Rarely does a band in history produce a status quo breaking sound, culture, symbol, lifestyle, enigma much the same way as The Beatles do. The Beatles are solely responsible for creating a counter cultural Lifestyle that transcends its era.
Having been producing an iconic sound that shapes the future of rock music, appearing in movies, shaping the future of the fashion circuit with fringe stress bob haircuts and smart casuals to boast a few fashion credentials, having the most beloved fan frenzy girls running after you till you collapse and finally summon your energy to catch a train without a travelling ticket, shows you’re a born icon and meant to start a trend for others to follow…
But this super stardom story began in the leafy Liverpool suburbs in UK, in the late 1950s.
Four teenagers were living a common youth life of biking, running and hunting all over Liverpool in search of new chords and old guitars and half decent drum kit and any gig at all, that could kick start their career in music.
According to George Harrison, the lead guitarist to the band, the members in the start had a feeling that they would mount to something extra ordinary. What felt like a ‘cocky’ feeling turned into reality in a short span of time when just few years later, the four men were the most famous musical group on the planet Earth.
This was way back when rock n roll was still very posh and The Beatles went and gave the formal tuxedos an everyday wardrobe ‘fun’ element that created the preppy fashion theme.
They started out in Cavern Club, in Liverpool, and soon hitchhiked their way through to play gigs in the Palladium, The Royal Albert Hall, and The Royal Variety all over Britain… After smoothly signing a contract with a British record, they took their Beatle mania to Sweden and as soon as they reached Paris, the men had created a storm in America before arriving there when their record ‘I want to hold your hand’ went number one!
It is truly said that had there not been Beatles, no one could have imagined creating rock music to its fullest potential, a genre that was still emerging from its acoustic routes.
The Beatle mania went on to become a contagious fever, that was infected everywhere the band went.
Despite adding so much into their fame baggage, The Beatles lived a very humble life with hardly any ‘properties’ to boast of. As for what Paul McCartney says, ‘we just wanted to make music; we don’t care about the money. We were happy with our lives way before we made it big. All we wanted was to create something extraordinary and music was the ultimate platform.’
With humbleness came the desire to meditate in the foothills of Himalaya with The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This was the turning point in their lives, because soon the Beatles would return to their homes with devotion solely to the human element of ‘peace and love’. In case you’re wondering, the Beatles created the infamous hippy lifestyle that would surpass cultures and soon become a revolution amongst the youth of the late 60s and 70s.
The Beatles produced their famous, ‘The White’ album. The songs that were recorded came out in soft profusion and with the kind of message that differentiated the earlier work of the Beatles. The Album was their message to spiritualization and freedom.
After The White album, came Let it Be and the Abbey Road before they departed ways.
With so much to handle in one belt, the men had decided to disband. Ever since the encounter with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Harrison and John Lennon went spiritual. Harrison went to writing classic records and matured beyond his years.
John got married to Yoko Ono and settled down in New York. Meanwhile, Paul too met Linda and married her.
Ringo Starr was now writing his own records, and was a widely renowned drummer and a good actor.
The end of glory brought the hippy cult into full swing, where teenagers led a nomadic life and took drugs in vast quantities to meet their ‘freedom’ desires and to be peaceful.
The men eventually went their solo ways and made a great deal of success.
After all, all’s well that ends well.
