The Beatles Activity Book A book of activities for your mind, body and soul. Background: The Beatles In March 1957, John Lennon Harrison played the lead formed a skiffle group at the guitar part of the age of sixteen, with his instrumental song friends from Quarry Bank "Raunchy" on the upper High School in Liverpool. deck of a Liverpool bus. They were first called After that, they accepted Blackjacks but changed their him as their lead guitarist. name to Quarrymen. In January 1959, Lennon In July, Paul McCartney began his studies at the joined them as a rhythm Liverpool College of Art as guitarist at the age of fifteen. his friends had left the McCartney invited his friend Quarry Bank and his skiffle George Harrison to watch the group. band in February 1958. John, Paul, and George Harrison, fifteen, were left, who played as a impressively auditioned to band called Johnny Lennon for the band but he Moondog, performing rock thought that Harrison was and roll every time they too young. However, could get a drummer. Harrison persisted during a second meeting arranged by McCartney. Continued…. Lennon's art school friend, In 6 June 1962, The Beatles Stuart Sutcliffe, joined the had their first recording band as a bassist. Sutcliffe session at EMI's Abbey Road suggested to change the Studios in London. band name into The Beatles as a tribute to Buddy Holly Martin suggested that Best and the Crickets. should be replaced by a session drummer due to his In 1961, they encountered poor drumming skills. In Brian Epstein, a record-store mid-August, Ringo Starr owner and a music joined them. columnist, who became their manager in January 1962. Throughout the winter and In April, Sutcliffe died from into the spring of 1963, the a brain haemorrhage. Beatles continued their rise to fame in England by The Beatles were rejected producing spirited by Decca Records but were recordings of original tunes signed by producer George and also by playing classic Martin to EMI's Parlophone American rock and roll on a label. variety of BBC radio programmes. Continued…. By the summer of 1964, to nurture experimental pop when the Beatles appeared art, they instead produced in A Hard Day’s Night, a chaos and commercial movie that dramatized the failure! phenomenon of Beatlemania, the band’s Whilst still producing hits as effect was evident around The Beatles, there were the world. personal disagreements that had begun to tear the band Between 1965 and 1967 the apart. In the spring of 1970 music of the Beatles rapidly the Beatles formally changed and evolved, disbanded. Each of the band becoming ever more subtle, members continued to have sophisticated, and varied. solo careers – but the legacy They continued for several of The Beatles lives on in more years to record and music to this day. release new music and maintained a level of popularity rarely rivalled before or since. In 1968 they launched their own record label, Apple; hoping The Beatles: John Lennon John Winston Lennon was Lennon saw great success born in Liverpool on 9 with The Beatles, but his October 1940. Lennon grew personal life was more up with his aunt and uncle in tumultuous, with heavy Liverpool. He kept in close drug use and infidelity contact with his mother Julia causing the breakdown of Lennon until her death in his first marriage. 1958, but had little contact with his father Alf. Lennon’s solo career had begun while The Beatles Julia Lennon taught her son were still together and, to play the banjo, and they when the band broke up, shared a love of Elvis this was his focus, alongside Presley’s music. An unruly his drive for political pupil, Lennon dropped out of change. college before his final year. John was assassinated in 1980 by a fan. The Beatles: Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey was born Beyond The Beatles, Starr July 7th, 1940, in Liverpool. appeared in films, released His parents, both bakery solo albums and published workers, divorced when he two books of photography. was a small child. He was frequently ill as a child and In 2015 Starr was inducted was introduced to the drums into the Rock and Roll Hall by a health worker whilst of Fame, receiving the staying in a sanitorium. Award for Musical Excellence, awarded an MBE Having started off his in 1965, and he received a musical journey in various knighthood in 2018. skiffle bands, in 1962, Starr replaced Best as drummer for the Beatles. He underpinned the band with a straightforward steady beat and won over fans with his engaging personality. The Beatles: George Harrison George Harrison was born In 1971 Harrison staged February 25th, 1943 in two concerts to raise money Liverpool. Harrison was born to fight starvation in the youngest of four children Bangladesh, which later in a working-class family. became the prototype for Harrison began playing star-studded fund-raising guitar in secondary school. events. Harrison released his first After the murder of Lennon solo work in 1968 with the in 1980, Harrison soundtrack to the maintained a low public psychedelic film Wonderwall. profile. He was attacked in Following the breakup of the his home by an intruder in Beatles in 1970, he 1999 but survived with continued to put out solo multiple stab wounds. recordings. Harrison was also treated for throat cancer in 1997 and for lung cancer and a brain tumour in 2001. He died at the age of 58 that year. The Beatles: Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney, Though usually associated was born June 18th, 1942 in with ballads and love songs, Liverpool. His mother’s death McCartney also was when McCartney was age 14, responsible for many of the had a profound effect on his Beatles’ harder rock songs, life. such as “Lady Madonna,” “Back in the USSR,” and His father had been the “Helter Skelter” (all 1968). leader of Jim Mac’s Jazz Band, and in the evenings A multi-instrumentalist, the family often gathered McCartney played drums on around the piano. some Beatles tracks and played all the instruments on some of his solo albums, as well as lead guitar at concerts. His solo career was so successful that in 1997 McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II “for services to music.” Name that Beatle! Identify the band member being described by the following descriptions. Write the corresponding letter in the circle next to the description. A. John Lennon The quiet Beatle B. Paul McCartney C. George Harrison D. Ringo Starr Formed the Beatles Bass guitarist Drummer of the Beatles Husband of Yoko Ono Incorporated Indian instrumentation One of the most successful song writers of all time C, A, B, D, A, C, B B C, A, D, B, A, C, Answers: Did you know? On the 20th May 1970 the film ‘Let it be’ premiered in the UK. Let It Be is a 1970 British documentary film starring the Beatles and directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. The film documents the group rehearsing and recording songs for their twelfth and final studio album, Let It Be, in January 1969. The Beatles Wordsearch K F U E I L H G P N C L V Y O A B B E Y R O A D C D A Y Q S T U W O I O O E A G G R S Q E O D H Y S F I R P S Q L Z C V F S D Q T O A U H K D P E N K Y I C H L Q R G E E T D C N I E C B I Y O N K B T N R S J T D F L G E J I O R B Z B A K I T L Z H G T Q P I Z I Y R R N J N E T W A M S U R S X Q O F U B E E U R O D O H N P I Q B T H Y A N G M J E W Q Z M P I E A S N E U T H Y H X E C I P A U L Q A K N O T G Y I V L S E Y Y E U L C E H C X N A I R B V A U Y R Q Z R L X O W K L M P I M A G I N E F F L F K R G W E D U U A F O E P S T E I N F U T M H A A A X V H Q H R L K W I D B Y O K O O N O O D W A H Q X T P L E R T S S G N I W D N A Y E N T R A C C M O J Y A U S U B M H I O F A B F O U R C I H Q C M D H R S G B Z P G N D C R U O T Y R E T S Y M L A C I G A M F T E F I L E H T N I Y A D A I S N C T C I E A K F T W E V T C Q O W P H H Z S T A R R H Z D R R F V H X H U R Q I X W V F N R N F O D M Z U I Q W S Y P Y U F J O H N B A I F X K V M A N J N A H A R D D A Y S N I G H T J U L G L X N H Y E S R W J F S H Y T H E Y B U L L D O G H H T E H R P P L E A S E P L E A S E M E M C L D J H H I U Y A A X P E T E P P T A D Q W G I K Z K D V A Look for the words on the next page..