Beatles Facts- Part 1

After Paul's song, "Penny Lane" became a Beatles hit, the street signs for the actual Penny Lane in Liverpool disappeared with such regularity (as they did on the real Abbey Road), that the town reverted to simply painting 'Penny Lane' on the buildings, rather than have street signs.

"Strawberry Fields" was named for a real place, Strawberry Field, a children's home run by the Salvation Army in Liverpool. Its location was near John's childhood home, and it has since been demolished.

Though there was a woman named Eleanor Rigby in Liverpool, she was not the inspiration for the song. Paul simply made up the name. The Father McKenzie in "Eleanor Rigby," was almost called Father McCartney, when Paul first composed the lyrics. However, a search in the phone book yielded the more general name McKenzie. The song has been recorded over 200 times, with interpretations by Diana Ross and the Supremes, Paul Anka, Frankie Valli, the Four Tops, Johnny Mathis, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Vanilla Fudge.

The group's name had numerous inspirations. Stuart Sutcliffe noted that a motorcycle gang in the film, "The Wild One," was called 'The Beetles,' and John Lennon reportedly had a dream (this story needs to be taken with a grain of salt as John also once reported that he was Jesus Christ) in which a man appeared "on a flaming pie," saying, "You will be Beatles with an 'a'." The band members were also influenced by the name of Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets.

Contrary to popular belief, the title for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was prompted by 4-year-old Julian Lennon's description of a painting he brought home from school, not the drug, LSD. John Lennon has been said to have preferred Elton John's rendition of the song, and played background guitar and backup vocals on John's version, credited as "Dr. Winston O'Boogie and his Reggae Guitars."

Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" for Julian Lennon, John's son.

Though the Beatles were still largely unknown in the U.S. in October 1963, Ed Sullivan got his first glimpse of Beatlemania on Halloween of that year. His plane at Heathrow Airport outside London was delayed due to hordes of screaming Beatles fans welcoming the boys back from an overseas concert. When he was notified about the cause of the delay, Ed Sullivan said, "Who the hell are the Beatles?" That experience prompted him to book them on his show in 1964. (The Beatles, for their part, had not previously heard of Ed Sullivan).

Though "The Ed Sullivan Show" was the first TV program in America to host the Beatles, (February 9, 1964), ABC and CBS shot concert footage of the band in November 1963 as Beatlemania swept England. On December 7, 1963, "The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite" featured footage of Beatles fans at a concert, and on Friday, January 3, 1964, Jack Paar's show was the first to broadcast footage of them on a major U.S. show, when Paar played a clip of the Beatles performing "She Loves You." At that point Paar was not a fan, and he disparaged their haircuts on air.

In June of 1963 a Disc Jockey at WFRX in West Frankfort Illinois became the first person to broadcast a Beatles record on American Airwaves: At this time the Beatles were huge in England, and early that summer, George's mom sent Louise Harrison (George's sister)  the Beatles' latest single, 'From Me to You,' Bartel explains. "And Lou acted as the Beatles advance person, taking their record to local stations to get it played." She decided to take it to WFRX-AM, in West Frankfort, Ill.

WFRX was a typical middle-of-the-road station, but it did have a show that played youth-oriented music. The disc jockey of the show, Marcia Raubach, was just a high-school girl (her father owned the station). So, in June 1963, for the very first time anywhere in the United States, Marcia cued up the Beatles, and "From Me to You" went over the air in Southern Illinois. Bartel believes Marcia should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, right alongside Murray the K.

Among the people on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band are Stuart Sutcliffe, Laurel and Hardy, Marilyn Monroe, Karl Marx, boxer Sonny Liston, Bob Dylan, Lenny Bruce and Shirley Temple.
Shirley had visited the Beatles in their dressing room backstage at a San Francisco concert in 1964. It is said when the Beatles requested her permission to use her image on the cover of the album, she was the only celebrity who insisted upon hearing the disc before granting permission.

Mae West, at first, refused saying “What would I be doing in a lonely hearts club?” The boys each wrote her a personal note explaining how much it would mean to them to have her on the cover and she agreed.

Leo Gorcey, Slip, of the Bowery Boys, asked for a $500 fee and was left off the cover.

On George’s All Things Must Pass album the back-up singers are listed as The George O’Hara- Smith Singers. It’s really George, double and triple tracked.

On the Beatles Abbey Road album those incredible voices you hear on “Because” are John, Paul & George doing 3-part harmony….layered over 3 times, or triple-tracked…in essence, giving you 9 voices.

Timothy Leary and Tommy Smothers did some of the background clapping on John's song, "Give Peace a Chance," recorded in a hotel in Montreal.

Before she was Cher, singer "Bonnie Jo Mason" recorded the novelty song, "I Love You Ringo."

Paul Simon, Mick Jagger, John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray (who played Bill Murray the K) had cameos in Eric Idle's spoof feature film about the Beatles, "The Rutles."

Though she bought him his first guitar, John's Aunt Mimi discouraged him from a career in music, saying, according to John: "The guitar's all right as a hobby, but it won't earn you any money." Years later, John gave her a silver plaque with that quote engraved upon it.

The Beatles’ third studio album A Hard Day’s Nightis the only album in Beatles’ career that exclusively contains Lennon-McCartney compositions. 10 of its 13 tracks were written by John and Paul wrote the other 3.

Beatles Facts and Firsts

• Beatles Facts - Part 1
• Beatles Facts - Part 2
• Beatles Firsts