The Beatals

The Beatals was a cover band which featured three founding members of The Beatles. They were active from January of 1960 until May of that year, when they became The Silver Beetles.
== History ==
=== Formation ===
In early January of 1960, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison restarted a band after several failed attempts. Lacking a bassist, they decided to go with either Rod Murray or Stuart Sutcliffe. After the latter had sold an art piece in December of 1959, Lennon and McCartney successfully tempted Sutcliffe to buy a Höfner 500/5 bass thus joining the band.
For the group's name, which would be chosen in February, Lennon first wanted to name the new group "The Crickets", as he was a fan of Buddy Holly's band of the same name, but McCartney responded with "I think that's already taken", so Sutcliffe had the idea to name the group "The Beatals" and was chosen.
=== Gigging and schools ===
After a performance in Jim McCartney's Labour Club in February, the band regularly gigged after several schools and student dances. They gained so much notability for this that fans dubbed them "The College Band".
=== The McCartney Tapes ===
In April, the band recorded several demoes onto three reels in McCartney's home at Forthlin Road. The reels ended up with McCartney, Astrid Kirchherr (Sutcliffe's future fiancée), and Hans-Walther Braun. Braun and Kirchherr's tapes were bootlegged, but McCartney's is kept locked in a safe. Three songs in these tapes were released in Anthology 1, released in 1995, Hallelujah, I Love Her So, Cayenne, and You'll Be Mine.
===Namechanges and transition to The Silver Beetles ===
In early May of 1960, The Beatals recruited drummer Johnny Hutchinson from Cass and the Casanovas for a gig. Their leader, Brian Cassar, known as Casey Jones, complained about the group's "outrageous" name. He suggested Long John and the Silver Beetles as a name. Lennon, the de facto leader at the time, agreed to the name change, after which they performed for a little while.
As McCartney was also started to get a more leader role, the group decided to have fresh start as The Silver Beetles while trying to audition for a competition which Larry Parnes hosted so Billy Fury could have backing band.
==Performances==
*February 1960: Jim McCartney's Labour Club, Liverpool
== Discography ==
*Anthology 1 (Cayenne, Hallelujah, I Love Her So, and You'll Be Mine)
==Members==
The no members left or joined during this era.https://www.beatlesbible.com/features/line-ups/
*John Lennon: Lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar
*Paul McCartney: Lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, drums
*George Harrison: Lead and backing vocals, lead guitar
*Stuart Sutcliffe: Bass guitar
==References==