The Beatles
Active: 1962–2023
56
Releases
62
Active Years
About The Beatles
By Robert Williams
I've got a first pressin' of Please Please Me. It's not in perfect condition — the sleeve's got a bit of wear, and there's a coffee ring on the back that I've never been able to explain. But when I put that record on, in my flat surrounded by everythin' I've collected over the years, I still hear it fresh. That raw energy. The sound of four lads who recorded ten songs in under ten hours because that's all the studio time they could afford. You can hear John Lennon's voice nearly givin' out on Twist and Shout. That's not a defect. That's history.
The Beatles came from Liverpool — my city. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr. Four lads from workin'-class backgrounds who rewired the cultural DNA of the planet. Before them, pop music was somethin' you hummed and forgot. After them, it was art.
Those early years in Hamburg on the Reeperbahn — seven-hour sets playin' to drunk sailors — that's where they became The Beatles. I've got a bootleg recordin' from one of those Hamburg shows. You can hear the chaos in the background, glasses clinkin', people shoutin'. But the music is tight. Forged in fire, that. When they came back to Liverpool and owned the Cavern, the rest was written.
Love Me Do crept into the charts in late 62. But Please Please Me was the one that kicked the door down. Beatlemania was born. By early 64 they'd conquered America with The Ed Sullivan Show — 73 million people watched. I've read the original NME coverage of that night. The journalist couldn't believe what he was seein'. The British Invasion had begun.
Seventeen UK number one singles — more than any act in British chart history. Fifteen UK number one albums. One hundred and seventy-four weeks at number one on the singles chart between 62 and 70. The numbers are almos' comical. But they don't tell the story. What tells the story is playin' Abbey Road on vinyl, hearin' the side-two medley, and realizin' they knew it was their farewell and still made it perfect. The zebra crossin' photo — most reproduced image in popular culture. But I've got the original LP, and the gatefold art tells you more than any photograph ever could.
They broke up in 70. A painful divorce played out in public. But their legacy only grew. Oasis, Radiohead, everyone — they all stand on the shoulders of four lads from Liverpool. I look at that first pressin' on my shelf sometimes and just think: sound. That's where it all began.
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Complete Discography
LOVE ME DO
Documented across 18 weeks
PLEASE PLEASE ME
Documented across 18 weeks
FROM ME TO YOU
Documented across 21 weeks
SHE LOVES YOU
Documented across 33 weeks
I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND
Documented across 22 weeks
CAN'T BUY ME LOVE
Documented across 15 weeks
AIN'T SHE SWEET
Documented across 6 weeks
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
Documented across 13 weeks
I FEEL FINE
Documented across 13 weeks
TICKET TO RIDE
Documented across 11 weeks
HELP!
Documented across 14 weeks
DAY TRIPPER/WE CAN WORK IT OUT
Documented across 12 weeks
PAPERBACK WRITER
Documented across 11 weeks
YELLOW SUBMARINE/ELEANOR RIGBY
Documented across 13 weeks
PENNY LANE/STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
Documented across 11 weeks
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
Documented across 13 weeks
HELLO GOODBYE
Documented across 12 weeks
MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR (EP)
Documented across 12 weeks
LADY MADONNA
Documented across 8 weeks
HEY JUDE
Documented across 16 weeks
THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO
Documented across 14 weeks
SOMETHING/COME TOGETHER
Documented across 10 weeks
LET IT BE
Documented across 10 weeks
YESTERDAY
Documented across 7 weeks
HEY JUDE {1976}
Documented across 7 weeks
PAPERBACK WRITER {1976}
Documented across 5 weeks
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
Documented across 3 weeks
HELP! {1976}
Documented across 3 weeks
BACK IN THE USSR
Documented across 6 weeks
SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND/WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
Documented across 3 weeks
THE BEATLES MOVIE MEDLEY
Documented across 9 weeks
LOVE ME DO {1982}
Documented across 7 weeks
PLEASE PLEASE ME {1983}
Documented across 4 weeks
FROM ME TO YOU {1983}
Documented across 4 weeks
SHE LOVES YOU {1983}
Documented across 3 weeks
I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND {1983}
Documented across 3 weeks
CAN'T BUY ME LOVE {1984}
Documented across 2 weeks
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT {1984}
Documented across 3 weeks
I FEEL FINE {1984}
Documented across 2 weeks
TICKET TO RIDE {1985}
Documented across 3 weeks
HELP! {1985}
Documented across 3 weeks
DAY TRIPPER/WE CAN WORK IT OUT {1985}
Documented across 2 weeks
PAPERBACK WRITER {1986}
Documented across 2 weeks
YELLOW SUBMARINE/ELEANOR RIGBY {1986}
Documented across 2 weeks
PENNY LANE/STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER {1987}
Documented across 2 weeks
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE {1987}
Documented across 3 weeks
HELLO GOODBYE {1987}
Documented across 2 weeks
LADY MADONNA {1988}
Documented across 2 weeks
HEY JUDE {1988}
Documented across 2 weeks
GET BACK {1989}
Documented across 2 weeks
THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO {1989}
Documented across 2 weeks
SOMETHING/COME TOGETHER {1989}
Documented across 1 week
LET IT BE {1990}
Documented across 1 week
LOVE ME DO {1992}
Documented across 1 week
Love Me Do (2023 Mix)
Documented across 1 week
Now And Then
Documented across 4 weeks