The Beatles had an amazing impact on the music industry and the world at large. A majority of today’s mainstream musicians cannot even begin to compare with the talent that this fantastic foursome had. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the group, here are ten interesting facts about The Beatles that fans new and old should know.

1. During the week of April 4, 1964 The Beatles held the top five places on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. No other group or artist has ever managed to match this feat.
2. The “man in the crowd,” in which Lennon refers to in the song Happiness Is A Warm Gun, was taken from a newspaper story about a man who was arrested by the police for having mirrors on his toe caps to look up women’s skirts at football matches.
3. On Lennon’s song Girl from the album Rubber Soul, one can hear Paul and George constantly repeat the word “tit” in the background. John also breathes heavily several places. This could have been done to emphasize on the fact that the song had sexual references.
4. What Goes On from the album Rubber Soul was written by Lennon and McCartney together with Ringo Starr. Ringo also wrote Don’t Pass Me By on The Beatles, also known as The White Album, and Octopus’s Garden on Abbey Road. He also sang lead vocal on songs such as With A Little Help From My Friends, Yellow Submarine and Good Night.
5. While Let It Be was the last album to be released by The Beatles before their breakup, most of it was recorded before Abbey Road, their second last album.
6. The album Abbey Road was originally going to be called Everest, named after the brand of cigarette Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick was smoking at the time. Paul McCartney even wanted the Beatles to go to Tibet and pose in front of Mount Everest for the album cover! Other suggestions were Four In The Bar and All Good Children Go To Heaven, before Ringo joked that they could call it Abbey Road.
7. On September 11, 1964, the Beatles refused to play at Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, without guarantees that the audience would not be segregated.
8. The Beatles were featured in an American Saturday morning cartoon series called ‘The Beatles.’ 3 seasons (39 episodes total) were produced.
9. The album Sgt. Pepper was one of the first pop albums to include completed lyrics. They were printed on the back cover.
10. Some of the band’s early influences included Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins and Ray Orbison. Later, The Beatles were also inspired by Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, The Byrda and The Beach Boys.

Image Courtesy of  The Beatles

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