Free Jazz
There is no universally accepted definition of free jazz, and any
proposed definition is complicated by many musicians in other styles
drawing on free jazz, or free jazz sometimes blending with other genres.
Many musicians also tend to reject efforts at classification, regarding
them as useless or unduly limiting.
Free jazz uses jazz idioms but generally considerably less compositional
material than in most earlier styles —improvisation is essential,
and whereas in earlier styles of jazz the improvised solos were
always built according to a template provided by composed material
(chord changes and melody), in free jazz the performers often range
much more widely. Free jazz as a style has grown considerably since
its inception, and the ability to improvise freely is a common skill.
But, as guitarist Marc Ribot has remarked, free jazz musicians like
Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler, "although they were freeing
up certain strictures of bebop, were in fact each developing new
structures of composition."[1]
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Typically this kind of music is played by small groups of musicians.
In popular perception, free jazz is loud, aggressive, dissonant and
in general full of sound and fury. Many critics, particularly at the
music's inception, suspected that the abandonment of familiar elements
of jazz pointed to a lack of technique on the part of the musicians.
Most free jazz musicians use overblowing techniques or otherwise elicit
unconventional sounds from their instruments. Today such views are
more marginal, and the music has built up a tradition and a body of
accompanying critical writing. It remains less commercially popular
than most other forms of jazz.
Beyond this, free jazz is most easily characterised in contrast with
what we refer to here as "other forms of jazz", an umbrella
which covers ragtime, dixieland, swing, bebop, cool jazz, jazz fusion
and other styles.
"Other forms of jazz" use clear regular meters and strongly-pulsed
rhythms, usually in 4/4 or (less often) 3/4. Free jazz normally retains
a general pulsation and often swings but without regular meter, and
often with frequent accelerando and ritardando, giving an impression
of the rhythm moving in waves. Often players in an ensemble adopt different
tempi. Despite all of this, it is still very often possible to tap
one's foot to a free jazz performance; rhythm is more freely variable
but has not disappeared entirely.
Other forms used harmonic structures (usually cycles of diatonic chords).
Improvisors played solos using notes based on the notes in the chords.
Free jazz almost by definition dispenses with such structures, but
also by definition (it is, after all, "jazz" as much as it
is "free") it retains much of the language of earlier jazz
playing. It is therefore very common to hear diatonic, altered dominant
and blues phrases in this music. It is also fairly common for a drone
or single chord to underpin a performance (see modal jazz), but the
absence of such rudimentary devices is typical as well.
Finally, other forms use composed melodies as the basis for group
performance and improvisation. Free jazz practitioners sometimes use
such material, and sometimes do not. In some music which is called "free
jazz", other compositional structures are employed, some of them
very detailed and complex; the music of Anthony Braxton furnishes many
examples. It would perhaps be best to call this modern or avant-garde
jazz, reserving the term "free jazz" for music with few or
no pre-composed elements.
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday (born June 15, 1943) is a French singer and actor. Johnny
Hallyday was born Jean-Philipe Smet in Cite Malesherbes, Paris, France,
to Huguette and Leon Smet. His parents separated not long after his birth,
so he was raised by his paternal Aunt - Helene Mar. (His pseudonym was
borrowed from his cousin's friend, Lee Halliday). Johnny, as he is popularly
known, became famous in the 1960s from singing rock'n'roll in French.
Since then, he has had a 40 year career in the music industry and is
one of France's biggest stars. He has sold 80 million records, made 400
tours, had 18 platinum albums and performed in front of 15 million people.
He was married on April 12, 1965 to Sylvie Vartan (French singer) in
Loconville. They have a son, David Hallyday (who is also a singer), born
David Michael Benjamin Smet on August 14, 1966. Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie
Vartan were France's "Golden Couple" of their generation. They divorced
on November 4, 1980. A year later, he married a model named Babeth Etienne
on December 1, 1981 in Los Angeles, the marriage lasted 2 months and
2 days. His love affair with the French actress Nathalie Baye began in
1982, after they met on a television programme. Nathalie gave birth to
their daughter, Laura, at the end of 1983. They separated in 1986. He
married Adeline Blondiau in 1990. They divorced in 1992. In 1996 he married
Laetitia Boudou. Albums His albums include: * 100% Johnny - Concert a
la Tour Eiffel (2000) * Sang pour Sang (1999) * Ce Que Je Sais (1998)
* Allume le Feu - Stade de France 98 (1998) * Lorada Tour (1996) * Destination
Vegas (1996) * Lorada (1995) * Rough Town (1995) * 31 Compilation Albums
in 1993 * Parc des Princes (1993) * Bercy (1992) * Ca Ne Change Pas Un
Homme (1991) * Dans La Chaleur De Bercy (1990) * Gang (1986) * Rock and
Roll Attitude (1985) * Johnny Halliday Au Zenith (1984) * Live A Pantin
(1982) * Palais Des Sports (1982) He enjoyed enormous fame in France
after the release of his controversial
album "Les lunettes rouges".
The Beatles
The Beatles have been the most influential popular music artists to date,
affecting the culture of Britain and America and the postwar baby boom
generation, and the entire English-speaking world, especially during
the 1960s and early 1970s. Unarguably they're the most successful, with
global sales reaching past 1.2 thousand million records sold as of 2003.
Their influences on popular culture extended far beyond their roles as
recording artists, as they branched out into film and even semi-willingly
became spokesmen for their generation.
The members of the group were
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr (Richard
Starkey), all from Liverpool, England. The effect of the Beatles
on Western culture (and by extension) on the rest of the world has
been
immeasurable.
Originally a high-energy pop band (typified by the early singles "Twist
and
Shout" and "Please Please Me"), as the Beatles progressed their style became
more sophisticated, influenced in equal measure by Bob Dylan and Chuck Berry.
Their popularity was also aided by their attractive looks, distinctive
personalities, and natural charisma; particularly on television where
they appeared on The Ed
Sullivan Show and others. This was the beginning of Beatlemania in which
the committed pop-music band found itself turned into a worldwide phenomenon
with
worshipful fans, hysterical adulation, and denunciations by such as Frank
Sinatra. None of this had much to do with music and was regarded by
the band members with
intermittent awe and resentment. History Lennon met McCartney on July
6, 1957 at St. Peter's Church garden fete.
Lennon was in a skiffle
group called The Quarry
Men who were performing at the event. McCartney joined the band, and
brought Harrison along soon after. In 1958, The Quarry Men recorded
a demo of two songs;
the first was an
original Harrison/McCartney tune called "In spite of all the danger"; the other
was a cover of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day". A number of songs that were
later recorded for Beatles records, were originally written at
this time including "I'll Follow The Sun", "Michelle", "When I'm 64", and "One
After 909". When the Quarry Men changed their name to the Beatles in 1960 (briefly
known as The Fabulous Silver Beetles), Pete Best was drummer for the band and
Stuart Sutcliffe was the band's bass player.
Sutcliffe decided against continuing
to perform with the band and remained in Hamburg in the Spring of
1961. McCartney, who had been playing guitar, replaced him on bass.
The name was a tribute to
Holly's band, The Crickets combined with beat music, a common British
term for rock and roll at the time. In another tribute, they had sometimes
called themselves
the Foreverly Brothers. In the early days, the Beatles composed and
rehearsed their songs at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool, the home of Paul
McCartney, and now
a National Trust property open to the public. On December 10, 1961,
Brian Epstein agreed to become the band's manager, after receiving
requests for the band's
music two months earlier in his record store and watching them perform
at the legendary Cavern Club. Epstein arranged for the Beatles to audition
for Decca
Records on January 1, 1962. Decca, in one of the most embarrassing
business decisions in music history,
rejected the band, on the grounds that guitar music was "on the way out". The
Beatles then signed with EMI's Parlophone label in early 1962. George Martin,
who was at first unimpressed by the band's demos, fell in love with the band
when he met them in person. Not only did he feel as though they had musical talent,
but he felt that their wit and humor made them extremely "likeable." He did have
a problem with Best however, whom he criticized for not be able to keep time.
The Beatles let Best go, and immediately asked Starr, whom they had met and even
performed with previously, to join the band permanently.
Martin, unaware of this
personnel change, hired session drummer Andy White to play drums
on the Beatles' first studio session on September 11, 1962. The Beatlemania
Years The Beatles
recorded their first full length album, live in the studio, on
February 11, 1963 in one 12 hour session. On February 22, 1963 the
Beatles'
second single, "Please Please Me" went straight to No. 1. Meet the Beatles, the
first Beatles album in the United States, was released on January 20, 1964. On
February 7, 1964 The Beatles travelled to New York for a number of U.S. television
appearances and performances. Upon arriving at JFK airport, The Beatles noticed
thousands of kids screaming and awaiting the plane's arrival. They assumed that
there must have been someone important on the plane with them and were a bit
shocked to learn that the crowds were actually there for them. On February 9,
1964 The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. To this
day it remains one of the highest rated television programs of all time, with
73 million people tuning in. The Beatles made four more live appearances on the
show in months to come. Two days later, on February 11 in the Washington, DC
Coliseum, The Beatles made their first live stage appearance in the United States.
On April 4, 1964, The Beatles set a record that has yet to be broken
when they occupied all five top positions on Billboard's Top Pop Singles
chart.
Their single "Can't Buy Me Love" was at number one. In August of that year, The
Beatles' first motion picture was released, A Hard Day's Night. They started
filming their second film, Help! on February 23, 1965 in the Bahamas. The psychedelic
years In early 1965, Lennon and Harrison were dosed with LSD by their dentist.
In the ensuing years, the Beatles met with psychedelic counterculture icon Timothy
Leary, experimented extensively with LSD and released two heavily LSD-influenced
albums, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. On June 12, 1965,
The Beatles were individually awarded the order of Member of the British Empire
(MBE) by the Queen. Since it was unusual for rock stars to receive the MBE, some
previous recipients complained and protested, and a small number went so far
as to return their own honours, complaining
they had been "devalued". (Some had received the award for military heroism.)
Lennon would return his own in 1969 with the note "Your Majesty, I am returning
my MBE in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing,
against our support of America in Vietnam and against "Cold Turkey" slipping
down in the Charts. "With love, "John Lennon" On August 15, 1965, The Beatles
started their second North American tour at Shea Stadium, which was the first
rock concert to be held in a venue that size. The concert also set new world
records for attendance (55,600+) and for revenue. On March 4, 1966, in an interview
for the London Evening Standard with Maureen Cleave, John Lennon made the following
statement: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue
with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus
now; I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus
was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary.
It's them twisting it
that ruins it for me." The statement, was part of a two page interview and went
virtually unnoticed in Britain. In July of that year, Lennon's words were reprinted
in the United States fan magazine Datebook leading to a backlash by conservative
religious groups mainly in the rural South and Midwest states. Radio stations
banned the group's recordings, and their albums and other products were burned
and destroyed. Spain and the Vatican denounced Lennon's words and South Africa
banned Beatles music from the radio. On August 11, 1966 Lennon held a press conference
in Chicago in order to address the growing
furor. He told reporters: "I suppose if I had said television was more popular
than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it. I'm sorry I opened my mouth. I'm
not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I was not knocking it. I was not
saying we are greater or better." On June 5, 1966, The Beatles returned to The
Ed Sullivan Show, this time with a taped appearance, where they introduced their
two new music videos, "Rain" and "Paperback Writer". In later years, The Beatles
would appear on
the show to introduce more music videos for the songs "Hello Goodbye", "Penny
Lane", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Two Of Us", and "Let It Be". On July 2,
1966, The Beatles became the first musical group to perform at the Nippon Budokan
Hall in Tokyo. The performance ignited a lot of protest from local citizens who
felt that it was inappropriate for a rock and roll band to play at Budokan. By
the end of July, the band headed to the Philippines for a series of shows.
The
Beatles, while relaxing in their hotel room, read in the newspaper
that they would visit the Malacanang Palace of President Ferdinand
Marcos. This came as
news to the Beatles, who were tired from the tour and didn't plan
on using their one day off to visit the President. They spent a relaxing
evening in the hotel,
and awoke the next morning to death threats
and newspaper headlines like "Imelda stood up!" and "The Beatles snub the First
Lady!". Epstein attempted to make a televised apology for the incident, but none
of the local stations would air it. The following day, armed guards attempted
to keep the band from leaving the country until they paid a fee of some kind.
The Beatles, who hadn't been paid for their shows in the country, paid out of
their own pockets. The Beatles literally had to fight their way to the airplane.
Decades later with the fall of the Marcos regime, the members of the band took
some pride that they stood up to the Marcos' in some small way. Events like in
the Phillipines, added to the fact that the fans screamed so loud at their concerts
that they couldn't even hear themselves perform, led to the band deciding to
quit touring altogether. The band performed their last concert at San Francisco's
Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. The Studio Years With the distractions of
touring behind them, The Beatles began recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts
Club Band on November 24, 1966. The album took so much time to record (for a
Beatles record anyway) that the press started
to suggest that the Beatles had "lost it" and had run out of creativity. On June
25, 1967 The Beatles performed "All You Need Is Love" for the Our World television
special. It was the first television special to air worldwide. Singing backup
for the Beatles were a number of artists including Eric Clapton, and members
of the Rolling Stones and
The Who. Manager Brian Epstein died of a drug overdose
on August 27, 1967, while the Beatles were in Bangor, Wales, attending
a weekend conference given by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The death
was officially ruled
accidental, although it has often been speculated that it was a
suicide. Epstein had managed every aspect of the Beatles' career, and
his absence was immediately
noticeable. The Beatles' business affairs began to unravel. In
January 1968, The Beatles launched Apple Corps., a disastrously mismanaged
entertainment company
that included a recording studio, a record label (Apple Records),
a film division and clothing store. In addition to Beatles records,
Apple released albums by
James Taylor, Mary Hopkin, Billy Preston, Badfinger, Ravi Shankar
and other artists. Towards the end of the 1960s, members of the band
began to pursue their own musical
interests and were writing together less and less.
This became
more and more obvious on releases like 1968's The Beatles (a.k.a.
the "white
album"), and Let It Be. The Beatles was largely written during the band's visit
to India, where they had several meetings with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. With
the exception of Harrison, the Beatles eventually rejected what they were hearing
from The Maharishi - even occasionally writing songs that
made fun of him (like "Sexy Sadie", originally titled "Maharishi", and a number
of unreleased songs from the Let It Be sessions). In January of 1969, The Beatles
began rehearsals for a new album project (at the time entitled Get Back). The
rehearsals at Twickenham Film Studios and recording sessions at Apple Studios
were filmed for what would eventually become the Let It Be movie. Many ideas
had been thrown around for the Get Back album, including the idea of recording
it live during a surprise concert performance on top of a submarine, in an
amphitheatre, or in a dance hall. None of these happened, but they did end
the project with
a live performance on top of the Apple Corps. building in London, which was
cut short when a local bank manager called the police to complain about the
noise.
This impromptu concert, held on January 30, 1969, was to be the Beatles'
last public performance. Eventually the band gave up on the project
and turned the
results of the sessions over to producer Phil Spector. The Beatles
professed themselves happy with Spector's re-working of the recordings
to make a releasable
album; Paul McCartney later indicated he was not happy because
Spector had added things like an orchestra and a choir to the stripped-down
performances
(although
he signed the release authorisation at the time). The original
intent of the record had been to bring the band full circle, and record
what was essentially
a live studio performance - just as their first album had been.
The Beatles began recording their final album in July of 1969, entitled
Abbey Road which
proved
to be a relatively smooth and peaceful production of the acclaimed
album. Lennon announced to the other Beatles that he was leaving the
band soon after that
album's release but was persuaded to remain quiet in public.
In September of 1969, Russell
Gibb, a radio DJ in Detroit, Michigan, announced that Paul McCartney
was dead. Other DJs, television news reporters, newspapers and magazines
picked up on
the story and began to look for clues.
This snowballed into what
is commonly referred
to today as the Paul Is Dead hoax. People that believed the
rumors, claimed that McCartney had died in a car accident and was replaced
by a look-alike
named William
Campbell. Numerous clues were supposedly hidden in album artwork
and lyrics. One such clue apparently was the cover of the album Abbey
Road in which Paul
held a cigarette with his right hand. Paul is left handed.
The
band officially broke up in 1970. The last Beatles studio session
that included all four band
members took place on August 20, 1969. The final Beatles session
was on January 4, 1970. EMI released Let It Be in May of 1970. After
the Breakup On December
8, 1980, John Lennon was shot and killed in front of his New
York City apartment. His death was mourned by millions of fans around
the world. Singer Michael
Jackson bought the publishing rights for most of the Beatles'
music, on August 10, 1985,
for $47 million. McCartney, who had been attempting to purchase
the rights himself, had told Jackson that he should get into publishing.
McCartney did
not expect
Jackson to purchase the
Beatles music. "I wrote a couple of letters and I said, Michael, don't you think
that - even if I was just a writer on the payroll - after 30 years of being reasonably
successful to this company that you now own, don't you
think I could have a raise?" said McCartney. "And he said 'Oh Paul, that's just
business'. He won't even answer my letters, so we haven't talked and we don't
have that great a relationship. The trouble is I wrote those songs for nothing
and buying them back at these phenomenal sums... I just can't do
it." This is an example of how future royalties of an entertainment work are
difficult to value and how creators should be cautious in making business decisions.
In 1988, The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Both
Lennon and McCartney were also inducted separately in later years. On November
30, 1994, Apple Records released a 2 CD collection of early Beatles performances
on the BBC, entitled Live At The BBC. In February of 1994, the three surviving
Beatles reunited to record additional music to a few of Lennon's old unfinished
demos, with Jeff Lynne
producing.
The first new song, "Free As A Bird", premiered November 19, 1995
as part of The Beatles Anthology series of television specials on the ABC network
in the US and ITV in the UK. The song was also included on a CD with the same
title, which was released on November 21, 1995. The following year,
a second "new" track was released, entitled "Real Love", on March 4, 1996. That
song was also included on the second Anthology collection which was released
on March 18, 1996. A third Anthology collection followed on October 12, 1996,
but did not include any new material. At least one other song,
entitled "Now And Then", was worked on during these sessions, but remains unreleased.
In 2000, The Beatles released a best of collection, entitled "1". The CD included
27 number one hits by the band and, within five weeks, became the best selling
album of the year. Later that year, The Beatles released the Anthology book,
which included interviews with all four band members and others involved, plus
rare photos. The book went straight to the top of the New York Times bestsellers
list. George Harrison fought a long battle with lung cancer throughout the 1990s,
finally succumbing and passing away on November 29, 2001. In 2002, the Let It
Be film was being prepared for release on DVD sometime in 2003. It is expected
that the DVD will include additional footage, not seen in the original film.
In addition, McCartney has begun to compile a new soundtrack album that is closer
to what he had originally intended for the project. That collection will also
be released sometime in 2003. In January, 2003, following an investigation by
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives,
police raids in England and the Netherlands recovered nearly 500 original Beatles
studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people were arrested.
The tapes have been used for bootleg releases for years. In March, 2003, the
Anthology television series was released on DVD with additional bonus material.
Several individuals who played an important role in the history or promotion
of the band have at various times been called, or called themselves, the "fifth
Beatle". The following individuals were real members of the band before the Beatles
achieved international success: * Pete Best - Their drummer before being replaced
by Ringo Starr. * Stuart Sutcliffe - A bassist (apparently very shy) who left
the group in Hamburg for the love of Astrid Kirchherr and died from a brain hemorrhage
on April 10, 1962 . His life, and his friendship with John Lennon, was fictionalized
in the 1993 movie Backbeat. * Chas Newby - bassist in Germany, 1960. Left the
band to return to college. * Tommy Moore - drummer for the Silver Beetles for
one month in 1960. Quit the band, claiming to have had "just about enough of
Lennon". * Norman Chapman - drummer for the Silver Beetles for a few weeks in
1960. Left when conscripted into the Army for two years service in Kenya and
Kuwait. The following individuals have played a role in the studio when Beatles
records were recorded: * George Martin - Their producer, who translated their
musical ideas into studio productions, and also did some piano work on, for example "In
My Life" * Jeff Lynne - producer for The Beatles Anthology and 1994-1995 sessions
* Geoff Emerick - studio engineer * Mal Evans - roadie and assistant * Neil Aspinall
- assistant, road manager * Andy White - drummer on the Beatles' first single, "Love
Me Do" * Billy Preston - Organist on "Let It Be", electric piano player on "Get
Back" and "Don't Let Me Down", first met them in their Hamburg days while touring
with Little Richard * Eric Clapton - Lead guitarist on "While My Guitar Gently
Weeps" * Alan Civil - French horn soloist on "For No One" * David Mason - piccolo
trumpet soloist on "Penny Lane" Others have been associated with the Beatles
in several ways. These include: * Allan Williams - original manager * Brian
Epstein - The manager who took them from Hamburg to the world stage * Tony
Barrow - press
officer 1963-1968 * Derek Taylor - assistant to Brian Epstein, press officer
1968-1971 * Alf Bicknell - Chauffeur until 1966, body guard * Murray the K
- A disc jockey in New York, the first to claim to be the fifth Beatle * Dick
James
- publisher * Magic Alex - head of Apple electronics * Klaus Voormann - German
bassist and artist; a friend of Stu Sutcliffe's girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr
member of the Plastic Ono Band, drew the cover for Revolver. * Jimmy Nicol
- temporary
drummer on the Beatles' 1964 overseas tour * Roy Orbison - In 1963 the American
rock and roll star headlined a European tour with the Beatles. Recognizing
their unique sound and extraordinary talent, and the reaction of the crowds
to their
performances, Orbison was instrumental in encouraging the fledgling group to
come to the United States. Studio Style Evolution By 1966 the influence of
the peace movement, psychedelic drugs and the studio technique of producer
George
Martin resulted in the albums Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band, still widely regarded as classics. Particularly notable, along with the
use of
studio tricks such as sound processing, unconventional microphone placements,
and vari-speed recording, was the Beatles' use of unconventional instruments
for pop music, including string and brass elements, Indian instruments such
as the sitar, and early electronic instruments. At the height of their fame
in the
mid-sixties, bolstered by the two films Help! and A Hard Day's Night, the band
discontinued touring. The increasingly sophisticated arrangements of their
songs were difficult to perform in front of thousands of screaming fans who
typically
made such noise that the music could not be heard anyway. By then, the stress
of their fame was beginning to tell and the band was on the verge of splitting
at the time of the release of The Beatles (the "white
album"), with some tracks recorded by the band members individually, and Starr
taking a two-week holiday in the middle of the recording session. By 1970 the
band had split, with each of the members going on to solo careers with varying
degrees of success.
In the Movies The Beatles also had a limited film career,
beginning with A Hard Day's Night (1964). Directed by the up
and coming American Richard Lester, it was a gritty black-and-white
documentary-like account of
a short period in the life of a rock-and-roll band. In 1965
came Help!, a Technicolor extravaganza shot in exotic locations with
a thin, if not almost transparent
plot regarding Ringo's finger! The critically slammed Magical
Mystery Tour (the
concept of which was adapted from Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters
LSD-orientated bus tour of the USA) was aired on British television
in 1967, but is now considered
a cult classic. The animated Yellow Submarine followed shortly
after, but had little input from the Beatles themselves (for instance,
the voices of the characters
in the movie were not those of the Beatles). However, it was
acclaimed for its boldly innovative graphic style and clever humour
as well as the soundtrack.
It did much to restore the reputation of the group for appearing
in superior film musicals. Finally, the documentary of a band in terminal
decline, Let
It
Be was shot over an extended period in 1969; the music from
this formed the album of the same name, which although recorded before
Abbey Road, was (after
much
contractual to-ing and fro-ing) their final release. Achievements
Throughout their relatively short time recording and performing together,
The Beatles
set a number of world records - most of which have yet to be
broken. The following is a partial list.
* The Beatles are the best
selling musical group of all
time,
estimated by EMI to be over one billion discs and tapes sold
worldwide. * The most multi-platinum selling albums for any artist
or musical group (13 in the
U.S. alone) * The Beatles have had more number one singles
than any other artist or musical group (22 in the U.S. alone). Ironically,
the Beatles could easily
have had even more number ones, because they were often competing
with their own singles. For example, The Beatles' "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were
released as a "double A" sided single, which caused sales and airplay to be divided
between the two songs instead of being counted collectively. Even so, they reached
number two with the singles. * The most successful first week of sales for a
double album (The Beatles Anthology Volume 1), which sold 855,473 copies in the
U.S. from November 21 to November 28, 1995). * In terms of charting positions,
Lennon and McCartney are the most successful songwriters in history, with 32
number one singles in the U.S. for McCartney, and 26 for Lennon (23 of which
were written together). Lennon was responsible for 29 number one singles in the
U.K., and McCartney was responsible for 28 (25 of which were written together).
* During the week of April 4, 1964, The Beatles held the top 5 positions on the
Billboard singles chart. No one had ever done anything like this before, and
it is doubtful that the conditions will ever exist for anyone to do it again.
The songs were "Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want
to Hold Your Hand", and "Please Please Me". * The next week, April 11, 1964,
the Beatles held 14 positions on the Billboard Hot 100. Before the Beatles, the
highest number of concurrent singles by one artist on the Hot 100 was nine (by
Elvis Presley, December 19, 1956). * The Beatles are the only artist to have
back-to-back-to-back number one singles on Billboard's Hot 100. Boyz II Men and
Elvis Presley have succeeded themselves on the chart, but the Beatles are the
only artist to three-peat. * The Beatles' "Yesterday" is the most covered song
in history, appearing in the Guinness Book of Records with over 3000 recorded
versions. * The Beatles had the fastest selling single of all time with "I Want
To Hold Your Hand". The song sold 250,000 units within 3 days in the U.S., one
million in 2 weeks. (10,000 copies per hour in New York City alone for the first
20 days) * The largest number of advance orders for a single, at 2.1 million
copies in the U.S. for "Can't Buy Me Love" * With their performance at Shea Stadium
in 1965, The Beatles set new world records for concert attendance (55,600+) and
revenue. * The Beatles broke television ratings records in the U.S. with their
first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. * On June 12, 1965, The Beatles were
awarded the order of Member of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen. * On July
2, 1966, The Beatles became the first musical group to perform at the Nippon
Budokan Hall in Tokyo. The Music Unlike their contemporaries the Rolling Stones,
the Beatles were not much influenced by blues. Though they drew inspiration from
an eclectic variety of sources, their home idiom was closer to pop music. A significant
and acknowledged musical influence was the Beach Boys, who were in turn spurred
on by the work of the Beatles. The song Back in the USSR contains an overt allusion
to the Beach Boys, but many other songs exhibit the kind of attention to vocal
harmony for which the Beach Boys are also famous. In their later music the pace
of the songs tends to be moderate, with more of the interest usually (but not
always) coming from the melody and the orchestration than the rhythm. Penny Lane
is a good example of this style; it is a song you might emulate if you wanted
to create a recognizably "Beatlesque" sound. Their earlier songs were often a
bit faster paced.
Throughout their career, their songs were rarely riff-driven.
Song Influences As stated above, a lot of Beatles songs had
some psychedelia in them
("Yellow Submarine", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", " I am the Walrus") but
these also link to The Goon Show and the work of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.
Both "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Field(s)" are places in Liverpool, but the
song In My Life also invokes such ideas. The song "Being For the Benefit of Mr
Kite" is based on a Music Hall poster and the song "All Together Now" "One, two,
three, four," is based around children's rhymmes.
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