Interesting Facts About the Beatles

By Jim Alden

Although the Beatles were a famous foursome consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, six men in total have been a Beatle. Stuart Sutcliffe was the original bassist for the band from May 1960 to August 1961. He left the band to pursue a career in art, then died only 8 months later on April 10, 1962. Pete Best was the original drummer from August 1960 to August 1962, when he was dismissed from the group and replaced with Starr.

The Beatles' second studio album, With The Beatles, was released November 22, 1963. This was the same day that U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

On April 4, 1964, the top five positions on Billboard's Hot 100 were all occupied by the Beatles. The singles were "Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and "Please Please Me".

"Twist and Shout" was the only Beatles cover song to sell over a million copies when released as a single.
Their song "Yesterday" started out with the working title of "Scrambled Eggs." Written and performed by Paul McCartney, it's the first official recording by The Beatles that only one member of the band appeared on. A string quartet accompanies McCartney on the record.

Two of the Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, are left handed. It's fairly obvious that McCartney is because he plays his bass left handed, while Starr plays his drums set up in the configuration typically used by right handed players.

The song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was inspired by a drawing that John Lennon's son Julian did of his classmate, Lucy O'Donnell. Julian brought the drawing home from nursery school in 1966, and explained to his dad that it was "Lucy - in the sky with diamonds."

In the 1968 feature film Yellow Submarine, the animated characters representing the Beatles were not actually voiced by them. Instead, they were voiced by sound-alike actors. The real Beatles only participated at the end of the film in the closing scene.

The first solo album by a Beatle is George Harrison's Wonderwall Music. Released late in 1968, the mostly instrumental album is the soundtrack to the film Wonderwall.

The Beatles very last public performance occurred on the rooftop of Apple Records in London, England on January 30, 1969. The event was an impromptu concert during the filming of their movie Let It Be.

At just 23 seconds long, "Her Majesty" is the shortest song in the official Beatles' repertoire. It is the final track on the band's Abbey Road album.

For many more facts and trivia about the Beatles, please be sure to visit http://BeatlesTrivia.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Alden
http://EzineArticles.com/?Interesting-Facts-About-the-Beatles&id=3978151