John, Paul, George, and Ringo is the answer you would get if you’ve asked anyone on the street to name the band members of the Beatles. If you’ve asked that same person about each member, you’ll find that many people-whether they’re Beatles fans or not-know more about John Lennon and Paul McCartney. But what about George Harrison and Ringo Starr?  In this two part article, fans will learn ten things each about George and Ringo. For this article, the  “Quiet Beatle” George Harrison is the focus.

1. At around the ages of 12 or 13, George lost interest in school.
Fans can thank Elvis for that. It was around this time that Harrison was riding his bike in his neighborhood when he heard Elvis’s “Heartbreak Hotel” playing out from a neighbor’s home. Harrison later said that he had an ‘epiphany’ of sorts and was hooked.

2. By the age of 14, Harrison was into guitars.
He would sit at his desk in the back of his class and draw guitars. Harrison said, “I was totally into guitars. I heard about this kid at school who had a guitar at £3 10s, it was just a little acoustic round hole. I got the £3 10s from my mother: that was a lot of money for us then.” Eventually he purchased his first guitar-a Dutch Egmond flat top acoustic guitar- and taught himself a few chords. His early rock heroes included Carl Perkins, Little Richard, and Buddy Holly.

3. Before the Beatles ever had a number one hit, George was an apprentice electrician at the age of 16.
His father wanted George and his two brothers-one was a mechanic the other was a groundskeeper-to go into business with him, but it was not to be.

4. Whenever something angered Harrison he usually used music to express his anger.
An example is Harrison’s song entitled ‘Only A Northern Song’. It was a dig at the band’s publishing company and the concept of the Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song was supposed to be on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band but it was cut. The song was then featured on the album Yellow Submarine.

5. He knew how to play a lot of instruments.
Twenty-six in all: the guitar, sitar, 4-string guitar, bass guitar, arp bass, violin, tamboura, dobro, sword mandel, tabla, organ, piano, moog synthesizer, harmonica, autoharp, glockenspiel, vibraphone, xylophone, claves, African drum, conga drum, tympani, ukulele, mandolin, marimba, and the Jal-Tarang.

6. Harrison developed a huge interest in Indian music.
He was the first musician to introduce the sitar to the pop world when he played it on John Lennon’s ‘Norwegian Wood’ beating The Rolling Stones and their sitar-hit ‘Paint It Black’ by about 12 months.

7. His interest in Indian music extended into a desire to learn more about eastern spiritual practices.
In 1968, he led the Beatles on a journey to northern India to study transcendental meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

8. In 1969, during the recording sessions for the album Let It Be, Harrison walked out.
He didn’t return for several weeks. It was only after it was promised that the band would use more of his songs on their records that he returned.

9. During the last months of Lennon’s life, George and John were not on good terms.
It was due to Lennon’s disappointment with George’s autobiography, I Me Mine. John felt insulted and hurt that George mentioned him only in passing, even though Lennon was mentioned eleven times.

10. In 1981, six months after Lennon’s murder, George paid tribute to Lennon with his song ‘All Those Years Ago’.
It contains the lyrics “I always look up to you”, suggesting that George was in agreement with Lennon’s view of their relationship in which John Lennon had stated that his relationship with George was “one of young follower and older guy”, and admitted that “[George] was like a disciple of mine when we started.”

Image Courtesy of  George Harrison

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After the publication of their first single, ‘Love me Do,’ in 1962, The Beatles started conquering the leadership of the British and European musical scene. The big jump toward what would become legend, happened in 1963, with the release of the album ‘Please Please Me.’ The record reached number one of the top British charts, and the Beatlemania started to overflow.

However, The Beatles revolution was not destined to be confined to Europe. On February 7, 1964, The Beatles arrived in New York City, carrying with them a revolution in American popular music. The Beatles’ success opened the doors to a flow of British bands that later acquired predominance in the American radios, clubs, and in the hearts of American music lovers. Since 1964, the typical American blues sounds, and the roots of rock were reinvented by the British musicians, who freshened up those ‘50s typical styles, merging them with their own innovation.

The Beatles were not the only, or the first, musicians who were experimenting and developing a new way of doing rock ‘n’ roll, later called ‘beat,’  in Great Britain. They were, though, the core of an entire movement which had started within the young population of the United Kingdom.

At the time, the U.S. was experiencing a decline in youths’ interest in rock ‘n’ roll after the peak reached by the genre in the ‘50s, and the following raise of a more commercial pop sound. Those who felt they did not belong to the new shape that this popular sound was experiencing in the U.S. were in strong need of something to attach to; a new generation of rock ‘n’ roll yet to come. That is exactly what The Beatles gave them: a new, fresh, sound based on the roots of American rock ‘n’ roll, with the taste and innovation of a younger spirit. Moreover, the U.S. was grieving the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy; the catchy songs of The Beatles seemed to be the perfect remedy to alleviate the feeling of depression.

In 1963, The Beatles’ management had already attempted to place some of the band’s singles into the U.S. charts, with little success. In ’64, the mixture of those depressive feelings generated by the loss of Kennedy, and the lack of affiliation to the current sound on part of the youngsters, played then a central part in The Beatles’ musical revolution in the U.S.. The youth of that time were also in constant need of a figure to use as rebellion toward the powers in charge and their parents’ generation; The Beatles, with their particular style of looks, served the purpose perfectly.

At some point in January 1964, with radios playing their part, The Beatles became an omnipresent figure for people. Labels that the previous year had distributed the band’s singles with little success, threw those back into the market again, leading The Beatles to cover all the first five positions in the American charts at a certain point that Spring.

As is true for every music movement, American labels started signing every act coming from the U.K. that they thought was part of the British sound revolution. Some British bands who got the acclamation of labels and audience were actually not of a higher quality than some of the American bands that had been rejected by the youngsters a couple of years before. They were part of a unique movement in the mind of people; on the wake of the spreading of the Beatlemania in the U.S., British bands which even played a different style of music conquered the American scene. Some of those bands did not even have any real success in their Homeland.

The talented, strongly experimental, Beatles were leading the constant flow of innovative kids who were playing their way into Americans’ hearts. By the beginning of the summer of 1964, the American music industry was so dominated by British acts that many American artists disappeared. Even musicians such as ‘The King’ Elvis Presley, and the Beach Boys saw their success decline in that period, even though they survived through the invasion. Many of the American artists decided to incorporate some features of the British sound into their own flow of innovation, which spread later on, overcoming the British invasion, toward the end of the ‘60s.

The Beatles are often said to have saved rock ‘n’ roll, and in a certain sense, they surely did. Their biggest power, through the guidance of the British invasion, was indeed to brush away the commercial pop, poorly talented, music that was conquering the American charts up to ’64. They set the industry’s mind back on rock ‘n’ roll, and on its development, setting the basis for the many innovations to the genre yet to come.

Image Courtesy of  Paul McCartney

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We continue the journey through some of the clues that are taken to support the theory of the alleged death of Paul McCartney in 1966, and his subsequent replacement with a double. We have already presented some of the visual evidence that is supposedly contained in some of The Beatles’ artwork for their albums. Here we continue with some other visual evidence, and we then move on to some of the audio evidence showed in support of the theory.

Not only the artwork of Sgt. Pepper, but also the Abbey Road (1969) cover is a cornerstone for the death theory’s sustainers. The fab four are portrayed at the center of the zebra crossing of the street. It is supposed to represent a funeral procession, with Lennon representing God with his long hair and beard and wearing all white; Ringo Starr is dressed like the man officiating the service. Paul McCartney is the only one out of step, wearing a suit and walking barefoot. In some Oriental cultures the dead man is represented and buried barefoot, and The Beatles were just coming back from a trip to India when they made this cover. The last one is George Harrison, wearing work clothes, and is supposed to be the grave digger. Paul is also holding a cigarette with his right hand, although he is left-handed.

Behind this scene, there is a car whose plate states 28 IF. McCartney would have been 27 when the album came out, but he would have been in his 28th year of existence, as Indian beliefs count life from conception and not birth. The Beatles often stated their fascination with Indian beliefs. Furthermore, on the other side of the road, there is a police car which allegedly represented the police car that arrived at the accident where McCartney died.

On the cover of Magical Mystery Tour (1967), the stars that form the name of the band, if read holding the cover to a mirror, form a telephone number, or a tree depending on how you hold it. In 1969 many people called, some said it was regular people answering, some said that you could hear a funeral parlor, some said a man claiming to be Billy Shears would answer. Others said you’d get the response: “You’re getting closer.”

Audio

There are many references in the lyrics of The Beatles’ songs, spread throughout several albums.  In the ‘I’m so Tired’ (1968), track of the White Album, Lennon sings something which results in seemingly random sounds. If listened to it backwards though, it is possible to hear Lennon say “Paul is dead, man: miss him, miss him, miss him!” A previous recording of the song, also featured an additional piece, which would say before the cited sentence, “Are you listening?” wanting to garner the attention of the audience and giving then the news of Paul’s death. At the beginning of Revolution 9 (1968), the line “Number Nine” is repeated over and over, and if listened to backwards would sound “Turn me on, dead man” or “Turning on dead man.” these words repeat all throughout the song for almost 9 minutes. Years before, in “A Day in the Life” in Sgt. Pepper, Paul sang, “I love to turn you on.”

The biggest alleged clue in the song, though, comes later on; when the track is played in reverse, there is what appears to be an audio representation of a car crash. Starting around 4m 40s it is possible to hear the sound of a speeding car zooming past things with horns blazing. Then there’s the sound of a lorry sounding his horn and then the sound of heaven choir singing. After this we hear the bell chimes of a fire engine and then John saying “Turn me on, dead man. Turn me on.” Right after there is a crowd chatting and then an alleged starts screaming “Let me out! Let me out!” seemingly in increasing desperation. This would be the reconstruction of the accident.

In ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ (1967), at the end of the song there is an instrumental part over which somebody would seem to say “I buried Paul.” It was then claimed by The Beatles that they are saying “Cranberry sauce” instead. In the song Glass Onion (1968), off the White Album, John Lennon sings ominously “Well here’s another clue for your all: the walrus was Paul.” ‘I Am The Walrus’ (1967) is a song contained in the Magycal Mystery Tour album. The walrus is considered a symbol for death in some cultures. For instance, the walrus was a bad element of Viking hunters. If they saw a dead walrus at the start of their journeys they would turn back because of its negative symbolism.

In a documentary recorded by John Lennon in 1971 about the making of his solo album ‘Imagine,’ there is another possible clue. John Lennon and George Harrison have a conversation about The Beatles. When Lennon mentions “The Fab Four” Harrison corrects him saying “The Fab Three.” A certain ‘Beatle Bill’ is mentioned, although a fictional ‘Beatle Ed’ also comes into the discussion.

Paul McCartney denied on several occasions that anything concerning the theory is true.

Here, we just wanted to give a glimpse of, as a matter of fact, what is one of the most enduring theories about mysterious musicians’ death. No judgment or accusation toward any part is intended.

Image Courtesy of  Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

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When talking about the history of The Beatles, it is impossible to overlook the theory surrounding Paul McCartney’s death, something that has been attached to the band for more than 40 years now. Considered by many just a hoax, many others are convinced about the validity of the theory stating that the real Paul McCartney is dead, and was replaced by a double.

Everything started in 1969, when a DJ in Detroit received a call from a guy named Alfred, who claimed that Paul McCartney was dead, and had proof to back up his statements. Actually, according to Alfred, everybody had those clues. They were in The Beatles’ albums, spread throughout the music, the covers and the booklets.

Since 1969 the legend of the presumed Paul McCartney death has found no final solution, with many people convinced the current Paul McCartney is actually a double, and that the real Paul’s life ended in 1966 in a car accident.

The story says that Paul McCartney died on the 9^th of November 1966. He left the EMI studios in London that night quite tired, sad and a bit depressed. Along the way he supposedly met a girl and gave her a ride. At one point he didn’t notice a red light and crashed his car against a telegraph pole after colliding with a lorry. According to this reconstruction, both passengers in the car were killed, and McCartney was decapitated during the accident. Some of the ones who are convinced of the actual McCartney death place the date of the passing in 1965, though the classic date is 1966.

The Beatlemania was running worldwide, the Queen of Great Britain had nominated the fab four baronets, and fans were crazy about the band. According to the legend, this led The Beatles’ management to cover the accident up, and replace Paul with a double, William Campbell, a Scottish policeman with a great resemblance to the late Beatle who had previously won a Paul McCartney look a like contest. Through plastic surgery, he became become Paul.

He also had to be very gifted, as he could keep on playing bass as good as, or even better than, Paul and his songwriting was excellent. The theory supposes that the surviving members would have felt guilty of covering up the friend’s death, and therefore would have let this feeling out by placing clues in the albums.

The Beatles did not perform live after this moment, and Paul McCartney appears taller than he used to be since that period. Moreover, some scientists applied studies on craniometry to photos of Paul McCartney that date back before 1966 and afterwards. Craniometry is a science used in forensic activity. Those scientists found out consistent discrepancies which would not appear in presence of the same person portrait in the photos. The level of discrepancy is high enough to make the scientists be doubtful about the identity of the current Paul McCartney, although they did not state with certainty that the Paul McCartney of before 1966 and after are two different people.

It seems odd that something like this could have really taken place. Nevertheless, it is true that after 1966, The Beatles inserted several clues in their albums pointing to the alleged death of Paul McCartney. More than 400 clues have been counted by advocates for the Paul Is Dead (P.I.D.) movement. Many have thought that it was only a marketing strategy adopted by the band, in order to gain attention. It is also true though, that they already had all the attention they needed, and even more than the one they could stand according to their statements. Others claim that they were playing the people who believed in the theory, feeding them clues in order to make fun of them. This seems impossible though, as the rumors of McCartney’s death got popular only in 1969, after the clues were already released in the various albums.

As it is impossible to list here all of the clues that are taken as evidence, we will just present some of the most relevant ones here. The clues are divided into visual clues and audio clues.

Visual

Some of the major clues include the artwork of some of the most famous Beatles’ records. Sgt. Pepper (1967) was the first album released after the classic date in 1966. There are tons of clues taken as evidence by those who sustain the death theory; we will cite only some of the most relevant. The whole cover is a grave scene, with the word “Beatles” being spelled out in flowers; furthermore, there is a composition of yellow flowers which have been interpreted as being a left-handed bass guitar complete with strings, the instrument played by Paul McCartney. He is also the only one in the cover holding a black instrument.

The photo sees a hand hanging over McCartney’s head, a symbol that surrounded him often, which is considered a symbol of death. The scene also includes a car model, which is supposed to represent the car in the accident, and a doll with red lines (blood perhaps) running thru her dress. If a mirror is placed horizontally across the center of the words “Lonely Hearts” in the middle of the Sgt. Pepper drum, a message is spelled out: 1ONE IX HE <> DIE, with the arrow before pointing at McCartney. 1ONE IX, 11 9, would be the date of Paul’s death.

In the booklet photos McCartney is portrayed with a uniform and the acronym O.P.D. (which in England stands for Officially Pronounced Dead). Some say that the patch stands for Ontario Police Department.

In the back cover McCartney is the only portrait with his back backwards, and the end of George Harrison points to the sentence “Wednesday morning at 5 o’clock as the day begins” which is supposed to be the time of Paul’s death.

Image Courtesy of  Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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On June 6, 1962, The Beatles had their first recording session at the historical EMI studios at Abbey Road, London, a session which ended up changing music and popular history forever. Abbey Road has become a cornerstone for every Beatles fan, and for most music fans in general. The zebra crossing of the road, portrayed on the cover of the Beatles’ 11th studio album ‘Abbey Road’ with the band members walking on them, has become the target of millions of photo shoots.

On June 6, 1962 though, the Beatles crossed Abbey Road merely as aspiring musicians with a dream in a drawer. Pete Best served as drummer for the band at the time; Ringo Starr joined John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, substituting Best, later that summer.

The session, started at 7:00 pm lasting until 10:00 p.m., and served both as an audition and as a proper recording session for the band. It was produced by George Martin with assistant Ron Richards. The band recorded four demos: ‘Besame Mucho’, ‘Love Me Do’, ‘PS I Love You’ and ‘Ask Me Why’. The original recordings of ‘Besame Mucho’ and ‘Love Me Do’ appear in the ‘Anthology 1’ album, released in 1995.

Producer Norman Smith told Mark Lewisohn about the session. “We gave them a long lecture about their equipment and what would have to be done about it if they were to become recording artists. They didn’t say a word hack, not a word, they didn’t even nod their heads in agreement. When he finished, George said ‘Look, I’ve laid into you for quite a time, you haven’t responded. Is there anything you don’t like?’

I remember they all looked at each other for a long while, shuffling their feet, then George Harrison took a long look at George and said ‘Yeah, I don’t like your tie!’ That cracked the ice for us and for the next 15-20 minutes they were pure entertainment. When they left to go home George and I just sat there saying ‘Phew! What do you think of that lot then?’ I had tears running down my face.”  The tale was originally reported in the book ’The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions,’ first published in 1988.

On October 5, 1962, the very first single by The Beatles ‘Love Me Do’ was released. After few months, the Beatlemania started in the U.K. and Europe, spreading soon to the U.S..

Liverpool, where the band places its roots, is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the band’s career, with several music and film related events, which will go on until the end of the year. A list of events is available here.

Toonari Post will celebrate the 50-year anniversary with a series of articles about the Beatles. Today, we want to start proposing a selection of ten of the most beautiful and relevant tracks recorded by the band. Although it is impossible to narrow the genius of the Beatles to only ten songs, this is our way to celebrate this day and the band, through their music itself.

Eleanor Rigby

A very dark track, dealing with themes like death and depression. Extremely intriguing, it marked the band’s move from the more pop-oriented usual sounds to a more experimental approach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dsz4dB6DuM

We Can Work It Out

An extremely catchy song, later covered by personalities such as Stevie Wonder and Deep Purple. A love song, reflecting both, the hope for a resolution and the exhaustion due to the incomprehension in the relationship.

Let It Be

The last single before the announcement that Paul McCartney would leave the band, after the departure of John Lennon. A life lesson, a very deep and sensitive track that McCartney said to have composed after dreaming about his dead mother (“Mother Mary”). According to McCartney, his mother told him in the dream “It will be all right, just let it be.”

Hey Jude

A seven minute long track, the longest single ever to top the British charts at the time. Born as ‘Hey Jules,’ it is a song about overcoming a tough moment in life, having the strength to actively transform it. It was written by McCartney, originally inspired by the willingness to comfort John Lennon’s son, Julian, through the divorce of his parents.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

One of the best intros to an album ever made. Catchy, powerful, funny and involving. It gives the proper feeling of a live performance, even if the album is not a live album. It is the greetings to the listeners, an introduction to the fictional band playing. It appears twice on the album of the same title, as the opening track and as the second to last track, as it served both as a hello and a goodbye track. The second version is faster and heavier than the first one. It has been covered by many artists, including Jimi Hendrix.

With a Little Help From My Friends

Written by McCartney and Lennon for the drummer Ringo Starr, who sings the track, it deals with love and friendship. Almost a lullaby, it is sometimes constructed as a conversation between the other three Beatles, who make questions, and Starr, who answers.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

The song was written and performed by George Harrison, who said about the inspiration for the song ”seemed to me to be based on the Eastern concept that everything is relative to everything else… opposed to the Western view that things are merely coincidental.” and again “The Eastern concept is that whatever happens is all meant to be, and that there’s no such thing as coincidence.”

Yesterday

One of the most covered songs in music history; it is in the song that pops up in most people’s mind when thinking about The Beatles. McCartney composed the melody in a dream, and once awakened rushed to the piano not to forget it. After making sure it was not the result of an unconscious plagiarism, he started working on the lyrics. The result is magnificent.

Love Me Do

The first single ever released by The Beatles, on October 5, 1962. The B-side was ‘P.S. I Love You.’ The track was firstly recorded at the infamous Abbey Road session on June 6, 1962, featuring Pete Best as drummer. Very catchy, it gives a good sense of The Beatles’ musical attitude.

Here Comes The Sun

Written and sung by George Harrison, it is contained in the infamous ‘Abbey Road’ album, released in 1969. A hopeful song, written during a tough time for Harrison.

Image Courtesy of   The Beatles

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