Thursday, March 30, 1967: Photo shoot for 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'

The image on the album cover is composed of a collage of celebrities. There are 88 figures, including the band members themselves. Pop artist Peter Blake and his wife Jann Haworth conceived and constructed the set, including all the life-size cutouts of historical figures. The set was photographed, with the Beatles standing in the centre, by Michael Cooper. Copyright was a problem as Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager, had to locate each person in order to get permission to use their image in this context.

-- From Victoria and Albert Museum, London: @

* "Making The Cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (www.thebeatles.com): @

* "Cover shoot for Sgt. Pepper" (The Beatles Bible): @

* "Sgt. Pepper Cover" (The Beatles Website): @

* "Behind the Cover of Sgt. Pepper" (Entertainment Weekly): @
* "The Sgt. Pepper's Album Cover: Faces in the Crowd" (Performing Songwriter): @

* Summary from albumlinernotes.com: @

* More about Peter Blake ("The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four," Kenneth Womack, 2014: @ 

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August 1966: The Beatles

"Revolver"

     The album was released on August 5 in Britain and August 8 in the United States.

* Summary from www.thebeatles.com: @

* Summary from The Beatles Bible: @

* "UK Album Release" (The Beatles Bible): @

* "U.S. Album Release" (The Beatles Bible): @

* "The Beatles: U.S. vs. UK Album Guide" (Ultimate Classic Rock): @

* Album review (Kevin Courrier, Critics At Large): @

* Album review (Scott Plagenhoef, Pitchfork): @

* "Classic Album Dissection" ("Sound Opinions," 2006): @

* "The Kinks vs. The Beatles: Ray Davies Thought 'Revolver' was Garbage" (dangerousminds.net): @

* "How I drew a pop art masterpiece for the Beatles" (The Guardian, 2016): @

* " 'Revolver': How the Beatles Reimagined Rock 'n' Roll" (Robert Rodriguez, 2012): @

"We're more popular than Jesus now"

* Post from March 4, 1966, when the story was originally published in the London Evening Standard: @

Candlestick Park, San Francisco

     The band's August 29 show marked their last live performance until their rooftop concert in London on January 30, 1969.

* Summary from The Beatles Bible: @

* "The Beatles at Candlestick in 1966: An oral history from the fans" (San Francisco Chronicle, 2014): @

* "Listen to cassette recording of The Beatles' final concert at Candlestick Park" (Consequence of Sound): @ 

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The Beatles' 'Butcher Cover'

March 25
Photo session with Robert Whitaker in Chelsea, London.
* Summary from The Beatles Bible: @
* Photos from session and album cover images (www.rarebeatles.com): @
* Robert Whitaker Photography: @
* More Beatles photos from Robert Whitaker (Morrison Hotel Gallery): @ 

June 3-4

Album cover photo appears in music advertisements.

* Summary from www.rarebeatles.com: @

June 11

Photo appears on cover of Disc and Music Echo.

* Summary from www.rarebeatles.com: @

June 14

Capitol Records sends letter to reviewers, telling them the cover is being replaced.

* Summary from abouthebeatles.com: @

June 15

Release date in United States.

* Summary from The Beatles Bible: @

* "Capitol Records has withdrawn the cover of the latest Beatles recording because disc jockeys complained it as offensive." (United Press International): @

June 25

* "Beatles LP Makes Cap. Run for Cover" (Billboard magazine, page 3): @

* Also in the issue is a full-page ad with the replacement cover (page 41).

Other resources

* Discography and Price Guide (www.rarebeatles.com): @

* www.thebutchercover.com: @
* www.thebeatlesbutchershop.com: @

* "Who Butchered the Beatles?" (www.snopes.com): @
* "Who Butchered the Beatles?" (www.recmusicbeatles.com): @

* "Who Butchered Who?" (www.popularmusic.info): @ 

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Friday, March 4, 1966: 'We're more popular than Jesus now'

In a story written by Maureen Cleave and published in the London Evening Standard, John Lennon of The Beatles says:

Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first -- rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it ruins it for me.

Lennon's comments attracted little attention until they were reprinted in the September edition of Datebook magazine. (The cover and inside headline used the phrase "I don't know which will go first -- rocknroll or Christianity.") 

The backlash in the United States was swift, beginning with radio station WAQY in Birmingham, Alabama, which in August encouraged listeners to throw away or burn the band's records. Other stations followed suit and stopped playing Beatles songs, while the group was condemned by politicians and religious figures.

-- Jackson, Mississippi, August 1966; photo by Corbis Images

* March 4 summary from The Beatles Bible: @

* July 29 summary from The Beatles Bible: @
* Summary from The Beatles Ultimate Experience: @

* "John Lennon and Jesus, 4 March 1966" (Gordon Thompson, author of "Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out"): @

* " 'Christianity will go' comment stirs up fans" (Ottawa Citizen, August 3, 1966): @

* "John's Gospel" (David Frost, The Spectator, August 12): @
* "Beatle Lennon Apologizes" (The Nashua, N.H., Telegraph, August 12): @
* "Stations No, No Beatles Disks" (Billboard, August 13): @
* "Beatles Running Strong -- With Powerhouse Stations' Blessings" (Billboard, August 20): @
* "Warm Welcome for Beatles in 'Bible Belt' " (Sydney Morning Herald, August 21): @
* "Vatican 'forgives' John Lennon" (Reuters, November 22, 2008): @
* Film clips of controversy: @ 

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Sunday, August 15, 1965: The Beatles at Shea Stadium

     The sound was unbelievable and more than a little terrifying.

     What started as a joyful shriek quickly became a steady scream, then a deafening howl and finally an ear-splitting roar like the takeoff noise of a giant jet or the launching of a rocket.

     It was the hysterical sound of more than 55,000 Beatles fans -- almost all of them sobbing teen-age girls. And it went on and on and on for the full 30 minutes that the four mop-top minstrels from Liverpool, England, performed Sunday night at Shea Stadium.

     -- United Press International (full story: @)

     -- Photo from New York Daily News

* Summary from Beatles Bible: @

* "There Were Howls at Shea Stadium as Beatles Sang" (Associated Press, August 16, 1965): @

* "Beatlemonium at Stadium -- Youngsters Get Carried Away" (Billboard magazine, August 28, 1965): @
* Excerpt from "Beatles-Discography.com: Day-by-Day Song-by-Song Record-by-Record" (Craig Cross, 2004): @
* "The Beatles at Shea Stadium: The Story Behind Their Greatest Concert" (Dave Schwensen, 2014): @

* "The Shea Stadium Concert" (www.beatlesource.com): @ 

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Sunday, June 20, 1965: The Beatles in Paris

Taken during one of their two performances at the Palais Des Sports. Photo by Patrice Habans.

* Summary from The Beatles Bible: @

* Summary from "The Unreleased Beatles: Music & Film" (Richie Unterberger, 2006): @

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June 1965: 'Yesterday' and 'Like a Rolling Stone'

Monday, June 14 and Thursday, June 17: The Beatles (specifically, Paul McCartney and a string quartet) record "Yesterday."

* From The Beatles Bible: @

* From "The Beatles Anthology" (2000): @
* From "All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release" (Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon, 2013): @

Wednesday, June 16: Bob Dylan records "Like a Rolling Stone." 

* From Rolling Stone magazine (2015): @

* "Greil Marcus on Recording 'Like a Rolling Stone' " (NPR, 2005): @

* "Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads" (Marcus, 2005): @ 

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Saturday, April 4, 1964: Beatles on Billboard charts

The band holds the top five positions on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 singles chart for the week ending April 4. Altogether, 12 Beatles songs are in the Hot 100. (The following week, 14 songs would make the list.)

* April 4 Hot 100: @

* April 11 Hot 100: @

* Entry from www.mybeatles.net: @

* Entry from The Beatles Bible: @

* "Chart Crawls With Beatles" (Billboard, April 4; note that the article says, "In Canada, the Beatles hold the first nine chart positions."): @ 

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April 1964: MAD magazine Fold-In

Created by cartoonist Al Jaffee, the first Fold-In -- about the scandalous romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton -- appears in MAD magazine.

Note: Special thanks to Doug Gilford (madcoversite.com) for providing these images.

* Fold-In number 2 (June 1964): @

* Fold-In number 3 (July 1964): @

* "Fold-Ins, Past and Present" (New York Times, October 2010): @

* "The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010": @

* "Al Jaffee's Iconic Mad Fold-Ins" (Brain Pickings, August 2011): @

* "Al Jaffee's MAD Life" (Mary-Lou Weisman and Jaffee, 2010): @

* "Interview: Al Jaffee" (Boston Phoenix, November 2010): @

* "Cartoonist Al Jaffee Reveals the One Fold-In MAD magazine wouldn't run" (Yahoo/ABC): @ 

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Febuary 7-9, 1964: The Beatles in America

February 7
     Multiply Elvis Presley by four, subtract six years from his age, add British accents and a sharp sense of humor. The answer: It's the Beatles (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah). The rock 'n' roll group, which may become Britain's most successful export since the bowler, arrived at Kennedy International Airport yesterday and more than 3,000 teen-agers stood four deep on the upper arcade at the International Arrivals Building to greet them. (The New York Times, February 8; link: @) 
     -- Photo by Harry Benson

* "Four Screaming Mopheads Break Up England: Here Come Those Beatles" (Life magazine, January 31): @
* Video excerpts from press conference: @ 
* Press conference transcript (from www.beatlesinterviews.org): @ 
* "Beatle Hysteria Hits US" (The Guardian, February 8): @

* "The Beatles' American Invasion Begins" (from The Beatles Bible): @
* "Turn Left at Greenland Or How The Beatles Came to America" (Bruce Spizer, 2006, from www.beatlesagain.com): @ 

* Newsreel (from Critical Past): @
* Same newsreel (with British voice-over; from British Pathe): @

February 9
     The Beatles -- four British lads who sing when they are not busy running away from barbers -- made their American television debut tonight -- and some things may never be the same. (Associated Press, February 9; link: @)
     -- Photos by CBS

* Video (from Jukebo.com): @
* "Screaming Teen-Age Fans Almost Outdo British Singers in Dramatic Capers" (AP, February 10): @
* "Boys With Shaggy Heads Found Boring by Critic" (United Press International, February 10): @

* "U.S. Rocks & Reels from Beatles' Invasion" (Billboard, February 15): @

* "The Unbarbershopped Quartet" (Time, February 21; image from www.beatlefan.net): @

* "Bugs About Beatles" (Newsweek cover story, February 24; image from www.beatlefan.net): @

* "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Music's Gold Bugs: The Beatles" (Al Aronowitz, Saturday Evening Post, March 21): @
*"Beatles: The Day They Hit U.S.A." (AP, February 1984): @ 
* "The Beatles' First Ed Sullivan Show" (from The Beatles Bible): @
* "The Story Behind The Beatles on Ed Sullivan" (Bruce Spizer, 2006, from www.beatlesagain.com): @

* "Beatles in America" (from The Pop History Dig): @

* "The Beatles' U.S. Invasion" (CBS News): @ 
* "All-Time Television Rankings" (2004; from www.thefab40.com): @ 

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Friday, December 27, 1963: 'What Songs the Beatles Sang'

     The London newspaper The Times publishes a critical appraisal of The Beatles' music.

     From the book "Rock Criticism from the Beginning: Amusers, Bruisers and Cool-headed Cruisers" (Ulf Lindberg, 2005; link here: @).

The British daily press's coverage of the popular music scene was mainly limited to what might be termed, gossip, news or sensations. William Mann's pioneering 1963 review of the Beatles in the arts pages of The Times was definitely more an exception than a trendsetter. Invoking metaphors like "pandiatonic clusters" and "flat submediant key switches," the message of the article is that Lennon/McCartney in fact are innovative composers even thought "their noisy items are the ones that arouse teenagers' excitement." 
* Image of article: @

* Entry from The Beatles Bible: @

* "Found! The Beatles' elusive Aeolian cadence" (from aeoliancadence.co.uk): @ 
* "Aeolian Cadence" (from Aaron Krerowicz): @

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October-November 1963: Beatlemania

While there are differing accounts as to just who coined the term and when, a November 2 article in The Daily Mirror helped trigger its widespread use. The article was headlined "BEATLEMANIA! It's happening everywhere ... even in sedate Cheltenham / The with-it bug bites so hard ..." (120 years earlier, a similarly named phenomenon -- Lisztomania -- had swept Europe.)
* 13 October 1963 -- Beatlemania begins: Sunday night at the London Palladium (from The Beatles Bible): @

* 1 November 1963 -- Live: Odeon Cinema, Cheltenham (The Beatles Bible): @

* "Beatlemania bugs Britain's bobbies" (Associated Press, October 30): @
* "Beatlemania" (Newsweek, November 18): @

* "Britons Succumb To 'Beatlemania' " (The New York Times Magazine, December 1): @

* " 'BEATLEMANIA' Is Born" (Slate, October 2013): @
* "50 Years of Beatles: Ladies and Gentlemen, Beatlemania!" (Kenneth Womack, Penn State Altoona, 2013): @ 

* More about Lisztomania: @ and @ 

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Sunday, September 15, 1963: The Great Pop Prom

The Beatles headline the show at London's Royal Albert Hall. Also performing are The Rolling Stones; it is the only time the two bands played on the same bill. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richard would later write: "We opened this afternoon performance and were followed by a bunch of typical British pop acts including Shane Fenton and the Fentones. We got an amazing reception. The Beatles closed the show but we couldn't hang around because we had to head back down the A3 to Richmond to play the Crawdaddy Club that night." (From "The Rolling Stones 50", 2012)
* "The Beatles at the Hall" (from Royal Albert Hall website): @

* Entry from The Beatles Bible website: @

* "The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones: Sound Opinions on the Great Rock 'n' Roll Rivalry" (Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, 2010): @ 

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Friday, August 9, 1963: 'Ready Steady Go!'

With the slogan "The weekend starts here," the show featuring music stars and dancing teens debuts on Britain's ITV network. It would air until December 1966. Photo of The Kinks' Ray Davies from Southbank Centre.
* Summary (from BFI screenonline): @

* Summary (from televisionheaven.co.uk): @
* "Ready Steady Gone" (from modculture.co.uk): @
* "How Ready Steady Go! soundtracked a revolution" (The Guardian, May 2011): @

* "Ready Steady Go! Pop Dances on to TV" (The Guardian, June 2011): @

* Episode guide from TV.com: @

* Video of October 4 episode (first of 3 appearances by The Beatles): @ and @ 

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Saturday, August 3, 1963: The Beatles at The Cavern Club

The band plays the basement club in London for the last time, having appeared there nearly 300 times since February 1961. 
* Entry from The Beatles Bible: @

* 1960s timeline from The Cavern Club website: @

* Earlier post on first gig (February 9, 1961): @

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Friday, March 22, 1963: 'Please Please Me'

The Beatles' first album is released in Britain, following the success of their singles "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me" (which had reached No. 1 in Britain in late February-early March). Eight of the album's 14 songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
* Listen to album (mono mix): @
* Entry from thebeatles.com: @

* Entry from beatlesbible.com: @
* Excerpt from "The Beatles Diary" (Barry Miles, 2001): @

* Liner notes, by Tony Barrow: @ (image) and @ (text) 

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Friday, February 8, 1963: The Beatles on U.S. radio

This is the most likely date of the first airplay of a Beatles song in the United States (that according to Beatles historian Bruce Spizer; his website is beatle.net). The single, "Please Please Me," was released on the Vee-Jay label and played by disc jockey Dick Biondi on WLS in Chicago. The band's name was misspelled as "The Beattles" on the earliest Vee-Jay pressings, also appearing that way on WLS' "Silver Dollar Survey." ("Please Please Me" would peak at No. 35 in mid-March on WLS, having made no national impact, though by that time it had reached No. 1 in Britain. "Silver Dollar Survey" sheet: @)

* "Who Played The Very First Beatles Record in America?" (from forgottenhits.com): @

* Excerpt from "The British Invasion" (Barry Miles, 209): @

* Portion of Dick Biondi show, February 23: @
* Entry from The Beatles Rarity: @
* Entry from The Beatles Collection: @
* Entry from Goldmine magazine: @
* "The Vee-Jay Story" (from www.bsnpubs.com): @ 

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