The Beatles: the studio years
Encyclopedia
The Beatles' studio years began when, after a period of several years spanning their early period in Germany
, the era of Beatlemania in the UK and their American tours, The Beatles
ceased to perform live concerts and devoted their efforts more fully to creating new material in the recording studio.
In August 1966, The Beatles
performed their last concert before paying fans, returning to the studio in November to record Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
. The album was released in June 1967, and that same month, the first live global television link in history was engineered as the Beatles performed "All You Need Is Love
" to TV viewers worldwide, while at the same time creating the recording for that song's release.
Two months after "All You Need Is Love", in August 1967, the Beatles met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
for the first time. During this time, the band's manager Brian Epstein
died. The extent of the Maharishi's influence on the Beatles would be revealed by their next two albums, many of the songs for which they composed during their stay with him in India the following year, but not before the band had received their first major negative press, with the TV film Magical Mystery Tour
receiving disparaging reviews.
On returning from India, the Beatles formed Apple Corps
to replace Epstein's management, and once again concentrated their efforts in the recording studio. However, divisions and dissent now started to drive the band members apart from each other, and Starr quit the band for a period, leaving McCartney to perform drums on several of the album tracks then recorded.
, tape loop
ing and early sampling
were introduced in a complex mix of ballad, R&B
, soul
, and world music
. The Beatles performed their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 29 August 1966. From then on, the Beatles concentrated on recording.
Less than seven months after recording Revolver, the Beatles returned to Abbey Road Studios
on 24 November 1966 to begin the 129-day recording sessions for their eighth album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
, released on 1 June 1967.
hook-up, a show titled Our World. The Beatles were transmitted live from Abbey Road Studios, and their new song "All You Need Is Love
" was recorded live during the show, albeit to the accompaniment of a backing track they had spent five days recording and mixing in the studio prior to the broadcast.
at the London Hilton
. A few days later they went to Bangor
, in North Wales, to attend a weekend 'initiation' conference. There, the Maharishi gave each of them a mantra
.
. In his 1970 Rolling Stone
interview, John Lennon commented that Epstein's death marked the beginning of the end for the group: "I knew that we were in trouble then ... I thought, We've fuckin' had it now". Thirty years after Epstein's death, McCartney said, "Brian would really be happy to hear how much we loved him." The first contract between the Beatles and Epstein was auctioned in London in 2008, and was sold for £240,000.
. Part of the criticism arose because colour was an integral part of the film, yet the film was shown on Boxing Day
in black and white.
The Magical Mystery Tour
film soundtrack was released in the United Kingdom as a double EP
, and in the United States as a full LP (the LP is now the official version).
, India, studying transcendental meditation
with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
. Their time at the Maharishi's ashram
was highly productive from a musical standpoint, as many of the songs that would later be recorded for their next two albums were composed there by Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison. Upon their return, Lennon and McCartney went to New York to announce the formation of Apple Corps
.
The middle of 1968 saw the band busy recording the double album The Beatles
, popularly known as The White Album because of its plain white cover.
", "Wild Honey Pie
", "Dear Prudence
" and "Back in the U.S.S.R.". Among the other causes of dissension were; that Lennon's new girlfriend, Yoko Ono
, was at his side through almost all of the sessions and that the others felt that McCartney was becoming too dominant. Internal divisions had been a small but growing problem in the band; most notably, this was reflected in the difficulty that Harrison experienced in getting his songs onto the Beatles albums.
A disagreement also arose over who should be the Beatles' manager. Lennon, Harrison and Starr wanted New York manager Allen Klein
; however, McCartney wanted businessman Lee Eastman
(the father of McCartney's then-girlfriend Linda
). In the past all Beatles decisions had been unanimous but this time the four could not agree. The other three members felt Eastman would put McCartney's interests before those of the group. In later times, during the Anthology interviews, McCartney would look back on his preference for Eastman and say "I can understand why they would feel that was biased for me and against them".
It was Klein who was eventually appointed manager. In 1971 it was discovered that he had stolen £5 million from the Beatles' holdings.
The Beatles in Hamburg
The Beatles members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best regularly performed at different clubs in Hamburg, Germany, during the period from August 1960 to December 1962; a chapter in the group's history which honed their performance skills, widened their...
, the era of Beatlemania in the UK and their American tours, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
ceased to perform live concerts and devoted their efforts more fully to creating new material in the recording studio.
In August 1966, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
performed their last concert before paying fans, returning to the studio in November to record Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
. The album was released in June 1967, and that same month, the first live global television link in history was engineered as the Beatles performed "All You Need Is Love
All You Need Is Love
"All You Need Is Love" is a song written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first performed by The Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link. Watched by 400 million in 26 countries, the programme was broadcast via satellite on 25 June 1967...
" to TV viewers worldwide, while at the same time creating the recording for that song's release.
Two months after "All You Need Is Love", in August 1967, the Beatles met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...
for the first time. During this time, the band's manager Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein , was an English music entrepreneur, and is best known for being the manager of The Beatles up until his death. He also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Remo Four & The Cyrkle...
died. The extent of the Maharishi's influence on the Beatles would be revealed by their next two albums, many of the songs for which they composed during their stay with him in India the following year, but not before the band had received their first major negative press, with the TV film Magical Mystery Tour
Magical Mystery Tour (film)
Magical Mystery Tour is an hour-long British television film starring The Beatles that originally aired on BBC1 on 26 December 1967...
receiving disparaging reviews.
On returning from India, the Beatles formed Apple Corps
Apple Corps
Apple Corps Ltd. is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in January 1968 by the members of The Beatles to replace their earlier company and to form a conglomerate. Its name is a pun. Its chief division is Apple Records, which was launched in the same year...
to replace Epstein's management, and once again concentrated their efforts in the recording studio. However, divisions and dissent now started to drive the band members apart from each other, and Starr quit the band for a period, leaving McCartney to perform drums on several of the album tracks then recorded.
The end of touring
During the recording sessions for RevolverRevolver (album)
Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
, tape loop
Tape loop
In music, tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound. Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen used tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms...
ing and early sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
were introduced in a complex mix of ballad, R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
. The Beatles performed their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 29 August 1966. From then on, the Beatles concentrated on recording.
Less than seven months after recording Revolver, the Beatles returned to Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
on 24 November 1966 to begin the 129-day recording sessions for their eighth album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
, released on 1 June 1967.
All You Need Is Love
The band appeared in a segment within the first-ever worldwide television satelliteSatellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
hook-up, a show titled Our World. The Beatles were transmitted live from Abbey Road Studios, and their new song "All You Need Is Love
All You Need Is Love
"All You Need Is Love" is a song written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first performed by The Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link. Watched by 400 million in 26 countries, the programme was broadcast via satellite on 25 June 1967...
" was recorded live during the show, albeit to the accompaniment of a backing track they had spent five days recording and mixing in the studio prior to the broadcast.
Meeting the Maharishi
On 24 August 1967, the Beatles met the Maharishi Mahesh YogiMaharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...
at the London Hilton
Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast...
. A few days later they went to Bangor
Bangor, Wales
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...
, in North Wales, to attend a weekend 'initiation' conference. There, the Maharishi gave each of them a mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
.
Brian Epstein's death
While in Bangor, the Beatles learned of the death of Brian Epstein at age 32 from an accidental prescription drug overdoseDrug overdose
The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...
. In his 1970 Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
interview, John Lennon commented that Epstein's death marked the beginning of the end for the group: "I knew that we were in trouble then ... I thought, We've fuckin' had it now". Thirty years after Epstein's death, McCartney said, "Brian would really be happy to hear how much we loved him." The first contract between the Beatles and Epstein was auctioned in London in 2008, and was sold for £240,000.
Magical Mystery Tour and the start of negative press
At the end of 1967, the Beatles received their first major negative press in the UK, with disparaging reviews of their surrealistic TV film Magical Mystery TourMagical Mystery Tour (film)
Magical Mystery Tour is an hour-long British television film starring The Beatles that originally aired on BBC1 on 26 December 1967...
. Part of the criticism arose because colour was an integral part of the film, yet the film was shown on Boxing Day
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
in black and white.
The Magical Mystery Tour
Magical Mystery Tour (album)
The soundtrack was far more favourably received than the film. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for best album in 1968 and reached number 1 in the US for eight weeks...
film soundtrack was released in the United Kingdom as a double EP
Double EP
A double extended play is the name typically given to vinyl records or CDs released as a set of two discs, each of which would normally qualify as an EP. The name is thus analogous to double album...
, and in the United States as a full LP (the LP is now the official version).
To India, and back to the studio
The group spent the early part of 1968 in Rishikesh, Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, India, studying transcendental meditation
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation refers to the Transcendental Meditation technique, a specific form of mantra meditation, and to the Transcendental Meditation movement, a spiritual movement...
with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...
. Their time at the Maharishi's ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
was highly productive from a musical standpoint, as many of the songs that would later be recorded for their next two albums were composed there by Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison. Upon their return, Lennon and McCartney went to New York to announce the formation of Apple Corps
Apple Corps
Apple Corps Ltd. is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in January 1968 by the members of The Beatles to replace their earlier company and to form a conglomerate. Its name is a pun. Its chief division is Apple Records, which was launched in the same year...
.
The middle of 1968 saw the band busy recording the double album The Beatles
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
, popularly known as The White Album because of its plain white cover.
The beginning of the end
It is generally believed that Epstein's death marked the beginning of the end of the Beatles The studio sessions for The White Album saw deep divisions open within the band, Starr temporarily leaving and McCartney taking over drums on the tracks "Martha My DearMartha My Dear
"Martha My Dear" is a Beatles song written by Paul McCartney , which first appeared on the double album The Beatles . McCartney is the only Beatle to appear on this track.-Style and form:...
", "Wild Honey Pie
Wild Honey Pie
"Wild Honey Pie" is a short song by The Beatles written by Paul McCartney and released on The Beatles .-Background:McCartney is the sole performer on the recording...
", "Dear Prudence
Dear Prudence
"Dear Prudence" is a song written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released by The Beatles as the second track on their 1968 double-disc album entitled The Beatles, commonly known as The White Album.-Composition:...
" and "Back in the U.S.S.R.". Among the other causes of dissension were; that Lennon's new girlfriend, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, was at his side through almost all of the sessions and that the others felt that McCartney was becoming too dominant. Internal divisions had been a small but growing problem in the band; most notably, this was reflected in the difficulty that Harrison experienced in getting his songs onto the Beatles albums.
A disagreement also arose over who should be the Beatles' manager. Lennon, Harrison and Starr wanted New York manager Allen Klein
Allen Klein
Allen Klein was an American businessman, talent agent and record label executive. His clients included The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.- The accountant :...
; however, McCartney wanted businessman Lee Eastman
Lee Eastman
Lee Eastman, born Leopold Vail Epstein, was a New York show business attorney, and art collector the son of Louis and Stella Epstein. His sisters were Emmaline and Rose...
(the father of McCartney's then-girlfriend Linda
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
). In the past all Beatles decisions had been unanimous but this time the four could not agree. The other three members felt Eastman would put McCartney's interests before those of the group. In later times, during the Anthology interviews, McCartney would look back on his preference for Eastman and say "I can understand why they would feel that was biased for me and against them".
It was Klein who was eventually appointed manager. In 1971 it was discovered that he had stolen £5 million from the Beatles' holdings.