If you turned on an American television set in the summer of 1957, you might have spotted President Dwight D. Eisenhower addressing the nation, or Willie Mays shagging fly balls in center field for the New York Giants. You'd notice that automobiles had tailfins, and that gasoline was advertised at forty-five cents a gallon. You also might have caught a young rock and roller named Jerry Lee…
John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940. His parents were Julia and Fred Lennon, both of Liverpool, England. John recalled, “My mother was a housewife, I suppose. She was a comedienne and a singer. Not professional, but she used to get up in pubs and things like that. She had a good voice.” Julia's sister Mimi primarily raised John from the time he was eighteen months…
After their return to Liverpool from Hamburg in December 1960, the Beatles found that their playing had improved, and that people had actually started to notice them: “We discovered we were quite famous,” said John. “It was when we began to think for the first time that we were good. Up to Hamburg we thought we were okay, but not good enough.” In Hamburg, their contrac…
The end of 1963 marked the Beatles' rise to international superstardom. They were now christened “The Fab Four” by the press. After their triumph at the London Palladium, the Beatles followed up with an appearance at the Royal Variety Performance at which several members of the British royal family were in attendance. The Beatles performed “She Loves You” and da…
Fame was having its effect on each Beatle by late 1964. The initial novelty of the mass hysteria they had caused was wearing off, leaving them dazed in the settling dust. They had certainly inspired frenzied excitement in a very short period of time. For instance, 300,000 people had greeted them when they arrived in Adelaide, Australia, during their world tour; only a year or so earlier, the four…
In 1967, the Beatles reached their high-water mark as a creative force in pop music.
On January 2, 1969, the Beatles convened at Twickenham Film Studios in London to start work on a project that they hoped would help them recreate some of the fun and spontaneity of the days before their incredible rise to stardom.
Although it had been slow in coming about, the end of the Beatles finally came in April 1970. Paul had secretly recorded his first solo album, titled simply McCartney. In the course of promoting it, Paul announced to the world that there would be no new Beatles projects, because he was leaving the band. By this time, there was really no band to leave. As Paul explained, “I didn't le…