Beatles FAQ

Pete Best was The Beatles' drummer from August 1960 until August 1962. He was with them in Hamburg and at their first Abbey Road recording session.  Best also played an important role in establishing The Beatles' popularity in Hamburg and Liverpool, but had a slightly distant relationship with the others. By the summer of 1962, the other Beatles were plotting against him. Using the pretext that George Martin had rejected his drumming as substandard, they approached Ringo Starr, an old friend of the band from Hamburg. Read the full story behind the sacking of Best (free on Medium 6 mins)

  At Abbey Road, George Harrison had a reputation for taking a long time to write songs. The biggest issue was completing lyrics with 'beautiful words'.

The first meeting between The Beatles and Bob Dylan took place in a room at the Delmonico Hotel in New York on Friday, 28 August 1964.

  “We’ve just come across... the most weird song.  I’ve no recollection of ever recording it.” George Harrison Anthology

  I play guitar: A, D, E./  I don't play bass cause that's too hard for me./  I play the piano if it's in C .  From Early 1970

I could never see the difference between a beautiful melody and a cool rock ’n’ roll song. I learned to love all the ballady {sic} stuff through my dad and relatives,  Paul McCartney

Basically, it was our stage show, with some new [original] songs.  Paul McCartney

We couldn’t hear ourselves when we were live, as there was so much screaming going on.     Paul McCartney

The Beatles had started by playing church halls, coffee halls, and even private homes. Their Ed Sullivan appearance in February 1964 opened a huge new market. This was now only confined by the size of the concert venues available.