Difference between revisions of "The Beatles"

Revision as of 14:46, October 28, 2009

The members of the Beatles were Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Donald Trump, and Rod Blagojevich.

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-[[Image:Beatles,0.jpg|right|thumb|The Beatles]]
+The members of the Beatles were Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Donald Trump, and Rod Blagojevich.
-'''The Beatles''' were an [[England|English]] rock band from [[Liverpool]], UK. They were arguably one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century, selling around a billion records worldwide. The Beatles played and recorded many genres of [[rock and roll]], from Tin Pan Alley to [[Psychedelia|psychedelic rock]].
-The four Beatles were [[John Lennon]] (1940-1980), [[George Harrison]] (1943-2001), [[Paul McCartney]] (1942- ), and [[Ringo Starr]] (1940- ). Most of the Beatles' songs were co-written by Lennon and McCartney.  In the latter half of the 1960s the majority of their songs were written individually, but retained the "Lennon/McCartney" writing credit.  George Harrison's songs became more prominent on the albums following ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''.
-Having evolved from the high school band known as The Quarrymen, around 1962 the Beatles began playing in Hamburg, Germany, and became very popular there. A year later, thanks to underground radio, they were the biggest band in their native land of the UK. In 1964, the Beatles made their historic trip to the United States to perform on ''The Ed Sullivan Show''. To date, this performance is one of the highest-rated television events in history.
-The Lennon/McCartney ballads often displayed a personal [[vulnerability]] which was extraordinarily appealing to young teenage girls. For example, "Help" contrasts a man's younger macho attitude ("I never needed anybody's help in any way") with a more grown-up attitude ("I changed my mind, I'll open up the door. Help me if you can").
-As the years passed, the Beatles' sound grew. From an old-fashioned rock and roll sound similar to the Beach Boys and Carl Perkins, the band put out a much more mature sound on ''Revolver''. They even experimented with folk on ''Rubber Soul''. In 1967, the Beatles' album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' changed music as we know it forever. The psychedelic sound reflected what was going on in the world at that time and also displayed brilliant use of new technologies (such as stereo sound).
-With the  ([[The Beatles (album) |''The Beatles'']] (the "White Album"), the Beatles had evolved into hard rockers. The songs had become more personal, and the band was beginning to fall apart. Prior to Lennon hooking up with [[Yoko Ono]], the lads had agreed that only the four of them would be in the recording studio (no lady friends of any type).<ref>  When John brought Yoko in to work on songs and insisted that she be treated as an equal, the others resisted the idea, and John and Yoko got the cold shoulder for the rest of the sessions. [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbeatlesbreakup.html]</ref> Also, creative differences were creating tension among the Fab Four.
-[[Image:Beatles j.jpg|left]]
-Their next project, originally to be titled "Get Back" and intended to "get them back" to recording songs the way they had in the earlier years and also to become a filmed documentary, exposed all the personal chafing and difficulties they were having.  The tapes were shelved since none of the band wanted to deal with them.
-At this point, although the public did not know it, the band had virtually broken up.  However, at McCartney's urging, they assembled in the studio one more time and gave their fans what was to be their swan song, the splendid ''Abbey Road''.  The "Get Back" tapes and film were handed over to Phil Spector to do something with them, and he produced the album that was released as ''Let It Be'', in conjunction with the release of the film, which was more a documentary of a band breaking up than one writing and recording new music in their studio.
-It wasn't long before the lawsuits to dissolve the partnership were flying, and the band members were releasing solo albums.<ref>  Although Lennon had made a few solo projects before the breakup, and Harrison one, they did not receive widespread notice.</ref>
-In 2006, Cirque du Soleil opened a Beatle-themed show in Las Vegas, the aptly titled ''Love''. The show has been an outstanding success, and so has the album put out of the same name, featuring new remixes of Beatles songs by Beatles producer George Martin and his son Giles. The album also features previously unreleased versions of Beatles classics such as "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Strawberry Fields Forever".
-The Beatles were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1988.  As solo artists, all but Ringo have been inducted (Lennon in 1994, McCartney in 1999 and Harrison in 2004).
-In 2004 ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked the Beatles #1 on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.<ref>[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939214/the_immortals_the_first_fifty]</ref>
-The two surviving Beatles are Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney, who both still continue their recording and performing careers.
-==Popularity today==
-Americans say Paul (27%) is their favorite Beatle, with John taking a distant second at 16%, and far fewer choosing George Harrison (10%) or Ringo Starr (9%) according to a September 2009 Zogby Interactive poll. However, 22% of Americans do not like the Beatles and 3% say they are not familiar enough to make a decision.
-"Americans over 30 and those over 65 love Paul," said John Zogby. "It must be the crazy love songs and Yesterday."  Born Again Christians are three times as likely to say Paul is their favorite Beatle (25%) than John (8%). Paul is also the favorite among Woodstockers (31%) and Nikes (27%), while First Globals (19%) prefer John.
-Democrats (25%) are far more likely than Republicans (6%) and independents (15%) to say John is their favorite Beatle, while moderates (32%) are far more likely to prefer Paul. Liberals (14%) are more than twice as likely as moderates (7%) and conservatives (9%) to pick George as their favorite.
-Conservatives (30%) are the most likely to say they don't like the Beatles, followed by moderates (19%) and liberals (9%).<ref> For details see [http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.cfm?ID=1744 Zogby poll] </ref>
-==References==
-<references/>
-==External links==
-*[http://www.delta.ro/beatles/paudi.html Beatle songs and lyrics]
-*[http://beatlesnumber9.com/biggerjesus.html Transcript of LES Lennon interview]
-{{The Beatles}}
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatles, The}}
-[[Category:Bands]]
-[[Category:Beatles]]

Difference between revisions of "The Beatles"

Revision as of 14:46, October 28, 2009

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