The Life Work of the Beatles

During the 1960's a new and exciting English band formed in Liverpool. This band consisted of four group members: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. The band was called The Beatles; they started out their career playing in clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg. At this time however, the band did not include Ringo Starr. The band went on a couple of years without having a stable drummer. This succession of drummers included Pete Best (1960–1962), Tommy Moore (1960), and Norman Chapman (1960). They finally asked Ringo Starr to join them as their drummer in 1962. After Ringo Starr joined the group in 1962 they shortly after went on to produce Love me do which immensely expanded the band's popularity in the United Kingdom. This was their first big hit and what ultimately led to the start of Beatlemania. They also were a major key in the British Invasion of the United States pop market in which The Beatles became international stars in early 1964. The Beatles then went on to become the foremost and most influential music band in history.

In March 1957, John Lennon, decided to form a band at age 16. The band was called The blackjacks and was comprised by several of his friends from his high school in Liverpool. It was not too long however, before they had to change the band's name to The Quarrymen because they had later found out that a local and well respected band in the area was already called The Blackjacks . Paul McCartney entered the picture at 15 years old and joined them as a rhythm guitarist after meeting Lennon that summer. It was not until 1958 that George Harrison became a part of the band. Harrison had been invited to watch the band perform by McCartney and ended up auditioning for John Lennon in order to join. Lennon initially thought that Harrison was good and was impressed by his skills, but felt that he was too young only being 15 at the time. After a month of Harrison's perseverance a second meeting was arranged by his friend McCartney in order to audition for Lennon once again and performed the lead guitar part of the instrumental song Raunchy on a Liverpool bus. This performance landed him as their lead guitarist on the band.

In early 1959 John Lennon's old high school friends ended up leaving the group and he went his separate way to start his college life. The three guitarists left, Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison started to go under the name of Johnny and the Moondogs and would perform rock and roll whenever they could find a drummer. Months later in 1960 Lennon persuaded a friend, Stuart Sutcliffe, from his art school to purchase a bass guitar after he had sold one of his paintings off and it was he who suggested to change the of the band to Beatals as a tribute to Buddy Holly and the Crickets after joining. They only used this name up until may of the same year and then decided to change it to the Silver Beetles before a brief tour in scotland. Afterwards in early July they decided to go by The Silver Beatles and then yet again changed the band's name in August to The Beatles.

In 1960 The Beatles booked a residency in Hamburg with the help of their first unofficial manager Allan Williams. They lacked a full-time drummer and a man named Pete Best auditioned and joined in August of the same year. After bouncing around between clubs in Hamburg owned by Bruno Koschmider they performed at the rival Top Ten Club in breach of their contract. Koschmider then terminated their residency in Hamburg and had reported Harrison for being underage since he had obtained permission to stay in Hamburg by lying to the German authorities about his age. He was then deported in late November, just a week before his other bandmates, McCartney and Best were deported too for playing around with fire in Germany. Lennon later returned to Liverpool early december while Sutcliffe, the new bass guitarists, stayed in Hamburg until late February with his German fianc?©e, Astrid Kirchherr, who took the first semi-professional photos of the Beatles. During the next two years, the Beatles were resident for periods in Hamburg and in 1961 Sutcliffe decided to leave the band early that year and resume his art studies in Germany. In order to replace him McCartney then took up the bass guitar.

After The Beatles completed their second Hamburg residency, they enjoyed increasing popularity in Liverpool with the growing Merseybeat movement. However, they were also growing tired of the monotony of numerous appearances at the same clubs night after night. In November 1961, during one of the group's frequent performances at The Cavern Club, they encountered Brian Epstein. Epstein was a local record-store owner and music columnist. As it turns out Epstein loved their sound and by January in 1962 he became their new tour manager. As their manager Epstein would constantly try his hardest to release The Beatles from their contractual obligations to Bert Kaempfert Productions. He eventually struck a deal and made an agreement with the productions company. As all of this was speedily occurring unfortunate news greeted them on their return to Germany in April, when Kirchherr met them at the airport with news of Sutcliffe's death the previous day from what would later be determined to have been a brain hemorrhage.

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