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flying carpet telling him “you are
a beetle, with an a” – they named
the band “The Beatles”. During
this period, a new member was
added, Pete Best. The same year
their first Hamburg tour began.
Around 1962, Stuart Sutcliffe left
the band, moved to Germany
to pursue his dream to become
an artist. One of the reasons
for the decision was that his
photographer girlfriend Astrid
Kirchherr, who gave the Beatles
their famous haircuts, lived in
Germany.
Brian Epstein, owner of the
“North End Music Store” started
hearing “The Beatles” from a
lot of people that came to his
store. When he went to listen
to them at the Cavern Club, he
did not like just their music, he
also admired their attitude and
sincerity on stage. He knew they
had a future and they made a
15-song recording and sent it to
a label company. The company
rejected them claiming “the guitar
bands are out”. But they did not
give up. After a couple of tries,
George Martin, the head of the
Parlophone Records and who
started producing the band after
1962, singed a deal with them.
However, Martin had a different
name in mind as the drummer
instead of Pete Best. He thought
Ringo Starr, the most flamboyant
of them all, whose real name
was “Richard Starkey”, would
be a better fit for the band. The
reason Ringo used this name
was the rings he wore all the
time and on all of his fingers. He
combined the nickname given
by his friends, “Rings”, with his
adoration to the Wild West and
got his life-long name Ringo Starr.
This unwanted sudden change
did not please the band members
or the fans but in a short period
of time, Ringo Starr turned out to
be a real “Beatle” with his joyful
and sincere character and was
loved by the fans. The only aim
of the band that started out in
the local clubs of Liverpool, and
then spread to the UK, was being
heard. Another thing the band
members had in common was
Elvis Presley, for whom they said
“without Elvis, there would not be
The Beatles”. The 4 music lovers
could not dream of meeting the
King of Rock and Roll, let alone
sing with him on stage.
The band, which made their first
professional recording in 1962,
released their first album one
year later; “Please, please me”.
The album became number 1
in the UK charts. “The Liverpool
Quatro” was moving to the top
and slowly started being known
around the world. With the “I
Wanna Hold Your Hand” single,
came the “Beatlesmania” in the
USA. The number of people
fainting, throwing themselves
on the stage during concerts,
screaming and crying to catch
a glimpse increased every day;
young people dressed like them,
cut their hair like them, they
looked up to them, trying to be a
real “Beatle”. The album, “With
the Beatles” was the one to sell a
million copies, thus, giving them
the title “Fab Four”. Lennon/
McCartney songs turned into
a brand in time, proving their
originality and the Beatles took
the silver screen for their film
debut in 1964. Their first movie
and the title of their 3rd album
was “A hard day’s night”. The
single “I feel fine” released in the
UK the same year had a novelty
which would inspire musicians
of the next generations. John
Lennon used the guitar feedback,
which he defined as “a buzz like
sound” in the intro of the song.
Though the record company later
apologized for the “technical
error”, this was intentional and
was to be repeated by many
musicians over the years.
Their “Beatles for Sale” album,
released towards the end of 1964,
