The Beatles
The History of The Beatles can be tracked way back to March of 1957, when a young John Lennon and his boyhood friend, Peter Shotton started a band called "The Black Jacks" to play America Rock and Roll. They soon change their name to "The Quarry Men". Their shows were mostly little events.July 6, 1957, John Lennon along with "The Quarry Men" had just performed at St. Peter's Parish Church in Woolton, Liverpool when fellow band member and boyhood friend Ivan Vaughn introduced them to a bass player named Paul McCartney who played a cool little tune for John. A sound recording was taped of the Quarry Men's performance by Bob Molyneux, a member of St Peter's Church Youth Club. Paul was asked by Pete Shotten to join the band, during a rare encounter on July 20. On Oct 18, Paul made his first appearance.
In Sept John Lennon entered Liverpool College. Paul and George Harrison were students at Liverpool High School for Boys. During their daily hour long bus ride, they became friends discovering a common ground in rock and roll.
On Feb 6, 1958, Paul introduced George to John. George over time tried to convince a reluctant John Lennon to allow George Harrison to join The Quarry Men even following him on his dates with his future bride Cynthia Powell. on Aug. 29th, 1958, John Lennon accepted George Harrison into The Quarry Men, which would then become seven members.
During that Summer of 1958, The Quarrey Men (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, playing guitars, John Lowe on piano, and Collin Hanton on percussion) made two demo tape recordings: That'll Be The Day" and "In Spite Of All The Danger", the latter being a McCartney and Harrison score. The Quarry Men disbanded in 1959 due to lack of work. George joined another group which soon ended, then, he and fellow group member Ken Brown united with John and Paul for seven weekend performances at the new Casbah Club, from Aug 29, 1959 until Oct 10 when a financial situation ended their relationships with the club and Ken Brown. The trio continued as "Johnny and the Moondogs" with Paul on percussion. Ken formed a group with Pete Best, the son of the Casbah's club owner and continued performing there.
In Jan. 1960, John invited a fellow art student Stu Sutcliff to join the band on the one condition he got his own bass guitar. In May they renamed themselves The "Beatles" (as a tribute to Stu's favorite band "Buddy Holly and the Crickets", then, The"Silver Beatles". Allan Williams became their manager. In June, they modified their name to the "Silver Beatles".
In early May a 25 year old drummer named Tommy Moore joined them. On May 18th they began a two week tour in Scotland backing performer Johnny Gentle. Tommy left the group due to financial stress.
In July 1960 they discovered a drummer Norman Chapman who joined them until he was called for national service duty. On Aug 6th, 1960, they invited their friend Pete Best to become their full time drummer after having played together several times during their performances at the Casbah club. Their manager Alan Williams, having been told about the wild night life and the love of rock and roll in Hamburg Germany, contracted work for some of the groups he managed. On Aug 18th, 1960, posing as students, The Beatles began a series of concerts in Hamburg, and John renamed the group The Beatles. They initially stayed in Hamburg until Dec 1st. The atmosphere was filled with wild women, booze and drugs. They would return often until Feb, 1962. The line up of The Beatles now comprised John Lennon (rhythm/ vocals), Paul McCartney (rhythm/vocals), George Harrison (lead/ vocals), Stuart Sutcliffe (bass/vocals) and Pete Best (drums). After their first Hamburg tour ended (George was deported for being underage, and their dispute with their current manager led to a police complaint about an attempted fire to his premises. resulting in the arrest or Pete and Paul) Stu left the group after becoming engaged to photographer Astrid Kirchherr who was partially responsible for The Beatles' "Mop Top hair dews") the beatles broke up for about a month, and Paul was urged by his father to get a job in a factory. Pete Best became the sex symbol of The Beatles, and his distinctive drumming style was nicknamed by the press the "atomic heat". However, his popularity caused jealousy among the rest of the Beatles. On Feb 9th 1961, The Beatles first performed at the Cavern Club; Pete's mother Mona assisted in getting them this concert. They returned to Hamburg Apr 1st 1961, to work at the Top Ten Club until Jul 2nd. A dispute started by John over discontinuing the paying of commission to their manager Alan Williams for that concert, led to Alan terminating his relationship with The Beatles. The Beatles were approached by Producer Bert Kampfert at the Top Ten Club and asked if they would be willing to tape record with Tony Sheridan. The Beatles were soon signed to a Polydor recording contract as the Beat Brothers, and from June 22nd to 23rd they recorded "My Bonnie", "In the School Hall", "Cry for A Shadow" and "Ain't She Sweet". Saturday Oct 28th. 1961, Brian Epstein, received three requests at his record store for "My Bonnie" by The Beatles. You was informed that they were currently performing at The Cavern Club. After watching the Beatles perform at the Cavern Club in Liverpool He introduced himself. Later, he consulted with his friend Alan who was then still bitter about their disloyalty about his wishes to manage them. He took over their management for a hefty commission.
