Essay/Term paper: The beatles

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Music

When people hear the name "The Beatles" most people think of

lead singer, John Lennon. However, the role of Paul McCartney is

often overlooked. It was McCartney, not Lennon who was the

driving force behind the Beatles.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney were in many bands together

before the forming of the Beatles. In 1962, along with Ringo

Starr1 and George Harrison, they formed the rock group known as

"The Beatles". The group featured a modern rock that was new and

popular during the period with John and Paul composing and doing

the leads on most of the songs. They were backed by George on

rhythm and bass guitar and Ringo on drums. George and Ringo also

assisted on backing vocals.

When they first began playing, the main influence inside the

band was John Lennon, who had an uncanny ability to compose songs

at a moments notice with an inspiration that others missed. He

pushed the members of the band during their touring years and was

able to achieve the best possible results from the group.

The band began playing in a Music Hall style that is very

effective for the audiences but was lacking on their albums.

Together with Paul, John began to evolve the band. As the years

began to pass, the band was obviously beginning to grow musical-

ly. They had moved from simple lyrics like "Love me Do" to

harshly aware reflections of life in their home country in

"Eleanor Rigby"2. There were attempts, some more successful than

others, to incorporate the other Beatles into the idea stage.

George Harrison made this leap successfully with such tracks as

"I want to tell you", "TAXMAN", and the psychedelic "Love you

to". Ringo was featured in the humorous "Yellow Submarine







As the group matured, their creativity began to rely more on

the effects and manipulations that they were able to produce in

the studio. The Beatles agreed to end their touring career after

an American tour of large halls that they failed to fill.

It was around this time, that John Lennon began to search

for himself. He began using any means that he thought might help

him connect. This era was marked by the Beatles visits to the

Maharashi Mahesh Yogi, and the beginning of heavy drug use3.

As Lennon began to use LSD in greater and greater quanti-

ties4, the other Beatles began to have more and more influence in

the production of the albums. Lennon began to become almost

reclusive, and often delayed recording sessions.

By the time that they were recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely

Hearts Club Band in 1967, Lennon would simply propose songs and

themes, and McCartney was left to execute the plans and tie

together whims. They began to make demands of the crew:

Beatles songs were quite simple in the early days, you
couldn't play around with them too much. But by 1967
we were building sound pictures and my [George Martin]
role had changed-it was to interpret the pictures and
determine how best to get them down on tape. Paul was
fine-he could express what he wanted, the sounds he wa
nted to have. But John...would make whooshing sounds
and try to describe what only he could only hear in
his head, saying he wanted a song to 'sound like an
orange'.5
As soon as the Sgt. Pepper album was underway, Paul McCart-

ney came up with the idea of actually creating a band and pre-

forming the songs as that band. They took the Idea from there

and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band came into existence,

never to see the outside of studio 2 at Abbey Road. They spent

nearly a year recording various tracks for the album and John's







state of mind was steadily declining.

In 1969 when they issued Abbey Road it was no longer diffi-

cult to distinguish between the writings of Paul and John . John

was producing works like "I want you (she's so heavy)" which had

the lyrics:

I want you
so bad
it's driving me mad

She's so heavy6
And the more musical and thoughtful work of McCartney, such

as "Golden Slumbers" which was almost a lullaby:

Once there was a way to get back homeward
Once there was a way to get back home
Sleep pretty darling do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby

Golden slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles awake you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby7

The writing of the material on The Beatles8 seemed more balanced

as Lennon began writing more cogent songs, and collaborating on a

song-by-song basis with McCartney. Their songs varied from a

slow ballad in McCartney's "Blackbird" to the bizarre and in-

triguing "Revolution #9) by Lennon. Yet McCartney was needed to

control Lennon when he recorded the original version of "Sexie

Sadie" with the verse:

You little twat
Who the fuck do you think you are
Who the fuck do you think you are
Oh, you cunt.9
Fortunately McCartney prevented the track from proceeding

any farther than rehearsal. He ended up suggesting that the song

take a more sympathetic note and, eventually, Lennon agreed.

During this time, one almost constant presence in the re-







cording studio was Yoko Ono, John's wife. This was against an

unspoken code amongst the Beatles not to allow wives and girl-

friends into the studio. Yoko had a large affect on John, almost

completely altering his style, and inspiring such songs as "I

want her (she's so heavy)" and "Revelation #9". Many of the

other songs that Yoko and John created were rejected by the

group, but her presence changed John's behavior and performance.

The Beatles final album together was Let It Be released in

1970. The album was not in any way spectacular and exhibited

many of the traits that are associated with the Beatles writing.

The title track, "Let It Be" is one of the most famous tracks

recorded by the group. The music on the album was a last chance

effort to keep the group together, and although the album was

well received, it was not what the group had in mind. The Bea-

tles did not make another recording after that date, though there

were rumors of the group reforming until the shooting of Lennon

in 1980.

One of the most obvious indicators of the heavy hand that

was often kept on Lennon is the progress of his band which he

formed after the breakup of the Beatles. The Plastic Ono Band

was an only moderately successful group that took the popular

psycedalia a few steps to far and lost most of its popularity.

Lennon attempted to enter theater, but it was quickly obvious

that he was no actor. He lived a bizarre and drug ridden life

secluded in his apartment with his wife Yoko Ono and his son.

Both he and his wife were reported to have serious heroin addic-

tions and were often said to be high in the presence of visitors.

After the breakup, McCartney launched a moderately success-







ful solo career. He has released many recordings both in the

United States and abroad. His most recent accomplishment was the

"Liverpool Oratorio" which is no small feat considering that

McCartney never learned to read music.

The songwriting styles, the studio records, and the individ-

ual careers all show that there was a very large influence in the

group, and in the music, by Paul McCartney. Equal to Lennon in

the beginning, but surpassing him at the conclusion of the rela-

tionship. Two key factors that probably caused this are his

affection and infatuation with Yoko Ono, and the heavy use of

hallucinogenic drugs. On some occasions, both of those factors

may have given Lennon inspiration for his music, but they greatly

reduced his control and influence in the band.