Beatles FAQ

Until 1968, wives and girlfriends stayed away from Abbey Road whenever The Beatles were recording. 

"We all play on it; i t’s a genuine Beatles recording .  ” Paul McCartney via  Henry Grossman/Wikimedia Commons  and Apple Corps

The Beatles famously brought LSD to public attention. Less well known is that George Harrison became rapidly disillusioned with the drug.

  He was a terrible driver…with bad eyesight. John Lennon's cousin, Stan. John Lennon's Austin Maxi, the last car he ever drove

John Lennon was very short-sighted, but in his teens refused to wear spectacles in public.

The Beatles' record sales dwarfed those of Bob Dylan. In terms of musical influence, the relationship was inverse. 

  The two most influential pop acts of the 1960s were initially wary of each other. As the world was going Beatles-mad, Bob told pals he had no time for 'bubblegum music'. Paul, for his part, dismissed the 'folk crap' he had not actually heard. Meanwhile, the rivals were busy checking each other out.    The Beatles hear Bob In Paris in January 1964 was the first time I ever heard Dylan at all. Paul got the record [ The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan ] from a French DJ. For three weeks in Paris, we didn’t stop playing it. We all went potty about Dylan. John Lennon quoted in Anthology Bob, for his part, joined 70 million fellow Americans in watching that Ed Sullivan Show a few weeks later. And in August 1964, he pitched up at their hotel when they were next in New York. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan  Released in May 1963, Dylan's second studio album marked his emergence as a major singer-songwriter. Several tracks ('Blowing in the Wind, Times They Are a-Changing, A Hard ...

"But that isn't my car!"  Lovely Rita meter maid Nothing can come between us There are two origin stories - three if you count a composite version.

Ringo famously obtained his first drum while in hospital.  A spell on the children’s ward was also the catalyst for George Harrison obtaining his first musical instrument. When he was thirteen, George was admitted to hospital with what turned out to be a minor kidney problem.  To cheer up his sick son, Harry Harrison agreed to buy a classmate’s Dutch Egmond flat-top acoustic guitar. Dutch Egmond Acoustic — George Harrison’s first guitar What George would later describe as a ‘cheapo, a horrible little guitar’ had a selling price of £3 ($4). This was a large sum for a poorly paid bus driver, though it would prove an inspired long-term investment.  Technical issues The Egmond proved very difficult to master, partly because it was poorly set up (a common problem with cheaper mass-produced guitars).  Progress was also hampered by an ill-advised experiment. Curious to see how the guitar was engineered, George unscrewed the head and was unable to fix it back on.  Aband...

  Outside Paul's family home in the early 1960s Soon after first seeing them at the Cavern, Brian Epstein invited The Beatles for a formal meeting at his office. This was arranged for the afternoon of Sunday, 3rd December 1961, at 4.30. Epstein wanted to manage the band but had doubts about their reliability and professionalism. The Beatles, for their part, had achieved success in Hamburg and Liverpool but had no record deal or national profile. John, George, and Pete took the bus to the meeting. They arrived on time - but after forty five minutes, there was still no sign of Paul.  A call was made to the McCartney family home. This revealed that  Paul had just got up and was having a bath. Epstein exploded, "How can he be so late for such an important meeting?"     To which Harrison famously replied, "He may be late, but he's very clean".  A frosty silence melted into laughter. Why was Paul so late? On one level, Paul's lateness was symptomatic of  wha...

  We were first introduced in about 1974 by Elizabeth Taylor. 

The 'Paul is Dead' rumour began in early 1967. The Abbey Road cover photo provided new 'clues.' 

57 Wimpole Street where Paul lived with the Asher family

The Beatles learned some very basic, functional German while in Hamburg. They were resolutely English in their approach to pronunciation, intonation and attempting to mimic accent. 

On July 4th 1966, The Beatles played two concerts in the Philippines as part of what would be their final world tour. These took place over a single afternoon and evening  at the Rizal Stadium, Manila. 

We didn’t sing our own songs in the early days — they weren’t good enough, John Lennon We started as a little covers band,  Paul McCartney

Julia Lennon  (née Stanley) gave birth to her first child, John Winston Lennon, at Liverpool Maternity Hospital during the early hours of 9 October, 1940.  

  Slim Whitman with his Gibson - the sound George aspired to.  George tried to teach himself [the guitar]. But he wasn’t making much headway. ‘I’ll never learn this,’ he used to say. I said, ‘You will, son, you will. Just keep at it.’  Louise Harrison, the mother of George

Paul & Mary McCartney Paul McCartney has recently suggested a ‘subconscious’ inspiration for the line I said something wrong/Now I long for yesterday  was his regret at once chiding his mother for ‘talking posh’: