Left to Right: George Harrison, Paul McCartney (bottom), John Lennon, and Ringo Starr
In honor of the first Beatles 101 posting, I thought I would cover some of “The Beatles’ firsts.”
If I were to share with you all of The Beatles’ firsts, there would be hundreds of paragraphs to read. The Beatles broke so much ground and so many records, that one could probably come up with a “first” with almost everything that they did. So, as not to overwhelm you, I’ve only posted eleven. Some are staples that every Beatles fan should know, and a couple are more obscure to impress your friends and family. If you see something referencing a song or album you have not heard, I hope this sparks enough interest for you to seek it out.
Enjoy! There will be a quiz later . . .
The First Beatle Ringo Starr was the first Beatle born, but the last to join The Beatles. He was born Richard Starkey in Liverpool July 7, 1940.
John Lennon was born in Liverpool October 9, 1940, and was the one who started a band for the rest to join. John’s first band was called the Quarry Men.
Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool June 18, 1942, and was the first “Beatle” to join the Quarry Men.
George Harrison was born in Liverpool February 24, 1943, and was the youngest band member, which meant the band had to hide his age during the early years because George was only 17 years old, and under age to play at the clubs they were booked.
The First Album Most American Beatles fans do not realize that the first few Beatles albums are different from the UK albums - the song selection, titles, and pictures. The first Beatles album was called Please Please Me, released under EMI March 22, 1963 in the UK and tops the British charts. The American branch of EMI, we know it as Capitol Records, was not interested in signing The Beatles at that time. After Please Please Me boomed in the European market, Capitol Records was all too happy to sign the boys on. That's why the first American album is titled Meet The Beatles and wasn’t released until Jan 20, 1964, while it was really their second European album and titled With The Beatles in the UK.
America’s First The Beatles first stepped foot on American soil February 7, 1964 (other than George who had been there before to visit his sister) when they were invited to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. They flew to New York’s Kennedy airport and were greeted by hundreds of screaming fans. The Beatles were very nervous to go to America because up until then, it was a death sentence for British bands to try to break into the American market. Of course, that was not the case for The Beatles! Their trip to New York set off Beatlemania, which had already taken a hold of England, France, and Australia to name a few. The British Invasion had begun and pop music was never the same again.
The First Movie The first full-length featured Beatles movie was made immediately after The Beatles returned from their landmark American appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, and called “A Hard Day’s Night.” This movie was followed by “Help!” in 1965, and “Magical Mystery Tour” in 1967. A fourth movie was filmed in 1969 and was to be called “Get Back.” “Get Back” was going to be a documentary about how the band makes an album, but instead it ended up filming their break up. The title was changed to Let It Be (as was the album) and was never released for public view.
The First Full Album “A Hard Day’s Night” album, which coincided with the movie, was the first and only album to feature all Lennon-McCartney originals. Before “A Hard Day’s Night,” cover songs were mixed into Beatles’ albums. After “A Hard Day’s Night,” every album featured a Harrison composition or two, and on a couple occasions, a Starkey composition.
The First Solo The song “Yesterday,” which appears on the Help! album was the first Beatles song featuring only one of The Beatles - Paul McCartney. Their producer, George Martin, had added a string quartet to back Paul and his acoustic guitar, but John, George, and Ringo did not appear on this song at all. This may have hit John Lennon, the founder of the band, hard - especially when it became such a huge hit. John, however, was not alive when “Yesterday” became the most re-recorded song in history by other artists.
First Lead Guitar The song, “Another Girl,” which appears on the Help! album and movie, was the first time Paul McCartney was featured as the lead guitarist on a Beatles album. The basic configuration of The Beatles was: John Lennon - rhythm guitar, vocal, and song-writer; Paul McCartney - bass guitar, vocal, and song-writer; George Harrison - lead guitar and vocal (mostly back up); and Ringo Starr - drums and occasional vocal. However, all four members were so talented, the lines crossed all the time and they would switch instruments, they all wrote music, and eventually there were no roles to follow.
Ringo’s First Song “What Goes On,” on the Rubber Soul album, featured Ringo’s first song-writing credit. On every album, Ringo had one song that he sang to appease Ringo-fans, however it was either a cover song or a Lennon-McCartney original usually written just for Ringo to sing. “What Goes On” was first conceived by John, but the others pitched in too, and were credited for it. Ringo’s big contribution was the suggestion to make it a country/western-sounding song. Ringo loved country music.
A Song’s Sitar The first pop song featuring a sitar was “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” on the Rubber Soul album. George Harrison was first intrigued by the sitar playing on the set of the movie “Help!”. When they went to record John’s “Norwegian Wood,” it was a great song, but needed a little something - that something happened to be the sitar, which George had began experimenting with. After that recording, the Indian-influenced sound became a fixture in George’s songs (Beatles and post-Beatles), and crept into other pop songs of the ‘60’s.
The First Backwards Recording The first pop song that featured backwards music was “Rain,” the B-side to the single, “Paperback Writer.” It appears at the end of the song and happened by accident (as did most of Beatles’ magic). John had put the reel of tape in backwards to listen to the recording, and was excited by that sound. When the others heard of John’s idea to put it at the end of “Rain,” they were equally excited. George quickly taught himself how to play the guitar part backwards so when the recording was played backwards for the vocal, the music would sound like it was being played forwards.
The First Wives John Lennon married his art school classmate, Cynthia Powell, August 23, 1962 and was the first Beatle to get married. They had a son together they named Julian, and were divorced November 8, 1968.
Ringo Starr married Cavern-fan (a club where they used to play regularly) , Maureen Cox, February 11, 1965. They had three children: Zak, Jason, and Lee. Ringo and Maureen divorced July 17, 1975.
George Harrison married a model he met on the set of “A Hard Day’s Night,” Pattie Boyd, on January 21, 1966. They had no children together, divorced in 1974, and Pattie was remarried to George’s best friend, Eric Clapton.
Paul McCartney, the last available Beatle, married American photographer, Linda Eastman March 12, 1969. Linda had a child, who Paul adopted, Heather. Paul and Linda had three more children together named Mary, Stella, and James (which is Paul’s real first name). They did not divorce, but Linda passed away April 17, 1998 from cancer.
