So yeah, like I said, the Beatles were total pioneers in their day, bringing to the music world more ideas,
techniques, and style than probably any other band imaginable.
When they released their first album to the U.S. in 1964, it instantly became a hit. People flocked to the
record stores in order to purchase an album full of songs such as Love Me Do and I Wanna Hold Your Hand.
Meh...not exactly my favorite songs of theirs, but they're still fun to listen to every once in a while!
However, things really started changing for the young lads from Liverpool in the summer of '65. They were
filming their second movie (Help!), which ended up directly causing one of the main changes in the band. For the
first time in his life, George heard a sitar. He instantly fell in love with the instrument, and practiced on it for hours
a day, intent on learning how to play.
He got his chance to show off his newly aquired "skills" on their next album, Revolver. The second
track, Norweigan Wood (This Bird has Flown), features George on sitar, though it was "badly out of tune" when the
song was recorded.
After releaseing two more albums, The Beatles released the infamous Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club
Band. Again, George got to record a song playing his sitar, though by then he had much more skill. There are many things
that are great about this album, particularly the "clues" that supposedly pointed out the fact that the band's bassist had
died. Also, a little bit of fun info, this album was the first to display all the lyrics, to every song, on the back side.
After Sgt. came, one of my all-time favorites, Magical Mystery Tour. This is by far their
"trippiest" album, that is somehow unbelievably good. The movie to go along with it isn't too bad, either. In fact, I'd say
it was probably my favorite of the four.
They released a few more albums after that, including The Beatles (a.k.a. The "White" Album),
Abbey Road, and Let It Be. In 1970, the band broke up. Most people would say it was tragic, but, if you ask
me, it was a good thing. It was what they all wanted...what they needed. Had they stayed together, only more misery would
have followed.
