The Beatles Timeline
By John Whelan,
Ottawa Beatles Site
Chief Researcher
First published on January 1, 2000Additions and revisions added since.
PREFACE:
The objective of the Beatles Timeline is two-fold:First, it was written with the intention of being entertaining, hence the numerousBeatle quotes as you read along. These quotes were selectively chosen in an attemptto capture the essence and spirit of the band. For those familiar with the band and itshistory, this will definitely be a fun "refresher course". And to those of you who haverecently discovered the Beatles, this historical presentation should provide enoughinsight for you to develop an appreciation of why Beatle fans, music lovers andhistorians all agree that the Beatles were the greatest rock 'n' roll band to emerge outof the twentieth century.The second objective of the Timeline is to provide an accurate accounting of the majorevents as they unfolded during the Beatles musical career. This includes some focus ontheir solo careers just before the band would split up in early 1970. I did not documenttheir solo careers beyond that date. The individual careers of John, Paul, George andRingo after 1970 are quite extensive and there are plenty of books available to read if you need to learn more about them. Having said that, the Timeline does continue todetail further developments of the Beatles between 1970 and 2000. The tragic death of John Lennon and the reaction of those who knew him is documented, as well as their
new hit albums, single releases, and recordings done by the surviving three Beatles. Itshould be noted here that the Timeline was written mainly from a North Americanperspective while touching briefly on the international events of the Beatles.In order to achieve the two above-mentioned objectives, I went about doing threemonths of investigative research, culling information from a variety of books,magazines, albums, the Internet, radio and television broadcasts, to assemble theinformation together. Since NO ONE PARTICULAR BOOK OR AUTHOR WAS RELIEDUPON for developing the Timeline (see list of "Acknowledgments" at the bottom), thecross-referencing of information from one source to another made my task very trickybut not daunting. There is such a great wealth of available information on the band.Even in the final stages when this text was being proof-read for me, I still decided onsome last minute changes to the copy, thereby ensuring that format and accuracywere complete as possible for publication on the Ottawa Beatles Site.
TECHNICAL NOTE:
In order to save space and to keep the format tidy, I havegrouped all of the Beatles USA tour schedules together at the end of each year in theTimeline rather than spreading them out sequentially by each individual performance.This is the only exception where the dates deviate within this presentation, butsummarizing and presenting it this way, I believe, makes for easier reading.Remember, the purpose of this chronology is to make it as entertaining as possible!
DEDICATION:
This Timeline is specially dedicated to the following people whom I hadthe pleasure to have made fond acquaintances with at Rec.music.beatles: ChristopherMorley (Digibanana@aol.com); Diana (Amaranth56@aol.com); Stephan Augustsson(webmaster of the Unofficial Beatles Lyric Archive). Thanks guys for always being socordial both in your personal e-mail responses to me and on Rec.music.beatles. Youfolks really do know how to wear your heart on your sleeve at Rmb, and it shows.
INVITATION:
Should you be aware of a significant event in this period that is notlisted, or inaccurate, I invite you to submit it to me bye-mail. The Timeline is not setin stone, and will grow with information from fans worldwide.
John Whelan December 4, 1999
And now, presenting...
A HISTORICAL "MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR" OFTHE BEATLES
(Subtitle: "Words of Love," by the Beatles - thank you Buddy Holly!)
by John Whelan
**1926**
George Martin, Beatles musical director, born January 3, in London
**1934**
Brian Samuel Epstein, Beatles manager, born September 19 (in Rodney Street, inLiverpool)
**1940**
Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity (a.k.a. "Tony Sheridan"), born May 21, 1940 (inNorwich)
July
Richard Starkey, born July 7 (in family home, 9 Madyrn Street, Dingle, in Liverpool)
October
John Winston Lennon, born October 9 (at Oxford Maternity Hospital in Liverpool)John was born to Julia and Fred Lennon.
**1942**
July
John's father, Fred Lennon, leaves home for good. Julia moves in with her new man,John Dykins.
June
James Paul McCartney, born June 18 (at Walton General Hospital in Liverpool)
**1943**
George Harrison, born February 25 (10 minutes past midnight in their family's terracedhome, 12 Arnold Grove, in Liverpool)
**1946**
John Lennon moves in to stay with his Aunt Mimi Smith who raises him.
**1950**
George Martin, after working three months for the BBC, leaves and takes job atParlophone Records as a result of being paid £7, four shillings and three pence, £1more than the BBC was paying at the time. George Martin becomes an assistant tochief producer/owner of the label, Oscar Preuss. George is immediately given the taskof handling the classical repertoire which included baroque, orchestral and choralmusic.
**1952**
September
John Lennon enters Quarry Bank High School
**1956**
American Rock 'n' Roll and the Cunard Yanks mythology
Around this time the influence of American rock 'n' roll was being felt in Liverpool andthe rest of England. How that music appeared, particularly in Liverpool, is aninteresting story. The generally accepted view which has recently come into question,was that merchant seamen known as Cunard Yanks imported rock 'n' roll records fromAmerica which were then passed along to Liverpool musicians who had relations whoworked on the ships. This, unfortunately, is not how American rock 'n' roll appeared ina large scale in Liverpool or for the rest of England. The truth of the matter is, about99% of American rock 'n' roll LPs and singles were released by British musiccompanies.To understand why that is, one must trace back to the origins of the Cunard Yanksmythology. One of the earliest publications that supported the Cunark Yank viewpointwas found in Mersey Beat. Bill Harry, editor of Mersey Beat publication, explains:"Originally, when I did some interviews in Mersey Beat for a series called ‘WhyLiverpool?’ some of the answers from musicians such as John McNally of the Searcherswas that he got records from his brother who was a merchant seaman (a CunardYank). A couple of other musicians said this. So when I did an introduction to my 1977
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