Take a Peek at The Beatles Before the Band Became Huge By Dave White Updated January 19, 2017. Want to know more about The Beatles' history? It starts with the members of the band before they became a rock sensation. John Lennon was just 17 when he formed his first band, The Black Jacks. The band was made up entirely of classmates at Quarry Bank Grammar School in Liverpool. Almost immediately after they started, they changed their name to The Quarry Men. They played skiffle music -- a mixture of folk, jazz, and blues that was popular in England at the time. McCartney, Harrison Come on Board In the summer of 1957, The Quarry Men were setting up for a performance in a church hall when another member of the band introduced Lennon to Paul McCartney -- a 15-year-old self-taught left-handed guitar player. He auditioned for the band when they finished their set and was immediately invited to join. He became a member in October 1957. By February 1958, Lennon was moving increasingly away from skiffle and toward rock and roll.

This prompted the band's banjo player to leave, giving McCartney the opportunity to introduce Lennon to his friend and former classmate, George Harrison . continue reading below our video Best Vacation Reads of 2015 The band, which then consisted of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, piano player Duff Lowe, and drummer Colin Hanton recorded a demo consisting of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day" and a Lennon-McCartney original, "In Spite of All the Danger." The Quarry Men broke up early in 1959. Lennon and McCartney continued their songwriting, and Harrison joined a group called The Les Stewart Quartet. The Quarry Men briefly reunited when Harrison's group fell apart, and he recruited Lennon and McCartney to help him fulfill a contract with Liverpool's Casbah Coffee Club. When that gig ended, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison continued performing as Johnny and the Moondogs. In 1960, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were joined by drummer Pete Best (whose mother owned The Casbah Coffee Club where the three had played many times) and bassist Stu Sutcliffe , a friend of Lennon's from the Liverpool Art School.

They went through a succession of names -- Long John and The Beatles, The Silver Beetles, The Beat Brothers -- before settling on The Beatles. Introducing The Beatles After touring Scotland (backing a singer named Johnny Gentle) the group was invited to play the first of a series of club dates in Hamburg, Germany. They returned to Hamburg twice more in 1961 and 1962, after which they became increasingly popular on the Liverpool club circuit. Sutcliffe left the band after 18 months to pursue his art studies (as well as photographer Astrid Kirchherr, whom he had met in Hamburg) so it was Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Best. Martin liked everything about the band except Best, who was not on good terms with the other band members either. Ringo Starr , the drummer for another popular Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, was recruited to replace Best. In September 1962, the band's first single, "Love Me Do" was released, eventually reaching #17 in the U.K.

It would be almost two years until the song was released (and became a #1 hit) in the US, because of the skepticism of Parlophone's sister label in the U.S., Capitol Records, about the prospects of a British band succeeding in America. Their first album , Please Please Me was released in the UK in March 1963. The singles, "Please Please Me" and "She Loves You" received scattered, limited airplay in the U.S. The teen audience on Dick Clark's American Bandstand reacted to "She Loves You" by laughing at the band's "mop top" haircuts. The Beatles | The Beatles The Beatles Revolution Revolution "It was a lot more individual stuff for the first time. I think people were accepting that it was individual." GEORGE George & Ringo take a break in a control room, during recording sessions for the album "The Beatles" (White Album) The Beatles or "The White album" as it became better known was released on 22nd November, 1968 on the fifth anniversary of their second album, With The Beatles.

A total of 34 new tracks were released in 1968 and 30 were contained on this one double-LP. Following the recording of their single "Lady Madonna" in February, the Beatles flew to Rishikesh, India for several weeks of meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during which they enjoyed a prolific period of song writing. Recording began at Abbey Road on 30th May and studio work occupied most of their time until the final session in mid October. The colourful artwork that had adorned Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour albums was absent here. The double wallet merely had words The BEATLES embossed on the front cover. Early copies also had a individual number stamped on the front. Inside the package along with the two discs wrapped in black inner sleeves were four individual photographs of the guys and a folded poster containing a photo-collage with the lyrics to the songs on the reverse. The Beatles was the group's first album to appear on the Apple label. The change from Parlophone to Apple had first taken place with the release of the "Hey Jude" single in August, 1968.

Despite the fact that it was a double album it entered the UK chart at no. 1 and occupied that position for eight of the 22 weeks it spent in the chart. The US situation was even more impressive with a nine week stay in the top spot during an initial chart run of 65 weeks. A recording session for "The Beatles" (White Album) "Sgt Pepper did its thing, it was the album of the decade - of the century maybe. It was very innovative. Great songs, glad I was on it. But the White Album... We ended up being more of a band again and that's what I always love, I love being in a band." RINGO "I wasn't interested in following up Sgt Pepper and I don't know whether the others were or not, but I know that what I was going for was to forget about Sgt Pepper. You know that was Sgt Pepper and that's alright, fine, it's over...

and just get back to basic music." JOHN "Originally George was the supreme producer but as things loosened up George gave us a bit of the control of the tools." PAUL "I think it's a fine little album and the fact that it's got so much on it is one of the things that's cool about it." PAUL "The songs and most of it is just as good as anything we recorded and there was lots of group activity going down. I love the White Album." JOHN "All the experiences that happened in India was all embodied in that album. Most of those songs were written in Rishikesh like Julia and Blackbird and Dear Prudence." GEORGE "Helter Skelter is just a track we did in total madness and hysterics in the studio.

You know, sometimes you've just go shake out the jam." JOHN "That was really all I wanted to do - make a very loud raunchy rock and roll record with the Beatles, which it is." JOHN "It became apparent that there was more songs than would make a single album." GEORGE "For the first time I had to split myself three ways because we were recording at any one time in different studios, so you might have, you know, John in one studio and Paul in another and George and Ringo sort of going between." GEORGE MARTIN "We just tried to get it loud, guitars, can we have them sound louder, the drums louder." PAUL Crazy and rock solid music. Still not AS good as Rubber Soul. A Day in the Li... 11 Feb 2011 Lennon songs are the best in this album...in my opinion...Cry Baby Cry is lovely...and Happiness is a Warm Gun...it's simply great!!! arcid63 One of their finest albums. One of my favourite ones ever. bertialovestheb... 9 Oct 2009 " She's not a girl who misses much..." OMG such musical greatness the world shall never see again!!!!

monem 9 Sep 2009 Thirty songs, scores of characters, dozens of animals, every instrument in the orchestra; stories of joy, despair, intrigue and salvation; a document perfectly mirroring the most impossible year of the century: 1968." bicho_vocalista 9 Sep 2009 las obras que salen en momentos de tension suelen ser las mas brillantes, y esta es el mejor ejemplo de eso, un disco imperdible robertreuben Always a favourite; so many great songs. Rupert_Bear 9 Sep 2009 Just listening to the remastered White Album and it sounds immense!! The bass and drums come out with a great punch!! loretonavarrete 9 Sep 2009 Este album es un antes y un despues de la musica, simplemente prefiguro muchsimas vertientes posteriores del rock Sparkle517225 Crazy mixture of pure genius peto can you take me back? thebeatlesareawesome love the songs and i love the hints of "paul is dead" tareksobh The greatest album of all time!

Paperback_Writer George Harrison - The Beatles The Beatles George Harrison George Harrison George Harrison, (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Often referred to as the "quiet Beatle", Harrison over time became an admirer of Indian culture and mysticism, introducing it to the other Beatles, as well as to their Western audience.Following the band's break-up, he was a successful solo artist, and later a founding member of the Traveling Wilburys. Among his many accomplishments, Harrison was also a session musician and a film and record producer. He is listed at number 11 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Although most Beatles songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Beatles albums generally included one or two of Harrison's compositions.His later compositions with the Beatles include "Here Comes the Sun", "Something" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".

By the time of the band's break-up, Harrison had accumulated a backlog of material, which he recorded and released as the triple album All Things Must Pass (1970), from which two hit singles originated: a double A-side single, "My Sweet Lord"/"Isn't It a Pity", and "What Is Life". With Ravi Shankar, Harrison organized the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, widely regarded as the first major benefit concert. In his capacity as a songwriter, he penned two hit singles for former Beatle Ringo Starr, as well as songs for the Traveling Wilburys—the supergroup he formed in 1988 with Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison. In addition to his musical career, he also produced records and co-founded the production company HandMade Films. Harrison was married twice, first to model Pattie Boyd from 1966 to 1977, and from 1978 until his death to record company secretary Olivia Trinidad Arias, with whom he had one son, Dhani Harrison.

Beginning in the mid-1960s, Harrison was closely tied to the Hare Krishna movement, and in many interviews he spoke on the subject of his mystical beliefs. He was a close friend of Eric Clapton, and is the only Beatle to have published an autobiography—I Me Mine (1980). Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001. Early years: 1943–1957 Harrison was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on 25 February 1943,the youngest of four children of Harold Hargreaves Harrison and his wife Louise (née French). He had one sister, Louise (born 16 August 1931), and two brothers, Harry (born 1934) and Peter (born 20 July 1940). His mother was a Liverpool shop assistant, and his father was a bus conductor who had worked as a ship's steward on the White Star Line. His mother's family had Irish roots and were Roman Catholic; his maternal grandfather, John French, was born in County Wexford, Ireland, emigrating to Liverpool where he married a local woman, Louise Woollam.

Harrison's birthplace was also the home in which he lived for the first six years of his life: 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool, which was a small two-up, two-down terraced house in a cul-de-sac, with an alley to the rear. The house had an outdoor toilet and its only heat came from a single coal fire. In 1950, the family were offered a council house, and moved to 25 Upton Green, Speke. He first attended school at Dovedale Primary School, nearby to Penny Lane, the same school attended by John Lennon, several years Harrison's senior. He passed his 11-plus examination and achieved a place at the prestigious Liverpool Institute for Boys (in the building that now houses the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts), which he attended from 1954 to 1959. [ Harrison said that, when he was 12 or 13, he had an epiphany of sorts — riding a bike around his neighbourhood, he heard Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" playing from a nearby house; the song piqued Harrison's interest in rock and roll.

Even though he had done well enough on his 11-plus examination to get into the city's best high school, from that point on, the former good student lost interest in school. At age 14, Harrison sat at the back of the class and would often draw guitars in his schoolbooks. “I was totally into guitars,” he later said. “I heard about this kid at school who had a guitar at £3 10s, it was just a little acoustic round hole. I got the £3 10s from my mother: that was a lot of money for us then.” Harrison bought a Dutch Egmond flat top acoustic guitar. While at the Liverpool Institute, Harrison formed a skiffle group called the Rebels with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly. On the bus to school, Harrison met Paul McCartney, who was eight months older than him. McCartney later became a member of Lennon's band, the Quarrymen. The Beatles: 1957–1970 Harrison joined the Beatles when they were still a skiffle group called the Quarrymen.

He first auditioned for the band at Rory Storm 's Morgue Skiffle Club, playing "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" (by Bert Weedon ) in March 1958. However, Lennon felt that Harrison, then 14, was too young to join the band. During a second meeting, engineered by McCartney on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus, Harrison performed the lead guitar part for the song " Raunchy ". Soon thereafter, Harrison began socializing with the group, and filled in on guitar as needed. By the time Harrison turned 15, Lennon and the others had accepted him as one of the band. Since Harrison was the youngest member of the group, he was looked upon as a kid by the others for another few years Harrison left school at 16 and worked as an apprentice electrician at local department store Blacklers for several months. During a low period in the band's activity, Harrison attempted to join Rory Storm's Tornados, but was turned down by Storm's mother, who believed that Harrison was too young. Harrison then joined the Les Stewart Quartet with Les Stewart, guitarist Ken Brown, and Geoff Skinner.

Mona Best opened the Casbah Coffee Club on 29 August 1959, and Brown arranged for the quartet to be its resident band. When Brown missed rehearsals to help decorate the Casbah, Stewart refused to play. Brown and Harrison recruited Lennon and McCartney at short notice to help them fill the residency, reactivating the Quarrymen name for the occasion. The Beatles were offered an engagement in Hamburg in 1960, and soon began playing at the Kaiserkeller . The musical apprenticeship that Harrison received playing long hours with the rest of the group, as well as the guitar lessons he took from Tony Sheridan, laid the foundations of the Beatles' sound, and of Harrison's quiet, professional role within the group; this role would soon contribute to his reputation as "the quiet Beatle".The band's first trip to Hamburg was shortened when Harrison was deported for being under age. When Brian Epstein became the Beatles' manager in December 1961, he changed their image from that of leather-jacketed rock-and-rollers to a more polished, professional look, securing them a recording contract with EMI in the process.

The group's first single, " Love Me Do ", featuring Harrison playing a Gibson J-160E , reached number 17 in the UK chart in October 1962, and by the time their debut album, Please Please Me , was released in early 1963, the Beatles had become famous and Beatlemania had arrived. After Harrison revealed in an interview that he liked jelly babies , British fans inundated the Beatles with boxes of the sweets as gifts. A few months later, American audiences showered them with the much harder jelly beans instead. In a letter to a fan, Harrison later insisted that no one in the band actually liked jelly babies, and that the press must have made it up. The popularity of the Beatles led to a successful tour of the United States and the making of the film A Hard Day's Night , during which Harrison met his future wife Pattie Boyd . In the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours , all four Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

Harrison, whose role within the group was that of the careful musician who checked that the instruments were tuned, by 1965 and the Rubber Soul album, was developing into a musical director as he led the others into folk-rock , via his interest in the Byrds and Bob Dylan , and into Indian music with his exploration of the sitar . Harrison's musical involvement with the Beatles reached its peak on Revolver in 1966 with his contribution of three songs and new musical ideas. By 1967, Harrison's interests appeared to be moving outside the Beatles, and his involvement in the seminal album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band consists mainly of his song " Within You Without You ", on which no other Beatle plays, and which stands out for its difference from the rest of the album's compositions. During the recording of The Beatles (commonly known as the White Album) in 1968, tensions were high in the band, with drummer Ringo Starr briefly quitting. These troubles surfaced again during the filming of rehearsal sessions at Twickenham Studios in early 1969 for what later became the album and film Let It Be.

Frustrated by the poor working conditions in the cold and sterile film studio, as well as by Lennon's creative disengagement from the group and what he[ who? ] perceived as a domineering attitude from McCartney, Harrison quit the band on 10 January. Following negotiations with the other Beatles at two business meetings, he agreed to return twelve days later. Relations among the Beatles were more cordial, though still strained, during recording sessions for Abbey Road , which was to become the band's final recorded album. Abbey Road included two Harrison compositions: " Here Comes the Sun " and " Something ". "Something" was later recorded by Frank Sinatra , who considered it "the greatest love song of the past fifty years," despite crediting its composition to Lennon and McCartney. Harrison's increasing productivity, coupled with his difficulties in getting the other Beatles to record his music, meant that by the end of the group's career he had amassed a considerable stockpile of unreleased materialHarrison's last recording session with the Beatles prior to the band's break-up was on 4 January 1970. Lennon, who had privately left the group the previous September, did not attend the session.

Solo work: 1968–1987 Before the Beatles split up in 1970, Harrison had already recorded and released two solo albums, Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound . These albums were mainly instrumental. Wonderwall Music was a soundtrack to the Wonderwall film in which Harrison blended Indian and Western sounds; while Electronic Sound was an experiment in using a Moog synthesizer . It was only when Harrison was free from the Beatles that he released what is regarded as his first solo album, the commercially successful and critically acclaimed All Things Must Pass . All Things Must Pass: 1970 After years of being restricted in his songwriting contributions to the Beatles, All Things Must Pass contained such a large outpouring of Harrison's songs that it was released as a triple album , though only two of the discs contained songs—the third contained recordings of Harrison jamming with friends. The album is regarded as his best work;[ it was a critical and commercial success, topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, and produced the number-one hit single " My Sweet Lord " as well as the top-10 single " What Is Life ".

The album was co-produced by Phil Spector using his " Wall of Sound " approach, and the musicians included Eric Clapton , Dave Mason , Gary Wright , Billy Preston , and Ringo Starr. Later sued for copyright infringement over the song "My Sweet Lord" due to its similarity to the 1963 Chiffons song " He's So Fine ", owned by Bright Tunes, Harrison denied deliberately plagiarising the song, but he lost the resulting court case in 1976, as the judge deemed that Harrison had subconsciously plagiarised "He's So Fine". When considering liable earnings, "My Sweet Lord"'s contribution to the sales of All Things Must Pass and The Best of George Harrison were taken into account, and the judge decided a figure of $1,599,987 was owed to Bright Tunes. The dispute over damages became complicated when Harrison's former manager Allen Klein purchased the copyright to "He's So Fine" from Bright Tunes in 1978.

In 1981, a district judge decided that Klein had acted improperly, and it was agreed that Harrison should pay Klein $587,000, the amount Klein had paid for "He's So Fine", so he would gain nothing from the deal, and that Harrison would take over ownership of Bright Tunes, making him the owner of the rights to both songs and thus ending the copyright infringement claim. Though the dispute dragged on into the 1990s, the district judge's decision was upheld. The Concert for Bangladesh: 1971 Responding to a request for help by longtime friend Ravi Shankar , Harrison organized a major charity concert, The Concert for Bangladesh, on 1 August 1971, drawing over 40,000 people to two shows in New York's Madison Square Garden . The aim of the event was to raise money to aid the starving refugees during the Bangladesh Liberation War .

Ravi Shankar opened the proceedings, which included other popular musicians such as Dylan (who rarely appeared live in the early 1970s), Clapton, who made his first public appearance in months (owing to a heroin addiction which began when Derek and the Dominos broke up), Leon Russell , Badfinger , Billy Preston and fellow Beatle Starr. Tax troubles and questionable expenses tied up many of the concert's proceeds. Apple Corporation released a newly arranged concert DVD and CD in October 2005 (with all artists' sales royalties continuing to go to UNICEF ), which contained additional material such as previously unreleased rehearsal footage of " If Not for You ", featuring Harrison and Dylan. Living in the Material World to George Harrison: 1972–1979 Harrison would not again release an album that came close to the critical and commercial achievements of All Things Must Pass.

Although 1973's Living in the Material World initially did well, holding the number one spot on the US album chart for five weeks and reaching number two in the UK, and the album's single, " Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) ", was also successful, reaching number one in the US and the top ten in the UK, neither could match the sales of All Things Must Pass and "My Sweet Lord". The album was lavishly produced and packaged, and its dominant message was the power of Harrison's Hindu beliefs. [63] The one fully secular song, " Sue Me, Sue You Blues ", expressed Harrison's disgust with the endless legal squabbling of the former Beatles. The Dark Horse album of 1974 written after Harrison's break-up with his wife Pattie Boyd and when he was suffering from laryngitis received harsh reviews, as did his accompanying tour of North America. Harrison was criticized for poor songwriting and poor vocals on the album, and for over-indulging his love for Indian music during the tour. [ The album and single " Dark Horse " did briefly make an appearance near the top of the US charts, but both failed to chart in the UK.

[ His final studio album for EMI (and Apple Records) was Extra Texture (Read All About It) , featuring a diecut cover. The album spawned two singles, " You " which reached the Billboard top 20 and " This Guitar (Can't Keep from Crying) ", which became Apple's final original single release in December 1975. Following the former Beatle's departure from Capitol, the record company was in a position to license releases featuring Beatles and post-Beatles work on the same album, using Harrison for this experiment. The Best of George Harrison (1976) combined his Beatles songs with a selection of his solo Apple work. Thirty Three & 1/3 , his first Dark Horse release, was his most successful late-1970s album, reaching number 11 on the US charts in 1976, and producing the singles " This Song " (a satire of the " My Sweet Lord "-" He's So Fine " court case ruling) and " Crackerbox Palace ", both of which reached the top 25 in the US.

With an emphasis on melody, musicianship, and subtler subject matter rather than the heavy orchestration and didactic messaging of earlier works, he received his best critical notices since All Things Must Pass. With its surreal humour , "Crackerbox Palace" also reflected Harrison's association with Monty Python 's Eric Idle , who directed a comic music video for the song. After his second marriage and the birth of son Dhani , Harrison next released an eponymous album — 1979's George Harrison — which included the singles " Blow Away ", " Love Comes to Everyone " and " Faster ". Both the album and "Blow Away" made the Billboard top 20. In addition to his own works during this time, between 1971 and 1973 Harrison co-wrote or produced three top ten US and UK hits for Ringo Starr (" It Don't Come Easy ", " Back Off Boogaloo ", and " Photograph "). Harrison played electric, slide and dobro guitars on five songs on Lennon's 1971 Imagine album (" How Do You Sleep?

", " Oh My Love ", " I Don't Want to Be a Soldier ", " Crippled Inside " and " Gimme Some Truth "), with his stinging slide guitar work on the first of these suggesting that he took John's side of the intense Lennon-McCartney feud of the time. Lennon later said of Harrison's work on the album, "That's the best he's ever fucking played in his life!" [71] Harrison also produced and played slide guitar on the Apple band Badfinger 's 1971 top ten US and UK hit " Day After Day ". During the decade, Harrison also worked with Harry Nilsson ("You're Breakin' My Heart", 1972), as well as Billy Preston (" That's the Way God Planned It ", 1969, and " It's My Pleasure ", 1975) and Cheech & Chong (" Basketball Jones ", 1973).He also appeared with Paul Simon to perform two acoustic songs on Saturday Night Live in 1976.

Somewhere in England to Cloud Nine: 1980–1987 Harrison was deeply shocked by the 8 December 1980 murder of John Lennon . The crime reinforced his decades-long worries about safety from stalkers . It was also a deep personal loss, although unlike former bandmates McCartney and Starr, Harrison had had little contact with Lennon in the years before the murder. Their estrangement had been marked by Harrison's longstanding dislike of Lennon's wife Yoko Ono , his refusal to allow her participation in the Concert for Bangladesh, and, during the last year of Lennon's life, by Harrison's scant mention of Lennon in his autobiography, I, Me, Mine , published several months before Lennon's death. The omission had upset Lennon greatly, which Harrison had regretted, leading him to leave a telephone message for Lennon, but Lennon had declined to return the call and they had not spoken again. Following the murder, Harrison said, "After all we went through together I had and still have great love and respect for John Lennon. I am shocked and stunned. To rob life is the ultimate robbery in life." Harrison modified the lyrics of a song he had written for Starr to make it a tribute song to Lennon.

" All Those Years Ago " received substantial radio airplay, reaching number two on the US charts. Although released as a Harrison single, all three surviving ex-Beatles performed on the track. "Teardrops" was issued as a follow-up single, but was not nearly as successful. Both singles came from the album Somewhere in England , released in 1981. Originally slated for release in late 1980, Warner Bros. rejected the album, directing Harrison to replace several tracks and change the album cover. The original album cover that Harrison preferred was used in the 2004 reissue. In 1981, Harrison played guitar on one track of Mick Fleetwood 's record The Visitor and on Lindsey Buckingham 's song "Walk a Thin Line". Aside from a song on the Porky's Revenge soundtrack in 1985 (his version of a little-known Bob Dylan song " I Don't Want to Do It "), Harrison released no new records for five years after 1982's Gone Troppo album received little notice from critics and the public.

In October 1985, Harrison made a rare public appearance on the Cinemax Channel 4 live concert TV special in a tribute to Carl Perkins . He appeared along with Starr and Clapton, among others. The show was entitled Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session , and Harrison performed " Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby ", "Your True Love", " That's Alright Mama " (including the guitar solo), " Glad All Over " (including the guitar solo), "Gone Gone Gone" and " Blue Suede Shoes ". He agreed to appear because he had been an admirer and close friend of Perkins for over two decades. In 1987, Harrison returned to the record business with the critically acclaimed platinum album Cloud Nine , co-produced with Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra , and enjoyed a hit (number one in the US; number two in the UK) when his rendition of James Ray's early 1960s number " Got My Mind Set on You " was released as a single; another single, " When We Was Fab ", a retrospective of the Beatles era complete with distinct musical flavours representing each band member, was also a minor hit.

MTV regularly played the two videos, elevating Harrison's public profile with another generation of music listeners. The album reached number eight and number ten on the US and UK charts, respectively. In the US, several tracks also enjoyed high placement on Billboard's Album Rock chart – "Devil's Radio", " This Is Love " and "Cloud 9", in addition to the aforementioned singles. Live performances: 1971–1992 On 23 November 1971, Harrison appeared on an episode of The Dick Cavett Show performing a song written by Gary Wright called "Two Faced Man" with a band called Wonder Wheel. Harrison played slide guitar with this band as a favour, to reciprocate Wright's playing piano on Harrison's album All Things Must Pass. The episode can be viewed on the DVD titled The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons Disc 3. In 1974, Harrison launched what would be his final tour of the United States. Critics and fans panned the shows for their long mid-concert act featuring Pandit Ravi Shankar & Friends and for Harrison's hoarse voice.

Harrison had hired filmmaker David Acomba to accompany the tour and gather footage for a documentary. Due to Harrison's vocal problems throughout most of this tour, they did not release the film. However, in 1977, Acomba placed a newly revised director's cut in the Harrison archive. In 1986, Harrison made a surprise performance at the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 , a concert event to raise money for the Birmingham Children's Hospital . Harrison played and sang the finale " Johnny B. Goode " along with Robert Plant , the Moody Blues , and Electric Light Orchestra , among others. The following year, Harrison appeared at The Prince's Trust concert in Wembley Arena , performing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes the Sun" with Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, and others. On 1 May 1990, during Eric Clapton's Journey Man Tour, Harrison joined Clapton on stage at the L.A. Forum, performing "Crossroads" and "Sunshine Of Your Love".In 1991, Harrison staged a tour of Japan along with Clapton.

It was his first tour since the 1974 US tour, but no other tours followed. The Live in Japan recording came from these shows. On 6 April 1992, Harrison held a benefit concert for the Natural Law Party at the Royal Albert Hall , his first London performance since the Beatles' 1969 rooftop concert. In October 1992, Harrison performed three songs, " If Not for You ", " Absolutely Sweet Marie ", and " My Back Pages ", at a Bob Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. A recording of this performance was released on the album The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration in August 1993. On 14 December 1992, Harrison took part in a memorial concert at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles for Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro . The concert featured an all-star line-up that included Boz Scaggs , Donald Fagen , Don Henley , Michael McDonald , David Crosby , Eddie Van Halen , and the surviving members of Toto. The proceeds of the concert were used to establish an educational trust fund for Porcaro's children.

Later life: 1988–2001 Early in 1989, Harrison, Lynne and Starr all appeared in the music video for Tom Petty 's song "I Won't Back Down", although Starr did not actually play on the track; Harrison played acoustic guitar. The same year also saw the release of Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989 , a compilation drawn from his later solo work. This album also included two new songs, "Poor Little Girl", and "Cockamamie Business" (which saw him once again looking wryly upon his past as a Beatle), as well as " Cheer Down ", which was co-written with Petty and had first been released earlier in the year on the soundtrack to the film Lethal Weapon 2 . Unlike his previous greatest hits package, Harrison made sure to oversee this compilation. Later that year, Harrison played slide guitar on the songs " Leave a Light On " and "Deep Deep Ocean" from Belinda Carlisle 's third album, Runaway Horses . "Leave a Light On" was successful worldwide.

In 1996, Harrison recorded, produced and played on "Distance Makes No Difference With Love" with Carl Perkins for his Go-Cat-Go record. Harrison's final television appearance was not intended as such; in fact, he was not the featured artist, and the appearance had been intended to promote Chants of India, another collaboration with Ravi Shankar released in 1997, at the height of interest in chant music. John Fugelsang , then of VH1 , conducted the interview, and at one point an acoustic guitar was produced and handed to Harrison. When an audience member asked to hear "a Beatles song", Harrison gave a sheepish look and answered, "I don't think I know any!" Harrison then played "All Things Must Pass", the Traveling Wilburys song “If You Belonged to Me”, and revealed for the first time "Any Road", which subsequently appeared on the 2002 album Brainwashed . In January 1998, Harrison attended the funeral of his boyhood idol, Perkins, in Jackson, Tennessee . Harrison played an impromptu version of Perkins' song "Your True Love" during the service.

That same year he attended the public memorial service for Linda McCartney , in addition to appearing on Starr's album Vertical Man , playing electric and slide guitars on two tracks. In 2001, Harrison performed as a guest musician on the Electric Light Orchestra album Zoom . He played slide guitar on the song "Love Letters" for Bill Wyman 's Rhythm Kings, and remastered and restored unreleased tracks from the Traveling Wilburys. He also co-wrote a new song with his son Dhani, " Horse to the Water ". The latter song ended up as Harrison's final recording session, on 2 October, just eight weeks before his death. It appeared on Jools Holland 's album Small World, Big Band. Harrison's final album, Brainwashed, was completed by Dhani Harrison and Jeff Lynne and released on 18 November 2002. It received generally positive reviews in the United States, and peaked at number 18 on the Billboard charts .

A media-only single, " Stuck Inside a Cloud ", was heavily played on UK and US radio to promote the album (number 27 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart), while the official single " Any Road ", released in May 2003, reached number 37 on the British chart. The instrumental track, "Marwa Blues" went on to receive the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance , while the single "Any Road" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance . The Traveling Wilburys: 1988–1990 In 1988, Harrison played an instrumental role in forming the Traveling Wilburys with Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison , Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty when they gathered in Dylan's garage to quickly record an additional track for a projected Harrison European single release. The record company realized the track (" Handle With Care ") was too good for its original purpose as a B-side and asked for a full, separate album. This had to be completed within two weeks, as Dylan was scheduled to start a tour. The album, Traveling Wilburys Vol.

1 , was released in October 1988 and recorded under pseudonyms as half-brothers (supposed sons of Charles Truscott Wilbury, Sr.). Harrison's pseudonym on the first album was "Nelson Wilbury"; he would use the name "Spike Wilbury" for the Traveling Wilburys' second album. After the death of Roy Orbison in late 1988 the group recorded as a four-piece. Though Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 was their second release, the album was mischievously titled Vol. 3 by Harrison. According to Lynne, "That was George's idea. He said, 'Let's confuse the buggers.'" [90] It was not as well received as the previous album, but did reach number 14 in the UK and number 11 in the US where it went platinum, while the singles " She's My Baby ", "Inside Out", and " Wilbury Twist " received some air play. The Wilburys never performed live, though the subject of a possible performance was discussed privately among the band members. "George often talked about it," Petty later stated in an interview.

"Especially when we'd have a few drinks he'd get very keen on the idea. And then the next day he'd be not so keen on it. The group did not record together again following the release of their second album. The Beatles Anthology: 1994–1996 In 1994–1996, Harrison collaborated with the surviving former Beatles, and Traveling Wilburys producer Jeff Lynne for The Beatles Anthology project, which included the recording of two new Beatles songs built around solo vocal and piano tapes recorded by John Lennon in the late 1970s, as well as the lengthy interviews on the Beatles' history. The single " Free as a Bird ", was the first Beatles single since " The Long and Winding Road " in 1970. HandMade Films: 1978–1994 In 1978, Harrison and his business partner Denis O'Brien formed the film production and distribution company, HandMade Films.

Created to promote the Monty Python troupe, it raised £2 million to finish their film Life of Brian after EMI Films , the original financiers, withdrew their funding due to the film's controversial, satirical content. Though the company was formed with the intention of funding only the one film (a scenario which was described by Idle as "the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket in history"),Harrison and O'Brien bought the rights to The Long Good Friday , which had been faced with various cuts, and released it in its original form. The first film produced under the company was 1981'S Time Bandits , equipped with a soundtrack by Harrison, a solo project by Python Terry Gilliam for whom HandMade originally also was to finance The Adventures of Baron Munchausen before several funding parties including HandMade dropped out of the project. Harrison produced twenty three films with HandMade, including Mona Lisa , Shanghai Surprise , and Withnail and I . He made several cameo appearances in these movies, including a role as a nightclub singer in Shanghai Surprise and as Mr Papadopolous in Life of Brian. Handmade Films became a rarity in the British film industry, a production company that was both consistently successful and internationally known.

The company was well regarded both for nurturing British talent and for most of its films having British settings or inspirations. Harrison was involved in some creative decisions, approving projects such as Withnail and Iand visiting sets as executive producer to sort out creative problems. On the whole, though, he preferred to stay out of the way: "[As a musician] I've been the person who's said of the people with the money, 'What do they know?' and now I'm that person. But I know that unless you give an artist as much freedom as possible, there's no point in using that artist." The bulk of the financial and business decisions were left to O'Brien, who was tasked with making sure that films got made on time and on budget. This eventually resulted in disagreements and lawsuits between the pair as HandMade Films encountered reversals, and Harrison sold the company in 1994. Relationships with the other Beatles For most of the Beatles' career, the relationships in the group were extremely close and intimate. According to Hunter Davies , "the Beatles spent their lives not living a communal life, but communally living the same life.

They were each other's greatest friends." Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd described how the Beatles "all belonged to each other" and admitted, "George has a lot with the others that I can never know about. Nobody, not even the wives, can break through or even comprehend it." Starr also stated, "We really looked out for each other and we had so many laughs together. In the old days we'd have the biggest hotel suites, the whole floor of the hotel, and the four of us would end up in the bathroom, just to be with each other." and added "There were some really loving, caring moments between four people: a hotel room here and there – a really amazing closeness. Just four guys who loved each other. It was pretty sensational Lennon stated that his relationship with Harrison was "one of young follower and older guy", and stated that he "was like a disciple of mine when we started." The two would often go on holiday together throughout the 1960s, but their relationship took a severe turn for the worse after George published his autobiography, I, Me, Mine in 1980. Lennon felt insulted and hurt that George mentioned him only in passing.

The book mentions Lennon 11 times, which is higher than the number of mentions received by McCartney, the Beatles, Clapton, or even George's second wife, Olivia .Nevertheless, Lennon claimed he was hurt by the book and also that he did more for George than any of the other Beatles. As a result, George and John were not on good terms during the last months of Lennon's life. After Lennon's murder, George paid tribute to Lennon with the song " All Those Years Ago " which was released in 1981, six months after Lennon's murder. It contains the lyric "I always look up to you", suggesting implicit agreement with Lennon's appraisal of their relationship McCartney has often referred to Harrison as his "baby brother", and he did the honours as best man at the younger man's wedding in 1966. The two were the first of the Beatles to meet, having shared a school bus, and would often learn and rehearse new guitar chords together. McCartney stated that he and George usually shared a bedroom while touring.

Musicianship Guitar work Although not fast or flashy, Harrison's guitar work with the Beatles was solid and typified the more subdued lead guitar style of the early 1960s. [112] The influence of the plucking guitar style of Chet Atkins and Carl Perkins on Harrison gave a country music feel to many of the Beatles' early recordings. [113] Harrison also explored other instruments, including the twelve-string guitar , the sitar and the slide guitar , and developed his playing from tight eight- and twelve-bar solos in such songs as " A Hard Day's Night " and " Can't Buy Me Love ", [113] to more complex slide guitar playing, [114] first recorded during an early session of " If Not for You " for Dylan's New Morning in 1970. [115] The earliest example of notable guitar work from Harrison was the extended acoustic guitar solo of " And I Love Her ", for which Harrison purchased a José Ramírez nylon-stringed classical guitar to produce the sensitivity needed. "Till There Was You" The Beatles - Abbey Road Abbey Road " says George Harrison.

"It was good to go back to the studio and do a new record, because the songs were good and everyone was happy." Although would be the last Beatles album of new material to be released, Abbey Road was in fact the last album the Beatles recorded. The band had put aside the bad vibes that had surfaced during the Let It Be sessions and come together to record one of their finest albums. The material on the album varied from John Lennon's basic rocker "Come Together" and his avant-garde ode to Yoko Ono, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," to the complex suite of songs, mostly written by McCartney, that closes the album. "We actually rehearsed," says Harrison. "We did arrangements for those songs like 'Polythene Pam' and 'She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,' which were just bits and pieces of songs that were tacked together, learned them, and played it as one performance." By that time, Harrison's confidence as a writer had grown. "'Something' and 'Here Comes the Sun' were great, because I knew they were good songs, but I was a bit worried when John wrote a song called 'Here Comes the Sun' as well," Harrison says.

Eventually, Lennon altered his song's title to "Sun King." Harrison recalls writing his two tracks: "I wrote 'Here Comes the Sun' in Eric Clapton's garden and I wrote 'Something' while we were making The White Album in number one studio at Abbey Road, which was an enormous studio they used for orchestras. I used to just go in there and kind of hang out." The latter song, which Harrison composed on piano, turned out to be one of the Beatles' finest ballads. Ringo Starr also contributed material. His "Octopus's Garden" was composed during the Let It Be film documentary. Yet the song sounds like an outtake form the Yellow Submarine The cover photo of Abbey Road, named after the studio where the Beatles recorded 191 songs, features the band members crossing the street in front of the building. The Beatles' attire -- McCartney barefoot but wearing a suit, Harrison dressed in the dungarees of a gravedigger, Lennon looking like a priest, and Starr like an undertaker -- further fueled speculation that McCartney had been killed in a car crash in 1969.

Fittingly, Abbey Road winds down with "The End," a track that features solos by all four members of the band, followed inexplicably by McCartney's 23-second "Her Majesty." For the Beatles, Abbey Road truly marked the end. Says producer George Martin, "It was the last thing they ever did together, so Abbey Road has a special place for me." The rest of the public agreed, as Abbey Road hit the top in its third week on the chart. Five weeks later, the double-A side single "Something"/"Come Together" reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100, giving the group another double crown. The Beatles would go on to rack up three more Number One albums, but Abbey Road was their real swan song. - Craig Rosen, The Billboard Book of Number One Albums, 1996. The Beatles went out with class. Their last recording, though the soundtrack to Let It Be was released later, was one of their best. It did, however, reflect the degree to which members had gone their own ways. "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" heralded the emergence of George Harrison as a major songwriter.

The former became his first Beatle A-side and an evergreen copyright. The latter attracted a legion of recordings, including hit versions by Richie Havens (US) and Steve Harley (UK). "Come Together" was John Lennon's major contribution to the album, becoming an American number one, but his extended "I Want You (She's so Heavy)" was an affecting curiosity. The tour de force of the project, however, was the extended song cycle on side two, a series of fragments woven together by Paul McCartney and George Martin in a seamless whole. "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" even became an American hit for Joe Cocker in a longer version than the original. The final bit, "The End," is one of the most famous farewells in music. Its one-line philosophy of life has been repeated to the point of trivialization by pseuds around the world. The first buyers of this disc were surprised when an unannounced finale, McCartney's doggerel "Her Majesty," came on during the play-out. Latter-day purchasers were deprived of this surprise when the track was listed on the label.

In 1987, Abbey Road was chosen by a panel of rock critics and music broadcasters as the #13 rock album of all time. - Paul Gambaccini, The Top 100 Rock 'n' Roll Albums of All Time, Harmony Books, 1987. Abbey Road is more than a first-rate Beatles album; it captures a significant historical moment. Although it was released before Let It Be, Abbey Road was the last album the Beatles recorded together -- and it presents a poignant final expression of the band's magic. Although Abbey Road was, in part, a desperate effort to reunify the band, sad hints of the Beatles' impending demise suffuse the long symphonic piece following "Here Comes the Sun" on the album's second side, particularly in "You Never Give Me Your Money," "Golden Slumbers" and "Carry That Weight." That piece, with its elegant, melodic segues and orchestral arrangements, is the most successful outgrowth of the band's earlier experiences on Sgt. Pepper. Like that album, it largely reflects the skill and vision of Paul McCartney and producer George Martin.

Perhaps for that reason, John Lennon disparaged the album in Rolling Stone in 1971, at the hight of the Beatles' squabbling and sniping. "I never liked that sort of pop opera," he said. "It was just bits of songs thrown together." In fact, Lennon's most gripping contributions to Abbey Road -- the word-salad anthem "Come Together" and his monster-groove paean to Yoko Ono, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," which open and close the album's first side -- are charateristically wittier and more compressed than the opus on side two. George Harrison, whose growth as a songwriter was one of the fatal pressures weighing on the band, contributed two of his finest and most popular songs to the album: "Here Comes the Sun" (which he wrote in Eric Clapton's garden) and "Something." Ringo wrote and sang the catchy novelty song "Octopus's Garden" and contributed his only recorded drum solo.

The album's most touching moment comes with "The End," which stands as a moving epitaph for the Beatles and the decade that produced and embraced them: "And in the end/The love you take/Is equal to the love/You make." Abbey Road was chosen as the 17th of "The 100 Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years" by Rolling Stone was the last album of original Beatles music to be released, Abbey Road was the last to be recorded. Wanting to recapture some of the group's original good feeling, Paul McCartney contacted producer Geroge Martin and said the band wanted to record an album "the way we used to do it." Martin replied, "If the album's going to be the way it used to be, then all of you have got to be the way you used to be." Abbey Road shows the Beatles coming together one last time. There is passionate hard rock from John Lennon, mature songwriting from George Harrison, a veritable pop symphony from McCartney and the one and only recorded drum solo by Ringo Starr. Abbey Road sold 8 million copies, topping even Meet the Beatles! Rolling Stone, 8/23/90.

Simply put, if you own only one rock CD, this should be the one. From the magical, mystical opening chords of John Lennon's "Come Together" (which Rolling Stone aptly described as his "word salad song"), to the momentous summation of it all (the Beatles, the sixties -- you name it) "The End," this is the essential Beatles album, and thus the essential rock & roll album. Occasional tape his notwithstanding, the CD version materially expands what was an endless vision, highlighting Paul McCartney's extraordinary bass work and searing vocal on "Oh Darling," as well as Lennon's perfectly acid guitar. A triumph. A+ - Bill Shapiro, Rock & Roll Review: A Guide to Good Rock on CD, 1991. The Beatles' last unified statement finds them going out at a peak of musical achievement, from Lennon's "Come Together" to Harrison's "Something," with McCartney dominating the Side 2 medley in which the group rocks out in fine style. Abbey Road is the best-selling Beatles album ever. * * * * * - William Ruhlmann, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995. Dubbed "Sgt.

Pepper Mark II" by George Martin, Abbey Road can hardly be beat for sheer songwriting excellence and audio sophistication. Amidst internal animosity and feuds, the Beatles shone one last time as a group, showing mastery of their craft most notably on Lennon's "Come Together," McCartney's "Oh! Darling," and Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something." * * * * * - Christopher Scapelliti, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996. By this time it was almost over. The Beatles, who had changed the face of popular music from a weening pup to a multiheaded dragon breathing fire from every snout, were almost ready to call it quits after seven years of well-executed dominance. Their sheen shone like the sun. They were untouchable and remained that way to their last dying gasp.... of which Abbey Road was the final grandiloquent utterance. Furthermore, it was actually conceived that way -- although the botched fake-live Let It Be it was recorded months earlier.

Abbey Road could have amounted to little more than an afterthought given the malaise that had set upon the group by that time -- a malaise wrought from not only years of being together and being the preeminent superstars in the rock arena but also a weariness brought about by intricate business dealings, deaths, and complex love affairs that had all ultimately taken their toll on the musical focus of the band. However, because the Beatles were consummate professionals, the album evolved into much more than that. It became an eloquent grand finale from the greatest group in the world. Arguments prevail as to whether it was actually too slick -- it's true, the Beatles had never known such a seamless level of gloss before. The very clean production was symptomatic of the kind of ultra-professionalism that would inevitably come to dominate in the seventies. But because they were the Beatles, it was still ultimately about songs, and like any Beatles album, Abbey Road was chock full of good ones. The Suite-like grandeur of the second side -- where each song sinuously flowed into the next -- was an innovation in itself.

Credit Paul McCartney for this -- he was the one cobbling the group together, at least as far as maintaining the facade that the group was capable of any sort of unity at this pint. Abbey Road was the last time any such unity existed. Lennon's work on the album is angry and shows the new rad-lib direction that had been set upon him by his new muse-cum-wife, Yoko Ono. The avant-garde influence makes itself apparent in not only the cut-up lyrical pastiche of the manifesto-like "Come Together" but also the abrupt ending of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," which is one of the first examples of the "primal scream" vocal style that Lennon would explore further on his first few solo albums. Abbey Road also represented a genuine coming-of-age for the youngest Beatle, George Harrison, at least as far as songwriting went.

Although Harrison had always remained in the shadows of Lennon/McCartney in this regard (given the immense productivity of said duo, who wouldn't?), on Abbey Road he proved himself capable of competing in the same stakes as far as writing perfectly hummable pop ditties went: "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something" became instant classics, covered by thousands of artists. Any way you look at it, Abbey Road was the swansong-to-end-all-swansongs. Within a few months, the Beatles would be gone, but not forgotten. Albums like this are the reason why. Abbey Road was voted the 8th greatest album of all time in a VH1 poll of over 700 musicians, songwriters, disc jockeys, radio programmers, and critics in 2003. - Joe S. Harrington, "It was a very happy record," said producer George Martin, describing this album in The Beatles Anthology. "I guess it was happy because everybody thought it was going to be the last." Indeed, Abbey Road -- recorded in two months during the summer of 1969 -- almost never got made at all.

That January, the Beatles were on the verge of breakup, exhausted and angry with one another after the disastrous sessions for the aborted Get Back LP, later to be salvaged as Let It Be. Yet determined to go out with the same glory with which they had first entranced the world at the start of the decade, the group reconvened at EMI's Abbey Road Studios to make their most polished album: a collection of superb songs cut with an attention to refined detail, then segued together (especially on Side Two) with conceptual force. There was no thematic link, other than the Beatles' unique genius. John Lennon veered from the stormy metal of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" to the exquisite vocal sunrise of "Because." Paul McCartney was saucy ("Oh! Darling"), silly ("Maxwell's Silver Hammer") and deliciously bitter ("You Never Give Me Your Money"). George Harrison proved his long-secret worth as a composer with "Something" (later covered by Frank Sinatra) and the folk-pop diamond "Here Comes the Sun," written in his friend Eric Clapton's garden after a grim round of business meetings. And Lennon, McCartney and Harrison reputedly sang more three-part harmony here than on any other Beatles album.

Let It Be was the group's final release, but this album was their real goodbye: The completion of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" on August 20th marked the last time all four members were together in the studio they had made famous. Abbey Road was chosen as the 14th greatest album of all time by the editors of Rolling Stone Often neglected in Beatles all-time best album polls in favor of the more technicolor Sgt. Pepper... and the darker, less orthodox Revolver, The Beatles' last-recorded album ( Let It Be was merely the last to see the light of day) is a shimmering, never-predictable array of songs and song fragments. It is as progressive as anything the quartet ever recorded, and stuffed full of emotional twists and turns, thanks to their chaotic final years together now coming to a messy close. Despite their fundamental differences at this stage, McCartney and Lennon were still capable of writing searing material.

George Harrison, for so long lumped in with Ringo Starr as a Fabs also-ran compared to the other two stellar members, had become a serious songwriter, contributing the awe-inspiring "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun," probably the sweetest song John and Paul never wrote. But the vitriol, ecstasy, and social commentary of Lennon and McCartney is what makes Abbey Road an essential, and they come through with a vengeance. There is the sexual swamp-rock of "Come Together," the psychedelic monster "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" (highlighted by McCartney's nimble bass-playing) and, of course, that unique side-two song suite, loved and loathed by Beatles-heads in equal measure. "Sun King" is a musical dose of LSD; "Golden Slumbers" is the band at their most nursery-rhyme-epic; and "The End" is a prothetic dose of virtuosity on which everyone takes a solo -- even Ringo. - Joel McIver, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, 2005.

The sixteen-minute medley that closes Abbey Road is arguably the most resourceful act of scrap-scavenging in pop music history. A parade of discards and song fragments waiting to be finished, it presents the Beatles cleaning out the cupboards, and tossing anything once deemed workable -- a neglected bit of Lennon psychedelia ("Sun King"), and unfinished music-hall production number by McCartney ("Carry That Weight") -- into one last meal. The group had just endured two fractious recording projects ( The White Album which was mostly recorded before Abbey Road but released after). The breakup was a foregone conclusion, but somehow they were still "together" enough to do justice to these short, cannily sequenced vignettes. The tunes of the medley wander all over the musical map, as do the many songs on the two-disc White Album. But unlike that sprawling set, each theme here is a perfect miniature that lasts just long enough to convey a single crystalline thought. Some episodes unfold in seconds.

"The End," the final punctuation mark, consists of a single Zen-koan couplet: "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Could there be a better epitaph for the band that taught the world all you need is love? Recorded in a month during the summer of 1969, Abbey Road offers plenty more than just the medley. Two of George Harrison's most illuminated melodies are here -- the idyllic ballad "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun." Also here is the most convincing exploration of blues and progressive rock the Beatles ever attempted, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." And then there's "Because." Another of the band's hazy acid-dream moments, its nine swooning vocal parts (three each for McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison) align into a spine-tingling, lighter-than-air sound. Like much of Abbey Road, it's a stupendous display of pop imagination that evaporates immediately, leaving you at once immensely satisfied and yearning for more. Sort of like the Beatles themselves. - Tom Moon, 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die, 2008.

The Breakup - The Beatles: Symbol of Turning Point in History The Beatles: Symbol of Turning Point in History THE BREAKUP Beginning of the End: 1966 - 1969 Lennon and Harrison began experimenting with LSD in 1966 and McCartney would do likewise near the end of that year. The same year the band released a US compilation of previous UK work named Yesterday and Today, and also the album considered to be one of their best work, called Revolver. The band got attacked in Philippines after not accepting a presidential breakfast invitation. This tour ended when John Lennon stated "Christianity is dying" and that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus". In August of 1966 the band decided that a show at Candlestick Park in San Francisco would be their last public performance together. They still continued to make commercially successful albums: Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the soundtrack from their third film, Magical Mystery Tour. The band spent beginning of 1968 in India, studying meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

When they returned, they announced that Apple Records was their new label and got to work on their double album: The Beatles (The White Album) which was released in November 1968. The End and Beyond - 1969 - Present Their last recording session happened in January 1969 for the album named Abbey Road. In September 1967, Lennon told the band he was leaving them but all decided to not go public with this until they finished their last album: Let It Be. In April 1970 the public announce was made about their breakup, and The Beatles band got legally dissolved in December 1970. After the Beatles breakup, all four member carried on with successful solo carriers in their life. solo careers Between 1970-1980 he released 7 albums. Lennon got murdered at age 40, 3 weeks after his last album. Milk and Honey, an additional album was released (in 1984) after Lennon's death. George Harrison Release a dozen of albums and also produced films. Died in November 2001 because of cancer. Ringo Starr

Question: If The Beatles were listed in a 1969 telephone book, who would be the last to be listed?
Answer: Ringo