Spinner

The Beatles Story in Pictures and Words

From rough-hewn working-class Liverpool lads to lovable moptops to psychedelic standard bearers, the Beatles have changed the 1960s just as much as the '60s changed them. We present this career-spanning collection of our favorite photos -- both iconic and seldom-seen -- of John, Paul, George and Ringo to honor the most commercially and critically successful band in rock 'n' roll history.

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=710691&pid=710690&uts=1252011941
http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf
The Beatles Story
The Best of Cellars: The Beatles, with original drummer Pete Best, shake the walls during a session at Liverpool's Cavern Club, ca. 1961. The group played at the dank, cramped underground venue a whopping 292 times from 1961 to 1963. See More Pictures, Read More Stories >>
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

The Beatles in Pictures

    The Best of Cellars: The Beatles, with original drummer Pete Best, shake the walls during a session at Liverpool's Cavern Club, ca. 1961. The group played at the dank, cramped underground venue a whopping 292 times from 1961 to 1963.

    Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

    Teddy Boy: A pre-moptop teenage George Harrison cuts a tough figure in Hamburg, Germany, 1961. At one point during the Beatles' musical residency in the port city's red-light district the Reeperbahn, the 17-year-old guitarist was deported from Germany for being underage.

    Juergen Vollmer, Redferns

    The Beatles Are Here: The Fab Four play for a record 73 million viewers on their 'Ed Sullivan Show' debut, Feb. 9, 1964. The Beatles performed four songs – broken up into two sets -- beginning with 'All My Loving' and 'Till There Was You' and concluding with 'She Loves You' and their No. 1 hit at the time, 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.'

    Bettmann / CORBIS

    A Rilly Big Shew: Paul McCartney shows Ed Sullivan a few tasty bass licks during an 'Ed Sullivan Show' rehearsal, 1964. The Beatles appeared nine times on the high-rated variety program, either live or on videotape.

    Bettmann / CORBIS

    Swimming in Success: The Beatles take a break from taking a break in Miami Beach to rehearse for their show at the Deauville Hotel, which was broadcast on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' of Feb. 16, 1964.

    Bettmann / CORBIS

    Badges of Honor: In 1964, Beatlemania was treated as a fad, grouped in with the Dave Clark Five and sexual liberation, as seen in this array of pinbacks for sale.

    Redferns

    Another Fab Four: Not just the girls went mad for the Beatles. These British lads cultivate their own moptops and sport Beatle boots, ca. 1964.

    Time & Life Pictures / Getty Image

    John, Paul, George ... and Jimmy?: The Beatles give encouragement to drummer Jimmy Nicol, who substituted for an ill Ringo during the band's Australian tour in 1964. Nicol's reply to his temporary bandmates' questions about his progress inspired the song 'Getting Better.'

    Keystone / ZUMA Press

    My Boys: Brian Epstein at home in London, 1964. Epstein, who died in 1967, became the Beatles' manager in 1961. Not long after, he would make the grandiose claim that his unsigned group would one day be "bigger than Elvis."

    Keystone / ZUMA Press

    Shall We Dance?: Ringo Starr and George Harrison trip the light fantastic with their mothers, Elsie Graves and Louise Harrison, respectively, at the premiere party for the Beatles' first film, 'A Hard Day's Night,' at the Dorchester Hotel in London, 1964.

    Hulton Archive / Getty Images

All the AOL Music info you want to know

50 Cent, Street King: Rapper Visits…

The Boombox

AP Photo/World Food Programme, Rose Ogola NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Rapper 50 Cent…

Grammy Acceptance Speeches: Watch 30…

AOL Music Blog

FilmMagic, Getty, WireImage It's been a busy week for God. Besides helping…

Earl Sweatshirt Returns, Releases New…

The Boombox

YouTube.com Ironically, Earl Sweatshirt was one of the most visible members…

See all AOL Music »

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

27 Comments

Filter by:
Joey Cintorino

This is to the last post - It's spelled The BEATLES

December 25 2009 at 6:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tito ville

if there's any chance of a new Beatles group of get together, why not Paul, Ringo, John's son and George,s
son and name themselves Beatles 2+2 or Beatles Old and New. It might be a combination of old and new beat and like Paul said during his appearance in New York, it is like performing to a "family" setting, father, mother and children.

September 23 2009 at 1:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
marcy

correction: THERE ...before I get blasted by the grammar police

September 12 2009 at 8:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
marcy

The Beatles were the best...simple as that...there has not been a group who varied so much in their technique nor creativity...John was my fav and I cried the night he died like he was family...he was a child of parental abandonment and it haunted him forever...yes, he may of been "cold" to his older son but he knew no better...I think he learned by the time he was dad a second time only to be taken from us so violently...and he would abhor this celebrityship anew that is bombarding us for the simple reason it is to make money off the Beatles name....their will NEVER be another like them...

September 12 2009 at 8:41 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Vic

To all the people that say you can not comment on anything about Julian and John because we weren't their must have their heads in the sand. Julian has given quite a few interviews about his life with his father. John did not want anything to do with him, as to the true reason no one will really ever know except Yoko. He loved Sean and wrote Beautiful, Beautiful Boy for him. He was young and touring constantly when Julian was little and maybe that is why they never bonded, but to not acknowlege him in his will is unforgivable. Julian looks like him and sounds like him and his Valotte album was great. John never even gave him credit for that. As far as Paul being Mr. Nice guy, he was a control freak and often had fights with George and John about the music, this came from an interview with George. George and Ringo were the easiest guys to work with.

September 10 2009 at 5:33 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
liz_234

Really why do people always act like they know famous people personally? None of you knew John Lennon he was a great man who did alot of good in this world. You have no idea what happened during his life, just because you read some stupid article doens'nt mean you know anything. Don't you all realise that they lie to make money. So stop talking badly about someone you don't know cowards!

September 10 2009 at 3:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
BeatleJEB

Um, The Beatles performed five songs on their first Ed Sullivan Show appearance. You forgot "I Saw Her Standing There." Someone obviously watched "The First U.S. Visit" video instead of the actual Ed Sullivan Show. Shame on you.

September 10 2009 at 2:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jim w

YOU KNOW AFTER ALL THE YEARS THEY HAVE BEEN AROUND IT GETS A BIT STALE HEARING NEWS ABOUT THE BEETLES.
GIVE IT A BREAK. ENOUGH ALREADY. BORING !!!!!

September 10 2009 at 2:34 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
midvaltaxser

To Wendy,you are absolutely correct. Children NEED both
parents, God made us that way. And you know I wondered
about Julian. Why he was left out in such a public way.
But then in the end so was Sean becasue he also did not
have his father except for 5-6 years in his early life.
Sometimes we don't separate the artist from the individual. You take an Alec Baldwin who is just a jerk,
his child is actually lucky not to have him around, so
go figure.

September 10 2009 at 1:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John

As stated by another poster, John had his own childhood traumas to deal with (parents separated when he was five; his mother killed by an off-duty policeman when he was just starting to get to know her again, when he was a teenager; the death of his best friend Stu Sutcliffe just prior to the onset of Beatlemania). Because of the burdens of fame, he never had a chance at a normal life with Cynthia and Julian.

HOWEVER, years later, in the late 1970s, he became close with Julian. So I suppose it's ironic that for him that he had his father taken away for a second time. And for Sean it was ironic that his father was taken away when he was at the same age as John had been when HIS parents split.

September 10 2009 at 1:29 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply