The Beatles

I'd like to meet:

A trip down memory lane...
Share your favourite Beatles' memories - whether it's a video or song, or even a significant moment in your life. Post your comment in the box below. All comments will be posted up shortly...
Your comment...

Your memories...
I used to see John from a far walkin' in New York with Yoko...I never wanted to bother him, I actually saw him play with Daviod Peel and The Lower Eastside (ELEPHANT's Memory Band) I'll never forget the night though.....

But when wings Over America Tour was on I saw Paul & his band at Madison Sq. Garden.....we waited after 'till nearly 3am ...suddenly the door flew open and a small crowd of souls walked fast to the waiting limo....(I saw a schock of Linda's hair falling out from under a hat or a scarf......we were a small bunch of people...maybe 20 or so.....every one else had left.......I ran to the limo and the door slammed shut.....at once There was Paulie looking straight in to my face.....he looked at me like to say "tough luck"....then I put up my hand to the window....he smiled and put his aginst the glass....the car spen away.......just like that the BEATLES as a living contempoary force in our lives left just as fast.....leaving beautifull echos that still are stronger than most other music made in their wake.

~ submitted by Rough Draft cause we All are works in progress

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"The Beatles" helped me get through all the teen angst that I endured back in the 60s. Their music was the voice of a generation, and it keeps giving to the generations that have followed. Every album was a true original & brought about immediate & profound changes in music and the world! Why else would Richard Nixon have John put on a list of undesirable 'aliens'? The old farts of the day couldn't deal with change & oh, what change was wrought!!

I am now an old fart grandpa myself. While I don't care for some of the music of today and music that my kids listened to, I was always careful not to criticize what I didn't like or understand. All I can do personally do is to say "Thank You" to the 'The Beatles for everything you all gave and meant to us.

~ submitted by Papa Larry

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This is a long story so bear with me. Back in the day my sister worked for Apple in NYC. She'd see John, George or Ringo all the time (It was after the breakup.) so being a Beatle freak, I hung around a lot hoping for a glimpse. One day I hit the jackpot. A bunch of us went up to John and Yoko's hotel where they had a whole floor, I wish I remembered the hotel but it was quite a while ago and I was so excited I could have been in another country and not known it.

We were putting acorns in envelopes to be mailed to world leaders for peace. When I first got there we were told to wait in a room. Being a guitar player I notice a guitar case there & had to open it. I freaked out when I saw it was John's Epiphone stripped down Casino that he used in Let It Be. I played every Beatle tune I could think of!
The axe was absolutely filthy & in terrible shape. When I played a chord and took my hand off the neck, my hands were black with dirt. As if the strings had never been changed. Filthy strings are extremely dead sounding. which kind of explains his guitar sound in that era.
I could have walked off with the guitar as nobody was watching but I've always been the honest type & would'nt. I did take his pick and leave mine in it's place. I can imagine him the next day picking up the guitar and being puzzled by the tiny Fender jazz pick I favored in those days.
I still have his oversized,white, Rotosound pick. I also took one of his cigarettes but my Mom found it & fearing it was something other than a ciggie, threw it out!! I considered taking the bong that was right there with the guitar for the taking but felt that would be crossing the line.

We happily spent the rest of the afternoon in a room with John and Yoko stuffing acorns in envelopes. I wanted to say something to him so bad. Tell him I played etc... but knew it would not be cool and would endanger my sister's job. It was a great day.

~ submitted by Vinnie Zummo

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Well I'd say it's when I met Paul. I was 12yrs old and I was in Boston visiting my friends Father with her. We ended up at the Bayside Expo Center for her father to do some things. I sawe on the billboard that he was doing a show there later. Well we were running around inside this huge place and next thing I know...I see him walking. I freaked out and followed behind him untill he finally felt the impending stare at the back of his head.

He stopped turned around , said hello and chatted for a bit. I still can't remember what the first few words were that he spoke I was in shock I think. But he signed my shoe, it's all I had! I am 32 now and that shoe sits in a glass box and even as a young child og 4 or 5, I was a huge fan...that was a once in a life time...and I will always cherish it. I now have lots of memories, but that's the one I'll keep forever.....plus my Beatles tattoo....that kinda part of me for life to!

~ submitted by Tracey

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On the day George died--- I wasn't really a big beatles fan then, however I saw the white album for sale for 8 dollars prior to learning about his death that day, so I picked it up, and ironically years later, George is my favorite and i couldn't live without TheWhiteAlbum/Abbey Road or MMT in my life

~submitted by TheBASS Player

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Ah so many memories-but an early one was when I got to go to see the Beatles perform at a small venue in Queens, NYC. I was just 15, and had never experienced such a collective explosion of euphoria, noise, flashing lights and knowing that we were witnessing history. I've carried that memory for over 40 years, as my love of their music and cultural contributions has only grown.

~submitted by JeanneProfPimp My Profile

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Music:

Song facts from each album...
Please Please Me ~ 22nd March 1963

Love Me Do - John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote this in 1958, when John was 17 and Paul was 16. They made time for songwriting by skipping school. They had written songs before, but this was the first one they liked enough to record. When this was released in England, it was not a big hit. The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, was so confident in the group that he gave the single a big marketing push by buying a bunch of copies of it (some say 10,000) for his record store, which helped get it on the charts and ensured more exposure for the band.

P.S I Love You - Paul McCartney wrote this song in Hamburg, Germany while The Beatles were the house band at The Star Club. This was used as the B-side of "Love Me Do," the first Beatles release in England. It was going to be their first single, but Peggy Lee had a song out with the same title so the record company decided to release "Love Me Do" instead.

Please Please Me - This was The Beatles first single released in America. The Beatles couldn't get a major label to release it, so It went to a small label called Vee Jay records, who released it as a single 3 times- Feb 25, 1963, Jan 30, 1964, and Aug 10,1964. The only release that charted was the second, when The Beatles finally made a name for themselves in America. This was rumored to be about oral sex. The Beatles denied this, since they had a very clean image to maintain at the time. Lennon: "I was always intrigued by the double use of the word 'please'."

With The Beatles ~ 22nd November 1963

Twist and Shout - Engineer on ‘Please Please Me’ Norman Smith explained how The Beatles version came about: "Someone suggested they do 'Twist and Shout' with John taking the lead vocal. But by this time all their throats were sore; it was 12 hours since we had started working. John's, in particular, was almost completely gone so we really had to get it right the first time. The Beatles on the studio floor and us in the control room. John sucked a couple more Zubes (a brand of throat lozenges), had a bit of a gargle with milk and away we went."

Don’t Bother Me - This was George Harrison's first recorded song. It was his response to critics who claimed he was not an important member of the group because he did not write songs. George wrote this when he was down with the flu in a hotel room in the Northeast of England.

A Hard Day’s Night ~ 10th July 1964

Can’t Buy Me Love - This was one of the first pop songs to start with the chorus rather than a verse. That was producer George Martin's idea. Despite rumours to the contrary, Paul McCartney claimed this was not about a prostitute. Rather, the song makes a simple yet profound statement on what matters most in life, love.

I Should Have Known Better - This was done in 3 takes on Tuesday, February 25, 1964. But it didn't end there - they completely remade it the next day. The take you hear on record is Take 22.

I’m Happy Just To Dance With You - John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote this as a showcase song for George Harrison, who sang lead. George had already written only one Beatles song by this point: "Don't Bother Me." The Beatles recorded this on Sunday, March 1, 1964 in 4 takes. Recording on a Sunday was very rare at the time.

If I Fell - John Lennon wrote this song, which may have been influenced by the ambivalence he felt during his first marriage. Lennon called this song "my first attempt at a ballad... it's semi autobiographical, but not consciously." During their 1964 tour, Lennon had some fun with McCartney, adding the word "over" when Paul introduced the song.

A Hard Day’s Night - The title was taken from an expression Ringo used to say. Ringo explained: "We went to do a job, and we'd worked all day and we happened to work all night. I came up still thinking it was day I suppose, and I said, 'It's been a hard day...' and I looked around and saw it was dark so I said, 'Night!' So we came to 'A Hard Day's Night.'"

Beatles For Sale ~ 4th December 1964

I'll Follow the Sun - Paul McCartney wrote this before he joined The Beatles. They held off releasing this because at the time, ballads did not fit their hard-rocking image.
In 2008, a reel-to-reel tape containing outtakes of this song where Lennon and McCartney's attempts to finish recording cause them to break into laughter was auctioned off in England for about $23,000 in early August 2008.

Eight Days a Week- The Beatles wrote this for the movie 'Help', which was at one point titled "Eight Arms to Hold You." The song fades up from silence which was the first pop song to do so.
According to Bob Spitz' The Beatles: The Biography, the title came from a limo driver who was driving Paul McCartney to John Lennon's house. Paul asked how he was doing, and the driver replied: "Working hard, working eight days a week."

Help! ~ 6th August 1965

You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - It was rumoured that this was the first gay rock song, a message to Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who was gay. In the part of The Beatles Anthology, that covers Epstein's death, this song is played, giving credence to the idea that this song was indeed a song about hiding one's homosexuality. The line "feeling 2 foot small" was written "feeling 2 foot tall." Lennon sang it wrong but liked it and left it that way. Session musicians played flutes on this record which became the first time outsiders played on a Beatles record.
John Lennon: "That's me in my Dylan period."

Help! - This was used as the title song to Beatles' second movie. The original title to the song and the movie was "Eight Arms To Hold You" which was feautured on the first copies of the single. Originally, the album cover showed The Beatles spelling out the word "Help" using the semaphore system of communicating with flags, which was usually used by ships. The photographer didn't like the pose, so he had them hold the flags in a way that looked good, but didn't spell anything.
The Beatles sped up the tempo to make it more commercial, Lennon intended it as a slow song. John Lennon: "I really was crying out for help. It was my fat Elvis period."

Rubber Soul ~ 3rd December 1965

Norwegian Wood - This was the first pop song to use a Sitar - George Harrison played it. Harrison was new to the Sitar and took many takes to get it right. He bought the instrument, which he described as "crummy," and taught himself to play.
John Lennon: "I was trying to write about an affair without letting my wife know I was having one. I was sort of writing from my experiences - girl's flats, things like that. I was very careful and paranoid because I didn't want my wife, Cyn, to know that there really was something going on outside of the household. I'd always had some kind of affairs going on, so I was trying to be sophisticated in writing about an affair, but in such a smoke-screen way that you couldn't tell. But I can't remember any specific woman it had to do with."

Michelle - John Lennon invited McCartney over to college parties when he was still in high school, and French culture was a trend. Paul would try to fit in by sitting in a corner and pretending to be French. He would play little tunes in French, but he only knew a few French words so he would groan or make words up. John told him that he should make it into a real song for Rubber Soul, so he asked his friend Ivan Vaughan, whose wife was a French teacher, for a French name and some words to rhyme with it. Vaughan came up with "Michelle, ma belle." McCartney came up with the next line, "These are words that go together well," and Vaughan taught him the French translation, "Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble," which he used in the song as well. When he played it for Lennon, John suggested the "I love you" part in the middle.
This won a Grammy in 1966 for Song Of The Year.

In My Life - Lennon began writing this in 1964. He forgot about the song for a while and he wrote it again one year later, with lyrics talking about people from his childhood and younger years. In John's original handwritten lyrics he made reference to several places in Liverpool.
There is controversy over how involved McCartney was in writing this. Lennon claimed in later interviews that he wrote the whole thing, while McCartney claimed it was an equal collaboration.
Both Lennon and McCartney thought this was one of the best Beatles songs.

Revolver ~ 5th August 1966

Taxman - This was the first track on Revolver. It was the first song Harrison wrote that was given such prominent position, indicating that he was capable of writing songs as good as Lennon and McCartney's.
This is a bitter song about how much money The Beatles were paying in taxes. People with high earnings pay exorbitant taxes in England. Many successful entertainers leave the country so they can keep more of their money. As a result, The Beatles - as well as The Who and The Rolling Stones - spent a lot of time in America and other parts of Europe as "tax exiles."Harrison: "Taxman was when I first realized that even though we had started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes."

Eleanor Rigby - McCartney wasn't sure what this song was going to be about until he came up with the line, "Picks up the rice in a church where a wedding has been." That's when he came up with the story an old, lonely woman. Paul McCartney got "Rigby" from the name of a store and "Eleanor" from actress Eleanor Bron. He liked the name "Eleanor Rigby" because it sounded natural. "Father Mackenzie" was originally "Father McCartney." Paul decided he didn't want to freak out his dad and picked a name out of the phone book instead.The Beatles didn't play any of the instruments on this. All the music came from the string players, who were hired as session musicians.There is a gravestone for an Eleanor Rigby in St. Peter's Churchyard in Wooton, England.

For No One - Paul McCartney wrote this song sitting in a chalet while on holiday with his girlfriend Jane Asher in Klosters, Switzerland, March of 1966. The working title was "Why Did It Die," and there is speculation that McCartney wrote the song about Asher, who was a successful London actress. The theory is that Paul wanted her to cater to his schedule, tour with him, and be the "perfect Beatle wife," but Jane had a life and career of her own, hence the "She doesn't need you" lyrics. Paul has never said it was about Jane specifically, however he did say, "I guess there had been an argument. I never have easy relationships with women."

I Want To Tell You - George Harrison wrote this. He said it's "About the avalanche of thoughts that are so hard to write down or say or transmit."

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heats Club Band ~ 1st June 1967

With A Little Help From My Friends - Ringo sang lead on this as "Billy Shears," a name chosen because it sounded good. The album was recorded as if Sgt. Pepper was a real band. The first line was originally "What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me?" Ringo did not want to sing it, fearing that if they ever did it live he would be pelted with tomatoes.

Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite - The song's title comes from a standard 19th century phrase used in advertising testimonial performances in Britain -"Being for the benefit for." John Lennon acknowledged the lyrics were derived almost word for word from the wording of an Victorian circus poster he took from a cafe during the filming of promotional clips for the "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields: record. All-round performer William Kite worked alongside Pablo Fanque and wire-walker/clown/trampolines the Hendersons in 1843.

When I'm 64 - Paul McCartney wrote the music for this when he was about 15, and used to play it when The Beatles were still known as The Quarrymen. He put lyrics to it later in honor of his father's 64th birthday.
This was a favorite of The Beatles at their early club shows, where they were required to play for hours. When their amps overheated, they would sing this around the piano.

Lovely Rita - Paul McCartney wrote this as if he fell for a meter maid while she was taking his plate number. Said Paul: "I was bopping about on the piano in Liverpool when someone told me that in America, they call parking-meter women meter maids. I thought that was great, and it got to 'Rita Meter Maid' and then "Lovely Rita Meter Maid' and I was thinking vaguely that it should be a hate song: 'You took my car away and I'm so blue today' and you wouldn't be liking her; but then I thought it would be better to love her and if she was very freaky too, like a military man, with a bag on her shoulder. A foot stomper, but nice. The song was imagining if somebody was there taking down my number and I suddenly fell for her, and the kind of person I'd be, to fall for a meter maid, would be a shy office clerk and I'd say, 'May I inquire discreetly when you are free to take some tea with me.' Tea, not pot. It's like saying 'Come and cut the grass' and then realizing that could be pot, or the old teapot could be something about pot. But I don't mind pot and I leave the words in. They're not consciously introduced just to say pot and be clever."

A Day In The Life - A 41 piece orchestra played on this. The musicians were told to attend the session dressed formally. When they got there, they were presented with party novelties (false noses, party hats, gorilla-paw glove) to wear, which made it clear this was not going to be a typical session. The orchestra was conducted by Paul McCartney, who told them to start with the lowest note of their instruments and gradually play to the highest.
The beginning was based on 2 stories John Lennon read in the Daily Mail newspaper: Guinness heir Tara Browne dying when he smashed his car into a parked van, and an article in the UK Daily Express in early 1967 which told of how the Blackburn Roads Surveyor had counted 4000 holes in the roads of Blackburn and commented that the volume of material needed to fill them in was enough to fill the Albert Hall. Lennon took some liberties with the Tara Browne story - he changed it so he "Blew his mind out in the car."
McCartney's middle section (Woke up, got out of bed...) was intended for another song.
A few seconds after the song ends, at the end of the album, there is a loop of incomprehensible Beatles studio chatter that was spliced together. This was put there so vinyl copies would play this continuously in the run-out groove, sounding like something went horribly wrong with the record.

The White Album ~ 22nd November 1968

Dear Prudence - Prudence, Mia Farrow's sister, met The Beatles on a spiritual retreat with the Maharishi in India, which she attended with Mia. When Prudence, suffering depression, confined herself to her room, Lennon wrote this hoping to cheer her up.

Obla Di Obla Da - The title comes from a Reggae band called Jimmy Scott and his Obla Di Obla Da Band. McCartney says, "A fella who used to hang around the clubs used to say in a Jamaican accent, "Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on," and he got annoyed when I did a song of it, 'cause he wanted a cut. I said, 'Come on, Jimmy, it's just an expression."
John Lennon hated this song. He didn't like a lot of McCartney's later songs with The Beatles, feeling they were trite and meaningless. Ringo and George disliked this too and all three of them vetoed Paul's wish that this be released as a single.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Eric Clapton played lead guitar on this song. He and George Harrison were good friends, but George had to convince him to come to the studio because Clapton was worried the other Beatles wouldn't want him there. Clapton's presence eased the mood in the studio at a tense time for The Beatles. They were at each other's throats during recording of The White Album, but they all relaxed when Clapton showed up.
Harrison often had to fight to get his songs on the albums. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were not interested in this at first, but came around when Harrison brought Clapton to the studio.

Why Don't We Do It In The Road - Apparently, McCartney got the idea for this while he was watching a pair of monkeys conducting business: "I was up on a flat roof meditating and I'd see a troupe of monkeys walking along and the male just hopped onto her back and gave her one, as they say in the vernacular. Within two or three seconds he hopped off again, and looked around as if to say, 'it wasn't me,' and she looked around as if there had been some kind of mild disturbance but thought, huh, I must have imagined it. And I thought, bloody hell, that puts it all into a cocked hat, that's how simple the act of procreation is, this bloody monkey just hopping on and off. There is an urge, they do it, and it's done with. It's that simple." McCartney was in India at the time.

Julia - Lennon recorded this by himself. He did it completely live with an acoustic guitar and occasional overdubs on the vocals. It is the only song he did completely on his own during his time with The Beatles. Lennon dedicated this to his mother Julia, who was killed by a drunk driver when he was 18.

Sexy Sadie - The song describes Lennon's total dissatisfaction with the Maharishi. While at his retreat, it has been said that the Maharishi attempted to rape Mia Farrow. Once The Beatles learned of this, they immediately went to the Maharishi, and Lennon announced they were all leaving. The Maharishi asked why? Lennon said, "If you're so cosmic, you'll know why." As originally written, some of its lyrics were considered obscene, and had to be refined. Lennon had used the Maharishi's name, but had to change it for fear of being sued. But, Sexy Sadie is the Maharishi. Needless to say, that was the end of the Maharishi and The Beatles relationship.

Helter Skelter - Paul McCartney wanted to write the "loudest, nastiest, sweatiest rock number we could" after reading a Pete Townshend interview describing a Who track as "The most raucous rock 'n' roll, the dirtiest thing they'd ever done." This was the result. Some historians of popular music now believe that this song was a key influence on the development of heavy metal.
Ringo played the drums so forcefully that his shout of "I've got blisters on my fingers!" accompanies the musical fadeout. Ringo explains "The track was actually very long, and we were just pounding. It was a jam, really, it turned into that. And at the end, the only way off the kit was, 'Look, my fingers are bleeding, and I just have to get up.'' And I decided to shout it."

Savoy Truffle - This was inspired by Eric Clapton's love of chocolate. George Harrison got the lyrics for this from the inside lid of a box of chocolates. Montelimart, Ginger Sling, Cream Tangerine, and Coffee Dessert were names of the chocolates.

Abbey Road ~ 26th September 1969

Maxwell's Silver Hammer - This is about a medical student who kills people. The lyrics are dark comedy.Paul McCartney: "It epitomizes the downfalls in life. Just when everything is going smoothly, Bang! Bang! Down comes Maxwell's Silver Hammer and ruins everything." McCartney's handwritten lyrics for this song were sold at auction for $192,000.

Octopus's Garden - Along with "Don't Pass Me By," this was one of 2 songs Ringo Starr wrote for The Beatles. It came about when Ringo was on a boating trip with his family in Sardina in 1968. The boat's captain offered him an octopus lunch, but he turned it down. It was then that the captain began to tell him everything he knew about octopuses, and how they travel along the sea bed looking for shiny objects and stones with which to build gardens. With this information, Ringo came up with the idea for this song.

You Never Give Me Your Money - This song is about The Beatles' business problems. When their manager Brian Epstein died in 1967, they were burdened with handling their own finances. "Funny Paper" is how The Beatles felt they were paid. They got frustrated when their accountants would tell them how much they were worth "on paper," without actually telling them how much money they had.

Her Majesty - A tribute to the Queen of England, this is the shortest Beatles song. It is 23 seconds long.Originally placed between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam" in the Abbey Road suite, Paul McCartney had it removed because he didn't like it. It ended up on the album as a mistake. An engineer placed this at the end of Abbey Road on a rough edit, and it stayed there.McCartney recorded this before the other Beatles arrived in the studio.There were no references to this whatsoever on the first pressings of the Abbey Road LP, not even on the record label.

Let It Be ~ 8th May 1970 (recorded Jan 1969)

One After 909 - John Lennon wrote this in 1959. It was one of his first songs. The Beatles recorded this in 1963, but did not get a take they liked.

Let It Be - Paul McCartney wrote this song. It was inspired by his mother, Mary, who died when he was 14. Many people thought "Mother Mary" was a biblical reference when they heard it.
John Lennon hated this song because of it's apparent Christian overtones. He made the comment before recording it, "And now we'd like to do Hark The Angels Come." Lennon saw to it that "Maggie Mae," a song about a Liverpool prostitute, followed it on the album.

The Long and Winding Road - McCartney: "I just sat down at my piano in Scotland, started playing and came up with that song, imagining it was going to be done by someone like Ray Charles. I have always found inspiration in the calm beauty of Scotland and again it proved the place where I found inspiration."
The Beatles recorded this in January, 1969 as a fairly simple ballad. By 1970, The Beatles were breaking up and and Phil Spector was brought in to go through the tapes and produce the album. He added many instruments on this song and layered the tracks to create a very full sound. When McCartney heard the results, he made it clear that he hated what Spector did to his song, and tried to get the original version back. Paul has not changed his stance over the years, and still believes Spector butchered it. Lennon said of Spector's work on Let It Be: "Phil was given the s--ttiest load of badly recorded s--t with a lousy feeling to it, and he made something of it."

Get Back - Early versions include the line "I dig no Pakistanis." The song began as a commentary about immigration, telling people to "Get Back" to their own countries. It was meant to mock Britain's anti-immigrant proponents. Paul McCartney thought better of it and made the lyrics more obscure.
"Get Back" was going to be the title of the album. The concept was The Beatles "getting back" to their roots and playing new songs for a live audience without any studio tricks. This song came closest to capturing that spirit, but the album became something completely different when they decided to scrap the idea of a live album.
A live version on the Apple rooftop ended the movie Let It Be. This is what The Beatles were playing on the Apple rooftop when the police shut them down. The album version is a studio take with the end of the rooftop concert spliced on, complete with comments to make it sound live.

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Get Back - The Beatles (live on rooftop for free concert)

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Which of the following is your favourite Beatles' album?
Please Please Me
A Hard Day's Night
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Magical Mystery Tour
Sgt Pepper
The White Album
Let It Be
Abbey Road

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Movies:

Film trivia... A Hard Day's Night ~ Ringo was praised for his solo scene at the riverside as a forlorn soul. However, his expression in that scene was actually the result of being severely hungover after a previous night of heavy drinking.
~ John's written answer to the female reporter asking him if he has any hobbies, is the word "tits".
~ George stumbles and falls during the opening sequence of the group running down a street towards the camera. This wasn't intended and he ripped the suit he was wearing, but as he quickly recovered, laughed and continued running, it was decided to retain the shot in the film.
Help! ~ The script was designed around their requests that the story involves them going to places like the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas because they had never been there before. Another reason for filming in the Bahamas was the tax-breaks it offered.
~ The original title of the movie was "Eight Arms to Hold You", although no one really liked it much and by the time the movie was edited. John had written the song "Help!" around the same time, and it suited the movie's theme so well it became the title song.
Magical Mystery Tour ~ John told Paul about a dream he had where he used a shovel to serve spaghetti to a woman. Paul suggested they film this, John agreed, and the scene is included in the movie.
~ "Mystery tours" were popular in England as low-budget weekend getaways, riding overnight in a bus to a surprise location. Most of "Magical Mystery Tour" was filmed in a rented coach.
~ After the premier showing in December 1967, Ringo apparently rang up the BBC complaining that the poor ratings were due to them showing "this colourful film" in black and white. The BBC responded by transmitting again, this time in glorious colour a few days later. It still bombed.
Let It Be ~ The film was originally intended to end up as a television program.
~ The decision to release "Let It Be" was largely a financial one; Apple's accountants assured the band that, with so much money spent on the project, they couldn't afford to simply bury the results, much as the Beatles wanted to. A movie release would recoup the expenses more effectively than the planned television special... so it was turned into a movie.
How about some tour facts... Tour Fact, America 1964: Because of the "mania", the Beatles seldom ventured outside of their hotels. One of the band's favourite pastimes during this tour was playing the game of "Monopoly" in their hotel rooms. Art Schreiber, who was one of five reporters designated to follow the Beatles on this North American tour, recalls how it unfolded: "When we'd arrive at a hotel, I'd no more sooner get in my room and the phone would ring and it would be John Lennon. He'd say, 'Art, where are you, we're waiting.' So I'd go to his room and he and George would be sitting there at the Monopoly board. John always stood up to shake the dice and roll. He wanted so badly to get Park Place and Boardwalk. He could stand to lose the game, as long as when he lost he had Park Place and Boardwalk."
During the game of "Monopoly", Schreiber recalls Harrison as being very aloof with a preoccupation to acquire the B&O Railroad deed. Said Schreiber: "I asked him why he wanted the B&O so badly and he never did tell me. He never did tell me much of anything. We'd play until sunrise, and I'd be falling asleep at the table and John would poke me and say 'one more game, Art.' During this whole time, George would say practically nothing."
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Tour Fact, America 1965: When the Beatles landed in Houston Texas by plane, the fans managed to swarm the tarmac while the propellers on the plane were still running. This was a dangerous scene not only for the fans but also for the Beatles. Not only did they swarm the tarmac but when the engines of the planes were finally turned off, some of the older fans managed to climb onto the wings of the plane with lit cigarettes in their hands waving to the entourage inside. Fortunately for all concerned, the situation did not end in a tragic explosion!
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Tour Fact 1966: "We'd done about 1,400 live shows and I certainly felt this was it," said George Harrison commenting on their last American concert at Candlestick Park. "It was nice to be popular, but when you saw the size of it, it was ridiculous, and it felt dangerous because everybody was out of hand. Even the cops were out of line....It was a very strange feeling. For a year or so I'd been saying, "Let's not do this anymore.' And then it played itself out, so that by 1966 everybody was feeling, 'We've got to stop this.' I don't know exactly where in 1966, but obviously after the Philippines we thought, 'Hey, we've got to pack this in.' Pimp My Profile

Television:

the beatles all my lovin

The Ed Sullivan Show ~ 73 million people tuned in to watch the Beatles perform on Sunday 9th Febuary, 1964.

~ During the song 'Til There Was You', the camera focused on John and a caption appeared 'Sorry girls, he's married'.

~ Ed Sullivan paid them $3,500 for each show they performed.

~ On Feb 7th, 1964 The Beatles arrived at JFK airport to appear on Ed Sullivan. 3,000 fans were there to greet them, mostly teenagers who had skipped school to be there.

Books:

The Shea Stadium performance...On 15th August, 1965, The Beatles played at Shea Stadium, NY, and became one of the famous concert events of the era, being the first ever concert to be held outdoors in a stadium.

~ The concert's promoter Sid Bernstein said, "Over 55,000 people saw the Beatles at Shea Stadium. We took $304,000, the greatest gross ever in the history of show business" — demonstrating that outdoor concerts on a large scale could be successful and profitable.

~ 2,000 security personnel were there to control the large crowds of screaming fans.

~ The Beatles section of the concert was extremely short by modern standards (just 30 minutes), but was the typical 1965 Beatles tour set list.

The Beatles - I'm Down (Shea Stadium)

Heroes:

Why the Beatles broke up...
John - "The Beatles were disintegrating slowly after Brian Epstein died - and it was a slow death. It was happening: it was evident on "Let It Be"...it was evident in India when George and I stayed there and Paul and Ringo left. And it was evident on the "White Album, you know..."
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Paul - "About a year before the Beatles broke up, I suppose...friction came in, business things came in, relationships between each other. We were all looking for like...people in our lives, like, John had found Yoko. It made it very difficult. He wanted a very strong intimate life with her, at the same time, we always reserve the intimacy for the group. So we're starting to find those things flashing at you - with Yoko. You had to understand, he had to have time with her. But, does he have to have that much time with her was the sort of feeling in the group. So these things started to create in movable objects and pressures that was just too big."
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Ringo - "A lot of days even with all the craziness it really works still. Instead of working every day, it worked like two days a month, you know, and then there were still good days, we were still really close friends, then it would split up again into some madness."
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George - "I spent the last six months producing an album of the fellow Jackie Lomax and hanging out with Bob Dylan and The Band in Woodstock and having a great time and for me to come into the Winter of discontent with the Beatles in Twickenham was very unhealthy and very unhappy....I thought I'm quite capable of being relatively happy on my own and if I'm not able to be happy in this situation, you know, I'm getting out of here."
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George Martin (Beatles producer) - "John got very heavily into drugs and his relationship with Yoko was very disruptive with everybody because...I mean, at one point she was always at the sessions -- her very presence was disturbing. She wasn't even introduced to me until four weeks into this, you know. At one point she was ill and John insisted on bringing her bed into the studio so she could lie there ill and watch us make records, and that isn't the best atmosphere to make a record." And, "What upset me most of all, wasn't the fact that I was losing control, which I was, but the fact that they were fighting so much amongst each other. I mean, at one point, John and George actually hit each other - they had a fist fight. And it was very sad because they were such mates. And John was acting very strange at that time...the Let It Be thing..." Pimp My Profile