Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
THE BEATLES
1. The Beatles got the idea for their name from Buddy Holly and The Crickets
The band liked the idea of using the name of an insect as a band name, and they were fans of Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Because John Lennon loved puns, he altered the spelling of “Beetles” to “Beatles”.
2. John Lennon’s father was absent for much of his early life but showed up when his son became famous
John Lennon’s father, Alfred Lennon, was a merchant mariner who had a stormy relationship with Lennon’s mother and was gone for most of his son’s youth. John Lennon was mostly raised by his aunt.
When the Beatles exploded on the pop scene, Alfred Lennon tried to reconnect with his son and also made a novelty recording that was somewhat successful to capitalize on the fame of the Fab Four.
3. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were not the original rhythm section
A friend of John Lennon’s from art school, Stu Sutcliffe, handled the bass duties when the band was living and working in Hamburg, Germany during the early 1960s, while McCartney stuck to rhythm guitar.
In Hamburg, Sutcliffe left the band to pursue a relationship with Astrid Kirchherr, a German photographer who befriended the band, and to study art in Germany. He died in his twenties of a brain hemorrhage.
A Liverpool contemporary of the Beatles named Pete Best was the band’s original drummer. He was not replaced by Ringo Starr until after the band had a record contract and was angry when this happened.
4. John Lennon’s hero was Elvis Presley, but he was disappointed when he met him
The teenage John Lennon was infatuated with Elvis Presley, and the American performer was a big reason why Lennon later pursued a career in show business. The young Lennon would dress like Presley and comb his hair in a similar fashion.
When the Beatles became famous, their manager, Brian Epstein, arranged for them to actually meet Elvis in America. Although the meeting was friendly enough and the musicians had a brief jam session, Lennon thought that Elvis was disinterested in talking with them and that he wasn’t especially engaging in person.
5. The Beatles were nervous about playing Carnegie Hall
When the Beatles toured in the United States, Beatlemania ensued everywhere they performed. However, when they were booked to play at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City, they were scared that the audience might be made up of stuffy older people who would look down on their rock and roll.
They were relieved when the Carnegie Hall gig turned out to be attended mostly by the usual ecstatic teenagers.
And as always have a chilled day from the Viking
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