in Woolton.
PHOTO: TOM HANLEY
CAMERA PRESS (TEXT & ILLUSTRATIONS) LONDON
Paul’s fifth-form class at Liverpool Institute, c. 1955.
MIRRORPIX
Arthur Kelly and George Harrison (age twelve), just days after George got his first guitar.
COURTESY OF ARTHUR KELLY
One of the earliest photos of John, taken in May 1948, a few weeks after he entered Dovedale Primary School in Allerton.
PHOTO: TOM HANLEY
CAMERA PRESS (TEXT & ILLUSTRATIONS) LONDON
The Quarry Men perform at the Woolton church fete, July 8, 1957. The photo was taken fifteen minutes before John Lennon was introduced to Paul McCartney. From left to right: Eric Griffiths, Rod Davis, John, Pete Shotton, Len Garry.
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One of the Beatles’ awkward Hamburg stage arrangements, with Paul stationed at the piano while Stuart anchored the bass, 1960.
K&K STUDIOS/REDFERNS
John, pre-Beatles haircut, captured in a beautiful but eerie profile by Astrid Kirchherr, with the ghostly image of Stuart in the background. Hamburg, 1960.
ASTRID KIRCHHERR/REDFERNS
George Harrison in a young, and ultimately underage, portrait during the Beatles’ first residency in Hamburg, 1960.
JÜRGEN VOLLMER/REDFERNS
Paul was also photographed with a ghostly image of Stuart in the background. Perhaps Astrid had already sensed his early exit from the Beatles—and all of their lives.
ASTRID KIRCHHERR/REDFERNS
The Beatles performing with mentor Tony Sheridan, onstage at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg, 1961.
PHOTO: ELLEN PIEL
The Beatles, photographed by Astrid Kirchherr in der Dom, a municipal park near the Reeperbahn, following one of their all-night blowouts onstage, 1960.
ASTRID KIRCHHERR/REDFERNS
George and Stuart, who became good friends, sharing a quiet and thoughtful musical interlude onstage in Hamburg, 1960.
PETER BRUCHMANN/ REDFERNS
The Beatles perform at a Birkenhead jive club, in a typically cozy, yet crowded scene. April 1, 1963.
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One of the last concerts before the madness set in.
© HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS
The classic Cavern stage shot, under the club’s distinct brick archway.
MICHAEL WARD/REX FEATURES
The gang celebrating Paul’s birthday: that’s Arthur Kelly with a date, Gerry Marsden, George Harrison and Pattie Boyd (smoking).
COURTESY OF ARTHUR KELLY
The Beatles posing in the backyard of one of their houses, 1964.
TERRY O’NEILL/REX FEATURES
Brian Epstein in 1964, caught sitting alone and ignored at the Cavern, where he first discovered the Beatles.
PHOTO: DAVID STEEN
CAMERA PRESS LONDON
The Beatles in 1963, performing live at an EMI reception launching their first album.
PHOTO: PHILIP GOTLOP
CAMERA PRESS LONDON
The Beatles in December 1964, performing in silly costumes on one of the myriad BBC-TV musical shows, which they hated doing.
MIRRORPIX
The Beatles carefully groomed their image, working on those iconic hairdos before going onstage in 1964.
PHOTO: TERENCE SPENCER
CAMERA PRESS LONDON
Paul and John backstage at East Ham in 1963, perusing reviews of their shows. The Beatles avidly read all press reports of their exploits.
PHOTO: JANE BOWN
CAMERA PRESS LONDON
Brian Epstein surrounded by his budding NEMS roster: the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas, 1964.
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Ringo and John reminisce with Astrid Kirchherr en route from Munich before the Beatles’ triumphant return to Hamburg in 1964.
MAX SCHELER/REDFERNS
The Beatles read one of Don Short’s daily articles about them in the Mirror.
MIRRORPIX
Ringo at home with his mother, Elsie, and his stepfather, Harry, before the release of the Beatles’ third album in 1964.
MAX SCHELER/K&K/REDFERNS
The classic stage routine, with the entire sound output coming from those puny amps.
MIRRORPIX
The Beatles took New York by storm in February 1964, initiated by their rousing press conference moments after arriving at JFK. That is NEMS press officer Brian Sommerville to their left.
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The Beatles’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964.
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During rehearsals at the Sullivan show in February 1964, the Beatles give Ed an impromptu guitar lesson.
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George celebrates his twenty-first birthday with a fat stogie, piles of fan mail, and two comely fans.
MIRRORPIX
Clowning with Cassius Clay, whom they met reluctantly in Miami on February 18, 1964, following their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show and during Clay’s training for the title bout against Sonny Liston. Clay insisted he was “the most beautiful” and called the Beatles “worms.”
PHOTO: CURTIS
CAMERA PRESS LONDON
The face of Beatlemania, October 1965. Outside Buckingham Palace, the police were barely able to contain the fans.
© HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS
The Beatles spent many afternoons in 1964 locked in Tony Barrow’s office, flying through one interview after another.
MIRRORPIX
John and Cynthia arrive at Heathrow Airport in 1964, just prior to their departure for America.
MIRRORPIX
The Lennon estate, Kenwood, during a remodeling.
MIRRORPIX
Paul visits with his father, Jim McCartney, during one of the Beatles’ frequent stopovers in Liverpool.
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The police had their hands full with overwrought fans outside the Beatles’ performances throughout the early sixties. Screaming, swooning, crying, and occasionally fainting were among the nightly rituals that highlighted the mania.
CAMERA PRESS (II/D) LONDON
Paul and Jane Asher in 1965, during the early days of their courtship.
MIRRORPIX
John holding a young fan, with Paul and George in Central Park, February 1964.
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George, with Pattie Boyd, soon after they met on the set of A Hard Day’s Night.
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Ringo and Maureen in 1965, greeting the press after their wedding.
MIRRORPIX
Following their investiture at Buckingham Palace in June 1965, where they received MBEs from the Queen, the Beatles mask their ambivalence by displaying the medals at a press conference at the Saville Theatre. John later returned his medal.
PHOTO: PETER MITCHELL
CAMERA PRESS (G/S) LONDON
George and Pattie, celebrating their marriage at Esher Register Office, January 21, 1966.
© HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS
With Ringo in the hospital, having his tonsils removed, the rest of the Beatles, with Jimmy Nicol now on drums, left for a tour of the Netherlands and later
Australia. June 1964.
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Before each recording session, John and Paul would preview their songs for producer George Martin.
TERRY O’NEILL/REX FEATURES
George had already warned off the paparazzi when he blew his cool and launched a drink at photographer Bob Flora in Hollywood. August 1964.
© BOB FLORA/UPI/BETTMANN/CORBIS
Sparked by John’s comment that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, young fans in Waycross, Georgia, prepare to burn albums at a bonfire in protest. August 1966.
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Paul and Mal Evans return from a holiday in France. Aboard their return flight, Paul hit upon the concept for their new album: salt and pepper—Sergeant Pepper.
MIRRORPIX
Paul and Linda Eastman locked eyes early at the press listening party for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, at Brian Epstein’s flat in May 1967.
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For a brief period, the Apple Boutique wore a forty-foot psychedelic mural painted by the Fool before neighborhood shopkeepers demanded its removal. December 1967.
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By 1969, it had come to this: dispassion—along with Yoko Ono—in the recording studio.
MIRRORPIX
Shielded by police officers, Paul and Linda make their way through a throng of fans following their marriage in London. March 1969.
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Visiting with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1967, shortly after his lecture at the Hilton in London.
MIRRORPIX
John and Yoko celebrate their impromptu marriage with the Rock of Gibraltar as a dramatic backdrop. March 20, 1969.
MIRRORPIX
Not all the Beatles agreed that Allen Klein should manage them, but they all understood his unique charisma.
PHOTO: JOHN KELLY
CAMERA PRESS (JBA) LONDON
The final concert on the rooftop of Apple Records, as the Beatles, with Billy Preston, perform together—joyously—for the last time. January 30, 1969.
MIRRORPIX
BOB WHITAKER/CAMERA PRESS LONDON
* Their first child was a boy, who died soon after birth.
* Hunter Davies maintains that the first song John learned was “That’ll Be the Day”; however, since it was not recorded with the Crickets until February 1957, the premise remains highly unlikely.
* This is clearly an exaggeration.
* In 1912, he tumbled off a wall and punctured an eardrum.
* “Runnin’ Shoes” (Decca, 45-F 11403), by the Trad Grads.
* Len Garry’s performance on the washtub bass required no musical accomplishment.
* A red lamp, with a little paraffin light inside, used by night watchmen at road-construction sites.
* Duane Eddy and the Rebels.
* The song was written in 1956, soon after his mother’s death, although McCartney remains vague about a correlation between the two events.
* By the Applejacks, a Birmingham band, in 1964.
* Despite Baker’s belief, John told friends that he was initiated into sex at the age of fifteen by a cousin.
* A boxy tape recorder, an MSS disc cutter, an amplifier, and a four-channel mixer.
* British release dates often differ from U.S. chart appearances.
* The class immediately prior to the sixth form.
* A few days after departing for Hamburg, the test results arrived, revealing that Paul had failed every subject but art.
* Willy Limper included free drinks in their salaries, but after the first week so much vodka, whiskey, and brandy was consumed that he limited them to free beer.
* This refers to the apparent disregard of his painting and the break in formal studies.
* Without a bass at his disposal, Paul was forced to play his guitar upside down and restrung with piano wire to imitate the sound of a bass.
* John also broke his little finger in the skirmish.
* Paul was left-handed, Stuart right-handed.
* On a different occasion, they recorded “Sweet Georgia Brown.”
* The German version, subtitled “Mein Herz ist bei dir nur”; the British version wasn’t released until January 5, 1962.
* Stuart, who had remained in Germany, sent it to George.
* In a datebook he carried at the age of fifteen, under “Personal Memoranda,” the only entry (aside from his address and birth date) is “hat size,” under which he scrawled: “73/8.”
* On Brian’s birth certificate, her name was listed as “Minnie Epstein formerly Hyman.”
* According to Harry, on the eve of publication he couldn’t remember her last name. “I thought, ‘It’s a color,’ and I just put Black. After it appeared, she told me, ‘It’s Cilla White, but I like what you put. I’m going to keep it.’ ”
* His Liverpool College of Art roommate, Rod Murray, recalled how Stuart had occasional severe headaches while enrolled at school. “Stuart fell over from time to time. We thought he just has a bad sense of balance.”
* Interestingly, Paolozzi attempted to convert Stuart into a sculptor, and they undertook several welding projects together.
* Oddly enough, Brian never put his signature to the contract.
* She eventually showed up there two weeks later.
* The rest of the bill featured Tex Roberg, Roy Young, the Bachelors, and the Graduates.
* A form of tag.
* The birth certificate, registered on August 31, 1962, records the boy’s name as Vincent Rogue Best, listing Mona and John Best as parents.
* Ron Richards rejected “P.S. I Love You” because there was another record in the charts with that title, published by Campbell, Connelly, his former employer.
* Later shortened to “Thank You Girl.”
* The scheduled headliner was originally Duane Eddy, who bowed out for contractual reasons.
* Over the years, Cynthia has provided various times for Julian’s birth—at 6:00 A.M. and at 7:45.
* Cynthia’s name does not appear in Brian’s autobiography, A Cellarful of Noise.
* To his credit, however, Shannon became the first American to cover a Beatles record, cutting “From Me to You” the moment he arrived back in the States.
* John’s recollection was that Wooler said, “Come on, John, tell me about you and Brian—we all know.”
* In various memoirs, Paul insists that it was Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, but accounts by John, Oldham, and members of the Stones prove otherwise.
* The set included “From Me to You,” “I’ll Get You,” “She Loves You,” and “Twist and Shout.”
* A paper-thin sequel to The Mouse That Roared, sans Peter Sellers, which had not yet been released.
* John told Jann Wenner, “And Brian came up with Allen [sic] Owen.”
* The show itself was taped and seen on television the following week.
* She appeared regularly on the television show.
* Through Hofer, Brian had set up an American corporation, Beatles USA Ltd.
* The all-time entry record was set by Frank Sinatra’s 1956 album, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers, which popped onto the charts at number twelve.
* In 1986 a court decided that George’s 1970 solo hit “My Sweet Lord” infringed the copyright of the Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine” and awarded Bright Tunes $587,000 in a judgment against George.
* The songs included “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Misery,” “Anna,” “Chains,” “Boys,” “Love Me Do,” “P.S. I Love You,” “A Taste of Honey,” “There’s a Place,” and “Twist and Shout.”
* Donovan, who was in love with Jenny, wrote “Jennifer Juniper” about her.
* Seven shillings and sixpence (now 37.5 pence), the price of a good seat at the cinema.
* In fact, it wasn’t any fun for the Righteous Brothers, who begged off the tour after the eighth city and were replaced by Clarence “Frogman” Henry.
* Two
years later the plane and many of the same crew members crashed in Kansas, killing ninety-five people.
* It was the creation of a team of American journalists for a Time magazine cover story, “You Can Walk Across It on the Grass,” April 15, 1966.
* Ringo had already recorded “If You’ve Got Trouble,” which John and Paul had written for him, but it was scrapped after several unsuccessful takes.
* “Blue” notes were John and Paul’s shorthand for sounds that fell somewhere between two notes, often the result of a minor note played against a major.
* On the American version, Capitol whittled the selections down to ten tracks, thus maximizing profits but substantially changing the character of the album.