Fun Facts About the Beatles
Andrew Parker - December 9, 2019

Their songs are loved worldwide, revived by a new generation, and remixed by new artists every few years. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr are remembered in musical history for bringing rock and rock to new frontiers. Abbey Road was released 50 years ago, and every Beatles fan needs to know these facts about the band.

Did you know that John Lennon grew up near a place called Strawberry Fields in Liverpool, England? He was five years old and lived with his aunt and uncle, having been all but abandoned by his parents. One of his favorite childhood spots was to explore the garden near an orphanage, Strawberry Fields. McCartney said it was “a secret garden. John’s memory of it [was]…There was a wall you could bunk over and it was a rather wild garden, it wasn’t manicured at all, so it was easy to hide in.”

“Michelle” was inspired by Paul McCartney’s favorite technique for picking up girls at parties. McCartney once shared in an interview that he and George Harrison felt pretty out of place at the boho-chic parties they went to as teenagers. So McCartney started dressing up in black, sitting in a corner with her guitar, and singing in made-up French to see if he could attract women. It never worked.

Ringo Starr’s real name is Richard Starkey. “Ritchie,” as he was called by his mother, was born in Liverpool in 1940. He began playing the drums in a hospital band at 13 years old while recuperating from tuberculosis. By 17 years old he was a co-founder of the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Band. He joined the Beatles in 1962, replacing their first drummer, Pete Best. Starr’s first nickname, Rings, reportedly came from him wearing lots of jewelry.

The first lyrics to “Yesterday” were “scrambled eggs.” The melody for the famous song (noted to be Vladimir Putin’s favorite Beatles song) apparently came to Paul McCartney’s head when he woke up one morning. He walked around the house humming “scrambled eggs…baby, I love scrambled eggs.”

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